The Lean-to

A minute ago I told you that nothing of note had happened in a while. Well, I forgot something. Nick and I live in a neighborhood with lots of old houses, and lots of those old houses are occupied by old people. One particularly cranky old man lives at the end of my street; actually he just moved in a few months ago.

The first thing he did when he moved in was to put up a carport. Now, I'm not the biggest carport fan to begin with, but this one only even qualifies under the loosest of definitions. It is made of pvc piping and a few mismatched tarps. Unacceptable. When this went up Nick and I were more than a little miffed. However, since we rent our house we didn't really know who to complain to so we let it ride.

Then came the lean-to. Yes, I said lean-to. This guy actually put up steps, railing, and a deck (maybe 3x3 feet) and then proceeded to box it all in with unfinished, unpainted particle board, a crooked window, and a door that leaned over at a distinct angle. We weren't even sure how it would work. This was the tackiest, sickest thing you have ever seen. Seriously. I mean, this whole thing was clearly not well-engineered, could never have been up to code, and was apparently assembled from junk yard scraps.

So you may be able to imagine my utter elation when, while out walking with Rebecca on Friday, we discovered that the lean-to was being torn down. Half of it was already on the ground, and the ornery old man who built it was sitting in what appeared to be an over-taxed wicker chair, griping to someone on the phone about how he was having to take down his porch.

When we checked back on Saturday the entire abomination had come down and was lying in a heap on the curb. Victory is mine!