Blackmore Fan
Tele-Afflicted
A Sesame Street song comes to mind "One of these things is not like the others..."
Strange Happenings in My ‘Hood
- Thread starter Fiesta Red
- Start date
A Sesame Street song comes to mind "One of these things is not like the others..."
Fiesta Red
Poster Extraordinaire
Well.
This is certainly an interesting and ignorant take on things.
Might I suggest some meditation exercises and reading comprehension classes?
Hank is not out of control. As stated in the original post, he’s extremely docile, and a borderline chicken. He never acts aggressively towards anyone or anything…he has helped my daughter deal with some pretty trying issues (loss of her grandmother, loss of our previous dog, the entire pandemic/social isolation issue of 2020), and even Hank helps my uncle-in-law, who has dementia and a myriad of other health issues.
He is not “untrained,” either. In spite of his size, when we say, “Stop, sit.”, he does it—even if we are keeping him away from food, another animal, whatever.
…and as far as other animals, he always handles them gently and carefully—even cats will come up and snuggle with Hank. My sister-in-law’s dog—an aggressive little mutt who weighs about 12 pounds—bullies Hank, and my smaller dog has to jump in and defend Hank…because Hank doesn’t get aggressive or lose his crap over anything.
He is basically an animated teddy bear.
But this one person makes him anxious, protective and aggressive.
If Hank were always barking or aggressive, I wouldn’t have thought anything of this—and I wouldn’t have him in my home. I’m not one of those jackwagons who keep, train or abuse aggressive animals.
I’ve had dogs my entire life; I’ve come to realize that when a dog acts out of character—especially towards a single individual—there is something askew.
…and I trust my dogs (both of them) more than your vitriolic opinions, which are undoubted based on personal biases and (perhaps) bad experiences.
You may not like doorbell cameras—I don’t particularly like them either—but if I decide to use that non-violent, unaggressive tool as a means to protect my family and my friends/neighbors (whom I’ve known more than half my life), that’s my decision…I won’t be documenting or sharing your movements and actions with anyone, so what do you care?
As for the man’s behavior; it’s interesting that he pauses in front of the homes where young women live—my home (with my daughter), Miss R—‘s home (granddaughter) and my next-door neighbor (teenage daughter). He doesn’t pause in front of the home of the single mom in her forties with four teenage/early twenties sons, or Howard’s, Joe’s or Mike’s homes; maybe he’s just not into the architecture of the homes owned by hairy dudes in their 30’s to 60’s.
If he needs to “walk it out” (a sentiment and activity I understand and appreciate), there are walking trails two blocks to the east of us and more walking trails about a half-mile to the south.
I can generally recognize dementia and other psychological issues; I worked in healthcare (and later, a psychiatric facility) for many years. He doesn’t exhibit those behaviors…he exhibits creepy and intrusive behaviors.
The only aggressive thing I’ve done was step outside to see if something was happening at 2:00AM WHEN A DOORKNOB WAS RATTLED…and even then, I didn’t take a gun; I took a cell phone and a defensive object (a bat)…
I’ll just leave your statement about guns alone—I have an inkling where your ideas and stances come from, and we don’t talk about those things here.
I appreciate your concern and attitude towards my neighborhood’s well-being. When I finally meet the guy, I’ll tell him that there’s some great places to live in Nebraska and y’all can sing “Oh Happy Day” together every afternoon…as long as there’s no young attractive women around, it’ll probably be all right! Maybe you can hug his cares away (and yours too)!
Good vibes to you.
eddiewagner
Poster Extraordinaire
Yes sir. They know how to fight and have knives.
In Athens, GA, a university town, I had the door handle rattle after not answering knocks on my door. When I opened the door, a surprised "magazine salesman" was walking away. Funny, he didn't want to sell me magazines and seemed more intent on getting out of Dodge.
Also I had female neighbors that came home on several occasions to their house being open and pilferred of cash and small things and they'd ask me to come over and check under beds and in closets.
We also had a serial rapist in our neighborhood for a while(Who had been in prison for rape but was released early). https://apnews.com/article/dfd0bd30202860b8b1920b793ec36531
Also I was there when Jamie Hood https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...ECAQQAQ&usg=AOvVaw1epiB90Os5WBMLDMuiTrXq&cf=1
killed 1 police officer, shot and wounded another and the car he escaped in was found near a friend's(with a wife and 2 small kids) house with a lot of fields and barns and out buildings nearby. Hood was on the run for 4 days and when found, had 10 hostages.
We have a small number of home invasions annually where I am now, but enough that it makes me aware that it's possible.
I'm about a mile from a decent size venue and in the days around events, car break-ins and thefts go up.
I've found evidence of someone spending time in the bushes of my side yard(trampled plants and a drink bottle and snack wrappers left that didn't just blow in). Similar evidence of someone spending time on the other side of my house that has a little nook where someone could be out of sight.
A guy I know in Gainesville, GA was attacked at a gas pump and killed his attacker. Now I know some will say I can't believe someone would kill someone over a car, but this guy didn't have a gun and had to fight for his life with bare hands against a guy who hit him in the head with a pipe. He wasn't fighting for a car, but to keep from getting his head caved in against a guy that wanted his car.
There's a lot of backwards thinking that goes on regarding criminals.
There are people in the world that don't mind or actually enjoy others' suffering and pain and want to do harm. (I know it's an old story, but I was reminded of it recently. There are many more recent events you can look up.) See Ogden, UT Hi-Fi Murders where they forced victims to drink Drain-O, and the duct tape wouldn't stick on the victims mouths because it was disolving their lips and skin and the torture those people endured.
It's not just someone who is poor trying to get a meal, there are bad people in the world.
When I've been broke, hurting someone to better my position never crossed my mind.
I'm a nice guy, but if someone kicks in my door, I'm guessing they aren't doing so to do something really nice for me and they put themselves in the situation where I have to defend my life against them.
Thank you to all the people who deter criminals by not being soft targets.
Everyone that backwardly thinks responsible gun owners are the problem, let's try an experiment. Please put a sign in your yard or on your apartment door that your house is a gun free zone and in a few months we'll see what the crime stats related to the experiment look like.
Also I had female neighbors that came home on several occasions to their house being open and pilferred of cash and small things and they'd ask me to come over and check under beds and in closets.
We also had a serial rapist in our neighborhood for a while(Who had been in prison for rape but was released early). https://apnews.com/article/dfd0bd30202860b8b1920b793ec36531
Also I was there when Jamie Hood https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...ECAQQAQ&usg=AOvVaw1epiB90Os5WBMLDMuiTrXq&cf=1
killed 1 police officer, shot and wounded another and the car he escaped in was found near a friend's(with a wife and 2 small kids) house with a lot of fields and barns and out buildings nearby. Hood was on the run for 4 days and when found, had 10 hostages.
We have a small number of home invasions annually where I am now, but enough that it makes me aware that it's possible.
I'm about a mile from a decent size venue and in the days around events, car break-ins and thefts go up.
I've found evidence of someone spending time in the bushes of my side yard(trampled plants and a drink bottle and snack wrappers left that didn't just blow in). Similar evidence of someone spending time on the other side of my house that has a little nook where someone could be out of sight.
A guy I know in Gainesville, GA was attacked at a gas pump and killed his attacker. Now I know some will say I can't believe someone would kill someone over a car, but this guy didn't have a gun and had to fight for his life with bare hands against a guy who hit him in the head with a pipe. He wasn't fighting for a car, but to keep from getting his head caved in against a guy that wanted his car.
There's a lot of backwards thinking that goes on regarding criminals.
There are people in the world that don't mind or actually enjoy others' suffering and pain and want to do harm. (I know it's an old story, but I was reminded of it recently. There are many more recent events you can look up.) See Ogden, UT Hi-Fi Murders where they forced victims to drink Drain-O, and the duct tape wouldn't stick on the victims mouths because it was disolving their lips and skin and the torture those people endured.
It's not just someone who is poor trying to get a meal, there are bad people in the world.
When I've been broke, hurting someone to better my position never crossed my mind.
I'm a nice guy, but if someone kicks in my door, I'm guessing they aren't doing so to do something really nice for me and they put themselves in the situation where I have to defend my life against them.
Thank you to all the people who deter criminals by not being soft targets.
Everyone that backwardly thinks responsible gun owners are the problem, let's try an experiment. Please put a sign in your yard or on your apartment door that your house is a gun free zone and in a few months we'll see what the crime stats related to the experiment look like.
stxrus
Poster Extraordinaire
Well stated
Bellacaster
Tele-Afflicted
If the person had any reason to need help at 2 am they should knock, not try opening the door. Boo Radley never tried breaking into a house. Sounds more like Richard Chase behavior. And dogs do know stuff for sure. The person may be suffering from some malady. If this is true, it sounds like they aren't getting the care they need and are in turn putting their life in jeopardy by putting people in frightening situations. I'd say call the police or maybe try and talk to the person as they shuffle by during the daylight hours. My only apprehension about the police is their track record with handling situations involving people with mental illness. Who knows? Maybe it wasn't the creeper you've seen that spooks your dog. Keep everything locked! Have your neighbor keep her porch light on at night. I'd definitely be on high alert.
^^Yes...dogs know.^^
Mrs and I were just discussing this tangentially...that is, what is my/our ROE (Rules of Engagement)?
Fiesta Red
Poster Extraordinaire
I agree.
I’ve been down and out before.
When I was in that position, I reached out to people who could help me (spiritually/emotionally) and I got second and third jobs (financially).
I never thought, “Hey, here’s somebody I could take something away from!”
Re: Self Protection.
In my mind, the last resort is to fight, period. I’d rather be an uninjured/live person who lost something than an injured/dead “big man.”
Take my stuff…I’d rather you didn’t, but if you’re gonna insist and I can’t stop you without hurting, maiming or killing you, go ahead. I can replace that car/guitar/whatever. I have insurance.
However, if you are harming my person, family, friends, neighbors (including strangers) or animals, you’re overstepping your bounds, and that’s when I’ll overstep mine and ask God for forgiveness afterward.
I’ll do my best to stop you, but if that’s not possible to do so without permanent harm…well, permanent harm it will be.
My father taught me something pretty profound when I was a kid. It’s served me well.
(1) If someone is doing something wrong, politely ask them to stop. If it is possible, and they are not harming anyone, try to walk away.
(2) If they insist, firmly and politely tell them to stop. Again, if it is possible, and they are not harming anyone, try again to walk away.
(3) If they continue to do this wrong thing and they do not allow you to walk away, then unleash whatever it takes to make them stop—preferably without permanent harm to them.
(3)(a) If they are harming someone, immediately skip to step (3).
(It’s funny that the first time I ended up using this method, it was on my brother who is six years older than me…but he wouldn’t stop hurting/bullying me, and the same Buddy Bell Louisville Slugger that I had with me night before last came into play…ultimately, big brother learned from both me—and my father, who punished him for bullying me—that bullies don’t always win and you better watch out for the little guy…I also gave him two extra warnings before I hit a home run across his crotch…he survived and now has three kids, but he didn’t physically try to hurt me again for almost 10 years).
This doesn’t apply to annoying or irritating things, such as a person being a loudmouth or being rude to those around them…this applies to trespassing, property laws or bullying behavior towards yourself or someone who can’t defend themselves.
It sounds like your friend who (unfortunately) had to kill someone in self-defense had to jump to Step 3. Understandable and completely within Laws of God and Man.
The thing that many people don’t understand about Texas:
It’s not the Wild, Wild West with people walking around challenging each other to a duel at noon. As much as I love my home state, if it devolved into an environment like that, I’d leave.
What works about the ability to own/carry a gun, knife or other weapon is the “Yu Doan Kno Principle.”
Yu Doan Kno if I got a knife.
Yu Doan Kno if I got a gun.
Yu Doan Kno if I know how to use them.
Yu Doan Kno if I’m willing to use them.
Yu Doan Kno prevents a lot of people from acting out—even people who have a weapon—because they don’t know what the other guy/gal has or is able/willing to do.
My daughter carries a Kershaw knife with a SpeedSafe assisted opening mechanism, a taser, pepper spray and a thing that slips over her fingers and will puncture you if she hits you.
The knife is more a tool than anything else—the others are (1) deterrents, because a bad person will think, “this one ain’t worth it” and (2) defense against the bad person who thinks he can still take her down.
Well, in the words of Merle Travis, “If the right one don’t get you then the left one will.”
She’s not violent...but she isn’t going down without a fight, either.
Also, when someone is openly carrying, it doesn’t scare me—it just makes me aware that Person A has a weapon and I need to be vigilant that they mean no harm. If they seem to be acting in a irresponsible or aggressive manner, I will take my leave and inform the proper authorities.
Again, I’m a peaceable man.
I do not look for a fight.
I try to walk away from a fight if one is starting.
I stay away from people and places where fights tend to start.
But I’ll take care of my family, friends and neighbors to the best of my ability…and Yu Doan Kno what that ability is…
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Fiesta Red
Poster Extraordinaire
Thank you.
Dogs are so much smarter than we are about certain things.
I had a wiener dog named Clapton (1993-2001) who pretty much hated everybody except me (my wife was “ok” in him mind and he tolerated her, but he only loved me)…he wouldn’t bite or attack, he just wanted to be left alone, mostly, except by me.
One guy (an acquaintance) just set him off—he’d growl, bristle his fur and bark at him…it later came out that the guy in question abused animals—especially dogs.
Clapton knew.
See above.
Flat6Driver
Friend of Leo's
The more a person reads on these topics the more "woke" you become to how rough the world actually is. I have done a lot of self education about this over the last year or so. Crazy how fast stuff goes down.
Never heard of Yu Down Kno but I like the concept. I also like to read about the Grey Man. Many people want to tell you something about them (or telegraph something). Keep it low key.
Fiesta Red
Poster Extraordinaire
An update:
Spoke to other neighbors, and a several of them have noticed the same guy, and all but one (Howard, who’s kinda…special…and drunk…) got a bad vibe from him…especially my neighbor one house to the north, who has a bubbly sixteen-year old daughter whose friends often stay over—she said he just stood a bit too long on the corner, looking at their house and their back yard (she has a corner lot). She has two small, ancient house dogs (I call them “Grand Old Ladies”) who are capable of pooping in the back yard and warning her someone is coming, but not much else.
I suggested everybody to call the police and reference my conversation with Officer P— if they saw him.
I took Hank on a long walk and gave him a couple of extra treats—including some BBQ, which he never gets—because I realize how good of a boy he is and how much he loves us. (Shotgun Willie got an extra treat, too, even though he’s a turd).
I installed a couple of motion detector lights in front and side of my house and one for Miss R—, too.
I haven’t installed any cameras
…or have I?
Yu Doan Kno…
Spoke to other neighbors, and a several of them have noticed the same guy, and all but one (Howard, who’s kinda…special…and drunk…) got a bad vibe from him…especially my neighbor one house to the north, who has a bubbly sixteen-year old daughter whose friends often stay over—she said he just stood a bit too long on the corner, looking at their house and their back yard (she has a corner lot). She has two small, ancient house dogs (I call them “Grand Old Ladies”) who are capable of pooping in the back yard and warning her someone is coming, but not much else.
I suggested everybody to call the police and reference my conversation with Officer P— if they saw him.
I took Hank on a long walk and gave him a couple of extra treats—including some BBQ, which he never gets—because I realize how good of a boy he is and how much he loves us. (Shotgun Willie got an extra treat, too, even though he’s a turd).
I installed a couple of motion detector lights in front and side of my house and one for Miss R—, too.
I haven’t installed any cameras
…or have I?
Yu Doan Kno…
4pickupguy
Doctor of Teleocity
Everything changes when a door knob is turning quietly at 2:00am. That shows the intent and the motive doesn’t really matter. Only what you do if someone enters. The dude obviously cased the neighborhood and picked its most vulnerable target. I have flood lights under the eaves around my house that are on a motion detector. They are also on a switch in our bedroom. We have big yard so somebody has to be in it to set them off. Lights are a better deterrent than cameras but cameras are great for catching criminals after the fact. Home Depot sells battery powered LED lights that are solar powered and really bright. I think the widow across the street could benefit from a few. $150-$200 would surround a three bedroom house with them with one on the porch pointed at the front door. The murder rate jumped 30% in the last year. So that’s pretty cheap security. Nothing will remove a hand from a door knob faster than the sound of a 12ga pump loading as a last resort. Next time the guy walks by try to strike up a conversation with him. It might let you know a few things like his mental state etc.
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a friend of mine has a big spotlight. i have wondered if one of these could be mounted on a front porch. you hit this thing on someone after dark and they will be disabled for a little while, maybe long enough to determine what they are up to.
i agree that you should try to talk to the guy, in a friendly way. it's entirely possible he doesn't know how disturbing his actions are. (you don't really know if he turned the doorknob)
i also agree that the sound of a shotgun being racked is a powerful deterrent.
The systems available at COSTCO should suit you fine. Something with motion detect to extend the DVR loop time & infra-red for night vision is your best bet. Be aware that low light level cams (LLTV) can be disabled by shining a strong light on them and placement near something like a porch light will affect performance after dark, so IR is best. I oversee a 32 camera security system with a 30 day loop at my job, and can tell you things can get expensive quickly. Maybe a doorbell cam is all you need. Oh, and the overwhelming majority of pro & brand-name cams are made by the same factory in China, including JVC, Hikvision, Panasonic, etc.
Many great suggestions here. And yes, really well written! You kept my attention. The motion light suggested along with a camera is what I would do. I like all the suggestions combined.
I had a neighbor that was a chief of police, he told me criminals do not like light. It is a rather inexpensive deterrent when combined with a camera. Motion light is what I used.
In answer to your question, I used the ring outdoor camera but paid for the service. It will record when motion is detected and save it for viewing. It also alerts you when motion is detected. The downside is expense. They are costly. I also have Samsung smart cameras inside.
Oh yeah the dog, always a deterrent. Please keep us informed.
I had a neighbor that was a chief of police, he told me criminals do not like light. It is a rather inexpensive deterrent when combined with a camera. Motion light is what I used.
In answer to your question, I used the ring outdoor camera but paid for the service. It will record when motion is detected and save it for viewing. It also alerts you when motion is detected. The downside is expense. They are costly. I also have Samsung smart cameras inside.
Oh yeah the dog, always a deterrent. Please keep us informed.
stxrus
Poster Extraordinaire
My lower driveway is 112’ long with a 20’ elevation. We just don’t get visitors. I’ve said that if somebody comes up this driveway at 2:00am it’s a pretty safe bet the aren’t looking for donations to the Red Cross
NoTeleBob
Friend of Leo's
Motion activated lights that cover your front yard and the neighbors and the street in front.
Nothing says " we're watching" like newly installed motion sensor lights.
Nothing says " we're watching" like newly installed motion sensor lights.
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