Foot in Mouth

I started my day all angry with NIPSCO. Yesterday, our power went out twice. The first time, they thought it was because of a squirrel, and then they got the power back on. About an hour later, the power went back off again, and that time, they determined it was because there were limbs hitting the power lines. I was indoors and didn't see this happening, but it was apparently our tree that was hitting the lines. That tree is on our property, but the limbs reach out into what I think might be an alley way (or it may just very well be the neighbor's property that meets up with ours). The power line poles are on our property line.

At about 5 p.m., they trimmed said tree and threw all of the clippings back into our yard. They did not clean it up.

Here's what it looked like, actually:



I called NIPSCO today (when the mess was still there at noon) and asked what was up with that, and the woman said to me, "When it is an emergency situation, NIPSCO does not clean up any debris. When it is regular maintenance, they do clean up the debris."

I said, "Um . . . the emergency is over, so can they come clean it up now?"

She said they don't do that.

So, you can imagine that I was fairly frustrated.

I didn't mind that they trimmed the tree. I just couldn't believe the mess they just left in our yard for us.

I spent a good part of today being angry about this (I even went so far as to try to see if they could actually do this), and then at about 4 p.m., I went to let Hobbes out. I looked into the lower yard, and low and behold, the mess was gone. I was stunned. I don't know who did it (I'm assuming it was NIPSCO), and I don't know when. All I can say is, "Thank you."

I was really not looking forward to having to clean that up. Now, I just need to get this foot removed from my mouth.

In other news, this week is killing me. I haven't been this stressed out in a long time.

Now, it is time to display my baby.


I really love to watch her while she's sleeping, obviously.


Here she is being a pro in her Johnny Jump-Up.

Also, don't forget about my "creative outlet" blog.