Aaaarrgh!
Commentary
by Cherie Jung
That is the
sound of me screaming silently, on paper, or rather, with computer keystrokes, in
frustration.
Instead of
experiencing crime vicariously through reading or writing, we’ve been
experiencing crime – real life crime – “up close and personal,” as they say.
Nothing too scandalous or violent – mostly just frustrating and annoying. We
managed to cram a lot in one week, with Christmas only four days away.
It all began
with a leaking water meter belonging to a neighbor’s house behind ours, whose
water pipes and sewer run under our property from the curb street-side to their
house mid-block behind us. The house was being sold to avoid foreclosure. Someone
tried to turn the water supply back on after it had been turned off by the
city. In doing so, they turned the valve too far. The valve cracked and the
leak flooded the water meter compartment for two days. The city promised to
check it out and they did, deciding to wait until the next day to attempt
repairs when additional workers would be available. As the technician pondered
the potential problems, the pipe burst creating a large puddle in our yard
which quickly flooded our yard and the nearby sidewalks and streets in both
directions. (We live on a corner.) The crew worked late into the night to stop
the flooding and repair the pipe.
Then early
Sunday morning – we’re talking 1:30 a.m. – someone attempted to break into our
house by smashing a large rock into a window. It sounded like an explosion.
Glass shards went flying through the dining room and into the next room, the
kitchen. Luckily none of our cats were seriously injured though one did get a
cut on her nose when glass shards came crashing into the cat litter box as she
was doing her business. Also, luckily, none of our cats escaped through the
shattered window. However, since it was
close to the holiday, the window couldn’t be repaired until a week after
Christmas.
There were a
couple of other petty incidents in the following days; again, nothing too
serious just time-consuming and frustrating. Domestic disputes, attempted
muggings, random gun fire in the nights…
I realize
now that I prefer my crime fictionalized in book or movie form.
Now the month of March is winding down and things are still chaotic.
And…
We’re back
to having email problems on the website. We just received three requested
manuscripts that were attached to emails sent in October and November. Why have
these emails been lurking in cyberspace for nearly five months before being
delivered to our inbox?!?
cj
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