A strange 24 hours….
Starting last Friday, at around 10:40 in the morning.
Heard weird noises outside, sounding like dogs and cats going at it. Went outside to investigate. Chased inside by dogs. Re-entered fray with a baseball bat in hand. Chased back inside by two pitbulls running loose from my neighbor’s house. For the first time in quite a while I was actually physically afraid. If I hadn’t had the bat they would have mauled me something fierce, and as it was they were trying to eat the aluminum bat to get at me. (For the record, a bat is no use as an offensive weapon againt more than one pitbull. If you swing at one of them you leave yourself open to the other, or even to the target if you miss. You have to use it to poke at them and keep them from getting their teeth on you. So there, you’ve learned something new if you didn’t already know that.)
Called 911 to report the attack. Forwarded to Orange County Animal Control, given a priority ticket at 10:49 AM. (Still haven’t heard from Animal Control almost a week later, and yes we have called back several times.) The dogs kept us inside until about 1:15 PM when my neighbor finally showed up and leashed the goddamned dogs – before leaving again. The dogs have decided that OUR yard is THEIR yard. In the time between the call to Animal Control and the owner showing up next door, the dogs tore out part of the bottom of out car. The police say there is nothing than can do when dogs attack. The police are absolutely goddamned useless.
Around 11:00 PM that night, we realized there was someone parked in the driveway and that someone was knocking at the front door. (This isn’t always easy to notice when in the back of the house.) Opened the door to find an older woman outside. Eventually figured out she was a Scottish (almost as difficult to understand as someone speaking Haitian Creole, if you do NOT speak Haitian Creole), had been either driving or riding in a taxi, and was reporting that they had just dropped off someone named ‘Jay’ at the house. ‘Jay’ had told them he was coming home to visit his son. But when he got out of the van he didn’t go to the front of the house (our house), he went back along the side setting off the security lights on that side and disappeared into the backyards of the neighborhood. The driver was warning us. Very strange. I slept in the back room that night to make sure no one would attempt coming through from that direction.
And then a little before 11:00 am the next morning, the doorbell rang again. This time it was a man named Fred looking for Vince, who used to stay here. My family has owned the house since it was built in 1960, and I let him know he must be mistaken as no one by that name had ever lived here. But he was gave me the man’s full name, Dr. Vincent Polite. I told him again that he must have the wrong address and wished him well. He was very courteous, and I don’t think he was trying to pull anything, it was just a case of a misremembered address. But it was a strange cap to those 24 hours.
Maybe I’ll tell you about the time I recently almost got arrested for child abduction, but that was another travesty that I just don’t feel like recounting at this time.
Good riddance to 2013.
Ambiance 
amba12 said,
January 3, 2014 at 1:03 am
This is like the Twilight Zone, or “Gaslight.” It’s as if someone is trying to drive you crazy.
Icepick said,
January 3, 2014 at 1:39 am
Well, it’s working.
I don’t remember, did Kim post any of the video to Facebook? (I’m not on FB.)
karen said,
January 3, 2014 at 8:49 am
Eugh! What the hell is happening where you are living. ice???
I’d be freaked out(it doesn’t take much in terms of personal weird interactions to freak me out, either. How long has your neighbor lived next door- have the dogs ever done that to you before???
Up here- dogs get shot for crap like that.
Two dogs killed a family’s chickens- and the owner of said chickens went to the store(you know- Country store)- confronted the fella that owned one of the dogs- and warned him he’d shoot the dogs if they came back.
Which they did.
So- he shot and killed one dog- brought the dog to the fella’s house and left it.
The fella then went to the 2nd dog’s home and found that dog on the porch– and shot it.
I’m sure there’s a moral somewhere- but, sadly- it can’t help you out.
Maybe a pinch of Yankee wisdom: Good fences make good neighbors.
“Good riddance to 2013.”
AMEN.
Icepick said,
January 3, 2014 at 9:04 am
Karen, if I owed a firearm, those dogs would have been shot last Friday.
As for what is happening here, it’s easy: It’s poverty. And the law just doesn’t really give a shit about what goes on in poor neighborhoods, so you get a very poor response from the authorities, if any.
In other words, we’re on our own.
Icepick said,
January 3, 2014 at 9:19 am
Try and stay warm, all you northern types. It looks even worse than usual.
kngfish said,
January 3, 2014 at 1:27 pm
Ah, the new year! I love how Americans rise up and act against Al-Quanine acts of terrorism and go to their porches and shoot them as dead as… well, you know! Awesome!
mockturtle said,
January 6, 2014 at 6:43 pm
In lieu of a firearm [I would have shot them], bear spray works pretty well. IMHO, pit bulls should be banned.
Ice, 2013 was not a good year for me, either. As you say, ‘good riddance
Icepick said,
January 6, 2014 at 7:48 pm
MT, you’re the second person to recommend bear spray to me. I’ve looked into it and it is a little more expensive than I can afford this week. (Found out I need $1,000 worth of work on my car over the weekend. Only had $200 available and that hurt.) I also would have shot the damned dogs.
I don’t like the breed, but some owners are clearly worse than others, even before you get to the Michael Vick types. My neighbors aren’t that bad, but I still don’t think they should even be allowed to own poodles.ho
mockturtle said,
January 6, 2014 at 7:53 pm
Regular pepper spray might work adequately for dogs. Bear spray is probably overkill.
Icepick said,
January 6, 2014 at 7:55 pm
MT, we got some regular spray. The problem is that if I have more than one dog bearing down on me I just don’t know how many shots I can get off with a regular pepper spray device. (Haven’t had a chance to test them yet.) The bear spray would be like bringing a machine gun to a squirt gun fight, so it’s got that going for it. (If I understand how it works correctly, that is.)
mockturtle said,
January 7, 2014 at 2:05 am
Just don’t breathe the stuff or get it on your face. Wash your hands after deploying it.
wj said,
January 7, 2014 at 1:44 pm
I’ve known several people who had Bull Terriers (aka pit bulls). And they were perfectly unexceptional dogs in their behavior. Leading to the conclusion that the problem isn’t with particular breeds of dogs. It is with particular breeds of *owners*. If MT wants to ban something, banning those owners get my vote.
mockturtle said,
January 7, 2014 at 3:49 pm
Wj, a bull terrier and a pit bull are very different breeds. Look them up.
wj said,
January 8, 2014 at 12:37 am
Last I looked, bull terriers, along with Staffordshire terriers and a couple of other varieties, are all considered “pit bulls.” But I confess that I’m far from an expert.
mockturtle said,
January 8, 2014 at 11:31 am
The breed names are easily confused. The Staffordshire bull terrier is similar to the American pit bull terrier but the bull terrier [think Patton’s dog] has a very long head, pointy ears and tiny, high-set eyes. http://www.akc.org/breeds/bull_terrier/index.cfm