Hey guys. I’ve typed this intro 3 or 4 different times, just trying to find the right way to start. I guess there really isn’t one, so here goes nothing.
I live alone in an extremely small town of Wisconsin. I have 2 cats, Nubby and Snickers, and a German shepherd named Renzo. My house is small and old, but I remodeled it over the years and have alot of Smart Home features. My favorite one, and the main one of my concern, is the indoor cameras to watch all of my animals while I’m at work. I trust Renzo to behave but the cats always get into things they shouldn’t. It became an issue when I came home one day and found Nubby unresponsive. Took forever and a few thousand to figure out what was wrong and what had happened. They eventually blamed it on a fall, saying she must have climbed on top of the cabinets and since she doesn’t have a tail (hence the name), she just couldn’t stick the landing. She’s fine now, but doesn’t climb or jump on anything higher than the couch.
Anyway, don’t want to bore you with the animals. I work nights, and since I live alone and dont have much around town to do, I work alot of overtime. Usually 10pm to 10am (I get lucky with Renzo never having accidents while I’m gone for so long). The cameras were installed about two months ago, and I get notified of any motion detected higher than my waist would be. There’s one in the kitchen, living room, and entryway. Usually that means I just get notified of myself walking around, with a rare video of Snickers climbing the kitchen counters or Renzo jumping on the front door trying to peek out of the window every now and then. That’s almost no footage at all of my home during the night. Keep that in mind for a different day.
A few days after the cameras were installed, I got home and went to grab a beer before I crashed on the couch watching reruns of The Office. When I opened my beer, I dropped the cap and heard it clink and bounce to the floor and under the edge of the cabinets. I sighed and just stood there for a second. You know those tiny, insignificant moments that are just the last straw for the day? But, not wanting to step on it later, I bent down to find it. That’s when I noticed a few small blood drops, barely noticeable until I got close (my eyes were blurry from an extra long night). Instinctively, I reached up and touched my nose. No blood. Quick swipe of my face, no blood. Nothing on my shirt either. I remember being frustrated knowing I’d have to hunt all the animals down and give full inspections rather than just…sit. Barely exist until I fall asleep.
Nubby and Renzo looked fine, no cuts or dried blood in their fur. Snickers wouldn’t come out from under my bed, but I didn’t see any drops leading to her. I decided to check the camera app and see if maybe I missed a notification before I got home, like Snickers jumping off of the counter or something. Only had recordings of me grabbing the beer, then popping up from the floor to start my pet checks. I zoomed in on the first video to the floor, and I couldn’t see the blood drops…but on the second video, when I stood up, I saw them clear as day. I went into the bathroom and did a better inspection but there was absolutely nothing on me that could have caused those drops. I checked the videos again. The first one cut off right as I bent down. No blood, beer bottle cap in the middle of the tile. Beginning of the second video, I popped up, there was blood, and….the cap was closer to the right of the tile. Huh? I didn’t touch the cap. At this point I had forgotten I’d even dropped it. I brushed it off and assumed I must have nudged it, but was too distracted by the drops to notice. I left the bathroom and went back into the kitchen to clean up, and the drops were gone. So was the bottle cap. I glared at Renzo knowing he must have took matters into his own..paws, and one of the cats took the cap for me to find later. I was over it. Plopped on the couch and passed out before my TV even loaded up the Peacock app.
I woke up around 5pm to Renzo begging me to go outside. I let him out and went to the bathroom as well. When I came out, I remembered I desperately needed to do laundry before my next shift. Went to throw a load in, realized I was out of detergent. I opened the garbage can to throw out the empty tub, and noticed a Band-Aid wrapper in the trash. It seems small to you, but I knew I didn’t have a bandaid on. I couldn’t even remember where in the house I had a box of them, if any. I suddenly remembered the blood, and opened up my camera app again. If the garbage was opened, there HAD to be a video of it. The lid rises above my waist.
So why wasn’t there a video? There was one of me yesterday evening taking the trash out and replacing the bag..then just the two videos from this morning. Was someone in my house? Are the cameras malfunctioning and not recording everything it should be? Am I going crazy??
Before you make your assessments, I have a few more bizarre instances to tell you about. Quick ones are finding my toilet unflushed, (which I never forget to do), finding short hair on my shower drain even though my hair reaches my shoulders, and a fingernail clipping in the living room rug…but I bite my nails. Toenails get trimmed only in the bathroom, and immediately flushed. The longer stories I’ll have to get to tomorrow, my shift starts in 20 minutes so for now, can any of you help me think of reasons this is happening?