The Beginning of the Saga
Almost two years ago my family and I were living in a 3 bedroom appartment in a town in central Mass. We had been in this same place for 17 years . Towards the end of November the landlord came and said he had finally got his equity loan and was beginning "extensive renovations". We had till the begining of December to be out of there. The letter said something like "I hope giving you an extra week gives you plenty of time to find a new place." We had been behind and caught up and behind again, but he did have a contractor ready to start working. (Turns out the contractor took the guy for a ride as well) We offered to get caught up before we left but he said to use the money to help get a new place. My wife is the pro with dealing with landlords so she increased her searching through the papers and ads in the funny papers the realtors leave in stores to make people think that there are appartments and houses availiable to blue collar folks. We had been looking for an upgrade or at least another place for over a year because this landlord was the third we had had in the time we had been there and I could see that we were getting near the end of being able to live there without and incredible rent increase. Now the family consisted of my wife and I, two sons, a daughter and her daughter. Quite a collection. A recipe for any landlord worth his salt in Central Mass to keep out of his/her property. Not to mention Louie, the diminutive Canine companion. Milly would find a place she thought she could afford and I'd call to try to get an appointment. I made the mistake a few times not asking if they would accept dogs, but I soon found that even if they didn't say in their ads no dogs most people hide behind their insurance companies and wouldn't have them. I started sending this little story I had first seen in the Readers Digest and later on the internet along with our applications... I haven't seen it properly credited. nor have seen any one claim it for their own. I'd like to know who wrote it first , I have seen several versions , I like this one the best.
I found it on the web
Dog Heaven
A man and his dog were walking along a road. The man was enjoying the scenery, when it suddenly occurred to him that he was dead. He remembered dying, and that the dog walking beside him had been dead for years. He wondered where the road was leading them.After a while, they came to a high, white stone wall along one side of the road. It looked like fine marble. At the top of a long hill, it was broken by a tall arch that glowed in the sunlight. When he was standing before it he saw a magnificent gate in the arch that looked like Mother of Pearl, and the street that led to the gate looked like pure gold.He and the dog walked toward the gate, and as he got closer, he saw a man at a desk to one side. When he was close enough, he called out, "Excuse me, where are we?""This is Heaven, sir," the man answered."Wow! Would you happen to have some water?" the man asked."Of course, sir. Come right in, and I'll have some ice water brought right up."The man gestured, and the gate began to open."Can my friend," gesturing toward his dog, "come in, too?" the traveler asked."I'm sorry sir, but we don't accept pets."The man thought a moment and then turned back toward the road and continued the way he had been going with his dog. After another long walk, and at the top of another long hill, he came to a dirt road which led through a farm gate that looked as if it had never been closed. There was no fence. As he approached the gate, he saw a man inside, leaning against a tree and reading a book."Excuse me!" he called to the reader. "Do you have any water?""Yeah, sure, there's a pump over there." The man pointed to a place that couldn't be seen from outside the gate. "Come on in.""How about my friend here?" the traveler gestured to the dog."There should be a bowl by the pump."They went through the gate, and sure enough, there was an old fashioned hand pump with a bowl beside it. The traveler filled the bowl and took a long drink himself, and then he gave some to the dog. When they were full, he and the dog walked back toward the man who was standing by the tree waiting for them."What do you call this place?" the traveler asked."This is Heaven," was the answer."Well, that's confusing," the traveler said. "The man down the road said that was Heaven, too.""Oh, you mean the place with the gold street and pearly gates? Nope. That's Hell.""Doesn't it make you mad for them to use heaven's name like that?""No. I can see how you might think so, but we're just happy that they screen out the folks who'll leave their best friends behind."
Amen .....
After it became obvious we weren't going to find a place in any appropriate time, we went to the biggest RV place in the area because I had heard that they had a sale in the fall of units that were being given up because the owners didn't want to continue with rent for winter or cause they were trade-ins and the units were being wholesaled out. I looked at a couple just out of my price range and then a couple which I didn't like at all. The last unit in the lineup was a 1975. really nice, good layout for a fulltiming situation. Turns out that because it had no refrigerator I could have it for 495.00!!!!! We had a fridge, so we grabbed it and started our tour of central Massachusetts. We had to do a little bit of work, the furnace needed to be cleaned and the ducts underneath were amazingly clear of mouse nests. The water heater worked fine and the stove just needed to be cleaned up a bit. I do some work sometimes for a guy who makes the testing and reconditioning equipment for the Blue Rhino folks. He was able to recondition our aluminum propane tanks and we got a new switching regulator at the Camping World place near where we had a millwright job going. I bartered my way to a brandy new set of 7.00X15 trailer tires. We have been moving around for almost two years and now that we are in an attic cleaning up a house for some relatives.. I really miss the trailer. I still consider myself... "The Homeless guy and his dog"
I found it on the web
Dog Heaven
A man and his dog were walking along a road. The man was enjoying the scenery, when it suddenly occurred to him that he was dead. He remembered dying, and that the dog walking beside him had been dead for years. He wondered where the road was leading them.After a while, they came to a high, white stone wall along one side of the road. It looked like fine marble. At the top of a long hill, it was broken by a tall arch that glowed in the sunlight. When he was standing before it he saw a magnificent gate in the arch that looked like Mother of Pearl, and the street that led to the gate looked like pure gold.He and the dog walked toward the gate, and as he got closer, he saw a man at a desk to one side. When he was close enough, he called out, "Excuse me, where are we?""This is Heaven, sir," the man answered."Wow! Would you happen to have some water?" the man asked."Of course, sir. Come right in, and I'll have some ice water brought right up."The man gestured, and the gate began to open."Can my friend," gesturing toward his dog, "come in, too?" the traveler asked."I'm sorry sir, but we don't accept pets."The man thought a moment and then turned back toward the road and continued the way he had been going with his dog. After another long walk, and at the top of another long hill, he came to a dirt road which led through a farm gate that looked as if it had never been closed. There was no fence. As he approached the gate, he saw a man inside, leaning against a tree and reading a book."Excuse me!" he called to the reader. "Do you have any water?""Yeah, sure, there's a pump over there." The man pointed to a place that couldn't be seen from outside the gate. "Come on in.""How about my friend here?" the traveler gestured to the dog."There should be a bowl by the pump."They went through the gate, and sure enough, there was an old fashioned hand pump with a bowl beside it. The traveler filled the bowl and took a long drink himself, and then he gave some to the dog. When they were full, he and the dog walked back toward the man who was standing by the tree waiting for them."What do you call this place?" the traveler asked."This is Heaven," was the answer."Well, that's confusing," the traveler said. "The man down the road said that was Heaven, too.""Oh, you mean the place with the gold street and pearly gates? Nope. That's Hell.""Doesn't it make you mad for them to use heaven's name like that?""No. I can see how you might think so, but we're just happy that they screen out the folks who'll leave their best friends behind."
Amen .....
After it became obvious we weren't going to find a place in any appropriate time, we went to the biggest RV place in the area because I had heard that they had a sale in the fall of units that were being given up because the owners didn't want to continue with rent for winter or cause they were trade-ins and the units were being wholesaled out. I looked at a couple just out of my price range and then a couple which I didn't like at all. The last unit in the lineup was a 1975. really nice, good layout for a fulltiming situation. Turns out that because it had no refrigerator I could have it for 495.00!!!!! We had a fridge, so we grabbed it and started our tour of central Massachusetts. We had to do a little bit of work, the furnace needed to be cleaned and the ducts underneath were amazingly clear of mouse nests. The water heater worked fine and the stove just needed to be cleaned up a bit. I do some work sometimes for a guy who makes the testing and reconditioning equipment for the Blue Rhino folks. He was able to recondition our aluminum propane tanks and we got a new switching regulator at the Camping World place near where we had a millwright job going. I bartered my way to a brandy new set of 7.00X15 trailer tires. We have been moving around for almost two years and now that we are in an attic cleaning up a house for some relatives.. I really miss the trailer. I still consider myself... "The Homeless guy and his dog"
posted by Woolfey at Monday, August 02, 2004
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home