Along with the building renovations, we needed to re-pave the parking lot: And keeping in mind that we are a tourist town, we aimed to have this all done BEFORE the summer crowd swarmed in (see Parking Lot Wars).
Finally a contractor and a schedule was chosen, then flyers were given to each tenant apologizing for the inconvenience, but everyone must park on the street for several days. We thought that we had it planned well, then we realized that a huge music event would be held nearby—Bamboozle! It was literally within walking distance. We didn’t need tickets; we heard the music loud and clear, particularly when our own Jersey son, Bon Jovi, took the stage.
We expected the worst: music lovers swarming into our town using all available parking, so we postponed the work—but the worry was for nothing, the promoters had provided enough shuttle service for the crowds and we weren’t impacted at all.
There was the expected grumbling from the tenants over the re-scheduling, but they did cooperate and the work was done on time.
One former tenant was the exception: Somewhere around 4 a.m., he and his girlfriend pulled up, so that he could jump out and run crazy-8s all over the new blacktop!
Seriously, the man ran and stomped all over the parking lot in the dead of night! Apparently he was too dumb to know that since the lot was only sealed, not paved with asphalt, his attempted vandalism would leave nary a trace. But he did get a much needed workout, and truly proved to all his former neighbors how much he wasn’t missed!