CRIMINAL ACTIVITY

We had to finish watching that stupid OU/BYU game before we could do anything else. We even postponed dinner because we didn't want to miss anything. I wish we would have missed more.

After the game we headed out to our neighborhood IHOP. Nothing beats eating your dinner with a house full of drunk and rowdy twenty-somethings now, does it?



While we're walking out the door BJ asks if I'd like to do a "drive-by" of our newest property that we call "The Office". He refers to them as a drive-by so I know he's not expecting me to go inside one of his works-in-progress. No one wants to really see one of his WIP.



Since the house is on a corner lot I take the road that will put me in front of the house and then I can turn to drive down the side of the property. When it gets into sight I say, "BJ, the front door is open." as I keep driving because I've already passed the driveway and the two driveways it does have go over a large ditch area so you have to use the driveways. He told me to turn around at the corner but as I approach the corner I see a big red pick-up parked parallel to our detached garage.

I pulled into the second driveway and was t-boned with my bright lights on shining right into the cab of the pickup. The dark tint would not allow me to see anything inside. We sat there shining our lights on that truck for over twenty seconds....then backed up thinking the driver was actually inside our house with the open door.

We drove back to the front door and BJ got out to shut the door. I dialed 911 on my cell phone and had the call button ready. He hollered inside and stepped in a few feet but didn't hear anything so he secured the door and headed back to the car. That's when I saw him. My car was in the driveway but the house was off to my right. My lights we still on bright and they were shining down to the end of the property (about 200-250 feet). "BJ, there's a man down there!" I screamed. The man just froze like a deer in the headlights look. BJ yelled at him that he was the owner and asked if he could help him. The man just stood there, froze. He looked like he was hiding something at his side. That was unnerving! As BJ started towards him, I was close behind with my lights on bright, blinding the man. BJ said, "Get my cell phone, I'm calling the cops." I said, "NO! GET IN! I've already dialed them." Then the man was gone. I hollered at BJ to hurry into the car. I was going after them. The police officer said he could come and take a report but I said, "Well call you back when we get their tag."

BJ finally got into the car as they pulled out of the driveway (on the east side of the garage) while I'm still on the west side of the garage. I tried to go between the house and the garage but, PROBLEM! BJ had just dug, that afternoon, a trench from the house to the garage apartment. Not only was there a ditch to go over but also all sorts of cinder blocks and broken concrete. As I scraped across the first section I threw it in reverse and headed around the north of the garage and back out the driveway. We saw where they turned and we went the opposite direction to catch up to them. When I pulled out on the the main street (four lane road) here they come. I was going the wrong direction to get a tag number. A minivan was coming up the road and they turned out in front of it so after the van went by I made a U Turn from the right lane to the right lane. It was so Starsky and Hutch. Adrenalin rushing! They got into the left turn lane and the light was red. I could get right behind them. No! The minivan got there. I pulled up in the center lane to get beside them but the light turned green and they turned. So I jumped in behind the minivan and turned. I don't think they ever saw my smooth move with the Uie. They turned left again to drive right by our property again. What nerve! We were getting more angry by the minute. Since they didn't know I was behind them we didn't want to spook them so they turned right and I went straight to the next block and turned right. Then I called the police again. I told them that they kept driving by our property and we weren't sure what for.



(We also told him that after we first purchased the property that some punk kids hid a stolen car in our garage and used it to dismantle the car without being seen. Something must have spooked them though because we found the car and the job wasn't nearly complete. The car still had 24K wheels, a souped up motor and a few speakers left. We had that towed by the city.) SORRY!

Anyway. We had a police officer there within three to five minutes and then no more drive-bys. Those punks. The police officer said that we didn't need to hang out at the house unless we wanted to but he said he would. So we told him we were leaving. We did leave our property but we cruised the neighborhood for another 45 minutes. I was bound and determined to find that pickup. They will not get away from the Wrath of Karalee. Watch Out!!!

Crap like this makes you look at everyone and every red pickup you see. I hate that feeling but even more, I hate people getting away with stuff. I am a rule follower (minus my driving in extreme circumstances). I expect others to follow the rules too.



This morning on my way to the market I did one more neighborhood drive by. I found a pickup that looked like it could be the one. I got the tag number and asked BJ to drive by after I got to the market. I wanted him to check it out because he knows what the front tag looked like. I wasn't about to walk into their driveway on my own.



I told BJ last night that we should really check into getting our license to Carry a Concealed Weapon. That was the most awful feeling of staring down the face of a man that you don't know what weapon he has or if he's on drugs that would make him unstoppable.

This proves that there are no dull moments when you hang out with me.