The Party Hog is an old schoolbus, painted pink and a whole raft of other colors proclaiming such things as "Hog Wild Racing" and other expressions of fandom for NASCAR. There's also an impressive collection of decals and bumper stickers, not to mention the Viewing Platform welded to the top. It can be found in the infield among high-dollar RVs and the like every time NASCAR comes to Texas, and has even been featured on both local and national news.

They pulled out and it got quiet until the doorbell rang mid-afternoon.  I was expecting the mail carrier, who knows it takes me a while to get to the door and is patient. Instead, I found a man starting down the walkway. He turned around as I opened the door, and every alarm bell in my head went off.

He asked if the SUV parked on the street somewhat closer to our house than the neighbor's belonged to me. "No," I replied and for just a split second, he looked disappointed. He took a couple of steps back toward the front door and I said, "I can hear you just fine; why don't you stay there." He then proceeded to tell he that he'd hit the car with the truck and wanted the owner to take a look at it. "I believe it belongs to the people next door. Why don't you try there." There was a pause, and I got the distinct impression he was thinking about rushing the door. I looked him straight in the eye and, apparently, he decided trying to do so would be a mistake.

I shut the door, then watched through the blinds. When he got to the sidewalk, he didn't go next door. He turned the other way, got into an old full-sized pick-up, and drove off.

Not exactly the kind of scare I like on Halloween.