umm, your alarm is ringing.....

Not much going on today, so I will tell a story from Friday afternoon in Las Vegas.

First, the backstory. About 3 or 4 weeks ago, a section of tiles in the shape of a square just "fell" off the side of the pool. Some are above the water line, while rest is below. The landlord/homeowner has had multiple people checking on it, but he claims that nobody wants to do a job that small. Most of the time, he calls my cell phone to tell me they are arriving, but because it is in the backyard, there is no need for me to be there.

Fast forward to Friday, early afternoon in Vegas, as I am checking my email on my phone, and see a note from the owner that another contractor is coming Friday afternoon. A few minutes after that, I get a call from him telling me the same thing. I tell him that it is fine, as we are away for the weekend, and I'll let the pet sitter know, just in case you cross paths. I also inform him that I have reactivated the alarm system, so if he hears it while there, it is probably the pet sitter. Got an OK on that, and away I went.

Was napping about 4pm when my cell phone starts going off. It is the alarm company telling me that the automatic alarm has gone off (meaning one of the "instant" areas was activated), and do I want the police sent? Thinking for a minute, I remembered the homeowner going to be there, but figured it could not be him breaking in, but I'll check anyway. I call his phone, and there he is sheepishly picking up, and telling me he thinks he set off the alarm. I ask him how, and he says he opened the door to get into the garage. I ask him why, and he tells me he really needed to see the tile to make sure they had enough to do the job. I explain to him that 2 hours prior I told him the house was alarmed, and he said to me, he did not think I would "alarm the garage?!?". I tell the alarm company it is a false alarm, and there is no need for the police.

I get back with the homeowner, as he needs to reset the alarm or it will go off again automatically when my pet sitter arrives. Again, he tells me he was surprised that I would alarm the garage. Really? I remind him I have a motorcycle and a 1994 Viper in there, which is worth more than anything in the house. As I walk him through the steps to resetting the alarm system (which includes having to give him my code and tell him where I hid a key in the garage for the back door, which all now need to change), I hear the alarm again. He failed to tell me that he closed the garage door when the alarm went off the first time, so that when he again opened it, he again set it off. When he got into the house, my phone was again ringing from the alarm company wanting to send the police. In hindsight, I should have let them. Instead I had to call the alarm company, and again cancel the police's arrival.

After the whole fiasco was over, no real apology, and no explanation as to why he would be opening up doors in a house he no longer occupies. I sent messages to Morgan explaining what had happened, and how I was not happy.

Thought it would be over until we arrived home. We decided to leave Saturday night, so we would be home all day Sunday, and be able to attend church. Well, when we returned from church, I notice the water to fill the pool was turned on. Then after that, I see the owner walking in the backyard and shutting off the water. No phone call, no e-mail of his arrival. I sent off an e-mail explaining that he "scared" Morgan and Cassie because they did not expect anyone in the backyard. He explained that he figured we would still be away. Um, that does not matter, but he still didn't seem to "get it".

Anyway with that, we figured it was to best to end this ASAP, so we sent off an e-mail to the owners changing our position from a couple of weeks earlier about them selling the property. We told them that if they can sell it, go ahead, and we will just find another place. This time with a better landlord. Hopefully.

- How's your Indiana Jones knowledge?
- Was he your Idol?
- Have I mentioned the Stanley Cup Finals start on Saturday?

Until the next time.....