a guy seems to be hanging out in his car in the dark outside my place (or the gettin' paranoid at 2 AM thread)

so some dude (I think it's a dude) pulls up into a parking spot across the street from my house about 90 min ago. the car turns off, but (and this is why I noticed something) he never gets out of the car. at one point he pulls back into a spot a few yards away. then he briefly turns the interior light on for a sec, then turns it off again. two or three times, it sounds like he's beginning to start the car up again, but then it doesn't work or he aborts it. anyway, he's still there, possibly schnoozing.

i don't think this would weird me out except that I don't really have shades in my office so car dude can presumably see me working, eating, whatever.

am i nuts to be a bit creeped out? should i leave it alone? call the non-emergency number for the police?

it's cool, man. he's probably got some shit going on in his life, just hanging out in his car, doesn't know he's creeping people out.

yeah, probably. maybe his SO kicked him out. or he's driving cross-country and is really tired. or is stalking someone nearby.

it's weird, i get way more paranoid on sleepy suburban streets than i do in big bustling urban areas, where i guess there is so much noise (figuratively and literally) that there's no ability to hone in on something as minor as this.

u r a george zimmerman

except i don't know if it's a man/woman/black/white, i've never held a gun, and i'm not leaving my apartment. but yeah, same deal.

sayin' you're probably being an overly paranoid weirdo about nothing. relax.

i'm staying in a hotel in medicine hat, edge of town, where it's only tracts of brand new huge parking lot strip mall and big box development that wasn't built when i was here a few months ago. just on the other side of the wal-mart, a high fence and behind it is acres of half built empty smokegrey row housing and muddy lots. and it's a peninsula that pokes out from a slightly older development and beyond it there's nothing but still untouched farmland, nothing for miles but grid roads and canola. the walk from starbucks to wal-mart, across a mile of parking lot, there's no pedestrian within sight, just people shifting massive loads into their trucks, and after 11 and everything's closed and no reason for anyone to be there, it's the emptiest quietest place ever. taking a walk through there at midnight gives me that heartracing creep worse than strolling the most superficially hazardous cityscape.

http://www.imcdb.org/i005218.jpg

ha!

i'm over it. just needed to distract myself.

http://youtu.be/dImO0X3WJt8

he's still there. maybe i should bring him an egg mcmuffin in a few hours.

it's weird, i get way more paranoid on sleepy suburban streets than i do in big bustling urban areas, where i guess there is so much noise (figuratively and literally) that there's no ability to hone in on something as minor as this.

totally feel you on this: it's the quiet empty streets that scare me at night, the nice middle class areas where there's not a soul to be seen and all the curtains are shut nice and tight. give me a street with people on it, a bit of life, the reminder that the rest of humanity is around.

"Good heavens!" I cried. "Who would associate crime with these dear old homesteads?"

"They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief, Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin than does the smiling and beautiful countryside."

"You horrify me!"

"But the reason is very obvious. The pressure of public opinion can do in the town what the law cannot accomplish ... But look at these lonely houses ... Think of the deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden wickedness which may go on, year in, year out, in such places, and none the wiser. Had this lady who appeals to us for help gone to live in Winchester, I should never have had a fear for her."

so some dude (I think it's a dude) pulls up into a parking spot across the street from my house about 90 min ago. the car turns off, but (and this is why I noticed something) he never gets out of the car. at one point he pulls back into a spot a few yards away. then he briefly turns the interior light on for a sec, then turns it off again. two or three times, it sounds like he's beginning to start the car up again, but then it doesn't work or he aborts it. anyway, he's still there, possibly schnoozing.

i don't think this would weird me out except that I don't really have shades in my office so car dude can presumably see me working, eating, whatever.

am i nuts to be a bit creeped out? should i leave it alone? call the non-emergency number for the police?

― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist),

too bad you ain't in Florida -- you could follow him with a gun

Can't wait to see who will make that same hilarious observation next.

If you lived in Florida, Matt, you could wait and see with a gun in your hand.

he left sometime in the late morning while i was asleep. i hope he had a nice rest!