A Nice Fit

You remember, from my last post, that some people came to look at our house on the 4th of July. This morning I got a call from their real estate agent, saying they wanted to come this afternoon and take a second look. Of course, I told him we'd be happy to have them come.

After work I dashed home, briefly, double checked everything in the house, and scooped up my Kindle. I hadn't had lunch yet, so I decided that, instead of Barnes and Noble, I'd go to Sweet Tomatoes to enjoy a salad and to read for awhile. I needed to waste a good hour or more, to give them plenty time to view the house. After lunch, as I was nearing our house, I saw the people just coming out of our front door, so I made a block and let them clear out.

About an hour later, the agent called me again. "I'm sorry to bother you again, but my clients wonder if they could come by, about 5:00, and try parking their car in your garage, just to make sure it will fit. We'll only take about five minutes of your time."

"Of course. That would be no problem at all," I replied.

At 5:00 sharp, they all showed up. Dan and I both moved our cars out to the street, and let them pull their big Mercury into the garage. It fit just fine! They thanked us for accommodating them, said good-bye, and climbed back into their car. But . . . their car refused to start! ("Hmm. Your car seems to want to stay! I think you'd better buy the house," I wanted to tell them.)

Dan, the agent, and the man fiddled for 15 minutes or so with the battery terminals, cables, etc, with no success. Since our cars have sealed batteries, we don't even have jumper cables. We walked across the street, where our neighbor, Brad, was in his garage, working on something. He and a friend agreed to bring their van over, and some cables, and try to jump the battery. No luck. The battery seemed to be DEAD. Really DEAD.

So now, the agent and the man decided to remove the battery, take it to an auto parts store, and find out whether it was salvageable. While they were gone, Dan and the lady and I went into the house, where the air conditioning was humming along, making it oh so much more comfortable than out in the hot garage. I was wondering what we would talk about . . . it might be a little awkward. But only a few minutes into our chat, she mentioned that her daughter taught at Albuquerque Christian School, a school operated by one of the churches of Christ here in town. So I mentioned that we were members of the church.

The lady was so surprised, and so excited. She told us that, although they are coming from out of state, they used to live in Albuquerque. When she found out we worship with the Northeast congregation, she asked if we had a church directory she could look at. I brought it to her, and she began thumbing through it, identifying all sorts of folks that they know. Come to find out, we have dozens of mutual friends! Not only that, but it turns out that she first met her husband, as I did Dan, when they were students at Abilene Christian College (now University).

An hour and 45 minutes after they arrived, a new battery was successfully installed in the Mercury and it roared to life. By then the lady had turned from "shopper" into "friend." She told me, "I'm glad that the car died, because it was so nice getting to know you and finding out how much we have in common!" She even gave me a hug before she got into her car.

Whether this will result in an offer on the house is anyone's guess, but it did lead to an enjoyable visit with some nice folks.