Steve and Noah

Today I went to a candle party hosted by a dear friend from work. Marlene and I carpooled from my house. When it was over (there was some awesome stuff but I didn't buy any because I decided to host my own party and get $50 worth of free stuff!) we returned to my place where Marlene's car was parked. We spent a little time outside laughing and kicking the buildup of salty dirty snow off her mud flaps. She calls it car snot, and I suggested that it was more like ear wax. But I digress. She left and I came inside. I had enough time to announce to Jake that I was going to host a candle party and then go pee before she was back. I thought she'd forgotten something or maybe needed to use the phone, but no, she was being a good samaritan. How like her. While we'd been kicking the car's ear wax, a guy left McDowell property and locked the gate behind him. Unfortunately he'd locked a man and his minivan inside. The man had been taking his 4 year old son for a little tour to see the big bulldozers and machines, and had only been on the property for a few minutes when the worker left and locked him in. The minivan man thought Marlene was an employee and had waved her down, wanting, obviously, to be let out. Mar came inside so we could call the landlord and get someone back here to let them free. I called Brian, our landlord, and he was not happy. He asked me why the guy wanted to sightsee a bunch of machines, so I said again that he'd been showing his little boy, and.. well, I'm sad to say I apologized to him. Even though I was just the messenger. I went back outside with Marlene to tell the man that Brian would be about an hour. This wasn't the first time this sort of thing happened while we've been living here. People have been locked out and locked in quite a number of times over the past 2 1/2 years.

I didn't want the man and his little boy to stay out in the cold for an hour while grumpy Brian made his way over here, so I went inside and asked Jake if he was ok with me inviting them in. He was, and I went back and introduced myself properly and asked them to stay inside while they waited. The fence is not a hugely secure one, and there are big gaps in a lot of places. I think it's more for show, and to keep the big machines from being driven away. The guy said his name was Steve and his son was Noah. They live not too far away, on Plumtree which is a street I've walked on my way to the nearby park quite a few times. Plus my friend Kari used to live on that street. Anyway they came in and Hayden and Noah half played and half watched Treehouse together. Steve was nice. He asked us what we did for a living and told us he was a financial planner. It wasn't a whole hour to wait, and before too long Brian showed up and Steve and Noah were free. Steve shook my hand a few times and said how much he appreciated our hospitality. I was glad to be of help.