My best friend’s grandfather passed away on December 26th, 2025. Everyone knew him as Master Bates — or “Master B,” which is what we usually called him because, well… middle‑school humor. I’m pretty sure the nickname came from kids like me who thought we were hilarious. Somehow it stuck, and over the years it just became part of who he was to us. I’ve known my friend since 7th grade — the same age my son is now — and it blows my mind how fast life loops around like that.
The funeral service was simple but really meaningful. A few people spoke, an amazing musician performed, and then we headed to the graveside. The VFW did the full “Honoring Those Who Served,” and there’s just something about hearing TAPS and the rifle volleys that hits you in a way nothing else does. It’s one of those moments where everything gets quiet inside you.
When Master B. found out I was a computer nerd, I instantly became his go‑to tech support. His computer was ancient — like, “held together by hope and duct tape” ancient — but every time I came over, he’d tell me stories. He loved talking about his life, his adventures, and especially his Coke and KFC collections. He was so proud of that stuff. Honestly, those visits were half troubleshooting and half hanging out. Even when his computer made me want to pull my hair out, I really did enjoy being there. Looking back, I wish I’d been a little more patient, but I’m grateful for all the time we had.
And here’s the thing: I’ve always loved talking to people. Friends, strangers, whoever. Everyone has a story, and most people are just waiting for someone who actually wants to hear it. It doesn’t take much to slow down, listen, and treat people with a little patience and respect. I think we’d all be better off if we did more of that. Maybe that’s part of why we write these posts — to share pieces of our own story and to remind ourselves that every person we meet has something worth hearing.
We have the most interesting parking lot. I’ve tried to mark up the map, but it didn’t turn out the best, so bear with me! As you can see we have a big parking lot. We are located on the border of Orem City. If you go down the back hill you end up in Provo. There is a path that leads down the hill, where a ditch runs north to south. If you cross the ditch, you end up in the back of a house and onto a street in Provo. The path is frequently used by people that stop at the bus stop or …something. There is a pawn shop near by and various other places that some might frequent. We use to think it was just a shortcut that people used until we started noticing the same odd people hanging around.
The Fight
One day we noticed an individual, Jacob (I know his name, because one day I went out to question him), come up from the hill with a backpack on and he went out by the Bus Stop and took his shirt off, put deodorant on and put on another shirt. A nice mustang pulled up later and they chatted for a bit. Then the mustang left after giving him some groceries. It was an odd sequence of events, so we were curious what was down that hill. Jacob took his groceries back down the trail.
The Adventure
On April 8, 2019, we decided to go on an adventure for lunch. The spring rain made it hard to explore a ditch, so we had to pick a dry day. The trail down to the ditch was a little sketchy. The hill is steep and the dirt is compacted, but there is a chain link fence to hang on to. We crossed the ditch and were checking out the house (See “Meth House” on the Map). and some lady stuck her head out of the window and said “Can I help you”. We were a little shocked, so I just said “Yeah, where does this trail lead? “. She replied with “People take it to the Mall. You can go through our yard if you want”. It was interesting, but she was the one that we keep seeing on the trail and going to the “Bus Stop”.
Walking up the trail to the “Mall” seemed like the best way to go, and it required us to dodge twigs and puddles. There were several strange things we ran into, and a few are the reason why we call it the “Meth Trail”. We found some gloves, which we thought was very strange! Then we turned around and found a giant bottle of “Fernox Antifreeze Protector Alphi-11”, Bucket, and Broom. “What The!?!?!” It was an interesting find. We finished walking up the trail to find a big tunnel under the road, but decided not to follow it any longer. The tunnel was full of spider webs and bird nests. The mission had to be aborted, so we got out of the tunnel and took the road back to work. The whole trip was about 3 miles, so it turned out to be some good exercise! 🙂
Meth Route
We have put camera’s in our windows to try and watch the activity of these people and it has provided many hours of entertainment trying to figure out what is going on. The lady living in the house has pretty much stayed the same, but there are new guys walking back and forth with her. They tend to do shady stuff in the parking lot on the weekend. I know I’m convinced they are selling drugs and doing other stuff.
Nefarious Corner
We have the Meth Heads and over the summer we started noticing a guy that would pull into our parking lot and sit for hours in his car. Of course, we started getting curious and started watching him. We noticed that there was always a trail of water that would be flowing down the parking lot under his car. We would joke that he was using the bathroom on his tire, because he was sitting there so long. This guy has been coming round for about 6 months or so.
The Confrontation
On Tuesday, the guy was there from 9:30am until 5pm. We were watching him during a meeting. He gets out of his car and smokes and throws his empty pack of cigarettes on the ground. We tried to see if he was relieving himself out there and it looked like he was, but we couldn’t tell. We went to lunch and walked by the car and noticed a puddle, but was it snow? Who knows.
When we got back from lunch, we two down from his car. He was fast asleep in his car with his phone in his lap. Not the best place to take a nap. We were curious about his story!? Why is this guy sitting out here all day? Is he OK? What is going on?
I left work a little after 5pm. He had moved his car 2 spots away from mine and still in there. I was determined to knock on his window and find out if he was OK! As I approached, I noticed that his windows were a little foggy. Something you’d expect when someone was in their car for a long time. I didn’t think anything else. I did start my phone recording audio to see if I could catch anything interesting when we chatted.
When I reached the car, I noticed he was kicked back in his chair, hands on his crotch pleasuring himself!!!! I didn’t know what to do! I knocked on the car and told him we had noticed he was parked there all day and asked if he was ok. He said he was fine. Of course he was, but I had just interrupted him. I turned away and said “BTW. You shouldn’t do that here anymore”. He took off. I was super scared and you can tell in the recording. Here is the recording so you can hear the interaction.
The audio. Lots of dead air at the first due to walking to the car.
…
I don’t think we will be seeing this guy again in the near future. He probably thought he had the perfect spot and I had to go ruin it!
I’m looking forward to more adventures in the parking lot this summer. It’s been pretty slow lately, because it’s hard to get up and down the hill in mud and snow. When spring rolls around again, I bet it will pick up!
