I'm sure it happens to everyone at some point, but I really hate it when a plan goes bad.
MY plan for Labor Day was to hit a school about 45 minutes from where I live (nice football stadium, relatively old, easy access), then continue up the road another 10 miles for more of the same at another school with about the same layout.
So I loaded up the small cooler, got all my gear ready, charged the GPS and cell phone, and was on my way mid-morning. I got to the first place and .... the football team was doing a scramble on the field. On Labor Day. Moms and Dads all over, kids running wild, go to Plan B which is hit the "second" school first. Drive up the road, get to the school and .... the football team was doing a workout on the field. Doh!, Strike Two. Luckily, on my way from the first school I spied an ABANDONED DRIVE-IN (an extremely RARE sight these days) and that became Plan C.
I parked just off the road, no fences or gates or No Trespassing signs to be seen. Hard-packed gravel, tall grass, but I was working an abandoned drive-in theater so who cares? About five minutes into it I hear a yell over my headphones, sure enough there's a lady standing by my truck motioning for me. $@*&!! Sure enough, "we usually don't allow people out here" and she kept apologizing to me. I asked "well not USUALLY or NEVER? And what would it take to get permission?" She just kept saying "I'm sorry" and said her Dad used to own the place, now she does, and she just doesn't allow people out there. I was tempted to tell her that you can get No Trespassing signs for about a quarter, but I think she probably enjoys too much getting a call from whatever neighbor ratted on me and driving up in person to evict people.
On the initial drive up I'd noticed another school, it looked worth a shot so I just headed there. I parked, geared up, strode towards the back, and ran right up on a guy using a GTax 350 on the grounds. He'd already pulled a war nickel, he had been working the school off and on for months, and he was digging all the trash out to get to the deeper, better targets. He invited me to join him, but I knid of have a thing about horning in on someone else's hard work so I begged off. Strike Four. I did ask this guy about the drive-in, he said he had a chance to hunt it once (when it was leased to someone else to make a go of it) but he never took it. That hurt.
So that was $20 in gas wasted, half a day busted and not a target to show for it. Hopefully this was just a big load of "bad Karma" that I got rid of and my next trip out will yield a $20 gold piece. Not.
Just venting,
Steve
MY plan for Labor Day was to hit a school about 45 minutes from where I live (nice football stadium, relatively old, easy access), then continue up the road another 10 miles for more of the same at another school with about the same layout.
So I loaded up the small cooler, got all my gear ready, charged the GPS and cell phone, and was on my way mid-morning. I got to the first place and .... the football team was doing a scramble on the field. On Labor Day. Moms and Dads all over, kids running wild, go to Plan B which is hit the "second" school first. Drive up the road, get to the school and .... the football team was doing a workout on the field. Doh!, Strike Two. Luckily, on my way from the first school I spied an ABANDONED DRIVE-IN (an extremely RARE sight these days) and that became Plan C.
I parked just off the road, no fences or gates or No Trespassing signs to be seen. Hard-packed gravel, tall grass, but I was working an abandoned drive-in theater so who cares? About five minutes into it I hear a yell over my headphones, sure enough there's a lady standing by my truck motioning for me. $@*&!! Sure enough, "we usually don't allow people out here" and she kept apologizing to me. I asked "well not USUALLY or NEVER? And what would it take to get permission?" She just kept saying "I'm sorry" and said her Dad used to own the place, now she does, and she just doesn't allow people out there. I was tempted to tell her that you can get No Trespassing signs for about a quarter, but I think she probably enjoys too much getting a call from whatever neighbor ratted on me and driving up in person to evict people.
On the initial drive up I'd noticed another school, it looked worth a shot so I just headed there. I parked, geared up, strode towards the back, and ran right up on a guy using a GTax 350 on the grounds. He'd already pulled a war nickel, he had been working the school off and on for months, and he was digging all the trash out to get to the deeper, better targets. He invited me to join him, but I knid of have a thing about horning in on someone else's hard work so I begged off. Strike Four. I did ask this guy about the drive-in, he said he had a chance to hunt it once (when it was leased to someone else to make a go of it) but he never took it. That hurt.
So that was $20 in gas wasted, half a day busted and not a target to show for it. Hopefully this was just a big load of "bad Karma" that I got rid of and my next trip out will yield a $20 gold piece. Not.
Just venting,
Steve
around someone unless we 
A good day is knocking on your door.