Really?

I found a little something on my door this morning.  'Twas a note, to be more specific.  I have decided that it is a Valli-time.  It is not.  But this is what I am going with.  Because I laugh in the face of those who try to make me crazy when they are mere rank amateurs, no matter what they may think of their skills.

Yesterday's storm required that the plow-guys stop their little game of Cat 'n Mouse with our condo complex and actually wander by to scrape up a little of the white stuff.  To leave these storm deposits sitting in the parking areas would be too obvious.  In order to continue maintaining an air of caring, they had to come.  But, they played their bad hands quite masterfully.  I'll give 'em that.

Not long ago, the other residents and I received rather terse notes on our doors admonishing us for failing to move our cars so that the plows could come through.  So great was our shame that none of us dared to point out the random nature of the plowing and we all scampered to move our vehicles a week in advance of any approaching weather.  We were rewarded with a second round of notes praising our good behavior.  It stopped just short of offering us treats as a reinforcer, much like one would do for an obedient pooch.  

And I'm ashamed to admit that even I fell for that one.  I strutted just a bit, flaunting my good parking ways and gave thought to posting the note on the fridge for all to see.  Maybe even putting a gold star at the top, just for effect...

Yesterday's snow day, while a bit more ferocious than I'd thought it was going to be, was pleasant enough.  I wasn't one of the tens of thousands who lost their power.  I had Mountain Dew aplenty.  I knit.  I spun.  I watched movies.  I never once had to leave the warmth of hearth and home.  And all this was made possible by my having been a good resident and following the rules of the Parking Powers.  

Then I got my Valli-time.

Apparently the plow-guys, bored to tears and with nothing about which to complain, informed the management company that all those cars parked in the roadways were a hinderance.  They couldn't get their plows through without having to navigate all around them.  They asked that we stop moving our cars.  How were they to maintain their high level of service and attention to detail with all those pesky hunks of metal lying about?

So, the management company did the following:

1.  Asked us to continue moving our cars

and

2.  Asked us to stop moving our cars.

This is interesting.  And just a little bit confusing.  It might imply that the plows are going to be coming more regularly.  It might imply that they are never coming again.  It might imply that they expect us to levitate our vehicles.  I like to think that I have a pretty good command of the English language and that I can use my intuition to glean what the subtext might be in most situations.

But this one has me stumped.  This is not a good Valli-time.  Not a good one at all.  It didn't even have one of those conversation heart candies stuck to it.  I don't like those hearts.  But it would have been a nice gesture.  The giver of this Valli-time does not know how to celebrate this holiday very well.  It wasn't even on red paper...

Still, I have to laugh at the attempt made at driving me crazy.  I've had better thrown at me.  Just ask my truck.  It has decided to turn the battery light on again in the hope that I will take it in to the garage for a fifth time and have them test it so they can tell me there is nothing wrong with it and then ask me for money.  That's a good effort.  Or how about the time I got pneumonia on my birthday?  Karma at its best, I tellya!  Then there are the three million sweaters that haven't come to fruition because I can't knit sweaters anymore now that I am under a Blog Sweater Curse.  Classic!

Asking me to move my car while simultaneously not moving my car?  Not bad.  Just not the best, is all.  Keep trying.

Happy Day Before The Big Candy Sale, everyone!  This weekend, we get to nosh on the shattered hopes and dreams of late-shopping husbands and boyfriends from all across this land!  See you at the discount table...

SA