02:56 - 18.03.08
Prowler
Well. I'm wide awake now. Just after 2 in the am some one was a-knocking on my front door. I had been talking with my oldest son in the early afternoon, just following up on the bullying situation that had been troubling my grandson. All good said my son. The staff were taking extra precautions with respect to his physical safety. There was no mention by my son of dropping by after work, but sometimes he does just on impulse. His work can end very late you see, with no busses available. The train runs later and comes to within half an hour's walk of my home, whereas with no middle of the night bus service he would have a very long walk to his home. Anyway, I thought maybe he had decided to bunk here tonight, but had left his keys behind. Happens. I went to answer the door, but had enough sense to ask who was there before I opened it. My youngest was still awake, but otherwise occpied having a shower. The voice responding to me was definitely not my son's - nor any of the other boys either - nor would he identify himself by name when I asked. He just kept knocking and demanding to be let in. The words were just slightly slurred, so at first I wondered if just a little too much celebrating of Saint Patrick's Day had disoriented a neighbour enough that he was at the wrong door. The problem I had was that when I denied him access, his story changed a bit and now he was claiming he was in trouble and needed help - he wanted in to use the phone. Nuh uh, not even with my son here. He sounded just a bit too deliberate in his intent to enter. He was also making very certain to stand outside of the lighted spaces around my home and also made certain that he wasn't visible from any window, even though I should have been able to see at least his form in the frosted glass panel by my front door. That was worrisome. That and the fact that the cats were all showing signs of being disturbed by the knocking. Normally they ignore other humans - sending one of their group to see if they have kibble - but their ears were pricked and they were all five in defensive positions at the top of the stairs leading to the front door. My windows are all secured - more or less - but if one was very determined it would be possible to kick one in.
After about five minutes of continual knocking, I decided I wanted to call the police. From the time I spoke with the female officer who took my call until the patrol car arrived was probably no longer than five minutes. The longest wait was the time listening to the options the voice prompts offered when one first calls in. The officers drove slowly past my and my neighbours' homes, then it appeared that they might have zipped around back to check the alley. A couple of minutes later they knocked on my door wanting to talk with me about what I could tell them about the person. Not much. I explained I wasn't inclined to open any door or window to try and get a better view of the person since they seemed to be hiding. The officers said they would check around my home to see if the prowler had remained on the property. That made me feel better. Not exactly conducive to restful sleep either. I think I'll wait until daylight for that now.
One good bit of news cheered me up earlier in the day. Recieved an email from the city permit and development officer who had been my contact with respect to the application by the tenants in the other half of my duplex to run a business out of their half. The application had been withdrawn. I suspect that the landlord had not anticipated the vigorous response from all the neighbours. Although not stated directly, the tone of the email indicated that there must have been many more tales of woe than mine about what that landlord had done or allowed his tenants to do in past years. There were very specific instructions to those of us who had written letters of protest explaining that the by-laws do allow people to have their own home offices - like the one I had while I was a Returning Officer - but that the restrictions with respect to what could be done were very stringent. We were asked to call the development office if any of the many listed prohibitions were breached even once. That was the tone that made me think perhaps that the attitude of the landlord might have triggered a concern down at city hall that he was intent on doing as he pleased despite the directions of the bylaw department. When I do finally get on my feet financially I think I'll be giving the neighbour who took the time to go door to door to alert all of us and his wife a gift certificate for a nice dinner out somewhere. The least he deserves for being vigilant about his community - right?
Anyway there is more activity outside and I have to admit I'm a bit jumpy about it, so good night for now dear diary.
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