The Pirates visited my house.

FAOL Community Sound Off
1

Sorry to steal my title from Coach Robb’s thread. About all I can do at this point is try and make light of the situation.

Last saturday night my wife and I decided to get out of the house for a while and went to see a play. We returned home at 11pm or so to find one of our cats sitting outside the front door. Quite strange, since none of the cats are allowed outside. Thank goodness he was too scared to go anywhere, probably would have been eaten by a coyote or an owl.

Upon entering the house we found the door leading to the garage open as well. Inside the garage was a pile of broken glass. Someone had smashed out the window of the back door and entered the house. They were already gone, and had taken their booty with them. First thing I noticed was the cameras. One was my digital. not particularly fancy, I use it for taking fishing and mountain biking photos. They also got my two 35mm SLR cameras. These weren’t worth a lot either, however one of them had been given to me by my late grandfather and the other was given to me by my father. Both were of far more value to me than the dollar amounts.

Upon closer inspection we found they had taken my alarm clock, (Who the h*ll steals an alarm clock??)our nice cordless drill (though they left the spare battery and charger that were sitting next to it.) my checkbook, a couple inexpensive watches, a couple of fishing tackle boxes (with a LOT of expensive fishing lures in them) and a few other smaller things. They also raided the fridge, eating a bowl of pudding and almost half a brick of Tillimook cheese. And they made of with half a case or so of beer.

They left behind all the [i]real[/] valuable things; guns, video game systems, computers, cell phones.

Over the following days we have been finding things here and there that we hadn’t yet noticed were missing. Last night I sat down to do a bit of fly tying only to discover that they had made off with my tying kit. It wasn’t valuable or anything, I think I paid $20 for the whole thing, vice and tools, etc. but it really ****** me off.
I guess now would be a good time to upgrade to a nice DanVise or something like that…

In the end, it was all just “stuff.” My wife and cats are okay and that’s what matters. It pains me to leave the house with her there alone now, although as an armed enforcement officer she is more than capable of taking care of herself. It’s hard to feel comfortable knowing that they were in there.

I’m by no means a confrontational or aggressive person, but were I to ever find out who did this, I don’t know what I would do. Quite possibly something that I would later regret.

The big stinker in all this is that we do not have renters insurance. I do, however, have the paperwork sitting on my desk to purchase it. Just hadn’t had the time to get it done. Guess I’d better make time now.

2

My sympathies are with you. I’m not violent either but I’m pretty sure I, too, would do something I’d regret.

Even though you don’t have renters’ insurance, keep a record of the worth of everything you lost. You can claim the loss on next year’s federal taxes.

3

First of all, you have very good taste in cheese, it appears the pirate does also. To me it is the envasion of the home which pains the most. The same thing happened to me over 20 years ago in Oregon…I still miss the little treasures that were gifts more than the items I purchased myself. If it is any help at all, I pain for you. Take care…time will help heel the wounds.

4

Bummer. That sense of being violated is always hard to get rid of.

But… It wasn’t us saltwater pirates that plundered ya. If anyone one of us saltwater pirates find the scurvey dogs that done ya wrong we’ll keel haul ‘em, squewer them on our cutlass’ and then take whats left of em and have em walk the plank.

Again, sorry for your loss.

jed

5

My sympathy is extended! I can relate, it is a very real sense of being violated. Have experienced the same multiple times. Once the police weren’t going to even come by until they found out guns were involved. Once we had the entire cabin burnt down by our “guest”. Fortunately no loss of life through it all. Hang in there, know how you feel.

Live each day as if it were your last, some day you’ll be right!

6

atomic_dog

Take every word that Jed said and I will add this. If one of the pirates catch the varmint we will not regret what is done to the varmints. I will promise that death would be something they beg for after the Dude’s pet gators got finished.

We have a lot of crime in our area it has started in the last year or so. We have the police come by at strange times but they crooks still come around. They stole 4 rose bushes from my front yard. They were stupid like yours were. They left a clay pot worth over 200$ but they stole 4 roses that I bought for my wife only 30 dollars worth of roses. But trust me if I find out who it was Jed get first crack at them and then Dude get to tease the gators with them.

You have my deepest condolence because it was your stuff and you will have to replace it. A good dog will help. Cats tend to look at the varmints and do nothing.

Harold

7

atomic_dog:

Beside the obvious, insurance; give yourself some peace of mind and invest in an alarm system if the owner of your property will permit it.

Today you can get an alarm for little or no installation fee and monthly monitoring at less than most people are paying for cable TV. When you get your insurance you might even save a FEW $ if you have an alarm.

Take it from someone who has made a living in the industry, DO NOT feel compelled to do every window and door in the place despite what the salesmen tells you. Most burglaries occur through the front door of a dwelling so even a basic system of a few doors and a motion sensor will make you 1000% safer than doing nothing at all. If you are renting, you can move the system if you do, or possibly sell it to the landlord.

Just a quick story to emphasize the point: when I lived in NYC, my own “alarmed apartment” was never burgled even though 8 of 15 other flats in my building were. Also, none of the post-burgled apartments that I installed an alarm in was ever re-burgled. Thieves that are looking for targets USUALLY choose the easiest ones.

Another tip: if you have goodies worth stealing like a quiver of good rods, keep it to yourself. It stinks not to be able to brag but “loose lips…”

Good luck whatever you do.

[This message has been edited by Bamboozle (edited 23 March 2006).]

8

Jed and Harold,

Since I’m a couple hundred miles inland of the salty sea, it’ll be quite a voyage for you Pirates to avenge this slight upon your piraty names.
However, the mighty Columbia runs from the Pacific to within 30 miles or so of my home, so rest assured that if the perpetrators are found they will be strung up and hung from the flag pole to await your arrival for some swift sea justice.

(I have no idea where all this pirate talk came from, but I’m enjoying it. )

Thanks for the kind words, all. I suspect more people than not have to deal with this issue at some point in their lives. Doesn’t make it any easier, though. It’s tough to pass another person I see around here now without wondering if they might have had something to do with it.

9

Atomic_dog, sorry to hear you were pillaged by obviously genetically defective thieves.

While it may be many long leagues from the Spanish Main to Fort Disappointment and other points along the Columbia; should you catch them, give us a call.

Don’t worry about the travel delays however. While sea justice is certain it does not have to be rapid.

aka Cap’n Yid.
Stev Lenon Trout Ski, 91B20 '68-'69
When the dawn came up like thunder

10

If the theif somehow had access to this site and read these threads, no doubt in my mind he-they, would be shiverring in their timbers!

11

What they said. You find him (them) and string 'em up. Let they twist in the wind and we’ll be there to take them down and give them the rest of their punishment. Might take us a couple of years to get there but if the smell doesn’t bother you we won’t mind.

jed

12

Since there was broken glass most likely the perp was young and new to the game. The sound of breaking glass is not a sound most theives like to make. The sound of breaking glass attracts to much attention unless way out in the woods. As example a dropped pot of soup in the middle of a restrant will attract a few dinners attention but a broken wine glass in the back room will get every head to turn. I have seen this first hand by dropping a pot of soup all over me at the salad bar and no one even noticed and yet later the sound of a broken wine glass back in the cooler 100 yards from the diners got almost every one attention. Most theives with any experince or that have done time would rather break down a door or pry open a window rather then break glass to get in to a house.
As stated always make you homes and cars as hard to break into as possible. Good locks on the doors and windows and even better some type of alarm or camera system will send most theives down the road.
Home- deadbolts on all outside doors.
Lots of lighting in the yard
Screw down clamp locks for all the windows
Put your lights on timers inside for when you are gone
An alarm if you can afford it or at least a sticker saying you have an alarm.
Either real or fake camera’s do not hurt
Rentors or home owner insurance just in case
Car or truck
Lock it every time and leave nothing in plain sight.
Stering wheel lock
On stick shifts padlock the brake to the clutch.
Put screw on home style window locks on the trucks slider window. Cost for these are only $2-$3 per pair so cheap insurance.
Car alarm if you want. I feel most give to many flase alarms.
Fuel shut of switch hidden in hard to find area.
This is advice I have learned after 17 years in the hardware industry and after getting ripped of myself a time or two.
This past year I have had two attempted break in but with the above they did not get in. The window in my kitchen was the place they tried to get through both times. We came home to the top of the window slightly ajar but the inexpensive window chanle locks in the bottom track stopped them both times.