This Adventure Called Retirement

Sunday was meant to be a relaxed day and so it began. We started by enjoying breakfast with Jeff, Michele and Kim along with a nice morning conversation on family and current events. Around noon Kim needed to leave for an appointment in Dallas and the rest of us were planning an walk in the park. Unfortunately, Kim had other plans for the afternoon.

Jeff and Michele’s driveway is fraught with hazards. Their house is on a hill above the court, but rather than a straight driveway, it takes a 15 degree turn at the crest of the hill before running parallel to the house. When backing, this 15 degree jog is not visible (you just need to know it is there). Additionally, they have a 2.5 foot diameter oak tree growing on the house side of the driveway directly opposite a six foot fence. The tree trunk required a six inch cutout on the driveway, making it an extremely narrow portal into the side parking area. Although there is street parking available, the HOA does not allow overnight parking of any vehicles on the street, so all cars need to be in the driveway or garage. Finally, on the far side of the driveway is a three foot drop down to their neighbor’s driveway which is sustained by a rock wall, the top of which is ground level to Jeff’s driveway.

Kim had difficulty backing her car down the driveway when she left and only made it halfway before suspending her car over the neighbor’s rock wall with both the front and back passenger side wheels dangling 6 inches above her driveway and the frame of Kim’s car lying solidly on the rock wall. Jeff and I came to assess the situation.

Our first thought was if we could raise the suspended wheels to the level of the rock wall. it may be possible to build a bridge to drive the car back on to the driveway. Jeff also lacked a helpful and cooperative neighbor. After an hour of working to lift and stabilize the car, his neighbor came out and was quite concerned that we were somehow going to cause the car to roll over and damage her house. It was all we could do to avoid engaging in a heated argument. Instead, lacking the needed materials to achieve our goal, we called AAA to get the assistance of a tow truck. This took about two hours. During this time, the neighbor’s adult son brought out a folding chair to keep an eye on us and decided to draft up a release of liability agreement that he wanted Jeff to sign. THe agreement would have had Jeff agree to pay them no more than $100,000 for potential damages (jeff wisely did not sign it). They constantly told us that our plan was seriously flawed and we should “wait for the experts from AAA”.

When the tow truck finally arrived, we explained our plan and pointed out that he could pull his truck around Kim’s car, hook up a winch chain and tow it back on the driveway. They neighbor (once again) pulled the driver aside and said they thought our plan was flawed and would result in the car rolling into their house and damaging it. The “AAA expert” calmly explained to them that he would not let that happen but that our plan was the best option. He pulled his truck up alongside Kim’s car, but unfortunately his truck was too wide to fit between the oak tree and six foot fence (which the neighbor installed after Jeff and Michele moved in). Luckily, Jeff’s son, Kevin had left his Ford F150 monster truck at their house but it lacked a tow chain. The AAA driver agreed that using one of his chains on Kevin’s truck would do the trick, and so it did.

Final result, no damage to Kim’s car or the neighbor’s rock wall. Unfortunately, we lost our opportunity for our walk in the park. Instead we went to Sunday Mass at Good Shepard Church and then joined Jeff, Michele, Rachel and Will and their children Alexander and Madeleine at an authentic Italian pizza restaurant in grapevine named Mister 01. The owner immigrated on an 01 visa which is reserved for experts in certain fields that are underrepresented or lacking in the US. Apparently, authentic Italian pizza-making falls into that category. Having now eaten there, it is very much like the pizza you get in Italy rather than the Americanized version at most pizza restaurants. Delicious. We finished the evening with Kilwin’s chocolates and ice cream.