I believe we get these gut feelings for a reason. There are times past I ignored them and later regretted it. I would have called the police. It's better to be wrong, embarrassed and apologize than you seeing or your neighbors seeing the coroner driving up. This day in age we can’t be too careful.

Gavin De Becker wrote a book called "The Gift of Fear" that deals with gut feelings and intuition and how we try to talk and reason ourselves out of feeling uneasy by explaining it away... and how that can be a big mistake.   You need to listen to the inner voice that is trying to protect you.... call the police and have them patrol a few times around your neighborhood today.

Smokey I agree with Job and ragmop you cannot be too cautious in situations like that and it is better to be safe than sorrry. 

Oh and Ragmop I am going to look on Amazon for that book today, Lord knows I have enough fears and doubts right now that I need help dealing with. 

you should have called 911 and reported a suspicious man. If you live in Tehachapi Police Chief Kermode would have been thrilled to send 4 cop cars with 8 policemen and  Gomer and Barney over to handle the situation with flack jackets on and guns drawn....................lol

Really...... call the cops next time. I would have either went outside and ask him what he was doing or I would have called the cops if I felt he was up to something. If he looked out of place he probably is....................

p.s. I think the Tehachapi Police look retarded when they wear the tan cowboy hats with their blue uniforms..........

Ragmop, I was going to recommend the read the same book. It was required reading in a women's self defense course that I took last year... it taught me a lot about myself and other people. I highly recommend reading it.

The Gift of Fear by Gavin De Becker. Seventy copies used and new are currently available from Amazon, starting at $4.78/each.

http://www.amazon.com/Gift-...

Smokey, if he was sitting on an electrical box, it was likely in a neighbor's front yard and that is not public property, it is private property... all the more reason to call the police. I recommend that you go with your gut and call the police or the sheriff's department.

Also, here's the link to find registered sex offenders. You can either enter "Tehachapi, CA" or "93561" in the zip code area, then you can view it as either a map or as a list.

http://www.nsopr.gov/

Best of luck to you, Smokey.

Wow. Paranoia abounds. Did it not occur to your husband or yourself to maybe just ask what he was doing there? If you didn't like his answer, then maybe consider calling law enforcement. There could be many plausible reasons why he was there and he may have gladly told you that.

Sure Joty, and right after you ask him that, he pulls out a gun or knife and kills you. That's not paranoia, that is wisdom.

Well, he lingered for about 15 minutes after we saw him there. Standing with his arms crossed looking ever so friendly.  I convinced my husband it was safe to leave me there and off he went, I sat, waiting, watching, and then he was gone a few moments later.

I have, however, been looking out my windows and when I was out playing in my backyard garden my ipod wasn't half as loud as it usually is. I like to think he was just some guy getting a ride to work, his dumb friend couldn't navigate well so he said pick me up on the corner, and he just got there way too early. Though as ragmop said, that could just be explaining the uneasy feeling away.

Of course it occured to me Joty to just ask him, though, that didn't seem like a great idea. He didn't seem very approachable and if he did happen to be a lunatic I'd rather not be within his swinging/grasping distance

I haven't heard of that website before but I always use this one http://www.familywatchdog.u... I think they're very similar sites.

I was surprised that everyone pretty much said the same thing, call the police. ( I sure hope I don;t go jogging near any of your houses and stop to tie my shoe and take too long,LOL I'd have a swat team on me in moments) Maybe there is something about sunlight that gives me a false sense of security, surely if he had been there at 4am I would have called someone. You are all right though, you really can't be too careful these days.  I'll be keeping my eyes open more than usual which surely is a good thing.

lol Job...you must be a city boy.

Why didn't your husband ask? 

There's nothing wrong with being aware and cautious, just remember - just cuz you're paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't out to get ya! lol....

City boy? LOL. What does that have to do with it? I may live in the city now but I'm a life time country boy and I can hardly wait to move back to the country. My dad has been in the country all his life and he still keeps a double barrel shotgun at the front door. You don't think strangers and crime exist in the country?

My husband didn't ask cuz he was already late for work and we really didn;t think that was necessary or even a smart decision. That's kind of like walking up to a bear to find out if it's friendly.

The dude was either going to wander off, or he was going to come closer, in which case, i probably would have taken every ones advice and called the police. I'm not one to call the police for something I don't feel is serious. Was he suspicious and in a place he didn't belong.........yeah, but I didn't feel that alone warranted sending tehachapi's finest over to see him. I wouldn't appreciate someone calling them on me either. Even though I am one of the few people that wouldn;t have jumped to call the police,  you still call me paranoid hee hee lol  Maybe you're right haha  but if being paranoid keeps me from being robbed/raped/hacked to death or some other such fate, bring it on

Sounds to me like he was waiting for someone.  Probably wanted to go to work himself.  A guy can't wait around for his ride without folks assuming he's an ax murderer?  I'd say paranoia is a good description of what you were feeling.

PD why would a stranger wait out side your house waiting for a ride to work..............................I know who lives on my street and if I saw a stranger hanging out in front of my house I would be suspicious of that stranger. Neighborhood watch is all about knowing who belongs in your neighborhood and who does not belong. Reporting suspicious people and activity is not out of line. Like I said in a earlier comment ....If someone looks out of place they probably are. 

PD could be right here, check it out tomorrow. We have gut feelings for a reason though.