Bumpas issues

I believe I mentioned that I had plans to work on my patio this holiday weekend.  Now, I have gotten the aggregate down... and when I say I, I mean my contractor and his workers.  He sort of took over when I started the new job.  They also have put down most of the sand, but ran a bit short on material.  We... and when I say we, I really mean they... have also put in a drainage line and started the stone wall that will frame the back of the patio.  Things are looking good, but progress has been slow due to the continuous snow and rain.

Anyway, in anticipation of getting four days to contribute to the project, I made sure that I set up a delivery of sand and gravel to go behind the wall and help with the drainage.  The delivery was set up for Wednesday between 10:30 and 11:30 a.m.  My contractor made plans to be there so that he could get to work.

Sure enough, at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, I was sitting at my desk when I got a call on my cellphone.  It was the gentleman from the rock store.  He was sort of chuckling and informed me that his driver ran into problems making the delivery due to...

the Bumpases.  The guy on the phone informed me that the delivery guy was really afraid of dogs.  I told him that I would have my contractor call them in a moment to give his estimated time of arrival.   I certainly did not want the delivery guy to leave without dropping off the sand and gravel, so I quickly called my contractor... let's call him Matt... because, well, that is his name.  I explained the situation to Matt, and he said he would take care of everything. 

Matt called back a bit later that day.  He was also laughing and informed me that he had a story that I could tell to all of my friends.  Of course, Matt knows me well enough to know that I don't really like that many people, but whatever. 

Apparently, the delivery guy was dropping off the sand and was out of the truck when Cowboy and Sarah came out from the bushes barking.  The guy, as I mentioned, is terrified of dogs in general, much less two large, barking dogs.  So the guy freaked out and ran into my garage and shut himself inside.  That was an unfortunate decision because my garage is where the Bumpases live.  They were probably confused as to why some large man just locked himself in their home... maybe he was coming out with their food... maybe he was taking over.  Either way, it was probably worth their while to wait and see what happened.  This sort of thing had never happened before and it was obvioulsy pretty confusing for them.  Consequently, they hung out in the driveway and wrestled with eachother to pass the time.

This was a terrifying turn of events for the delivery guy.  He thought the dogs were just trying to kill eachother... surely he would be a gonner if he went outside.  Obviously, if they were trying to kill eachother, they would surely team up and try to kill him if given the chance.  (That was his logic anyway).  He decided that discretion was the greater part of valor and he called for help... which is why I got the phone call.  To make himself comfortable, he found a small A-frame type ladder which I keep in the garage, moved it to clear area, and opened it up.  He set that up so he could sit on it and still be elevated enough to look out the garage windows.

From his perch in the garage, he was able observe one of my neighbors drive down the driveway.  Sarah and Cowboy, rather bored at this point, decided to chase and bark at the car.  He watched the dogs run off and then quickly made his escape.

The delivery guy's day was not over, however.  He had to come back with the load of gravel.  Luckily for all of us, Matt was at the house by that point and was able to get the dogs under control.... and more importantly, got the story regarding the morning's events.

Sad in a way, but nobody got hurt so I don't mind laughing about it.  And really, look at these faces...

those dogs are not going to hurt anyone.