Thursday, January 10, 2019

The Downspout Extension Continues To Run Away

So our gutter in the front yard has this downspout extension that is brown, plastic, and wider than the end of the downspout that's connected to the house, but it is long enough (or it would be if we pulled out the bellows section all the way) to carry the water to our front lawn.

I don't remember it being bought.  Father probably bought it without sizing it up first, and he has not elongated it so that the water would carry all the way to the grass.

Then again, I have not elongated it, either, even though I have had plenty of chances to do so.  That's because I have, from time to time, needed to wrangle it.  You see, that extension fits in over the end of the downspout, but not snugly.  In fact, it's quite loose.  So loose, in fact, that I often come back home to see the extension not attached.  It is sometimes just a couple inches away from the opening.  Sometimes it rolls off to the side.  Sometimes it's on the grass.  But only once, just now, did I see it vertically, leaning against the rest of my neighbor's trash right next to his garage door.  Because, apparently, the downspout extension somehow wound up on my neighbor's property, and he believed that it was his trash to haul away.

I don't know why My Father couldn't find an extension that would be a better fit.  But I don't really know why and how this extension can just get up and walk away from it needs to be.  Is it the wind?  I can't think it's that strong to pull it off the downspout, let alone blow it across the property line.  Could a squirrel be messing with it?  Is it vandalism?

I don't know what it is, but I sure am glad I got it back from my neighbor's.  Unfortunately I had to walk onto their property (well, walk across their driveway) in order to retrieve it.  In the back of my mind I think there's a chance, albeit a small one, that the owner(s) will get mad at me for getting my downspout extension back.  We have not talked much, but I have had nothing except clashes between them and I the scant times we talked about something.  That this retrieval, which could mean stealing and/or trespassing to him, makes me think he could just come over and shoot and kill me.

I would not completely rule that out, for this issue or any other issue that might arise between us in the future.

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