About an hour ago at 10:30 I was just getting ready to go to bed. I had ten minutes left to watch of my movie on Netflix instant and I hear a doorbell. My first thought was that I don't see how that sound could fit in to the movie at this point, then I realize that it was my actual doorbell. Timothy is out of town again this week and even if he wasn't I probably still wouldn't have answered the door so late. I snuck past the front door with the window at the top to get to the other side of the house for two reasons: that's where the boys are sleeping and I want to be closer to them in this moment of uncertainty and also because their bedroom windows are the only ones in the house that look out onto the street. I see someone standing on the front porch with a flashlight and a truck parked in the street in front of the house. It looked like a work truck, but I couldn't see any logos on the side or anything.
I called Timothy who was most likely already sleeping and didn't answer, then wondered what I expected him to do about this anyway. By this point scary flashlight man is walking around my yard and I'm trying to watch him through the blinds and not let him see me at the same time. Then I called my cousin David who lives only a couple of miles away who said he'd be right over and agreed I should call the police. While on the phone with 911 the scary flashlight man managed to get over the fence into the backyard!
I'm running from the kids' rooms to check on them and look outside to the window in the kitchen to watch the backyard too. Then freaky scary flashlight man pulls out the biggest chainsaw I have ever seen and starts cutting down my neighbor's tree that hangs over our fence. By this time a part of my brain was thinking this has to be someone from the power company, but I was too far into panic mode at this time to listen to it. Finally, the nice guy on the phone tells me the cops are outside, it's just a utility truck and I should go outside to talk to the officer.
I go outside and see the police car about 3 houses down where he had pulled David over for speeding! They were more worried about giving him a ticket than making sure I was okay! I hovered on my front porch for a bit, not wanting to walk away from my house where the two boys are sleeping with scary flashlight/chainsaw man still on the loose, but it was soon obvious that the police were not going to come to me and I was going to have to go to them. So I ran down the street in my bare feet and told them I was the one that called and please come check on the guy roaming my yard and please don't give my cousin a ticket for trying to come save me.
Well the cops were pretty much jerks and thought I was a stupid girl, but at least David didn't get a ticket. They finally went and talked to the utility guy and then said they were going to leave. David and Sheila came inside and sat with me for a few minutes to calm me down. I'm really grateful they live so close by and stay up late.
An hour later, I feel kinda stupid, but I would probably do it the same way again. And if you think guys walking around at night with flashlights aren't scary then you should go watch E.T. again.
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I don't think it's just scary, I think it's a nightmare come to life and it's probably criminal!!! I hope you will call the company that sent that idiot out at night and complain. Glad you had someone nearby to help you out. You may need to do a little deep breathing before bed tonight!
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I agree that the word chainsaw should always be bold and underlined. You know, for safety. I commend you for that. If I knew how to work html, I'd use it and type chainsaw the way it should be typed right now. I don't. I have Brent for that.
ReplyDeleteSecond, I have retold your story multiple times since I first heard it, and it never fails to drop jaws and elicit a resounding, "WTF???" Using my good research skills, I'm going to say that 100% of people think that Encore might need to review their policy for sending out stupid men in unmarked utility trucks unannounced late at night. With chainsaws. Fire hazards must be handled asap -yes. But a simple phone call (I believe Encore could probably get your number) would suffice.
For what it's worth, you have another vote here for "Janet did the right thing."
It turns out that the truck was marked, I just wasn't able to see it from inside the house because it was so dark. Once outside, the flashing red and blue lights lit it up nicely.
ReplyDeleteTo wrap up the insanity, I had to call to get someone to come clean up the half a tree they left in my yard and I was told that I didn't have a service order requested for my address. (Yeah, ya think?! If I would have requested them to come out I probably wouldn't have called the stinking cops when they got here!) So she told me I had to get my neighbor's address who owns the tree and then then they could get someone to come clean it up. (It's in MY yard!) Whatever. I made her hold while I looked up the address on Google Maps, because it's a house on the street behind us. Then they were happy and someone came out on Wed to clean up. They did all of this with my gate to the backyard locked. Now I'm worried about how easy it apparently is for someone to get over my 6 ft fence. Hmmmm......
Were I there the guy might have been seriously hurt. Right of Entry access is limited; can't go through private property to get to an easement.
ReplyDeleteDude! Scary, flashlight, chainsawANYTHING definitely warrants a 911 call...not to mention policemen who actually stay ON TASK! Jeez! Why the heck is someone coming out to do that kind of work that late?! Well, I'm glad you guys are ok.
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