Oops, 6 Shorts

Edited photos from Unsplash and CarStickers.com

You’re probably wondering what I’m talking about. It’s simple.

You know when something pops into your mind and you think, “Oh No! I forgot about that.” Well, that happened after I published what I said was the last story from the townhome. I was waking up the morning after I sent it out and remembered 6 things that I should have mentioned. I know you like interesting things, so I told myself I have to write about these. And they are too small to make them into six separate postings. So what better way than to call them “shorts”.

I'm Selling The Place

I’m Selling The Place was supposed to be my last story but then I thought about these 6 shorts. So without further ado, here they are.

Pizza Delivery

The first night in the townhome was supposed to be uneventful. We had spent the whole day moving boxes around the place. The movers had been fast about moving us and we were moved out of the house and into the townhome within 4 hours.

Nightfall came and the doorbell rang. We weren’t expecting anyone. When I opened the door, there was a woman with long brown hair in a ponytail standing there with 2 pizzas. She was wearing a t-shirt from one of the local pizza joints.

Before I could say anything, she said, “I want to thank you for the big tip.”

I said, “We didn’t order any pizzas.”

And then she pointed toward the front of the complex. I told her it might be on the other side. The funny thing was she didn’t give me a number of what she was looking for.

Side note: I should have taken it and had some free food. But I couldn’t do that.

Package

One day I opened the front door and there was a small package up against the door. I wasn’t expecting a package so I carefully looked down at the package to see what the address was on it. It was my address. There was a name on it that was not mine. I figured out that it came from FEDEX. I called them on the phone and told them what I had. They went through a series of questions and told me they would pick it up in the afternoon. I wasn’t sure about keeping it inside, so I left it at the front door. I checked back a few hours later and it was gone. So I guess they picked it up.

Guy on Bike

Someone was definitely looking out for me here.

I was taking some mail down to the mailbox kiosk to go out. I had just closed the door and was walking down the driveway toward the sidewalk. I saw a guy riding a bicycle frantically on the sidewalk toward me. He and I both stopped near each other on the sidewalk next door.

He was telling me some kind of story about his pregnant wife or girlfriend at home and that she didn’t have anything to eat. He wanted me to accept some package at my place that was supposed to go to him.

He asked me if I lived here, pointing at my place. I pointed and said I live right there. Now before you say what were you thinking, I know I messed up. I had second thoughts after I told him where I lived. I wasn’t thinking and he took me by surprise. I would never do that again. But I was trying to be a nice guy because I am a nice guy.

I started walking down toward the mailboxes in the road with him riding his bicycle behind me. He wanted me to use my money to accept this package. I told him that I was unemployed and didn’t have any money, which was true at the time. He tried and tried to get me to accept that package. I told him no.

Frustrated, he left. What happened next was shocking. He exited the complex and made his way down the sidewalk on the main road I lived on. If this was so important, why didn’t he look for someone else in the complex?

I had a funny feeling about this whole thing.

The Sticker

About 2 months before I left the townhome, the association wanted the residents to get a sticker on their cars so they knew who lived there and who didn’t. You were to meet with representatives down at the pool. I walked down there and met with a woman. She told me she didn’t realize that we were renting. She listed our landlord as the person living there. Not very good record-keeping.

The Gate

There was a gate at the front of the townhome complex. Having not been given a keypad code or a clicker, we were worried that we would be “locked” out of the complex. The management company told us we should go with just a keycode but we decided to choose the clicker. We paid, which was a mistake, and they sent us the clicker. It turns out that they didn’t ever close the gate, so there was no need for any keycode or clicker. No one told us that. Now the management office would have known that, so they took our money. I think it was $25 - $45. When we left, I sent a letter with the clicker and told them to send our refund. I never heard from them.

No Parking

When we moved there, people were parking their cars all over the street. I could hardly get out of the driveway because I was in danger of hitting cars that were directly across the street. Soon the association said you couldn’t park in the street. People were supposed to park in their driveways. There was enough space for one car in the garage and two in the driveway.

They said if you had visitors and they couldn’t park in the driveway, they could park in the parking area for the pool. There were about 14 spots.

If you parked in the street and were caught, they towed you away.

They said work trucks would not be effected.

A guy came to do some work at our place. He parked his truck in the street. Apparently, he didn’t have a business name on his truck. He came into the townhome and talked with us. He told us he had to go get some tools out of his truck. He came back to the door and few seconds later and told us that a tow truck was getting ready to hook up his truck and tow it. He told us that we should have told him but we told him that they told us they wouldn’t tow work vehicles.

That’s it folks!

This is the end from the townhome on the mainland. Really! I’m serious this time!!!!

Until next time, happy reading.

-Matt