Attempted Entrance

The other morning while I was watching TV I heard a noise coming from the side door. I realized that it was someone turning the doorknob. No knocker, no doorbell. I went to the window but the person was gone from the porch. So I went back to the TV when I heard the person turning the knob at the front door. Again, I was too late to see who it was. Luckily, everything was locked. I called the Police and filed a report. There wasn't much I could tell him since I didn't have a description. I apologized to him for bringing them out for no reason. He said, "Hey, it's our job," and told me twice that I did the right thing. He wrote down some information from me, said that he and the other cruiser would search the area and off they went. Even though I was alone there were two cars in the driveway sitting in broad daylight. The only thing I can think of is that the person was going to walk into the house armed; desperate meth-head maybe. Kinda freaked me out; okay, more than kinda.
I got a minor glance of skepticism from my parents so I decided to put it to some of my buddies. One of them lives in Phoenix. He said that he and a neighbor came home to find dent marks on their doorknob. He's been in construction all of his life and said that a pipe wrench was used. He also said that he had seen a guy walking up and down the street testing doorknobs. Another buddy who lives in Madison (that's in Wisconsin for those of you who live north of Topeka) said that his wife gave him a hard time because he would make the rounds around their house to make sure everything was locked. At some point later, a house in their neighborhood was robbed due to an unlocked door. She's never given crap since. I know, Phoenix and Madison, not exactly Hays, America, but still, it's here. I'm glad we have deadbolts on all of the doors. Up until now, all we have happened are some dick-smacking students stealing my mom's hanging flower baskets. My dad went to Regal Audio Video to look into security systems. That place is a stereo lovers dream. Nitro, I told him that I thought at one time that Phone Depot sold security systems. I don't remember if that was in the Kansas Cellular days or Alltel. I know it was when Leon was there.

"Diplomats!" "The best diplomat I know is a fully activated phaser bank." -Scotty

SciFi -The Crime Dog

Happened to me one time when I lived in Hays. I thought it was kinda odd- I grabbed my .22 that was sitting on the desk (same one that's loaded and on my desk right now) and opened the door to check, but nobody was there. It was after dark- I guess they'd moved on. Or maybe it was a banshee.

We were all lucky that the door had been locked. A .22 won't do nearly as much damage as my .357 magnum, but a .22 calibur hole would still hurt like hell. And make a mess.

Scary stuff. I worry about that with the apartments going in next to my mom's house. There's a new one being built right now. That crappy little white house next door to her (you remember that thing, SciFi?) was demolished. The property line is only 3 feet from her house (which I call bullshit on, but that's another story). College kids will live there, as they do in the other 2 4-plexes that were put in a few years ago.

A few years ago I was in the front yard messing around in the flower garden, Some kid rides his bike up the drive and leans it on the house. This got me to walk around the corner to see WTF. He walked up to the back door and reached for the handle without knocking. I asked him what he was up to. The conversation went something like this:

Me: What ya up to?
He: Gonna visit a friend.
Me: You're friend doesn't live there.
He: Sure he does.
Me: No he doesn't. I live here.
He: He lives in the basement.
Me: I own the house and we don't rent out the basement.
He: I was just over here the other day.
Me: OK. You go on downstairs to see your friend. When you find he ain't there., run like hell. I'm going after my .380 (hollowpoints) and I'll meet you right here.
He: B b b but dude...
Me: grabbing him by the elbow Let me show you where your drug selling buddy lives. as I lead him in the right direction Tell your buddy that he needs to sell to people that are smart enough to knock and find the right house. People like you are gonna get him busted.
He: Uhhh. Thanks dude, I'll tell him.



And I'm sure he did. We had a friendly one way chat a couple of days later. His fifteen minute friends quit coming by and he moved in less than two weeks.

When I was 16 I lived in what was then Countryside West on 6th street. There'd been numerous break ins and some heavy vandalism with someone getting hit almost nightly. It seemed as if it was getting closer to our place all the time so I sat up one night in the dark with a double barrel 12 ga., a rifle with bayonet, and a pistol strapped on my belt.

At almost exactly midnight our power went off. I saw the power line had been pulled at the box so it was apparent we were that nights target for something and I jumped out the back door with guns in hand and yelled numerous profanities as I circled the trailer. I never saw anyone but heard fast footsteps of at least 2 guys running away. The trailer court was nice and quiet after that.

suzyr wrote:

Scary stuff. I worry about that with the apartments going in next to my mom's house. There's a new one being built right now. That crappy little white house next door to her (you remember that thing, SciFi?) was demolished. The property line is only 3 feet from her house (which I call bullshit on, but that's another story). College kids will live there, as they do in the other 2 4-plexes that were put in a few years ago.

The property owners of Hays, by and large, are greedy dickheads. Not all of them, mind you, but a lot of the those selling houses in quiet neighborhoods don't care about the neighborhoods. I think your mom's house is freakin' cool! (I'd have to have central air, Suze.) But most of them have no concern about a neighborhood. Building a new apartment complex is one thing, turning homes in Hays that have been here for generations into apartment complexes in quite another.

SciFi wrote:

Nitro, I told him that I thought at one time that Phone Depot sold security systems. I don't remember if that was in the Kansas Cellular days or Alltel. I know it was when Leon was there.

Leon sold the security side to Dayton out of Great Bend in 2005. I installed many systems, but actually the most effective systems in this town are passive. Like THIS.

nitromaxx98 wrote:

SciFi wrote:

Nitro, I told him that I thought at one time that Phone Depot sold security systems. I don't remember if that was in the Kansas Cellular days or Alltel. I know it was when Leon was there.

Leon sold the security side to Dayton out of Great Bend in 2005. I installed many systems, but actually the most effective systems in this town are passive. Like THIS.

Thank you, Nitro. I'll pass it on.

Ratzilla wrote:

When I was 16 I lived in what was then Countryside West on 6th street. There'd been numerous break ins and some heavy vandalism with someone getting hit almost nightly. It seemed as if it was getting closer to our place all the time so I sat up one night in the dark with a double barrel 12 ga., a rifle with bayonet, and a pistol strapped on my belt.

At almost exactly midnight our power went off. I saw the power line had been pulled at the box so it was apparent we were that nights target for something and I jumped out the back door with guns in hand and yelled numerous profanities as I circled the trailer. I never saw anyone but heard fast footsteps of at least 2 guys running away. The trailer court was nice and quiet after that.

Way to go, commando Ratzilla!

SciFi wrote:

Way to go commando, Ratzilla!

My dad was kinda upset I did that. He was pretty much non-violent and I was kinda militant at that age. He did seem to accept it more when the problems stopped. I got a feeling it was guys close to my age because before they took off running I heard a quiet voice that sounded more kid than adult. Wouldn't surprise me if it was some of the asswipes I used to run around with.

That would freak me out, too, SciFi. My grandma had instilled in us to make certain the doors are locked. I mean, stand there and jiggle the handle for an eternity. I'm not that bad, but I make sure it's completely locked.

I'm glad for that bit of OCD because when EP and I lived in Topeka, he was working late and I was home alone, someone was trying to get in the house. We lived in a fairly nice area, but in Topeka, that really means nothing anymore. I was in the kitchen making something when someone scratched on the window screen. I flipped on all the lights, grabbed the biggest knife I could find and ran upstairs. Then, on another night, same situation, EP working and I'm home alone. Someone starts banging on the door. This was right after we first moved there, and I didn't know anyone so I wasn't about to answer the door. Then the person tried to get into our attached garage. When they couldn't (thank goodness the garage door was locked), they started screaming obscenities and left. Again, grabbed my trusty knife and ran upstairs.

I haven't had any problems here in Lawrence except for being harassed by the homeless every now and then.

Heh. That's one of the downfalls of being a renter. You occasionally have to deal with people who are looking for the previous occupant... and they usually ain't happy.