It was Saturday, June 25 and we’d been sleeping on air mattresses for twelve days. No internet, no TV, nothing. We were all tired and wanting our stuff back. The movers finally called – and let me tell you, we will never hire this moving company again for many reasons – and informed us that they will be there at ten and be out by two. This made total sense to me. At ten o’clock, Cedar Park is warm but bearable. Past noon, it’s Sahara of past one hundred.
Ten o’clock – no movers. Twelve – no movers. The temperature is climbing and climbing.
At some point we looked at each other and decided that it would be best not to give them our debit card number and instead pay them in cash. Both of us were worried that the movers may not put the furniture back together, especially considering the heat, in which case we’d pay them less than the full sum. (Yep, confidence in the company was at a zero at that point.) So we made a strategic decision to run out, because once the movers did arrive, they were likely to be here past five and the banks would be closed by then. The trouble was, the pool company dude was scheduled to arrive sometimes “after twelve” to instal a pool cleaning robot thingie. But the bank was five minutes away.
The children were given strict instructions not to open the door to the pool dude and to call us immediately with any new developments. The girls had neighbor children over and everyone wanted to go swimming while we were gone, so we told them they could, as long as the dogs were with them in the backyard. All the kids are older, can swim, and the pool is shallow.
So we’re at the bank, withdrawing an obscene amount of cash, when Gordon’s cell rings. It’s the pool dude. He’s at our house. Gordon tells him we’ll be there in five minutes and tells him, “Please, don’t open the yard gate. There are dogs in the backyard. Just wait for us. We’ll be right there.”
“Sure thing.”
A moment later Kid 1 calls. “The pool guy is here.”
“Okay, don’t let him in the back yard.”
“Okay!”
We grab our cash, jump into the rental car, and attempt to exit the bank parking lot. Unfortunately both us and Brian Blessed, who is the voice of our GPS, failed to recognize that there was a concrete barrier between the two lanes of traffic. In case you were wondering what it’s like to ride in a car with Brian Blessed TomTom device, here is a video.
Because of the barrier, we had to make a right instead of a left and needed to pull a U-turn. We come up to the intersection - no U-turn sign.
God damn it.
So we make a left and are going down some road. Brian is yelling at us to “make a U-turn for England and Saint George!!!” We’re grinding our teeth, because the movers are coming and the pool guy is waiting. Finally we turn around on some road and head back.
Gordon says, “I hope he’s still there.”
“Of course he’s there – he’s trying to sell us $700 pool cleaner. For $700 I’d sit in a truck for a few minutes.”
We lost about five minutes of time, so the trip took fifteen minutes instead of ten. We roll up – the guy is sitting in his truck by our house. Everything is proceeding according to plan.
We get out. He opens his door, checks the street, and kind of carefully climbs out. A cautious pool man. We smile, him and Gordon start talking pool, and I come inside. The kids are in the pool, so I go out there to check with them. Kid 1 sees me and says, “The dogs got out.”
“How?”
Apparently while we were gone, the pool dude ignored our request to wait,m reached over the wooden gate, and flipped the gate hook open. The sequence of events went somewhat like this:
Pool dude opens the gate. Angus and Sophie charge for freedom. The pool man jumps aside to avoid being knocked over by a 50 lbs bulldog and finds himself face to face with the doberman, who positions herself between the kids in the pool and the pool dude. The doberman is baring three-quarter-inch teeth and does not look friendly.
The pool dude makes a break for his truck.
Del gives chase.
The vicious doberman hellbeast.
It’s very difficult to outrun a doberman. They are very fast. But the pool dude was sufficiently alarmed, because he made it into his truck with almost no time to spare. Del lays down by the truck. The pool dude is now trapped.
A moment later the children realize that the dogs are gone and investigate. Then the neighborhood is treated to the sight of four girls in their bikinis followed by a younger boy dashing down the street after the dogs, while the neighbors point and yell, “They went that way!”
Del is still at her post by the truck. The pool dude is still in fear for his life.
The kids return, bring Del back into the yard and shut the gate. Petrified pool dude is sitting in his truck waiting for our arrival. Thirty seconds later we roll up to the house.
I’ve never seen a man install a pool cleaner faster. He was gone in five minutes. I kid you not.
Hee! That must have been fun to see. A shame you guys didn’t get to witness it.
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LOL! He deserved that! Teach him to follow directions. Hope your stuff arrived safely. My husband’s family went though a similar circumstance with movers. God help us if it’s the same company, years later, doing the same crappy job.
Haha! That’s an awesome story! So did the movers arrive that day?
That’s a story for another day.
Oh goodness how I missed you guys! I can’t wait to hear the story of the movers. lol
Well at least you know the Dobie is doing her job and looking after her people when you are not there! And pool dude can’t really say anything he was warned about the dogs in the backyard, at that point its ALL HIS FAULT!
Hope you guys are fully moved in and can finally enjoy your new place.
*headdesk*
Yeah, here’s hoping I can see you guys friday
I wanna hear these stories 
Damn, too bad Del did not get to take a quick nip out of the idiot. I swear, some people are just frigging dumb! You told him NOT to go back there, but noooo, he had to go where he was told not to go. Aww well, all’s well that ends well. I say Del deserves extra treats. *L*
I am so glad you guys are back online. And yeah, movers suck the big one. My friend is currently going through this trauma right now–she has no idea where her furniture has ended-up.
This is one reason we’ve missed you. No stories of the life of…. And what a hero Del is, so brave. Love how the pool guy was trapped in the truck. hahaha
Another plus, I don’t have to stop and remember you’re in a different time zone.
Well, y’all sure know how to liven things up don’t yah. LOL I am glad it all worked out. It sounds funny now but at the time I can only imagine how horrible it felt. : )
People who do not listen must learn things the hard way. Often to the amusement of others.
*like* ahahaha yea. If I heard “Dogs in the backyeard, pls wait for us” I can assure you, in the car I will sit until owners arrive!
Thanks for the great story – I’m glad Del is a viscous defender of her humans and everything turned out ok.
It’s good to have you back – you were missed.
That’s a good dog! She deserves a special treat for taking care of her people and their turf. Pool dude learned a lesson.
Good dog!
Del sounds like a lovely dog.
Protective, vicious hellbeast indeed.
But stories like this always make me sigh and wonder what the hell is wrong with people.
Yes, I will ignore the instructions given to me by the owners of this house with their multiple pets because I’m the mighty poolman and I’ve seen a dog or two in my time.
Honestly? Argh. If people instruct you to not do/or do something, I would typically think that there is a reason they’re requesting that you do so.
But the fact that he was gone in 5 minutes is rather priceless. Ignore our instructions at your peril
I have so missed this. Can’t wait to hear the story about the movers.
~Rebecca
Rebecca Edney recently posted..In My Mailbox (4)
What part of “wait” did he not understand????
Enjoy the pool =)
Oh, my! What a story. I am curious, when the girls came back had they managed to catch Angus and Sophie?
Me and Ellen (The girl next door) chased after sofie cause a car was coming her way, and sara (her friend) grabbed angus who drove her into a bush of thorns;( but we got them!
Heh. I remember the days of chasing my dogs. My dad has a Shiba Inu, who LOVED to get out and run, and my mom had a Min. Schnauzer/Westie, who ALSO loved to run. -.- We spent many nights driving around town calling for my mom’s dog. Glad you guys got yours though! *thumbs up*
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I cannot believe any service person would go ahead and open the gate when told to wait because there are dogs in the yard. I hope he learned his lesson.
We have a great pool dude. Sometimes he comes when the dogs are in the yard so they go to the complete opposite side of the yard that he’s on to bark furiously at him. We have a couple of wimps.
OH DEL how we love thee…you are such a good protective doggie…no nasty man will get your charges! ((btw the pool guy was an idiot to open the gate…people warn of dogs for a reason!!))
This just means that you trained your dogs well and that there are stupid people in the world.
Our old neighbors trained their dog not to bark.
They arrived home to find a burglar flat on his back with the dog on top of him.
Apparantly he broke in (tried to) right after they left and had been lying there for the last 15 hours.
We were in our yard and never noticed anything, the dog just growled every time he tried to move until they got back.
That’s just priceless! my big dog would have rubbed against him and carried a toy to him! my little dog would bark and growl, but run away.
I am sorry for your moving hardships, but your stories from it have been great!
Huzzah Del the Defender!
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Sooo don’t understand what Pool Guy was thinking.
We used to have to have a meter guy who’d routinely leave the gate open, letting the pets out. One was a Chihuahua and the other was a declawed cat, neither of which was very capable of fending for itself “in the wild” even for a short period. Very distressing.
Thank you for sharing. I laughed so hard that I couldn’t breathe. I keep snickering, just thinking about it. You paint pictures so well with words, whether the content is imagined or real.
For you, on the plus side: The whole neighborhood now knows your daughters, and two of your dogs, by sight, thanks to the chase through your neighborhood, the great entertainment it provided, and the opportunity for them all to shout directions to the children in pursuit of the dogs.
At least no one got lost or injured during the great escape.
I am not sorry to say, I am looking forward to the stories about the movers, though what you have said already tells me it was not happy stuff for you (for which I am sorry).
Ha ha. Awww, Del rocks. Besides the pool dude is at fault, you warned him and he still did his own thing. That’s why hiring movers always scares me. But glad to know you guys are back and that you got all of your stuff!
I can understand about hopeless pool guys, but what about the movers? Are you still camping out in your own house?
*gigglesnort* Oh man… serves the stupid pool man right.
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I bet he never again opens a gate when he is warned not to
I had a guy from the electric company spray my little puppy in the face with mace, because he was afraid of dogs, said puppy was on a chain and was just greating him. He was fired, but my dog never liked anyone in uniform again.
Go, Del!
Good dog Del!!!
I can’t wait for the next installment chronicling your move from OR to TX. Somehow I suspect the title will be along the lines of “The Movers from Hell!” (IF not, I join the chorus of people begging for that story- obviously it sucked while it was going on, but, if nothing else, there is the redeeming quality of publically ridiculing the moving company on the blog. Perhaps you pull a page from Dante’s Inferno and give the company a starring role in one of your books… I wonder how Curran would react to that level of incompetence? )
O.o
Dude.
Glad the pool guy didn’t get bitten. And I hope Angus didn’t wander off too far.
I’d be willing to pay for the harrowing tale of the movers’ ineptitude, btw.
Oh my, that must be a sight to witness unfolding! Sorry to hear the movers were less than stellar, hopefully the unloading went more smoothly than you feared!
I’m sorry to hear that your move to Texas has been plagued with difficulties. I really hope it improves. Austin, Texas in general, is a great place to live.
LMAO! Thanks!
I’m sure the pool man’s new motto is: Listen to the customer!
Jodie B. Cooper recently posted..Hexed Anthology (Magic Dreams) ~ Ilona Andrews & Others
oh my. What a wonderful dog! Will you let her give lessons to my scaredy cat dobrador who looks almost exactly like her. She likes to bark at people but only when my wife is standing in front of her. Sorry for your bad experience but am really really proud of your dog.
Heehee…that pix of Del looks like “Nummy nummy…pool duuude”.
I will never understand why repair people never listen to warnings you give them about dogs. A woman who lived in my old building had a large former shelter dog, completely harmless, as she was more afraid of you than you were of her, but she put on a good show when she felt intimidated (though if you’d actually pay attention, she would bark while backing up, afraid of whomever was entering). Whenever she’d call inform building maintenance that something needed to be fixed, she was always careful to say “I have a DOG, please only hey into the apartment during these hours, as I will not be there otherwise, and I have a DOG”. Every single time, I kid you not, they would key into the apartment while she was at work, and every time, she’d get an email saying that they could not complete the work because she had a dog. Despite multiple warnings to them about the presence of said dog. *facepalm*
i have a friend who have 7 really big dogs. (Alaskan malamut’s, Siberian husky’s, and a couple of mixes.) She has a really big sign on the driveway fence, that you have to move to open the gate, that say’s: don’t enter, dogs are free. and then her phone number so people can call to let her know they are there. all her dogs are rescue dogs and some of them will attack strangers. and even though she warns people, they till move the sign and enters….. I guess it shows just how ignorant people are sometimes.
Whenever you guys have a free day, and a little bit of money to burn, make the trip to Schlitterbahn. http://www.schlitterbahn.com/nb/ All 4 of you and maybe some neighbor kids. I know you’ve got a pool, but this is COMPLETELY different!
Hahaha. Kinda like the dog and the mail-man.
Good Dell!!
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