Home Security

I previously wrote an entry on managing danger that focused on being out and about. What about home security?

Like so many other things in life, if you remain a Free Man, home security is less complicated. You only have to worry about your own protection and you don't have to worry about protecting anyone else, save your temporary guests.

If you have the means, having 24/7/365 armed security on-site is going to provide the most security. Few people can have that, though. Likewise with living in a walled, gated compound.

The bad news is, if someone really, really wants to get into your home, they can, especially if they are people of means. The good news is it is becoming easier and easier to increase your home security, which will discourage potential malefactors, buy you some time to protect yourself if they are getting in, and can capture evidence for prosecution.

What you should do depends on things like where you live, what is in your home, and who might try to get into it and why. If you live on a rural farm it's a far different matter than living in a major city or an adjacent suburb.

Asia Leeshawn Ferguson – Darwin Award Candidate

I feel for this guy’s family, but I will not refrain from calling him an idiot. In this Atlanta Journal-Constitution article by Rhonda Cook and Marcus Garner, we read how he died.

The popular "Batman the Ride" rollercoaster at Six Flags Over Georgia remained closed Sunday while authorities continued investigating the death of a teenager who jumped over two fences and was struck by the ride.

I bet the family still gets a settlement or at least tries to.

The 17-year-old South Carolina teen who died was identified as Asia Leeshawn Ferguson, of Springfield, S.C.

Didn’t even make it to 18.

Signs about 40 to 50 feet apart on the outer fence warn that it is a "restricted area" for "authorized personnel only."

According to park officials, a sign on a locked gate at the chain link fence also reads "Danger zone" and "Do not enter."

Ferguson was decapitated when the ride struck him, police said.

Pleasant, huh?

Pierce said there were many witnesses, and the county's 911 center was almost immediately flooded with calls from people reporting what they had seen.

Somebody’s going to need counseling.

Being a former theme park employee, I know that the parks go to extremes to protect people. But there’s always going to be someone who is going to kill themselves through their own stupidity. Deaths involving rides are rare enough that they always make the national news, and most of those deaths are caused by customer mistakes, not operator error, mechanical failure, or design flaw. You are probably safer in the theme park than you are getting there. I firmly believe in “rider responsibility” as long as they have access to information about the ride and what kind of stresses it puts on the body.

This guy wasn’t even on the ride, though. He was trespassing. There was no excuse to go where he did, except to save someone else’s life.

Another example of how not following the rules can be deadly.