NEW NEIGHBORS

Yesterday was a fairly typical day...

  I saw the man off to work. 

Then I read blogs with my coffee on the patio, composed my own and did the usual housework and job searching that I do.  

Once in awhile I'd check the hole to see who fell down and left a comment.  

I cleaned and washed the clown car.  

Then made a nice broccoli,cauliflower, cheddar and rigatoni casserole for diner.

When the man came home from work, we ran to the DMV and 

got my plate tags...$82 smackers!

The first time I got them four years ago they were only $52.

Sheesh!

Back home again, we watched the news and did our usual grumbling, then played along with Cash Cab.

=:D

That's when the young gal knocked on our door to sell us magazines.

I knew immediately that it was a scam.

She looked very official with her glossy pamphlet

and sale lists on laminated cards.

She tells us that she's in a contest and earning money for college.

The more she sells, the more points she gets and if she gets the most, she gets a total scholarship...

which she really needs because she has to work to support her poor old granny.

Perhaps we have seen them walking up and down our street.

Granny is very elderly and in bad health.

They have no other family... only each other.

Within a few minutes she asked a quick series of questions...

Where does the man work?

Where do I work?

What kind of dog is that?

Is dog friendly?

Those were the questions that screamed scam to me...

or worse.

In about 3 minutes she knew the dog loves people and weather or not someone was likely to be home during the day time.
=:-(

But it was more than just the questions.

Long, long ago when Boo was only about 6 months old...

I had this same situation.

I bought some magazines from a very chatty young man.

I wrote him a check and said good-bye.

A few minutes later... we're talking maybe 5,

my neighbor knocked on my door and asked if I had purchased any of the mags.

When I said yes, he told me to call my bank immediately and put a stop on the check... because the mags would never come and the nice young man was likely on his way to my bank to cash the check.

I thanked my neighbor and called my bank.

Too late!

The nice young man had just cashed my check.

No magazine ever showed up.

Lesson learned.

Back in the present... it was hard to get a word in edgewise

with this gal.

She droned on with her spiel and the man began to pick out some magazines.

This gal added a twist... you can purchase mags that you donate to 

disabled vets in rehab... and you can buy them as gifts for kids.

The man is a total sucker for both kids and disabled vets!

She writes down these items... one for the vets and one for little N

and totals up the points she will get.

She's pushing hard for him to get me a mag too...

because it doubles her points that she really needs to support granny.

I take her order pad and say to the man...

"Can we really afford to spend $120 on mags?"

I knew that would get him.

The man does not like to spend money unwisely.

I also point out that I used to buy Turtle mag for about a third of the cost that they wanted.

She gave me a look as the man said... 

"Sorry, but we can't afford it right now with the wife not working."

She beat a hasty retreat and vanished down the street.

Odds are good that we will not be seeing her taking poor ill granny

for any walks.

Phew!

Then just when I thought the evening could not get weirder...

I met another new neighbor...

He's coool and cheezy!
I never thought I'd live next door to a celebrity!
And certainly not across the street from Chester Cheeto!


I wonder what strange new things await me today?
Big grins everybody!


=:D