Boy I tell ya...it could happen quick!

C

chris in va

New member
Here I was checking my email the other day and something made me look down the hallway to the front door 25' away. A spanish dude was looking in my screen door window.

Now obviously he had the wrong townhouse (neighbors are spanish) but it did send a chill down my spine. If someone wanted to, they could just open the door and it would take a couple nanoseconds to be on us. Sure it's a very unlikely 'what if' but still a little unnerving. I seriously doubt I'd have time to sort through all the cotton in my brain, draw from my IWB sitting down and rattle off a round on Mr Machete.

Sure..."keep the door closed". But come on, 75f outside and a nice breeze through the house. :rolleyes:
 
Ah, there's nothing like living out in the country :p .

I've kept my door and windows open (if anything, just to air out the stall winter air) but my screen door does lock (gives me maybe .01 seconds, one good yank and it's open) but my uncles dogs will alert on anything or one coming down/up the street. Plus, my ears are usually tuned to what is going on around me (I know my uncles engine noise, my mom's engine noise, etc.., it's erie sometimes).

I don't stay in very high conditions but I'm not in a continual white (more like an off orange or something :D ).

Wayne
 
So he snuck up on ya eh? :D

It can mentally relaxing to be able to go into off white at home once in a while. Differing levels of security can make it somewhat feasable. You can't go off watch with no relief though! Having had taken the red pill ;) you should know this. Get a dog or two!

My computer is near the front door. My shep can be down in the basement sleeping and will hear people coming up through the grass where I cannot and alert before they can reach the front door. I love that dog.

Always tell him good boy for barking. Sure half the time its a cat walking by, but thats his job to alert me and the price I pay for being able to shut the world out occassionally. Actually, he has different tones of bark for cats, friends he trusts, friends he don't trust, and strangers. When in doubt, check it out.
 
Yup... a sobering experience.

I'm in a townhome. Not long ago I was working at my desk from home on a Wednesday when one of the new double-pane sliding windows *sqeeeaked* in the living room as it slid in the tracks. I grabbed the Model 649 and moved quietly into a good position, waiting.

Nothing.

I checked out front and found that the landscaping gardners were preparing to spray pesticides along the front of the house. Both were wearing filter masks and gloves. They had simply pushed the window closed as a courtesy. Since then I've velcroed small bells to the tops of the sliding windows in the event I'm not at the front of the house next time.
 
For whatever reason I don't seem to be so concerned about intruders anymore. Well, at least I'll know someone is around the home.











BullMastiff.jpg
 
I've usually got my gun on me or sitting right next to me in the house. Right now it's sitting right here at the computer with me and I'm here all alone with 3 labs in the house down the steps to help alert me if anyone comes in downstairs. Come get me bad guys...heh I don't think so! : )
 
When seeing video footage of real life events or reading accounts where folks note that something could "happen quick," what you realized is that the perception of things happening so fast are often events that happen fairly slowly, at normal speed, or have considerable foreshadowing leading up to the event. The reason the events happen so fast is because the person was unprepared for what they encountered and by the time they grasp the situation, they were already behind the curve on reacting.

Chris was surprised by a stranger peering in through a less than substantial barrier, a screen door. It is a great example of a non-event that could have been very bad had the stranger had ill intent.
 
As far as dogs go, I have a german shepard about 125 pounds very scary looking to all my neighbors. But have you ever seen the show " it takes a theif " makes me think twice about him. Especially one time we did hear a noise and he ran behind me( here take the human sacrifice). Most dogs do alert but some are happy to see a new face to greet and play with just watch that show and you'll see what i mean.
 
Ah, there's nothing like living out in the country .

I've kept my door and windows open (if anything, just to air out the stall winter air) but my screen door does lock (gives me maybe .01 seconds, one good yank and it's open) but my uncles dogs will alert on anything or one coming down/up the street. Plus, my ears are usually tuned to what is going on around me (I know my uncles engine noise, my mom's engine noise, etc.., it's erie sometimes).

I don't stay in very high conditions but I'm not in a continual white (more like an off orange or something ).

Wayne
Click to expand...

I'm that way.. we live way out in the boonies so, someone would have to come on foot. That, and our 'screen door' is a metal security door that has little holes all over it for ventilation(we'd been broken into twice).

P.S my big mean boxer will alert me anyways.. wait.. she's fat, lathargic, slow, and old. Lol.
 
My neighbors a few houses down had something similar happen to them. This time, however, it wasn't mistaken identity because the previous owner of that house was a SWF who bought the house right after it was built 12 years ago. The current occupants bought the house from her 3 years ago. Just about everyone in our strip of THs have owned theirs since they were built with the exception of us and the folks above. The guy hasked them if they saw anything they wanted. They left quickly.

I keep our doors locked unless I'm going in or out a lot (yardwork, etc).

Chris
 
They do make security screen doors that have a decorative grillwork, and the handle area is shielded. They have better locks than ordinary screen doors also.
 
Don't mean to get too far off topic, but when someone mentioned using grilles intead of screens, it brought back some memories.

I took some metalsmithing courses back in college, and had the pleasure of sharing workspace with some truly gifted artists. I remember the name of Eric Cuper now because of the fancy grilles he made to cover windows and doors. I believe he lived (or lives) on the east coast, and was inpired by sea creatures- he made some awesome grilles with a squid or cuttlefish theme.

I couldn't find any pictures of his work online, but here is an example of another such grille in a different style. It's much stronger and more secure than a screen door, and prettier to boot.

http://www.badgervillage.com/grillestudy.htm
 
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