Our Community

[tom-meetey]

Close but unreachable – How to contact your neighbor

 This other day I called a plumber because of some issues in my apartment.  All went well until he said I must find out something about the pipe system of my neighbor next door. Thing is, it was midday and he wasn't home. I didn't have his number (and even if I had I'm not sure I'd feel comfortable to call in work hours), and I was pretty stuck.

 So, I thought, why not listing here some ways to contact your neighbors? You can never know when you'll need it :)

 1. Knocking on your neighbor's door

This is, of course, the best way to contact a person, in a face to face conversation (happening less and less nowadays). And without meaning to, you are making a better relationship with him/her.

2. Calling           

Like I mentioned, you don't always have the number, but if you do it can be a good why for contacting.

3. SMS / Messaging apps

Usually a more convenient way to get info- you send, the neighbor answers when he can, easy.

4. Local social networks

Apps like Meetey allow neighborhoods to go online and, among other helpful features, contact your neighbor easily directly via the app.

  I think that's it for now. Got any other ideas?

  Tom

[tom-meetey]

Explore your neighborhood

A neighborhood is not just the geographical surrounding of your house, as well as your house is not just four walls. Have you ever wondered how big your neighborhood is? Ever watched it on a map? There might be some beautiful hidden areas or places you never knew about!

 Exploring your neighborhood can be a great adventure, not mentioning it's free and easy, and a nice thing to do on a free afternoon or lousy morning.

  Check out this interesting article- "By foot, Bike or More: How to Explore Your Neighborhood" to get some tips and suggestions about how to do it.

[tom-meetey]

"We didn’t just live in a neighborhood, we lived in community. I never knew that I wanted to live in community or really, needed to."

This is a citation from a post about "How to build community in your neighborhood"  - warmly recommended- it talks about the importance of fellowship and togetherness in a neighborhood. I think that closing our smartphones for a few minutes and just go outside and discover the great people around us can do a lot of good to us all.

  Do you feel the same? Is there a strong sense of community in your neighborhood?

[tom-meetey]

Vacation (Or: it's always great to come back home)

The holidays are all around and it seems like everyone is going on vacation, traveling, flying abroad, or even going to visit distant relatives. Even I took myself (alright it was a good friend that arranged a 3 days trip) and traveled far away from home. It was great, I'm sure you all understand, but the truth is that it was even better coming back home: to my bed, to my dog (that was more than delighted to see me), to my lovely, familiar neighborhood. Even to my awkward neighbor that insists on singing out loud ABBA's songs in every shower. Home sweet home :) 

(YouTube)

What about you? Are you having a good time in the Holiday?

[tom-meetey]

A small, beautiful moment in my neighborhood

Just sharing with you a lovely sunset in my neighborhood.

Any special moments in your neighborhood?

[tom-meetey]

Just around the corner

Your neighborhood. You are probably walking around now and then. Have you really looked around? Inhaling the nature, the view, the people? Sometimes the greatest things are just around the corner. Take this cat for example. This is one special ginger cat everybody likes, a very friendly one, that makes kids together with grownups neighbors smile.

Aren't you smiling right now? :)

    How about you? Any special or cheerful things in your neighborhood?

[tom-meetey]

How to Be a Good Neighbor

Hello readers!

Lee Hansen wrote a nice post about how to be a good neighbor, I recommend to check it out!

http://voices.yahoo.com/how-good-neighbor-12555909.html

(google)

[tom-meetey]

A Poem by John Baldwin

I thought it would be nice to share with you this nice poem I found. It is talking about a good neighbor (a good neighbor is always a treasure) and was written by John Baldwin:

"A good neighbor is more than just good  A good neighbor uplifts the neighborhood  He greets you with a smile each day  does kind deeds has kind words to say  When your world seems upside down  At your side is where he can be found.  He'll cut your grass when you're not well  All your secrets, he wont tell  A good neighbor is there in time of need  He shows his worth with kindly deeds  A kind word , a helping hand  A good neighbor is a loving friend."

Do you have a good neighbor around? Are you a good neighbor?

[tom-meetey]

Just a little smile

Hey there, just want to share with you a great smile :)

Not much of an effort but means a lot to this one person, special (at least for a moment) that gets this one big, sincere smile.

How do smiles make you feel? Do you smile often?

[tom-meetey]

Nice to meet!

Hello everyone,

Have you moved to a new neighborhood lately? Maybe not so lately but still didn't have the chance to knock on your neighbors' door, saying: Hi, I'm …. Nice to meet you?

Well if not, here is a nice way to break the ice: bring with you a box of something that would make them happy to meet you: cookies!

To help you, here is a great Brownies recipe (credits to chow.com)

    INGREDIENTS:

6  ounces bittersweet chocolate chips (about 1 cup) or coarsely chopped bittersweet chocolate

 8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), cut into 8 pieces

 2 large eggs, at room temperature

1  cup granulated sugar

1  teaspoon vanilla extract

 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

 1/4 teaspoon fine salt

1  cup all-purpose flour

  INSTRUCTIONS:

Heat the oven to 350°F and arrange a rack in the middle. Line an 8-by-8-inch metal baking pan with aluminum foil.

Combine the chocolate and butter in a medium saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring frequently, until melted and smooth. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly, about 5 minutes. (Alternatively, melt the chocolate and butter in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds).

Combine the eggs, sugar, vanilla, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl and stir with a rubber spatula until just evenly incorporated. Add the chocolate mixture and stir until evenly combined. Add the flour and fold in until just incorporated, about 20 strokes (no white streaks should remain.(

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, push it to the edges in an even layer, and smooth the top. Bake until a cake tester or skewer inserted into the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Remove to a wire rack and let the brownies cool for at least 20 minutes.

To remove the brownies, grip the excess foil and pull it out of the baking pan. Transfer to a cutting board and cut the brownies into 2-inch squares.

[tom-meetey]

Doing Something Good

I want to share with you a great idea that is now happening in my neighborhood. It's simple, yet very helpful for the community on one hand, and you get a lot out of it as well: The Time Bank

Time Bank is something where you don't exchange money- you exchange time! You give an hour, you get an hour. For example: if you always wanted to learn cooking / dancing / playing chess, you can learn it from someone in your neighborhood that is really good at it. All you need to do in return is to give an hour back- teach something, help with gardening, help a kid with his homework- whatever you good at! And of course you get much more than you give- helping someone else is a great thing for itself.

  (Youtube)

What do you think about the Time Bank? Is there something special going on in your neighborhood?

[tom-meetey]

Smelling Good

So many cooking programs on TV lately, aren't there?

But instead of watching some edited-unreal programs, why not knocking next door? You must know a house around that there is a good smell coming out of it always… Most likely you will get a good recipe (with some helpful instructions! Whoever cooked knows how important that is), and you'll might even find a new friend (something nice to taste :)

(Youtube)

[tom-meetey]

Good morning!

Don't forget to smile, just smile to others with no reason. You'll be surprised you will get a special smile just for you back. And say something nice- anything- it can make someone's day!

(youtube)

[tom-meetey]

Looking for a nice thing to do? Have some spare time / need some air / don't feel like going down town? Well, sometimes the answer is closer and simpler than we think: Take a little walk around your neighborhood. You can even go out with your pajamas, have a small talk with a familiar face or walk quietly, listening to your thoughts only. Sometimes a lovely hidden place is just around the corner…

(youtube)

[tom-meetey]

Hello and welcome to my blog!

 How is it going there? Everything's fine? Great!

 I have a vision of publishing this blog for an important reason: the community.Not many blogs dealing with that, right?

Well, I find that our community – our neighborhood, every neighborhood – is very important. It can make an area a lovely place to live in, somewhere people smile and say hello to each other, helping each other, organizing and participating in local and intimate events, and it can also be the very opposite.

 I'm here to try and bring some tips and share ideas for little things we can do to make our community a better place (for us, and for our neighbors).

 Feel free to leave comments, and share your opinion on everything, criticizing, complaining or whatever your hart is telling you. If there is a subject that is interesting you- let me know and I'll try posting about it.

  Have a great day!

  Tom,

Meetey's Community Manager