Fifth Wheel: (Many meanings but the one noted is the appropriate one)

1. An extra and unnecessary person or thing.

Ah!  So, two's company and three is a crowd evolves into two couples are company and the fifth person is a crowd.  Odd numbers just don't have a chance, do they? 

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My most vivid memory about a 5th wheel happened in 1987.  

                                 

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Our house caught fire due to some carelessness caused by a couple of itinerants who had set up residence in a converted chicken coop up the creek from us.  On an extremely windy day the itinerants lit a match to light a fire to cook food and that fire became airborne. 

Whoosh!

It was extremely dry that year and the wind was gusting and the fire was soon blown into the branches of the Oak trees growing along the creek.  

The fire department responded in mighty numbers because of the danger of having an out of control fire behind an entire block of homes with shake roofs.  

No one else's house caught fire but ours.    

The fire was put out after the roof was destroyed and the water and smoke damage had done their part to make our house unliveable. 

We were moved by our insurance company into a hotel short term and a furnished apartment medium term while our house was being reconstructed.

Did I mention that in running to the scene in high heels to get the best look at our burning house I slipped in the fireman's hose water flooding the street and sprained my ankle?  Yes.  Let us compound the problem I always say. So, I was dealing with an insurance company that was trying to cut their losses and a foot in a cast that made it impossible to drive and living in foreign housing and trying to figure out how to get Megan to and from school and deal with a very demanding job that wasn't too keen on having me miss time because of "personal" situations.   However, to put things in perspective...

After the initial shock and moving ourselves into the hotel we went back to the house in the next couple days to see what we could see and there was a note in our mailbox from the neighbors across the street. 

"We are sorry about your troubles but we need to get our fifth wheel out of the driveway tomorrow to go on vacation and we can't do that until you move your car parked on the street.   Would you please do that right away so we can go on vacation?"

It's all in the point of view, isn't it?  LOL