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Main => Everything Else => Topic started by: SteveJ34 on April 16, 2008, 01:51:18 am
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I have an elderly friend of the family that is fairly certain that the teen who lives next door to her is the guilty party that keeps calling at odd hours and also sneaking out to ring her door bell at odd hours.
She has spoken to the parents but they do not believe he is guilty.
I have been searching for a clever way to "catch the thief" or otherwise mark him in some way with some hard to detect method for marking the trail he leaves after ditching.
I know, we've probably all done it ourselves in our childish history but I would welcome any ideas for how to catch this 'ding dong ditch" sleep thief.
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Find an old webcam and point it out the window at the porch. Make it really easy to see, that way you don't even have to plug it in to anything.
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Caller ID?
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Contact the phone company and ask to speak to them about nuisance calls. They can find who is calling. There may be hoops to jump through. In our neck of the woods we have to get the police involved and fill out a form authorizing the phone company to monitor calls and release that information to the police.
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Trap door in the porch for the bell ringing.
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Ever see Monster House?
Seriously, do the USB cam and laptop thing.
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The cocking sound of a shotgun tends to get the point across...
>:D
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Ding Dong Ditch?
That's too politically correct.
Not what we called it growing up....
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wire the doorbell to a camera camera, with a flash right in the window and when they push the button it takes a picture.
OR even easier, wire the doorbell to just a bulb, and when they press the doorbell a flood light comes on like it is taking thier picture.
Will probably only happen once after that.
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Even better, wire the doorbell to the 220 V mains, and let their finger complete the circuit... >:D
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Use that UV stuff on the door bell that they use on fire alarms. They press the button, get it on their finger, fire up the black light, and voila, culprit.
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In school, I remember being told that when you pulled the alarm that your fingers went into some crap that basically made an imprint of your fingerprints.
I still don't know for sure, but I never wanted to find out. ;D
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In school, I remember being told that when you pulled the alarm that your fingers went into some crap that basically made an imprint of your fingerprints.
I still don't know for sure, but I never wanted to find out. ;D
Snopes says the dye on the fire alarms is an urban legend, but as usual they don't substantiate their claims.
http://www.snopes.com/science/poolpiss.asp (http://www.snopes.com/science/poolpiss.asp)
I'm not sure how you think it's possible to prove that it never happened. Can you prove that it wasn't you who didn't put invisible ink on the fire alarms?
Edit: Fixed misplaced quote.
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I think everyone is being too nice. Hook up the doorbell to some juice to get a good shock, then just follow the wet trail to the perp. :timebomb:
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Urban legend or not, "invisible" ink that only shows up under a blacklight EXISTS, so it's a valid suggestion. Problem is, anyone else pressing the doorbell will also get ink.
Camera is the best option though. It's hard evidence.
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If it was your house(or mine) I’d say do it. We’ll see it as a game we can win. Your neighbor just wants it to end.
Next time it happens have them call the police. The parents of the kid will put an end to it if they know the police are involved. Plus it could be more than a teen prank. Someone really could be testing your neighbor’s defenses.
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Trap door in the porch for the bell ringing.
A trap door that leads to a pit containing a rancor. seriously.
Get some donuts and start a stakeout. Scare the kid by using a laser pointer (or a few) and see if they think a sniper is aiming for them. Otherwise i think the rancor is the best bet. sure someone innocent might fall in but thats a risk he is going to have to take.
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For one of us, it would probably be more of a game to catch the culprit, but for an elderly neighbor I would recommend the use of a security camera placed in plain site to thwart the ditcher. Let's face it, he/she will likely see any other method of prevention as merely a challenge to be overcome. Also, turn of the phone ringer at night or program the phone to have seperate ringtones that your neighor can either choose to answer or let go to voicemail.
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In my experience, the phone company is not helpful at all with a frequent prankster or harrassing calls. They will simply tell you that they will let you switch your phone number. Wow, thanks for giving me the opportunity to go thru the massively time consuming task of changing my number and updating all of my contacts and paperwork because of one damn number you could block.
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Use that UV stuff on the door bell that they use on fire alarms. They press the button, get it on their finger, fire up the black light, and voila, culprit.
Does that even exist or is it an urban legend? I remember hearing that the school fire alarms sprayed indelible ink on your hands, but I never believed it.
It does exist. That's how they caught kids pulling the alarms at our school. They put it on the inside of the fire alarm handle, and it doesn't wash off very easily. Any time maintenance or a janitor would set it off they'd always have gloves on, and you could see the ink on the tips. It's like an off-white color.
This is the stuff they probably used - http://starlight.com/blksupplies.html
This easy to use gel can be applied to any surface and is virtually invisible! When contact is made it begins to dye the skin BRIGHT BLUE immediately. Even if wiped off quickly it is very tough to remove. Can only be seen under UV/Blacklight. Great in situations where immediate apprehension cannot be made. Can remain on skin for several days even after washing! Tough Stuff!
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Well, Snopes says common sense dictates that they don't leave that stuff on there permanently and only use it when someone has been pulling the alarms frequently.
Which is why you should always do a statistical analysis of recent incidents to determine your relative risk prior to pulling an alarm.
Or wear gloves.
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Or wear gloves.
That would require thinking. Not something a dumbass high schooler who pulls fire alarms is much good at.
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In school, I remember being told that when you pulled the alarm that your fingers went into some crap that basically made an imprint of your fingerprints.
My first thought would have been: "I need to get a good pair of gloves and convince somebody to try it."
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Something more passive...
Hook up the doorbell button to a light instead of a bell,
it'll be less of a disturbance that way... or just disconnect
it altogether for a few days.
Then when the prankster resorts to calling at odd hours
do the other phone things already mentioned (*69,
caller ID, whatever)
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just camp out in the bushes and when the little turd comes to ring the bell at 2 in the morning, you jump out of the bushes and kick him in the crotch.
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If you have the money (pretty cheap these days) I'd recommend the camera option. You can get wireless video cameras dirt cheap these days. Unlike what other people have suggested, I recommend NOT putting it in plain sight. Maybe the camera will deter the kid, maybe it won't. Maybe he'll just start doing something else annoying instead, like screen screeching the window or something. Give him a challenge and he'll outsmart it. Covertly take his picture and he's done for. You show his parents the proof, tell them you'll call the cops if you get one more phone call or late night knocker, and it's over.
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A bit of Uranyl Nitrate powder on your doorbell. Then, using a Geiger Counter, you can see if the perpetraitor had touched your doorbell. (as his hand would be above background levels in terms of radioactivity). Of course, Uranyl Nitrate is incredibly chemically toxic, not to mention radioactive, so it might not be too good of an idea. :p ;D
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Also, I doubt the phone call person and door knocker are the same person and I doubt EITHER one of them is the TEENAGER next door (by the way, am I the only one here who knew ding dong ditch by a much less politically correct term).
Knocking and running is a grade school prank. I remember lots of kids doing it in grade school, and I think I even did it myself once. However no one was doing that by the time I was a teenager, it is just such a lame prank.
That makes me clear the teenager in question based on the fact that a teenager doesn't fit the psychological profile of who would do something like that. (My guess would be a boy of about 11, he is probably skinny, as fat kids can't run away reliably. Anyone on the street fit that description?) In fact, it is probably a trio of boys around that age (boys tend to get in trouble in groups of three).
As for the phone calling, that is the domain of 13-15 year old boys, although I severely doubt they would target (or even have) the telephone number of their elderly neighbor. Why hang up on grandma jones when you could hang up on Samantha from homeroom? Is there any talking with these phone calls or are they just hangups or beeping?
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(by the way, am I the only one here who knew ding dong ditch by a much less politically correct term).
No. You refer to the alliterative version?
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(by the way, am I the only one here who knew ding dong ditch by a much less politically correct term).
No. You refer to the alliterative version?
Ding Dong Ditch isn't alliterative?
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I grew up calling it knicker knocking and had never even heard of the other version until I was 16 or so.
I never heard that term. It sounds more like an alternative to pantsing.
Which is also very uncool to do to the elderly, on many levels.
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All suggestions have been along the right lines and have been suggested.
The elderly friend has a history with this neighbor teen which is what has led her to suspect him.
Installing cameras is the right option but this person lives in another city and I am not able to directly help them which is what led me to seeking alternative suggestions.
Apparently the number is being blocked and the local authorities and phone company to date have not been very helpful.
I have passed along some ideas and encouraged them to escalate if it does not subside
Thanks again for all the constructive concepts including our having the chance to relive some of our younger years.
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I grew up calling it knicker knocking and had never even heard of the other version until I was 16 or so.
I never heard that term. It sounds more like an alternative to pantsing.
Which is also very uncool to do to the elderly, on many levels.
It was called "Ring and Run" where I lived. Don't know a "bad version".
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I grew up calling it knicker knocking and had never even heard of the other version until I was 16 or so.
I never heard that term. It sounds more like an alternative to pantsing.
Which is also very uncool to do to the elderly, on many levels.
It was called "Ring and Run" where I lived. Don't know a "bad version".
It has to do with a certain ethnic group doing the "knocking". And that group is not called "Knickers"
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Gah... I've got some punks doing this to me, now.
Anyone have a good suggestion?
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Bear trap on the porch. That'll learn her.
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Borrow a big dog and chain it to a tree in your front lawn.
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Well, I have a laptop running linux, so I think I'll throw zonealarm on it, hook up the webcam, and try to get some good pictures, and go from there...
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In addition to a camera, you really should wire in a nice loud klaxon at about ear level pointing toward the door, and perhaps a strong strobe light. Probably invest in an new welcome mat as well, for afterwards.
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Or you could just like ignore it for a couple more days until they get bored?
I've been ignoring it, they keep going...
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When I was a kid, we called it Knicker Knocker Nine Door. We'd get into an apartment building and start up at the ninth floor, run down the stairs knocking on the doors on each floor closest to the stairwell. Ah the fun of simple mischief back then... now-a-days kids have fun getting pregnant, shooting each-other, and smoking crack. ::)
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We knew it by the ethnic variation too. I bet the "knicker" variation is just a misheard version of that. It's too close to be anything else.
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When I was a kid, we called it Knicker Knocker Nine Door. We'd get into an apartment building and start up at the ninth floor, run down the stairs knocking on the doors on each floor closest to the stairwell. Ah the fun of simple mischief back then... now-a-days kids have fun getting pregnant, shooting each-other, and smoking crack. ::)
:laugh2: then after thinking about it :-\
It was always ding dong ditch in my neck of the woods. Gotta love that alliteration.
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Post this news article on your door:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/15/ding-dong-ditch-shooting-kentucky_n_877711.html (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/15/ding-dong-ditch-shooting-kentucky_n_877711.html)
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Am I the only one who pictures knicker knocking as some really old fashioned way of saying they're too horny?
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I'll toss in my $.02. I thought someone was doing this to my house for the longest time. One day I noticed someone go up to the neighbor's house and ring the bell and my doorbell went off. Then it dawned on me, we have the remote battery operated buttons and they must have been on the same frequency as the neighbor's set. I changed that around and all the mysterious doorbell rings went away. :)
Check that out if you have that style of doorbell.
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I'll toss in my $.02. I thought someone was doing this to my house for the longest time. One day I noticed someone go up to the neighbor's house and ring the bell and my doorbell went off. Then it dawned on me, we have the remote battery operated buttons and they must have been on the same frequency as the neighbor's set. I changed that around and all the mysterious doorbell rings went away. :)
Check that out if you have that style of doorbell.
Nope, hardwired. They've been hitting the neighbors, too.
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Set up a second switch on the doorbell. Run a trap door with a boxing glove on an extending arm. Next time you see a neighbor wit a black eye give 'em a second one.
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I'll toss in my $.02. I thought someone was doing this to my house for the longest time. One day I noticed someone go up to the neighbor's house and ring the bell and my doorbell went off. Then it dawned on me, we have the remote battery operated buttons and they must have been on the same frequency as the neighbor's set. I changed that around and all the mysterious doorbell rings went away. :)
Check that out if you have that style of doorbell.
Nope, hardwired. They've been hitting the neighbors, too.
Shoot... then I suggest a stakeout in the bushes with a pellet gun. :)
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I'll toss in my $.02. I thought someone was doing this to my house for the longest time. One day I noticed someone go up to the neighbor's house and ring the bell and my doorbell went off. Then it dawned on me, we have the remote battery operated buttons and they must have been on the same frequency as the neighbor's set. I changed that around and all the mysterious doorbell rings went away. :)
Check that out if you have that style of doorbell.
Nope, hardwired. They've been hitting the neighbors, too.
Maybe if a neighbor called right away, you could catch them at your door?
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Also, I doubt the phone call person and door knocker are the same person and I doubt EITHER one of them is the TEENAGER next door (by the way, am I the only one here who knew ding dong ditch by a much less politically correct term).
Knocking and running is a grade school prank. I remember lots of kids doing it in grade school, and I think I even did it myself once. However no one was doing that by the time I was a teenager, it is just such a lame prank.
That makes me clear the teenager in question based on the fact that a teenager doesn't fit the psychological profile of who would do something like that. (My guess would be a boy of about 11, he is probably skinny, as fat kids can't run away reliably. Anyone on the street fit that description?) In fact, it is probably a trio of boys around that age (boys tend to get in trouble in groups of three).
As for the phone calling, that is the domain of 13-15 year old boys, although I severely doubt they would target (or even have) the telephone number of their elderly neighbor. Why hang up on grandma jones when you could hang up on Samantha from homeroom? Is there any talking with these phone calls or are they just hangups or beeping?
Got any statistics to back up your anecdotal story and personal experience?
Bored teenagers with inattentive and/or uncaring parents end up doing lots of things, running the gamut from mundane to the criminal.
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I think hes being PC with "knicker knocking" we called it ---Bad words, bad words, whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna do when saint censors you?--- knocking. Cant wait to see what the auto-censor does to that.
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Also, I doubt the phone call person and door knocker are the same person and I doubt EITHER one of them is the TEENAGER next door (by the way, am I the only one here who knew ding dong ditch by a much less politically correct term).
Knocking and running is a grade school prank. I remember lots of kids doing it in grade school, and I think I even did it myself once. However no one was doing that by the time I was a teenager, it is just such a lame prank.
That makes me clear the teenager in question based on the fact that a teenager doesn't fit the psychological profile of who would do something like that. (My guess would be a boy of about 11, he is probably skinny, as fat kids can't run away reliably. Anyone on the street fit that description?) In fact, it is probably a trio of boys around that age (boys tend to get in trouble in groups of three).
As for the phone calling, that is the domain of 13-15 year old boys, although I severely doubt they would target (or even have) the telephone number of their elderly neighbor. Why hang up on grandma jones when you could hang up on Samantha from homeroom? Is there any talking with these phone calls or are they just hangups or beeping?
Got any statistics to back up your anecdotal story and personal experience?
Bored teenagers with inattentive and/or uncaring parents end up doing lots of things, running the gamut from mundane to the criminal.
umm, you do realize that the quote from paigeoliver was from 2008? I don't think paigeoliver even posts here anymore.
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I grew up calling it knicker knocking and had never even heard of the other version until I was 16 or so.
I never heard that term. It sounds more like an alternative to pantsing.
Which is also very uncool to do to the elderly, on many levels.
It was called "Ring and Run" where I lived. Don't know a "bad version".
*raises hand*
"knicky, knicky, nine door" was what we called it.. :dunno i dunno why we called it that either...
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umm, you do realize that the quote from paigeoliver was from 2008? I don't think paigeoliver even posts here anymore.
Negative. Totally didn't realize this was a resurrected thread. Still needed to be said though, just for general information and whatnot.
I regret nothing!
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#totallywhathesaid
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I just wanted to throw in my two cents on the "do fire alarms mark the puller" debate... When I was about 12 I was with a friend when he pulled an alarm. I booked it of course. Later that day I caught up with him at his house and he said that the cops came by and shined a black light on him. He claimed that his arm and if I recall correctly even his chest lit up as if he'd been sprayed. Of course kids that age like to tell stories so who knows for sure.
I have a theory as to what could be the the delivery system of the glowing substance if it is in fact not a myth. The glass rod like thing that you commonly see just below the handle could be made of some fluorescing material that readily sticks to the person. Probably not true but who doesn't enjoy a good wild speculation!
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Not sure why every fire alarm doesn't include a fake camera in plain view pointed right at the damn thing. Few 14 year olds would risk that.
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Fire alarms don't mark anybody. That's an urban legend.
:whap
http://www.snopes.com/science/poolpiss.asp (http://www.snopes.com/science/poolpiss.asp)
http://www.atsclock.com/items/FireAlarms-Accessories-tamper_dye.cfm?catID=16 (http://www.atsclock.com/items/FireAlarms-Accessories-tamper_dye.cfm?catID=16)
http://safetymedia.com/detail.aspx?ID=302 (http://safetymedia.com/detail.aspx?ID=302)
Really, sir?
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That's ink that's been put on the handle and marks hands. The urban legend is that the alarms spray ink all over you.
:lol
Wow, I've never heard that variation. Why in the hell would anyone believe that it sprays it all over you?
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Because it's theoretically possible and wouldn't be all that hard to accomplish.
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I'll toss in my $.02. I thought someone was doing this to my house for the longest time. One day I noticed someone go up to the neighbor's house and ring the bell and my doorbell went off. Then it dawned on me, we have the remote battery operated buttons and they must have been on the same frequency as the neighbor's set. I changed that around and all the mysterious doorbell rings went away. :)
Check that out if you have that style of doorbell.
this! totally this! had the same thing happen at my house!
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Buddy of mine had this happening to him for a long time. He happens to be an avid hunter and had one of these (http://www.cabelas.com/product/Hunting/Scouting-Feeders/Trail-Cameras-Accessories%7C/pc/104791680/c/104767380/sc/103867380/Bushnell174-50-Megapixel-Trophy-Cam/745305.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Fhunting-scouting-feeders-trail-cameras%2F_%2FN-1100176&WTz_l=SEO%3Bcat103867380)handy. He set it up, aimed it at his front porch and got some shots. He put them in the kids mailbox, and it stopped.
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As per calls, theres a service you can get thru the telephone company that blocks all private callers.
Meaning, if they want to reach you, they have to use the *82 code to disable privacy, then call... which would leave a traceable called ID log as to whom called.
The camera thing would be nice.. however, I think it would be more fun to be a bit more aggressive... such as building an decorative overhang that contained a massive cold water container dumper (hmm, maybe instead use something sticky like syrup, or color dye !), (or maybe some sort of actuated -or manual- hose sprayer system) all filmed in glorious HD, and uploaded to youtube.
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You guys need to just get a paintball gun and when they start ringing the bell, cover them in paint. Then they are marked extremely well and you got to hurt them some.
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Or you could just put a drop of crazy glue on the button.
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Or you could just put a drop of crazy glue on the button.
You mean with a outward facing thumbtack on the other side of the glue, right?
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Well I was thinking just coat the outside of the button right before they usually attack.
Instant stuck finger.
And if the guy tears the skin off his finger trying to run, you can always say it must have been another neighborhood kid playing pranks too, that put the glue on it.
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All these get back at you ideas sound like great fun! But, one has to remember that kids have much more free time and energy than us and they can get pretty creative/destructive in their payback and usually don't bother to ponder consequences. I tend to try to stay on the good side of the local teenagers.
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just stand and wait like a predator... when he comes, whip open the door and field goal kick him right in the nuts.
solves 2 problems:
1:) he will not ring the doorbell ever again.
2:) he will not contaminate the human race