[109047] in Cypherpunks
Re: Someone taking photos of my house today
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Rabid Wombat)
Tue Mar 9 14:19:47 1999
Date: Tue, 9 Mar 1999 13:01:13 -0500 (EST)
From: Rabid Wombat <wombat@mcfeely.bsfs.org>
To: Tim May <tcmay@got.net>
cc: cypherpunks@cyberpass.net
In-Reply-To: <v03130306b30a01dd878a@[209.66.100.86]>
Reply-To: Rabid Wombat <wombat@mcfeely.bsfs.org>
Sorry, dude. I was taking photos for "who's who on cypherpunks." Didn't
mean to alarm you.
Have you tried checking on using FOIA w/ whatever alphabet agency keeps
vehicle records in Kalifornia? DMV? MVA? Judean People's Front (splitters!!)?
-r.w.
On Mon, 8 Mar 1999, Tim May wrote:
>
> About 45 minutes ago, at 2:05 p.m., I detected the presence of a vehicle in
> my driveway, about 50 yards from my house. Not too surprising, as I get
> deliveries during the day. (I live at the end of a private driveway on top
> of a hill in a mostly rural area...it is often obvious when a vehicle is
> approaching.)
>
> A red Mustang, California license plate "084 ERR," sat parked at the crest
> of my driveway, the first place it could get a view of my house. After a
> minute or two I realized it was not just someone temporarily lost and
> planning to back out and go back down the hill.
>
> I grabbed a pair of 7 x 50 binoculars and watched to see what was going on.
> Three or four minutes after first appearing, a brown-bearded man got out,
> stood next to his car, and aimed what looked like an older-model 35mm
> camera at my house.
>
> (Older model because it was chrome, and most 35mm cameras today are black.
> Also, I saw no zoom lens. Maybe a minor zoom, e.g., up to 80 mm, but not
> noticeably a zoom.)
>
> It's not clear if he noticed me in the shadows inside my home. Had it been
> a zoom, he probably would have.
>
> He got back in his car and backed down the driveway and was gone. I wrote
> down the license number and description.
>
> What it means, I don't know. The most innocuous theory being that it was
> some kind of real estate agent taking photos for possible future use. Not
> overly likely, as the car looked older (the blue license plate tag implies
> an age of at least 15 years or so, as California stopped maing blue tags).
> And it's raining fairly hard...hardly a good day to collect real estate
> photos. Most real estate agents around here drive late model cars, BMWs,
> Mercedes, etc.
>
> Likewise, the older car and older camera makes it unlikely its a government
> or police operation. (Unless they're hiring cheap PIs...see next item.)
>
> Someone casing my place for a possible robbery is also possible.
>
> My speculation would be some kind of PI, private investigator. For what, I
> don't know. Hired by whom, I can't guess.
>
> For the record, I wasn't subpoenaed for the Toto trial.
>
>
> --Tim May
>
> Y2K: Hope for the best, prepare for the worst, enjoy the ride.
> ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
> Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
> ComSec 3DES: 831-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
> W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
> Licensed Ontologist | black markets, collapse of governments.
>
>
>
