my tax dollars at work…for once in a good way!

i got woke up by a loud crash at 7:45 this morning…

…which ’cause i slept like ass was not cool.

but i heard the crash and it sounded tree-ish, which was even worse. i have a large tree that has a very large limb looming over the corner of my carport where the malibu and the camaro live. it’s also covered by my roof, which doesn’t look like it could take a hit like this. i borrowed a ladder from JAB but even with that AND my chainsaw on a stick the limb was too big and too high to topple on my own, so i feared mother nature had lent a hand.

when i walked out and peered out the carport door i feared the worst but it was not to be, thank god. no, an even BIGGER motherfucker had come down and was covering a good chunk of yard and one lane of traffic on my street. after a brief attempt to get back to sleep (which was ended when somebody rang my bell to see if i’d pay them to take apart the big limb in the street/yard) i went out, got some breakfast tacos, and came back to be a lumberjack.

i worked at it for an hour and a half (one short break) and when i was hauling some back to the pile saw the city truck hovering at the end of my street towing the wood chipper – but when i tried to wave them over they took off like i’d just busted them stalking me or some shit. you gotta understand, i have a history with these guys…and i know they only come around once a month, and so i figured they were looking down the street to see if they saw a brush pile to clear out, and as NONE of my neighbors had any (funny how all one-hundred plus degree days will slow down people’s urge to do lawn work).

i ran inside, grabbed my phone, and called the city. when i got a hold of the guy in charge of such things, i heard the last thing i expected…

no, sir…they’re not SUPPOSED to be in your neighborhood today – but they got a report of a big limb down in somebody’s yard that was so massive it was jutting out into the street and blocking a full lane of traffic, and when that happens we have to come out and clear it all out, so they’re just out to do that…

when i explained said limb WAS the brush pile i was trying to wave them down for they were back in five minutes. fifteen minutes later all was gone save for the really big logs, which are still in my driveway (i presume they were too big for that wood chipper). they even thanked me for doing the bulk of their work for them. i thanked them for being so prompt.

how often do dealing with the city go THAT fucking smoothly?