The owners of the house next door to The Pony did some renovations, and put it up for sale during the summer. They moved, and the house was vacant. This was the guy who gave Hick $500 towards cutting down that giant pecan tree that could have fallen on either house. The Pony didn't really interact with them since the guy was gone all the time for work.
Anyhoo... when The Pony got home from work Monday afternoon, he sent me a text. He had walked to work that morning, because he had some dizziness (that later turned into a migraine), and wanted to see if that would clear his head.
"Home with a migraine. Guess the dizziness just showed up before the pain today. Also, my neighbors that moved in Saturday stole my trash can from the curb! Came home to see it there in their driveway. Checked to make sure my lid fit, then stole it back."
"Good for you! Did they see you?"
"I don't know."
"Well. You can always say that you thought it was yours, because nobody lived there. Maybe the wind blew it while you were at work. It was really windy today."
"When I left for work, it was sitting by my mailbox, with the bottom of it full of water. They took it! It had a bag of trash in it! I didn't have any trash in mine."
"What if you see yours laying along the street, and realize that you took your new neighbors' trash can? They are common. A lid might fit more than just yours."
"I walked to work! I would have seen it coming home if it was along the road."
The next morning, on our daily phone call, I asked The Pony where the trash can was now.
"Sitting here in my living room!"
"I guess you can hide it until trash day."
"TODAY is trash day! I only have a couple bags. I'm just going to set them out on the curb."
"Dad says maybe it blew into their yard, and they thought it went with the house."
"HA HA! No. They stole it!"
"Dad says he saw your chair from the back porch in their driveway when he went by the other day."
"I took my chair back when I got my trash can! I need to 'borrow' something from work besides a black marker to write my address on my trash can."
"Wite-Out would work. But that can be chipped off."
"AND it's harder to 'borrow' from work!"
Poor Pony. If it's not one thing, it's a neighbor. I hope this was all just a misunderstanding. The Pony has already lost one trash can. No wonder he wants to hang onto this one.
I wonder if those big stick on numbers for addresses would work on the trash can. They are sold at hardware stores. They could be removed but would the neighbor go to that much trouble? Could have been an honest mistake, who knows?
ReplyDeleteThe numbers might work if the plastic sides of the trash can are not textured, but flat. Hick had a good "mistake" scenario. I thought my wind excuse was good until The Pony said that was not his bag of trash in it.
DeleteThe Pony could put the numbers of his address on the can with spray paint.
ReplyDeleteThat's what The Pony is planning to do with some kind of marker. I'm sure Hick has paint sitting around that could be used. It just takes more effort from The Pony's standpoint.
DeleteIf they took a chair, they took the trash can. I have paint he can have, but it is a long drive. What age are these people, what kind of people?
ReplyDeleteI think the chair was from the wind, before Saturday when the people moved in, or else The Pony would have been accusing them of chair theft, as well. He works Thurs-Sat, so might not have felt like taking time to retrieve the chair, and then the house was occupied. He doesn't know much about the people yet. I saw a pit-bull type dog on their back/side porch when I stopped by on Sunday.
DeletePoor Pony, who takes a trashcan :/ He should paint it with a stripe of paint, on the side and the cover, just in case?
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping there was a misunderstanding. Also hoping those people didn't go buy a trash can, and now The Pony has stolen it! He mentioned that the label on the side was all wrinkly now, like the rain had messed with it. That is where he had originally written his address in magic marker, which he didn't see. OH NO! Hope it wasn't new... Hick had bought this current trash can for The Pony not too long ago, because his blew away. So it COULD have been the same one.
DeleteA stripe could work, and be easy to apply with paint. I'll ask Hick if there's any white paint left over from the Double Hovel.
Buy a square trash can. They don't roll in the wind or ditches. Of course, a strong enough wind could put it in the next county.
ReplyDeleteI would spray it all sorts of ugly colors to make it stand out.
I saw a lot of square trash cans blown over today, one of them sticking into the road on the county lettered highway. At least they were not rolling around. I think the square ones would be too big for The Pony's needs. Around here, the square cans belong to the trash-hauling companies.
DeleteHick says he has some paint. He thinks there might even be some spray paint in The Pony's garage. I'll tell The Pony on our next call.
The Pony needs one of those "home engraving " tools to engrave his name and house number on the bin, the lid and his chair. And anything else he leaves outside. Maybe even the street name and a pretty design too. How dare those neighbours be so rude. They should purchase their own bin.
ReplyDeleteThe chair is a plastic one that Hick found somewhere, so The Pony isn't all that worried about it. He leaves the lid off because he thinks it might get blown away, and then he wouldn't be able to use it. So he doesn't use it, heh, heh! AND he says the squirrels pry the lid off.
DeleteI'm still hoping it was a misunderstanding, and the new neighbors thought it went with their house. And REALLY hoping they didn't buy one just like The Pony's, and he stole it from them!