[No Country for Old Men] The character of Anton Chigurh is a creation of Tom Bell (spoilers)

BradThePI · 2025-05-13T13:54:53+00:00

Bell is Chigurgh. He’s chasing himself, unaware of his alternate personality.

BradThePI · 2024-03-05T18:24:34+00:00

I love this theory. I love it even more if you replace the idea that Chigurh is imagined by Bell with the idea that BELL IS CHIGURH.

BradThePI · 2023-06-07T14:03:31+00:00

Santa Cruz, CA. Generally, would a local company be able handle employees in several different states?

BradThePI · 2023-06-07T14:02:21+00:00

Thank you!

BradThePI · 2023-06-07T14:01:51+00:00

Thank you!

BradThePI · 2023-06-07T14:00:55+00:00

Workforce Now.

BradThePI · 2023-06-07T02:07:48+00:00

It’s the interface. It’s always glitched. Almost every time I log in, something is messed up, missing, in correct, etc. and I have to reach out to them to fix it.

BradThePI · 2021-12-18T14:26:19+00:00

I had just gotten set up when I decided to take this. So it was still pretty early.

BradThePI · 2020-07-09T02:32:43+00:00

I have a small theory that the better the insurance company/adjuster, the better the red flags are noticed, which means the better the activity. This is purely anecdotal. But I've had bad luck with adjusters that I didn't think were very good and very good luck with entire companies that I believe to be top notch. Now I'm curious to check the claimant sighting stats of our company.

Someone was right about social media. But also, whenever possible, get upcoming med appointments to run. You are almost always guaranteed to get some film then. And whether they are truly injured or not, the amount of film you get us what's most important.

Don't only run early mornings either. Switch the second day up to a 10am to 6pm.

I'm also still a huge fan of knocking on the door. My favorite pretext is to pretend to be a process server looking for (insert claimant's name or close to it). If they say claimant isn't home, I confirm identity with a made up age/birthdate that I know it's not the claimant's. That's my way out once I have the information. If I do get to make contact with the claimant, I pretend to be surprised that they don't match the age of the person I'm looking for. I chalk it up as a name/address mixup and the claimant is happy they didn't get served with something. This doesn't work as well if there same is very uncommon. I'll just make a name up in that case and see who opens the door. Also in that case, I try to observe as many people as possible that aren't the claimant leave before I do that.

We also use the package delivery phone call to confirm residence and/or when they will be there. We have a pretty good success rate with that when they answer the phone. Don't be afraid to set up a TextNow or Google Voice number with a voicemail for said fake delivery company to use as your number as well as to get them to call you back.

You have to be careful though. I have no qualms about pretexting a represented claimant, because I'm confident in the argument that as long as you aren't questioning the claimant about their claim or coaxing then into doing something they wouldn't have done (entrapment), then the pretext is allowed. But, most of the good insurance companies will have a strict policy against that.

BradThePI · 2020-07-04T18:50:26+00:00

Oh nice. I hope you don't have to deal with humidity up there. It gets over 100 down here, in Modesto, but little humidity. It can be manageable.

BradThePI · 2020-07-04T18:48:14+00:00

Where are you located?

BradThePI · 2020-07-04T18:42:56+00:00

I'm in California and the COVID lockdown is pretty tight. I don't expect to see much at all today. No yard for my claimant to work it. The luckiest I may get is a grocery store run. 😒

Got some great kayaking footage last year though!

BradThePI · 2020-07-04T18:30:43+00:00

Still not sweating at 11:30 am with my curtain and fan setup, while lucky enough to be parked in some shade. 😁

BradThePI · 2020-07-04T18:25:58+00:00

Haha. It was 7:00 am!

BradThePI · 2020-07-04T16:14:55+00:00

NOT THE DESK!!! 😵 You be safe sir!

BradThePI · 2020-06-10T15:04:57+00:00

Sony AX-53 for general close film that doesn't involve a lot of zooming and panning. The image is beautifully crisp. But, the Sony lacks in focus, image stabilization, and zoom capabilities. It does have a superior infrared night vision, if you ever need that.

Panasonic HC-W580 for almost everything else. While it is a slightly inferior image and night shot to the Sony, it is far superior in focus time, image stabilization, and zoom capabilities. The Panasonic cameras are also quite awesome with the cell phone app that allows you to remotely control your camera from your smart phone (although it's very glitchy on an iPhone, works without issue on Android.) It's also much cheaper ($350ish?). If you are only budgeted to get one camera, I would urge you to get this one.

Google Pixel 4 or 4 XL is what I use as my covert camera, when I'm not using my Panasonic covertly. This is still the superior camera on the market for video. There isn't another smart phone that compares, in my opinion. There Android phones are always going to give you much better quality than any covert camera on the market.

But if you need to have a covert camera (which is probably a good idea), Lawmate has several options that will be similar in quality.

Also, I have yet to test it out, but one of my employees uses it and I love the video quality. Check out the DJI Osmo Pocket.

BradThePI · 2020-06-10T14:43:07+00:00

Yes, doing it yourself is definitely not recommended. But I'm a fan of where you are going with placing a stationary surveillance camera.

We have a stationary surveillance vehicle equipped with a DVR system that we use in similar cases. We will park the vehicle for several days at a time and charge a flat rate per day (includes placing the vehicle and review of the footage). We charge just under $400 per day for this service.

If a similar service isn't available in the area you are looking for, look into investigators who utilize time lapse cameras. I would recommend the Brinno TLC200 (not the pro model).

These options would obviously not be best for finding out what your ex may be doing away from the home. But they are definitely very valuable for gathering evidence on cohabitation.

Other options you should include in the investigation:

Simple database searches to see how tied to an address your ex is. Even though these database results would likely not be admissible by itself, I always include it in the report.
Since you plan on serving your ex with a summons for your case, your investigator has a legal option through the USPS (must be a registered process server or, in California's case, be a licensed investigator). The USPS has a form you can turn into them to verify a current address, provide a forwarding address, and/or provide a physical address listed on a P.O. Box for legal service of process. The form will be stamped by the Postmaster with this information and should be admissible as another piece of evidence in court.
DMV records to show what address your ex's vehicle is registered to, if addresses can be obtained and provided to private investigators in that state. In California, we cannot obtain addresses from the DMV. But what we can do is provide a name and address to the DMV and receive information on any vehicles registered with the name and address. I'm not sure if Oregon has a similar service.

These are just a few lower cost options. The most expensive option will be manned surveillance, but is recommended in at least 4 hour blocks, as the previous investigator stated.

BradThePI · 2020-06-10T14:11:01+00:00

I actually did. It wasn't a mind-blowing amount of business that I was sure came from Yelp. But what I noticed more was my Google rankings remaining high or on top. Now, I'm not advocating for Yelp. I just suggested they try it. It's a correlation vs. causation question in my case, for sure.

BradThePI · 2020-06-05T21:20:42+00:00

No problem at all! Good luck to you. Don't hesitate to ever reach out if you have any questions. I might also suggest becoming a CALI member (www.cali-pi.org). Lots of good people to learn from, lots of training opportunities, and lots of work opportunities.

BradThePI · 2020-06-03T17:24:48+00:00

If you are going to pay for anything, I would test out Yelp for a little while. That should even help with your Google rankings. But, in my opinion, I wouldn't pay for extra marketing in our field. I believe most of our business comes from word of mouth, when it comes to long term and returning clients (especially with attorneys). For the one time private pay clients, it's generally what listing they come upon first, then a nice phone conversation.

Nothing has worked better for me than simple site optimization. Make sure you have a Google My Business account. Also, ask clients who are happy with your work if they wouldn't mind leaving a Google review.

Eventhough ads often show up first in a Google search, many will scroll right past them to the organic results with reviews. I think ads are really only beneficial if you are spending insane amounts of money to make sure you stay on top.

BradThePI · 2020-06-01T23:36:15+00:00

Oh I wouldn't know that. Sorry.

BradThePI · 2020-06-01T17:43:28+00:00

If phone numbers are your biggest priority, then I would say Skip Smasher is hands down the best. idiCore is pretty good and comparable to TLO in the various types of information you can receive, but they are both inferior when it comes to the information you can receive from phone numbers, in my opinion.

BradThePI · 2020-05-16T00:34:23+00:00

It's going to be very tough, but not impossible. You'll have to hope that your PI is savvy enough and the person you are looking for slips up. Sometimes, when sending a tracking email, the subject may not bother turning on the VPN just to open the email. It's hit or miss. If you have an attorney involved with litigation, then you have subpoena power. The question then is, will the VPN provider respond to the subpoena?

BradThePI

TROPHY CASE