I see dead...defendants!

It has been rather crazy at work these days. It seems that with the approach of Spring, everyone gets outside to smell the fresh air, look around, soak up the sunshine, and bitch about their neighbors. The complaints are piling up.

I try to be understanding with people. Especially in this economy. It is not that people want to do things wrong, sometimes they just are against a wall. In any event, my job is to look at things fairly and objectively. If it is against the law I am bound to take action. I always give warnings first. Fail to correct the issue and I am forced to write a summons.

The first defendant decided about a year ago to build a pigeon coop...out of scrap material.....in his front yard. Needless to say, the neighbors are not exactly happy. After several warnings I was forced to write tickets. I went to the house to serve them and was greeted by the daughter-in-law. She advised me that the man I wrote, passed away roughly 4 months ago. Luckily she accepted responsibility since she never wanted it there to begin with.

Case 2: Business here has sidewalks that are busted up and uneven. Since it is a heavy pedestrian traffic area we warned them and then wrote summonses when the warnings went unanswered. When we served the tickets, the man who accepted them, who is not even the responsible party, burst out in tears and literally broke down crying hysterically. I pray he gets therapy and is not suicidal. One death is enough.

The next violator is a business owner. 2 years ago the municipality passed an ordinance which required all electric box signs must be removed on every business. No exceptions. This stemmed partly from the death of a fireman who was electrocuted to death when he touched one. It also is because the powers that be feel they look tacky. All signs were to be down by January 1, 2010. That was extended to this year because of the economy. We are going after the vacant stores first. I sent a letter to Mr. H advising him to take care of his stores. He called me and assured me he would remove them by last Tuesday. When that day came and went, I was ordered to write summonses. When we went to serve them to him last night, his wife broke down in tears and told us that Mr. H died about a week ago. Hmm...I am sensing a trend here.

Then we come to the fourth case. Also last night. Accessory apartments are legal here provided you get a permit. This home has had one up until 4 years ago. Letter after letter has gone unanswered to renew. The previous inspector simply ignored it. I finally took action and wrote the tickets. Go to serve them and get told by the daughter who now owns the home that she bought the house about a month ago when her dad passed away. Grrrr.....

Talking to our prosecutor today I was explaining to him about chasing ghosts lately. His response was, "Tom you seem to be a jinx and people you deal with in court end up dead. I don't think I feel comfortable talking to you." I know he was just kidding but, I think I may make his statement turn true when I beat him to death!......tm

It must be Monday......

I have never been a fan of Monday. It is days like today that remind me why. It started off like pretty much every other day. With the small exception of needing to get my body to acknowledge the time change. I got dressed and made it to work on time. My coffee was good and I was getting things done. And then in walked Mrs. F.

Apparently Mrs. F is not capable of understanding why she is not allowed a third kitchen in her home. She did file the papers for permission for it, but she was denied by the board. As we always do, we sent out her denial to her. This morning she decided to come into the office to scream at me for it. I am used to upset people bitching at me. I can handle it. I remained calm and advised her that she had two choices. She could comply and remove the kitchen or she could contact an attorney and that she may have legal avenues she can follow. Neither option was what she wanted to hear.Eventually she did leave but, was definitely not happy.

About an hour later I was outside in the parking lot. I car pulled up and the driver was asking me some questions. I noticed a second vehicle pull into the lot at a rather high speed. The driver of that vehicle got out of the car and came over to me screaming like crazy. I was trying to calm this person down so I could understand the problem. She would just not stop. She kept getting right into my face and spitting at me. Despite repeated efforts to back her off and calm down, she persisted. I was able to piece together that she is the daughter of Mrs. F from this morning. I excused myself from the driver that I was originally talking to and concentrated on the irate woman. She stormed off at one point and when the Tax Assessor came out the side door she went off on him. The poor man is in his late 80s and is in really poor health. The last thing he needed was to be badgered over something he has nothing to do with. So, I walked over to retake control of the situation. At that point she was back to spitting in my face and then she grabbed me. She did not want to let go. Now, I certainly was not about to punch this woman but, I also do not like being grabbed. Especially on a flight of stairs. I told her to let go of me immediately or I would be calling the Police. One of my other co-workers came outside and dragged me inside. They knew at this point I was pissed. I do not blame them for removing me from the situation.

Someone who happened to be witnessing the whole scene did notify the police. They showed up quickly and took control of the scene. I did not go back outside but, I heard that she continued to carry on and eventually was in tears. The officer did manage to calm her down and he sent her on her way. I filed an incident report within my own department and I will leave it at that. She did not harm me in any way so I will not bother pressing charges. Hopefully she went home and seriously thought about how bad that could have turned out if I had her arrested. Though somehow I doubt she did.....yep, it is Monday!

Random Pic of the Day

This was how I spent my morning.
Dena was busting on me for "working" so hard.
Obviously she is not a golfer or she would know that golf IS hard work!