Are you ever afraid of your house being burgled? (Don't know where to post this)

Well, let's put it this way Lt Bob, almost all of the villagers have woodburning stoves and burn olive wood - we don't, we have an oil-fired boiler in a separate building plus radiators - yet in the seven years I've lived here, the only accidental fires I've known have been brushwood on the mountainsides and a friend of mine is a local fireman.

Insurance - the usual proviso... all politicians, bankers, financial advisers, insurance companies, etc., are crooks - now start from there and do the best you can!
 
mjbphotos said:
Not sure what UK insurance is like, nor what coverage your parents may pay for, but here in the US everything is prorated, so that TV you paid $1000 for last year will only get you $500 from the insurance company - after your deductable has been taken care of (so if your ded was $500 and the TV is all the thief took, you woudl get nothing!)
Here, you need to get a rider on your insurance to cover computers, too.
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I asked my mum about it a while ago actually and she said it was all covered under house insurance, but I don't know how much the insurance company would pay up. For all they know, we could have had hardly any fire risks or expensive objects before we paid the premium, but after we completely fill it up with loads of crap. But hopefully I'll never be in that situation.

There's three 4 ways you can get into my house, front door (very hard to break into), back door ( maybe not as hard but there are 2 dogs there), garden room door which leads into my studio (glass so would be very loud to break), and another back door (which has a hidden key, only a few of my friends know where it is). So there are options but I'm fairly confident that we're alright. Our dogs are pretty useless though actually, a Labrador and a miniature Labradoodle which would probably want to play with the burglar rather than bark or anything.

One person outside my family has a key, and that's our cleaner but she has been a family friend for years now so she won't ever be a worry.
 
I'm not too scared of a burglary happening because I live in a pretty nice part of town and am chill with my neighbors, who are very watchful. No roommates, but honestly that would be my biggest fear. Not necessarily the roommates themselves but WHO they were letting in when I am not home...
 
Lt. Bob said:
big mistake
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Possibly.

But it opens up an interesting train of thought.

When you go about your business, do you do it on the basis of what the world is like, or on the basis of how you think it should be?

For example, I know of a bookstore that has tables out the front with books. This, of course, makes pilferage a high likelihood. They are operating on the basis of how the world should operate, i.e. that people won't steal the books. On the other hand, most businesses recognise that pilferage is the reality, and don't place their goods in that position.
 
Dogbreath said:
5 dogs are a pretty good alarm system.
my backup is a 12 ga, a 45, a 9mm, a .38, a 7.62 with a banana clip, and really bad breath.
:D
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once again ...... if you're not home none of that will do squat except the dogs will get themselves killed.
 
gecko zzed said:
Possibly.

But it opens up an interesting train of thought.

When you go about your business, do you do it on the basis of what the world is like, or on the basis of how you think it should be?

For example, I know of a bookstore that has tables out the front with books. This, of course, makes pilferage a high likelihood. They are operating on the basis of how the world should operate, i.e. that people won't steal the books. On the other hand, most businesses recognise that pilferage is the reality, and don't place their goods in that position.
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well, IMO when it comes to protecting your stuff all of that stuff about whether it's right or not is meaningless.

I mean .... it's like someone going into a store with his car unlocked.
Why?
Is it so hard to lock and unlock your doors?
Oh wait ..... it's not ...... it takes almost no effort at all.

What about locking the door to my house? That's a burden.
Oh wait ....... it takes even less effort than locking the car ..... just push a button on the doorknob on my way out.

But using my alarm ...... that's work huh?
You know where I'm going with this ....... virtually no effort involved at all.

So I don't see why you would not do any of these things when they require so little effort and there's no way around the fact that doing them WILL increase security.

So why not do them? And please, don't try the indignation over having your freedoms infringed upon ( I ought to be able to leave my house unlocked).
Right and wrong are concepts believed in by law abiding citizens who end up being victims.
In nature if you relax your security something grabs you and injures you badly and then starts eating you while you're still alive.
That's the reality of life.

In our human world it's more about losing possessions although sometimes people that leave their doors unlocked in quiet little neighborhoods also get murdered.
Happens all the time ...... search the news almost anyday and you see it ....... I prefer to minimize my chances of it happening when it takes neglible effort on my part.

I think it's funny that all of you people who I consider to be taking unnecessary risks with the unlocking and the glavin' flavin' ... :D ..... are the same guys that freak if someone opens up their amplifier ...... "Oh My God you'll be killed!!"

lol everyone has their way
:D
 
gecko zzed said:
it opens up an interesting train of thought.

When you go about your business, do you do it on the basis of what the world is like, or on the basis of how you think it should be?
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Both. It really depends on variables that can't be predicted too far ahead of time.
The estate I live on is one of those places where a number of people leave their doors open during the summer. But from time to time gangs of ganja smoking kids congregate in the stairwells. Yet the houses are never bothered. But I never leave the door open unless I'm in the front room where I can see it. And I always lock it when I leave the house unless someone is in. Funnilly enough on a few occasions over the years, the key has been left in the lock all night and was there when we left the following day ! Two nights running my wife didn't close the door properly and it was a really windy night both times and when I came downstairs to leave for work at 3.45am, the front door was wide open.
Truth is, you can be burgled in any neighbourhood and equally, if the culture of a place is one of looseness in terms of locking up, it's interesting how there's often not much thievery.
You know, I think alot of people admire Reaper because they live and operate by some pretty noble principles, even though they risk being ripped regularly.
 
grimtraveller said:
from time to time gangs of ganja smoking kids congregate in the stairwells..
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You might have to lock them inside there GT.... :)

I'm a pragmatist when it comes to home security. As Lt Bob points out, it's not hard to lock stuff up, and I'm very aware of personal riks when out and about (but still got belted unexpectedly 2 years ago...) but with other things I'm in the "be the change you want to see in the world" camp... just not music gear.. :thumbs up:
 
I used to be gruntled. Then I got burgled. Now I'm dis-gruntled. And burgled.
 
I do like the idea of that being how the world should be, but I don't think it will ever be, not for a very long time. It will take something very gradual and from a much higher up position than a 15 year old boy. And by that I mean the government, so I guess they are doing quite a bit to try and stop crime, and it'll still be gradual but we might just get there eventually. I'm speaking past my lifetime
 
My dogs are wiener dogs. They're cute and it's funny as shit to watch them try to do things that regular dogs can do, but they're not attacking anyone and if they do the damage would be minimal. They are very, very protective though, and they will bark like a motherfucker at literally anything that isn't just right in the house and their bark is a lot more menacing sounding than you'd think from a little runt ass wiener dog. That might make someone think twice about coming in, but more importantly if I'm home it'll let me know that something is up and I'm coming for your ass with shotguns.
 
guitaristic said:
5 dogs is as good as any burglar alarm.
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no ..... no they're not.
They won't call a central monitoring station and have them call the police. They also won't call the fire dept if a fire breaks out.
And the neighbors won't come running if they hear the dogs bark and that's if they even hear them or they're even home.

Not even close to being as good as an alarm unless you're home for them to alert you.

A quick story on the uselessness of counting on neighbors to hear anything.
Maybe 30 years ago I was out in the front yard raking leaves.
The neighbor came running up to tell me that she had just been burgled ...... she had gotten home .... saw the door was open .... stepped in and startled the burglar who crashed through a window to get out and ran off down the side street with her yelling at him.
The window was on the side of the house facing ours although the houses were close enough together that it wasn't visible from where I was raking.

I didn't hear a thing over the sound of raking leaves.
And I tend to be very aware of what's going on around me ...... I'm suspicious and watchful .... I was SHOCKED that I didn't hear anything ....... to this day I find it hard to believe that I didn't hear a thing but I didn't.

As for dogs barking:
I have a neighbor whose dogs bark right now. If I heard them barking I wouldn't think anything of it. They bark ...... at lots of things.
I actually don't notice them anymore because I tune them out. Not the kind of neighbor that thinks my neighbor's dog should be mute so I just ignore them.
There is no "oh that sounds like an important bark to me" mode.

Once again, I don't care what ya'll do ....... but I learned that it can happen to you by having it happen to me.
At least a few of ya'll will learn the same lesson sooner or later.

As long as no one gets hurt it'll be a valuable lesson and I will say, "Told ya' so"

:D
 
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nimpo46 said:
Are you ever afraid of your house being burgled?
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No. :)


Not to mention the alarm and security cameras.
Though I do live in an area where it's highly unlikely and rather "awkward" for anyone to even attempt it, as there is no easy access without obvious discovery.
 
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