Christmas Decorations

[John Dirks Jr]

From somewhere on the web:

"Good news is that I truly out did myself this year with my Christmas decorations. The bad news is that I had to take him down after 2 days. I had more people come screaming up to my house than ever.Great stories. But two things made me take it down.

First, the cops advised me that it would cause traffic accidents as they almost wrecked when they drove by.

Second, a 55 year old lady grabbed the 75 pound ladder almost killed herself putting it against my house and didn't realize it was fake until she climbed to the top (she was not happy). By the way, she was one of many people who attempted to do that. My yard couldn't take it either. I have more than a few tire tracks where people literally drove up my yard.

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[Jim Katen]

From somewhere on the web:

"Good news is that I truly out did myself this year with my Christmas decorations. The bad news is that I had to take him down after 2 days. I had more people come screaming up to my house than ever.Great stories. But two things made me take it down.

First, the cops advised me that it would cause traffic accidents as they almost wrecked when they drove by.

Second, a 55 year old lady grabbed the 75 pound ladder almost killed herself putting it against my house and didn't realize it was fake until she climbed to the top (she was not happy). By the way, she was one of many people who attempted to do that. My yard couldn't take it either. I have more than a few tire tracks where people literally drove up my yard.

Might be a fun thing to set up on your neighbor's house.

- Jim Katen, Oregon

[Inspectorjoe]

Wow, that was a lot of commotion from a bunch of people who were taken in by it.

Last month in downtown Easton PA, I encountered someone who was in a much more dire situation, but I didn't fall for it. I took my cue from the guy on the left. He didn't seem too concerned, so I figured why should I be.

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[John Dirks Jr]

When I first saw the picture I thought, " damn that's a strong gutter "

[hausdok]

To hell with the dude,

Most folks pulling up on that lawn will probably want to upload that $400 ladder.

When I first saw the picture I thought, " damn that's a strong gutter "

About 10 or 11 years ago, I climbed up onto a 2nd story Cedar shingle roof just as it started to sprinkle. The plan was to get it done quick and get off.

Well, you know what they say about plans; I was nearly done when the wind picked up and I heard a crashing sound. I went back to the front and there was that aluminum extension ladder on the ground and the client and realtor nowhere in sight.

I yelled, but nobody came. Meanwhile, the rain has picked up a little and the "dry" cedar shingles were quickly becoming "wet" shingles. I had no choice, I let myself down over the gutter near a corner downspout, grabbed hold of the downspout and then slid down the 10ft. to the roof of the porch. Anyone that's met me in person knows how dangerous that was; I could never be accused of not being a chubette. I was expecting either the gutter or the downspout to pull loose at any second but somehow they held.

Now I was only about 15ft. off the ground but the roof was so wet by then that I couldn't step off the dry roof under the eaves without risking a very quick slip and fall off that roof. I found myself trapped against the wall under the 2ft. deep overhanging eaves and the wind was quickly pushing enough water under the eaves that I had about two minutes left before I was going to find myself standing on brown ice.

I inched along under the overhang till I got to a window and started rapping on the window. No answer; it was a big old foursquare and the door to that room was closed. Finally, I had no choice, I used my elbow to break the glass, reached in, unlocked the window and climbed inside just as it started coming down in buckets.

I went down to the kitchen. There was the client and the agent kicked back enjoying coffee and some cookies that the homeowner had left for them. I told them what had happened and about the window. They expressed some shock and dismay; too late, I was already ticked off. The rest of that inspection was done without anyone saying much of anything.

The next day I showed up with a piece of glass, some glazing points, a can of Dap glazing compound and a putty knife. I replaced the broken piece of glass and the next week I bought my first Little Giant clone and got rid of that lightweight extension ladder.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[inspectorchris]

That's hilarious[:-monkeyd.... I could set up a chair and watch people's reaction all day.

I live in a ranch so it wouldn't be fun at my house... but its almost worth finding a place to do it.