[doorbell]
I'm in the middle of a call with a large number of people from work and am one of two people representing my team, but know that the guys working on the house painting or our realtor might be coming by today. I guess I can take the 2 minutes it would take to answer the door without anyone knowing.
A timid man half hiding behind the side of the garage asked if I was the home owner (no) or the "lady of the house." I am unsure what that means so I said, "I live here."
At that he launched full speed into a monologue about the dead tree in my back yard and that he had to give me citation because the lady down the street called in to complain about all the dead trees in the neighborhood (at least 3 others) how we needed to remove it, not necessarily all of it, we could leave a stump...
I couldn't get a word in edgewise (apparently once he starts his explanation it's all or nothing).
Just then the call I was listening to with my other ear (I had my cell phone headset on) said something I thought I had to pay attention to so I moved my phone up and started to unmute when my counterpart spoke up.
The poor little man said, "Oh, sorry, didn't realize you were on the phone."
"It's ok. I understand about the tree. We had it cut back last year when it had leaves on it, and were hoping it would come back at least a little this year."
I'm not mad at that guy that came by...but my neighbor is another question. In my opinion, if she's enough of a busybody to complain, she is probably enough of a busybody to know that we're working on the house. Surely she noticed the guys patching the stucco and painting this week. Or Iggy cutting down the dead branches on the bush in the front yard. (The little man noticed our bundles of branches and the painting supplies on the front porch.) Or the guys that were here last month ripping off the old deck roof or the guys from the next week putting a new roof over the deck. Or the fact that the tree is smaller than it was last summer.
It bugs me that this thing is anonymous. I wish our neighbor would've felt like they could come talk to us. So they'd know it was on our list - but for later. As it is I get a whole 35 days to get quotes, choose a contractor, actually get the contractor out here to do the work (which, in my experience is the hardest part between their schedules and the weather) and complete the work.
Should I wonder good citizen also complains about my neighbors dogs that bark nonstop if I'm gardening or sitting on my deck? Or if she also complains about the family 2 doors down that shoots fireworks for most of June and July. She is probably married to the guy that sweeps the street in his shorts and tank top. I hope you get some perverse thrill out of making me spend $2k this month that I had earmarked for a washer/dryer/frig at the new place because that guy wanted to sell them all on Craigslist.
