Why the word "exciting" is never a good thing

[fenchurch]

About a week ago, I told my mom that I'd finally gotten to the point in my life where the word "exciting" is very rarely the indication of good things... she had just called, fairly early in the morning, and had started the conversation with "well, that was an exciting night!"

She (and my step-dad) have some property out of town, in the middle of nowhere (technically, the *town* is the middle of nowhere, so it would be well beyond the middle of nowhere). No house there, just a shop (which is modern fancy talk for barn) and a place to put their camper. It's beautiful and scenic and really peaceful. In fact, here's a shot of the view from their camper area that I took last year with my cell-phone.



Well, all of that is black now... charred. With large bits of the ground dug up from where the neighbors attempted to build firebreaks. In fact, there's a story about the fire at the La Grande Observer, that lists all the equipment and manpower it took to get the fire under control. The barn/shop seen burning in that photo is on the property next to theirs... they were really lucky and had some wonderful neighbors, because all the digging and dirt-moving that was done saved their shop before they were even able to get out there from town to do anything about it. But the fields are blackened (not a huge deal, in fact it'll probably mean incredible greenery next year), they lost the little trees my mom had planted and, even worse, they lost the hundred year old apple trees that had been on the property when they bought it. However, as my mom said, of all the properties out in that area, theirs and the next neighbor's over were the ones that are going to have the least long term impact from a fire. Neither of them live out there, so no houses to worry about... and for the most part all they had in the shops were barn-type stuff.

In other news, I had my own type of "exciting" this morning when I went to leave my dad's place (also in the middle of nowhere). I took a load of stuff out to my car, went back to the house and realized I was locked out. *headdesk* My wallet and cellphone were helpfully sitting in on the guest bed and all the doors were firmly locked. I checked the place where I thought my dad normally hid the extra key, but couldn't find it. I did discover the downstairs bathroom window was ajar...

Since it was pretty high up on the wall, I ended up pulling a metal garbage can full of kindling underneath the window, bracing it a bit with a patio chair (and making a convenient step), angling in left foot first then contorting myself through the window until I just had my right leg still sticking out... and discovered I had no way to get any leverage on the inside to pull my leg through, because d'oh! I hadn't thought to drop anything through the window first to stand on once I got in.

I eventually managed to disassemble the curtain rod and used that to tip the lid of the toilet seat down, making the toilet stick out just a fraction of an inch further than when it was up... which was enough to finally get the ends of my toes on it so I could take my weight off my bottom and lift the leg through. It seemed to take forever (with a few moments where I thought I'd be stuck like that until my dad or step-mom got home six hours later), but all in all, it was probably about 20 minutes from finding the open window to touching ground on the inside.

I am pretty achy now though... and I'm guessing the 5+ hour drive home right afterward probably didn't help! Oh, and btw, yay! I'm home again!!! For now.

Comments

[aamah.livejournal.com]

Well, the good news is...you weren't spotted by a helpful neighbor who assumed you were a burgler and called the PO-LEESE! Who, of course, would have arrived while you were mid contortion...and there, you with no ID. You might have spent a few hours in the hoosegow while they contacted your Dad to identify you. See, it could have been worse!

*hee*

[fenchurche.livejournal.com]

LOL! Well, I didn't really worry about that too much... my dad's place is out in the country and the back of the house faces away from the road. The only things out there to see me making a fool of myself were a herd of cows, my parents' two dogs and a few assorted barn cats... all of whom were eyeing me with extreme curiosity.

The one neighbor who might possibly have seen me walking around the house had, unfortunately, driven away just as I was putting my bags in the car and about a minute before I realized I was locked out (otherwise I would have just walked over there and used their phone to call my dad).

But yeah, I did have a number of mental images of what would have happened if someone from the Sheriff's department happened by!

[petzipellepingo.livejournal.com]

Eeek! Fire is always dangerous and that was a good sized fire.

[sp23.livejournal.com]

Glad the fire didn't destroy anything, and it'll all grow back better than before for the fertilizing ash.

Too bad there wasn't anyone around with a video camera to catch your cat burglar act. *g*

[aamah.livejournal.com]

Well, just think.
The animals have a lot to talk about tonight!

A little less excitement from now on, OK?

[allthatjazmyne.livejournal.com]

Add me to the "glad the fire didn't do any serious damage," list, and also the "glad you're not still stuck in a window" list.

[fishsanwitt]

Holy cow.

::hugs::

[zotel.livejournal.com]

purty =)

[nmissi.livejournal.com]

The fire will revitalise the ground, and it'll all grow back beautiful next year. I'm just glad the damage was so limited. And that nobody saw you dangling out the window at your dad's!

[wildrider.livejournal.com]

Cats are just NEVER helpful at times like these, are they? They just stand around wondering when you're going to feed them or do something else entertaining...

*g*

Glad you got inside all right. If I could count the times I locked myself out of one house or another - we never did repair the windowsill shelf in here that came down with my weight the last time I had to break in (one reason I should never, ever live alone).

[deborahw37.livejournal.com]

Oh dear

there's definately such a thing as toomuch excitement :)

Sorry about the fire and the ouchy leg though

[kazzy-cee.livejournal.com]

Oh dear - I shouldn't laugh, but your description of trying to get through the window was funny! I'm glad you made it - how embarrassing to be caught! At least you can say it only took a couple of minutes if they asked *g*

[lage-nom-ai.livejournal.com]

That is definitely too much excitement. Glad everything's ok--and I'm very impressed by your stealth skillz at breaking and entering! :P

[rosiewook.livejournal.com]

Suckage about the fire taking out those apple trees. I hope they'll try to plant some new ones to take their place. The ground's going to be fantastic for that!

And your burglar description just made me laugh and laugh. You are so funny.

I'm just glad your pants stayed on around your waist!

[pmgoose.livejournal.com]

Wow. Yeah, that's pretty exciting. Glad no one was injured and no houses were lost. Pity about the apple tree.

*smiles at your cat burglar antics*