Neighbourhood Watch

[Mortblanc]

When the scavengers start roaming they are not going to bypass anything, no matter you bad or how worthless it looks.

Eventually both you and I are going to be out there combing the land for anything we can put to use. We will turn over every rock and board, search every drawer in every house, haul home every scrap of cloth and chunk of metal that we can use to stay alive.

I would much rather KNOW if a location is occupied so I could avoid it.

Of course in my area one never takes it for granted that everyone you encounter will be unarmed, helpless and easy to steamroll as long as you have a guy behind you and a big stick in our hand. If a residence shows the slightest sign of life one would be risking their life to approach that location.

The "estate" where I lived before moving to my present location was a "gated community".

2,000 acres inside 10 foot fences topped with barbed wire. Perimeter road around the inside of the fence. Private shops and stores inside the fence as well as a large community center and first aid station. 50 acre lake stocked with fish, 18 hole golf course ready to be turned into crops, private community water and sewer systems separate from the grid and mostly occupied by a "younger set" of retired people in their 50s.

Two entrances and two exits both with guard houses that were manned by rotating shifts of private security. Vehicle ID stickers on the windshield or an appointment to put you on "the list" at the guard shack or you did not get in.

Our "neighborhood watch" was a serious business with its own marked vehicles and a "duty roster" that covered a 24/7 rotation among the residents so permanent patrols were maintained. Since we were on "private property" the neighborhood watch was an armed volunteer police force.

The place I live now is surrounded by a lake rather than a fence.

"Doesn't that announce that you have something worth stealing?" you ask.

Hell yes, it does!!

It also says you might die trying to take it!

"Now, you just got to ask yourself, Do you feel lucky?"