A Swarm of Sheriffs

Dateline: Thur 30 July. You may ask yourself: who is this deputy sheriff and why does she look so angry as she pounded on the back kitchen door?

So I’m digging back into the archives to tell about this unusual development from the summer. It was an evening that, as bedtime approached, the pooches were getting their last run around the driveway and yard before heading in for the night. We had just gotten them to the crates, and the front doorbell was ringing, and the back door was getting knocked on, and then the back doorbell was ringing.

As I discovered later, after looking at the security video, the property was swarmed by deputies from the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office.

This was during the International Black Theatre Festival, which it’s an honor for Winston-Salem to host every other year, and there is always a heavy presence of law enforcement while it’s happening. Apparently, these deputies had either spotted or had reported to them that a drone was flying over what they said was “restricted airspace” over downtown, and they were absolutely certain that we were the ones doing it.

I could only laugh. I don’t even play video games, much less have a remote control for drone flying over places that no drones are supposed to be flown. The angry deputy at the back door could not betray her disappointment that she had not marched straight up to the scofflaw’s doorstep, and I’ll tell you: she wasn’t very nice at all. But the bearded gent who talked to me at the front was perfectly decent. I had to laugh again when they asked if I knew of any neighbors who had drones. We ain’t that kind of neighborhood, as I made clear when rattling off the catalogue of who actually dwells on this block.

Meal No. 3814: Shredded Beef Sheet Pan Nachos

When I'm stuck on a meal idea, when the larder is a bit skimpy, when it's getting too close to the dinner hour: I might just have to reach into the "easy ideas" drawer and pull out something like last Monday night's supper. Some chuck roast I'd made a while back offered ample leftovers to seal and store in the freezer; I always seem to have tortilla chips and Mexican cheese and an onion to chop up. Making a fresh batch of shredded beef sheet pan nachos took care of the Monday menu, with the marvelous benefit of deliciousness.

The evening before, while I was working in my old man's chair by the fireplace hearth, my watch alerted me to motion on the north fence camera, and I spotted a young man in a hoodie walk across the gravel lot outside the kitchen windows. When he got to the end of the stone wall next to Fourth Street, he knelt down, shook his arm up and down a couple of times, and then applied graffiti in two places.

With phone in hand, camera app pulled up, I waited to see which direction he went and then dashed out in hopes I might get a better picture of him, somehow. But he had disappeared. What hung still quite strong in the air by that brick wall was the smell of that spray paint.

I cannot stand these hooligans but—at the same time—I'm glad they mostly leave my walls and house alone. It's just not a pasttime that I can make sense of, but I also don't understand the wanton destruction of other people's property.

WiFi System Reset

This Saturday morning finds me back in my beloved Chapel Hill, joining other alumni brothers to support the initiation of new members into our fraternity. I’ve gotten behind on composing entries for recent happenings here, but I had a draft set aside from September that I knew I’d need at some point to upload, simply because this is the record of life and management of the Roediger House. And the governing compulsion is to have something to toss up every single day.

I really do enjoy how much of the household is integrated into a smart network, with voice control and routines and automation galore. When I got an updated cable modem, I thought it might also be a good time to refresh the WiFi network password and create a guest network, which ought to have been part of my original configuration, frankly. I did not anticipate what an enormous amount of time would be required to reconnect everything to the network: individual light switches, plugs, smart light bulbs, two security system homebases and a couple of the cameras (get the ladder, take them down, resync them, put them back up), the outdoor WiFi extender, the Nest thermostat, the Tempest weather station, irrigation controller, the Sonos devices, the Alexa devices, three printers, and who knows what else. For different smart device manufacturers, there’s a different app, which means different passwords and different tactics. As if it’s not time-consuming enough, quite a few resets failed and had to be re-initiated. For every device that had to be reset, it had to be rediscovered by Alexa and re-added into any of the understandably brilliant routines I’ve built. These are things we do to ourselves in intense bursts of frustration and time-suck because of how clever all these gimmicks seem. When it all works, it’s awesome. When it doesn’t, somewhere an angel’s wings probably burst into flames.

Election Day 2024

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Squirrel No. 12

Here is the word of warning that this blog post is about the death of a squirrel at the hands of the house pooches, working in concert with one another. In this household, we do not grieve for the squirrels, who outnumber us considerably and who regularly prove to have destructive tendencies. (Just ask the neighbors to the south, whose neglected rental units have several squirrels’ nests residing in the walls of that ramshackle house.) We do not pretend that this is not a natural world in which we live, even if it's on a quaint quarter acre almost in the middle of downtown Winston-Salem.

It happened last Friday while I was gone for the day to Chapel Hill, to take in a homecoming activity for my UNC fraternity. Part of the kill was caught on camera, and then the stiffening little guy was ready for his final memorial portrait before the proper disposal was performed. Sumner was the primary executioner, but his success required the agile cornering and corralling offered by his sprightly sister. It's been about a year-and-a-half since he last expedited one of these annoying yard rats, and I suppose he is proud to have acquired Trophy No. 12.

Meal No. 3590: Bacon & Cheese Sandwiches

Tuesday night was a fridge clean-out dinner: Hawaiian rolls were still on the counter, and cooked bacon was the fridge item. Slices of American cheese for top and bottom, a bake in the lower oven, and amazing bacon and cheese sandwiches were the simple supper.

I'm choosing to believe that that morning dawned with the chilliest temperature we'll see here for the next several months: 38°F. Then, it turned into a sunny and pleasant day, perfect for my short drive down to the campus of High Point University for the Culmination Celebration of HPU's Leadership Academy Cohort VII. What a wonderful event, with remarkable almost-graduates, all so very impressive—and I am so glad for the honor and privilege of working with them these last two years.

And I do feel a bit bad that I ended up on the front row for the session they presented about their work specifically with me on Instructional Leadership and Coaching!

And hey: let's give you all one more quick capture from this needless and extravagant dash cam in the new car, from the start of my travel that morning:

Update on the "Fire DeJoy" Sign

In the bright sunshine last Tuesday morning, around 10:30 am, some passerby walked right up the front steps, took my "Fire Louis DeJoy" sign off of its metal stakes, and absconded not with the sign, but with the stakes. Perhaps because it can be sold for recycling? Anyway, above is the video if you feel like watching it.

I must admit that this is a new one on me, given how many different political and election signs I've had in the yard over the years. The older security cameras do not capture images quite as clearly, so I've temporarily mounted one of my newer ones in a prime spot should the sign be molested again, as noted in the photo above.

And I took one other theft prevention step: way way back when we first got Cyprus, I'd picked up a yard stake that you can corkscrew into the ground to attach a leash or rope for play time. I found it on the back patio near the grill, spun it deeply into the soil in front of the porch, and dug a padlock out of a kitchen drawer. If it does not defeat a repeat thief, it will at least put him on camera for more footage of his attempted misdeeds. As a longtime educator, I'm willing to confess an appreciation both for the constructivist approach to learning, as well as a marked propensity to operate often very much as a behaviorist.

And look: speaking of wanting to support the hardworking employees of the postal service, the camera that day captured the mail hand-off from our excellent carrier that afternoon:

Securing the Premises: New Cameras Added

A spring special with nice mark-downs was a ripe invitation to add two more security cameras to the house, which beefs up the coverage of a couple of areas. These are from Anker's Eufy brand, so it goes well with the app and Alexa skill already in operation for the two video doorbells. Now we have clearer, broader coverage of the full parking lot and the side access to the front porch, as noted in the view captured above.

I also added one to the north side of the house, to better monitor the area outside the kitchen bay, within which sits the dinner table. This part of the property felt less vulnerable back when there was still a sizable retaining wall and fencing with the neighboring property, but since that was all taken out in early 2014, that's opened up that back corner of the lot to easier intrusion.

I had a temporary camera covering that area but it involved visible running wires, traced back to the security system's primary module, and I'm counting on this as a significant improvement. One of these days, it will be time to upgrade the rest of the camera coverage, since the original units are at least 15 years old by now...and the technology has come so far in the meantime.

Meal No. 3322: Juicy Burgers on the Grill

The craving for a burger cannot always be resisted. That was the story on a grey dreary wet Wednesday when I had chomped at the bit to be outside tackling yardwork and was instead relegated indoors to find other ways to spend my energies.

One project of note was the installation of a second video doorbell, this time at the front door. It's a cool gizmo not only because it is savvy enough to only do alerts when a human being approaches, but it's got a second downward looking camera that keeps an eye on any packages that have been delivered. Now the Roediger House can benefit from better, more selective security camera monitoring of two main points of access to the abode; I take additional comfort in that. And I should also know when it's time to grab the mail, if nothing else:

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"Juicy Burgers," originally from Pillsbury Classic Cookbooks recipe magazine, July 2003, p. 52-53. After Pillsbury was purchased in 2001 by General Mills, home of Betty Crocker (founded in 1921, mind you!), it basically ceased to exist as a company and lives on just as a brand. I guess that's why a Pillsbury cookbook recipe from 2003 is now only found on the Betty Crocker website.

Video Doorbell Installation

Downtown living has its attractions but it also is reason for some extra measures of security...not so much because of major fears about crime but more so for the assurance of being able to monitor and also review footage should something be amiss. My cameras are pretty old now, given advances in technology, but they mostly serve their purpose. At the rear door to the parking lot, though, that particular camera is not so great, as shown in the daytime video capture above.

This second photo shows a tremendous improvement, as one of my mid-summer Quarantine Task Jar items was to obtain and install a video doorbell, which is working beautifully (both video stills were captured at about the same time). However, as the owner of a 1905 house, not exactly of meager size, and with all the associated renovation and upkeep needs, I’ve regularly been asked about how much of the work was I taking on myself. My standard reply was to tell people it took me a day and a half to wire the front doorbell when I first moved in back in 2003, so I’d better leave the serious projects only to professionals. Plus, I could not afford to botch a DIY and then also have to pay someone to come do it right.

When I decided to add a video doorbell to the back door from the parking area, how long did it take to wire it? Yep: a day and a half. Pulling the interior trim was easy, but running the wire under the kitchen crawl space was the labored portion of it all. Ah, but I got it all rigged and working and tied into the smarthome and connected to my iPhone/Apple Watch…and the difference in security camera coverage is enormous.

While I am occasionally considered to be a smart man, that reputed intellect is not always fully operational. For instance, to determine the height of the drill hole, of course I thoughtlessly measured from inside the back door instead of from the top step outside...so the doorbell looks a little high.

In these last few months, it's caused me to learn that occasionally the parking lot is a cut-through option for wee-hours traversers.

Nonetheless, I’m happy to have this newest tech in place, with its two-way communication capability but especially with its camera coverage. Installing it finally incentivized me to reconnect the smart deadbolt (the SmartThings hub that controls it was one of the networked items that the now-retired LinkSys WiFi router was uncooperative with) so that it can be controlled via Alexa again. Now, somebody can ring the back doorbell and admittance can be granted without leaving the comfy confines of the third floor!

An Unexpected Guest for Morning Coffee

Last Wednesday morning, as I returned from setting up the coffee pot in the kitchen upon first rising, I had a bit of a start—as in, a moment of being startled. On the front porch sat a hooded stranger in the dark of the pre-dawn hour.

One option in that situation is to storm out there and tell him to get off my porch, to point out that he had to pass the No Trespassing sign in order to reach that chair. Another option is to share some of the coffee with him that I'd just made...along with two sugars.

After I set up another chair beside him, I warned him I'd be coming back out with a very friendly pooch who would take great sniffing interest in him.

His name is Alonso, and he told me from glancing in the windows of this fine house that he thought it was a museum or something and that he did not think he would be bothering anyone while he waited for the cab that he had called. He told me he'd been working the bottle ring toss game at the local Carolina Classic Fair and was preparing to head over to Raleigh for the NC State Fair. He showed me his ankle monitoring bracelet, worn as a condition for his parole from a prison term. He talked about his distrust of the COVID-19 vaccine but he'd gotten the Johnson & Johnson jab anyway before starting to work the fair. He told me of his Trinidadian lineage and we did not resolve the debate between whether all women were dangerous or if he was only interested in dangerous women.

Eventually it became the brighter light of dawn and Alonso said he'd best be heading out and letting Sumner and me get our day started.

He gave me his empty Four Loko can but kept the plastic sack and headed out into the morning, but not before asking me to make sure he had my cell number.