I have an interesting / unusual / unexplainable thing happen to me which I would like to share with others for comments & review (please excuse the length, but I'll try to keep it interesting) ...
I took the family away for the long week-end to an island beach in south western Florida (gonna be paying this off until Christmas -- there goes that AR15 that I wanted to get). I brought along a Kahr MK9 (with a spare magazine) in an inside the waist belly band loaded with Winchester SXT 9mm 147gr and Remington Golden Saber 9mm 124gr (alternated every other round) for concealed carry and a 4013TSW (with 2 spare magazines) in a fanny pack loaded with Winchester SXT .40S&W 180gr and Cor-Bon .40S&W 135gr (alternated every other round) for protection while in the hotel and during the long drive.
We drove along Alligator Alley (a portion of I-75 that cuts across the Florida Everglades) during the night and I felt a whole lot better knowing that I have 25 rounds of .40S&W with me if we encountered any problems with either 2 or 4-legged creatures.
While there, I left my cell phone on in case my elderly mother needed to contact me for whatever reason (I have her telephone pre-programmed with all of our telephone numbers -- home, work, cell, pager, etc.).
At 3:23 in the morning, my cell phone begins to ring. Being in a sound sleep, it rang several times before I was able to get to it -- first realizing that it was the cell phone and not the alarm clock or the hotel phone and then trying to find it in the dark (I didn't want to tun any lights on because the little one was sleeping soundly and the noise from the phone and the bright lights would have woken up the munchkin for sure). As a result, I didn't get to the phone in time.
However, my cell phone has a feature which displays the date, time & number of the last twenty calls and when I checked that info, the number that was calling me was MY home number. The problem was that anyone who had access to our house was with us in the hotel on this mini-vacation. Realizing that an unknown & unauthorized individual was in my house, a slight panic began to come over me. I called the number back but only my answering machine picked up.
Things started not to make sense now. A robber wouldn't stop what he was doing to make phone calls as he would want to be in and out as quickly as possible. If the police or firemen were in the house responding to a problem, then they should have still been there as I made the call within a minute or two of receiving the original call.
At this point my wife was up and I explained what happened and she verified all of the facts to make sure that I wasn't confusing things in my sleep. After a brief discussion and against her wishes, I decided to drive home to see what was going on -- I wouldn't be able to enjoy the rest of our stay not knowing what was going on and I would be back in about four and a half hours (in time for breakfast).
I left my wife the MK9 for protection along with instructions on how to use it -- she had fired it a couple of times at the range so she wasn't totally unfamiliar with it and I took the 4013TSW in the fanny pack.
Driving along Alligator Alley at 4 in the morning was an interesting experience especially since a pick-up truck drove past me with a few guys in the back and they threw beer cans at me as they drove by -- it's a good thing that I was in a rented mini-van. I also saw one (maybe two but I can't be certain of the second one) gator walking along the shoulder of the highway.
As I was driving, I decided to call the sheriff's department. If the police and/or fire department were there, me showing up unexpectedly with a firearm in a fanny pack that I was carrying might complicate things. Additionally, if a robber was present, it would be better to have the police there as soon as possible since I had a two hour drive in front of me and they would be better trained to deal with the situation than I was.
I called the sheriff and explained the whole situation. The woman was very nice and said that she would send a unit to check on things as they had no report of any trouble in that area. About an hour later, I received a call back saying that they check things out and everything looked secure and there was no visible sign of forced entry.
I thanked them and as I hung up the phone, I was more confused than ever. We are new to Florida and the only people with keyes and access to our house are trusted family members who were all with us in the hotel. I checked my cell phone again and sure enough, at 3:23AM I received a call from my home number. The only thing that I could think of was that the deputy either checked the wrong house or he missed an entry point somewhere.
When I arrived at the house, I first thought about checking all of the doors & windows from the outside to see if there was any signs of forced entry before going in so that I would have a better idea if somebody was inside -- if there was no sign of forced entry, then I reasoned that there would be less of a chance of somebody being inside. However, I quickly rejected this idea as I had already contacted the police with regard to a possible problem in the area and if they decided to check on the house a second time and found me lurking by the windows with a gun in my fanny pack, it would complicate things.
So, I entered the house with my firearm at the ready and my two magazines within easy reach in case I needed to do a quick reload. I use to wear a uniform for a living (before being stabbed 16 years ago and entering another line of work), so I still remember how to clear a house. It turned out that there was nobody there, there was no forced signs of entry and everything was still in the same places that we had left everything.
I called my cell phone from my home phone and my number once again appear just like it did at 3:23AM in the hotel room. I'm grateful that nothing happened (except for losing a several hours of sleep and getting a dent on the hood of the rental from a toss bear can which the insurance will pick up), but I'm confused as to exactly what happened.
If anyone has any ideas, I would be interested in hearing them. I would also like to know what you would have done if faced with the same situation. Thanks,
Share what you know, learn what you don't -- FUD
I took the family away for the long week-end to an island beach in south western Florida (gonna be paying this off until Christmas -- there goes that AR15 that I wanted to get). I brought along a Kahr MK9 (with a spare magazine) in an inside the waist belly band loaded with Winchester SXT 9mm 147gr and Remington Golden Saber 9mm 124gr (alternated every other round) for concealed carry and a 4013TSW (with 2 spare magazines) in a fanny pack loaded with Winchester SXT .40S&W 180gr and Cor-Bon .40S&W 135gr (alternated every other round) for protection while in the hotel and during the long drive.
We drove along Alligator Alley (a portion of I-75 that cuts across the Florida Everglades) during the night and I felt a whole lot better knowing that I have 25 rounds of .40S&W with me if we encountered any problems with either 2 or 4-legged creatures.
While there, I left my cell phone on in case my elderly mother needed to contact me for whatever reason (I have her telephone pre-programmed with all of our telephone numbers -- home, work, cell, pager, etc.).
At 3:23 in the morning, my cell phone begins to ring. Being in a sound sleep, it rang several times before I was able to get to it -- first realizing that it was the cell phone and not the alarm clock or the hotel phone and then trying to find it in the dark (I didn't want to tun any lights on because the little one was sleeping soundly and the noise from the phone and the bright lights would have woken up the munchkin for sure). As a result, I didn't get to the phone in time.
However, my cell phone has a feature which displays the date, time & number of the last twenty calls and when I checked that info, the number that was calling me was MY home number. The problem was that anyone who had access to our house was with us in the hotel on this mini-vacation. Realizing that an unknown & unauthorized individual was in my house, a slight panic began to come over me. I called the number back but only my answering machine picked up.
Things started not to make sense now. A robber wouldn't stop what he was doing to make phone calls as he would want to be in and out as quickly as possible. If the police or firemen were in the house responding to a problem, then they should have still been there as I made the call within a minute or two of receiving the original call.
At this point my wife was up and I explained what happened and she verified all of the facts to make sure that I wasn't confusing things in my sleep. After a brief discussion and against her wishes, I decided to drive home to see what was going on -- I wouldn't be able to enjoy the rest of our stay not knowing what was going on and I would be back in about four and a half hours (in time for breakfast).
I left my wife the MK9 for protection along with instructions on how to use it -- she had fired it a couple of times at the range so she wasn't totally unfamiliar with it and I took the 4013TSW in the fanny pack.
Driving along Alligator Alley at 4 in the morning was an interesting experience especially since a pick-up truck drove past me with a few guys in the back and they threw beer cans at me as they drove by -- it's a good thing that I was in a rented mini-van. I also saw one (maybe two but I can't be certain of the second one) gator walking along the shoulder of the highway.
As I was driving, I decided to call the sheriff's department. If the police and/or fire department were there, me showing up unexpectedly with a firearm in a fanny pack that I was carrying might complicate things. Additionally, if a robber was present, it would be better to have the police there as soon as possible since I had a two hour drive in front of me and they would be better trained to deal with the situation than I was.
I called the sheriff and explained the whole situation. The woman was very nice and said that she would send a unit to check on things as they had no report of any trouble in that area. About an hour later, I received a call back saying that they check things out and everything looked secure and there was no visible sign of forced entry.
I thanked them and as I hung up the phone, I was more confused than ever. We are new to Florida and the only people with keyes and access to our house are trusted family members who were all with us in the hotel. I checked my cell phone again and sure enough, at 3:23AM I received a call from my home number. The only thing that I could think of was that the deputy either checked the wrong house or he missed an entry point somewhere.
When I arrived at the house, I first thought about checking all of the doors & windows from the outside to see if there was any signs of forced entry before going in so that I would have a better idea if somebody was inside -- if there was no sign of forced entry, then I reasoned that there would be less of a chance of somebody being inside. However, I quickly rejected this idea as I had already contacted the police with regard to a possible problem in the area and if they decided to check on the house a second time and found me lurking by the windows with a gun in my fanny pack, it would complicate things.
So, I entered the house with my firearm at the ready and my two magazines within easy reach in case I needed to do a quick reload. I use to wear a uniform for a living (before being stabbed 16 years ago and entering another line of work), so I still remember how to clear a house. It turned out that there was nobody there, there was no forced signs of entry and everything was still in the same places that we had left everything.
I called my cell phone from my home phone and my number once again appear just like it did at 3:23AM in the hotel room. I'm grateful that nothing happened (except for losing a several hours of sleep and getting a dent on the hood of the rental from a toss bear can which the insurance will pick up), but I'm confused as to exactly what happened.
If anyone has any ideas, I would be interested in hearing them. I would also like to know what you would have done if faced with the same situation. Thanks,
Share what you know, learn what you don't -- FUD
