The car

Army daughter and her husband went house shopping today.  They called me this afternoon and asked for me to come take a look at a couple of the houses.  I packed up the grandkids and into the city we went.  I drove their car because I was watching their baby plus the two other grandkids.  I was pretty sure I locked the house but we didn’t close the gate when we left. 

Of the three houses I saw, there was one that I really liked.  Of course, I’m not moving into it, and if I was moving I certainly wouldn’t move to a city of half a million people.  It’s closer to her husband’s work, it had a pool, and it was in a good neighborhood.  The house was about 30 years old, maybe 40.  It’s their first house purchase so they have lots of discussion ahead of them and I don’t know if they’ll make an offer or not.  If they don’t get this one, then another will come along. 

We were away for two hours. When we got home I noticed a car parked in the driveway.  It was a car I’d never seen before and I didn’t recognize the license.  The grandkids raced into the house to see who could get to the bathroom first.  I quickly went in and called them back outside all the while thinking to myself that it was really stupid of me to even let them out of the vehicle.  I told them to go sit in the orchard.  No I didn’t care that it was drizzling out.  I pulled my gun out of my holster.  I called back into the house, “is anyone home?”  I didn’t get a response.   

I asked Army daughter if she recognized the car parked in the driveway.  “What car?” she asked.  Let’s see.  You rode with the realtor.  Your two cars are parked on the driveway and the realtor’s car is too.  Do you see that red station wagon?  It’s not ours…

I walked around the outside of the house.  No windows were ajar, the doors were closed.  I went back into the house through the back door and there was son-in-law and daughter, combing the house together looking for the intruder.  Son-in-law was holding the baby.  Both of them were military…what were they thinking???  Daughter reported that she checked the closet where the safe was and nobody was there.  What if someone was there and had a weapon? 

I told her to go out of the house.  Son-in-law followed her out.  I started going through the house room by room: I know the hiding places.  Then son-in-law called out to me.  There’s a note on the back patio.  The bug-out place renters bought a car for their daughter as a graduation present.  They have to get it registered on Monday and didn’t want to spend the extra gas driving it home and back so they left it here while we were gone.  Mystery solved. 

We sure did things wrong and were lucky that it was just a car that had been dropped off by a friend.  If there had been an intruder one of the grandkids could have really gotten hurt.  We had a group discussion over dinner about safety and all the mistakes that were made.  Several mistakes included: 1) not keeping the grandkids in the car, 2) not parking the car in a safer location, 3) having an adult daughter and son-in-law with no common sense, who would search the house for an intruder while holding an infant, 4) not closing the gate, 5) not seeing the note on my walk around of the house, 6) should have had the cell phone set to dial 911 and had someone outside the house holding it (the phone was in my pocket as I was searching the house).  7) should have just stayed home and relaxed on a rainy Saturday afternoon.

Didn't spend any money today.  Two days.  Zero spent.