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Saturday, 03 August 2024

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i before e, except after c.

"Beware! Don't step on our black mamba."

I met a decorator on a building site who had an estate car (station wagon) adapted to his needs; it was what we called a sitemobile. It was a Ford Granada, and for economy he'd fitted a diesel engine from a Ford Transit van.

The sunroof had leaked, so he'd covered the whole roof with a sheet of profiled aluminium roofing, the sort that is fitted to big warehouses. The gaps at each end were filled with the same shaped foam that's used when these sheets are put on buildings, and held down with the big hex headed self tapping screws that roofers use to fix down these sheets.

The car had been repainted with building paint and the rear seats were permanently laid flat. He had another car for home and social use.

In the seventies (previous century) Zeiss Ikon left the camera business. But the factory did’t close, they just started to make "something else".

I have a pair of these in my front door, for decades now, and I’ve never been burgled.

You can still buy these locks today, but the lovely "photographic" logo is gone, unfortunately.

How do you keep a violin from being stolen? Keep it in a viola case.

One of many old viola jokes. Violists must have good senses of humor and/or thick skins, though it probably helps to know that it was the preferred ensemble axe of Bach, Mozart and Beethoven.

A better sign is "Beware of Doug."

Meanwhile, Djokovic beats Alcaraz to win Gold, and to complete his resume.

[A Grand Slam is not on his resumé. --Mike]

Re: Old grocery bags

I’ve heard of diaper bags and dog food bags being used for camera concealment.

There was a period when this would have been an abstract subject, until a few years back when I came home from work to find that my house had been broken into (literally) and I was robbed. There were three entry attempts at multiple places, and then they completely ripped out a window frame and crawled into my bedroom. I entered my house at a bit after 8pm in the month of June and found my house hot and humid with the A/C blasting and flying bugs zooming through the house... an entire window missing allowed air conditioning to escape and insects to come in.

I was amazed at what they took and what they ignored. I had a cheap Nikon D40 DSLR sitting out which they grappled, ignoring the Leica M2 and Rolleiflex 3.5F sitting out a foot away. They took my laptop which had my budding digital photo folders (I just transitioned from film) and I had no back ups, so all those photos are gone. They took my Fender Stratocaster which was the last thing my late Mother bought for me, but left two other guitars.

I called the police and they were amazed and a little suspicious that I had photos and serial numbers for all my missing high value items... I'm just organized that way. The sheriff sat in my driveway and typed all the info into a data base that all pawn shops are required to check before buying any items. By luck they had already sold my Fender to a shop before the crime report, so the pawn shop didn't break any laws, but because they acted in good faith, I had to buy my guitar back for exactly what they paid the criminals. The sheriff said he's never seen anyone beat the pawn shops in court and a lawyer would cost more that just buying it out of pocket. That guitar had tremendous sentimental value, so I guess I was lucky. No other items ever showed up, so I assume they were sold on the street with no paperwork.

A month later, the burglar was caught in the act of breaking into another house, and because he used his real name at the pawn shop (required by law), he was charged with my house too. I had to spend months with the DA in prep for his trial, but he decided to just plead guilty, so no trial and he went to prison.

Sorry so long, but this subject hits home.

What a great article!

Sharon

Back when I actually depended on bikes for transportation, I lost two bikes, a seat, and a rear wheel to theft. The stolen bikes always feel like a gut punch. Riding a beater is one partial solution, though even they can be stolen, and who wants to ride a beater? Better is just having a place to bring it inside. If you are a boss, let your employees store bikes somewhere!

I learned early on that the best way to protect your belongings during a break-in is to slow down the intruder. In every home I’ve owned, I’ve always had an alarm system. Today, my alarm system includes cameras in various rooms that record off-site and I can monitor and record from my phone. Additionally, I have locks on several rooms to slow down intruders. The alarm system is powered by both battery and AC, and it’s connected wirelessly. If someone is determined to break in, they will, but the goal is to delay them and capture their image.

When I lived in Miami, I saw too many house fires where children died because windows were barred to prevent break-ins or hurricane shutters that couldn’t be opened from the inside. By the time the fire department would arrive, it was too late. I don’t have experience with impact windows, but if there’s a fire and the only way out is a window, I want to be able to break it if it doesn’t open.

I’ve experienced home break-ins twice. Once, when my boyfriend and I lived in a mobile home, I lost a Yashica camera he gifted me. Another time, while working during the day and attending the School of Visual Arts in the evenings, my jewelry was stolen. Although it wasn’t valuable monetarily, it had great sentimental value. The police educated me on how the break-in likely happened and advised me to visit the station periodically to check for recovered jewelry. Unfortunately, my pieces were never recovered.

When I traveled on the NY subway to SVA at night, I was advised to dress like a guy. Despite being short, I wore my boyfriend’s jackets and hoods. I was never bothered, and carrying a large portfolio case and a box full of X-Acto knives probably helped.

During my studio business in Atlanta, I always had two vehicles for jobs that didn’t advertise my business. The Yellow Pages and other marketing tools were for that. One vehicle was a “mommy van” with the middle seat removed, and the other was a big Ford Bronco, often the Eddie Bauer version because they were attractive. I made sure my vehicles did not give away my profession.

Despite these precautions, cases with lights, stands, and other gear were occasionally stolen at events by people working there. My assistants did their best to watch the gear boxes stowed under skirted tables, but they couldn’t be everywhere at once. I was never angry when it happened and always replaced the stolen items, knowing they might be taken again.

Ultimately, I try to slow down intruders, keep my business private, and secure my gear with an alarm system and multiple locks on doors.

I loved reading about the vehicles in your post, but I’m pretty sure my clientele or neighbors would’ve freaked out if I rolled up driving a Ghostbuster wagon on a mission. Who you gonna call? Definitely not me!

Went to a neighborhood presentation on crime and safety given by the police a few years ago. He said the number 1 preventative measure to do was have a dog. Potential burglars would often go along the side of the house and rap the siding, alerting any dogs inside.

Don’t have nice things because someone might take them? That seems an odd way to live your life.

One friend talked about buying special paints and other finishes to make his good bicycle (maybe low 5 figure price?) look like a piece of junk.

This level of paranoia about theft sounds really extreme to me—and my 3 houses in Minnesota have all been within the city limits of Minneapolis, not even in first-ring suburbs. I do pay some attention; we have an alarm system, we do lock the doors, there are no hidden keys. It's an older house so you can't really climb in through the windows from outside without a ladder, they're too high (the basement windows are barred). And if you did, you'd have to climb back out, you can't open the doors without a key. But I think having 4 residents not all on the same schedule might make the biggest difference. In this house we've always had at least 2 people not working outside the home, and we've got a third-shift worker. Very confusing to look at!

Perhaps an accordion case could be adapted to hold cameras?

One trick someone taught me was to set up a "honeypot". A jar with a few dollars in it (a $20 on top of a stack of $1 bills) and a jewelry box with a bunch of cheap or fake jewelry in it. Place them on top of a shelf so it looks like you made an effort to hide them. Also, leave an old broken laptop out on your nightstand or somewhere in plain sight. Most thieves want to be out of there as quickly as possible, and if it looks like a good score, they will leave without searching any further.

The guy locking his van in Chicago was ‘target hardening.’ Your neighbors leaving their doors unlocked are ‘target easing.’

Everybody here is familiar with ‘Go where the pictures are,’ which usually means leaving your environment. For a discerning thief, it’s ‘Go where the less security-conscious are.’ This, too, usually means leaving your environment.

Somebody who has never faced the consequences of leaving their property unsecured should not tell themselves that history has proved them right. They’re not wise, just lucky.

I remember Elaine Boosler, the comedian, said she had 6 locks on her apartment door and left 3 of them unlocked. That way the thief would always be relocking 3 of them as he attempted to break in.

Commenter Michael's "honeypot" trick works, as I accidentally discovered when a group house I lived in was burgled. I'd just set up a new component stereo system, but the old, broken all-in-one unit it had replaced was still sitting on the floor waiting for disposal. Well, I guess its compactness and readiness was more attractive to the burglers than the brand new system. So, basically, they took my trash out for me. It seemed from the few other things they grabbed around the house that they were interested in convenience above all.

Ironically, that old mid-century Fisher all-in-one is probably worth a lot more today than the then-new sleek entry level solid state hifi system. Come to think of it, maybe it was even then, even broken. So maybe those burglars were wiser than I gave them credit for at the time!

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