How do you go in to be out? Go in to work to be out of the house.

The House Next Door

     Well, we have some action on the building lot next door. Time to build a house. Right off the bat, that didn't work out too well. First they had to test the soil for pollution. And no wonder, as soon as they dug into the soil, you could smell the oil. Pollution from the oil tank. I remember when they were tearing down the house, they just batted that oil tank around. When there is pollution like that, they have to remove the soil for cleaning.
     That's when they got another surprise. They never removed the foundation from the old house. They just knocked it into the hole. So they had to dig that out and haul it away. Then they had to take out the polluted soil. They took truck loads away. It was going on for days. They told me they don't bring the soil back. Probably sell it. When they finished, there was a hole at least 20 ft. deep. After that they filled part of the hole with crushed rock. Truck loads and truck loads.
Today, they are getting ready to lay the foundation. The guys told me it would take 6 months to build the house. Get used to the noise.
     They told me the new owner wasn't too happy when he heard about the pollution. I think he went after the seller.
     I met the new owner last fall. If he was the guy that bought the house. The first thing he said to me, "I don't like your fence. I'm going to build my own." We're off to a good start. Then I looked at the bright side, I only have to paint my side of the fence. +-

Sunday Afternoon Encounter

This is what went on Sun. afternoon after a knock on my door.

Me - "Hello."

Man - "I got the sign."

Me - "What sign?"

Man - "The 'For Sale' sign for your front lawn."

Me - "What 'For Sale' sign?"

Man - "For your house."

Me - "My house is not for sale."

Man - "Isn't this #18?"

Me - "Yeah."

Man - "Well, I got the sign."

Me - "I think you have the wrong house. Maybe next door?"

Man - "No. That's an empty lot."

Me - "Well, they tore down the house a few weeks ago and I heard the lot is for sale."

Man - "OK, I'll call the office and find out.

After awhile, I hear tap, tap, tap. I look next door and he is pounding the sign into the vacant lot. By the way, that lot is priced at $90,000.

The House Next Door.

 

Well, good-bye to the house next door. Last Monday, they brought in an Excavator - That used to be called a steam shovel. No steam involved now. By the end of the week, it was in a truck and gone. Then they knocked down the basement walls and pushed it into the hole. I guess they are not planning that the next house having a basement. Sad. I remember when I used to see them having barbecues on the patio.

Down She Comes

    Last week, I had one of the trees in my backyard cut down. A maple tree about 70 feet high. The trouble was where a branch had been cut years earlier. The spot started to rot, filled with bugs that eat wood, ants, etc. I was afraid that in some future hurricane, it would blow down on my neighbors house. Right now the house is abandoned, so I don't know what the outcome would be, but the place has been sold for taxes and I am expecting a new house to be planted there. I wouldn't impress the new neighbors if my tree fell on them.
    I had two guys, about my age, do the cutting. Ex power company employees, pole climbers by trade. I told them to just get the tree down, I would look after the rest. So for the next two days, my wife and I cut it to manageable pieces for the wood stove for some time in the future, and got rid of the rest. I told my wife she would have made a great pioneer.
    The next morning I noticed that the tree next to this one didn't have a leaf on it, while the rest of the trees in the yard are still full.