So...where have you been?

There's been this pickup truck parked in our parking lot for about four weeks now. About two weeks ago, I left a note on the windshield warning the owner that we would have his/her vehicle towed. The vehicle has not moved.

The security patrol in the area came in about three days ago to talk to me about this pickup. They told me that I should just get it towed because they haven't seen it move either. Finally, I had some time today to make one phone call and get that vehicle taken away.

Alas, one phone call was not enough. Apparently, there are different types of towing. The type of tow I needed was a 'private impound' and apparently again, there aren't very many towing companies that do this. After several phone calls, I talked to one towing company who said that although they didn't do this, they did have a number of someone who did. Success.

I called this towing guy. He picked up, I told him what I needed and I asked him if he could do that for me. His reply, "Well, it depends. If it's a nice car and the owner will be in tonight to pay me the $100 fee, I'll do it. If it's a piece of shit that no one's going to claim, I won't." I told him that it seemed like a piece of junk to me. I also told him that he could just charge me the $100, as long as the vehicle leaves the lot. (Why would I care...the multi-billion dollar corporation I work for would pick up that tab). He asked me the type of vehicle, and when I told him he said "Actually, I can recoup my costs with that. I impound it, keep it for three months, and I could sell its parts for about $500." Who knew, I could get that thing impounded for free! I told him to come and take it and he told me he'd be there in 20 minutes.

In 20 minutes, it was a done deal. Vehicle gone, no charge, security patrol off my back.

Literally, two hours after the vehicle was towed away, one of my co-workers came up to me and said someone wanted to talk to me about the truck that was taken away. Huh? He claimed to be the owner.

"Hi sir, how can I help you?"

"Well, my truck was parked out there and now it's gone."

"Yes, it's been parked out there for about four weeks now. I noticed that it hadn't moved in that time."

"Yeah"

"So...where have you been?"

"I've been around"

"Here's the number you can call to claim your vehicle, sir"

"The brakes were shot. They were totally gone. I left it there, I was gonna come and get it eventually."

"You can certainly give that gentleman a call, and he will be happy to take you to your vehicle. Have a good day, sir."

It's been four weeks since this guys truck's been sitting out there...and he decides to come in two hours after it gets towed? What did he do, come and check up on his vehicle every day? Unbelievable.

On a side note, when I was telling my co-worker B (that's the one that was part of the hair disaster story) that I was going to get the vehicle towed, she said "Have you checked the back for any bodies?" After I gave her a dumbfounded look, she said "Oh nevermind, I think I've been watching far too much CSI."

Everyone's crazy.