Friday Randomness

1. My son-in-law got a job! OK, so it's just a temporary job with the U.S. Census Bureau, not what a recent graduate with Masters Degree in Civil Engineering would normally want, but times are tough. We're proud of you, Kevin. You never know whose door you might knock on and where it may lead.

2. After years of trying, our neighborhood finally has a Neighborhood Crime Watch program. Of course, I volunteered to be one of the Crime Watch Block Captains. Today I came home from a run around noon and saw a suspicious looking car idling in front of my neighbor's house. Late model sedan, dark blue, Buick Marquis, very dark tinted windows, can't see anyone inside. I decided to extend my cool-down so I could walk past it and note the license plate on the back. Then the driver's side car door opened. Crap! I reached for my pepper spray and prepared for the worst. Oh hi, Deputy P. It was our off-duty sheriff's deputy in an unmarked car.

3. Eeks, can I say I'm LOVING logging my food?! Yeah, I know I'm weird. But I've had some concerns the past couple weeks in training. Am I fueling myself enough for my workouts? Is hunger a good indicator of when I should eat? What the heck am I eating??? With Livestrong's Daily Plate (thanks Jeanne for mentioning it to me), I now know the answers: sometimes, not really, and mostly good but some bad stuff too. It's not rocket science but I think knowing more about my nutrition will help me go further and faster.

4. Cliff Bar rocks! Remember that peanut butter recall a few months back? Well, that caused us to have to throw away a couple boxes of bars we'd bought. But not before I filed for a refund on their website. In the mail recently we got coupons for new bars. But get this, each box contained 6 bars and they gave us 12 coupons per box claimed. Thank you, Cliff Bar. We will most certainly continue to buy your products.

5. Silly sign!! (clickable)


Have a great weekend, everyone, and good luck to all who are racing!!!

Eyes Wide Open

Sorry, this is a rant but I must get it out!

Heard a house alarm blaring.
Suspect #1 seen running to a car parked nearby: Hispanic male, 20-30 yrs of age, 150-160#, shaven or near shaven head, t-shirt and shorts
Suspect #2, driver: Unknown
Car: Red, looked like a Ford Focus, no front license plate

That's what I told police yesterday as I left my house shortly after lunch. It happened all in a matter of seconds just a block from where I live. I heard a house alarm faintly while in my car, rolled down my window to make sure it was what I thought it was, turned to look in the direction of the sound, saw a guy running to a car parked the wrong way on a side street. The car took off quickly and pulled up right in back of me as I waited to cross a major intersection. I was in the way of their only exit out of our little quiet subdivision.

What to do? Should I stay there to block them in and call police? What if they have a gun or become violent? What did I really see?

Well, I wasn't 100% sure they had anything to do with the alarm since I didn't even know which house it was coming from. The guy running to the car wasn't carrying anything and could have just been in a hurry to get someplace (like me). So I turned left (while they turned right), continued on for a bit, pulled over and called the police non-emergency number to report a suspicious incident.

Unfortunately, I have that number programmed in my cell phone. A year ago, I came home from the pool and saw a couple of high school age guys and a car parked in front of a house two doors from me but assumed they were friends of the kids who lived there and didn't pay much attention to them (the house had been broken into). A couple months ago, another house about 5 doors away was burglarized sometime in the middle of the day when the owner(s) was at work (I never heard or saw a thing). On my way to the pool a couple weeks ago, my neighbor across the street was busted for drugs and possession of an illegal firearm (AK-47). Other neighbors had apparently noticed the number of cars that were coming and going and reported the suspicious activity. I'd noticed a lot of cars but didn't put two and two together.

God, am I stupid or what???

Yes, not to think that things wouldn't be happening right under my nose.

I've known for a long time to be vigilant when I'm out running having had two threats to my personal safety and knowing the East-side Rapist still continues to make local headlines periodically preying on joggers and walkers in my area. Among his latest possible victims, a jogger found murdered along my favorite bike path a couple months ago and a bicyclist knocked off her bike and attacked day before yesterday. Jeez, what's wrong with people?

But now vigilance begins at home. You see, I'm one of the few who are in/out and around my neighborhood during the day because I work from home. I know there are guys that come around knocking on doors and windows to see if people are home and if they're not (or don't answer), they break in. I assume that it can and will happen to me. My husband and I have talked about possibly getting a hand gun but for now I have pepper spray near my bed, in my office and with me whenever I'm outside mowing the yard, walking to the mailbox or going out anywhere. I'm paying more attention to cars (colors, makes, models, any distinguishing signs) and people (what they look like, what they're wearing, what they're doing and whether they belong in our neighborhood). Ha, I'm already thinking that part of my training for the Zoom Yah Yah Indoor Marathon could be LOTS of laps around my neighborhood and double as a crime watch.

And wouldn't it be great if someone called the police to report a suspicious little woman running in their neighborhood for hours? It'd mean someone actually noticed and cared enough to call.

Because one of the bad things about living in a small quiet "good" neighborhood is that people assume it's safe. They don't notice things, are too busy to get to know others, and don't want to get involved in things like a Neighborhood Crime Watch Program (every year we try to start one but there's not enough interest *sigh*). Wake up, people!

Thank goodness school starts next week. A lot of crap that goes on here in Orlando is supposedly just kids bored over the summer and looking to make a quick buck. Oh, and the thing I reported yesterday, yes, it was a burglary attempt (signs of forced entry) but the guys were apparently scared off by the alarm. Hopefully they won't be back.