Thank you for this update, Eliana. It is sad and frightening to hear. Your advice is good.<br><br>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, Dec 30, 2008 at 10:05 AM, Bresler E <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:breslerfamily@gmail.com">breslerfamily@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="PADDING-LEFT: 1ex; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid">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.<br>
<br>What I really want to do is set up is booby traps to trip them and pour paint on their heads!<br><br>But even those have their risks, as I've learned.<br><br>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.<br>
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.<br>
<br>We were a source of local humor for quit a while.<br><br>Elianna
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<div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, Dec 30, 2008 at 9:41 AM, James Barfoot <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:jimbarfoot@cox.net" target="_blank">jimbarfoot@cox.net</a>></span> wrote:<br>
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<div>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.
<div>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.</div>
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<div>Still, giving the impression someone is at home is not a guarantee, only a deterrent. Most theives will take the path of least resistance.</div>
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<div>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!"<br>
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<div>On Dec 30, 2008, at 9:23 AM, Bresler E wrote:</div><br></div></div>
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<div>Hello Neighbors,<br>Some friends of ours went away for a few days and when they returned Monday evening they discovered their house had been robbed.<br>They live on Fourth just up from Miriam Hospital.<br>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.<br>
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. <br>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.<br>
<b><br>Focusing on Prevention</b> (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. <br>
<br>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. <br>
<br> 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.<br>
(But be sure your drapes or whatever are closed so they can't see in and tell that no one is there)<br><br>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!!)<br>
<br>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.<br><br>Elianna<br clear="all"><br>-- <br>FISHEL BRESLER'S KLEZMER & HASSIDIC MUSIC -<br>
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