"Hey, I'm from Portsmouth, NH. My truck broke down and.."

I had to go back to Lowell today for an appointment and while I was there one of my tenants on Cumberland RD (third floor) called. They told me their water wasn't working [insert flashbacks of a few weeks ago]. Panicking, I rushed to Cumberland RD and checked the basement -- no leaks. I went to the first floor -- no leaks. Then I discovered the problem. The first floor apartment has a broken window in one of the bedrooms. With the 40+ mph winds we've been having, the temperature of that bedroom was probably 20 degrees. To make things worse, the water pipes for the third floor apartment run behind the walls in that bedroom. When the carpets were recently pulled up (to be replaced) a section of the water pipes were exposed, through a small crack along the floor.

I stapled some trash bags over the window to prevent the wind from coming in, turned on a portable electric heater, and then turned on another portable electric heater in the basement under those pipes. I also turned on the gas furnace for the first floor (it wasn't on because it costs me ~$70 per day to keep it running!). After about an hour, the ice in the pipes melted and luckily there were no leaks.

Afterwards, I stopped at the Bowers St property to make sure the hallway heater was on high. As I was leaving, a guy approached my truck and said: "Hey, I'm from Portsmouth, NH. My truck broke down and I'm trying to get to Boston. I have $19 and I need $36 for the train and a cab..." -- I stopped him right there. I heard this exact same story from someone a few weeks ago, who also approached my truck as I was leaving one of my other properties. I mean come on people, at least be creative.