The mysterious envelope in our mailbox

[busymom]

That's it Happy prose!  Drive to "my pad" at (whatever time was on the watch) for drinks with your knight in shining armor. 

[moneymaven]

Do tell what you've since learned! How peculiar!

[Tennesseer]

Feb 14, 2015 14:51:12 GMT -5 dannylion said:

I'm thinking aliens--the postal equivalent of crop circles.

Or maybe modern day gifts like those Jem and Scout found in the hole of the old tree outside the Radley place in Maycomb, Alabama.

[Deleted]

Great theories everyone lol!

No more news, I'm afraid!

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

You should leave an equally random return "gift" for pick up in your mailbox.  

[milee]

I love this story. Now I'm thinking of putting together some random stuff and leaving it in blank envelopes in a few mailboxes of friends and a few strangers. Just for fun.

It's a spy/stalker/adventure/mystery version of "Practice Random Acts of Kindness and Senseless Acts of Beauty". The YM version is "Practice Random Acts...Because It's Fun To Watch People Go Nuts Trying to Figure Out WTF Is Going On".

[Malarky]

Feb 15, 2015 10:20:06 GMT -5 milee said:

I love this story. Now I'm thinking of putting together some random stuff and leaving it in blank envelopes in a few mailboxes of friends and a few strangers. Just for fun.

It's a spy/stalker/adventure/mystery version of "Practice Random Acts of Kindness and Senseless Acts of Beauty". The YM version is "Practice Random Acts...Because It's Fun To Watch People Go Nuts Trying to Figure Out WTF Is Going On".

I like this.  It's like "ghosting" at Halloween, but can be done any time.  

[Deleted]

LOL! 

How does someone besides the police have a breathalizer?
(further indication that I;m the most boring person ever.)

Chloe, legally, you HAVE to have one in your car here! They are really cheap and sold everywhere.

I'm having company over for dinner, mostly friends from my neighborhood. I'll see if they have any more ideas LOL (but I probably won't post till tomorrow because it will probably be late when they go and I have to get up early.)

[thyme4change]

Feb 15, 2015 13:03:11 GMT -5 @debthaven2 said:

LOL! 

How does someone besides the police have a breathalizer?
(further indication that I;m the most boring person ever.)

Chloe, legally, you HAVE to have one in your car here! They are really cheap and sold everywhere.

Where are you?  Whose law is this?  City, county, state?

[Deleted]

Where are you?

France (near Paris)

[Artemis Windsong]

That's an oxymoron.  The French drink wine with every meal and have to carry a breathalizer. 

You live in France, no further explanation needed.

[dannylion]

This thread has reminded me about a plan I wanted to carry out when I was younger and had more energy. I have a nice flat, rectangular area in my yard surrounded by trees and ornamental shrubs. It isn't really big enough to do anything creative with and just sort of sits there. I decided it would be fun to dig some deepish trenches and bury, terracotta warrior style, a phalanx of garden gnomes attended by a cohort of plastic flamingoes and other garden ornaments for the amusement of some future owner or perhaps an archeologist in the far distant future. 

Now that I have the time to actually do something like that, I no longer have the energy it would take to carry it out.  But it's fun to think about.   

[Deleted]

So, everybody at my dinner thought it was really funny. They suggested we start doing that at our dinners... putting a bunch of things in an envelope for the host / hostess, and have the others guess at the hidden meaning.

So it was fun, but not much help in solving the mystery!

I still think I'm going to find a letter in my mailbox from somebody explaining that he/she put the envelope in the wrong mailbox.

Dannylion, lol! That reminds me of the underwater gnome garden in one of the lakes in the Lake District in England (can't remember which one).

ETA: It's in Wastwater, I looked it up.

[Wisconsin Beth]

Feb 15, 2015 17:45:32 GMT -5 @debthaven2 said:

So, everybody at my dinner thought it was really funny. They suggested we start doing that at our dinners... putting a bunch of things in an envelope for the host / hostess, and have the others guess at the hidden meaning.

So it was fun, but not much help in solving the mystery!

I still think I'm going to find a letter in my mailbox from somebody explaining that he/she put the envelope in the wrong mailbox.

Dannylion, lol! That reminds me of the underwater gnome garden in one of the lakes in the Lake District in England (can't remember which one).

ETA: It's in Wastwater, I looked it up.

No, I think someone else is going to get that envelope and be completely lost about why they got it. 

[Lizard Queen]

When I was 19-ish, someone got into my Jetta overnight.  Except they didn't steal anything.  Instead of missing anything, I got something extra.  It was a mysterious cassette tape in the player--just 2 songs, one on each side.  I figure it was from some guy who had the hots for me or something.    20 years later, I still don't know.  I think I might still have that tape somewhere...

[sarcasticgirl]

perhaps it is someone in another period in time communicating with you! 

[Lizard Queen]

Feb 16, 2015 14:40:57 GMT -5 sarcasticgirl said:

perhaps it is someone in another period in time communicating with you! 

Ooh, maybe!  Maybe it was my future self going back in time to give myself a message.

[toomuchreality]

I have no suggestions. But I enjoyed reading all the ones posted by others!

Lizard Queen  What songs were on the tape?  -Just curious!

[Lizard Queen]

Feb 17, 2015 1:56:03 GMT -5 toomuchreality said:

I have no suggestions. But I enjoyed reading all the ones posted by others!

Lizard Queen  What songs were on the tape?  -Just curious!

I don't remember.  I do remember it wasn't a homemade recording.  I'll poke around my basement later to see if I can maybe find it.

[Lizard Queen]

Feb 17, 2015 9:02:21 GMT -5 @tbird said:

Feb 16, 2015 10:05:00 GMT -5 Lizard Queen said:

When I was 19-ish, someone got into my Jetta overnight.  Except they didn't steal anything.  Instead of missing anything, I got something extra.  It was a mysterious cassette tape in the player--just 2 songs, one on each side.  I figure it was from some guy who had the hots for me or something.    20 years later, I still don't know.  I think I might still have that tape somewhere...

you kept it?

What songs were on it?

magnet and steel?

You haven't seen my basement. 

It wasn't magnet and steel.  I think it was a couple of obscure songs from a band that I kind of knew of. One of them I think had something about taking a chance in the lyrics.  I'll have to look around for it, but I'm not promising I'll find it anytime soon.

[Lizard Queen]

Feb 17, 2015 10:04:49 GMT -5 @tbird said:

lol, I guess the mixtaper never got around to taking that chance then....

or - maybe he asked you out at some point, but never confessed to the tape shananigans?

No idea.  I can't remember exactly where in the sequence of seeing guys/not seeing anyone that this happened.  I do remember going out with one guy a couple of times before this, but he could have just asked me out again.    It's not like I was going out all the time at that time.  If the guy were decent enough looking and otherwise, I would have gone out if asked.  Admittedly, I acted pretty damn unapproachable at the time (and probably still do).

[Sam_2.0]

I got a page of a dictionary torn out & put on my windshield once. The word "Cute" was circled with "You " next to it. Hahaha! I think it was the guy who lived in our apartment complex. But I had a BF at the time so I didn't spend any time investigating it.

Thanks for posting about this, debthaven! It's been fun to read about

[Deleted]

When I was going to the local college, one day after classes I got to my car and there was a dead rose and a note saying "when you least expect it" on the driver's seat. That was after the morning I got up to go to class and both rear tires were flat. I knew who my stalker was.

I like the intriguing and cute (Sam_2.0) mysteries better.

[chiver78]

 

please tell me that law enforcement was able to deal with this stalker, and that they aren't still out there....?

[Deleted]

Feb 17, 2015 10:49:32 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

 

please tell me that law enforcement was able to deal with this stalker, and that they aren't still out there....?

The police told my Mom and me that they couldn't do anything until he actually did something to me, even though he'd gotten into the car and left that threatening note. He'd also shown up at my job just as I was getting off work (a thuggish coworker and his friends chased him around the parking lot until he jumped in his car and sped off) and our house when my car was the only one there and rolled up on me as I was driving down the street. That was around 1990 and at that time, there weren't really any laws against stalking. States didn't start passing legisltaion about stalking itself until the early to mid '90's. By then, he'd left me alone. I think a celebrity got killed by somebody that had been stalking her and that sparked interest in legislation about stalking, IIRC.

[Sam_2.0]

Feb 17, 2015 11:06:07 GMT -5 @pinkcshmere said:

Feb 17, 2015 10:49:32 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

 

please tell me that law enforcement was able to deal with this stalker, and that they aren't still out there....?

The police told my Mom and me that they couldn't do anything until he actually did something to me, even though he'd gotten into the car and left that threatening note. He'd also shown up at my job just as I was getting off work (a thuggish coworker and his friends chased him around the parking lot until he jumped in his car and sped off) and our house when my car was the only one there and rolled up on me as I was driving down the street. That was around 1990 and at that time, there weren't really any laws against stalking. States didn't start passing legisltaion about stalking itself until the early to mid '90's. By then, he'd left me alone. I think a celebrity got killed by somebody that had been stalking her and that sparked interest in legislation about stalking, IIRC.

Yikes!!!!! Glad you were ok!

[Tennesseer]

Feb 17, 2015 11:06:07 GMT -5 @pinkcshmere said:

Feb 17, 2015 10:49:32 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

 

please tell me that law enforcement was able to deal with this stalker, and that they aren't still out there....?

The police told my Mom and me that they couldn't do anything until he actually did something to me, even though he'd gotten into the car and left that threatening note. He'd also shown up at my job just as I was getting off work (a thuggish coworker and his friends chased him around the parking lot until he jumped in his car and sped off) and our house when my car was the only one there and rolled up on me as I was driving down the street. That was around 1990 and at that time, there weren't really any laws against stalking. States didn't start passing legisltaion about stalking itself until the early to mid '90's. By then, he'd left me alone. I think a celebrity got killed by somebody that had been stalking her and that sparked interest in legislation about stalking, IIRC.

Information below from Wiki.

On July 18, 1989, (Actress Rebecca) Schaeffer was fatally shot in the doorway of her West Hollywood apartment building by Robert John Bardo. Bardo was obsessed with Schaeffer and had been stalking her for three years. He was sentenced to life imprisonment for her murder. Schaeffer's death prompted the passage of anti-stalking laws in California.

Following her long recovery, (actress Theresa) Saldana founded the Victims for Victims organization and participated in lobbying for the 1990 anti-stalking law and the 1994 Driver's Privacy Protection Act, both of which came into being partly as a consequence of the attack. The experience also inspired Saldana to play herself in the television movie Victims for Victims: The Theresa Saldana Story, and she authored the book Beyond Survival, a memoir of her experiences after being attacked.

[Deleted]

Thanks for the information Tennesseer. It's funny how I can remember stuff that happened over 20 years ago (what prompted states to start passing anti-stalking laws and when), but I can barely remember what I did yesterday sometimes. I also remember thinking that it took something terrible happening to someone more "important" than me for people to take stalking seriously.

A few years later, after I'd gotten married and had babies, I was working part-time in a store and I saw him one day while I was working. I didn't know if he'd seen me, but I quickly told my coworkers not to tell him anything about me and hightailed it to another part of the store where customers weren't allowed, but other employees were around. I didn't know if he was still crazy or not and I wanted to stay off his radar. Never saw or heard from him again until about 3 years ago, when he sent me a message on Facebook. As if I want to talk to his crazy ass.

[Tennesseer]

Feb 17, 2015 13:29:06 GMT -5 @pinkcshmere said:

Thanks for the information Tennesseer. It's funny how I can remember stuff that happened over 20 years ago (what prompted states to start passing anti-stalking laws and when), but I can barely remember what I did yesterday sometimes. I also remember thinking that it took something terrible happening to someone more "important" than me for people to take stalking seriously.

A few years later, after I'd gotten married and had babies, I was working part-time in a store and I saw him one day while I was working. I didn't know if he'd seen me, but I quickly told my coworkers not to tell him anything about me and hightailed it to another part of the store where customers weren't allowed, but other employees were around. I didn't know if he was still crazy or not and I wanted to stay off his radar. Never saw or heard from him again until about 3 years ago, when he sent me a message on Facebook. As if I want to talk to his crazy ass.

An event which happened 20 years ago may be etched in your mind because of importance. What happened yesterday, often not worth remembering, not important.

The older we get, the more it will happen.  

[Timberwolf]

Feb 17, 2015 10:30:25 GMT -5 Sam_2.0 said:

I got a page of a dictionary torn out & put on my windshield once. The word "Cute" was circled with "You " next to it. Hahaha! I think it was the guy who lived in our apartment complex. But I had a BF at the time so I didn't spend any time investigating it.

Thanks for posting about this, debthaven! It's been fun to read about

I did something kink of like that one time.  This was shortly after my divorce so I must have been lonely or something but I was not stalking!  There were these 2 cute guys that parked a slick little black sports car in front of my house.  They had parked there before because they were doing something at the church across the street from my house.  Anyway, in my garden I had a perfect pink rose (the only one in bloom) and I cut it and put it on the windshield of the car, it looked really good against that car.  Then I just kept looking out the window until they came out again.  When they came out they were so surprised!  They kept talking back and forth about something (I was inside so I couldn't hear what they were saying) they were speaking Russian anyway so I'd never know.  They never saw me and I bet to this day they wonder about that rose.  That was a lot of fun.