I Survived...

Does anyone ever watch that show.... I Survived...? It is on the Bio channel (biography). I just discovered it 2 or 3 months ago. I set the DVR up to record them for me. (love DVR, BTW) The show confirms there are some truly sick, psycho people out there. Each show usually features 2 to 3 stories of how someone survived something deadly. They can be about attacks by people or animals, plane or boat crashes, falling down mountains, cliffs, falling into icy water, really anything that someone could die from.

The ones that get me are the ones about attacks from people. Some of these people are acquaintances, or ex-lovers but others are complete strangers. The stories the people tell are sickening. What must one be thinking to go attack a complete stranger and try to kill them? Almost every single one of them that I have see with Women getting attacked they also get raped.

They have featured several robberies. I think those freak me out the most. Now when I hear noises in the house I think, "what was that?" I start to freak myself out at times. I do make sure I lock the deck door at night now though! Our backyard is fenced in but you never know. We do have a dog but she is 16 years old, mostly deaf, half blind and would probably care less if someone new was in our house. More than likely, she would never hear them.

A few weeks ago I was getting a new bike for Sam off of Craigslist. This guy and me emailed back and forth and I told him when I should be there and that I would call before I was on my way. The guy called me on the phone and said that would work great, see ya tomorrow.

Max had his eye appointment that day so we did that and then planned to go pick up the bike. I called this guy but he didn't answer. I drove that way anyway since I was in the area and he knew I would be there. The side roads at this time were still pretty icy and snow covered. I had to drive on several of these streets. I hate driving on streets like that. I SO did not want to get stuck somewhere I didn't know. I get to his house and pull in the driveway, which was all snowy. There was a car there so I was going to lock the kids in the car (with it running) while I rang the doorbell. Just then a truck pulls up behind me. I tell him who I was and he said, get this... "Oh, I didn't know you were coming over" What? How could he not know I was coming over? He freaking called me the day before. I just said "you didn't?!" He was the type of guy that gets in your personal space, you know the kind of people that stand way too close to you. Well the bike was inside the house. He invited me in. I just stayed in the doorway. There was a lady there too (I'm guessing his girlfriend?) who went outside when I was standing in the doorway. Never said a word or even looked at me. The bikes he had for sale were in the basement! I told him to just bring it up to me. He did. Then he said he had several other bikes if I wanted to go down and look at them. UM, NO thank you.

The guy kinda seemed weird to me. I was starting to wonder if he was a druggie the way he acted. I dunno but I bought the bike and got out of there. I think after watching the shows I Survived... I was more nervous.

I generally don't let anyone come to the house if I am the only adult here. A few years ago, when Max was a baby, we were selling our fish tanks. Pete and I used to be big fish people. We had like 7 or so tanks set up. We sold them off one by one. I was selling my 180 gallon tank. Before I posted it in the paper (remember this was a few years ago!) I stuck some signs around the neighborhood stating what I was selling with my phone number on it.

One morning I got a call from a guy who seemed very interested. He asked questions about the tank and seemed legit. He asked where I lived. I just told him the street name, not the address. He said he lived really close. Then all of a sudden he turned psycho on me. His voice changed and he said with a deep voice, "I'm gonna come up there and I am gonna get me some!" Shocked, I played dumb and asked, "get what?" He replied, "get YOU" This went on for only a few seconds before I hung up. I was scared! I was home alone with Max. Max was only a few months old at the time.

I closed all the curtains in the house. In the living room we had a 150 gallon tank set up so if some guy was driving around and looked in our window he would figure out real fast where I lived. I called Pete who offered to come home. I told him no I would be fine. He said get the gun out just in case. I called my neighbor and told her to keep an eye out. From her house she could see my house really well. I told her to call the cops if any strange car pulled in my drive. She said she did notice a strange car driving up and down our street a few minutes earlier. We live on a cul-de-sac street with roughly 15 houses on it.

I did get the gun out of the safe and set it up on the entertainment center... just in case. Not that I would have known how to use it! Pete told me over the phone what to do but when he got home and looked at it, I don't think I even had it loaded or off safety or something crazy like that.

I called our cell phone service to see if they could give me the number of the guy that called me. His call was blocked when he called. They couldn't. I also called the police department but of course they could not do anything. I asked for a phone number or something to be able to trace his call. Nothing!

I was freaked out the whole day. But thankfully, nothing came of it. The guy was crazy, I have no doubt!

Just reminds us that there ARE crazy, sick people out there. Did you know if you yell "fire" that you will have a better chance of help than if you yell "Help?" Also, if someone gets in your car the best thing to do is crash into something. More than likely the intruder will flee. Yeah, you now have a wrecked car but you also still have your life!