Well I don't know about you people BUT I have been extremely busy :)
So remember my last post where I got to be a ninja and was possibly on Asian TV?? WELL I got to do him again! This time I got permission to use a second investigator...the best of the best was given to me. I was actually pretty scared, this meant another oldie to impress.
So well he was late, and we didn't even see the person I had to watch enter the building...so I canvassed the area including the bike parking lot and just my luck his motorbike wasn't even there...so we canvassed the car park attached to the building he was in...not there...finally as a last resort we checked the floor level and we observed him inside. So we came to the conclusion that he drove and he parked his car inside the car park attached to the building. Thus I moved my car inside this car park and the 2nd agent moved theirs to a 5 minute loading zone (he was there for half an hour) after the hour I got the phone call advising what he was wearing and that he was departing, also that he told the rehab provider that he walked from MADEUPSUBURB to the appointment...yeh well he said that last time so pffft. I called the 2nd investigator and he was like ok cool "GET OUT OF YOUR CAR HE's ON FOOT!"
Gosh Darnit!
So I bolt from my car and run down the side street and see the 2nd Investigator pointing in the direction he went and then get back in his car....do you know how hard it is to film whilst running talking on the phone...yeh it doesn't work. So the routine is sprint up the hill-stop-film-sprint across busy traffic-stop film-he stops at an ATM-catch your breath, then film-bolt up another hilly main road-stop-duck-hide-film. I did this for about 6km...(thanks to an Iphone app I know this) followed him all the way to MADEUPSUBURB where he then got into an old crappy vehicle!! The 2nd investigator whistled for me to get in so I ran for the passenger seat before he could reverse and see me. We then followed this tricky (insert mean B word) all around the city, and I mean around the outskirts and then through it and then around it and out again, and then through tunnels around beaches. We went through 5 red lights, the wrong way up a one way, did 80 in a 50 zone, and pretty much cut a lot of people off (apologies if one of those persons was you) we managed to do this until he finally settled into his residence..located here was his bike along with another vehicle.
Would have loved to have stayed and watched him a while but my other investigator had his own work to get on with...which he mentioned A LOT...so I was like hmm well ok so I got dropped off at another adjoining suburb and he departed. I got to catch a ferry back to the city...first time for everything in this gig. Was quite nice actually.
The good thing about working with established investigators is that they have a heck of a lot more contacts that they feel free to give when you ask certain questions so have made some queries and cross fingers something new comes up :)
Helped another investigator today...didn't get to meet him though. I took care of the city stuff and was asked to catch the train back with her. So I did. Pity, he seemed really nice. Hopefully will work with him again.
In other news the weather is perfect right now for surveillance! It's summer and it is raining! How awesome is that! Also if you haven't seen the movie Warhorse...I suggest you do, I know it has nothing related to surveillance but it's a really good movie.
Stay cool!
Bunny
xx
Wednesday 25 January 2012
Friday 13 January 2012
The Tenth One
If you are sitting at home later today or tonight watching television or even tuning into some news on your laptop and you find yourself watching some Asian television or Asian news show and you find yourself listening intently into what the Asian reporter has to say and you see in the background some random female climbing a fence and then crawling through bushes and disappearing....it'll be me.
I had to cover a rehab appointment in town today for the purposes of getting an ID shot and "housing" him (i.e. following the person to their residence so that we know where this person lives) It was great fun as I got to meet the rehab chick and hear what she had to say which proved interesting as she said that this male was complaining because he had to drive to an area and then catch a train in to where the rehab was. However the client was adamant that this person would drive in since he was making such a fuss about having to find parking and driving so far from a different area not mentioned before. So to sum up, this person in my books is "full dodge". I wanted to use a second investigator, purely because if he did drive then two people can follow, or if he caught public transport then one investigator can go with him on the public transport and the other can drive and meet up at the station this person departed at. However I had to fly solo on this one.
So I rock up as per usual just over an hour before the allotted time, see the rehab provider and then find myself a nice stack out on the main street with the best possible view.
With situations like these, ALWAYS go with your gut instinct. I nabbed this guy straight away, I saw him walk towards rehab place, and away from it and getting his coffee then returning to the rehab place. My gut instinct was proved correct when reception called me and confirmed his attendance and his attire. He was in there for a little over an hour before I got a phone call saying "He's in the lift, and you'll have a long walk ahead of you since he told us that he parked his car in *insert a cool suburb name here". So keeping cool and blending in as best as you can I filmed this person departing and then walking and turning left to walk up a hill, I'm once again glad I trusted my gut instinct and stayed where I was as he kept looking around (so much for a neck injury) and then turned around and walked back the way he came, crossed the road and then right into a mass car park or should I say motorcycle-park. From the road there was no great vantage point so with quick thinking I raced up a ramp that leads away from the area. At the top of this ramp is a great fence, or wall type thing with LOTS of bushes and greenery...I think maybe flowers bloom from these weird green leaves but I'm not a green thumb so wouldn't know...As I was doing this a camera crew and an Asian reporter pointing the camera in my direction were setting up, I climbed the fence and watched as all the people around me wondered what the f*@k I was doing and were all probably thinking I was crazy or suicidal since it's a long drop back to the ground. I crawled through the bushes and got a great view of the guy below me and filmed him as he attended to his MOTORBIKE! Who the hell claiming a neck injury rides a motorbike! Safe to say even if I tried following this person I would lose him given he can go through the heavy traffic with ease and leave me fuming way behind. So I was kinda freaking out as I was so sure this person was going to look up and see me just chilling there filming him. But he didn't he was to preoccupied manoeuvring his bike out from others and then stalling it as he tried to leave. Was pretty funny actually. What was even funnier was when I was making my way back through the buses and the camera pointed in my direction with the reporter talking into the camera on the microphone, and then me jumping off the wall and a little kid going "WHOAH where'd she come from!" Ninja surprise for the week...check!
Client loved me. She was overly ecstatic about what I captured and advised me to return to the rehab chick and confirm my dude, and also informed me that I need to come back on a certain date to cover him again...but NOW she wants two investigators! Wish I had my motorbike licence, would be AWESOME to try and follow.
Back in the rehab place I provided what to these people was the best ending to a Friday afternoon ever! They actually even got excited, I guess to these people this is the coolest thing ever. To me it's exciting but just another day in the office, but it is enjoyable...especially when you get to be a Ninja.
Hope you all get to have a great weekend!
I'll be working! Cross fingers for cool weather!
Bunny
xx
I had to cover a rehab appointment in town today for the purposes of getting an ID shot and "housing" him (i.e. following the person to their residence so that we know where this person lives) It was great fun as I got to meet the rehab chick and hear what she had to say which proved interesting as she said that this male was complaining because he had to drive to an area and then catch a train in to where the rehab was. However the client was adamant that this person would drive in since he was making such a fuss about having to find parking and driving so far from a different area not mentioned before. So to sum up, this person in my books is "full dodge". I wanted to use a second investigator, purely because if he did drive then two people can follow, or if he caught public transport then one investigator can go with him on the public transport and the other can drive and meet up at the station this person departed at. However I had to fly solo on this one.
So I rock up as per usual just over an hour before the allotted time, see the rehab provider and then find myself a nice stack out on the main street with the best possible view.
With situations like these, ALWAYS go with your gut instinct. I nabbed this guy straight away, I saw him walk towards rehab place, and away from it and getting his coffee then returning to the rehab place. My gut instinct was proved correct when reception called me and confirmed his attendance and his attire. He was in there for a little over an hour before I got a phone call saying "He's in the lift, and you'll have a long walk ahead of you since he told us that he parked his car in *insert a cool suburb name here". So keeping cool and blending in as best as you can I filmed this person departing and then walking and turning left to walk up a hill, I'm once again glad I trusted my gut instinct and stayed where I was as he kept looking around (so much for a neck injury) and then turned around and walked back the way he came, crossed the road and then right into a mass car park or should I say motorcycle-park. From the road there was no great vantage point so with quick thinking I raced up a ramp that leads away from the area. At the top of this ramp is a great fence, or wall type thing with LOTS of bushes and greenery...I think maybe flowers bloom from these weird green leaves but I'm not a green thumb so wouldn't know...As I was doing this a camera crew and an Asian reporter pointing the camera in my direction were setting up, I climbed the fence and watched as all the people around me wondered what the f*@k I was doing and were all probably thinking I was crazy or suicidal since it's a long drop back to the ground. I crawled through the bushes and got a great view of the guy below me and filmed him as he attended to his MOTORBIKE! Who the hell claiming a neck injury rides a motorbike! Safe to say even if I tried following this person I would lose him given he can go through the heavy traffic with ease and leave me fuming way behind. So I was kinda freaking out as I was so sure this person was going to look up and see me just chilling there filming him. But he didn't he was to preoccupied manoeuvring his bike out from others and then stalling it as he tried to leave. Was pretty funny actually. What was even funnier was when I was making my way back through the buses and the camera pointed in my direction with the reporter talking into the camera on the microphone, and then me jumping off the wall and a little kid going "WHOAH where'd she come from!" Ninja surprise for the week...check!
Client loved me. She was overly ecstatic about what I captured and advised me to return to the rehab chick and confirm my dude, and also informed me that I need to come back on a certain date to cover him again...but NOW she wants two investigators! Wish I had my motorbike licence, would be AWESOME to try and follow.
Back in the rehab place I provided what to these people was the best ending to a Friday afternoon ever! They actually even got excited, I guess to these people this is the coolest thing ever. To me it's exciting but just another day in the office, but it is enjoyable...especially when you get to be a Ninja.
Hope you all get to have a great weekend!
I'll be working! Cross fingers for cool weather!
Bunny
xx
Tuesday 3 January 2012
The Ninth One
Well today I don't know about you guys.... BUT I got pretty personal with the cows.
Oh and goats!
I was hell country today! Besides the hot car, no shade, and awkward vantage point it was pretty sweet hearing the buzzing of tiny bugs compared to honking horns and annoying nosey neighbours. The place I had to help out another investigator today was situated on some very large acreage. The current investigator was having not much luck with the job and needed some help. Being a rural job you can't sit in their street...it's way to obvious! If you feel like getting made on a rural job then yeh sure go park in their street....otherwise you need to determine the best likely route an individual would take if they departed their residence and take a vantage point in that area. With this case there were two possibilities. However this works best when you have vehicle makes/models and registrations...Like I said the current investigator wasn't having much luck.
So it's 0530am it's dark, slightly warm (not so great, this means a very warm day in the car) and the cows and animals are starting to make noises. So I decide, hey I grew up on a farm, I can see at least see three different vehicle in the distance...I'll ninja my way in and give it a crack.
Let me tell you that as I found an opening on one of the paddocks, and sprinted to each tree that provided a lot of cover, my heart was racing. I thought my heart was going to beat out of my chest and I'd get caught for sure when I had to sprint at least 600 metres and expose myself until I could get to the closest tree that allowed me to zoom in on my camera to obtain all the details I needed. Once I reached the tree and got what I set out for I was pretty happy with myself, it's almost like you let your guard down and you suddenly realise...I have to run back now. I didn't even bother taking to the trees, I just ran what felt like the 2km back to the safety of my car. I actually managed to say sorry to the cows when I ran past, if any one saw me, I'm sure they would have gotten a great laugh out of it. The other investigator was seriously laughing a lot at my expense. But what I did definitely paid off, I got to do two vehicle follows! All before 9am! So bonus!
I love getting all the action instead of just sitting there waiting. The people I followed turned out to be someone much younger and some one else not even the correct sex. But hey we now know that the person we need quite possibly drives the 3rd vehicle so we know what to look out for now.
I hope you all had a great Christmas and New Years! My festive days were spent out working, and like I expected I got some great footage...ok serious question here...what's with bogans socialising out the front of their houses? It's like hey I'm not complaining cos it means I get great footage opportunities but it's a bit odd don't you think? We have back yards for a reason. But hey keep it up, cos filming you is quite a pleasure.
Oh! I finished that person off before Christmas, the one I previously mentioned was very surveillance aware and other people had been made before the even had a chance! And I full got great footage! Didn't get made at all! At first when this person left her house with what I'm assuming were her parents, she didn't seem to have a clue, and I gave her plenty of space as I followed her to all the different towns as she shopped for the countless Christmas presents. Was great! On the journey back, I managed to do a front follow and she remained 5 cars behind me all the way back to her house, I beat her home by only a few seconds and managed to park my car in the same vantage point before she drove into her street...then things got weird.
She drove over the top of me (i.e. came from behind me and over took) and then reverse parked her car in the same place it was before she departed, I was leaning so far back that I had to hold my camera up just to see...but then she drove off.
My stomach did a flip, and my head was telling me to "follow, follow, follow" but I didn't. I trusted my gut. And I'm glad I did because the next thing I know, she is driving back towards me. I crouched further down and didn't even want to risk looking up to see. I sneakily held up my camera, and watched as she again reverse parked in her usual spot. I think it was a ploy to see if I would follow her, so I'm glad I trusted my gut. Because she was again care free and carried countless boxes back into her residence! SO boo yah! Love life! Gotcha! haha!
Well, hope that this year brings you all great things! I'm off tomorrow to spend my day in a hallway! Wish me luck!
Bunny
xx
Oh and goats!
I was hell country today! Besides the hot car, no shade, and awkward vantage point it was pretty sweet hearing the buzzing of tiny bugs compared to honking horns and annoying nosey neighbours. The place I had to help out another investigator today was situated on some very large acreage. The current investigator was having not much luck with the job and needed some help. Being a rural job you can't sit in their street...it's way to obvious! If you feel like getting made on a rural job then yeh sure go park in their street....otherwise you need to determine the best likely route an individual would take if they departed their residence and take a vantage point in that area. With this case there were two possibilities. However this works best when you have vehicle makes/models and registrations...Like I said the current investigator wasn't having much luck.
So it's 0530am it's dark, slightly warm (not so great, this means a very warm day in the car) and the cows and animals are starting to make noises. So I decide, hey I grew up on a farm, I can see at least see three different vehicle in the distance...I'll ninja my way in and give it a crack.
Let me tell you that as I found an opening on one of the paddocks, and sprinted to each tree that provided a lot of cover, my heart was racing. I thought my heart was going to beat out of my chest and I'd get caught for sure when I had to sprint at least 600 metres and expose myself until I could get to the closest tree that allowed me to zoom in on my camera to obtain all the details I needed. Once I reached the tree and got what I set out for I was pretty happy with myself, it's almost like you let your guard down and you suddenly realise...I have to run back now. I didn't even bother taking to the trees, I just ran what felt like the 2km back to the safety of my car. I actually managed to say sorry to the cows when I ran past, if any one saw me, I'm sure they would have gotten a great laugh out of it. The other investigator was seriously laughing a lot at my expense. But what I did definitely paid off, I got to do two vehicle follows! All before 9am! So bonus!
I love getting all the action instead of just sitting there waiting. The people I followed turned out to be someone much younger and some one else not even the correct sex. But hey we now know that the person we need quite possibly drives the 3rd vehicle so we know what to look out for now.
I hope you all had a great Christmas and New Years! My festive days were spent out working, and like I expected I got some great footage...ok serious question here...what's with bogans socialising out the front of their houses? It's like hey I'm not complaining cos it means I get great footage opportunities but it's a bit odd don't you think? We have back yards for a reason. But hey keep it up, cos filming you is quite a pleasure.
Oh! I finished that person off before Christmas, the one I previously mentioned was very surveillance aware and other people had been made before the even had a chance! And I full got great footage! Didn't get made at all! At first when this person left her house with what I'm assuming were her parents, she didn't seem to have a clue, and I gave her plenty of space as I followed her to all the different towns as she shopped for the countless Christmas presents. Was great! On the journey back, I managed to do a front follow and she remained 5 cars behind me all the way back to her house, I beat her home by only a few seconds and managed to park my car in the same vantage point before she drove into her street...then things got weird.
She drove over the top of me (i.e. came from behind me and over took) and then reverse parked her car in the same place it was before she departed, I was leaning so far back that I had to hold my camera up just to see...but then she drove off.
My stomach did a flip, and my head was telling me to "follow, follow, follow" but I didn't. I trusted my gut. And I'm glad I did because the next thing I know, she is driving back towards me. I crouched further down and didn't even want to risk looking up to see. I sneakily held up my camera, and watched as she again reverse parked in her usual spot. I think it was a ploy to see if I would follow her, so I'm glad I trusted my gut. Because she was again care free and carried countless boxes back into her residence! SO boo yah! Love life! Gotcha! haha!
Well, hope that this year brings you all great things! I'm off tomorrow to spend my day in a hallway! Wish me luck!
Bunny
xx
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