Unwanted Visitors + Tent City + "We're Being Invaded!!!"

(1) Unwanted Visitors
I don't know if it's because I live on one of the main streets in my subdivision or what, but lately I've been bombarded with men ringing my doorbell wanted to do yard work, etc. When I'm alone, I don't like going to the front door and see a stranger (and many of them look like they may have just robbed a bank). Last week I was working in the kitchen and I didn't hear the doorbell ring. When I walked into my dining room, I happened to notice two men at my front door. Then one of them began to repeatedly ring the bell. That annoyed me! I did not go to the door. I didn't know them and I didn't really care what they wanted. This past Friday it happened again, but Tom was sitting in the den so I opened the door. We have a storm door, but it's not a dead-bolt type storm door; the lock on this door could easily be forced open by a large toddler. I held onto the storm door latch while I asked the man - through the glass door - what he wanted. He asked if we needed the house painted and anything pressure washed. I almost laughed in his face. Tom spent the entire month of July painting the house and pressure washing everything that was nailed down. Did this haggard man not look around to see if we NEEDED any work done? Apparently, not. I told him we had lots of work done recently and we didn't need anything. He said, "Oh, really?"
That's when I decided to try to put a stop to these doorbell-ringing-hope-they-don't-force-their-way-into-my-house experiences. If you come to see me now, you'll see the following sign on my door:

Ok, I really didn't put that last bullet point, but I thought about it. If Oprah or Ellen Degeneres came knocking on my door for a room makeover, I'd surely hate to miss it. But what are the chances of that happening. I do, however, have this note on my outside doors - minus the P.C.H.S. spokesman notation.

(2) Tent City
This fall we are helping to re-organize a church family camping trip. It's probably been almost 20 years since our last church trip. We always went sometimes in October and had such a great time. Most of the people tent-camped with tents that our church purchased. Billie was the chief cook. We always had great meals. So this year we are trying to relive the past and resurrect this family campout. Several families who are interested do not have their own tents. We decided that we needed to gather those old tents and be sure they were usable. Last night Tom put up four identical tents in our backyard.

Looks like we're expecting a Boy Scout Troop.

The tents are in surprisingly great condition. They do have an odor but they've been packed up for almost 2 decades! They just need to be aired out for a while. If any of you want to have a cheap campout, come to our backyard. . . . tents are free; food is not.

(3) "We're Being Invaded!!"

There is a CVS pharmacy near us. I could walk there if I wanted to. Next door to CVS is a new building under construction. I have wondered all summer what this new business is. Is it a cute, girly store? Is it a gift shop? I asked the pharmacist today when I picked up a prescription. Just what we don't need. Another auto parts store!

The city of Simpleville, I mean just the core of the little city, is one long street. Along this street we already have THREE auto parts stores.

Check. . . we have NAPA.


Check . . . we have Advance.



Check. . . we have Auto Zone.

Check . . . coming soon - O'Reilly Auto Parts

Auto Zone, Advance and O'Reilly's are so close together that you could spit from one to another. Do we really need another one? Since I've lived here (over 30 years) I've gone to one auto parts store and that was to buy an air freshener for my car. And Tom has only gone to one store once a year at most. Jeepers. And I thought it might be a cute store. One thing's for sure: All our vehicles should feel very secure knowing we can supply them with a part in a millisecond.