Our city utility company will happily charge you a few bucks a month for a mercury vapor street light. We have one installed on the utility pole just outside the garage entrance.
My roommate and her ex- got hit by...I want to say it was also three dudes...when unassing the car with armloads of Christmas shopping in the alley at her old place a few blocks north of where we live now. I think it was a big part of her motivation to start taking classes at Pop Guns back in the day.Originally Posted by BehindBlueI's
Tam, the light policy you describe is also also practiced by St Paul, and (I believe) Minneapolis. Alley muggings and robberies are not unheard of here, as well. They are thankfully fairly uncommon.
The neighborhood bookface page is good at passing around security cam footage to both neighbors and the Saint Paul PD.
"If I ever needed to hunt in a tuxedo, then this would be the rifle I'd take." - okie john
"Not being able to govern events, I govern myself." - Michel De Montaigne
Your tactical homework assignment this week is to identify all the transitional areas you commonly encounter in your daily life. Pay special attention to keeping your hands free while in transition and think about ways to keep your awareness levels high.
Hands free. In a store, I prefer to get a cart, no matter how small the planned buy. It keeps the hands free, and gives a buffer between me and anyone else if desired. Taking the stuff out, one small bag, the cart. Hands free, etc. Also helps the back stay happy.
Coming home, hands free getting out and the gate and door unlocked in the rural place, or the garage closed and house open before carrying stuff in when in town.
And yes, its nice having cameras to see whats around outside*. I take one on the road now and set it to watch the vehicle parked outside the room, with the pocket size monitor by the bed.
* About $400-ish. 4 cameras with capacity for 4 more. One wire to power. Drilling one hole through the soffit or gable and mounting the cameras over them was simple, so long as the area behind them are accessible to run the wires. The base is in a very out of the way spot, and of course can be set to notify if various events happen and play back a day or two or so.