With a cat named Molson....

One of the perks of my job everyday is meeting new people and hearing their stories. Whenever I pull up in front of 'your' house I want you to be comfortable with me being in your home. I always look for and like when I can 'connect' with the people as I go about doing my job. I do it everyday so in a sense, I guess, I might be more comfortable with it than 'you' are.

Yesterday I met a great couple that had recently moved here from Long Island. Their son works for a cable company up there so they were well informed and well prepared. Very nice people; I enjoyed them very much.

Despite the fact that this is Saturday; I had to work today, too. Saturday's are often 'lightly-scheduled' in case 'troubles' arise. The pace on Saturdays is often slower than M-F. When I pulled off the lot this morning at 7:30 I had five scheduled jobs. On Saturdays I work until 4 PM. I arrived at my job # 4 shortly after noon. The directions on the order were very clear. 'Look for barn and chicken house near bottom of hill.' I had no trouble finding it. I pulled in front of the garage and called the office to report my arrival on the phone.

As I waited for the office to respond a guy walked up from the barn and told me to go around to the front door. I nodded acknowledgement as I talked to the dispatcher on the cell phone. I walked to the front of the very nice farmhouse and the same guy answered the door.

I smiled and said, 'Sir, I'm here for the cable.' He extended his hand as he said, 'My name's John.' I shook his hand and said, 'Sir, my name is Chris; but you are still going to be 'sir' to me.' I explained that my father was a West Point graduate and an Air Force pilot so I was 'conditioned' to treat people that 'way.' He welcomed me in said, 'Here's what we want to do,' as he led me upstairs to his in-home office.

I asked what I needed to, surveyed the job and saw it would be relatively simple. We were talking casually and within minutes realized we had a common shared experience. We were both born/raised in transient military families. He was born in Germany. I was born in Idaho. I could tell before he offered me something to drink that he wasn't 'from around here.'

When I first got out of my work van there was a large rooster nearby; watching me. I was not afraid just laughed at the thought of my recent neighborhood one. He left me alone as I passed. I noticed a bowl of 'rooster feed' and a water bowl on the deck I crossed to get to the front door. During our conversation I looked at John and asked, in effect...'What's up with the rooster?'

He laughed and said, 'You mean Phil?'

I smiled and looked at him and asked, 'You named the Rooster?'

He said, 'Yeah, that's Phil.' John leases the chicken house to a local farmer. The trucks came one day and took all the chickens. Phil got left behind. Phil is one LUCKY bird. Bowl of feed, water bowl, a beautiful deck, pastures...I suppose even lots of chicken nearby....wink. He's got it made and funny as I think he knows it.

John's wife Lisa showed up soon after I got there. She heard me talking about Alexandria, Virginia where we had all lived. She was born in Canada. I loved hearing her slight accent. We all traded stories about moving to a 'sedentary' place like this from places more 'transient.' John had gone on from being a military child to become an Army officer himself. His lifetime 32 moves makes all of mine seem trivial. Lisa was born in Montreal and her family now lives in Ottawa. She and I talked about those places, too. In this local culture was very nice to meet 'like-minded' people. Lisa mentioned the old TV show 'Green Acres.' wink

I walked out to my van when it was time to go and saw John, a neighbor, their daughter and some of her friends watching something as their aging dog Coma barked. I walked around to the side of my van and Phil was playing with Coma. Coma is a big dog; they were both obviously having fun.

See the picture above.

Everyday on my job really is a new adventure and sometimes I really do get lucky. My thanks to John and Lisa for their hospitality. One of those service calls that I won't soon forget. A rooster named Phil and a cat named Molson.

How cool is that?

Hope you all had a good day, too.

Take care and have a good night, too.