I'm being stalked . . . please help find a pick proof lock!

[raimundo]

Thanks ranger 150 for that tip on creating a password, I though I was doing something unique just by using an ordinary word easy to remember and typeing it by touch but from off the home keys.

[fugi]

something that sets off a blank isn't a good idea at all. if you've ever watched the business end of a shotgun you'll notice powder coming out of it still burning. and seeing as your trap probably won't have a 26" barrel on it to contain it, there'll probably be a lot more burning powder all over your couch/floor/walls/curtains or what have you. maybe yourself too.

[stalked]

Thank you for all of your responses. Jay, I can reassure you and anyone else who is doubtful that I would not make this up. If I did I would come up with a more viable story, don't you think? Of course it's weird. It's so weird that I have trouble understanding it myself. I was asked what I do for a living among other things. Trust me, it's unrelated. I do not experiment on animals or work for the government and I WOULD NOT ever experiment on animals. I think what I used to do may be more relevant. I used to be an Intensive Psychiatric Case Manager. Maybe one of the clients I worked with is the stalker. I hardly think this is the case since most, if not all, lacked the financial means and the technological aptitude to track me on the computer and pick locks. None were particularly attached to me or demonstrated any interest in me either. There was only one I recall who strongly seemed to dislike me. I also taught briefly and I remember one student who threw a desk at me on the first day of school during student teaching because I mispronounced his name. Maybe one or more kids that I didn't really realize hated me grew up and is/are now stalking me. However, I was also asked about utility trucks in the neighborhood. Interestingly enough, a Cox communications truck was parked in a grocery store back parking lot across the street from where I live at 11:45 p.m. on Martin Luther King evening. The guy inside was working on a laptop according to my friend in the car with me although I couldn't see what he was doing - I just thought he was looking over in our direction since we had just pulled up to park in the lot which is across the street from my building. I thought that was late at night on a holiday especially when the guy wasn't even up working on a telephone wire. He drove away shortly after we parked. The Saturday prior we had noticed a guy in a Cox truck further down my street working at around 9:30 p.m. on a telephone wire. Then about two weeks prior to that was the most bizarre thing. I was babysitting at my sister's and it was an especially bitter cold night and my boyfriend and I saw a Cox truck parked with its bright light beaming on a private residence down the street from my sister's house which is about 40 minutes away from where I live. The repairman was working on the house at 6:00 p.m. when we arrived to take care of my nephew. My boyfriend had to leave around 10:30 p.m. and he said when he drove away, the Cox truck was still there with its light beaming on the neighbor's house. Apparently Cox keeps its employees hard at work on weekends at private residences on the outside of homes on freezing cold nights for hours at at time. Is it wrong for me to find that odd? I know what you are thinking: My boyfriend is the stalker. Well, years before I ever met my boyfriend, I was having these problems. Unless he's just taking things to contribute to what is already happening, he did not ORIGINATE the problem. I also get phone calls when he is in the house in which the caller says nothing and hangs up. Needless to say, they cannot be traced. They last too long to be telemarketers. They occurred long before I met him. Now I screen all my calls. If you don't believe any of this and would like to discuss it w/me, feel free to pm me with your # and I will call you back. Anybody who wants to walk me through any of the technical instructions provided can do the same and I would greatly appreciate it. I am lost. Like I said, I lack technical know how. If no one calls me, I will find a way, so don't worry. I will respect any time restrictions you place on calling you back though. As far as guns are concerned, I can't use a gun. I live in a state that will not allow me to use a weapon to defend myself. I wouldn't anyway, although I am not averse to protecting myself if attacked. Also, dogs are not permitted in my lease and a dog that would bark anytime someone approached would get me evicted again. I would love a dog, but I could probably only get away with a small, quiet dog. Thanks again for your help but the locks, cameras, bug detectors, etc. seem to be the only solutions for now.

Your kindness has been so comforting to me. Everyone here is wonderful.

[plot]

What state do you live in if you don't mind me asking?

As for the Cox thing, you could make a simple visit or call to your local Cox service center and ask if there's been alot of troubles in your area lately cause you've seen alot of Cox cable vans around the neighborhood at odd times at night... or you could ask more directly/indirectly, whatever you feel comfortable with.

I doubt they'd hesitate in telling you if there service men have been out and about in the area for a reason or not.

[Peaky]

Start making notes of the cox license plates and see if its allways the same one or not,

Repot it to then police, at least you have done then in case any thing happens,

Keep a diary of every incident,

Get some cheap cameras, have a look into the ones that send an email to a computer every min,

Get a bug detector,

Get some of the good locks that have been mentioned earlier,

Dont worry, as you say its petty little things that are happening, if they wanted to harm you they would have done it by now if its been happening over a course of years,

Dont show or tell anyone (tell your partner the same) that its affecting you, if the halfwit thats doing this gets no response from you for the stuff they are doing then the excitement soon goes out of it and they would probably stop.

Good Luck.

[stalked]

Thank you for the advice. I live in Rhode Island. There are no rights in Rhode Island. I have only lived here for five years. I don't really know many people, so it's very likely that this criminal followed me here. I already called Cox and asked general questions like, "Do your repair personnel work as late as 11:30 p.m., even on a holiday?" I received nebulous answers from two different repair employees who fielded the call with, "It depends on the severity of the problem." They didn't really seem to know for sure but it appeared to them that it would have to concern a safety issue involving power lines to substantiate an evening call and would not involve a residence. I even called Verizon who told me Verizon has to adhere to certain FCC regulations that Cox is allowed to bypass concerning disconnection of service, but that employee did not know about repair calls. I will try to find out more specifically about trucks in my neighborhood. I will also more carefully keep a record of all instances of any strange occurrences that affect me and my surroundings as well as integrate the other suggestions. We had a major blizzard over the weekend which prevented me from accomplishing many of the tasks I hoped to achieve, but I plan to proceed soon. Thank you. Anybody who wants to send me a pm is welcome.

[jason]

As regards the physical security - go for something that he/she is unfamiliar with but can be a real pain.

I would suggest an Ingersoll rim lock and a nice BS Chubb mortice at low level on your front door (keep it mounted low to obstruct anyone trying to kick it in)

The Chubb locks aren't easy to get over your side of the pond, try ebay in the UK and see if you can get them sent to you

The Ingersoll I fitted the other day was built in Birmingham - I thought with a name like Ingersoll it'd be built in Scandanavia.

[raimundo]

Jason, why do you think low is difficult to kick, I would have recommended high, In fact I have installed locks high where a kickin burglar had been working, its about making it as difficult as possible for the strong force to hit the lock, so that kicking low on the door just causes the door to flex and snap back without damage.

[toomush2drink]

An ingersoll when fitted with a london bar is a great product and fitted low would resist attack well.

[plot]

keep in mind she's in the US... all these british locksmiths are mentioning british locks that can't be found on this side of the pond


we don't have letter boxes over here either... just so you know.

[jason]

Try eBay they may be able to sell across the pond - the idea behind using UK locks (especially Chubbs) is that they are rare over in the Us (just hope she doesn't loose her keys though)

[mr_x007]

a cheap way of survailance is using a webcam with a program that start recording as soon there is movement. but you say they hacked your pc too,
about that. if they have physical acces to the computer it is possible to get administrator acces in about 15 minutes, linux or windows does'nt matter.

a cheap and easy trick to see if someone opent your door is when you leave pull out a few hair's and make them whet and "glue" them to your door. if you come back and the hair's aren't there anymore you know there was someone inside

[raimundo]

there used to be a company in texas called Sa-So which sold a lot of municipal and school equipment, which also marked thief powders, some of these are chemicals that react to skin enzymes and create a stain that is unwashable on the fingers, others are invisible under normal light but can be tracked in the dark with ultraviolet light, This us commonly used in schools with theft problems, to see whos locker glows with uv light at night. you might look up this sort of thing on google with the right keywords, such as investigative tools etc. The powder is put on bait, and you have to use it in a very limited way, because getting it all over muddles the story you are trying to read.

[jason]

In the UK the convention is a rim cylinder (Ingersoll or Banham) at a convenient height with a nice mortice lever lock (Chubb) at low level (in a decent hardwood door) - add in a London bar (as mentioned by Toomush) and a Birmingham bar, put a set of mortice strengthening plates over the mortice lock and you have the burglar's nightmare (and yours if you get called to open it or even worse lose your keys)

[Chucklz]

For us Yanks, could smeone please give us a hint at what is meant by a London or Birmingham bar?