After almost two and a half years, the empty lot next door has finally been sold. They started digging today, and we should see a backfilled foundation in there within a couple of weeks. Yay!
One of the crappiest things about living next to an empty lot is that everyone used it as a dumping ground for their crap. The construction crews around here (we live in a very new subdivision) were the worst — the site was full of bricks, concrete chunks, shears of wood, gravel piles, and leftover tubing. Random other people were bad too, though, and the lot had lots of garbage and accumulated yard waste in it.
The weirdest thing in the lot, though, was a car. Late last summer, someone parked their car in the lot on a shallow, flat edge, and left it there. Apparently, forever. Although it was an older car, it had a fairly current license plate on it (an AK prefix) and nothing seemed to be wrong with it. It sat there all winter though, buried in snow, and no one came calling.
Today the big digger truck worked around it and I was wondering what would happen. Just now, a tow truck pulled up to claim the prize. The tow truck driver didn’t have any trouble starting it and backing it out of the lot, so it was definitely in running order. Several of our neighbours came out to watch the towing of the car, so I assume the car didn’t belong to any of them.
I just don’t get how someone could take something like a car, and leave it somewhere. It’s not like losing your keys, or forgetting where you left your glasses. It’s a car. Even if it was damaged in some way, there are places that will tow it away for free, or you could even sell it off for parts for a few hundred dollars.
Whatever. I’m just so happy it’s gone, and with the digging today, most of the garbage and crap is gone too. Yay yay yay! A fence and an actual, finished yard are in our future!
TurtleHead 
Congratulations! That’s great news!
About the car, so many crazy scenarios jumped into my head: was it used in a bank robbery and ditched here so the bandits could make their getaway in another vehicle? Was the driver lost in a drug haze one night, parked it and forgot where he put it?
I would have thought someone on the street would have known something about it. Maybe a friend was on a world tour trip and needed to leave it somewhere. But seeing as though no one seemed to stop the tow truck, I guess it must be some other more fabulous story. I guess we’ll never know!
The car was probably just stolen by some kids and taken for a joy-ride. It happened to my parents’ van once. They just took it, drove half way across the province and then left it somewhere. I certainly can’t imagine the owner leaving their working car at a place like that. It’s a wonder that it didn’t get reported and towed much earlier though… someone may have been missing their car for a very long time.
Think of all the possible scary things that might have happened to the owner!