The Grumpy Old Git thread.

[LadyArowana]

Thankyou for all the soothing words.

You're right Mr P, they take nothing of real value when they take a few things - and after chatting with a few people who have experienced far, far worse I feel we escaped pretty lightly all things considered.

A quick drive round town has just put it all in perspective, the population is chiefly impoverished, sickly, downtrodden. Burglary is the penance the privileged must suffer.

Any of that rat poison left over? I'm thinking a few tempting cookies....................

 

[jocelyn plummer]

About 12 years ago we experienced a major problem with a youngster who had sussed out how to get into people's back gardens, climbing over walls and fences to get into various places and hel[p hmself to handbags etc.As the culprit was wearing gloves, leaving no finger prints I devised a mixture of vaseline and gold leaf paste to smear over the tops of the walls into our garden-- very difficult to remove once you've got it on clothes and shoes. Our local Plod was most intrigued-- unfortunately the burglar moved on to elsewhere in the Town, eventually arrested in his own back garden after stealing a car.

 

[philpjuk100]

I know that burglaries are common and you should not let them get to you but I find that they are the one thing that gets me (normally calm)quite upset.My father in law was broken into several times,always broke his rear window and climbed in over a high windowsil jumping down into the room.I wanted to place a plank with long nails driven through it below the window but mr plod says that it would leave us open to prosecution.phil.

 

[LadyArowana]

I know that burglaries are common and you should not let them get to you but I find that they are the one thing that gets me (normally calm)quite upset.My father in law was broken into several times,always broke his rear window and climbed in over a high windowsil jumping down into the room.I wanted to place a plank with long nails driven through it below the window but mr plod says that it would leave us open to prosecution.phil.

Maybe the cat accidentally knocked over some glass bottles and hearing the commotion your father in law hurried in from the garden to investigate. He might have accidentally left the rake under the window and then been distracted on the way to get the dustpan and brush and forgotten to come back and clear up. Surely Mr Plod could understand how that could happen?

 

[philpjuk100]

Maybe the cat accidentally knocked over some glass bottles and hearing the commotion your father in law hurried in from the garden to investigate. He might have accidentally left the rake under the window and then been distracted on the way to get the dustpan and brush and forgotten to come back and clear up. Surely Mr Plod could understand how that could happen?

Yep that sounds about right! The fact explained to the police was that no one would get hurt if they were not where they should not have been did not hold water,he was told that he could be sued by the thief.This is true as a friends father who was an electrician kept having rolls of cable stolen,the store room only had one small high up window so he wired it to the mains via a capactor/resistor network so it was not leathal,the returning rat bag dragged up a crate,stood on it,touched the live window frame,fell off the crate and broke his wrist and sued the sparky.Look at the Tony Martin case.The law is not on the side of the householder.phil.

 

[philpjuk100]

Maybe if the original owner was a gamekeeper he could have absent mindedly left some of these in the long grass?

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Is this an apposite moment to say things like "bring back the stocks" and "a good birching is all these scum understand", etc?

There's a lot of truth in those sentiments, if you ask me. Petty thieves don't need "understanding" or "rehabilitating" - they need deterring.

 

[Gareth Hughes]

Maybe the cat accidentally knocked over some glass bottles and hearing the commotion your father in law hurried in from the garden to investigate. He might have accidentally left the rake under the window and then been distracted on the way to get the dustpan and brush and forgotten to come back and clear up. Surely Mr Plod could understand how that could happen?

Yep that sounds about right! The fact explained to the police was that no one would get hurt if they were not where they should not have been did not hold water,he was told that he could be sued by the thief.This is true as a friends father who was an electrician kept having rolls of cable stolen,the store room only had one small high up window so he wired it to the mains via a capactor/resistor network so it was not leathal,the returning rat bag dragged up a crate,stood on it,touched the live window frame,fell off the crate and broke his wrist and sued the sparky.Look at the Tony Martin case.The law is not on the side of the householder.phil.

I was more or less with you (except when the store room catches fire and a fireman reaches up to the electrified windowframe, or the store is seen being broken into and a police officer does the same?) until you mentioned Tony Martin. Shooting someone in the back with an unlicensed shotgun, waiting until they're dead before going for help, and then milking media sympathy when you are found guilty of murder by a jury who were given the option of a manslaughter verdict, is not remotely comparable to taking reasonable steps to protect your property.

 

[Schoolmarm]

A quick drive round town has just put it all in perspective, the population is chiefly impoverished, sickly, downtrodden. Burglary is the penance the privileged must suffer.

:lol: :lol: :lol: Perhaps you could buy some glittery trinkets and single use cameras to scatter about near the windows to keep them happy burgling you.

 

[philpjuk100]

I was more or less with you (except when the store room catches fire and a fireman reaches up to the electrified windowframe, or the store is seen being broken into and a police officer does the same?) until you mentioned Tony Martin. Shooting someone in the back with an unlicensed shotgun, waiting until they're dead before going for help, and then milking media sympathy when you are found guilty of murder by a jury who were given the option of a manslaughter verdict, is not remotely comparable to taking reasonable steps to protect your property.

I did not say that Martin was right,What I meant to say was that Fearon (one of the other burglars) won legal aid to sue Martin for "loss of earnings"(he was a burglar!) the martin case was a farce with the jury not being told the truth and being intimidated.I still say that the law is not on the side of the householder.

 

[JoceAndChris]

But if we take a wider view of it, the law is founded on Christian precepts. Christianity advocates humility, cheek-turning, forgiveness, understanding. Now, whilst I am an atheist and would like to have these b!stards flogged with birch as much as anyone, I'm grateful to live in a country that's not characterised by violence, vendettas, gruesome beatings and gory deaths.

It is said that these sorts of quick thefts are very often motivated by drug addiction. A big bag of smack, clearly labelled, in the porch may have prevented all that damage to my lovely doors. ( which has upset me far more than anything else)

What should happen, and I can't understand why it isn't , more, is police taking in heroin addicts and getting information about where they get the drug from and putting a stop to it.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Having said all that about cheek turning I'm now thinking of the terrible Massacre of the Chooks that happened at Colsterworth. Kids broke into a rare breeds farm and clubbed them all to death with equipment that was lying around. The devastation, senseless loss of life, as well as the financial loss of valuable birds, is just unspeakably sad. I can't imagine that happening in Greece, or Italy. The threat of vendetta would be too great. Why can't we be more like those countries?

 

[LadyArowana]

It is said that these sorts of quick thefts are very often motivated by drug addiction. A big bag of smack, clearly labelled, in the porch may have prevented all that damage to my lovely doors. ( which has upset me far more than anything else)

An even better adaptation of the cookie theory, cut it with some of the left over rat poison and solve all the problems.

 

[philpjuk100]

Its often not just the drug issue,when the father in law was burgled after the items of value were taken the house was trashed,carpets urinated on,pots of jam thrown at the walls etc.Its not their fault(there is nothing else to do!)after a couple of burgaries insurance becomes difficult.The sparky I mentioned in the earlier post was unable to get insurance after his second break in and the money he had saved for a new van was paid to the burglar as compensation,he finished his final working years on benefit.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Phil, that's just terrible. I'm feeling luckier and luckier, particularly as my historic joiner has just told me a tale of how his next door neighbour was senselessly murdered last autumn. Just outside Stamford as well, such a nice town. This modern world is mad. I can't believe it was as bad in the 18th century.

 

[Nigel Watts]

Burglary seems to go in waves. A few years ago our street felt like it was under seige. Our neighbours were burgled several times and we were once. Of late things have quietened down a bit.

I think the modern burglar prefers electronic gagetery to the more conventional objects d'art. The hardware, at least, is replaceable. I guess one needs to be sure to back up one's precious files on a regular basis. I think I will buy some writable CDs today.

 

[Gareth Hughes]

This modern world is mad. I can't believe it was as bad in the 18th century.

It was considerably worse:
Mind you, my solution to the drug problem is to legalise them all, with central control of supply, price etc, and harsh punishments for those who fail to take responsibility for their actions in using them.

 

[JoceAndChris]

I think Hogarth exaggerated and satire doesn't ever provide a balanced view of history. John Clare gives a more believable account, especially of rural life. However there's always a tendency to imagine crime, especially the darker, more brutal elements of crime, are a product of modern times and of course they aren't. And theft must have been rife too, evidenced by all the locks on 18 th C doors and drawers.

Interesting idea about the legalisation of drugs Gareth, I wonder what would happen? Harsh punishments would be needed, and we don't really have any harsh punishments in modern Britain.

 

[Nigel Watts]

The Hawksmore church in that Horgarth etching is still there and worth visiting. Tower was supposedly based on the design for the mausoleum of Hallicarnassis, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. It's just round the corner from the British Museum.

 

[Flyfisher]

The hardware, at least, is replaceable. I guess one needs to be sure to back up one's precious files on a regular basis. I think I will buy some writable CDs today.

I can bore for England on the subject of backing up PCs but you're spot on that it's the data that's the real valuable thing and that really is quite easily protected by making multiple copies.

I wouldn't recommend CDs for such things though. Yes, they will work, but they are time-consuming to manage and this, I suggest, is the main factor that prevents people making regular backups of their valuable data. A backup regime should be simple, preferably automatic, and requiring no time and effort on the part of the user - otherwise it won't be done regularly. It's just human nature.

I'd suggest using external hard drives - and yes, the plural is deliberate. Multiple copies kept in multiple locations is the safest way to protect things. Of course, it all depends how valuable the data on your PC is personally worth, but I consider all my family photos and videos to be pretty valuable, as well as all the other 'admin' stuff, so my PC is backed up daily; to a second internal hard drive, and two external hard drives - one of which is regularly swapped with another one that is kept somewhere away from home. And it's all done completely automatically (except the swapping of the 'off-site' hard drive) so I don't have to remember to do anything.

Overkill? Perhaps, but I've never lost any data and I won't be risking my life by running into a burning building to save all my precious photos and videos.

Just ask yourself if you'd be upset if you switched on your PC one morning and nothing happened (or, indeed, if it was stolen) . . . .