Please leave me alone, creepy neighbor man

I actually turn off all phone noises (like when you’re texting, taking a photo, etc) as soon as I get a phone, just because they irritate me :slight_smile:

I do have a remote start, which does turn the defroster on. It does auto shut off after 10 minutes, so if the ice is pretty bad it some scraping will still be required. It also depends on where I park - I can only use remote start if I’m able to park close enough to my apartment. I can’t wait for the arrival of warmer weather. This has been a less ice / more snow kind of year though, and at least snow is easy to brush off. The ice can be a problem, though.

I know what you mean about your daughter. I used to be the kind who felt compelled to stick around and chat, even though I didn’t want to, because just walking away felt so rude. Now I do that pretty easily. I love going on long summer walks and play Pokémon GO (no judging me - it’s helped me lose a lot of weight!). I get a lot of guys trying to chat me up. I no longer feel like I have to stick around and smile nicely - I say, ‘no’ when they ask for my name and just keep walking.

This guy just freaks me out a bit more because I can’t just walk away. That, plus he seems to live here.

Thank you! I use Android as well. Do you know if these are the kind to record over old footage if it isn’t removed in a set period of time? Or is it something I’d have to manually wipe myself, or put a new card in to continue recording? Or are both options typically available?

Yeah, I’d be willing to bet I’ve been dealing with Shodan a decade longer than you have, which puts us into the Nineties.

The card will eventually fill up and stop recording, depending on the quality of video you pick. You can save whichever video you want on your phone, or transfer it to anything, really.

You can just choose to format the card once it gets below 1%. After seeing if there’s any footage the you’d like to save.

The “dome”-style cameras turn around and go up and down, but the stationary ones are very light and small. I’ve used duct tape on the base to put them in various places, because if you have cats, I guarantee you they will think, “New toy!” at least once. What I did is wrap it around my hand a few times, sticky side out, then put it in the spot I want it. The lump of tape also gives you some tilt because the downward angle ability on the dome type of camera is not that great.

I’ve gotten video of one armed robbery, one car theft, one hit-and-run and at least six accidents.

Some of the cameras will do “circle recording”, which is where the older recordings will be deleted. If that’s a feature you want, try to find cameras which can do that.

Another poster alluded to this: if the OP decides to get a camera to document harassment, an unobtrusive body cam sounds like the best bet.

There are surprisingly inexpensive ones that will capture decent video and audio from any encounters, which a fixed indoor-mounted camera couldn’t do.

Side note: I’m a bit peeved at the OP for her thread title, which has generated a Helen Reddy earworm. :frowning:

Secret Agent Man popped up in my ear worm

Ahh, a kindred spirit!

I’m wondering if you could put something on the dashboard that will direct more of the heat onto the window. Perhaps a few pieces of cardboard with the bottoms folded so they will stand up and the top corners just barely touching the glass. Or perhaps a plastic pool noodle or maybe a rolled up bath towel would do, as long as it doesn’t block the vents. There’s probably something better. I’m just not coming up with it.

Good luck to you with this guy.

Creepy…NEEEEIIIGHBOR man, creepy…NEIGHBOR maaaan!..

Er, I mean, I humbly apologize… :rolleyes:

That’s alright; I’m quite enjoying the mental image of a pool noodle (or several) jam-packed into my Impala :smiley:

And now on top of it, Arlo Guthrie:

Coming into Los Angeles
Bringing in a couple of keys
But don’t touch me if you please
Creepy Neighbor Man

Install a second, lower peephole.

And tell the apartment manager that they’re liable if your place gets broken into and anything is stolen or you’re assaulted because they won’t supply a door that locks securely.

Winner.

People who commit pathological crimes are by definition mentally ill. When someone is confronted by odd behavior there is reason to believe mental illness is involved. That means the person isn’t processing information correctly and by default that puts into question their ability to deal with things in a rational manner.

Nope

There are very many sexual predators who are not in any way considered to be mentally ill; as well as many people who commit crimes of other sorts. Committing crimes is not in itself “pathological” behavior in humans.

The person in question in this thread may 1) be mentally ill; or 2) may be mentally developmentally disabled and/or not neurotypical, which is not the same thing; or 3) may be socially clueless for reasons having nothing to do with mental abilities; or 4) may be an entirely sane and normally or more than normally intelligent deliberate predator either looking for a victim who can be frightened or harrassed into compliance, or simply enjoying a long runup to a planned attack; or 5) may be an entirely sane and normally or more than normally intelligent asshole who knows perfectly well that he’s disturbing his victim(s) and doesn’t expect to do any more than that, but thinks that it’s funny to do so. We have no idea which is the case, and jumping to conclusions on the matter is not helpful – except that in terms of defending oneself, any person dealing with this problem needs to seriously consider possibility 4, while bearing in mind that it’s not the only possibility.

– if any of my terminology in the above is improper, please let me know.

that’s not what I said.

I was happy to not see this guy for a week, but he appeared again Sunday afternoon, as I was heading to a Superbowl party. I didn’t approach me and he didn’t say anything, which was a relief. I was looking for a good time to subtly take a photo from inside my car, but he was always staring at me (plus I was a ways away, and since he had his coat and hood on, I honestly doubted I’d get a picture of his face at all). As I was driving out, I waved to a neighbor who was picking up trash.

There are a couple exists from my apartment complex, but for the one most convenient for me that day, I basically had to exit down an alley way, out to another street, then circle around to the road I wanted to take home. Basically, I exit and reenter view of the apartment twice after leaving the drive. Each time, he was staring at me. And I mean, he had to turn around and get closer to a fence to see me, and he did. As I circled around and headed for the main road, he raised his hand and waved at me.

I did not wave back. The whole party, I was picturing him breaking into my home. Of course that didn’t happen, but I tend to be a bit of an anxious person, and was relieved to get home and see everything was okay.

Hon, just because you’ve been in situations in the past that made you anxious that turned out to not be a problem, doesn’t mean this isn’t a problem.

Contact the apartment management now. Better that you contact them and it shows be no big deal, than to not contact them and have this person assault you because no one who could have made a difference didn’t know they needed to do something.

Normally when people don’t take my advice, I just drop it and move on. But in this case, several people have given you advice that could potentially save your life, and I haven’t seen any evidence that you have taken that advice, or are even considering taking that advice.

If you keep passing on the common sense precautions of contacting your building management about the threatening person that’s approaching you, about the problem with the door that is supposed to improve your safety, and the advice to get your management to install a peephole that you can actually use, I’m going to start to wonder about the real reason you’re posting about this incident.

Okay I’m not entire sure what part of, “For the record, I’m not looking for advice so much as I am to vent… Like I said, I’m really looking to vent more than anything. I more or less know the options available to me; I just wish this guy wasn’t so fucking clueless…” you didn’t catch from my initial post. Literally, the very first sentence is me making it pretty clear that I’m not actually looking for advice. That said, I have and continue to say that the advice I’m getting is appreciated.

Also, please do not ‘hun’ me. I’m not 12. Yes, I’m very well aware of what can potentially happen. You aren’t opening my eyes to some danger I’m not seeing.

I’m not sure why you’re assuming I haven’t done a single thing, but you’d be incorrect. Pepper gel has been ordered, and my apartment complex has been contacted (there is no office, so I can’t just walk in and tell someone). I’m not ordering cameras as of yet, but the option is on the table and links have been bookmarked.

My sincerest apologies for not updating you with steps I’ve taken in response to advice that I never actually sought out.