There Goes The Neighborhood

Some new neighbors moved in this week and for once, I don't have to worry about who they are or what kind of ruckus they'll bring to the street. These new neighbors moved in four houses down across the street and I'm thrilled to welcome them to my hood. It's my cousin Anna and her husband Randy! They are moving here from Birmingham as they are both done with school (for now) and I hope they enjoy their time on our little street in Huntsville's hippiest neighborhood. 

A few months ago, Anna asked me if there were any houses for rent in my area and there were, there are always a few houses for rent and so I passed along some information. I don't know if she and Randy looked at any places at that time or not, but I guess they decided the liked the area. I guess I had mentioned at some point that the house across the street was empty and a rental (this is the house that has seen many a strange neighbor from Panties to Homeskillet) and so a few weeks ago, she asked me if it was available. I managed to get the owner's phone number from my neighbor Jeff and gave him a call to get some details. He was thinking about selling, but decided he would let Anna and Randy look at it (so gracious). That same day, the house down the street became available and so I got that phone number and passed it along to Anna as well. 

Anna and Randy looked at the house across the street, the house down the road, and a few others in a different part of town. The biggest house in the price range happened to be the one down the street and they made a verbal commit to the landlady. They moved in on Tuesday of this week and I'm super excited to have them as neighbors. With's Anna's move to the hood, there are now four of us Parker cousins living within a one mile radius of each other. I think it is so crazy and fun that we have all managed to live so close to each other in such an eclectic part of town. Just as Five Points is diverse, so are our personalities and we all fit well in our unique area of town.

Good Neighbors and Stolen Pumpkins

​I​ had planned on mentioning this last week, but then the week got away from me and next thing I knew it was the week was over and I had not said a word about it. Last Monday (the 14th) I walked out my front door only to discover that the two large pumpkins on my front porch had been stolen. I was not happy. I have had pumpkins stolen before, but usually that happens on Halloween night, long after I've snuffed the candles out of the jack-o-lantern and forgotten to bring it inside. This was the first time that two whole and un-carved pumpkins had been swiped. 

Look, here's how I feel about the situation... if you want some pumpkins for your house and cannot afford the luxury, then just knock on my door and I will give you some cash for pumpkins or even the pumpkins off my porch; just don't steal them though. In reality, it was probably some kids  who stole the pumpkins and they stole my friend Amberly's pumpkins too (she lives about a block down the street). I kept looking in the streets for smashed pumpkins and finally saw one (or two) on Sunday on a road close by and Amberly saw some a few days before that so it seems that the pumpkin thief is up to mischievous ways.

I did buy a new (even larger) pumpkin over the weekend and placed it close to the door so that perhaps it would not get stolen. So far so good.

Totally unrelated, but also not because this too involves Amberly...

Last Saturday after napping because I was worn out from puppy training class, I woke up and checked my email and saw that Amberly was having some people over for the Alabama game and our friend Nevin was going to be cooking up some sliders. Since I had no idea what I was going to make myself for dinner, I sent her a text and told her I was going to come on down. 

At this point in the day, my foot was hurting so badly that I could hardly put pressure on it at all, but I managed to hobble down the street and I'm glad I did. Amberly had made Buffalo Chicken Dip and some delightful spinach dip and also brownies and fruit punch and Nevin started working on those sliders soon after I arrived. The food was delicious and really hit the spot. Midway through the second quarter, I decided to head back home. I really just wanted to spend the evening laying on the couch and being lazy because I had a big day ahead of me on Sunday as well. So, I told everyone goodbye, thanked them for the food and hobbled back home.  

I was so thankful for the invitation and yummy dinner from Amberly. I'm thankful she is right down the street and so glad we have gotten to know each other and have become friends. It's really nice to have neighbors who are also great friends!

Adult Content and a Disturbance in the Neighborhood

I think I mentioned a while back that the IT department where I work had updated the filters on our internet access therefore making it such that I could no longer update the blog on my lunch break or any other break for that matter. This was really not too big of a deal because I do, after all, have internet access at home and I could update from home like most normal people do. In addition to no longer being able to update the blog, other lovely sites were blocked as well such as eBay and weekly ads from The Fresh Market and Target - I mean, really, can someone explain to be the harm in looking at a weekly grocery store ad on your break? These new filter controls were out of control in my opinion. 

Then, on Wednesday morning, I came in to work, got some things done, and decided to take a quick peek at my blog to see if any of you kind souls had left a comment as I do enjoy reading what you all have to say. You will not believe this, but IT has now blocked my own blog! Better yet, the reason this family friendly blog was blocked by our IT department was because the content was "adult". I only wish I was kidding. So, let me apologize for all the scandalous content I've posted over the last four years and five months. I had no idea what I wrote was so "adult".

In other news of the weird, I was sitting on my couch Tuesday night about 7:30 when I heard a loud "boom, boom". It was so loud that I could feel it in my stomach (as Sydney would say about fireworks). I figured it was either a shotgun or fireworks and I hoped for fireworks, but thought of taking cover because what if a gunman was on the loose in Five Points? I sat on the couch for a minute or so listening when I heard the same "boom, boom" and figured it must be fireworks. After hearing (and feeling) it a third time, I decided to get up from my perch and check out what was going on outside my home. I went to the back room which was dark and peaked out the side window. Whenever you are trying to be sneaky, it's best to do it in a dark room, or at least this is my philosophy. I didn't see anyone running around with a shotgun so I decided to look out the window on the back door. 

When I opened up the blinds, I saw three cop cars pulling in to the back alley and at this point I determined that indeed it was fireworks, not a shotgun, that was making all the racket. My neighbor P, the same neighbor in fact who had my shed in his backyard for a few days, has a propensity for shooting off loud but pretty fireworks around holidays and apparently bought some new ones or found some old ones and decided to shoot them off. P had some friends over and they were all gathered outside and since it is illegal to shoot fireworks in the city I can only assume that the cops either saw the large fireworks or received some 911 calls or both. The cops lingered around for about 30 minutes or so and since I didn't watch the entire interaction I have no idea if P was given a citation or a warning or nothing at all. What I do know is that it made for some interesting entertainment for a small portion of the evening. 

Wednesday afternoon when I was driving home from work, I noticed three cop cars at a house on Oakwood, right behind my house. I have no idea why they were there, but if I had to guess it would be because the yard is unruly and overgrown. I'm sure it is not in accordance with city ordinance, but then again, maybe something else was going on there. Whatever the case, there is rarely a dull moment around my home. 

Since we are on the subject of random topics today I've got one more for you. A girl at work has a personalized University of Alabama license plate that says "BJ4RT". Now I know that it means BJ for Roll Tide. BJ is the girls' initials in case you didn't already figure that out. Every time I see it, however, because of the weird way my mind works, always think "BJ Fart". I have thought "BJ Fart" about that license plate since the first time I laid eyes on it and with that, I wish you a fond weekend. 

Channeling My Inner Mrs. Kravitz

I didn't mention in my last post that the neighbors across the street from me (and next to Jeff) moved out over the weekend. I actually have no idea what their names are or what they do, etc. as I have never bothered to go over and introduce myself. It's sad, I know. Since I've lived in my house, the rental across the street has had many colorful characters live there. I am assuming the lease has run out and the people decided to move elsewhere. In all honesty, I don't think the man who owns the property is a very good landlord, so the high turnover is not much of a surprise. 

When I first moved in there was a lady and her older son who lived there and about two years later her job transferred her to Washington and they moved. Since then, we've had an array of neighbors who never stay more than a year, and sometimes even less than a year. There was a woman who lived there with one or two family members that Jeff referred to as "Panties" because he saw her come outside in her underwear once and I think it scarred him for life. We had a couple of bachelors in their 20's live there and one of them had a girlfriend who was there often as well. In fact, the girlfriend took it upon herself to park in my yard until I left her a note one day to park in her own yard. There was a young family (wife, husband, young child) that lived there before the current couple and we never heard much out of them. Really, the only crazy people that has lived there is "Panties" and her crew. 

The current couple is somewhat of a mystery. When Brittany picked Sydney up on Sunday she thought she recognized the girl as someone she went to school with. The girl has a little boy who stays with her on occasion. They had a cat at one point; in fact I mentioned the cat once before as I found it interesting that it would sit on the roof of the house. The cat also had kittens which they gave away to various folks. Then Jeff found out they took the cat out to the country and just left it somewhere because the girl didn't want to pay for an animal license. They also have, or had, a dog; I'm really not sure if the dog is still with them or not because I haven't seen it in a long while. The dog was sweet and the man who lived there took it for walks. Jeff said it was a very friendly dog. Obviously Jeff and I do a lot of talking about our neighbors. Anyway, some time back in the fall, the couple broke up and the dog, which belonged to the girl, stayed with her across the street. Only instead of taking care of it and letting it inside as she did when her boyfriend lived there, she left the dog tied up outside. The dog would get tangled and Jeff would go over and untangle it. The girl didn't give the dog much care or attention. It was very sad. 

Also while they were broken up she had some other guy shack up over there; but, she was being really secretive about it because I would see his car there like at 5:30 or so in the morning but by the time I left for work, the car would be gone. Whatever girl, you didn't pull one over on me! Anyway, I guess she broke up with the new beau after a month or so and the next thing I knew the original (and still current) boyfriend moved back in. This was a good thing for the dog as the dog once again received attention, was let inside, and walked a few times a day, which made both Jeff and I happy. It's pretty apparent that the girl is not very responsible when it comes to animals. Come to think of it she must not be very responsible with children either or else it seems her little boy would live with her all the time, or at least that's my take anyway. 

That's really all the neighborhood news for now. Thankfully there haven't been any more break-ins recently, or at least none that I know of. Charlie is back to not mowing his grass on a regular basis which makes my yard look stellar compared to his tall, tall grass. I think that he thinks the hideous bushes between our properties belong to me when actually they belong to him. He never mows between them or trims them up so I feel like I'm going to have to break down and have a discussion with him on shrubbery maintenance. If it's left up to me, I would pull them all up and be done with it. The bushes were planted there by the people who flipped Charlie's house and they only planted them there to be mean. So, it just seems inevitable that these dreaded bushes will once again be a topic of conversation; hopefully it will go well, after all, I don't want to have to put the beat down on an old man! 

Sometimes You Wake Up and There's a Bus Next Door

I hope you all heeded my advice yesterday and will steer clear of the City Cafe Diner on Drake Avenue next to Cracker Barrel. Seriously, folks - most disgusting food in town! Please listen to my warning. This has been a Public Service Announcement. Thank you.

So, as mentioned, it was a large weekend for me. I had a lot going on and yet not much all at the same time - if that's even possible. Last Thursday night Madison Academy played at Tanner and my dad and I went to that game, which meant that Friday night I was without a game to attend. I had big plans of getting some laundry and cleaning done but instead ended up sleeping the night away on the sofa. I did manage to do the laundry, but the cleaning - not so much. For whatever reason, all I want to do these days is sleep. It can be mildly annoying when I have items on the agenda that need to be accomplished.

Saturday I got up around 6:30 and let The Tide out and was apparently still in a daze when I did because a few minutes later when I went to let her back in, I saw this parked in the yard next door:

I think I have mentioned before how my neighbor often has bands from out of town stay over at her house. I have no idea how this all comes about and quite frankly it's none of my business; besides, the stories I make up in my head are, I'm sure, much more interesting than the actual stories that take place next door. There was also a dog on the bus. I guess he was the band dog, or guard dog or something along these lines. At any rate, he growled every time I or The Tide stepped into the yard. I went for a three mile jaunt that morning instead of going to the gym; that way I was able to get my workout over with before all the college football got going. The rest of the morning was spent doing laundry and some of that cleaning that had been scheduled for Friday night.

Saturday afternoon I went to a wedding of a couple that attend church with my parents. They are in their 50s (I think) and their spouses passed away in the past year or two and they reconnected on that dreaded facebook and now they are hitched. My dad conducted the ceremony and apparently he was a little rusty on marrying folks because after he asked if there were any objections to Bobby and Judi getting married, he turned around and started the ceremony without letting those of us in the audience know we could go ahead and sit down. So, there we were - standing. My granddad was the first to sit and I soon followed. Finally, my mother told one of the young men sitting close to her to go and whisper to everyone that it was okay to sit down. I, for one, found it to be quite funny. The reception was right after the wedding and y'all that chocolate cake they had was the best chocolate cake I have tasted in a long time - maybe ever.
Saturday evening Jackie came by to watch the Alabama game. We feasted on guacamole and salsa and some chocolate cake leftover from the wedding. The game, of course, turned out to be a good one for us seeing as how we are Alabama fans. Quite honestly I think I got more fired up about the Clemson - Auburn game that was on at the same time.

Sunday morning was church and then we had our awful experience at City Cafe Diner. I took my obligatory nap on Sunday afternoon and then about 4:15 I pried myself off the sofa to get ready for evening service when the tornado sirens started wailing. Now, I'm not one of those folks who get frightened when the weather gets bad, but I do not care to drive in it as the road isn't really the safest place to be when it's storming. So, I decided I would just stay home instead of getting out in the midst of tornado warnings. Within the hour, it started raining like crazy and the wind was rather ferocious as well. I had three people text to see if I was okay. Apparently the weather folks mentioned that Five Points was getting hit hard. I didn't know this because I was watching the Republican National Convention on the DVR and getting fired up about being an American. My phone was in another room on the charger in case the power went out and I didn't get the messages until about 30 minutes after they had been sent. At least some folks were thinking about me.

I spent the rest of the night watching TV and just generally being lazy - oh, and drinking Ginger Ale to try and get the thought of City Cafe out of my head. Speaking of TV, there is a new show on BBC America on Sunday nights that I am really enjoying called Copper. Have any of the rest of you checked it out?

 Back tomorrow with a Labor Day recap.

Like a Good Neighbor Jeff Is There

Sometime within the past few months, I lost a casserole dish. It wasn't a fancy one or anything, just one of those 9x13 Pyrex glass casserole dishes and the blue cover that accompanied it. I have absolutely no idea what happened to it. One day it was there, one day it wasn't. I used it often and I am sure that I probably left it somewhere - the question is where? Was it at church? My parents' house (I'm pretty sure no because I've looked)? Or somewhere else? It is a mystery that has baffled me since I first discovered it was missing, which was around July 4 when I went to make a tasty treat and the dish was MIA.

It is just so bizarre that I cannot find this dish because I am overly protective of all my dishes and usually hover over them like a mother hawk when I take them to the church socials or what have you; so, how this one escaped my watchful eye is something that I will probably ponder the rest of my days here on earth. I have other baking/casserole dishes mind you so the cooking hasn't stopped, but now I don't have any 9x13 dishes with a top, which I happen to like. Occasionally when I think about it, I will look at the prices of these 9x13 Pyrex dishes and think about getting one but I always decide to pass because I am not in desperate need of a baking dish and I can put it off for another time.

Fast forward to this Tuesday afternoon. I got home from the gym around 6:40 and on the porch was this past Sunday's edition of The New York Times. You see, my awesome neighbor Jeff subscribes to the Sunday edition of the New York Times and when he is finished reading, he brings it over for me to read. Monday or Tuesday or occasionally on a Wednesday, the newspaper is all wrapped up and placed on my front porch for me. It just so happened that Tuesday was the day this week. When I got up to the porch, I noticed there was a yellow post-it note stapled to the bag which holds the newspaper. I figured Jeff wanted to make sure I kept a certain section of the newspaper before depositing in the recycle bin - sometimes he likes to hold on to a certain section or send it to his mom. I picked up the paper and the note said, "Do you need a 9x12 Pyrex dish?" (He meant 9x13 - he's a man let's cut him some slack). Y'all, I'm pretty sure a tear formed in the corner of my eye I was so overcome with joy. It was all I could do to not drop everything and run right over to his house, but I was kind and let The Tide outside first.

I then walked on over to Jeff's house and sure enough, he gave me a Pyrex dish just like the one I am missing. It doesn't have a top, granted, but I found one online that can ship to be for around $10. So, when I feel like coming off $10, then I'll probably go ahead and buy it. I was so excited to get this baking dish! Jeff said he prefers to cook in a metal pan and wasn't using the glass one. Clearly he isn't making large dinners for his family like I sometimes do. He probably only needs one pan at a time. Whereas I - well, I sometimes need more than I have.

Jeff also hooked me up with about six pads of sticky notes while I was at his house. Apparently he bought a large lot of them at Staples and needed to pass some along. I heard on the radio this week that 72% of Americans don't even know their neighbors names. I am really blessed to have such a good neighbor and I certainly hope you have a good neighbor too!

I Need To Mow My Yard

I don't have anything exciting to end with this week. Hopefully you're not too disappointed. I'm sure you all have already mowed your lawns, whereas I have not and now my grass is out of control. I heard Robert Reeves say that you should mow on March 23 or 24 so that the green onions wouldn't come back and so I decided to hold out for the 23rd, which is tomorrow (or today if you are reading on Friday). However, it poured down rain Thursday and I think we are supposed to get more rain on Friday; so, now I have no idea when I'm going to mow. Fingers crossed it won't rain on Friday and I can get it done then. Otherwise it will be Saturday morning after a trip to the gym, which sounds like too much physical activity in one day! At any rate, it needs to be done before The Tide gets lost in the tall grass never to return.

I wanted to tell you all another story about that neighborhood cat. On Saturday when I left to go to the gym the cat was on top of the roof of the house across the street (where its owners live). The roof over the porch of that house is a little lower than the roof over the living portion of the home and that's where the cat was chilling out. When I got home, it was still there. Then moved to the higher portion of the roof. I took a photo with my phone, but you probably can't tell much about the scenario. I found it to be really strange, but what do I know?

This photo makes it look like I live in the ghetto!

Here's another photo from my phone that I thought was funny. On Saturday when I went to the concert with Maria and Jackie, I took this photo of my two friends. It cracked me up because Maria wasn't even looking at me, her eyes were turned towards the tour bus. She was not going to miss it if one of The Avett Brothers walked by!

My neightbor Charlie broke out his fire pit this week. This cracks me up. You can read all about Charlie and his fire pit here. That's it for the week, friends. I hope you all have a great weekend and that your yard is perfectly trimmed!

Just Call Me Mrs. Kravitz

In keeping with what seems to be the norm these days, my neighbor had yet another band shack up at her house over the weekend. I’m beginning to wonder if she’s running a brothel over there because it sure seems suspicious that week after week there are new guys from out of town staying the night at her place.

Friday night, after I had been asleep for a while, I was awakened by The Tide jumping up and barking really loudly. This happens from time to time if there is a strange noise outside – The Tide is a good watchdog! I lay in bed and listened as well as I could between her barking and heard the sound of car doors shutting and then I could have sworn I heard glass bursting. I, being the lazy lover of the bed that I am, decided not to get up and investigate. I figured if my car was being broken into I would deal with it the next day and I hope the burglars want to learn some French because all I’ve got in the car right now are French lessons on CD.

The next morning, I got up and let The Tide out and noticed a beat up old car (i.e. – band car) in my neighbor’s yard. I didn’t think much of it other than that another band was staying there and I guessed that was what all the commotion was the night before. I set about my morning activities and then went to the gym. When I came home from the gym, I noticed the back windshield of the beat up car was busted out. I don’t remember it being busted out when I let The Tide out earlier that morning, but I could have still been waking up at that moment.

A few hours later, there was all kinds of commotion outside again as my neighbor began whistling and yelling for her dog, Oz. This happens at least once every two weeks or so. I don’t know why she can’t seem to keep track of her dog, but she can’t. It was then that I saw the two guys from the band. They were also outside looking for my neighbor’s dog and they had a dog with them too. I wonder if the dog is part of their act?

I suppose they finally found Oz because things settled down a bit and the next thing I knew the band guys were taping up their back windshield. Apparently gigs don’t pay enough to actually call someone and have the back windshield repaired. I guess a back windshield of clear tape adds more hippie ambiance to the situation.

Anyway, because I’m a nosey neighbor and because I like to provide you all with the most interesting information and photographs possible, I snapped these two photos through my kitchen window of the band memebers in action taping up the broken windshield. Call me crazy, but when I look at these two, I’m reminded of Rich and Chris Robinson from the Black Crowes. Would you agree? Needless to say, I look forward to seeing what band this next weekend brings.

Here We Go Again?

Last Friday I wrote a post about an impromptu concert that took place next door on the previous Friday afternoon. If you read it, then you may recall that I didn’t enjoy the show.

This morning, I got up as I always do about 5:40. I went to let The Tide out and when I did, I noticed a van parked next door. I tried to get a closer look to see if there were other vans parked there, but couldn’t get a good look. I let The Tide back in and began my morning routine.

As I was leaving for work, I noticed that the van had a trailer attached and the trailer was covered in bumper stickers, and the license plates were from out of town. I have no doubt that, while this isn’t the same band that interrupted nap time, it is indeed another band staying at the home of my next door neighbor.

As I mentioned before, my neighbor works at Lowe Mill where they often have live music, which I’m sure is a fun job. What I don’t understand is why all these bands are shacking up at her house. I’ve got to tell you if working at Lowe Mill and booking bands means that you have to provide a place for the band to sleep, then that is not a job I would want to have. It’s really curious to me – maybe she is good friends with all these people, who knows? What I do know is that I wouldn’t want a house full of stinky band members staying at my house. Let’s just hope these guys keep their musical instruments to themselves.

In other news – the poll for the name of the new dog ends in a few hours. This was a quick poll. My parents are supposed to go look at the new dog this evening but to be quite honest, I’m not sure my dad is ready for a new dog. I know I wouldn’t be. If The Tide were to go on to dog heaven, I would need a while to mourn her loss before getting a new dog. Everyone is different I guess. So, maybe they will have a new dog by the weekend and maybe they won’t.

Have a great weekend, ya’ll!

A Friday In Five Points

Wow, half the day has passed and I have written nothing. I apologize for the delay, but I have been putting out some fires here at work and haven’t had any time to write today. I had planned on a book review for today, but, I want to put up something quick since half the day is gone.

Earlier this week, I stopped by my neighbor Jeff’s house to ask him if he had his Target ad from this past Sunday. My newspaper boy left out my Target ad and also my coupons from last Sunday’s delivery. I wanted the Target ad because there was a coupon for a $10 gift card with a new prescription and I have one to fill.

At any rate, Jeff and I got to talking as we always do and he asked me if I enjoyed the concert from last Friday (the 11th) and I said, “Oh my goodness, I completely forgot to blog about that!” As you may know, there is all kinds of crazy happening on my street from time to time, and last Friday was no exception.

Fridays I like to leave work a little early and do my grocery shopping, stop by the Little Rosie’s drive thru and enjoy an afternoon of TV watching or reading or napping. When I got home last Friday, I noticed there was a van with North Carolina plates in my next door neighbor’s yard (not Charlie). I recognized the van because it had been parked at my neighbor’s house overnight a couple of times previously and I had figured out that the van belonged to a band from North Carolina that played in town those two times. My neighbor, you see, works at Lowe Mill where they have live entertainment on the weekends and sometimes during the week too.

I didn’t think much of it, just realized that the band had a show in town and that the guys would be staying next door. I ate my food from Little Rosie’s and stretched out on the couch to take a quick nap since I was heading out to see RENT later that evening. About the time I closed my eyes, I heard the loudest racket of horns! Apparently this band, who had never been noisy the past two times they had stayed with my neighbor, decided to sit outside and conduct a trumpet practice for the next three hours! Now, I’m a lover of jazz music and especially love the horn section, but let me tell you, people, this was not music to my ears. The trumpet playing was so terrible I’m surprised The Tide didn’t go hide under the bed.

These guys played the same song over and over for three hours non stop and it wasn’t melodic nor was it on key! I finally sat up realizing there was no way a nap was in my future and decided to watch some TV; but I couldn’t even do that because the racket was so loud and distracting I couldn’t concentrate on the show I was watching.

Jeff didn’t care for it either as he told me this week when I stopped by. He said they were just showing out and I tend to agree with him because as many times as those guys have stayed there in the past, they have never once made such a noise! I told Jeff if those guys sounded like that in concert, I sure didn’t want to hear them play.

My visit with Jeff was great, as always – he gave me his Target ad and the coupons he didn’t cut out and also gave me a coupon for a free pint of Talenti ice cream, which is quite expensive. He had written a nasty email to the company and they sent him some coupons for some free ice cream – see writing the company works! I don’t make this stuff up!

Hopefully today won’t be quite as noisy when I get home, but if so, it’s just another Friday in Five Points! Have a great weekend, ya’ll!

Your Questions About P's Drunk Driving Answered

There were a couple of questions posted in the comments section of the post about P and her drunk driving self slamming in to my car last Saturday night. So, I thought I would answer them here in case some of you don’t check or read the comments.

1. What are the red plastic looking things under the car? They are pieces of P’s tail light from her Honda. From what I understand, her car is a lot worse off than mine. Apparently her back bumper is dented in and has a lot of turquoise paint on it and I guess she has a busted tail light as well. I haven’t actually seen her car; this is what I heard from Jeff and the police. But I know the red tail lights are hers because there is some turquoise paint on one piece and it says Honda on it which is what her car is.

2. What would you do without Jeff??? I don’t know! Ya’ll Jeff is the best neighbor ever! We trade food, music (just this week I burned some CDs for him that he asked for), he alerts me to any suspicious activity at my house (like when Erika comes by in a black SUV to drop off Harry Potter books), and it is really enjoyable to talk to him. He is a very interesting character and he also knows all the neighborhood gossip. As Jackie said, I hit the jackpot with him as a neighbor.

3. How old is P? I don’t know her exact age, but via Jeff, she is in her 50s – clearly of an age to know better than to be out drinking and driving.

Completely off the subject, but I thought Kimberly would like to know – this week’s game is at Hazel Green. I’ll be taking my own chair, but will have a concession stand review for you next week.

Watching Football Can Be Dangerous

Saturday night, I was lying on the couch watching the Texas/Texas Tech game, enjoying a nice evening of college football. I was also doing some laundry, so, needless to say, there was a lot of “noise” in the house with the TV, dryer, etc. About 9:25 or so I heard a crash outside; usually when there’s a noise like this, The Tide will bark and jump up from her slumber to peak out through the seam between the blinds and the window to determine if everything is okay. Well, she must have been worn out from watching football all day because she didn’t even stir until I got up and decided to check things out.

I opened the front door and saw my neighbor, Jeff standing in the street in front of my house. He waved me over and I asked what was going on. He said, “They hit your car.” I said, “What?” He repeated, “They hit your car and I think they’re drunk. They’re turning around down there. I came out here to see if I could get the license plate number.”

About that time, the car headed towards us at which point Jeff pushed me and him out of the way and said, “Get out of the way, I think they’re drunk.” As the car slowed down, I thought maybe they were going to stop at my house and admit what happened, etc.; but, no. The car was slowing down because it was the car of my other neighbor P. (Name was been withheld to protect the not so innocent).

I said to Jeff, “Is that P’s car?”

“Yes, I think it is,” he said.

And so we started walking towards her house. I asked Jeff, should we call the police and he said, “Yeah, I would. I think she’s got a drinking problem and it would probably be best. Come on over you can use my phone; I’ve got the police department on speed dial.” Yes, there is sometimes a need to have HPD on speed dial when you live in Five Points.

I told Jeff I was going to go home and put some shoes on first, which I did, and then I went over to his house to speed dial HPD. I explained to the guy what happened, told him there was a witness (Jeff – who had been outside smoking and saw the whole thing happen), and that we were under the impression P might be intoxicated.

After I got off the phone, I asked Jeff if he minded speaking to the police, and he said, “Sure, not a problem, let me put my other glasses on.” (No, I’m not sure why.) And I said, “OK, I’m going home to put on a bra.” Look, I’m just being honest here, people! I was at home for the night and I don’t care to wear a bra when I’m hanging out at home with nothing going on but I figured I’d better put one on before the police showed up and as far as telling Jeff is concerned, well, he just thought it was funny. (Jeff is in his 60s for those of you wondering).

I went inside my house and did just that and also managed to call my parents. I briefly told my dad what was going on and about that time the police showed up, which I thought was interesting because it took them about seven minutes to arrive after I placed the call, whereas 45 minutes after I called about Charlie possibly being dead no one had yet shown up.

The police looked at the car and Jeff gave them the account of what happened – the car came from the east stopped a little bit past my car and started backing up (we assume to turn around) and hit my car, then sped off, turned around at the next intersection came back and pulled into the driveway of her home. We told them which house was P’s. They asked if she had come out since she pulled her car into her driveway and parked it. No, she had not.

Two more officers arrived at this point. The first two took car of the paperwork – getting my information, Jeff’s information, and his witness account. The other two went over to P’s house and looked at her car and somehow got her out of her house. I assume they knocked on the door, but I never saw that take place. I think it all happened in the back of her house which I cannot see.

Moments later, the two officers that had gone to P’s house started walking down the street with P in tow. One of them brought her information over to the officers on the porch with me so they could document it in the report. The officer that brought the information up (Jones) said, “She’s drunk as hell, but there’s nothing we can do about it.” I’m not sure what the law is here, but I assume the reason they could do nothing about it was because she was already home and/or her drunk driving was not witnessed by an officer. I really don’t know. While P was walking over to the scene of the crime, she fell down three times.

Once all the paperwork was complete, I went inside to watch some more football and called my parents to let them know what had happened while the police were there and also called Jackie to let her know what was going on.

The next morning as I was picking out some clothes for church the doorbell rang, and I had a sneaking suspicion it might be P – sure enough it was. I had never actually met her before, but knew her name through Jeff. So she said, “I guess I should introduce myself, I’m P.”

“I’m Natasha,” I said.

“I hit your car last night,” said P.

“Yes, I know,” I said.

P went on to apologize and say how ashamed she was and how she knew better, and on and on. I proceeded to give her a lecture about how my car could have been a person and she is really lucky it wasn’t and how about calling a cab next time.

She has since called her insurance company and they have been in touch. So, plans are to get my car repaired soon I hope.

As always, there’s never a dull moment in Five Points, or Peyton Place as Jackie calls it.

What Goes Around Comes Around

Just one week ago, I wrote this post about Charlie and how he had left his sprinkler on, which led me to call 911 only to later discover, with the help of my father, that Charlie was alive and well.

Last night around 5:30, I turned on the hose pipe to water the flowers in the newest of the flower beds at my house. I watered each of the shrubs and then left the hose pipe on to continue watering while I ate dinner. My intention was to turn it off as I was leaving for church around 6:00.

Obviously, I forgot.

When I got home a little before 8:00 I went to let The Tide out and realized that the hose had been on the whole time. I went to shut it off and then checked the flower bed and needless to say, there was a lot of water along the side of my house. I don’t know if Charlie noticed it or not, I’m guessing not. Wonder if he would have called 911 if he had noticed? Hmmm…

In the meantime, I wonder what the water portion of my utility bill will look like this month. I may have to make a phone call to my friend Allison’s husband who works for the water department. Allison – I won’t mix toddlers and infants if Mark can help me out with this. (Inside joke for those of you wondering what that’s all about).

Hope He'd Do The Same

Just when I think I won’t have anything to write about, something happens, as was the case last night.

I mentioned in my recent updates post that Charlie the neighbor has taken to watering his yard. There’s not rhyme or reason to his method and it’s not on a schedule either. The timing is very sporadic and so is the placement of the sprinkler.

When I got home from work yesterday afternoon, I noticed that Charlie was watering his front yard and I kind of chuckled to myself, because as I mentioned previously, he doesn’t edge or weed eat his yard and I think it’s weird that he doesn’t do those things but he does water.

After eating some dinner and cleaning up the kitchen, I left for church and arrived back home around 8:00. When I pulled in, I noticed that Charlie had moved his sprinkler to the shrubs beside where our property lines meet. I didn’t think much of it, except that I was getting some free lawn hydration (thanks, Charlie!). I went inside and watched some TV and before I went to bed I gathered up the recycling items to take outside and sit at the road (Thursday is recycling day) and I noticed that Charlie’s sprinkler was still on in the same location – by now it had been there for at least two hours, possibly longer. Also odd was the fact that Charlie’s garage door was up and the light was on, revealing everything inside to would be robbers.

I decided to go over and ring the doorbell and let Charlie know that the sprinkler was still on and the garage door was up. I figured he had probably just forgotten; after all, my dad left his hose pipe on for three weeks earlier this summer because he had forgotten about it – that’s right, three weeks!

I went over and rang the doorbell a couple of times and got no response. I could see that the TV was on, but couldn’t see Charlie. There’s a window at the top of the door, but I’m not tall enough to peek through and couldn’t tell if he was asleep, dead, injured, or what have you.

I went back home and called my parents. My mother answered the phone and I explained to her what was going on and she said I should call the police. I thought maybe I should wait until the next morning to call, but mother said no to go ahead and do it. She then asked if I wanted to ask my dad what he thought and I said, yes, I wanted to seek a second opinion. My dad agreed. He said he would come over also but that the police would probably get there first.

So, I called 911 – my first time to ever call 911 – I felt like I was doing something illegal because 911 is serious business and I guess I’ve never been in serious business before. I gave the operator my address and Charlie’s address and relayed the situation to her. She asked Charlie’s names, and age and said she would have someone come out and check on him.

My dad arrived a few minutes later – before the police – and asked if I had tried to ring the doorbell or anything again. I said no and so we went over to give it another try. My dad is tall enough to see through the window at the top of Charlie’s door and was able to see Charlie sitting in a chair. My dad rang the doorbell what seemed like 50 times and Charlie didn’t get up, but my dad said, “He’s alive, his toes are moving.” My dad continued ringing the doorbell to no avail. My dad then beat on the door really loud and that woke Charlie up and he came to the door.

When he answered he was groggy from having been asleep. We explained the situation, let him know that the sprinkler was on and the garage door was up and my dad told him, “We’re glad you’re alive!” We told that I had called 911 and that the police were on their way to check on him. Charlie kind of chuckled and said that he had fallen asleep. Then we left and a few minutes later Charlie came out and turned off the sprinkler.

I called 911 again and let them know that Charlie was okay and also alive and there was no need for the police to come. I thanked my dad for coming over and he told me I did the right thing.

So, in the end it turned out to be quite a humorous story, but at the time it was kind of frightening. As I told my mother, people have been known to die in that house – my grandmother’s sister died of a heart attack while living there and wasn’t found until three days later. So, I just wanted to make sure Charlie was okay and I hope he would do the same for me.

Charlie

I mentioned in my last post that I have a new neighbor, Charlie, who sits outside at night by his fire pit smoking a stogie and sipping on a glass of wine. Both Monday and Tuesday nights this week I had some friends over and neither night Charlie came out to sit by his fire pit. We were extremely disappointed. Last night Charlie made his return to the fire pit. I immediately sent a text to my friends. Lisa said to take a photo and so I snapped on my big mama lens and pointed it out the window so that everyone can catch a glimpse of Charlie sitting by the fire pit. It made me feel like an undercover detective. Have a good Thursday!