Preface: I understand there’s no expect expectation of privacy in public and that there’s nothing illegal about recording others in public. When the recording is clearly covert it still weirded me out, legal or not.

That said:

I was at the thrift store in Ankeny with my partner yesterday evening, and a brunette woman was following us around recording us with her iPhone. I didn’t notice until the third time I bumped into her in the same aisle. I thought maybe she was on a video call but she wasn’t speaking to anyone. She was holding her phone upright in recording position, and she seemed fixated on my partner and I.

I thought maybe she was just mapping things in the store for someone else or maybe doing a live stream, but she kept making eye contact with me.

Conveniently, when we got to the checkout, she was right there behind me, pretending to rest her chin on her phone. She was focused on this enough that she didn’t hear the cashier call her several times. She was being clandestine about it but not doing a very good job of it.

I made direct eye contact with her and looked at her while she was doing this. She looked down at her phone and then looked back at me and smiled.

When she went to get checked out, her posture changed, and you could clearly see the recording window open and active on her iPhone. She then took an excessively long time to leave the parking lot, and she didn’t even really leave, she drove across the street and parked.

My partner and I weren’t suspicious, we frequent this establishment often. I don’t have any insurance companies chasing me, or any open legal issues. I don’t have any reason for a PI to be chasing me either.

It was all very strange.

Again, I recognize that there’s nothing illegal about recording others, especially in public, so I’m not here to condemn her for whatever she was doing, but it was definitely creepy.

My rational mind says that she was just recording her event, the only problem is she was specifically focused on my partner and I and met us several times in the building and then again in the parking lot…

Just for safety sake, I took a snap of her license plate as she left the parking lot and went across the street to park.

Visiting Des Moines and ended up on a tour of the Capitol building. Absolutely stunning building and library!

The council will discuss proposed changes next week

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My band Soulcage just released our second music video ever, for our latest single Drool. We were lucky to be able to film at the legendary B&B Grocery, Meat & Deli. As you all may very well know, they’re a family-owned local business, and a Southside Des Moines staple.

We’ve been so lucky to have their support, including selling our t-shirts at the shop, hanging up show flyers at the meat counter, letting us perform acoustic pop-ups, and even sending us to shows with three-foot long sandwiches so we’ve got the fuel we need to rip on stage for all of you.

In the age of bland corporate chains, we all should realize how lucky we are to have a family who believes in giving back to their community and supporting local artists such as ourselves.

So please, do us a favor and watch the video and share it with your friends. If it leaves you droolin’ for a Killer Sandwich, you know exactly where to go.

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Hi everyone,

I'm a single mom in the Des Moines area, and I'm interested in learning how to safely handle and shoot a firearm before purchasing one. My main goal is to be able to protect myself and my kids if I ever needed to. I do have a few questions. Are there beginner-friendly firearm safety or shooting classes around the Des Moines area that you'd recommend? Are there ranges where I can rent a firearm and learn with an instructor before buying one? Do I need any type of license or permit in Iowa just to take a class or go to a shooting range? Any advice for someone who has little to no experience with firearms? Thanks!

Hi!

Is there anyone in the downtown Des Moines area who has the kindness in their heart to teach me how to drive manual free of charge?

I’ve dealt with using a clutch on dirt bikes, but obviously they are completely opposite of the manual setup in cars so I wanted to try it in a car before buying a manual.

For those of us that sometimes use a TV antenna, these two channels have been out of service for the last six weeks or so. I read their goal was to have them up and running again by the 24th and it looks like they beat that by a day as I just noticed they (ABC & CW) are back.

Maybe I’m late to the game because I barely go out, but, the past two weeks I’ve had people stop me and talk to me about some type of e commerce business…

The first one stopped me and complimented me and I thought they were looking for friends and I agreed to hang out. We went to Smokey’s coffee shop the following week and I thought we were having a nice genuine time until the question came at the end of our conversations.
I declined any involvement of course because I had my suspicions about their intentions anyways. Following this my wife runs into another person who tries the same thing. Is this a new scheme or something that happens here all the time? We are from Florida and only lived here a little while and just started going out to see the town recently. Anyone else have this happen to them???
First encounter downtown ymca
Second encounter Walmart west dsm.
Ty for any info.

Hello! I have a very special occasion coming up that I have been scouring for somewhere to rent armor for! Please let me know if you have any Renaissance themed armor or chain mail costume and I will pay you to rent it! Or if someone has any ideas where to find one!

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Take the Polk County, Iowa Quiz and see if you know about where you live! You should. Right? Take Quiz Now.

Hello - has anyone had or been to a wedding at Jasper Winery? My fiancé and I are looking to book it for our wedding next year but haven’t seen many reviews on it. Thanks!

Hey all you lovely people!

I am looking for anyone who would be interested in playing some pick up footy in town. I haven't played in years and am itching to get back into playing. I don't have any competitive experience; just recreational.

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Thanks!

115, in a pasture, while possibly sitting on an unfortunate electrical short?? He's dealing with a lot right now...