...And then there were none....

    Say your ninety one years old. Hearing is shot. Health? As George Burns said, "After ninety, I quit buying green bannana's"! You have barely enough money each month to share food with your dog and cat. Sure, your yard has some old cars and trucks. Maybe a bunch of 'em. What's the harm? You had always wanted to restore a couple of them, but, things happen. Kids get divorced and need help, Maybe a spouse had a long stay in the hospital then left you alone and handling the bills when she passed. A million people, a million stories. Too bad this one is true......This old codger lived down the highway from me for decades. Didn't really know him. Sure, he caught us shooting out some of his old trucks windows back in the sixties and sicked his dog on us, but, no real harm done. One morning a few months ago, he gets a knock at his door. He finds he's being visited by a N.A.T. team. Those intials mean, 'Nuisance Abatement Team'. The County says they were formed to rid the surrounding areas of drug labs and illegal activites. Yeah, sure, And I raise purple Unicorns as a hobby. Anyhow, the old man is informed by seven, 'officers', each with bullet proof vests, fully auto assault rifles and real attitudes. The old man is informed he has to remove all offending trucks and equipment, or, go to jail. Hmm. Seeing as how you can't go ten feet anywhere in the Antelope Valley or surrounding areas with out stumbling over a tatooed gang banger or drug dealer, guess all of their activites are legal. Being an old man with an old house has priorities. The old man is then told he has to vacate the premises until he has complied with all of their requests. Lets see, move out, then, build a giant rocket out of all the stuff accumilated over seventy five years, then, fire the rocket into the sun. That should take care of everything. No, that's not what happened. The old man, now homeless and scared to death, starts sleeping in one on his old truck with his pets. It hits below thirty degrees. He makes a small fire to stay warm. His truck catchs on fire and he burns to death with his pets. Hearing this sad tale, the County leaps into action. The yard a legend to many truck and car buffs, County guys in the know, have free rein to pillage and steal to their hearts content. Need a windshield for a 55 Jeepster? Not any more! And why not? The County clean up crew with cranes and dozers are going to scrap the yard clean anyhow, so what's the big deal? Hey, what's scrap metal and copper going for now-a-days? Does it matter to the dead old man? Even if he had heirs, the County not only takes all the money from the now cleaned yard from the reclamation yard, they also attach liens and bills for the clean up. Oh yeah. I couldn't make this stuff up its so sick. One more helpless victim goes down the drain. And for what? Not even a pawn in the Counties chess board game of, 'land grab'. It gets worse, way worse.....next time, the real reason the old man died.....