California Welcomes Us and We Respond In Turn

Our four day journey across four states went so well. Why couldn’t moving day be uneventful, too?

Would you like to know what I found while cleaning my new fridge? Left by the previous tenants and tucked neatly in a baggie in the freezer door….

Ummm… WEED!

Oh yes. It was unmistakable. After living with a pothead in college, I know it well…

I guess I could have hung on to it for old time sake, or sold it… (How long DOES weed keep in a freezer bag anyway?) … except that the cops had already been here once that day and there was no need for any more bad behavior.

You see. This is our moving truck…

… and this is the fire hydrant that it clipped turning into our neighborhood.

As we were turning the corner early this morning, eager to get into our new home, we were greeted by a twelve-foot geyser spewing up and onto the street and sidewalk below.

Can’t you just picture it?

Neighbors shaking their heads in disgust, morning rush hours slowing to a long gawk, and Mr.D and I holding our heads in shame and disbelief.

When I brought Scout along to survey the damage, we were greeted by a  cheerful man from the water department who was, among other things, completely unruffled by the whole event.

“This happens all the time,” he assured me in his laid back patter.

“Oh yeah. At least, four times a month.  These hydrants are too close to the curb…” and then he proceeded to educate Scout and I all about proper fire hydrant placement.

He also went on to tell me that…

It’s a good thing we were just across the street fixing that other hydrant. The Billies came right away… Do you know them?

(No I have no idea who the “Billies” are..)

Well, there’s Big Billy… he’s the big one…

(Whew! Good thing we cleared that up.)

…and then there’s Little Billy. They came right over and turned off the water. I told your neighbor in the front over there, that Indian fellow, that we’ll get the water back on as soon as possible, especially since it’s the ONLY hydrant for your entire community.

(Umm, WHAT?)

Yeah, but since it’s Friday, it probably won’t be until Monday that it gets done  So long as you don’t deep fry any of those turkeys or have a BONFIRE for the Super Bowl, you should be all right.

(I guess he noticed the Texas plate on the car…)

It was about this time that a cop pulled up to write a report on the incident. A very foxy cop on a shiny motorcycle and an even brighter set of teeth, by the way. Hmmm….

The cop was also unphased by it all. In fact, the only one visibly flustered was the driver of the truck.

He was on the phone with our moving company right away and worrying about the cost, but he seemed reassured after talking to the the police officer. (I know I was…)

Shortly thereafter it was back to work, adjusting the dressers to the exact millimeter of my liking and carrying Mr. D’s book boxes upstairs to the office.

The office that was the playroom when we started, but then I changed my mind and decided that the office was going to be the playroom and the playroom was going to be the office and therefore all of the boxes had to be switched…

Upon further reflection, perhaps I should have offered the weed to our moving crew. It was a very long day.

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