[Summit] Another break in. & a little advice

Tue Dec 30 16:13:04 UTC 2008

Thank you for this update, Eliana. It is sad and frightening to hear. Your
advice is good.

On Tue, Dec 30, 2008 at 10:05 AM, Bresler E <breslerfamily at gmail.com> wrote:

> Right! but  I don't think watching houses & long range planning is the
> strong suit of window smashers.  For the real pros nothing matters, but we
> do what we can and hope most of the thieves are just druggies that want
> something to pawn NOW.
>
> What I really want to do is set up is booby traps to trip them and pour
> paint on their heads!
>
> But even those have their risks, as I've learned.
>
> When I was kid there was a problem with cash repeatedly disappearing, in
> our large apartment building (in NYC) We neighbors actually suspected the
> drunken superintendant, who had all our keys!!.   In those days before
> cheaper alarm systems, when we went on summer  vacation, my father stacked
> all our pots and pans by the door, pulled the door most of the way closed,
> and pulled the pots up close behind it. We told all our immediate neighbors
> to keep an ear out for crashing cook ware.
> Two weeks later we came home refreshed, and you got it- forgot all about
> the pot-alarm. My sister, lugging a heavy suitcase, swung the door open with
> gusto and the pot-alarm worked with great, clattering drama. The guy across
> the hall flew out his apartment door brandishing a bat, and just about the
> time we fed him cocoa and calmed him down, the police came crashing up the
> stairs, apparently summoned by an older neighbor who heard the pots & the
> yelling and sensibly declined to come out and risk her neck.
>
> We were a source of local humor for quit a while.
>
> Elianna
>
>
> On Tue, Dec 30, 2008 at 9:41 AM, James Barfoot <jimbarfoot at cox.net> wrote:
>
>> Anybody watching a house over time can identify a standard pattern of what
>> lights are left on/ what shades are drawn when you're away. Don't do the
>> same thing every time to have a predictable pattern.  Another possibility
>> - if you have an old TV that doesn't use much electricity, or a radio, put
>> that on a timer. That adds sound in an unpredictable pattern and the
>> flickering light a TV throws looks even more like someone is there. Plus, if
>> a room is mostly dark, but with a TV going, it is believable that someone is
>> in the room watching it.
>>
>> Still, giving the impression someone is at home is not a guarantee, only a
>> deterrent. Most theives will take the path of least resistance.
>>
>> Two men out hiking were confronted by a bear. They turned and ran, and the
>> bear started giving chase. One man said to the other, "Why are we running -
>> we can't outrun the bear!"  The other replied, "I don't have to outrun the
>> bear, I only have to outrun you!"
>>
>>
>>   On Dec 30, 2008, at 9:23 AM, Bresler E wrote:
>>
>>   Hello Neighbors,
>> Some friends of ours went away for a few days and when they returned
>> Monday evening they discovered their house had been robbed.
>> They live on Fourth just up from Miriam Hospital.
>> Entry was apparently gained by violently smashing some heavy sliding glass
>> doors. The glass broke into a million pieces like a car windshield but, with
>> out the film coating the glass- it went EVERYWHERE.  And the place was up
>> ended by the thieves searching. It's an awful feeling being invaded this
>> way.
>> But at least our friends are not popular consumer types, so there was no
>> ipod, TV or stereo to take; the computer was apparently too old for the
>> thieves's tastes.
>> However, besides the invasion,  there are things gone, and they are afraid
>> of what they haven't missed yet, a phenomenon they unfortunately discovered
>> when their car was robbed on a trip to Newport, just a few months back.
>> *
>> Focusing on Prevention* (Our neighborhood currently HAS a problem.) This
>> is NOT about blame but Information.  Their house was dark.  Another friend
>> of ours was thoroughly robbed last month- also had no lights left on.  While
>> we certainly SHOULD be able to safely leave our houses dark & unattended, a
>> little light goes a long way to make thieves hesitate.
>>
>> The best method is a light timer, or two or three.  For those not
>> familiar- Home Depot sells them for ten bucks or less.  It's a a small boxy
>> thing you plug into an out let or power strip. Then you plug a lamp into
>> it.  You set the time of day on it's clock, and then you set what hours you
>> want the lamp to come on & go off.  There is an over ride on the side, so
>> you can leave the thing operative, but temporarily turn the lamp on or off
>> contrary to the program.  (Although frequent over-riding sometimes knocks
>> the clock off schedule- So big deal, reset it once or twice a month) A
>> friend also puts a radio on low on one of these timers when going out of
>> town.
>>
>>  Put one timer in some front room with curtained windows easily seen from
>> the street, one in another first floor room, and a just night light in a
>> bathroom somewhere-- and the house looks occupied-- anytime you are out,
>> with nothing to arrange as you go.
>> (But be sure your drapes or whatever are closed so they can't see in and
>> tell that no one is there)
>>
>> These timers are also available for wall-switch operated over-heads, but
>> need to be installed by an electrician.  (Be careful what kind you get-
>> after we had one installed we discovered ours will not operate with energy
>> saver bulbs used in our five bulb fixture!!)
>>
>> Of course an alarm system works but it is expensive and you have to
>> remember to use it.  But until we catch these guys, we have to do what we
>> can to discourage them.
>>
>> Elianna
>>
>> --
>> FISHEL BRESLER'S KLEZMER & HASSIDIC MUSIC -
>> funded in part by a Folk Arts Fellowship grant from the RI State Council
>> on the Arts.
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>>
>
>
> --
> FISHEL BRESLER'S KLEZMER & HASSIDIC MUSIC -
> funded in part by a Folk Arts Fellowship grant from the RI State Council on
> the Arts.
> If you don't already receive emailings for upcoming events
> & would like to, just let us know & we'll add you to the list.
> www.matchbook.org/ArtistProfile1.aspx?ProfileId=302
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