While on our latest trip (Italy), Jen received an unusual text that sent us down a panicked rabbit hole trying to determine if our house at the least was broken into; at worst, hosting squatters while we vacationed.
Thanks for letting us use the pool. Who's white Cadillac SUV is in your driveway?
We don't own a white Cadillac SUV. No one we know owns a white Cadillac SUV.
My brother was watching our house for us, checking pool filters, gathering mail and packages and he had access to the house for that reason. We had also told our neighbors down the street to feel free to use the pool anytime and that they may encounter my brother, but he's aware - just say "hi".
Due to our early morning rush to almost missing our train to Venice to booking excursions on the train ride, Jen didn't get to the mysterious text until we were arriving in Venice train terminal. Due to the time change, it was early morning back home, so texting back was going to be best effort if our recipients were even awake yet.
Jen: Can you elaborate on the white Cadillac SUV in our driveway? Plate number, is it still there?
Pool-use Neighbor: Sorry, just waking up. Not sure if it's still there. Thought it was your brother's car.
Jen: It's not! We don't know anyone with that type of car.
Pool-use Neighbor: When we got there to swim Thursday afternoon, it was there. Thought it was your brother and he'd come out an say hi. We were there for about 2 hours and no one came out and the SUV was still there when we left.
This was odd and when I got wind of the text conversation, I started checking our cameras. I had my phone on airplane mode so as to not get international roaming charges - only Jen's was online. I was using opportunistic WiFi, so if a Ring doorbell notification came through while offline, I wouldn't have gotten it. Sure enough, our Ring doorbell camera showed activity at 4pm on Thursday - a police officer at our door! Now I start trying to log into our alarm company's website portal since I wouldn't have received their phone call (airplane mode and all). Of course, their website is as secure as we had hoped our house was ... I get denied for attempting to log in from a foreign IP address. Now I'm trying to start a VPN to connect back home to access the website from a U.S. address.
In the meantime, Jen is trying to text and or call anyone who could check on the house at 7am on Sunday. What about our neighbors at the end of the street - they're away camping. What about our neighbors across the street from us - they're away camping with the other neighbors. What about my brother who's watching the house - he's away in New Hampshire for the weekend. What about the pool-use neighbor that sent the original text to us ... feeding her kids breakfast, but she could check later today. What about our next door neighbors ... they're home ... and they respond!
Next-door Neighbor: Oh yeah, we saw the SUV. Thought it was whoever was watching your house.
Jen: It wasn't! Is it still there? You can see our garage doors from your porch, are they closed or open?
Next-door Neighbor: It's not there anymore and your garage doors are closed.
By this time I'm showing Jen the Ring doorbell video of the police .. and she recognizes the policeman (benefits of being a town Selectman I guess). Call the police then! Ask what officer so-and-so was responding to at our house on last Thursday.
And so ... before the big reveal, an important piece of lore. We live on a "Road" that is a cul-de-sac off a dead-end "Street" that both share the same name. Our house number also exists on the "Street", right around the corner from us. It's about a once-a-month occurrence where we get some of their mail or an Amazon delivery that I need to walk over to their mailbox or doorstep.
Seems the "Street" resident's car broke down and they had it towed to their address. Seems the tow truck driver was as careless as the delivery drivers, confused the addresses, towed and dropped off their car in my driveway. When they realized the mistake and saw their car in my driveway, they couldn't get another tow from my driveway to theirs without involving the police to verify for the towing company that it wasn't my car.
And with that all sorted, we ate a well deserved lunch, pulled our bags across Venice streets and canal bridges and prepared for what we hoped to be a relaxing part 2 of our Italian vacation.
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