[More a case of a muleheaded person living next door to a bullheaded person ... it's unlikely the smoke really bothered him ... what bothered him, was her.]




"Neighbor kept track of smoking incidents"

Stow man reads 24-page journal at trial in civil suit against woman

By Phil Trexler

"Beacon Journal staff writer


Robert Zangrando maintained a log, dutifully noting on his typewriter his neighbor's smoking propensity and her refusals to stop.

Over several months, the journal, in which Zangrando refers to himself in the third person, grew to 24 pages, containing several dozen entries.

He's now using the log as evidence in his civil lawsuit against his neighbor, alleging her habit is a nuisance and a health hazard.

Zangrando, 72, a retired University of Akron professor and self-described historical scholar, is seeking more than $50,000 in damages.

The fact that his neighbor, Nicole Kuder, grew weary of his complaints and moved from her condominium has not stopped Zangrando's legal case.

His trial moves into a fifth day today in Summit County Common Pleas Court. The jury may get the case by this afternoon.

The Stow man and his wife, UA instructor Lisa Pace, told how Kuder's smoking was a daily problem that never went away, despite their complaints for about two years.

Kuder lived in a condo unit adjacent to Zangrando's. She has testified that she would smoke on the porch she shared with Zangrando outside their homes. Zangrando said the smoke would seep inside his home, causing him and his wife discomfort.

On one occasion, Zangrando said he was awakened late one August night in 2002 and confronted Kuder as she smoked outside.

``This isn't fair,'' he protested. ``You're polluting our house.... You've got to stop this.''

He says Kuder refused to stop and asserted her rights to ``smoke wherever she chose,'' including the porch.

``I told her you have no right to harm your neighbors,'' Zangrando recalled.

Zangrando denied cursing, clenching his fists or carrying a stick when confronting Kuder, a claim she is using in her countersuit against her former neighbor.

The scene was one of the first journal entries Zangrando wrote. Retired Judge Ted Schneiderman allowed Zangrando to read the entire diary, dismissing an objection from Kuder's attorney, Tom Adgate.

Zangrando, who testified he smoked pipes and cigars from 1958 until the mid-'70s, detailed for jurors a history of medical problems that have plagued him since childhood.

He said he suffers from a ``touch of emphysema'' and that cigarette smoke affects his breathing and causes him to wheeze and cough.

Further, he said, his sinus condition is so bad, he uses masks to change the litter boxes of his two cats and while vacuuming.

Pace, 47, said she too is bothered by smoke. She acknowledged under cross-examination that she frequents several restaurants that have smoking sections. She also said she grew up in a home where her father smoked and lived there as an adult.

``It burns my eyes and makes my nose congested,'' she said under questioning from her husband's attorney, Ed Gilbert.

Pace described a period from late 2001 to August 2002 when her cousin, a smoker, lived with her and Zangrando.

She said the cousin and Kuder became smoking partners, but that they would cooperate and move away from the porch whenever asked.

Pace said she hates confrontation and only subtly asked Kuder to stop smoking. She said efforts to have the condo association intervene were rejected.

``I knew I was sending a message (to Kuder) that wasn't being received,'' she said.

Kuder, 29, lived next door from May 2002 until moving earlier this year. After the suit was filed in January, Kuder agreed to a provision in which she would smoke only outside her unit's back door and only for 15 minutes at the top of each hour.

She could not smoke outside her front door, and any other cigarette smoking must take place 30 feet away from the unit owned by Zangrando and Pace."

Ohio Beacon Journal

That is pathetic. They not only told her where to smoke, but precisely when and for how long...in her own home. Considering the fact the whiner was a smoker and his wife was raised around smoke, it will be interesting to see how this case plays out. Of course, it will depend upon how well the jury has been brainwashed...

Some friends of mine who are roomates and botgh smokers were telling me how their upstairs neighbors have asked them not to smoke on the porch because they don't want their 3 kids exposed to it. It turns out that these people smoke as well - just not tobacco. Furthermore,my friends have complained to them about how their kids wake them up at 6am on weekends by making too much noise - but they have done nothing to keep their kids quiet eventhough my friends tried to be accomodating about not smoking on the porch. You gotta love the double standard.

quote:

Originally posted by saynotosmoke:
Ya'll need to put down the cancer sticks and get a real life.

Do I finally have an ally on this site???

quote:

Originally posted by NicoNazi:

quote:

Originally posted by saynotosmoke:
Ya'll need to put down the cancer sticks and get a real life.

Do I finally have an ally on this site???

An ally? Did you forget that you're on record saying you don't give a damn if people smoke? You dumbass amnesiac.

PS The definition of someone who needs to get a life is someone who comes into a forum and posts drivel. Nothing better to do with your life, saynotosmoke?

quote:

Originally posted by squeezer:
You dumbass amnesiac.

You need no introduction to squeeker, the "grumpy" equivalent of the 7 dwarfs. Of his 2,248 lifetime comments, I'd wager 75% of those included personal attacks and/or childish name calling aside from the issues.

His non-sensical rantings amuse the locals, and he makes quite a scene when given the opportunity.

Other than that, I'm sure he's a nice guy.

quote:

Originally posted by NicoNazi:
His non-sensical rantings amuse the locals, and he makes quite a scene when given the opportunity.

Merely pointing out you can't keep your stories straight and that your new ally is a dumbass also.

quote:

Originally posted by squeezer:
Merely pointing out you can't keep your stories straight

When did I ever deviate from my original story?

Hey, NicoNazi, since you have now been back here to post several times since your wife's medical crisis, are you ever going to show back up on this thread to debate the wonders of science?

Or are you going to still consider me a "jackass" for not letting you avoid it?

quote:

Originally posted by NicoNazi:

quote:

Originally posted by squeezer:
Merely pointing out you can't keep your stories straight

When did I ever deviate from my original story?

You have got to be the dumbest clod ever to show up here. Can't you $#@# comprehend anything?

Your new "ally" as you called him, said, "Ya'll need to put down the cancer sticks and get a real life."

You then wrote, "Do I finally have an ally on this site???"

Somewhere back in your first posts here you said you didn't give a rat's ass (or the equivalent) if people smoked or not.

Now how could that troll be your ally when he is in direct conflict with what you said earlier?

If you consider him your ally because of the second part of his sentence, that we all should get a life, then what the ^%$# are the two of you doing here in the first place?

If you'd like I can just start calling you a liar again. I only missed one time calling you that.

I can't believe I wasted 292 precious moments of my life posting to a place like this.

You people obviously aren't with the program and I'm not making an ounce of difference in your ignorant minds. Not sure why I'm still trying.

Like a Mark Twain noted, "You can't teach a mule to dance..you'll just waste your time and upset the mule."

NicoNazi: "I can't believe I wasted 292 precious moments of my life posting to a place like this."

Obviously it was mere moments, for you never once put a minute's worth of thought into any of them. Just be happy that's all you wasted.

NicoNazi: "You people obviously aren't with the program and I'm not making an ounce of difference in your ignorant minds."

What program is that which we are supposed to be "with"? The one choreographed, produced, and directed by fellow NicoNazis such as yourself?

NicoNazi: "Not sure why I'm still trying."

I'm not sure why you even started "trying", whatever it is that you're trying to do. You originally said you wanted to learn. Then you changed your profile to say you were here to "have fun". Posting little sound-bites, then avoiding the following debate isn't fun for you?

NicoNazi: "Like a Mark Twain noted, "You can't teach a mule to dance..you'll just waste your time and upset the mule.""

Ain't no mules here, bubba. But since you like quotes, maybe you'll appreciate this one by Joseph Goebbels: "If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State."

And Hitler wrote, "Through clever and constant application of propaganda people can be made to see paradise as hell, and also the other way around, to consider the most wretched sort of life as paradise."

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Frank Koza,

Since NicoNazi doesn't even try to appear to rationally discuss anything, but is now simply trying to disrupt the forum and abuse its functions, I have suspended him.

quote:

Originally posted by lockjaw02:
You originally said you wanted to learn. Then you changed your profile to say you were here to "have fun".

When I read his last post above that's the first thing that came to my mind.

Because I see Wanda has suspended him I hate to say something he might want to reply to, like he's once again caught telling a lie (or in this case the truth ), but gee, he doesn't even bother to try to remember what story he's told in here before so I don't feel too sorry for him.

Well . . . . back to the original post on this thread, the U. of Akron retiree (72) who--along with his child bride (47) are suing their next-door neighbor because she smoked on the front porch during other than the first quarter of any hour.

He clearly is a person with too much time on his hands, and his wife is probably a case as well inasmuch as she admits to having lived with her parents well into her adult years. Although Akron is still called The Rubber City, there are no tires made there anymore. I remember however (because I grew up in Canton, Ohio and sometimes had work in Akron) in the early 60s when the rubber factories were working and the stench that permeated the entire city was truly enough to make a person gag. I'd be willing to bet that Professor Sensitive and his wifey-wife were not in Akron in those days. What a load of crap their lawsuit is. John L, please let us know if you find out how this trial turns out. Thanks.

Dennis, he lost his case against the smoker.

I always enjoy quotes from Mark Twain. He consumed massive quantities of tobacco. Loved it. But I've got a better quote from Twain than the above referenced mule story:

"If I cannot smoke in Heaven, then I shall not go."

John L -- thanks for the news. Glad to hear it.

Anne 123 -- Yeah, so many of Mark Twain's quips are wonderful.