What is this, some kind of UFO or "UAP" come to rest in the greensward of the Compound's vehicle park? No, it was not, just a load of aggregate arriving to "improve the ground" and make it "code compliant." Whatever that means in today's movable feast of civic virtue.
Far-sighted readers will remember the Code Cops paid us a visit a few days ago because someone had made a formal complaint about vehicles parked on our attractively grassy lot and demanded they go unless the "ground was improved." After a congenial conversation about Glocks, I assured the Code Constables that there'd be a solution.
Sure enough there was, with D turning up with serious amounts of aggregate and gravel. He told me he'd do it and he did, I respect that, well done. Next step? March across the way to the church which generously hosts your rigs on its erstwhile grass. He tells me he will, after all, it's his local.
Hey, I can't complain, all that "ground improvement," ahem, doesn't come cheap. Thanks, D, 'preciate you, what a good neighbor.
In Rure,
LSP
Very fancy, LSP.
ReplyDeleteIt's a good result, LL, though I preferred the grass.
ReplyDeleteGrass is way better but then so are trees. No, chop them down! We don't need shade from the searing Texan heat on the boulevard of this street! It all adds to the great concrete river.
ReplyDeleteI suppose a non-congenial conversation about Glocks would mean there wasn't one at all.
Anybody got any salmon?
I predict a grass insurgency.
ReplyDeleteAggregate is better than a concrete pad because it is permeable. Grass gets really beat down if heavy equipment is parked there so the code police probably made the right call, but it should have been handled in a more neighborly way.
ReplyDeleteThat wouldn't go over well in a rural Alabama church parking, everybody parks in the grass. Something I had to learn real quick when we moved to a rural area. Oregon, where I am from it was ver-boteen to the Nth degree. Nobody parked on the grass. But then again, the karen or ken would regret the complaint had it became public... shame worked very well down South.
ReplyDeleteIf I may be Mr. Silver Lining...
ReplyDeleteHere is Maryland, we would be grateful for the chance to merely place aggregate to park on. We would be required to build stormwater management, and the area would be taxed against our impervious square footage, (the rain tax, as it's known). And yes, gravel is impervious when driven on, at least in the fantasy world.
So, be thankful for this outcome. It could be worse.
The proverbial “Don’t get mad, get even”…now yer in full compliance with the parking ninny’s. And like the porch floor resurfacing , the result is excellent. The other upside is if you need some contemplative time to recenter the spiritual chi you can take your garden rake out there and rake striations in the gravel while praying. Next, plant a few bonsai’s for affect.
ReplyDeleteDid they put any fabric down prior to the gravel? I should have suggested that sooner...
ReplyDeleteAnyways, it looks neat, good locking aggregate and well graded.
Crusty Old TV Tech here. This sort of thing just gets my goat. Long ago, after the Bob Vila era, I remember seeing an episode of This Old House on the Publick B. Network. It seems some fellow with a big back yard facing a pond or stream of some kind somewhere in Taxachusetts had Poison Ivy growing on the retaining wall. The host was told by the owner he needed to get a permit to remove said Poison Ivy, to which the host replied something like "Yes, we must have a permit from the city to remove ground cover". Imagine that playing out near Lufkin, TX, if you can! "Code" "Enforcement" and "permitting" are a symptom IMHO of the sort of nanny statism that leads inevitibly to a dark place.
ReplyDeleteUmmmm - you think D would like to bring me a bit of gravel? I think about 6 - 8 loads would be a good start. Our road took a beating this winter with all the rain. And - I could use a load and the rectory next door could use a load, too. :-)
ReplyDeleteExactly, Juliette.
ReplyDeleteGot any Veras?
Luvverly.
Ritchie, all cards are on the table.
ReplyDeleteAs it is, I'm well impressed with Friendly Forces, they stood up to the gravel plate. Nice.
Yeah it should, 'pewster.
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing, but it's an informed guess, that the local and nearby lib episcopalians made the call. But hey, just a guess.
All anyone had to do was knock on my door, have a convo, and get it sorted out.
Cederq, same way here. Park on the grass, it's THE COUNTRY. Everyone does it.
ReplyDeleteFFS.
Pardon my language.
Oh my, Anon, you have to pay a Rain Tax? Dear Lord.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of which, I used to live on the Maryland border of DC (Bladensburg), so I have some understanding.
Wow, what a suburban ghetto hellhole that was. Genuinely great thrift stores tho, no kidding.
Paul!
ReplyDeleteNow you're talking.
Good call, DOS, but no fabric.
ReplyDeleteStill, good job and it's ongoing. Good neighbors, friendlies.
Next step? Get the AUX to darken the doors of church.
I totally agree, Mr. Tech.
ReplyDeleteMaybe in a big city it makes some kind of sense, but here? Absurd, and it's an infringement on liberty to boot.
Did you know the Brits resisted a police force for just that reason, for ages? They gave in, in the end, when London became unmanageable. Probably smart, but still.
Very good call, LL.
ReplyDeleteI fear we're talking enemies, small town enemies.
That's as maybe, in the meanwhile, LOYAL BLUE is guarding the rainbow bridge, fangs barred, like Cerberus.
Adrienne, I'll send it your way of poss.
ReplyDeleteI want to believe...
ReplyDeleteHerr Doktor, we must have faith.
ReplyDelete