TexasCHLforum.com

I was standing in my garage just now and noticed an old nondescript van
had come to a slow stop in front of the house.(keep in mind it's dark)

Well, being the nosy guy I am, I slipped around the side of the house into the shadows
to observe. I had my flashlight ready to go on Strobe and had my gun gripped just in case.

The van sat there idling and I couldn't see inside. I took a better position and could see
someone inside texting on a phone. They sat there for a few more minutes and then pulled
up to the next house and parked along the curb. It ended up being a visitor for the neighbor.

I know, it all sounds silly, I should have went inside, ect ect, and I was thinking that
at the time but I didn't. I had to ride it out until I knew what was up.

It's not uncommon for BG's to look for a house with the garage door up to target and I spend
a lot of time out there. With my house being at the back of the subdivision and not much
traffic, I make it a point to be aware of passing cars and this one I didn't recognize.

Got the license plate number though.

That's not paranoia at all...it's being aware of your surroundings and a good neighbor! I do the same thing...

pbwalker wrote:That's not paranoia at all...it's being aware of your surroundings and a good neighbor! I do the same thing...

It just felt a little funny stalking and ducking behind trees.
I could almost hear the Pink Panther music playing.

I did manage to get a phone pic. Not the best quality being dark outside.

Let's see now.....

1. You see a non descript van (I assume that you don't recognize) pull up across the residential street you live on, directly across from your neighbors and it drives slow and comes to a stop, on a Saturday night. I also assume this is happening around 10pm +/- a few minutes, judging from the timestamp of your first post.

2. You do not want to draw attention to yourself, because you just went from condition yellow to something approaching condition orange. At this point you think it could be something.....or maybe not. So you do the most logical thing in the world, being alert as you are, an slip out the back way into the shadows as not to be noticed.

3. You take a picture of the perceived suspicious van while maintaining stealth, cover and concealment, while maintaining visual contact from a distance.

4. You are passively engaged with the perceived threat observing same(while taking no action) until you ascertain that said vehicle has occupants that the neighbors apparently know. The occupants of said vehicle go into the neighbors house with no sign of distress from the neighbors.

5. You determine that there is indeed no threat, so the threat level is lowered to low condition yellow.

What you did wrong? Absolutely nothing!!! WTG! Situational alertness!
You are a good neighbor! I do the same thing....maybe not everything that you did, but certainly most of those things....right down to putting the SC1 in strobe mode before you continue your stealth observation.

IMO well done! You were prepared for anything. And that is a testament to your keen powers of observation and state of readiness. I wish I had a neighbor like you! ....I think.

Seriously, good job, my friend.

USA1:

Well, you didn't really follow through on the surveillance.

Once the van driver went into the neighbor's house, you
should have attached a GPS device to the underside of the
van so that you can always keep tabs on him in the future.

I'm just sayin....

SIA

You're only paranoid if nothing ever happens.....

WoW Joe, when you put it like that, I guess it wasn't so silly after all.

surprise_i'm_armed wrote:USA1:

Well, you didn't really follow through on the surveillance.

Once the van driver went into the neighbor's house, you
should have attached a GPS device to the underside of the
van so that you can always keep tabs on him in the future.

I'm just sayin....

SIA

I like it !

Going to add that to my arsenal of covert goodies.

Better safe than sorry.

I wish you were my neighbor. Sometimes I feel like I am the only guy on the block who actually notices when something out of the ordinary is going on. I think this says it best.

age_ranger wrote:You're only paranoid if nothing ever happens.....

Awhile back one of the neighbors and I were outside after dark chitchatting...we see a van drive up and down the street slowly, and then it sits at the corner for awhile...then does the same thing but on another street (my house is at a "T" and I have a pretty good view of several streets down the road)....hmmmm....someone casing the area? Turns out it was the unmarked delivery van for the newspaper, they apparently were counting the houses, getting the appropriate number of papers out and driving by and throwing them out on the driveways/front lawns...
...at least that's what they told me after my neighbor and I had them cuffed and stuff... please note that the last line was pure sarcasm/kidding!!!

karder wrote:I wish you were my neighbor. Sometimes I feel like I am the only guy on the block who actually notices when something out of the ordinary is going on. I think this says it best.

age_ranger wrote:You're only paranoid if nothing ever happens.....

Most of my immediate neighbors know I'm the watchdog on our street.
My wife calls me Mrs.Kravitz from the Bewitched show.

My neighbor lady across the street is home all day with my grandson. I decided to come home for lunch in the company pick up one day. About 10 minutes after I came into my house, my phone rang. It was my wife asking me where I was. My neighbor had called her and said there was a strange truck in the driveway.

I called her Mrs. Kravitz the next time I saw her (laughing) and thanked her for keeping an eye on things!

mikeintexas wrote:My neighbor lady across the street is home all day with my grandson. I decided to come home for lunch in the company pick up one day. About 10 minutes after I came into my house, my phone rang. It was my wife asking me where I was. My neighbor had called her and said there was a strange truck in the driveway.

I called her Mrs. Kravitz the next time I saw her (laughing) and thanked her for keeping an eye on things!

Gotta love neighbors like her.

There is an overwhelming attitude these days for many neighbors to just not get involved.

Paranoia is simply heightened awareness.

SIA