Somone coming into my house...

Errata

Alyth has acted very sensibly. She took action and contacted the police as soon as she became aware of a problem. She's increased the security of her home. She now knows that this kind of thing happens to many women. She is talking to someone at her uni and getting it off her chest and understands counselling support might be useful at some point.
She can't, and neither can anyone else reading this thread, benefit from other people's tales of woe and terror and suggestions about how she should physically defend herself.
Take a chill pill people, and be sensible. She may well be a stronger woman than the rest of us put together and I think we should show her some respect.

notakid

Alyth you are now safer than you have been for the last year. Your house is secure and the person who has been coming into your house has been spoken to by the police. They are aware they have been rumbled.

If you really want to be sure how it is, I know dogs can't speak but if you are walking your dog and come close to either, note the reaction of your dog. He will be very excited to see his "friend".;)

From what you have posted I think its the old man too, I think he used to sit there and pretend you were in a relationship. Being close to all your stuff became addictive. Reminded him of days past probably.

It must have been so frightening for you. But keep telling yourself, you are much safer than you were this time last week.

Lotus-eater

Can I just say that I agree about the knife, please don't.

The other thing that came to mind was cheap shed type alarms. You can buy them for very little and it would be exactly what you want. Stick it opposite the door he used to come in and you have a little fob which turns it off when you come in.

It's not meant to be something that will call help, just to let you know that no one has come in and to give him a scare if he does.

But I would guess you've heard the last of it now. Tell your co workers something is going on between you and this man, no reason you should be the one hiding it away, you've done nothing wrong.

Feisty_Fairy

Hello Alyth,

I have been following your thread for a while now but there was nothing i felt i could add as the others have all said it.:) So just thought i would nip on today to say well done for doing what you have done to sort it out, i hope all settles down for you now and you can get things as back to normal as possible, take care, and look after yourself and please keep posting your updates.

Ooh and give your Rottie a big cuddle from me, i love em!!:D

Best Regards,

Feisty!

alyth

hi, thanks again for all your replies - again I hadn't thought of self defence classes, my brain at the moment is stuck into exam mode, I will look into that as I'm sure I've seen ads up at college for it.

Tomorrow is the crux day as I am on my own at work and there is a 99% chance he will come into the shop in the morning. With any luck there will be other customers. I also, judging by the way the dog was outside when I got home, suspect that he's been outside the house today. She was sniffing about really obsessively in certain places just at the door. That could of course just be my paranoia! A couple of policemen who I know came to my house on patrol this evening when I was at work and didn't see anything or anyone thought.

So I will just wait and see what happens tomorrow. And I will stop going to bed with a knife now, I don't know why I did it, comfort for me more than anything I suppose.

Thanks again, will let you know what happens tomorrow - hopefully nothing at all, he can whistle for his Sunday newspaper!

Errata

Self defence might make you feel more confident, it will certainly exercise your muscles. If there are self defence classes at Uni they should have an element of how to keep safe strategies so you don't have to put self defence lessons into practice.
You sound a lot more relaxed tonight, that's good to read. Don't worry about knives. Most sensible rural households have a small fire extinguisher in their kitchens because the fire brigade takes ages to turn up. I'm sure you get my point.

poe.tuesday

you have to think about how you want to live your life and if you are in fear, scared to open a window or being at work alone etc then you have to ask yourself how you are going to stop those feelings, you are not in control of this person but you are in control of you and you are the only one who can change your situation - it's clear that you have done your utmost to protect yourself however, you have to think about your happiness and the life you could end up living if you either stay where you are and/or this person does not stop

if you are addiment that you are not going to move then have you thought of installing a camera? they don't cost that much these days and may give you and the police evidence of who is doing what which could be one way of stopping him

naturally there are rules and regs on where the camera can take images so you have to ensure that it is just recording your own property.

you can even get ones that are part of your outside lights so this person would never know that they are being filmed, you can also get ones that are motion activated and only start recording when something moves

however, the implications of doing the above can lead to you becoming obsessional about security, looking at the recordings etc and only you can weigh up the pros and cons of installing cameras, staying where you are etc

I really do wish you the best of luck in what ever you do but do concider that you do not want to become a prisoner in your own home - whilst I am a fighter and not one to give in sometimes life is much easier to just move on and maybe you do need to concider relocation if things get too bad

good luck

Steel_2

Would it be feasible for you to get a second dog, a small yappy terrier maybe that wouldn't be so easily befriended by this guy if he decides a few months down the road to start wandering back up the lane?

A trained noise maker and testicle chomper...

stuckinscotland

You could get a rescue dog... help out a dog, and also yourself...

Feisty_Fairy

How are you today Alyth, have u seen him???

Hope all is ok hun xoxox