Monday, May 17, 2004

Toilets and democracy

I spent the core of my day - from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. - involved with the installation of a toilet in my late parents' house that is now a rental property.
The plumber was supposed to show up between 10 a.m. and noon, so I left home about 9 to drive there. Naturally, he didn't show up until about 1:15 p.m., so I got to sit in my car in the driveway and listen to CDs and curse myself for not remembering to bring the biography of Josef Stalin I've been reading and think about all the other stuff I need to get done, but I can't because I'm stuck here waiting for a fucking plumber. So my banking and picking up my new contact lenses and getting the oil changed on the Subaru and figuring out why the hot tub isn't working will have to go onto tomorrow's agenda.
I did, however, get home in time to prepare a photo presentation for tonight's town council meeting where my wife and our neighbor and I made a case for the town cutting down the three maple trees that are in the alley that also serves as our driveway.
A windstorm on April 18 dropped a huge limb onto our roof, denting the gutter and crashing down into the driveway in exactly the place where we normally park a car. Fortunately, our new (4 days) Subaru was parked elsewhere.
Most of the councilmen seemed amenable to the idea of eliminating this liability, but one dipshit wanted to argue the point. The concensus seemed to be with us, but they wanted to confer with the utilities manager first. I pointed out that as of tonight they have been made aware they have a liability problem, so they can no longer plead ignorance of the threat if one of the trees crushes our house or car in the next 24 hours.
The town attorney, who is a good guy and agrees with us, smiled in approval of my tactics.
So, I am guardedly optimistic that we can make those trees go away and with them the rain of birdshit, leaves, sticks and maple whirligig seedpods.
So there.

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