Not a routine service call.

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

One of the service calls I did yesterday required that I call the client 15 minutes ahead so (I assume) they could have someone there to meet me. The phone numbers I had didn’t work but the shop was able to make contact and, by relaying information I learned that no one would be home and I was to enter a door near the garage where I would find the TV. Details were a bit vague.

Pulling up in the driveway, I see it’s unoccupied. Check.
looking for door into garage, I can’t find one. Continuing toward the back of the garage, I see a door but it appears to go into the basement of the main house. There is no other door so I guess I’ve found it.

Giving a loud knock on the door, I open it and stick my head in and shout a loud “hallo? TV service!”. A small dog is barking upstairs but no other response.

I looked around but didn’t see any TVs near the door so I kicked off my shoes and proceded to make my way down a hallway which opened into a large room with a pool table. “Ah ha!” I says, here it must be! There is a TV but it’s not the right one and I’m starting to think there is another door which I missed, so I retrace my steps back to entry.

I must have gotten turned around beacuse the next thing I know, I am standing in the doorway to a faily large room out of which floods very bright light and the distinctive odor of a certain medicinal plant. As grow-ops go, this one was on the small side but the plants were like 3-4 feet high and very bushy. My first thought was: jeez, these folks are pretty indiscrete, inviting tradespeople into there home unescorted.

It was about that time that I glanced at the work order and realized that I had misread the house number. Without my glasses, 8s and 9s are easily confused.

I couldn’t get out of there fast enough.

The house across the street had a garage in the right place with an unlocked door to same. Inside the heated garage was the TV waiting to be fixed. I quickly noticed that I no longer had the part which had been stapled to the work order.

FUCKFUCKFUCK. Please let it be in the car… I retraced my steps and didn’t find it until I re-entered the first house. It was just inside the door. I sprinted back fully expecting the homeowner (who would be a full patch member of the Hells Angels) to pull into the driveway as I was running out.

I got the job done and no harn done I guess. I hope my adrenal gland recovers.

Anyone else have stuff like that happen?

2

Saw an old episode of “Cops” this weekend where a Narcotics team went to search a residence with a suspected marijuana-growing operation. Knocked on the front door, no response. Went around back, and the back door was unlocked, so the entered, confiscated all the pot plants, grow equipment, and his car. Then they called the homeowner’s phone (from their brick-cell phone) and left a message on his answering machine, explaining that he hadn’t been robbed, it was the cops, and he could come down to the station if he had any questions. :smiley:

Bizarre that someone with so much to hide (in either case) would leave any door to their residence unlocked.

3

Hey Cheech, did you lock the door?

No man, I thought you locked the door!

4

The first job I was in charge of I did a three hour site survey on the house next door cause someone wrote the wrong house number. Obviously the owner wasn’t home…

The strange thing is that 12 months later the place I did asked for a survey for subdivision!

Also once had to walk inside a gang house to explain to the guy in charge what we were doing (measurements on the house for the local council) that was pretty scary.

5

Fun story. I was hoping there would be nudity involved (it certainly would have enhanced it), but still good.