THE WORD OF THE DAY IS…“CHAPUZA.”

The word “chapuza” in Spanish means a person (often a craftsman) who does things in a shoddy or incompetent manner. But why should I tell you what a chapuza is, when I can SHOW you.

Just look at the picture above. That, my friends, is a textbook chapuza.

Now, we could surely spend hours discussing why this person chose to use press-on numbers of a different color, shape, font and finish to alter his ceramic-tile address plaque…and whether he truly believes that it’s attractive. But I think the more interesting question is not how he altered it, but why?

Did the city hall knock on his door and say, “Ooops…we made a mistake on your deed. Your address is really 19B, not 28B.”

Or did he see this plaque in a store and think to himself, “Well…the number is wrong, but it’s on sale for 50% off. How could I possibly pass up such a bargain?!”

Sigh! Between this guy and our local alien astronaut-seducer, I’m starting to have concerns about neighborhood resale values. I don’t know whether to protest, or to start being more relaxed about keeping my lawn mowed.