Car pulls up in the street outside, stays running. Guy gets out, runs around corner for a few minutes, leaves car door open. Guy runs back, gets into car, drives off.
EVERY NIGHT.
I first noticed it when I was hypomanic but blew it off as me being paranoid or delusional. But now I'm stable (and up because I'm reading and am a night owl, like right now) and it still happens. Every night. Same thing.
What the hell?!
Thoughts? Anyone? Please?
It's CREEPY.
[ May 21, 2004, 05:04 PM: Message edited by: mackillian ]
Posted by Space Opera (Member # 6504) on :
Yep, that qualifies as creepy. What kind of town you live in, anyway?
space opera
Posted by fallow (Member # 6268) on :
stop calling dominos?
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
A small city of just 100,000 people (and yet the largest "city" in New Hampshire ).
Posted by imogen (Member # 5485) on :
Very creepy.
Drug deals, do you think?
Posted by Damien (Member # 5611) on :
Maybe he delivers a paper from out of town? Like...specialdeliverytype... Althought that'd be a biiiiit too early for it... Hmmm...
Posted by Space Opera (Member # 6504) on :
Imogen - I was wondering that too. Mack, I'd say that if it really worries you it never hurts to call the police and have them check it out. It's probably what I would do, to be honest. Heck, even if it's nothing illegal, at least you'll get your curiosity satisfied!
space opera
Posted by Ryuko (Member # 5125) on :
Dunno. We get our NY Times at 4 am here at school.
Posted by Damien (Member # 5611) on :
Yes, better to be safe than sorry. Give the Blue Meanies a ring.
Posted by imogen (Member # 5485) on :
The only thing about drugs is - every night? Seems a little too regular.
I'd go with Space Opera's suggestion - ring the police, and if it's all innocent then no harm done.
Posted by Frisco (Member # 3765) on :
Dude, it's the freaking paper boy.
Give him a break. 3:30 isn't all that early. I have a friend who used to do three routes and be done by 5am.
Posted by Da_Goat (Member # 5529) on :
He probably commutes from Somewhere to Someplace, and his bodily schedule schedules a urination at 3:30 AM. "Around the corner" is the most convenient bathroom.
Or he's a sleepwalker/driver.
What's he drive?
Posted by ak (Member # 90) on :
The world is full of mysteries. Most of them have no relationship to you at all. Why not observe and discover the meaning behind this one? I'm sure it will soon come clear, and it will be something totally benign. Don't harass someone with cops for no reason, is my feeling.
When I first lived by myself, I used to be afraid or concerned at lots of noises and things at night. I think this is an evolutionary thing. Lots of predators used to hunt us at night. It feels safer to be in groups than alone when it's dark and quiet. When you are alone, you feel fear of things that you might never even notice if you were with a group of people. However, one by one the recurring ones made sense to me, I understood what they were, and my night fears gradually went away.
I'm guessing there is some completely reasonable explanation for this event. One that does not require police investigation. Set your mind to solve unsolved puzzles, and that will keep it from fear.
I think it's just ordinary fear of the unknown. Not paranoia, because that would imply that it was unusual or pathological in some way. I think it's just normal garden-variety fear.
As for the explanation, the paper delivery is the most likely. Someone nearby requires that their paper be placed on the front porch or at the back door or something. They get the Wall Street Journal or the New York Times or some non-local paper, of which only one is delivered on your street. My mom's WSJ paper person still sometimes drives down into our cul-de-sac at 3am, though Mom has moved away and I don't take that paper. I guess his or her route was so deeply ingrained that it takes a while to reprogram the 3am automatic brain circuits.
[ May 20, 2004, 09:07 AM: Message edited by: ak ]
Posted by sarahdipity (Member # 3254) on :
Hmm what is around the corner from your apartment? Houses, stores, something else all together?
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
Yeah -- what Sarah said -- that was my first thought -- have you gone around the corner (in the daytime) to look to see what he may be running to? What is over there?
Farmgirl
Posted by Dead_Horse (Member # 3027) on :
The time to worry is when he comes to YOUR door.
I'm voting for newspaper delivery. Back when I was young, my H and I delivered 700 papers a night. I did some pretty weird things in the interest of saving time, especially in the apartment complexes.
(Darn their sprinkler schedules anyway!) Rain
Posted by pooka (Member # 5003) on :
A drug dealer could be everyday if he had a "route". If he were a paperboy, he should be on a bike. What's with this driving around, it's bad enough that newspapers are made of chopped up trees.
P.s. is it not possible to detect whether he has a paper when he goes and does not when he comes back? If that's not possible to determine and you aren't willing to spy more closely, then you have the choice of either calling the cops or forgetting about it.
[ May 20, 2004, 11:59 AM: Message edited by: pooka ]
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
*enjoying this hugely*
Posted by peter the bookie (Member # 3270) on :
they have to be on bikes? i don't think so. he might have some strange route that has two grouping far apart. i had a friend who's route included an assisted living building that was sort of in the middle of nowhere. she'd drive up to it, and then walk through the building delivering door to door.
or he might be dropping bundles at the local gas station. or for the local bike-powered paper boy.
i'm a firm believer in the paperboy theory.
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
I was a paper-boy for many years. I rode a bike when I had to, but once I got my license, I drove.
It makes even more sense for a paper-boy to be in a car if it is an out-of-town newspaper.
Posted by Telperion the Silver (Member # 6074) on :
This sounds like the newspaper guy...
Posted by Ela (Member # 1365) on :
Plenty of paper"boys" are adults, now, driving cars. Our NY Times has been known to be delivered at that time of night, and I am fairly sure it is delivered by car, so I would go with the paper boy (or some other type of delivery) theory.
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
Stop laughing, it isn't funny. We HAVE had some incidents in this neighborhood.
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
Then definately report it to the police.
It could be a nightly rendevous with some married neighbor who's husband is a very sound sleeper at certain parts of the night.
Or it could be a roving crook checking for any unlocked doors or windows in an apartment block.
It could be the newspaper man (not boy) doing his delivery, but Mack hasn't seen a newspaper bag on his back.
It could be an AL Queda agent checking his drop box for intel from another AlQueda cell.
But call the police, they'll check it out. Paranoia is many times a good thing.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
You know, if it were me, I'd case the exact area out by day, find a good hiding spot, and then lay in wait and watch to see what the guy was up to myself. To make it more fun, I'd probably get a friend in on it with me. It almost has to be a newspaper delivery person, but I'd have to find out for myself.
Maybe he's hiding the last living sasquatch in the area, and comes by to bring him food every morning. You could free sasquatch!
Posted by Da_Goat (Member # 5529) on :
quote:It could be a nightly rendevous with some married neighbor who's husband is a very sound sleeper at certain parts of the night.
I doubt that, as he's there and back quick enough to keep his car running safely.
quote:It could be the newspaper man (not boy) doing his delivery, but Mack hasn't seen a newspaper bag on his back.
My dad subs newspaper routes on the side. No newspaper bag, and most newspapers have a 6 AM deadline. In Prescott, that usually means getting the papers at 3:30ish, and Prescott is significantly smaller than Mack's city.
Also, I still haven't got the answer to what he drives. I mean, is it anything one might race? Because, if it is, that might just be your city's street-racing rendezvous and he's seeing if anyone's going to show.
Anyway, mack, there have been a number of questions asked that haven't been answered yet, like what is around your corner?
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
He stays on MY corner, which is just residential. And none of us get the paper.
And the street racers meet two streets down. Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
Posted by Damien (Member # 5611) on :
I SO called that one. Posted by Vána (Member # 3262) on :
heehee
Hey, at least he's not some creepy stalker or something.
-Vána
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
Could you get pictures from your window?
AJ
Posted by SoberTillNoon (Member # 6170) on :
MAybe the guy used to be a paperboy, and he has OCD. He has to do his route every day.
Posted by Dead_Horse (Member # 3027) on :
HAHA!!! OCD. I still do mine in my sleep, does that count?
We'd load the papers into my little Dodge Colt. Hub would roll 'em and throw them out his window...and up over the car to get them on my side. It was my job to zig and zag all over the road making the required distance as short as possible. We had it well planned. Then we'd go to the Railroad Pass Casino for breakfast and video poker, then down to Lake Mead to sleep all day on the beach. Those were the days.
Posted by aspectre (Member # 2222) on :
Night manager at a bar, coffee shop, fast food joint, convenience store, etc. Cleans up, helps with clean up, or at least is on premises with the cleanup crew while counting the day's receipts, bookkeeping, and writing restock orders. Splits the cash into two: change, small bills, and some larger bills (if there isn't enough change and small bills) for tomorrow's opening; and large bills for the bank or owner.
The large bills go into the bank's night deposit slot or to the owner. And the change and small bills go to the morning manager so s/he can fill the cash register to make change for customers. So if you aren't seeing bundles being hauled, it's likely the night manager dropping cash off to the bank, owner, or morning manager.
As for why leave the car running and the door open: quicker and less likely to cause a delay that can result in a robbery. As for the risk, which would you rather have: someone stealing your car, or someone pointing a gun in your face?
And do NOT spread the story around your neighborhood. Not even to have the police check: the police tend to be noisy (even if the "noise" consists of flashing lights and/or searchlights) and can awaken part of the neighborhood. And when they aren't noisy, they're in plain clothes, which means that the night manager won't know if the person trying to stop them is a detective or a mugger. Which is a nasty situation to find yourself in. The less people who know, the less likely the night manager is to be mugged or to be injured/killed.
[ May 22, 2004, 08:32 PM: Message edited by: aspectre ]
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
"It was my job to zig and zag all over the road making the required distance as short as possible."
The real In-laws with Peter Falk and Alan Arkin:
"Serpentine, Mel, serpentine!"
Posted by Damien (Member # 5611) on :
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).
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