An Evening In The Park

[Jmiland1]

Darkness is rapidly falling over Ancil Hoffman Park. The wind is strong tonight, and brings with it a chill that even the most performing-est of fleece couldn't keep at bay. The clouds have a particular look to them: rain may be on the way soon.

Tonight, though, it's dry, and thank goodness: parking at Ancil Hoffman is plentiful, but the lot is nearly a mile from any good vantage point from which to see the house. A quick drive past had shown nothing remarkable about the property: surrounded by a wrought-iron fence, most of the lights were off. Z couldn't linger though, because just a few houses down there seemed to be some sort of party going on and there was still too much traffic for observation from the road.

So, a walk from the lot. The paths are clear this evening, with just a few other people out--mostly neighborhood residents with their dogs, it seems. And a young woman with a goal.

[Cozette]

I hate weather like this, mainly because my favorite jacket just wasn't thick enough for it. On the other hand, it gave me a limit on how much time to spend looking about.

So, shoulder bags.

My favorite fad of the past decade. You know how hard it was to carry shit in those tiny clutches that were all the rage ten years ago? And now I can carry everything.

Today that's just going to be my D40. I've been meaning to step up to a 300 or 700 but just haven't gotten around to it. I tried the Sony alpha line, but, you know. Sony is so... Sony.

Besides, then I couldn't use my 50mm f/1.2 NOCT-Nikkor lens. It costs as much as a small car, is no longer in production, and is manual focus.

It's also the sharpest, best contrasting lens ever made.

I pre-focus at 20m, set my exposure for 30 seconds, and go for a walk.

[Jmiland1]

The park trails wind around, the sharp winds lessened by the stands of trees as she gets further into the park. It's quiet out tonight; Zinta passes a couple of streams and hears some soft birdsong but most of the evening's soundtrack is the crunch of gravel beneath her feet. A doe pokes her nose out and sniffs the air, then darts away.

It takes about twenty minutes before Zinta's coming down a hill, rounding a corner, and greeted with a westerly view of the neighborhood on the park's edge. A thick greenbelt helps provide a border between the two. It doesn't take long to pick out the house she's looking for, but she'll need to get closer to make sure her shots are clear of obstacles.

[Cozette]

I hate the cold on so many levels, and it doesn't help that some of them are self inflicted. The shit in my hair and makeup I wear quickly gets a hard, brittle feel to it. Not a biggie on the hair, but it makes my face itch.

The walk makes for a nice, lazy smoke. I'm sure I break all sorts of laws as I flick ash, then finally the orange-ish tan butt, but somebody has ot give the park squirrels a taste of reality. A burnt, tar taste.

Taking a long, careful look around for witnesses, I then make my way over to get closer to the house.

[Jmiland1]

The cold and the dark have joined forces to drive people from the park. The locals with their dogs haven't ventured this far, opting to stay near the parking lot with its sodium arc lights and its promise of swift transport home.

Creeping closer helps get a better angle on the house, and the 50mm is more than capable of getting good focus on the long shots. She's close enough to hear the party up the street (bursts of laughter, pool splashes, occasional mock-screams or crashing beer bottles) but not so close to be spotted. Hopefully.

A four-meter fence of wrought iron surrounds the property to keep the deer in the park where they belong. Approaching from the rear like this, there's no light to be seen in the house; the only illumination comes from the blue-white fluorescents that ring the covered pool in the backyard.

[Cozette]

I take a couple of dozen photos, concentrating on points of entry, then on corners and ledges. Lastly, I look for the d-mark; the point where the phone company brings their cables to the house. I also see if there's a hint where the cable company comes in at and if there are any dishes on the roof.

Satisfied, I jog back to my car. It's excruciating, but it gets the blood flowing, and loosens me up. The camera goes back in the car, and I grab a dead branch from a tree as I jog back to the house.

That fence annoys me. Either the guy is paranoid, or just showing off.

I break the branch in half and pitch one half over, to see if there's motion sensors.

[Jmiland1]

It's no real surprise when the pool lights brighten before the stick has even hit the ground. A few small spotlights open up--count 'em, two, three, no! there's a fourth one--and cast illumination over most of the backyard. So, there's detectors. If he's serious about his security, chances are that just got added to a log or is maybe being patched into a monitor somewhere.

It also makes it easier to see that there's no d-mark back here; possibly hidden on the front side of the property?

Like clockwork, two interior lights come on ten seconds after the exteriors flare up.

[Cozette]

Quickly, I run the other half of the stick up and down the iron bars to see if they're electrified before slipping away from the fence and into any nearby cover.

tee hee

2011-01-24 17:24:51
Z rolls 6 to Wits 4 + Stealth 2 (10 Again)
3, 7, 1, 2, 2, 3
failure

[Jmiland1]

Thank goodness for the recent spate of dry weather in Sacramento; touching the stick to the fence results in a definite jolt but not enough to even make her step back. If she'd touched it directly, however...

Well. She'd have to be relying on her rubber-soled boots to save her. The same boots which fail her as she's turning back into the brush, a momentary slip causing her to drop to one knee before scrambling behind some trees. There she waits, counting down until--

--there. Lights went off 150 seconds after first flashing on, and they weren't at all subtle about it. Tell you what, you can sink money into a security system, but you can't buy brains...

[Cozette]

Between the cold and the shock, damnit if I don't have to peeeeeeeee.

The fence doesn't thrill me. It's large enough that Karabas has to be putting a pretty dime into keeping it charged, which means he's actually serious about security.

Looking at adjacent houses and trees I try to see if there's somewhere I can 'bounce' from, otherwise I'll have to try to beat the fence and the motion sensors. On the plus side, it looks like the sensors are just lights and a possible alert inside.

Yes, yes, I do have to pee. Time to go.