Strange Wake-up Call

This morning was pretty strange in all sorts of ways. I woke up to the sound of scratching at my bedroom door. Okay, I though to myself, Lilah obviously broke through the barrier on the stairs. It has happened before so not such a big surprise. My mom and I had overslept so the dogs were antsy and needed to go out. Understandable.

So we're all outside, enjoying the cool morning in our backyard, when Lilah starts barking like crazy at the gate. A brief glance reveals a man in a safari type hat and yellow shirt leaning through a gap between the fence shared with our neighbors. Quite shocking.

Apparently it was that time of the month for the DWP to read the meter in our backyard. Usually they use mirrors or scopes to read the meter without requiring direct access to it. But I guess this time, since we were right there, he asked us to open the gate so he could read the meter accurately.

I was still in my sleep clothes wearing my funky, worn orange slides, my contacts still in their case in the bathroom and my mouth still funky. I had to corral a barking and ferocious looking Lilah inside. Luckily, Ritter was still deciding whether or not to bark so he followed me inside pretty quickly. I let DWP-guy in, he reads the meter, and leaves.

Then it occurred to my mom that maybe we shouldn't have been so quick to allow him access as there have been recent robberies resulting from the thieves claiming that they're from AT&T or the city. Oops.

Well, I offered, Lilah's bark is really loud and I don't doubt that she'd try her best to inflict some sort of damage. Though what dog owner doesn't hope that to be the case, right? But then I realized, Lilah has some fears/phobias. Cardboard boxes, any type of cycle (bi or tri), baby strollers. Those are what I know of so far.

So it is highly likely that the thief would be successful in getting past Lilah if he was walking in a cardboard box, riding on a bicycle, or cruising in a stroller...the whole time.


See, look at how vicious she is barking at that dangerous looking bakezori (courtesy of MidnightHunnyRun). And yes, that is a beach chair in our breakfast room...Good luck navigating past that in your baby stroller, potential-robbers!