Sometime yesterday (Monday, March 27 2017) a cleaner called the neighbor, Dan Sweet, and got no answer and no return call within the usual time. Another call was made to have someone check on the fellow. He was found, sitting in his chair, dead. There were, I am told, no signs of any flailing or anything. He just… stopped.
He was in poor health for years. Severely overweight (he weighed at least twice what I do), if not a chain smoker close enough (after each time I was in his place I had to do laundry and take a shower to avoid a smoke-induced headache), and drank quite a bit. I knew he drank, and more than a drink or two a day, but evidently it was around a quart of the hard stuff daily. Yikes!
$HOUSEMATE was about to go back to work after lunch and saw a car almost blocking the driveway and other vehicles about and then found out most of what was said above and relayed that to me before leaving – not bothering with asking anyone to move that car. I walked to the nearby Shell station as another neighbor works there, but we just missed each other. After the gal then taking care of the station was finished with a phone call and a few customers, I asked if she knew… the puzzled look said, “No.” and I explained. And then the gal there made a phone call to her boss (my other neighbor) and relayed the news of the day. On my walk to Shell, a hearse drove by. On my walk back from Shell a Sheriff’s car drove by. When I got home, there was the hearse, a squad car, two sheriff’s cars, and a bunch of other vehicles.
Now I wonder what will happen to/with the house. Dan had been getting the place in order enough for his mother to move in – and she did for a while, but had to move out again as she couldn’t deal with Dan all the time. I understand if she would rather not move in, but I hope she does as that would mean a good neighbor. I also wonder what will happen to Dan’s dog – a dog I felt sorry for as it needed to run or at least walk a long time and never got the chance.
Between that news and the weather finally not being rainy and damp and miserable, I went for a walk… about an hour overall. More than I’d been expecting, but it won’t hurt anything. And I found a chisel lying in the street and removed the tire hazard from the thoroughfare.