4 posts tagged “the hood”

We were deep asleep last night.  Argos was outside in the backyard.  We were woken up to some loud noise and Argos going nuts in the backyard.  I was staggering out of the bedroom thinking it must have been the trash pickup at the apartment next door.  But Argos doesn't usually bark at that, and he was going nuts out back.  I did not put my glasses on before I left the bedroom, but in the kitchen I could make out that it was 2:40am.  Way too early for trash pickup.  Then I started thinking it sounded like it could have been our front gate crashing open (or closed).  I was almost to the back door when I realized Tony was right behind me.  So it had to be something pretty disturbing for that to happen.  He never gets out of bed, or even wakes up.  We had both been so sound asleep that we only caught the tail end of the sound and were really confused as to what it was.  So I get to the back porch and call Argos.  Usually when I open the back door during the night, especially when it is cold, he immediately stops barking and comes right up the stairs and into the kitchen to get back in his bed.  But he was not barking like usual.  He was facing the neighbor's side fence (Walter's house) and barking like crazy.  I finally got him to come up on the porch, but he was still barking, though not as voraciously.  I didn't have my glasses on, but I didn't see anything in Walter's yard.  I couldn't make out anyone moving or running.  I got Argos inside, but couldn't get him to lay down on his bed.  And now I am trying to calm him down and get him to stop barking, and I have Tony on the other side of me telling me to "call 911."  I say "what am I going to tell 911, my dog is barking?"  There is no way, even if there is somebody lurking around in Walter's yard, that they are going to hop the fence into our yard, having heard Argos frothing at the mouth.  So I get my glasses and go back out with Argos.  He again runs to the side fence and starts going ape shit again.  There is nothing over there.  I am thinking maybe there is a racoon or possum, but even for that Argos wouldn't be going this nuts.  I get him back up the porch and into the house again.  We go to check the scene through the front window to see if there is anything going on out there.  By now it about 3am and we are wide awake.  There is a car parked across the street, headlights on, it seems to be idling, but it doesn't look like anyone is in it.  Hmmm.  Again Tony starts getting on me to call the police.  Again I ask, "to report what?"  He heads back to the kitchen, I stay there watching the idling car for a few minutes.  Nothing is happening.  Argos is still clearly agitated and doing his "indoor soft bark" every minute or so.  Back in the kitchen, Tony has his phone out ready to call 911 himself.  I ask him to please not call.  I head back out to the living room window and see that there are now 3 police cars pulled up around the idling car, so I tell Tony no need to call the police, they are already here.  He comes back out and we watch for a few minutes.  One of the police cars pulls away and slowly drives down the street flashing its searchlight along the sidewalk and into the schoolyard across the street.  Now we're up to 3:15am.  Tony asks me to go across the street and tell the police "that my dog was barking at something."  I am standing there in my boxers and t-shirt and am not feeling like walking across the street in the dark at 3:15am to tell the police my dog "was barking at something a few minutes ago."  So Tony comes back with his flip flops and hoodie on and heads across the street himself.  The police car next to the idling car that I can see from the window is empty.  It seems like the police are all standing at the other police car which is parked directly behind the idling car, of which I can only see a small corner of the front hood. I can't see any police or anyone else.  It is very quiet outside.  I see Tony crossing the street, passing the idling car and then out of my sight towards the rear police car.  It seems like he is over there for a long time.  I finally see him coming back.  The first thing he says is "mmmmmm.  Officer Brandon."  I say "What happened?"  He says he would like to give office brandon a cavity search.  I tell him that unfortunately, since Officer Brandon is the cop, he'll be the one searching Tony's cavity.  So the word is that the car is stolen.  It was just left there idling.  Someone had called the police to report it.  That's all.  Tony went back to bed.  I tried to, but Argos was still barking intermittently and then I could hear the tow truck pulling up to tow the stolen car away.  (what a drag to be a tow-truck driver on the graveyard shift!).  It wasn't until 4:00am that I was finally able to sort of fall asleep.  I never really fell fully asleep again.  I am tired today.

Well, another Halloween on Apgar Street, and another decision for me to make.  Do I go lights out, shades drawn, doors locked, like 95% of the homes on my street, or do I light up and hand out candy to the less than ten "kids" that may or may not show up, in what may or may not be costumes?  Passing a Walgreen's on my way to the BART station, I decided to pick up a couple of bags of candy and make my decision based on what things looked like when I hit home.

Same as usual, about 5 houses on the street had lights on, but as I passed a house on Lusk, half a block from home, I saw several young kids, ages 5-7, dressed in real costumes (ghost, spiderman, etc.) and I decided the kids in my neighborhood deserve one more house to stop at this year, even though I figured this group was probably about to get loaded into a car and driven to the other side of the tracks where the pickings are better.  So I got home, put my candy in a big bowl, turned up the lights and waited.

After about 20 minutes, I had my first customers.  I opened the door to what I guessed to be about three 12-year old girls in pretty lame costumes.  Two of them just had on pajamas, and the third had a dirty frayed tutu pulled on over her regular clothes.  So I hold out the bowl of candy to the first girl.  She asks, pretty rudely, "Can I just take what I want?"  I said, "Sure, go ahead."  At which point she plunges BOTH HANDS into the bowl, nearly knocking it out of my hands in the process, and grabs two huge FISTFULLS of candy, which she shoves into the open backpack which she is wearing backwards, so that it is not on her back but on her chest.  OK, well, I'll just move on to girl number two then.  So the conversation with her goes like this:

"You got Snickers?"

"No.  I have Milky Ways"

"I don't DO no Milky Way."

"I also have Twix!" I say, ever the nice guy.

"Ewww.  You got all the NASTY shit.  I'm outta here."

With which the three girls take off laughing.  Well that's it.  Lights out for me.  So off the lights go, all the lights that can possibly indicate someone might be in this house with candy.  And I stand in the Living Room window for a few minutes, in the darkened house, watching the empty streets.  I'm just about to retire to the back of the house, after about 20 minutes, when I see the spiderman and the ghost and the superman, the three boys from before, climbing the steps of the house across the street, one of the few lit up, while their mother waited on the sidewalk with a baby in a stroller.  How happy and excited they were as they yelled their trick or treats and the homeowners commented on their costumes.  I watched as they headed back to the sidewalk, and along with their mother scanned the street in both directions, realizing that they had already been to the four or five houses that were sharing in halloween that night.  So I rushed around the house, turning on every light I could, refilling the candy bowl ravaged by the PJ gang, hoping that they would notice me.  But the mother had already turned up Lusk street with the stroller, and was calling the boys to come along, when Spiderman took one last look back at the street and I could hear him excitedly yelling, "over there, over there!  we didn't go to that one!"  And the mom turned, considered for a moment, and then had everyone look both ways before heading across the street and up my front walk, as I swung my door open and waited.  They called out their "trick or treats" and held out their bags and plastic pumpkins so politely for me to drop candy in each.  And they each said trick or treat again, and then a heartfelt thank you, and the mom thanked me as well, and I noticed that even the toddler strapped into the stroller was dressed up as a little tiger.

And with that, my decision next Halloween will remain as difficult as ever.

well, this was a fun one.  walking to the bart station this morning, i rounded the corner from West Street onto 39th Street.  the second building down is a four unit apartment building set back from the street with a small parking lot in front of it.  there is an old beat up car halfway onto the sidewalk, with both rear doors missing.  i see about 4 pit bulls in the car.  one of them very big and black.  much to my surprise, as i pass by, they all jump out of the car and head towards me.  i had assumed they were chained up somehow, but i was wrong.  just four pit bulls, completely unrestrained, sitting in a broken down car on the sidewalk, with no owner in sight.  by the time i realized the dogs were on the loose, i was already passing the car, too late to go back to west and keep walking up to 40th.  luckily the dogs stopped about 3 feet from me as i passed by.  i was surprisingly calm, although i don't know why.  i started to get scared as i passed by and my back was too them, and the big black one started to follow me.  he followed for about 15 feet.  i was convinced that he was going to take off at any minute and head right at me.  for my jugular.  then he changed his mind and decided to start humping the brown dog.  oh great, horny pit bulls in heat.

i would have stopped to snap a picture, but i thought would be ill-advised.  i have now programmed the number for oakland animal control into my cell phone so i can call them immediately the next time something like this happens.

This shooting/murder (the one on West Macarthur) that happened last night, is basically right behind our house.  if you were to climb over my back fence, into the adjoining yard, and walk to the front of that yard, you'd be on West Macarthur, almost exactly where this happened.  look at the map!  (crap, my linking skills apparently still need some work.  sorry) our house is on apgar, just to the left of where lusk deadends in to apgar.

 

OAKLAND -- Overworked Oakland homicide detectives had two more slayings to add to their workload Tuesday after late-night shootings left a man dead in the Fruitvale District and another riddled with bullets on busy MacArthur Ave.

The slayings increased the number of homicides in Oakland this year to 118.

Lt. Sean Whent said investigators were finishing an initial investigation of Oakland's 117th murder of the year Monday night when they were called to a second fatal shooting.

Whent said the second shooting was reported at 11:31 p.m. at 863 W. Macarthur near Market Street in West Oakland. An unidentified man was gunned down as he ran down the street being chased by a man firing an assault weapon.

The earlier homicide was reported near 34th Avenue and Salisbury Street in the Fruitvale neighborhood at about 8:18 p.m. A man was found on the street dead from a gunshot wound to the head.

"Since both shootings took place outside we are hopeful there were witnesses," Whent said. "We hoping someone will come forward with a lead."

Both shootings remained under investigation and neither suspect descriptions nor possible motives were released.

 

i don't really tend to worry about it too much, i mean, they are not shooting random people walking down the street (not that i routinely walk down the street after dark in my neighborhood).  but last night's shooting happened right in front of the house that was just bought last week by an asian family.  i'm sure they're not too happy.  when we first moved in in 2000, there were a lot of shootings.  we'd hear gunfire almost once a week and a 14 year old kid was shot in my next door neighbor's driveway.  then it quieted way down for the last few years, to the point where we almost never heard gunshots.  but for some reason it's gotten really bad again.  it's back to a regular thing now.  but it's always late at night, usually after midnight.  it's wierd how you get used to thing like regular gunfire in your neighborhood.  it's sad, bur it doesn't really phase us.  i guess i'll have to hand out bullet proof vests the next time i have guests over for dinner.