Another good thing?

[Felicity]

Oh dear, that's too funny!
Reminds me of meeting my neighbor for the first time... at gunpoint!
We had just bought the house and received the keys just an hour before, and were walking around in the back yard and inspecting the cable box/electric area going into the house. I see something out of the corner of my eye and look over to see something strange 15 feet away at the fence of my neighbor's back yard. A man yells "What are you doing back there?" and I realize it's a guy looking down the barrel of a shotgun pointed at us! He thought we were appraising how we were going to break in (or something). After explaining we were the new owners and had just closed on the house, he became friendly and apologized... but still something I won't be forgetting any time soon!

Whenever my husband and I talk about it, we just have to shake our heads and mutter something about "That's Texans for you".

 

[Spiky Bugger]

Oh dear, that's too funny!
Reminds me of meeting my neighbor for the first time... at gunpoint!
We had just bought the house and received the keys just an hour before, and were walking around in the back yard and inspecting the cable box/electric area going into the house. I see something out of the corner of my eye and look over to see something strange 15 feet away at the fence of my neighbor's back yard. A man yells "What are you doing back there?" and I realize it's a guy looking down the barrel of a shotgun pointed at us! He thought we were appraising how we were going to break in (or something). After explaining we were the new owners and had just closed on the house, he became friendly and apologized... but still something I won't be forgetting any time soon!

Whenever my husband and I talk about it, we just have to shake our heads and mutter something about "That's Texans for you".

...and why I drive or train AROUND Texas...or fly over it and keep my fingers crossed.

 

[Spiky Bugger]

Okay...rethinking this now.

After the third time we were surrounded by cops, lights a-flashing...I called the local station and asked that our address be designated as a place where we are doing a lot of "fixer-upper-ing." (I was aware that this can be done...they mark your address to call you to see if there is routine construction or not.). They agreed.

So yesterday, our complaintant neighbors (likely) called law enforcement, who (likely) said something like "those folks have notified us that there will be ongoing construction there, it is not illegal to do construction during the day, but we can call them to make sure it's not something else."

Complainant neighbors, not satisfied, called Code Enforcement, to complain that we were making lots of noise and had no building permit on file. Code Enforcement shows up, badges us and pretty much enters uninvited! We had workers ALL OVER the place...lol.

Well, he turned out to be an okay guy...and my sister showed up in the middle of the mess and he remembered her...even her name...from when she reported squatters at a vacant house (with no water, electrical or gas) near her house...so it was a min-reunion.

Guy laughed. "No...you do not need a building permit to paint your kitchen...even if the painter is sanding with a loud sander/vacuum thing...and you do not need a permit for your pool guy or your gardener...and the three guys measuring, cutting, sawing and hammering hardwood flooring, and running a compressor...just to cover an area where a floor heater was removed 30 years ago and has had an ugly piece of plywood ever since...so, thanks for investing in making the area more valuable."

MiniSue and her hero stopped by later. We told them about this. Hero said, "Great...I have a new hobby. I won't actually BUILD anything, but I will come over, fire up a compressor and a miter saw and cut wood and then use a power nailer to stick the pieces back together. No permit needed for noisy crazy during daylight hours..."



ETA.. @DianaCox --->>>NOW you can park in the driveway...as long as Charles brings all his tools.

(Will be adding something from last night's news if I can find it.)

Here it is...this is about one block in L.A., but we have similar POSTED restrictions here. So you will need LOTS of leveling blocks...or to drive around in circles in the wee small hours.

http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/l...nce-in-Highland-Park-Residents-367066931.html