Peaceful retirement
Andy and Lynette Smith are retired and they decided to move out to the country to enjoy a suburban life after Andy sold his business. They have a big yard and an extensive garden, one of the best parts of the place is their own backyard pool. They also have a video camera security system which you can watch below. One morning, “Lynette went to make the morning tea, she glanced out of the kitchen window and saw eight buffalo in the pool,” said Andy Smith. The Smiths were mystified as to how the animals ended up in their pool until they examined recordings from a CCTV camera in their garden. The footage shows the buffaloes wandering into the garden early on the Sunday morning. One stepped on to the solid pool cover and fell through it, causing others to run across the lawn. During the next 15 minutes, seven more animals toppled into the pool, turning the water from clear to a dark murk. “Lynette called 999 and was told the fire brigade don’t accept hoax calls. It took some persuading to get them to take our “buffalo in the swimming pool” call seriously. When they arrived, one of the buffaloes, spooked by the firemen’s hi-vis jackets, charged straight at them.”
The farmer next door raised rare breeds for zoo’s and shows. His fence had broken down again and these big black Buffalo were wandering in the Smiths’ yard and swimming in their pool. These were as Asian buffaloes. In the wild they spend much of their time submerged in the muddy waters of tropical forests. This time they had broken through the pool cover and trashed it and the liner causing more damage. Eight of them ended up falling into the £70,000 pool, triggering a stampede that wrecked fencing and flower beds. The animals were rescued unharmed by the farmer. “Buffaloes are top-heavy and the porcelain tiles round the pool were slippery so they lost their grip and once they were in they couldn’t get out again,” said Smith. “After the buffalo swim the pool was leaking 75 gallons a day and was unusable. The previous afternoon, we had hosted a pool party for our young grandchildren and their friends. If the invasion had happened then, it could have been very serious.” The farm’s insurer, NFU Mutual, accepted liability, but failed to agree a settlement for nearly a year.
“It took 15 weeks for them just to send an adjuster round and nearly six months to offer a sum that falls over £8,000 short of the two quotes they themselves obtained,” said Smith. NFU’s failure to communicate has caused us countless sleepless nights. 10 months later, finally after being contacted by the Guardian newspaper, the insurer agreed to cover the full $30,000 repair bill. A spokesperson for NFU Mutual said: “We apologize for the delay paying this claim and in particular the initial wait for an inspector’s visit, which took too long and fell short of our usual standards.” Be careful if you live near buffalo (the animals).
Pool etiquette
Autumn is that magic time of the year when you look out in the pool is no longer filled with your neighbor’s children, it’s filled with your neighbor’s leaves.
What do we learn from cows, buffaloes and elephants?
It’s impossible to lose weight by eating green grass and salads and walking.
The daughter next door came over and asked me if they could borrow our pool vacuum. I agreed and went into the garage and pulled the system down from the rafters and put the sections together and showed her the way it worked. Later that day she brought the system back and I said. “Your father really should get a pool vacuum of your own.” She replied, “Oh, we have one. My father just did not want to be climbing around the garage getting it out.”
My brother and I used to fight in the pool until the day our mom told us to divide it in half and stay on our side.
I picked the top half.
Birthdays on May 25th
1972 – Octavia Spencer, 1982 – Esme Bianco, 1969 – Anne Heche, 1975 – Lauryn Hill
1963 – Mike Meyers, 1976 – Cillian Murphy, 1803 – Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1944 – Frank Oz