breaking and entering...
 

some fucker has found a way into my house when im not home. he isnt taking anything, but he has left at least one note using MY FUCKING PRINTER PAPER! any suggestions on how to catch and deal with this fucker?

i suspect its this punkass skater kid living down my street, only because he obviously cant spell (fukin).

~james

"Break and Enter" is a great Prodigy song.

Anyway, a few general suggestions:

--Video camera

--Alarm

--Gun

--Neighborhood watch

James, have you called the police? The kid could have left fingerprints.

im thinking about it. if nothing else,the sight of a police car in front of my house might deter him. but i would love to get my hands on him and teach him a lesson frontier style. weve been talking about getting a gun lately, and this may be the straw that broke the camels back. the problem with that is that frankly, i worry about having a gun in the house. that and i have no idea how to shoot. thats not so bad, because i can always learn at a shooting range. i actually went to x10s website tonight, to read up on their wireless cameras. i really should talk to the police though, frontier justice tends to have repurcussions and i have a family to provide for.

~james

What was written on the note?

we were out of town over the weekend, so our saturday paper sat in our driveway for a couple days. the note was oh-so-cleverly hidden so i wouldnt find it right away under my pilsener glasses. :) it read:

"pick up your fukin paper!!!
it look like white trash"

cute, no? anyways, i did call the police and they are sending someone by. hopefully they will have their lights flashing and stuff. i think im going to start pricing guns anyway. the following questions for only those who dont have a moral objection to firearrms in the home:

1. whats a good gun to be used only for in-home protection? one for someone who is frankly sort of frightened by guns in the first place?

2. how does one secure a gun in your home so its available in the event of an emergency, but still safely away from a child. im looking to the future right now. im not worried about james now, all i need to do is keep it up high. but what about when hes older?

~james

First thing is to get your locks changed. If someone got in without causing damage, they probably have a key somehow. Unless you left a door or window open. If locks are Kwikset or worse, get locks upgraded... you don't need high security necessarily, just something that's not trivial to pick for your average teenager.

Then, don't get a gun until you've gotten a way to secure it when you aren't there; you've already obviously got a security problem, no point in handing someone your new gun.

You can't keep a gun ready for defense and yet secure from a child at the same time, unless you actually have it with you. All the other solutions involve some compromise of readiness and/or security.

I think if you're afraid of guns you probably shouldn't get one -- at least, not until you've familiarized yourself with them enough to get over the fear -- but that's just my opinion.

russotto,

thank you for the insight. i didnt even think about the security problem. i will talk to my landlord about getting the locks replaced/upgraded.

the testosterone-driven male in me was going to take issue with your use of the word 'afraid' in the context of guns, but then i realized thats probably the best word for it. :) my dad keeps several guns, so maybe ill go to the shooting range with him sometime.

~james

Before you own a gun, you need to learn to shoot it, and not be *unnecessarily* afraid of it....as distinct from *respecting* it, which I encourage you to continue to do. Expreince and training will get you there. By all means go shooting with your Dad. And then, when he's old enough, take James shooting too. That way he'll have a leg up when he gets to your age.

Also, many shooting ranges can hook you up with an NRA instructor, or have firearms self-defense classes of their own. As a part of these classes, or by renting various weapons at the range, you can discover what the attributes of the various kinds of guns are without actually having to buy the wrong gun.
Various forms of pistol safe are available, and I prefer the kind with a pushbutton combo lock that can be quickly opened in the dark. These can be lagbolted to your wall to discourage theft. I feel better with this approach than with "putting it up high".

http://www.asafelocksmith.com/102.html
http://www.safestogo.com/gnlkrrfl.htm

Of course, one of the *best* means of securing a firearm is keeping it on your person. Laws on licenced concealed carry vary from state to state....and Colorado's laws are painfully complex. Ask your county sheriff.

also see: http://www.packing.org/state/index.jsp/colorado

Was anything valuable missing from the house?

Could it have been someone you know playing a joke on you?

ill post more tomorrow regarding maggies reply (great info) but all i can say regarding the above is...

it fucking better not be. :)

~james

DO NOT TOUCH THE GLASSES!

glasses are a great source of fingerprints.

uh... too late. but i did get a police report from the officer which i will be making copies of and posting around my house and at the doors/windows to hopefully deter them from entering again. ill also be upgrading the locks today and getting new dowel rods for the sliding glass doors.

im going to look into getting into a firearms self-defense class as well as a firearm safety class, assuming there is such a thing. even if i decide not to get a gun, its valuable information to have.

nothing was missing from the house that i can tell, so its simply '1st degree breaking and entering' or something vs. full-blown burglary. i get the impression that they (the police) would have done more had it been burglary, so i almost wish they had taken something. i guess i should just be thankful that this particular violation of my familys privacy carried no real consequences for us other than to make us hate colorado springs more.

who does that though? who breaks into someones house to leave a note, risking a possible beating or arrest, rather than leaving a nastygram on the door? some people are fucking stupid.

~james

Someone who thinks they are so fucking smart that they can get away with anything.

Incidentally, this is the exact same type of person that are found throughout the US Prison System.

As far as firearms go, Maggie was pretty much spot-on. Respect the gun, and LEARN HOW TO USE IT RESPONSIBLY. Otherwise you're part of the problem (and you don't wanna accidentally discharge a round into mini-perth)

Don't just change the locks. Go outside. Circle your house, and try to figure out a way to get in. If you were bound and determined, how would you do it?

Once, I locked myself out of my mom's house, and I used this technique. I found out that there was an unlocked window in the back of the garage. Well, it was unlocked because it had security bars on it. I'm not sure why it had bars on it, 'cause it was the only window in the house with them. But anyway, I was so skinny at the time that I was able to slip right through the bars and get in the house. >:]

well, total ways into the house:

1. front door: im getting new locks with a longer deadbolt today.

2. garage door: we have a garage door opener, so opening it manually is even louder than usual. even so, i am now keeping the overhead door and the door into the house locked.

3. rear sliding glass door: not much to do here but buy a dowel rod and cut it to fit the opening.

4. window in my sons room: closed and locked at all times. i may get a dowel rod for it as well, just in case. this window is, however, quite inaccesible.

5. balcony sliding glass door in my room. see 3.

we are in a townhouse, so there arent many windows at all.

thank you everyone for the advice. i really do appreciate it. i cant believe how upset i am over this considering they didnt take anything.

~james

They raped your house, man. They went somewhere they were not supposed to go. A man's house is his castle, and to have intruders is not a good feeling. I would be pissed as well.

Our cable used to be really shitty, so I had my separate DSL so I could keep competing in Q3. Well, the cable went out, and dad hooked everyone into my DSL. I was fine with this, but Howard would download shit for HOURS right in the middle of matches. Howard, in case you weren't here before he left, was the guy that rented a room from my dad. Anyway, I was matching, and his light on my switch started blinking rapidly and I lagged out. Well, I unplugged him.

The next day, without asking me or my dad or ANYONE else, he went INTO my bedroom, pulled out my switch, and plugged himself back in. That's MY stuff and MY room, and it's UNACCEPTABLE that someone else violate it. I was LIVID. That is one of the few times in recent memory that I have been truly angry. Anyway, I understand how you feel, definitely.

Any firearms class that does not teach safety too is dangerous. In fact, it would be dangerous to *teach*. No sane instructor is going to want to be on the range with students who don't have good safety practice drilled into them. Not following safety rules will get you thrown out of any firearms class worthy of the name.

A cheap way to get a taste of what is/should be taught in such a class is the NRA <i>Basics of Pistol Shooting</i> book....$6 direct from NRA and worth every penny.http://store.nrahq.org/nra/product.a...%5Fid=EF+13270

After that, I'd recommend <i>The Concealed Handgun Manual</i> by Chris Bird (Privateer Publications, ISBN 0-9656784-6-6 phone orders at 1-888-700-4333) A bit pricer at $17.95, 332 pages. The subtitle of this book is "How to choose, carry and shoot a gun in self-defense" http://www.bookzone.com/bookzone/10001001.html
Beating? Arrest? How about getting shot?

But the fact that nothing is missing really does suggest that it was someone who knows you and was sure there would be no consequences. Why indeed would someone gain entry to your house and not steal anything? I'm willing to bet a) it's someone you know (or kids from your neighborhood) having a laugh at your expense, b) they'll never be caught unless they confess, c) if they are caught the worst they'll get is a lecture from the judge and a suspended misdemenor sentence.

i dont think it was anyone we know, we are new to the area and no maybe 3 people, none of whom know where we live, except for my landlord (if i find out it was him im breaking my lease and moving). it could be a neighbourhood kid. little bastards. ive sort of come to the conclusion that it was someone who didnt think through what they were doing. given the way the note was written, both grammatically and and the handwriting, i tend to think it was one of the teenaged kids from down the street. oh well. fuck him. if i ever find proof, he will have the police at his door. if not, well, im watching him now.

~james

Sounds like this kid or whoever is just getting off in your space. There is an interesting film I picked up recently at the video store- It's British and called "Following" The main character is a frustrated writer who becomes interested in other people's spaces, starts with following strangers and leads to breaking in. Its well done. The burgling is secondary to the invasion and messing with the victim's heads. If thats not too creepy, you may find it interesting.

Lock up, If you think its this kid, and he's not too threatening, I would even just say, "If I find you've been in my space, you're going to jail." to let him know you're aware.

threatening? he reminds me of scott evil from austin powers. :) i think ill check that movie out tonight. thanks.

~james

I hadn't even considered the pisscycho landlord angle... thats a creepy thought. Anyway, you got some great advice from russ and mag all I'd add is something which I always had in my apartments over the years, a baseball bat.

now theres an idea. the satisfying CLANG! of the louisville slugger. hehe. :)

~james

I've been a victim of a B&E involving about US$10,000 in losses, mostly stereo equipment and sports collectibles All replaceable stuff really, except that all the movies of my kids growing up were in the same box as the CDs. That's a senseless loss that is hard to get over. But, even then, I had to realise that people suffer floods, hurricanes and fires all the time and I should get that loss in perspective.

Another point I learned from the police ... they've got more serious things to investigate than my insurable losses.

If you want to get the police involved in your case, just be aware that the time they spend discussing home security with you is time they should be spending preventing crimes, not solving your mystery.

I'm sympathetic to your feelings, but the cops see a lot worse every day and they won't be.

oh, yeah. im aware that they wont be sending any evidence to the boys down at the crime lab. i dont expect them to find the culprit or even do anything beyond file the report away in their files. the only reason i filed the report in the first place was because i hoped the sight of a police officer at our house would deter them from doing it again. i promise i didnt make him hang around any longer than was necessary (though the officer was very interested in the different wines on my wine rack)

~james

Damn. talk about signs of the times.

There was a time when Louisville Sluggers were made of ash, not aluminium.

frankly i have no idea what theyre made of. i just like the word 'CLANG!'.

~james

Oh. I thought you made it a clang for a metal bat....which have replaced wooden bats in a lot of places.

In fact, if you hit someone in the head with a baseball bat of either material, I think the sound is likely to be the "crunch" of a skull fracture; those things are very nasty; the cannonical "blunt instrument".

well, one can hope for a metal plate in the target area. :)

~james

If you want bat speed go aluminum, if its classic bonecrushing ala ethnic mens club of choice get the lumber.

what about corked?

~james

Makes for a quick bat but reduces duribility. If it turns out you really enjoy cracking heads you'll want something tougher. ;)

Also you'd want to get it done in one swing and only one. More than that you may have to explain in court.

So choke up and wait for your pitch. Hit that sweet spot.

lumber it is. my landlord has agreed to replace my locks. better still, he said he was going to replace the locks for all 4 of the townhouses he owns right here. so thats always nice.

~james

PA/NTA.