Wood thief

[georgepds]

My back wood stack was slowly disappearing. The house next door is family vacation spot, and I suspect some of the 2nd generation were taking it. I asked the matriarch of the family if she knew anyone doing it, and if she did could she ask them to please stop taking wood

Problem solved

I suspect nobody thought anyone tracked the height of a wood stack. To me it was as obvious as sawing off the top of the roof o the car little by little

 

[HisTreeNut]

If someone was pilfering my stacks, I would call the police or try to help them out, depending on the situation. Nice guys may finish last, but they always finish. Setting traps and whatnot is more trouble than what it is worth because the criminal will be portrayed a s a victim and the victim will be portrayed as someone doing wrong...and it is just kind of dumb anyway. No telling who or what could get hurt.
Suffice to say however, we live in a much different time than what we lived in growing up. Used to be a 5 minute conversation, a handshake, & your word was enough to get most anything done. Folks that needed help would ask and other folks were more than willing to help out. Now you have to deal with lawsuits, people looking out for only themselves, and the logic behind most decisions is how the "ends justify the means." Me, I kind of long for a simpler time...not just for me but for all my kiddos. Somehow we have messed things up quite a bit. Anyhoo...just some quick random thoughts on the topic at hand.

 

[fishki]

Suffice to say however, we live in a much different time than what we lived in growing up. Used to be a 5 minute conversation, a handshake, & your word was enough to get most anything done. Folks that needed help would ask and other folks were more than willing to help out. Now you have to deal with lawsuits, people looking out for only themselves, and the logic behind most decisions is how the "ends justify the means." Me, I kind of long for a simpler time...not just for me but for all my kiddos. Somehow we have messed things up quite a bit. Anyhoo...just some quick random thoughts on the topic at hand.

100% agree. I was born and raised on a farm and I remember when I was a kid we didn't even lock the house during the day when parents were at work and I was at school. They always said if someone broke down they would be able to use the phone to call for help. All the neighbors just kind of checked in and we all took care of each other and we never had an issue with thieves back then.

Now you have to lock everything down tight and hope its all still there when you get back, hell half the time you cant even trust some of the neighbors.
I guess I just don't understand the mindset of those that think it's perfectly fine to take someone else's property.

 

[bholler]

Now you have to lock everything down tight and hope its all still there when you get back, hell half the time you cant even trust some of the neighbors.
I guess I just don't understand the mindset of those that think it's perfectly fine to take someone else's property.

That depends where you live. I don't even know where the keys are to my house the doors haven't been locked in at least 10 years. Yes we have crime in this area but we live in a small town where we look out for each other. Also the lock isn't going to keep out anyone who wants to get in anyway so I say why bother.

 

[bholler]

I also let the keys in my truck so my neighbors can borrow it if they need to

 

[georgepds]

...

Now you have to lock everything down tight and hope its all still there when you get back, hell half the time you cant even trust some of the neighbors.....

Depends... I usually leave the door open. One night my wife woke me up and said someone was in the kitchen. Turns out the neighbor behind me, who was descending into Alzheimer's. was cooking up eggs. ( he used to be a chef).Since it was about 4 in the morning I convinced him it was time for bed, and led him to his own house. Next morning I told his wife, so that she could keep track of him.

For week afterwards people on the island, that I did not know, would come up to me and ask "how's them eggs". You may think you're isolated , but the local community knows more than you expect.

Myself, I have a vertigo disease called Meniere's. Last summer, just as I was about to launch a kayak into the basin I had a drop attack. ( you fall to the ground, cant walk straight for about an hour while the world spins about you). Only thing to do was lay in he sun and wait it out. A neighbor nearby bought me water (hot summer sun). When I could finally stand and walk a crooked line, she walked me home.

I can trust my neighbors, even the ones I don't know. They can trust me

FWIIW, I do lock up when I go away on vacation, but my neighbors have keys.

 

[sportbikerider78]

I think one of the most significant things that has changed is that everyone moves. No one has roots. If your average person sells their home 5-7 times in a lifetime, who really has neighbors?

The longest I've stayed anywhere is 6-7 years. I'm as guilty as anyone else for moving, but I do reach out to neighbors whenever I can. Even if they don't know me.

 

[Tom123]

What legal precedent is there showing that one party can successfully sue another after they hurt themselves with property stolen from the other party

I'm sure one of the liberal lawyers here in Connecticut would be willing to take that case.

 

[bholler]

I'm sure one of the liberal lawyers here in Connecticut would be willing to take that case.

just because a lawyer will take the case does not mean they will win it. And by the way it has nothing to do with politics there are plenty of lawyers who regardless of politics will take stupid cases like that

 

[firefighterjake]

I think one of the most significant things that has changed is that everyone moves. No one has roots. If your average person sells their home 5-7 times in a lifetime, who really has neighbors?

The longest I've stayed anywhere is 6-7 years. I'm as guilty as anyone else for moving, but I do reach out to neighbors whenever I can. Even if they don't know me.

Not me . . .

Grew up all my life in the same town . . . went to the same school Kindergarten through high school (different wings for the elementary, junior high and high school.)

Went to the deep South for four years of college (Henniker, New Hampshire) before returning home. After a few years I married my wife and we moved one town over.

I've been in the same home now since 1995 . . . sometimes my wife and I talk about building a new home . . . but only if we can buy the property next door or perhaps a lot one town over.

As for neighbors . . .

Retired school teacher across from me notices everything . . . she's better than having a burglar alarm. If someone has been to the house she usually knows who it was . . . or has a description of the vehicle (not that we need worry.)

Neighbor to one side was great. We would chat together in a Tim Allen/Wilson type of relationship (minus the fence . . . mostly it consisted of him yelling over to me and me saying "What? What?" until I finally just crossed over on to his lot and we chatted. He had a stroke though and now the house is up for sale as he moved in with his son.

Neighbor to the other side died . . . and when he did . . . his relatives who were living close by just kind of packed up one day and moved out leaving their ramshackle-built home with all of its stuff intact. It's falling down now.

My other neighbor is Amish . . . we get along great. Occasionally I'll give him or his family rides when they need transportation. In turn he has given me produce, eggs and let me borrow a book.

 

[fishki]

I'm jealous now. I have 1 neighbor I can trust, 1 neighbor I can maybe trust, and 1 other that no one can trust, the little old lady that owned the house passed away, her kids don't live here so they rent it out to whoever throws them some cash. No background check, nothing. That house will go thru 2 or 3 tenants a year, kids running around the street screaming, parents always fighting, yelling whatever, and the police are over there constantly it seems. And this house is the closest to me, which is still a good block away. The house itself is now in such disrepair, no one fixes anything, tenants have basically destroyed the property. I have offered to buy it so I can tear it down but they refuse to sell.

 

[Oldman47]

Suffice to say however, we live in a much different time than what we lived in growing up. Used to be a 5 minute conversation, a handshake, & your word was enough to get most anything done.

It is not so bad everywhere. I still do a lot of business with a handshake, and not just on cheap stuff. I asked my local motorcycle dealer to special order a $22,000 bike for me on just my say-so. When it came in he got paid but there was not a bit of paper involved until we went to register it with the state. When I want a farm field sprayed with herbicide, I use the phone and it happens. I get the bill in the mail about a month later. When I wanted my new home site excavated for a poured concrete foundation I walked it down with the guy running the dozer and it happened. Then I called the concrete contractor and gave him a set of my house plans for that foundation. Again it just happened. Where I am living now, not where I am building, I called in a tree service to remove a large, 30"+/- dbh, ash that was hanging over my roof and my neighbor's roof. We agreed to a price and he removed that tree before any money changed hands and before any contract was signed. It is just the way things are done around here. This is the before picture.

and after

On the other hand, I was robbed of a lousy 3/8" drill motor. When I called in the local cops they told me who probably did it but they could not arrest the guy without better evidence than they could find on my site. I replaced that drill motor for about $50 but the mere fact it had happened really got my goat.

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

Depends... I usually leave the door open. One night my wife woke me up and said someone was in the kitchen. Turns out the neighbor behind me, who was descending into Alzheimer's. was cooking up eggs. ( he used to be a chef).Since it was about 4 in the morning I convinced him it was time for bed, and led him to his own house. Next morning I told his wife, so that she could keep track of him.

For week afterwards people on the island, that I did not know, would come up to me and ask "how's them eggs". You may think you're isolated , but the local community knows more than you expect.

Myself, I have a vertigo disease called Meniere's. Last summer, just as I was about to launch a kayak into the basin I had a drop attack. ( you fall to the ground, cant walk straight for about an hour while the world spins about you). Only thing to do was lay in he sun and wait it out. A neighbor nearby bought me water (hot summer sun). When I could finally stand and walk a crooked line, she walked me home.

I can trust my neighbors, even the ones I don't know. They can trust me

FWIIW, I do lock up when I go away on vacation, but my neighbors have keys.

How was he cooking the eggs? I'm a fan of scrambled, over-easy, Benedict, and most omlets, but if he tried to put spinach in it, I'd have shown him the door right quick.

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

That depends where you live. I don't even know where the keys are to my house the doors haven't been locked in at least 10 years. Yes we have crime in this area but we live in a small town where we look out for each other. Also the lock isn't going to keep out anyone who wants to get in anyway so I say why bother.

I feel the same way. I have the old school locks that have the key that looks like a skeleton key, and only one key. Can you even get copies made?

That said, one neighbor has an autistic son who is fascinated by the old house, and he used to let himself in when he thought we weren't around. I knew it was happening, figured no harm, so I didn't say anything.

Finally, one day, he locked the house up when he was leaving (the one and only key was hanging right next to the front door, inside on a hook), climbed out a window, and left the key on the kitchen table by mistake. When I got home, I was locked out. So, I went over to the neighbor and asked if I could have the key.

The neighbor acted like I was out of line, her son didn't go into the house when we weren't home, and he didn't have the key. I explained that it was the one and only key we had, and departed.

About 15 minutes later, she stopped over and told me that the key was inside, and which window was unlocked. He couldn't stand that we left the house unlocked, and finally gave in to his urge to lock it up. He was worried that someone was going to get inside.

He hasn't been back inside since.

 

[bholler]

I feel the same way. I have the old school locks that have the key that looks like a skeleton key, and only one key. Can you even get copies made?

Most of our locks are old ones like that to. But I did put modern deadbolts on all of the exterior door to make our first insurance company happy. But I dont even know where that key is.

Our dogs would discorage most anyone who doesnt know them from coming in though one is a 55 lb pit mix who is a sweet heart and the other is a 95lb American bulldog that is a big baby who is scared of his own shadow. But if you come to the door and see that big guy on the other side of the door barking most people wont go in to find out

 

[georgepds]

How was he cooking the eggs? I'm a fan of scrambled, over-easy, Benedict, and most omlets, but if he tried to put spinach in it, I'd have shown him the door right quick.

In a frying pan... looked like he was halfway through an omlet

No spinach.. but I still did not eat it.. at the time I preferred cereal