reply to post by 2stepsfromtop
This is an outrage. But, those associations are a contract. With that said, I wish that these concerned neighbors would pitch in and help out rather
than symbolicly burn crosses in his yard.
I remember moving once, to a State that was a long ways away. The night before I got in my new home, there was a major wind storm and I spent my
first day at my new place with a chain saw and repairing a neighbors fence.
After I had piled the limbs and branches by size, I went to the Fire Dept. and paid for a burn permit. The permit allowed open burning, but I though
it would be safer and less blatant if I got a barrel, which I did, and burned the piles bit by bit using a screen on top to keep hot ash from flight,
and with a hose running at the barrels base the entire time.
Not even an hour into the burn, a car pulls in my driveway like they own the place and out pop two chunky ...what's the word I'm looking for...old
hags..yeah that's the correct description.
They come up to me like maddened school marms and start scolding me and they saw smoke and thought there was a fire, tell me that it's illegal to
burn in the city limits, and that this is not a good way to start as a resident in their town and that they were going straight to the fire marshall
and I would be fined and blah blah blahh and that they were both on the city council and they didn't appreciate my disregard for blah blah blah
and it went on and on....for what seemed like a good 10 minutes.
I stood there in disbelief listening to this squacking thinking how it sounded like a couple (dozen) hens bickering about who got to peck the seed
tossed on the ground. It was a scene that you would have had to see and hear to belive and still you would have to pinch yourself to make sure it
wasn't a dream.
When they finally shut those flapping old hag beak lips,
I was finally able to speak.
Let me back up a bit. It was Friday before the trip and I was due to leave Monday. I needed my check from the house sale to get the moving truck. I
went to get it when they finally cut it at about 4:00PM. I arrived at about 4:45PM to find the check was about $19,500.00 short. I exploded. It
turned out that an equity lender, who had been paid off before closing, was mistakenly called by the dispursing company to insure the amount of their
check was correct. They said that it sounded right, basically fraudulently trying to double dip as if it would be over looked somehow. I immediately
called my attorney and he actually answered, (rare at almost 5:00PM on a friday) and I explained what happened. He wanted to speak with the check
issuer and when I got my phone back, they were scurrying to contact the people involved and by the grace of God, they hung up the phone and asked if a
second check would be acceptable.
I finished packing for the move just as the buyers of my old house arrived. There was still a large dumpster in the driveway, and I told them they
could use it at no cost, since I knew they were going to rip the carpet up anyways, and gave them a number to call when they were done.
My woman was sick and violently tossed cookies all the night before, so I had to have our teenage daughter, (only with a permit) drive the car while I
drove the moving truck.
My new house was due to close Tuesday Morning and it would be close to get there driving straight through.
My woman got worse by the hour and half way there, I let the dog out at a rest stop, and he wouldn't get back in. (he had never been in a vehicle
before) and I couldn't catch him for about an hour.
After that, my woman had gotten so ill, that about three hours from destination, I had to stop, get her and the kids a motel room because she
couldn't go on any further. I went in the truck the final three hours alone, and got to town about 10 minutes before the closing. I was
exhausted.
Half way through the signings, the lender called, interupting the meeting demanding that a loan I was making payments on, with a balance of $1200.00
would need to be paid off or they would not complete the mortgage loan. They had misquoted the downpayment amount on a good faith estimate and had
tried relentlessly to get out of the loan, but my broker whooped them like a red-headed step child at every attempt. This was the final straw. The
broker was so P.O>ed (as was I obviously) that she stipulated she would deduct the loan payoff from her commission just to complete the deal. I was
in her debt. (later, she bought the company and did very well indeed). Finally the deal was closed.
Now, with all of that, the windstorm and tree damage on move in day, getting a room set up for my ill woman for when she and the kids arrived, the
cleanup and cost of permit, and fatigue,
this intrusion of the bickering old city council hags and their threats had been the push over the edge that they now would regret.
The golden silence was just enough to allow me to respond.
I started off, as I pulled the permit from my pocket, unfolding it with methodic intent...."What do you mean I can't burn in the city limits?
According to my fire permit the marshall just issued me, not only am I permitted to burn here, in the city, it says I can open burn. I thought I
would use this barrel and cover it with a screen with a hose to cool the base just for extra safety and as a courtesy to my new neighbors and the
city. I don't know who the hell you think you are, and I honestly don't give a rat's as* who you are and if you don't get in your car and off of
my property, I'm gonna dump this barrel over, call 911 and by the time the sherriff get's here, I'll have a bon-fire you'll be able to see from
the other end of the canyon because my permit says I can.
I turned and walked towards the house, listening...there were no more words, just two doors shutting, the starter engaging, and the sound of an engine
in retreat.
Since then, I never saw those ....beak-flapping-hag-councelwomen again, and after the crazy week, I felt satisfaction, and a smile formed.
Yeah, I bet without that permit, they would've harrassed me good, and I may have ended up like Gramps.