September 8, 2009

Ok, so I think I just officially became the crazy American girl on my street. Though you my American friends won't be surprised when I tell you this tale. :)

A house across the street and a few doors down has a burglar alarm that started shrieking like mad, and it's 10pm here right now. So I opened my front door, used the Maglite to shine onto their house, didn't see anything, so I figured that likely as not one of their next door neighbors would have called the owners (that's what usually happens here) and the alarm would stop. Well it didn't stop and didn't stop, so I grabbed my keys and cell phone (and the trusty Maglite) and walked straight over to their house and started shining the flashlight around outside, in the windows (which were all dark) and everywhere just to make sure no one was there. I even shined it over their back fence, where criminals like to hide. :)

The next door neighbor (well sort of next door, sort of over an alleyway) did have a door open, and obviously thought I was a nutcase- here I am in a skirt with a huge flashlight shining it around like I own the place...but I walked over to chat and see if he knew what was going on. He'd called the owners but didn't get an answer, so I asked if he'd tried the security company. All the windows and doors looked fairly secure, but you never know. He didn't know what company it was- so I took my Maglite around and checked the name, and just at that point the shrieking stopped. This poor neighbor who was looking at me like I was a nut for having a gigantic police-esque flashlight didn't seem keen to talk, so I think I'll try to go round tomorrow and chat with him and the alarm house owners just to say hello.

I should say for those that may not know that I'm from a rural village, where my parents live on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere, and it takes hours for the police to come and investigate something. In Michigan we have guns and dogs for these sorts of situations. :) A powerful Maglite combined with a barking dog does wonders for scaring off people, and it has about a 200 ft range at least. So I'm not afraid to investigate things myself from a safe distance with a nice bright light, though I don't have a dog. :) I'm an American girl- what else can I say for myself? :)

Whether I scared away any criminals remains to be seen, but I did wonder about getting an alarm ourselves...crime is up in the city and we live on an affluent street. Hopefully my neighbors will still talk to me tomorrow. :)