The joys of home ownership: UPDATE

[This post is cross-posted at From Russia With Blog.]

This is an update to yesterday's post. I received this email from my mom this morning:

Filed the police report. Officer Davis came over to the house with me; then his sergeant shows up. HE says they have been waiting for an excuse to be able to take a closer look at that bunch (!) Apparently they 'house-hop' -- move from one house to another and never pay rent (or utilities, I guess). Anyway, I filled out a criminal trespass form, and that gives the police permission to be on the property, and anyone found there withpout permission can be prosecuted.

The joys of home ownership.

[This post is cross-posted with From Russia With Blog, my main blog until June 29th.]

When I bought my house in Waycross, I bought one in a rather sketchy neighborhood. I was aware that this house wasn't really in the best spot, but I'm planning to be a hermit; does it really matter what's going on outside my door? Well, the other day my mom emailed to say that she caught the next door neighbor stealing my electricity! She came over to water my flowers and discovered an extension cord from the neighbor's house plugged into one of my outside outlets. The neighbor is named Pasha. Mom went and knocked on the door and it was answered by a woman who said she was Tasha, who cried and claimed to have no clue about the extension cord.

Today I received this email from my mom:

Went by your house this morning. The back door was unlocked, so apparently they are getting in somehow and going out the back door. The man in the house behind yours (Simmie) came over to warn me what was going on. Tasha's name is actually Christie and he is her cousin. He says the family has stolen from him. So I guess this is war. I probably will file a police report.

This is going to be an adventure. I can see how people end up with six-foot fences topped with razor wire. (Melissa, is this your fault?)

Update/Reminder

Just a quick note to remind everyone that I will be still blogging over at From Russia With Blog until June 29th, at which point I'll be back blogging over here. This also means that yes, I have a return-date: I'm flying into Georgia on June 29th :-)