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Who said my door wasn't locked? It was very much locked. It slowed him down enough that my neighbor was able to scare him off.If Freehold was seen knocking on my door/ringing the doorbell? No issues. Nobody would bother him.
But my neighbor would watch to see what happens if I didn't answer the door.
And if he saw Freehold then try to pick my locks, there would be questions.
But, honestly, not out of racism. He's just a bit off-kilter and happens to like me, so he's protective of my home, particularly if he thinks we're not there.
But I can't speak for anybody else passing by who sees him picking my locks. This metro area has a long history of racism and KKK activity.
EDIT: About my neighbor, seriously, he's caught someone (white) trying my door handles and he scared the guy off. The guy was at my side door, and my neighbor's kitchen window looks directly on that door. My neighbor had his windows open, and then the guy who was trying my door handle hears "I don't think you ought to be doing that," coming from behind him.
My neighbor said "I'm pretty sure he never saw me. He whipped around, looked left and right and just took off."
that always gets me about you crazy white people. You never lock your doors.
It is NUTS.
oh no, I meant in the general indignant "we never had to lock our doors before! Now we have to and the world is AWFUL" comments/complaints I get from people when I travel for cons and the like.
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They never complain about my nudity.
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Ah, yes.
When I was growing up we rarely locked the doors to the house or car because quite frankly there simply weren't enough people around. But when we drove to Champaign or Bloomington...which felt really far away as a kid...we *always* had to make sure our car doors were locked because that was "the city" and things happened in "the city".
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Ah, yes.
When I was growing up we rarely locked the doors to the house or car because quite frankly there simply weren't enough people around. But when we drove to Champaign or Bloomington...which felt really far away as a kid...we *always* had to make sure our car doors were locked because that was "the city" and things happened in "the city".
Uhh...
To be fair, there are some cityesque aspects to the places you described and even the places we went to together, but it all feels like Queens to me...
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On my walk yesterday I passed a couple as the woman was saying, "Yeah, I really want to get a security door installed on the house..." and all I could think was, "Either you're a LONG way from your house, or you're an idiot, or both."
My favorite are the people who add security doors and leave their windows unbarred and don't add an alarm system.
"So, you have something valuable enough that you bought security doors, but I can just mosey into the back yard, break a window, and see what it is? I'll take that challenge, thanks!"
The Dead Kennedys did a great song about it.
EDIT: Fundamentally, home invasions by complete strangers is statistically insignificant, even in high-crime areas. People want to break into empty houses, not occupied ones. And if someone chooses your house, your choices are "full fortress mode" (bars on the windows and metal doors, making the house ugly and adding loads of inconvenience to simple things like opening a window), "false alarm mode" (a home alarm system that generates a monthly false alarm for you), or "meh. I just don't have much worth stealing mode."
I take the third approach.
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Ah, yes.
When I was growing up we rarely locked the doors to the house or car because quite frankly there simply weren't enough people around. But when we drove to Champaign or Bloomington...which felt really far away as a kid...we *always* had to make sure our car doors were locked because that was "the city" and things happened in "the city".
Uhh...
To be fair, there are some cityesque aspects to the places you described and even the places we went to together, but it all feels like Queens to me...
Keep in mind, I said "when I was growing up". Going to Chicago back then was equivalent to going to the other side of the planet. The rural residents of Illinois were (and to a lesser degree still are) actively afraid of driving in Chicago or the suburbs. Bloomington and Champaign traffic was bad enough in their estimation.
Also...we met outside Chicago. We were in the suburbs around Elmhurst or Addison or something. Completely different feel than being in The Loop or around Wrigleyville or anywhere on the South Side.
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Ah, yes.
When I was growing up we rarely locked the doors to the house or car because quite frankly there simply weren't enough people around. But when we drove to Champaign or Bloomington...which felt really far away as a kid...we *always* had to make sure our car doors were locked because that was "the city" and things happened in "the city".
Uhh...
To be fair, there are some cityesque aspects to the places you described and even the places we went to together, but it all feels like Queens to me...
Keep in mind, I said "when I was growing up". Going to Chicago back then was equivalent to going to the other side of the planet. The rural residents of Illinois were (and to a lesser degree still are) actively afraid of driving in Chicago or the suburbs. Bloomington and Champaign traffic was bad enough in their estimation.
Also...we met outside Chicago. We were in the suburbs around Elmhurst or Addison or something. Completely different feel than being in The Loop or around Wrigleyville or anywhere on the South Side.
they wouldn't survive my bike commute, much less my trip to the second job.
That would make sense, re: Elmhurst/Addison. Queens is very much removed from Manhattan in the same way these towns are from Chicago for the most part, and there are parts of it that look EXACTLY like where we were and people have a hard time believing they are in NY.
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Ah, yes.
When I was growing up we rarely locked the doors to the house or car because quite frankly there simply weren't enough people around. But when we drove to Champaign or Bloomington...which felt really far away as a kid...we *always* had to make sure our car doors were locked because that was "the city" and things happened in "the city".
Uhh...
To be fair, there are some cityesque aspects to the places you described and even the places we went to together, but it all feels like Queens to me...
Keep in mind, I said "when I was growing up". Going to Chicago back then was equivalent to going to the other side of the planet. The rural residents of Illinois were (and to a lesser degree still are) actively afraid of driving in Chicago or the suburbs. Bloomington and Champaign traffic was bad enough in their estimation.
Also...we met outside Chicago. We were in the suburbs around Elmhurst or Addison or something. Completely different feel than being in The Loop or around Wrigleyville or anywhere on the South Side.
they wouldn't survive my bike commute, much less my trip to the second job.
That would make sense, re: Elmhurst/Addison. Queens is very much removed from Manhattan for the most parts, there are parts of it that look EXACTLY like where we were and people have a hard time believing they are in NY.
No, they'd explode before letting the pedal turn the crank at all.
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OK. I think Freehold and I may be miscommunicating, and I was trying to explain things to GothBard, and I think I found a "sweet spot of clarity":
For home security, you basically have 4 levels:
(1) Never lock anything. And even I'm not *THAT* naive
(2) Lock the door when you go out. That's where I am. Except I have to add "or when my mother is in town"
(3) Lock the door even when you're in. I think that's perfectly reasonable, and I have no objections
(4) Build a fortress with barred windows, security doors, and the whole 9 yards. While this is necessary in some areas, I think it's sad. But I can accept it.
My issue is that I see a *TON* of people trying to do something between 3 and 4. "You're putting in a steel security door, but you're leaving your wooden single-paned windows in because they're more attractive than bars?"
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Hello, everyone!
Hello, John!
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OK. I think Freehold and I may be miscommunicating, and I was trying to explain things to GothBard, and I think I found a "sweet spot of clarity":
For home security, you basically have 4 levels:
(1) Never lock anything. And even I'm not *THAT* naive
(2) Lock the door when you go out. That's where I am. Except I have to add "or when my mother is in town"
(3) Lock the door even when you're in. I think that's perfectly reasonable, and I have no objections
(4) Build a fortress with barred windows, security doors, and the whole 9 yards. While this is necessary in some areas, I think it's sad. But I can accept it.My issue is that I see a *TON* of people trying to do something between 3 and 4. "You're putting in a steel security door, but you're leaving your wooden single-paned windows in because they're more attractive than bars?"
At the time and place I grew up, everyone in the area was at a 1 or 2. 3 was reserved for people from "the city". 4 was the impression that rural Illinois people had of what everyone was like in Chicago.
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At the time and place I grew up, everyone in the area was at a 1 or 2. 3 was reserved for people from "the city". 4 was the impression that rural Illinois people had of what everyone was like in Chicago.OK. I think Freehold and I may be miscommunicating, and I was trying to explain things to GothBard, and I think I found a "sweet spot of clarity":
For home security, you basically have 4 levels:
(1) Never lock anything. And even I'm not *THAT* naive
(2) Lock the door when you go out. That's where I am. Except I have to add "or when my mother is in town"
(3) Lock the door even when you're in. I think that's perfectly reasonable, and I have no objections
(4) Build a fortress with barred windows, security doors, and the whole 9 yards. While this is necessary in some areas, I think it's sad. But I can accept it.My issue is that I see a *TON* of people trying to do something between 3 and 4. "You're putting in a steel security door, but you're leaving your wooden single-paned windows in because they're more attractive than bars?"
indeed, a friend who visited me from out of state once marveled at my mom having three locks on her door.
That is quite normal here.
I do not care for my door having less than 2 locks.
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Growing up in rural Texas there just wasn't anyone around to come into the house. We still locked up when we left, but if anyone was home the doors were probably unlocked. The same seems to be general practice here.
When I lived in Phoenix, the only time our doors were not locked was if someone was actively passing through it.
Around here, a "place you have to keep your doors locked" is a pretty severe insult toward... Well, any place less rural than Chattanooga's suburbs. And inherently implies that no "good" person would want to live there.
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And, I'm defrosting the fridge at work.
Why did you freeze it? And don't you have anything better for dinner?
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oh no, I meant in the general indignant "we never had to lock our doors before! Now we have to and the world is AWFUL" comments/complaints I get from people when I travel for cons and the like.Who said my door wasn't locked? It was very much locked. It slowed him down enough that my neighbor was able to scare him off.If Freehold was seen knocking on my door/ringing the doorbell? No issues. Nobody would bother him.
But my neighbor would watch to see what happens if I didn't answer the door.
And if he saw Freehold then try to pick my locks, there would be questions.
But, honestly, not out of racism. He's just a bit off-kilter and happens to like me, so he's protective of my home, particularly if he thinks we're not there.
But I can't speak for anybody else passing by who sees him picking my locks. This metro area has a long history of racism and KKK activity.
EDIT: About my neighbor, seriously, he's caught someone (white) trying my door handles and he scared the guy off. The guy was at my side door, and my neighbor's kitchen window looks directly on that door. My neighbor had his windows open, and then the guy who was trying my door handle hears "I don't think you ought to be doing that," coming from behind him.
My neighbor said "I'm pretty sure he never saw me. He whipped around, looked left and right and just took off."
that always gets me about you crazy white people. You never lock your doors.
It is NUTS.
Which is a mindset I've never understood, though I have run into it.
My parents grew up in St. Louis. So when I first moved out to a middle-of-nowhere town for my first teaching job, they made sure I not only knew to lock my door but went so far as to buy me a bracing rod to prop under the doorknob.
The landlord, watching Dad drill this into me while we were being shown the apartment, looked at us as though we were insane to expect any sort of crime in the area.
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OK. I think Freehold and I may be miscommunicating, and I was trying to explain things to GothBard, and I think I found a "sweet spot of clarity":
For home security, you basically have 4 levels:
(1) Never lock anything. And even I'm not *THAT* naive
(2) Lock the door when you go out. That's where I am. Except I have to add "or when my mother is in town"
(3) Lock the door even when you're in. I think that's perfectly reasonable, and I have no objections
(4) Build a fortress with barred windows, security doors, and the whole 9 yards. While this is necessary in some areas, I think it's sad. But I can accept it.My issue is that I see a *TON* of people trying to do something between 3 and 4. "You're putting in a steel security door, but you're leaving your wooden single-paned windows in because they're more attractive than bars?"
I'm a strong 3. Not due to paranoia but because I know I'm very out-of-sight-out-of-mind, and I'd rather not have the door unlocked while I'm in the bath or sleeping. Easier to train the reflex to lock the door before I take my hand off it.
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I'm a strong 3. Not due to paranoia but because I know I'm very out-of-sight-out-of-mind, and I'd rather not have the door unlocked while I'm in the bath or sleeping. Easier to train the reflex to lock the door before I take my hand off it.OK. I think Freehold and I may be miscommunicating, and I was trying to explain things to GothBard, and I think I found a "sweet spot of clarity":
For home security, you basically have 4 levels:
(1) Never lock anything. And even I'm not *THAT* naive
(2) Lock the door when you go out. That's where I am. Except I have to add "or when my mother is in town"
(3) Lock the door even when you're in. I think that's perfectly reasonable, and I have no objections
(4) Build a fortress with barred windows, security doors, and the whole 9 yards. While this is necessary in some areas, I think it's sad. But I can accept it.My issue is that I see a *TON* of people trying to do something between 3 and 4. "You're putting in a steel security door, but you're leaving your wooden single-paned windows in because they're more attractive than bars?"
this is quite sane to me. Thank you.
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Around here, a "place you have to keep your doors locked" is a pretty severe insult toward... Well, any place less rural than Chattanooga's suburbs. And inherently implies that no "good" person would want to live there.
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Yeah, I have 15-20 teenagers over every week, and the kids in and out all day, frequently going outside and forgetting their keys.
Locking the door guarantees at least half a dozen times of getting up every day to let in a family member or friend.
On the other hand, anyone seeing that kind of traffic and considering robbing us in broad daylight would be certifiably insane.
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Yay! Last year's harassment training was irritating because the *one* question I got wrong was one on, "There's no law against being a jerk."
Global Megacorporation has updated its policies that being a jerk is no longer tolerated.
Woo hoo!
EDIT: Ugh. Well, I passed the 15-minute version of the training, but since I'm in the U.S. I have to take an HOURLONG SESSION on not being a jerk.
If you can't learn how not to be a jerk in 10 minutes or less, you're in trouble.
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Yay! Last year's harassment training was irritating because the *one* question I got wrong was one on, "There's no law against being a jerk."
Global Megacorporation has updated its policies that being a jerk is no longer tolerated.
Woo hoo!
A victory for good taste.
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If you can't learn how not to be a jerk in 10 minutes or less, you're in trouble.
Or ARE trouble.
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Yay! Last year's harassment training was irritating because the *one* question I got wrong was one on, "There's no law against being a jerk."
Global Megacorporation has updated its policies that being a jerk is no longer tolerated.
Woo hoo!
EDIT: Ugh. Well, I passed the 15-minute version of the training, but since I'm in the U.S. I have to take an HOURLONG SESSION on not being a jerk.
If you can't learn how not to be a jerk in 10 minutes or less, you're in trouble.
Please tell me they did it Dora the Explorer style.
"Can you say 'thank you'?" "Good job!"
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Captain Yesterday (to laborer): Don't worry about sweeping up the leaked polymeric sand in the trailer, I figure it will sift out the bottom and we'll be strengthening America's roadways
Laborer: Huh, I never thought of it that way before
Captain Yesterday: It's actually better if you don't think about it at all.
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Just finished a 'Savage Worlds' session. Our two "somewhat" inexperienced spellcasters have decided to try and bind a pit fiend.
Hum.
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OK. NOW this is getting scary.
We're spending 20 minutes defining "empathy" and talking about how hard it is to consider other people's feelings.
The fact that they consider this so difficult makes me sad.
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OK. NOW this is getting scary.
We're spending 20 minutes defining "empathy" and talking about how hard it is to consider other people's feelings.
The fact that they consider this so difficult makes me sad.
there are so many cultural issues with just plain defining empathy much less displaying it that it is a topic worthy of conversation.
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Man. I am hungry.
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Man. I am hungry.
I feel you, man.
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Just finished a 'Savage Worlds' session. Our two "somewhat" inexperienced spellcasters have decided to try and bind a pit fiend.
Hum.
Do it!!
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OK. NOW this is getting scary.
We're spending 20 minutes defining "empathy" and talking about how hard it is to consider other people's feelings.
The fact that they consider this so difficult makes me sad.
But, how does it make you feel.
But, how does it make you feel.OK. NOW this is getting scary.
We're spending 20 minutes defining "empathy" and talking about how hard it is to consider other people's feelings.
The fact that they consider this so difficult makes me sad.
I thought it made him hungry?
*is told something in whispers*
Wait, that’s a different person? Eh. All you people look alike.
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Man. I am hungry.
I just made chicken and dumplings for dinner. I was again unimpressed by the results of my cooking, but Mom & Dad are wolfing it down, so I guess it mustn't be too bad. I've got plenty, so you're welcome to a heaping plate or bowl full if you drop by.
Edit: I forgot we hit a record 98F today plus the high humidity. I suspect you won't be coming by.
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Captain Yesterday's brother: Are you going on the camping trip?
Captain Yesterday: No, our car isn't working
Captain Yesterday's brother: You can ride with us!
Captain Yesterday: That's okay, I don't want to die
Captain Yesterday's brother (put out): You won't die
Captain Yesterday: Yes, because we're staying home.
It should be noted, this is the brother that unapologetically tail gates semis ("You save x amount on gas" "I'm pretty sure you don't") and I've tried being diplomatic with my family for years before I gave up because they don't listen to me, so I regret nothing.
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Man. I am hungry.I just made chicken and dumplings for dinner. I was again unimpressed by the results of my cooking, but Mom & Dad are wolfing it down, so I guess it mustn't be too bad. I've got plenty, so you're welcome to a heaping plate or bowl full if you drop by.
Edit: I forgot we hit a record 98F today plus the high humidity. I suspect you won't be coming by.
no, your area has activated its anti-Freehold shield, as temperatures are above 80 degrees.
Please try to summon Freehold again later.
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Well, oops.
As I mention, I mildly strained my back last week. It wasn't bad at all. Today over lunch I even did my hike with weight.
Then about an hour ago I tried to move a piece of furniture for the Strange Aeons game.
At this point my *hope* is that I didn't tear anything, but hoo boy, did I mess up big-time.
Ouch.
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Well, oops.
As I mention, I mildly strained my back last week. It wasn't bad at all. Today over lunch I even did my hike with weight.
Then about an hour ago I tried to move a piece of furniture for the Strange Aeons game.
At this point my *hope* is that I didn't tear anything, but hoo boy, did I mess up big-time.
Ouch.
see what happens when you bad talk strange aeons?
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Man. I am hungry.I just made chicken and dumplings for dinner. I was again unimpressed by the results of my cooking, but Mom & Dad are wolfing it down, so I guess it mustn't be too bad. I've got plenty, so you're welcome to a heaping plate or bowl full if you drop by.
Edit: I forgot we hit a record 98F today plus the high humidity. I suspect you won't be coming by.
no, your area has activated its anti-Freehold shield, as temperatures are above 80 degrees.
Please try to summon Freehold again later.
101 according to a sign over there in Cocoa, yesterday. About similar, here in Ocala.
Well, oops.
As I mention, I mildly strained my back last week. It wasn't bad at all. Today over lunch I even did my hike with weight.
Then about an hour ago I tried to move a piece of furniture for the Strange Aeons game.
At this point my *hope* is that I didn't tear anything, but hoo boy, did I mess up big-time.
Ouch.
Oh, my dude! No good! Praying for you, my friend!
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Today I'm absolutely sure it hit at least 70˚F. But there were a few poofy clouds and a light breeze.
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It got up to 83 today, with a quick thunderstorm at lunch time.
Supposedly by the weekend we might actually hit 90.
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Crookshanks has taken up the mantle of GMing Starfinder.
She started with the Beginner's Box adventure last night and she just disappeared into her room with Against The Aeon Throne and the CRB.
I'm so proud.
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see what happens when you bad talk strange aeons?Well, oops.
As I mention, I mildly strained my back last week. It wasn't bad at all. Today over lunch I even did my hike with weight.
Then about an hour ago I tried to move a piece of furniture for the Strange Aeons game.
At this point my *hope* is that I didn't tear anything, but hoo boy, did I mess up big-time.
Ouch.
I enjoy life more?