In the words of Lieutenant Colonel Charles E. Stanton (sometimes attributed to General Pershing), Lafayette, we are here! Whereas Stanton was talking about repaying the French a 140 year old debt of gratitude for their assistance in the American Revolution by aiding them in World War I, I am talking about a 25 mile move to the southwest from Monticello to Lafayette, Indiana. So, roughly equivalent.
And what a welcome! The doughboys got shot at by the Huns. I get the Lafayette Police Department knocking on my door in the wee hours of the morning. Apparently the neighbors, who seem nice enough, have a wayward son who was staying with them who brought certain chemicals into the house that, one way or another made law enforcement authorities think that they needed to bring in a bomb technician. (My original thought was that they suspected a meth lab. Further investigation has revealed that the substances were suspected to be materials for making dynamite or a pipe bomb, so I’m oddly somewhat relieved.)
Neighbors, such as myself, were evacuated “just in case.” Thank goodness we had taken the kids to their grandparents during the move so we didn’t have to roust them out of bed. I’ve been told that this “really is a nice neighborhood,” but to have my first night’s sleep at my new house disturbed by the police knocking at the door is just disturbing.
So, now we just have to find out whether this story will end up being of the “We knew it was trouble right from the start” variety or the “Haha, . . . but do you remember that *first* night?” variety.
You are heading over to Triple XXX in West Lafayette for a Purvis Burger before the students arrive, right?
As it happens, the owner of the Triple XXX is a client of the firm, so I’m always happy to grab a burger and a rootbeer there. I don’t believe I’ve ever had the Purvis Burger though.
Congratulations on a successful move. I hope your new home in Lafayette works out for you. Go Boilers!
Ahhh…the burgers at the Triple XXX. A true gastronomical delight…and a client of the firm. Next time I visit I’ll make sure they put my bill on your “tab”. As for the new neighbors…well it could be worse…they might be republicans! Glad the move was successful and here’s hoping for a good nights sleep.
Perhaps you should feel that your new home has been disaster-proofed, as Garp said after a plane crashed into his new house in the World According to Garp. It’s all a matter of perspective. Anyway, I HOPE that this is the case for you.
There are other items besides the Purvis Burger and the biscuits & gravy on the menu?
Congrats on the move! We’re looking forward to having you back full force in the blogosphere once you get settled in.
For those unfamiliar with the Masson universitorial choice: We Are Hoosiers.
A young man was suppose to be making a bomb in your new neighborhood. Quick get the address and make a mental note not to tick them off. Geez can’t the kids do something normal like play baseball, mow grass, go swimming, it’s the summer not the military.
I hope that you were right in a few years you might think that this was just the first night in a new home. What I would do is bake some cookies and walk over to the intrusive neighbor and find out if this has happened before. Just a suggestion.
This was an adult son, not a child. He’s 29 and on the run from the police currently. And the police assured us that the couple next door are very good people.
Oh, the great meth lab vs. bomb-maker debate… The root of your odd relief lies in the very nature of these two entities. The meth lab brings (additional) undesirable elements into the neighborhood (vendors and consumers) while the bomb-making is more likely a smaller (possibly even one-time) venture with the end-product quite possibly intended for disruption in someone else’s neighborhood.
Seriously, it’s a bummer that this was your introduction to the neighborhood – before you have your feet under you. I would go with Sue’s suggestion that the new home has now been “pre-disastered” and you can look forward to many peaceful years.
Well, it’s a relief to know that bomb making is still illegal in some locales, that all the last legislature legalized was setting the damn things off at 3AM for the two months surrounding July 4th.
ah, the triple XXX – it’s on the hill, but on the level!
yeah, i lived in W. Lafayette for a bit.
Well, I hope everything is okay, despite the possible bomb threat.
Congratulations on the move, even if it is into “enemy territory.” ;-) I think the rule is that you have six months to use the “I just moved” excuse whenever you can’t find or remember something.