I will start by explaining that the two Vicodin I took an hour ago are working quite well, the pain in my lower back and hip are but a bad memory now. I have my “California Mellow” and have consigned myself to the fact that I will not be going out on any locksmith jobs, at least not until this “buzz” clears off.
I’m listening to a selection of pop singles on my computer’s iTunes, a selection which was put together so that when I am driving around town in my service truck I'll have favorites with me to sing along with. You should be most grateful that most of the time I sing along with the windows rolled up.
I figured that as long as my time was going to be spent here in my easy chair, I might as well catch up on the slide show pictorial amusements of events that occurred during the week here in the Houston area. Our local NBC affiliate, KPRC, had several events that were caught on film; an electric power relay station on fire, pets treated after a house fire and the one that got me going, pictures of a truck that slammed into a house. ( link provided in the title bar )
The first house that Lucy and I lived in was in Oak Forest, a subdivision on the near north side of Houston. Most of the houses had been built after WWII as starter homes for retuning GI’s. One evening one of Lucy’s friends stopped by for a visit; her husband wasn’t particularly interested in visiting and decided to wait in the car listening to the radio with the motor running and A/C going.
A few minutes of visiting between the two ladies became more involved and time wore on; the reluctant husband in his car had fallen asleep. I’ve no idea what triggered him to awaken suddenly, a bad dream perhaps; in any case when he thought he was drifting forward he threw the shifter into reverse, not into park. We were inside the house when he backed up, cut to one side and slammed into my Toyota Celica which was parked on the street. He then shifted into drive, tore out across my next door neighbor’s yard, taking out a corner of their house, missed a huge tree and completed the nightmare by driving the rest of the way out of the yard and ended up down the street where he was able to bring it to a stop.
We came rushing out of the house, having been alerted to the disaster in progress, believing that he’d had a heart attack and that was the reason for his inability to control his car. No, he’d simply had a panic attack upon waking. In one way I was relieved that he was okay, no heart attack or injuries from multiple encounters with parked cars and houses.
His insurance company paid for the repairs to my Celica and wrote my neighbor a check to repair the damages. She cashed the check, had a great party and never fixed their house; instead covering it with a couple of sheets of plywood. About a year later, when she still had not fixed the damage, looking at the eyesore of plywood that had been exposed to the elements that she considered acceptable, we decided that it was time to find a better place to live. The neighborhood was fine, just that one neighbor was enough to make living there intolerable.
I’ve listened to jokes, “You know you’re a red neck when…”; this woman put another page in that book. This is the same family with the little girl who would whistle cat calls out the window in my direction whenever I’d pull in or out of the driveway. She was only 4 years old at the time; hardly old enough to understand the implications, or so I thought.
One day while I was getting ready to leave for work, dressed in my police blues and giving a hug to Lucy prior to getting in my truck, the little girl came out and began putting on her best for me; a wave and a wink as she strutted her stuff in front of Lucy.
“That’s my boy friend.”, she bragged and lifted her brow to impress us.
“I’m his wife.” Lucy quickly reminded her and laughed at the impossible remark that had just been fired by such a small child.
“Well, you’re not home all the time.”, as if we were being filmed for the afternoon soap opera. I don’t think we could ever forget how that came out so naturally. We had to wonder what kind of home life this little girl was exposed to. I hope everything worked out for that little girl, cute as she was there had to be other issues to overcome as these thirty plus years have gone past.
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