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Late yesterday afternoon my doorbell rang, which is fairly unusual anyway. I have a window that looks out on my front porch (it has blinds on the window, I only open them when someone is out there), which has really come in handy in the "covid times" we are living in.

When I heard the door bell, I got up from the couch and went to the window, and pulled up the blinds to see who was out there. On my front porch was a beefy, thirty-something guy who needed a shave, wearing one of those reflective vests, with a clipboard in his hand. He was not wearing a mask. My dog is sniffing intensely at the door, which is never a good sign - he generally just ignores the door bell when it rings.

I asked the guy what he was selling, and (natch) he said that he wasn't selling anything, that he was just doing an "important survey". Yeah, right. Like I was born yesterday.

They always say they aren't selling anything. In my experience, when they say they "aren't selling anything", it definitely means that they are selling something. The clipboard-survey thing is just part of the come-on.

Anyway - get this: he asked me if I would open my door so that we could speak face-to-face while he asked his "survey" questions.

Read again the description of this yahoo above. Would you have opened your door to this guy? Not me, that's for sure.

I said "no thanks" to his open-the-door-face-to-face-no-mask request. I said it twice. He just kept right on talking, finally I just lowered the blinds and walked away from the window.

My dog stayed quite a while by the (closed) front door, even after I had gone back to the couch. This is never a good sign either.

To tell the truth, the whole situation kind of creeped me out.

Anne

Good for you for not opening the door. Could have been very bad. Home invasion is no fun.

Definitely creepy.

(On another note, you posted this in morning coffee... I moved it to the general room.

Bethers wrote:Definitely creepy.

(On another note, you posted this in morning coffee... I moved it to the general room.

Thanks, Beth.

I posted in "coffee" because it was the only "room" I could get into. I have been getting a lot of SQL errors from the forum over the last day or so.

It may just be my internet provider - I think with the ash and the heat the Verizon towers in my area might be having a bit of trouble.

Anne

I wouldn't have either... and a few time days ago I had a error problem pretty much every where on the forum
sheila

Earlier today I got errors too.
Sandi

Ditto on the errors.

Also ditto on the SQL errors. Usually if I wait a while it goes away.
Anne, that is creepy. Do you do Nextdoor app? Our neighborhood reports stuff like that and tracks the people. Sometimes it even warrants a call to police.
Velda

MandysMom wrote:Also ditto on the SQL errors. Usually if I wait a while it goes away.
Anne, that is creepy. Do you do Nextdoor app? Our neighborhood reports stuff like that and tracks the people. Sometimes it even warrants a call to police.
Velda

Thanks, Velda.

I'm not sure what the "Nextdoor" app thing is. I'll look into it.

It didn't occur to me to call the police. Probably should have done.

Back when I lived in a rural area I had a sign on my front gate that said something like this:

No Solicitors
No Salesmen
Friends are welcome
All others KEEP OUT

Sounds a little harsh, but it did the trick.

Anne

We were raised to be polite but after all the aggravation some of these people put us through that is gone. Before caller ID I would talk to the people trying to get donations or sell something. Now I have no qualms about hanging up on them or not going to the door. I think caller ID is one of the greatest inventions. If I'm not waiting on a call or don't recognize a number I don't answer the phone.

I don't know if Sugar would bite anyone but she barks if she hears a car in the drive way or someone outside. I have had people ask if she bites and I tell them not yet. She is the perfect camping dog. She seldom barks and is friendly to everyone she meets, person or dog.

Martha

OMG! Good for you! Never open the door to such scum? Lyn

I am getting irritated with calls and text messages from various campaign or issue organizations in Michigan. I became an Ohio resident in 2012 and have not voted in Michigan in ten years, but I must be one of these people whose names are still on the voting roles. Most text messages are pretty short and just ask me what I think about X, and I just type in Stop as a reply.

However, I got a phone call the other day when i was driving from an older man who wanted to ask me some questions. He said he was not trying to sell me anything, but it was a legitimate survey organization.

I don't mind real surveys, and I recognized the name. However, I asked him who the survey was being conducted for, and he did not know. The kicker was when he told me it would take just 20 minutes to answer his questions!! Now that is ridiculous because who has that much time in the middle of the day to stop what you are doing and answer that many questions??? I said no thanks and hung up.

Nextdoor.com is a neighborhood website that all your neighbors can communicate with each other. You can share lost pet/item information, suspicious activities/people, items for sale, local activities, etc. You just sign on and you are directed to your neighborhood to read and/or post messages.

I have bought and sold items, inquired about noises, police activity, referrals for services, etc. It is very handy. It is great for those who lose or find pets when all your neighbors are aware of it right away and can get the pet back home quickly.