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The handy-dandy stalker-net

Thom says I'm a stalker. He can't remember giving me his email address and I admit, I don't think he did. A few years had passed since our dating days in '98 and I was curious where he was and what he was up to. So sometime in 1999 or 2000 I looked him up and sent him a brief email. "What's up? Remember me?" And then for the next 6 or 7 years we exchanged an annual email with simple details and quick hellos.

I can't help it if he fell in love with me in early 2007.

Ok, ok ... so he insists that I stalked him WELL before those emails. One random day in Schenectady, NY I stopped to fill up my tank on my way to work and exchanged a flirtatious hello with the man behind the counter. I was all smiles the rest of the day! And, well ... he worked in a public place so I stopped by ... a lot. I don't exactly call that stalking! Just ... admiring? If I had followed him home or found out the name of his cat - sure, you could say I was a stalker! But I hadn't. Nope. I simply waited for him to get out of work one night and attacked him in the parking lot. That's all.

We dated a few months, broke up mutually, emailed annually, reconnected for some coffee 9 years later and then got married .... isn't that how all relationships happen?

While I admit to my part in "stalking" him it seems a waste to have so much information at our fingertips and not use it! For instance (now that I'm not looking for a husband) if I post an ad to sell baby stuff and get a reply I'll google the stranger I'm about to meet. It just makes sense. And, honestly, do you REALIZE how easy it is to get information on someone!?

It's VERY easy! If they're plugged into the mainstream sites you can find just about anything! Here's what happened this morning:

I was innocently dreaming about owning a house so I took a look at a few places for sale on a website from our county newspaper. After finding a cute house neighboring some friends of ours I thought I'd get more details. Besides the newspaper, our county has property records online (most counties do ... check it out!). It tells me who owns what and how much it's worth. So I found the names of owners of this cute house and typed it into google and viola! A facebook page and a campaign website at my fingertips ... I now have a phone number, how many children he has, his birthday, his wife, what he's interested in based on his "pages" .... honestly it's scary! I didn't intend to find this much information ... but there it is.

If I was a con artist in addition to being a stalker ... wow! I'd have quite a career!

I guess I'm sharing all this to say - Be careful what you allow other people to see on your Facebook page. Change your settings people! There are a bunch of crazies out there and I'm apparently at the top of the list!

Comments

Anonymous said…
Wow. If I ever need a P.I., I know who to come to!
7:33 PM, September 22, 2009
andrea said…
should i be scared?...

AH who am I kidding? You already know all my juicy secrets!
9:56 PM, September 22, 2009
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