Last night, after picking up my boys from up north, I drove by our new home to surprise Andy, my oldest. I had already teased Joey about us buying a new house, so he already knew. It was fun watching and listening to Andy as he realized we had bought a home.

However, as I was showing the boys around, Andy looked out in the back yard and noticed a hose attached to our house running under the fence to our neighbors. What? My mind tried to grasped what I was seeing. “Could my neighbor really be stealing my water?”

Uhm, yes. And my electricity too.

We called the police. We kept the extension cord, we’ll be cutting up the hose soon. Apparently, the backyard of our neighbors is inhabited by homeless people. Suddenly, we realized why the previous homeowners built a 10-foot high fence.

The rest of the neighbors we have met have been great. They informed us of the situation. Not sure how we are going to handle it.

The woman who “owns/rents” the house doesn’t have much going for her. The police officer who came by to take the report said she doesn’t have electricity or water. So it will be interesting how to move forward.

As for the my backyard, I bought locks for the gates.

Welcome to the neighborhood.