up all night tongiht......

Let me start by saying that this kinda shit never bothers me. I live in a semi-rural area and put things out by the road for people to take all the time. Talk to them usually which pisses my wife off....she's kind of against me putting anything out there and inviting strangers to stop at the house. It's only a once or twice a year thing anyhow. People are generally just scrap guys that do it to make extra money. Always just nice people that are grateful.
Tonight me and Zach took the trash out...no scrap...just our trash cans. We're in the garage and I'm fixing a flat on the 4 wheeler and a mini-van pulls in the drive. I thought maybe someone turning around but a guy gets out of it so I walk out to meet him. He said he thought he saw some romex in the trash which ended up being the yellow ties on our trash bags. I kinda laughed and said no problem and turned to go to the house. He starts talking to me about something and walking up the drive and motions to the van to shut the motor off. Now I'm wondering what the hell he wants. A second guy gets out of the van and walks up and they're looking at the firebird in the garage and he starts asking me questions about it. The first guy is mid 20's with zero teeth and his eyes are sunk back into his head....obviously a meth addict. The second guy has teeth but has no shirt on and covered in tats. Just not the kinda guys I want hanging around my garage shooting the shit and I'm 99% sure they were high as shit by how they were talking and their body language. I had Zach out there with me so I was just making idle conversation with them and making sure I kept them both in front of me and watched their hands. I didn't want to be a dick to them and escalate anything un-necessarily and maybe put Zach at risk so I just made conversation. They asked about the quad and dirt bike and shit like that....just dumb questions about what size they were and things like that. They probably hung out 10-15 minutes. The whole time Chunk is in the house raising hell and basically slamming himself up against the door. I pointed out how pissed the dog was and made sure they saw how big his ass is. They eventually got back in the van and left.
I immediately locked all my shit up and pulled the plug to the garage. Something about those guys ain't right and I've dealt with a ton of people. I loaded the gun and put it by the bed just in case they decide to show back up tonight but there's no way I'm going to sleep tonight. Everytime I try to lay down I think about how messed up that whole situation was and I have 3 kids upstairs asleep. Just not going to be able to sleep tonight.....or probably the next few nights. :D

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Originally Posted by 0rion

Let me start by saying that this kinda shit never bothers me. I live in a semi-rural area and put things out by the road for people to take all the time. Talk to them usually which pisses my wife off....she's kind of against me putting anything out there and inviting strangers to stop at the house. It's only a once or twice a year thing anyhow. People are generally just scrap guys that do it to make extra money. Always just nice people that are grateful.
Tonight me and Zach took the trash out...no scrap...just our trash cans. We're in the garage and I'm fixing a flat on the 4 wheeler and a mini-van pulls in the drive. I thought maybe someone turning around but a guy gets out of it so I walk out to meet him. He said he thought he saw some romex in the trash which ended up being the yellow ties on our trash bags. I kinda laughed and said no problem and turned to go to the house. He starts talking to me about something and walking up the drive and motions to the van to shut the motor off. Now I'm wondering what the hell he wants. A second guy gets out of the van and walks up and they're looking at the firebird in the garage and he starts asking me questions about it. The first guy is mid 20's with zero teeth and his eyes are sunk back into his head....obviously a meth addict. The second guy has teeth but has no shirt on and covered in tats. Just not the kinda guys I want hanging around my garage shooting the shit and I'm 99% sure they were high as shit by how they were talking and their body language. I had Zach out there with me so I was just making idle conversation with them and making sure I kept them both in front of me and watched their hands. I didn't want to be a dick to them and escalate anything un-necessarily and maybe put Zach at risk so I just made conversation. They asked about the quad and dirt bike and shit like that....just dumb questions about what size they were and things like that. They probably hung out 10-15 minutes. The whole time Chunk is in the house raising hell and basically slamming himself up against the door. I pointed out how pissed the dog was and made sure they saw how big his ass is. They eventually got back in the van and left.
I immediately locked all my shit up and pulled the plug to the garage. Something about those guys ain't right and I've dealt with a ton of people. I loaded the gun and put it by the bed just in case they decide to show back up tonight but there's no way I'm going to sleep tonight. Everytime I try to lay down I think about how messed up that whole situation was and I have 3 kids upstairs asleep. Just not going to be able to sleep tonight.....or probably the next few nights. :D

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Yea something doesn't sound right...I think they were getting a feel for your place based on the story you told. When I lived in Huntsville we had Meth heads running around everywhere...buddy of mine's dad had one wonder into his house one night because people were "chasing" him...they lived out in the middle of no where and he just walked into the house like he owned the place. The Meth guy was basically wondering through the woods and hallucinating and stumbled upon the house. His dad convinced him to go outside and talk on the porch and as soon as they closed the door his wife called the cops. He probably had 6-7 guns in the house but because the guy showed up unexpected like that he couldn't get to them if he really needed to at that point.

yeah....it felt like they were casing the place. At first it felt like they were going to jump me. Been in that situation before when I was younger which is why I never let one get behind me or take too much of my attention away from the other one. It was nice having Chunk in a rage like that. They didn't know my wife wasn't here so if a fight broke out and someone opened that door the odds would've once again been even or slightly in my favor. He's a whole lot of dog to mess with. You're not just going to push him off of you. :D

That some scary crazy sh@T. They were def scoping the place out to see who lived there, what was easily avalable to take, and how to approach the house later on. F them! Get a job crack head. The bs story about the trash bag looking like it was romex cable. It's good you have a dog. Dogs hear everything! Love it. It sucks in today's world that people are that brave just to walk up in your personal space just to check sh*t out. You should have a party at your house this weekend to show him you have a group of people that also like to hang out, and give the occasional a$$ whoopin if needed! LOL

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Originally Posted by RONS98TA

That some scary crazy sh@T. They were def scoping the place out to see who lived there, what was easily avalable to take, and how to approach the house later on. F them! Get a job crack head. The bs story about the trash bag looking like it was romex cable. It's good you have a dog. Dogs hear everything! Love it. It sucks in today's world that people are that brave just to walk up in your personal space just to check sh*t out. You should have a party at your house this weekend to show him you have a group of people that also like to hang out, and give the occasional a$$ whoopin if needed! LOL

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ordinarily you'd be right but one of the reasons I couldn't go to bed is because of how sound this big bastard sleeps :lol: Once he's out and snoring you'd have to hit the house with a train to wake him up. Hell....even when he's awake his hearing sucks. Just don't wake him up. :D I haven't weighed him since he was a pup but I would guess him to be 170 maybe?? Somewhere in that range.

He's also slowly gotten to be a mean son of a bitch. He started out real friendly with everyone but the older he gets the nastier he's getting. I really viewed that as a huge problem....until yesterday evening.

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Originally Posted by 0rion

ordinarily you'd be right but one of the reasons I couldn't go to bed is because of how sound this big bastard sleeps :lol: Once he's out and snoring you'd have to hit the house with a train to wake him up. Hell....even when he's awake his hearing sucks. Just don't wake him up. :D I haven't weighed him since he was a pup but I would guess him to be 170 maybe?? Somewhere in that range.

He's also slowly gotten to be a mean son of a bitch. He started out real friendly with everyone but the older he gets the nastier he's getting. I really viewed that as a huge problem....until yesterday evening.

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dogs are great to have around...they call them man's best friend for more reason than one. what kind of dog is it?

http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/j..._album/090.jpg
St. Bernard

I really need to get some new pics of him.....he's much thicker than this one taken in 2011.

too bad you didn't have your t-shirt rise up and firearm "accidently" peeks out of your belt line.

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Originally Posted by 0rion

http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/j..._album/090.jpg
St. Bernard

I really need to get some new pics of him.....he's much thicker than this one taken in 2011.

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Haha yea that should have been just a little intimidating for them...my wife wants a great Dane but I'm on the fence about it...but stuff like this makes me want to have a 200lb dog running around lol

Awesome looking dog!! I really don't think I would be to worried about it honestly. That big hoss probably is enough for them to think twice. Also if you don't already, put up some of the dimmable security lights. They are dim until someone crosses the sensor, then light up like its daylight out. I love the ones i got. They are leds and don't use much power and last forever.They are easy to install and you can mount them anywhere. They stay on for a certain amount of time that you set up, so once they come on, you will know how long someone has been in the area. Thieves hate bright light.

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Originally Posted by RONS98TA

Awesome looking dog!! I really don't think I would be to worried about it honestly. That big hoss probably is enough for them to think twice. Also if you don't already, put up some of the dimmable security lights. They are dim until someone crosses the sensor, then light up like its daylight out. I love the ones i got. They are leds and don't use much power and last forever.They are easy to install and you can mount them anywhere. They stay on for a certain amount of time that you set up, so once they come on, you will know how long someone has been in the area. Thieves hate bright light.

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got a link to any? Sounds like it would also help with the coons that get in the trash every now and then. :lol:

I'm not super worked up about the situation but it was concerning and last night every time I'd try to go to sleep I'd start thinking about the kids upstairs and felt like I needed to make sure on their behalf I wasn't asleep if something happened. The dog sleeps so damn sound that I'm not sure I'd trust him to be awake in time. :lol: My wife bitches on a fairly regular basis about me and the dog both snoring and keeping her up. :D The cat on the other hand prowls the house all night long :lol:

I dont have any links to the lights, but home depot and lowes both sell them. I got my lights 10+ years ago with the standard bulbs in them, and just about 2 years ago installed the new bulbs in the original housings. I will see if I can do some research and post it up.

that's ok....I'll find it.

I have intentionally shown people I feel uneasy about I carry and the people in my neighborhood for the most part know I own firearms. I always sleep close to one of my guns. I know having kids makes it a little different as far as having loaded guns not locked up, but I'm sure you've taught and worked with them about safety. I'd make a police report in the event they do similar things in the area. Might find others have reported them too

Yeah those tweakers were casing ther house, now they know you have some toys it will always be on their mind (what's left). Good thing is they may think you go to work and the wife stays at home during the day. So that will be a surprise for them. I'd keep my pistol on me or very close from now on if I was you. At least for a week or two. Wouldn't hurt to let your sheriff or local LEO get a description of the van and men. They may put an extra patrol in the area looking for them.

Dog would have gotten a steak for being there for you. I would be willing to bet if you had a glass sliding door he'd be through that in a minute if he saw they were doing something against you or the kids.


I know Sams has a 4 camera night vision and light system for around $450-500. A little high but you can hook up to a computer and record on a HD any footage if you want to. My boss got one and loves it. Said he finally figure out what was messing with his car setting off the alarm in the middle of the night. Turned out to be a big beaver walking by and bumping it looking for food as it goes to the lake in his backyard.


I feel there's a current scam going on in our area. Late teens 17-19, some 20 yr olds come house to house presenting you with some garbage about sponsoring their "2nd chance" in helping them get back on their feet after paying for their debt to society. It's the actually line they spin on you. We have quite a few elderly in the neighborhood and recently young kids 12<. So we as a whole do not allow solicitation, usually someone will inform them and they leave, but some still keep going door to door, always trying to get inside the house to seat down and go through their "brief". I never let anyone in my house unless I know you or we have business already outside the house and them coming over is for an appointment or such. I even chew my kids out if they leave the garage open all day.

...why i carry when in/around the house... and, yes, i live in a "nice" neighborhood... never know who's driving through the neighborhood...

I had a similar incident happen to me but it was with some solicitors that were begging for money or rather to purchase magazines I don't want to give "knuckle draggers" as they called themselves money to better their life by being able to get a better education or something. I told them I wasn't interested and they started verbally attacking me trying to guilt trip me into it and getting nasty with me where I finally raised my shirt so my gun was seen and told them if they don't leave my property they will no longer have a need for a better education. They left at that point but eyed my vars so I had a feeling they were going to do something butbI watched them until they left and kept an eye outside all night. Something about them just rubbed me the wrong way and I have an extremely accurate judge of character to the point it is scary and I have never been wrong lol. I too have kids so I definitely agree with you Orion I wouldn't have been able to sleep either. I also had a 200lb black lab and golden retriever mix who can be quite vicious if he doesn't like the person or is protecting us. I don't have him anymore but I am thinking of getting another big dog.

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Originally Posted by 35th-ANV-SS

I have intentionally shown people I feel uneasy about I carry and the people in my neighborhood for the most part know I own firearms. I always sleep close to one of my guns. I know having kids makes it a little different as far as having loaded guns not locked up, but I'm sure you've taught and worked with them about safety. I'd make a police report in the event they do similar things in the area. Might find others have reported them too

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always leave 1 or 2 out when you are in the house but i'd keep the rest locked up...buddy of my dad's walked into his front door one night and two guys were walking through his kitchen with his guns in their hands because he never locked them up. They saw him and took off and my dad's friend ran back out the front door. Last thing you want is to get shot with your own guns lol

thats why I dont keep mine in my cars when I park them at night...it'd be some shit if somebody broke into my car or truck and then broke into my house with my own gun.

I have zero doubts that Chunk would ruin someone's day if they messed with the kids. I have to put him outside just so I can wrestle and horse around with them. I had him out last year and was wrestling with Zach in the living room. Chunk ripped the storm door down to get in. He's not a big fan of hearing the kids holler like they're being hurt. :D A gun will take care of a dog in a hurry but that shot and time it takes them to make it might be the difference between me getting my shit pointed in their direction or not. Having a dog this big in the house can be a hassle but at the end of the day it's worth it and he definitely serves a purpose. Only a true idiot would see him and decide to come back. There's plenty of idiots out there though so you can never let the guard down too much. When Chunk goes off he looks straight out of Cujo. That alone strikes fear in 90% of the people out there.

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Originally Posted by 0rion

got a link to any? Sounds like it would also help with the coons that get in the trash every now and then. :lol:

I'm not super worked up about the situation but it was concerning and last night every time I'd try to go to sleep I'd start thinking about the kids upstairs and felt like I needed to make sure on their behalf I wasn't asleep if something happened. The dog sleeps so damn sound that I'm not sure I'd trust him to be awake in time. :lol: My wife bitches on a fairly regular basis about me and the dog both snoring and keeping her up. :D The cat on the other hand prowls the house all night long :lol:

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You should get yourself a little dog alarm clock for him then. I recommend a Dachshund. Mighty hunters are they and super protective of your person and property. He won't sleep during a Dachshund prowler rant. Nope. Would wake his ass right up and put him instantly into guard dog mode :D Chloe was all over anything that entered our property.