woo hoo, I'm back.

[beam me up scottie]

Sorry for my absence.

I haven't been home since Friday morning after someone tried to get into my house Thursday night about 2:30am.

It was freaky. He kept trying the doors and windows while I was inside trying not to let him see me.

I couldn't remember if I had locked all the windows.

I called the keystone cops, they showed up more than 40 minutes later and after inspecting the outside, told me that he hadn't succeeded in gaining entry.

That guy was out there for over half an hour trying to figure out how to get in. I have no idea who he was or what he wanted.

What a bizarre incident.

[salvorhardin]

1. Oh my

That must have been terrifying. I'm glad the creep didn't get in and you're OK.

[beam me up scottie]

2. I don't think he meant

to steal anything, but if he did, he's had Friday and Saturday night to do it.

The only thing that still bothers me is that he wanted to get in without anyone in here hearing him.
He could have broken a window or forced the door.

Odd.

[Zenlitened]

3. Maybe it was Jesus. But you wouldn't let him into your life.

:cry:




Or... more likely... he was some doofus drunk out of his mind who didn't realize he was at the wrong house! :7

[Gelliebeans]

4. Don't let

jesus in, he NEVER cleans up after himself and he is constantly leaving the toilet sit up. Not to mention the huge red wine stain on the livingroom carpet. :evilgrin:


*Joking aside
Glad you are ok BMUS.:hug:

[Zenlitened]

7. Tee hee hee. "Who turned all my Evian into wine? Jee-zuss!"

:D

[beam me up scottie]

9. Thanks, Gellie.

Jesus sounds like my last live-in boyfriend, except for the wine.
Dude didn't have enough class to appreciate wine, I had to clean up Miller Lite instead.
:evilgrin:

[salvorhardin]

5. I let Jesus into my life once

Never made any bloody sense and he was always hitting me up for money. I'd give him a Canadian quarter and told him to transubstantiate it into a ten spot, but he'd never get it right.

[Zenlitened]

10. Jesus ain't paid the rent in a while. Looks like it's up to me again.

:(

[beam me up scottie]

12. Geez, if Jesus won't give

you a good exchange rate, who will?

[beam me up scottie]

6. BWAHAHAHA!!!

I knew I could count on you guys to figure it out !
If that was Jesus, he was looking a little skanky, I must say.
:rofl:

[Zenlitened]

8. "Mind if I crash at your place for a while? I'm Jesus!"

:hi:

[beam me up scottie]

11. It figures.

Now that everybody knows I take in strays, everybody's going to show up on my doorstep...

[Zenlitened]

13. Well, you can always just show them your other cheek, as J-the-C....

... recommended. :)

[beam me up scottie]

14. Jesus would look like

a bum, wouldn't he?

I can hear my neighbors now, "There goes the neighborhood", fine christians that they are.

[NMMNG]

15. I'm glad all turned out well for you BMUS

I called the keystone cops, they showed up more than 40 minutes later and after inspecting the outside, told me that he hadn't succeeded in gaining entry.

Considering you were inside the whole time, did it really take the cops to tell you this? :sarcasm:

Seriously though, it's good that things turned out ok after all.

[beam me up scottie]

16. Thanks.

The cops are a real joke around here.
I had no idea that the "Boss Hog" style of law enforcement wasn't a myth.

A dead guy was found a few miles from here last year. They found him lying off to the side of a dirt road with two gunshot wounds to the back of his head.

The sheriff's statement?

"We suspect foul play."

I am NOT making this up.

[NMMNG]

17. I'll bet you feel really safe out in your neck of the woods

:rofl:

[Modem Butterfly]

18. How do you feel about guns?

A friend of mine bought a beautiful old home in a run-down neighborhood in Atlanta. She, like me, keeps a shotgun under the bed. One night, she heard someone break in, so she dialed 911 and pulled out her shotgun. She waited until she heard footsteps near her bedroom door, then she racked the shotgun. A very distinctive sound. Once someone hears it, they stop worrying about how big you are or whether you're a female or even if you're a decent shot. She heard a scared voice from the hall saying, "I'm v-v-very so-so-sorry sir, or or or ma'am. I'll just be getting along now," The police arrived a few minutes later to find the intruder actually locking the front door behind himself.

You shouldn't have a gun if you're not comfortable or not prepared to use one. But if you are, and you're committed to storing it safely, it can definitely come in handy.

[Taxloss]

22. Great story!

I don't "approve" of guns, because I live in a disarmed society, but I can appreciate their utility in certain circumstances.

[beam me up scottie]

25. I've had guns.

My dad taught me to shoot when I was a kid and I qualified as an expert in the Marine Corps.
I still like to target shoot occasionally but I don't want the responsibility of having a gun in my house.
I kept a rifle when I lived out in the country but that was more for animal attacks than humans.

What really made me feel safe was my German Shepard.
I wish I had him now.

Cool story about your friend. I can imagine just how effective the sound of a shotgun being pumped was.

:rofl:

[Modem Butterfly]

31. We have a .38 for target practice and a shotgun for home defense

Both my partner and I are useless without our glasses, so the shotgun helps. We don't have children and keep our dogs in our bedroom whenever we have visitors to the house. The guns are safely tucked away.

I adopted our first Chow for protection when there was a rapist on the loose in our neighborhood. My partner used to travel for business and he would be gone from Sunday afternoon until Thursday or Friday night. One week he was able to leave early and caught a late flight to Atlanta, caught a cab and came home about two in the AM. I was in the kitchen getting a latenight snack when I heard someone fumbling with the doorknob and kind of banging on the door because it used to stick (this is in our old house, which was nearly 100 years old). My brave Chow protector actually ran AWAY from the door and hid behind me, alternately barking and whining. He didn't come out until my partner was well in the house.

[beam me up scottie]

32. LOL! That's funny!

Dogs are great, aren't they?
Even if they just confirm that, yes, indeed, that WAS a noise you heard outside the window and you should be very afraid.

My shepard was great, whenever he sensed a threat, he would get in between me and whatever it was and bark viciously while herding me backwards away from it. He never attacked, all he cared about was getting me away from danger.

[Modem Butterfly]

33. My female Chow is like that

We got our female Chow from our vet (someone had fed her chicken bones and then told the vet to put her down rather than pay for her surgery). She is very protective. Once, my partner's father came for a visit. While my partner was in the bathroom, I went into the kitchen to get his dad a drink and I said, "Now just stay right there," My female Chow sat directly in front of him, and everytime he attempted to stand up, or even move in his seat in any way, she would growl at him. She stopped growling when he stopped moving. What a good girl!

It is good to know someone else here's a noise, too. We just moved a couple of months ago and our new place is full of odd sounds. My partner has a hearing disability, so asking him if he heard it is pretty useless. If the dogs react, I know it was something odd, if they don't, well, it's probably me!

[beam me up scottie]

35. What a great dog.

I've heard that females tend to be more protective than male dogs.
Must be that maternal instinct kicking in.

I had a cat named Scooter for over 15 years and he used to play the "There's an axe murderer upstairs" game.

He would hear something, run to the stairs, and then stand there, staring, with all of his hair standing on end.

And he usually managed to do it when I was watching a scary movie with all of the lights off.

It was an old farmhouse and there were all kinds of unidentified noises in the attic.

I put a door on the stairwell anyway.
:evilgrin:

[shrike]

37. Sounds like our lab

She's getting older, so she doesn't hear as well as she used to. When she does happen to hear a noise, she's great at warning us. But as a protector, forget it. For her, discretion is the greater part of valor. We say discretion should be her middle name.

[shrike]

34. Good advice about the guns

We have guns in our house; however, I let the husband handle them.

He's a lifelong hunter and sportsman, and the safest gun owner I know. He tends to take things a bit further than most -- for example, he won't bring a loaded gun into the house. (If he hears an intruder, which has happened in the past, he will load the gun, then check out the situation.) Also, he says, never, ever, point a gun at anyone unless you intend to use it.

He agrees that you shouldn't have a gun in your house unless you are comfortable owning one and using it. He also suggests some training -- time at the gun range, make sure you know what you're doing.

[shrike]

36. It's a hell of a violation

We were broken into three times this past winter -- the garage, not the house. My husband has a remodeling and repair business and keeps tons of stuff in the garage. The first time they kicked the door in and made off with tools and our bicycles. The second time he had reinforced the door with steel and they couldn't kick it in -- though it looked like they tried -- so they broke a window and got in that way. We now have a windowless garage -- everything's boarded-over. Finally, the alarm company got its butt out there and installed our new system. One night later, at 2 a.m., the alarm went off. Husband found a nice bootprint on our reinforced steel door. Alarm went off a few months later, but we found nothing. Word appears to have gotten around since. Meanwhile, we lost two bikes and thousands of dollars worth of tools, only a fraction of which we were compensated for by insurance, of course.

Believe it or not, we do not live in a bad area. This is your average suburban town, middle-class with one affluent area and more than a few rentals and working class areas. No place particularly scary. Just another legacy from the asshole-in-chief, I believe: more hopelessness, more despair, underfunded police departments, more lawlessness.

I don't know if you're male or female, but the thought of that happening to me (what happened to you) scares the hell out of me. I hope you stay safe and take steps to keep yourself that way; whatever steps you feel comfortable with.

[beam me up scottie]

39. Thanks for the excellent advice.

I'm buying a deadbolt for the back door today.
Of course, they can still get in by going through a window, but I'm not going to make it easier for them.

Being female is just one more reason to be scared of would be intruders, but I refuse to let him scare me into paranoia, unlike my neighbor, who gets hysterical over the slightest thing.

My biggest worry is that she will get a gun.

[shrike]

41. Yeah, sometimes a yahoo with a gun can be the scariest thing

We have a friend who's a gun nut. He and I don't agree on much, but one thing we do agree on is this: anyone who buys a gun should treat it with respect, and recognize it for what it is: a deadly weapon. It is unbelievable to me -- and him -- that anyone would buy a gun and then not learn all they can about using it, and storing it.

Deadbolts are a good idea. Have you thought about new locks for your windows? I like having a home security system, but it is not cheap. Plus, there's a monthly fee so I wouldn't invest in one if you're on a limited budget.

Another thing to consider is outside lighting: dawn-to-dusk lights, and lights that go on via a motion detector. If you shop around you should be able to find some at a reasonable price.

[beam me up scottie]

44. Thanks again.

The locks on the windows are good, it's a fairly new duplex.
I'm limited to how much I can afford and since I rent, anything major would have to be done by the landlord.

This really sucks because I love to leave my windows open at night when it cools down.

[shrike]

53. Might want to talk to the landlord

If he's a responsible property owner he'll want to keep the place as nice as possible, especially it's a fairly new building. As I've said, dawn-to-dusk lights are not that expensive and fairly easy to install. (Hell, if you lived near us my husband would probably install one for you: he's always doing that kind of stuff for single ladies, and the elderly, who live alone.)

If he says no, well, there's probably nothing you can do. It really sucks to have to worry about this shit. Again, I blame our asshole-in-chief. Crime went down during the Clinton era; now it's alley-oxen-free-o, as we used to say when we were kids.

[beam me up scottie]

54. I had one of those lights

when I lived in a farmhouse in Vermont.
Damn thing would come on all night long every time a critter would fly, crawl, creep or slither by.
After a week of this, I was a nervous wreck.
My dad fixed it so that I could turn it on or leave it off at night.

It's a good idea to have one here, though.
I'll talk to my neighbor and see if we can tag-team the landlord.

[shrike]

55. That's a hell of a sensitive light

A dusk-to-dawn light might be better: just having an illuminated yard will discourage all but the most dedicated prowlers.

[YankeyMCC]

19. Just checking in

The others have been quicker on the spot to help cheer you up. Good for them.

Glad everything is ok now, I can't imagine anything much scarier than that sort of thing when you're at home alone.

[beam me up scottie]

26. Thank you.

I'm more mad now than scared.
But the old ticker got a workout that night.

[Anarcho-Socialist]

20. I'm glad you're OK, scottie

I'm very relieved!

[beam me up scottie]

27. Thanks!

I'm glad I have you guys to count on.
:hug:

[Taxloss]

21. I'm glad to hear that you're OK.

What a terrifying experience. As you know, my home was burgled while I was in it a few months ago. It ain't a pleasant feeling. Just remember that it's not personal.

Anyway, I'm pleased you're OK. :hug:

[beam me up scottie]

28. Thanks!

I was hoping it wasn't personal but it makes you wonder why they chose your house.
Of course, if they had tried my neighbors, she would have had a heart attack almost immediately.

[Beetwasher]

23. Yikes! Welcome Back!

Glad you're ok! That is bizarre...

[beam me up scottie]

29. Yeah, other than my

computer and stereo, I don't have anything worth stealing.

He didn't try my neighbor's side of the duplex and she's got all brand new rent-a-center electronics.

If it was a burglar, he's a pretty stupid one.

[GOPFighter]

24. Creepy!

Glad you're okay, BMUS! Obviously whoever tried to get in didn't know you are protected by killer attack cats.



Edit: sp!

[beam me up scottie]

30. BWAAAAAAA!!!

I love that picture!!!
:rofl:

Seriously, Newton was the one who let me know he was out there and he
followed him from window to window so I always knew where he was.
Nothing scares Newton, except maybe a vet with a thermometer.
Beaker growled at him, which is hysterical when you consider plastic grocery bags and tiny kittens terrify him.

[trotsky]

38. Glad to hear you are safe.

But yikes! Nice deductive work by the elite police force, there.

[beam me up scottie]

40. Yes, I sleep much

better knowing they are out there protecting us...
Unlike Barney Fife, these guys have bullets.

[BiggJawn]

42. Wasn't THIS guy, was it?

I wouldn't want to let him in, either....

[beam me up scottie]

43. That's the bum!

Except he wasn't knocking, all nice like and polite.

[Zhade]

45. Glad you're okay!

I've missed talking with you.

[beam me up scottie]

46. Hey, Zhade, thanks!

Me too.
I've seen you out there in the trenches, though.
You're a much better activist than I.
Hell, I can't even keep my life from falling apart, nevermind help anybody else...

Don't forget to check us out at Neural Gourmet, if you have time.
I think you'd like it there-you won't have to keep apologizing for offending people.

[onager]

47. Wow! Glad you're ok!

We had a small-town badass back in South Carolina who tried to climb thru a woman's window one night. She emptied a .38 into him. Then he was just a deadass.

I'm attending a school in Raleigh, NC this week. Got here last night about 10 PM and it was still over 90 degrees. And VERY humid. Jebus. I think Egypt was cooler.

Car spotted today with 2 bumper stickers: "Bush-Cheney 04" and "Real Men Love Jesus."

:rofl:

[beam me up scottie]

48. Oh yeah,

I see the "Real men love jesus" one several times a week.
Have you seen the guys driving?

:rofl:

You just KNOW that the old battle-ax slapped that puppy on the Mister's car and he had nothing to say about it!
Really, I mean- come ON.
Even the most devout born agains wouldn't be caught dead driving to work with that on the bumper of their car if they had a choice.
"I love jesus" or "W" or stupid fishies, maybe.
But not "Real men love jesus".

:rofl: Sorry, but that kills me everytime.

The f*cking weather does suck down here.
It hasn't been below the mid 90's for weeks and the humidity is causing mold to grow on the vinyl siding.
The kudzu has overrun the corn and the snakes are coming out to look for water since we're in a nasty drought.
I vaguely remember living in places where you could actually go OUTSIDE in the summertime.

[onager]

49. How about those...

...personalized license plates with Buy-bull verses? Like "John 3:16." I've seen at least 3 since I got to North Carolina.

Do they seriously think somebody will remember the damn chapter-and-verse, go home, drag out the Buy-bull, read, and suddenly be converted?

Yes, they probably do...

[beam me up scottie]

50. One of my personal favorites:

"The next time you think you're perfect, try walking on water"

:wtf:

It's like they think they've ranked on you or something.

[Hello_Kitty]

51. What the hell!?!?

That's terrifying! :scared: I'm so glad you're ok BMUS.

What happened with the kitties BTW? I wish you could find someplace better to live. You have to put up with a lot of crap where you are huh?

[beam me up scottie]

52. Yeah,

I still have most of the kittens, got 2 more going to homes this week.
This is a nice neighborhood, but crime around here has sky rocketed.
This area of the country has more meth labs than KFC's.

I think being alone down here is what makes everything so much worse.
I can't let my dad know any of this is going on, he doesn't need to worry any more than he already does.

Just one day at a time until I can move back home, I guess.

Thanks for the kind thoughts.
:hug: