Some people are low lifes

[strongmanmike]

Got home today after work and some Rshole had broken in to our house.

Broke into our underhouse storage and grabbed the step ladder to access our bedroom window which is about 6ft off the ground.

It is really a Shiitty feeling

So far we can tell, they took a near new mountain bike, our two lap tops, one of which was my friggin scope and camera control lappie with all software discs inside the friggin carry case, major pain to reacquire and update all that now...

Worst thing is, among some other pieces, they took all my wifes earings and most precious of all, her late mothers engagement ring, which she wears often, now that's sad.

I feel very flat and pissed off right now :(:mad2:

Thanks for the ear.

Mike

[Omaroo]

Really sorry to hear that Mike. I know exactly how it feels. It's violation of the first order. I hope you come across someone trying to sell you a laptop.

[astronut]

I feel for your loss and frustration,:sadeyes::mad2: Mike!!
Just five minutes in a sealed room is all I'd need and they wouldn't do it again!!:mad2:

[jjjnettie]

So sorry to hear that Mike. Low lifes just isn't strong enough.

[DavidU]

That's not good at all Mike.I hope you get 5 minutes alone with the offenders one day. Sad news Mike.

[DavidTrap]

Sorry to hear Mike - makes you feel violated!

Friend who was burgled recently was told to peruse the local pawn shops - thieves don't like carrying stolen goods, so will usually offload them within 5km of the source.

DT

[brian nordstrom]

:mad2: I am with John on this . Less than 5 miniuts Mike , and ......
Sorry to hear mate the same thing happened to me a while ago , smashed a back window , took my laptop as well and like you it had all my astro stuff in it , took ages to replace , and the ******* was it was an old 1999 NEC , only good for us types? .
Hope you get results mate .
Brian.:sadeyes:

[spacezebra]

Mike, Good to hear that you and your family are safe.

I hope that they catch the thieves and also hope for a speedy return of your goods.

Petra d.

[Waxing_Gibbous]

That sucks!
A curse on their seed!!
Hopefully they'll get into an argument over division of the spoils, knife each other and their bodies will be found pecked do death by carrion birds and torn by dingos.

Good news is, they have a fair chance of recovering the jewellery / bike if they try to pawn it.
Chin-up.

[alistairsam]

So sorry to hear that mike. some things can be replaced, some can't.
hope you get everything back.

[astroron]

Hi Mike,I hope you get the precious stuff your wife lost as well as your astro gear.
All the best mate
Cheers

[Mliss]

i can't imagine what you and your wife are going thru. :sadeyes:

i hope you recover it all (or at the very least the precious items) and the catch the ******* !

just an idea, but if it helps maybe spread the word and get people to help look out for things on eBay or gumtree. and as David said before, the local pawn shops.

best of luck Mike

[ballaratdragons]

Not only are the items hard to replace if not found, it is that horrible feeling of being violated! Some low-life scum in your home!!!

Geez Mike, I wish you all the best for getting it all back mate :thumbsup:

You know the saying: What's goes round . . etc

[Tandum]

They got in here a couple of years back Mike, I remember the feelings I had then.

I've heard quite a few houses around here have been done over during the day in the last few months. I guess having bugger all work on has it's benifits, no one has busted into here. ....

[Jen]

:eyepop: sorry to hear that Mike hope they get caught (hugs)

[janoskiss]

Sorry for such unpleasant experience you just had Mike. I believe most people above the poverty line in Western societies will experience being burgled several times during the course of their lives (i have a couple of times). It's not nice. But it's also a good reminder to not get too attached to things. I kinda have a rule not to own anything that I could not handle losing.

Best wishes. Sensor lights are good. so are cameras with visible red LEDs (even if they're just fake).

[Ric]

Sorry to hear that Mike.

I hope they find the low lifes and you get your stuff back.

[renormalised]

Sorry to hear of this, Mike. I hope the mongrels get caught, and sooner rather than later.

[mozzie]

sorry to here that mike,let's hope you find the scum so you can snap him in to

[Alchemy]

Go figure, if someone touched their stuff they would scream, so why do people do this stuff.
Druggies......
Some things can be replaced, but those sentimental things just can't.....
Makes you angry that's for sure.

The pawn shops would be their first port of call, so it's worth a look in your near area, particularly for the rings and such. I went through being robbed some time back and the pawn shops don't have to report the thieves to the police, and they must know.... See the same bludger come in day after day with their drug confused brain looking for another hit. So unfortunately the legwork is up to you.

[iceman]

Sorry to hear it Mike. The inconvenience, the violation, the loss of sentimental things.

There's nothing good about it.

I hope you can recover any of your stuff.

[sheeny]

Sorry to hear it Mike. I too know what it feels like.

I don't think you'd need 5 minutes;)... I'd just really love to see the low life's face if you met him (her?).

Al.

[SkyViking]

Very sorry to hear that Mike. Hope you are able to recover your things somehow. :(
And maybe keep an eye out now because they often come back some time later when they think you have replaced the goods... Put up security lights etc if you haven't already. And alarms/cameras with warning signs.

[Saturn%5]

Sorry to hear Mike. hope they catch the turds.

[wasyoungonce]

Jeez Mike sorry to hear. Insurance can never replace loved goods.

Lucky for them you were not home to greet them:D. Just be careful they don't come back for more.....you probably don't want to hear that.

[multiweb]

Man that sucks! Hope they catch the culprits.

[mikerr]

Check "Cash Converters" as well. Sorry for your experience.

Michael.

[casstony]

A few years back most of our neighbours were burgled in one day. That scared us into getting a security system fitted - even if they do enter the house they won't stay in it for long with the noisy alarm going off.

We did have a theif working for a retailer who delivered a TV, noted what was in our house during delivery and attempted to rob us at night while we were sleeping. Our four legged security system scared him off :) .

The doors can be seperately armed while you're asleep too to set the alarm off if someone gets through a door at night.

[leon]

Mongrel scumbags, that is pretty sad Mate, if only someone other than the cops found out who they were, than justice could be served, but it still dose not help with the violation, and the lose.

Leon

[gregbradley]

Bummer Mike.

I agree, best to check out Pawn Shops or perhaps ebay for a while.

I suppose also a lot of that stuff gets sold at pubs so perhaps worth a visit to a couple to see if anyone has been offering things.

I imagine the thieves are most likely already known to Police.

Greg.

[strongmanmike]

Oh ya guys, thanks for the kind words, appreciated.

I'm at home now waiting for the Forensic guys to dust the windows and doors.

I think an alarm will be the next thing to do and while we do have insurance for the lappies and mountain bike etc, nothing replaces the special jewelry plus we lose the no-claim bonus and our premiums rise :mad2:

I had been a bit quite on the imaging front but was determined to get out this new moon period, looks like that will have to wait now :rolleyes: until I can get a new lappie and the bloody software, the original discs were in the Lapppie bag too, faaaar!!!

Ok, deep breath...se la vi :thumbsup:

Mike

[pmrid]

Mike, good old Will Shapespeare wasn't too shabby when deciding to curse someone: try this (with appropriate substitutions) from the Tempest:
"[May] All the infections that the sun sucks up
From bogs, fens, flats, on [insert name of choice] fall and make him By inch-meal a disease!"

Say that a few times and see if it doesn't cheer you up.
Peter

[jenchris]

Know the feeling and the frustration.
My neighbour watched the burglar break in, phoned the police station 200 yards away - the guy was in there 20 minutes smashing my flat up and then left with my valuables and then I got home followed 10 minutes later by the police.

[tlgerdes]

I hope you have had the police in to gather fingerprints etc, the fact that they have entered through a little used opening stands in your favour for solving the crime.

We had a B&E about 6yrs ago and the idiot moved/broke a door that we never move and left a full set of prints in place no one touches.

They picked the guy up about 6 months later on a minor DUI charge in Bathurst 300km away and he got 12 months in gaol for our crime.

[mikerr]

"I had been a bit quite on the imaging front but was determined to get out this new moon period, looks like that will have to wait now :rolleyes: until I can get a new lappie and the bloody software, the original discs were in the Lapppie bag too, faaaar!!!"

Maybe some one in the Imaging forums on here could help out temporarily with software to get you back up and running for the moment.

Michael.

[astro_nutt]

Sad to hear that some ******** violated your place. Hopefully all will be returned and the person(s) caught!
Keep your chin up!

[PCH]

Sorry to hear about your loss Mike. For those needing Police attention faster than they seem to want to give it, try this supposedly true story as reported in a UK paper ...

Phillip Hewitson, an elderly man, from Norwich UK, was going up to bed, when
his wife told him that he'd left the light on in the garden shed,
which she could see from the bedroom window.

George opened the back door to go turn off the light, but saw that there were people in the
shed stealing things. He phoned the police, who asked "Is someone in your house?"
He said "No, but some people are breaking into my garden shed and stealing from me".

Then the police dispatcher said…
"All patrols are busy. You should lock your doors and an officer will be along when one is available."

George said, "Okay."
He hung up the phone and counted to 30.
Then he phoned the police again.

"Hello, I just called you a few seconds ago because there were people
stealing things from my shed. Well you don't have to worry about them now
because I just shot them." And he hung up.

Within five minutes, Six Police Cars, a SWAT Team, a Helicopter, two Fire
Trucks, a Paramedic, and an Ambulance showed up at the Hewitson`s'
residence, and caught the burglars red-handed.

One of the Policemen said to Phillip, "I thought you said that you'd shot
them!"

Phillip said, "I thought you said there was nobody available!"


Seems to work :thumbsup:

[TrevorW]

They just lucky you didn't catch them in the act !!!

All the best

[Omaroo]

Even beefcake is no match for people possibly on drugs and also possibly carrying weapons. You'd have to be an idiot.

[casstony]

I always keep the fire extinguisher in mind - they wouldn't be able to breathe with all that chemical dust firing in their face - it would be temporarily quite disabling I think.

[cventer]

Know how you feel mike.

Few years back our place was Robbed when wife, myself, kids and dog went out for a walk. They must have been watching the street, see us and the dog leave.

Scaled the back fence. Attempted break in through bi fold doors. Gave up and tried side window then ventualy gave up on jimmying window and just smashed it.

Stole DVD player, 2 laptops, 2 Canon DSLR's, 3 lenses, all my cufflinks, my wifes jewelry, mp3 player

Then the crowning glory was my wife left her car keys on her bedside dresser so they stole her car to get away.

4 weeks later they found the car in St Kilda. Theifs had been using it to sleep in, shoot up drugs etc... When they found it it had other stolen goods in the back. Car was complete mess with cigarette burns on all the leather, needls on the floor. Insurance was very close to writing it off but effectively pulled out entire interior and replaced it.

The eventualy got the fu..er 6 months later when he was caught robbing another place. Was a serial offender and drug addict.

What really annoys me is the cops said he would do 3 - 4 months max for this crime.

Hardly incentive to discourage such behaviour.

Other interesting fact the cops said was that in 5 years he had never ben called to a home robbery where there was a dog in the home. Much bigger deterant than alarms according to him.

he also said not to bother with cash converters etc... apprently laptops are one of the bihggest currencies in drug trade. he said they woudl have driven our car to Russel st in melbourne. Found the dealers and litteraly traded the laptop for a few grams of heroine. Ther eis a fixed street pirce for laptops and its the quickest way for these addcits to get their fix.

Another thing to consider is new laptops have lojack software built into the bios. You can eneble this. As soon as it is turned on even if hard disk is formatted the laptop will phone home, register its up address and details with manufacturer security center. You can even remotely delete data from them using this software agent imbedded on the motherboard.
he broke in through the window of my little 1 year old daugters nursery. That wa sprobably the most upsetting knowing thise vile animal and violated our home and especaly my Daughters room.

Anyway I feel for you. Its unsettling to say the least. In 2 months you will have forgotten about it and got a shiny new laptop to make you feel better.:D

[Suzy]

:( :( :(

Very sad news, so sorry for what you are be going through right now.
I'm even more saddened for your wife- she will never be able to replace her loss- how painful that must be. :(

It's weird.. I actually had your web page opened the whole weekend (this w/end just gone) as I was looking through your astro pics and also studying your Cent.A pics. You could say, you've pretty much been on my mind, and now for this to happen... well what a shocker.

I dont' mean to scare you Mike (but you've prob. heard this already ?), I've heard that thieves often come back for a second burglary as they've seen what's there. Let's hope they don't come back.

[multiweb]

I have a couple of mates who have 'dangerous dog' signs. I'm starting to think anything helps. I wonder if they have voice activated boxes that would bark, that kind of stuff. I mean if you can stop them from getting in in the first place all helps. :shrug: I get a lot of anonymous phone calls during the day but I'm lucky to work from home. I reckon as you say some people check the places see if anyone's home. I think I'm going to invest in a CCTV setup this year. Even the fake plastic ones can be a deterrent. Times are getting worse.

[strongmanmike]

Like death and taxes, robbery is basically a part of life and in reality likely older than even the other "oldest profession" ;)

The glass is now replaced and the CSI guys (they hate that) have been and gone.

If by some miracle the precious jewlery turns up, then all the better, the rest..?..ah well :shrug:

A timely reminder to all though, it happens. One other thing I have learned though is as far as precious jewelry and the like goes - get it valued and take a photo...and hope they don't steal what ever the photo file is stored on..see can never be 100% covered :rolleyes:

Mike

[multiweb]

So true - insurance policies also stipulate the papers have to be off site or in a fire proof box. If it's stolen or burnt then problems with claims down the road can arise.

[wavelandscott]

Sorry to hear of your ordeal...hang in there. Glad to know that you and family are all safe.

[AstralTraveller]

My condolences Mike. No one needs that sort of hassle.

Fifteen years ago I was away for a few days and my wife was also away elsewhere. She came home late and went to bed. About 5am something woke her and she found the fibro wall at the back broken, the back door propped open and a chair against the side fence, which had a lane on the other side. They were clearly planning to empty the place. In the end they just took her back pack. It did have her purse but there was only a few dollars. She had all the cards cancelled before they could use them but it then took quite a while to get the cards, licence etc reissued. The pack was however full of photocopied documents from U Newcastle library that she needed for her PhD. I wonder whether they are now better educated thieves? Of course the problem was that she was really shook up by the thought that they were in the house, probably in the room, with her. It took years to get over that.

When I was 19 I was done over by smack heads. I knew them casually and they said they were clean. There was no proof it was them but I know it was. A couple of months later they attempted to rip off a bloke - who I met once for a couple of minutes and who appeared to be very quiet and mild mannered - in a drug deal. He pulled out a gun and shot them. Karma?? At least I now know how far you can trust an addict.

I don't like your chances of getting anything back, though it is heartening that the coppers appear to be taking it seriously. My sister had a campervan knocked off from outside a motel in Caboolture (on her way to the Woodford music festival). The people across the road teased my nieces about it and made it pretty obvious they knew where it went. This was reported to the coppers who couldn't even be bothered going and asking some questions!

Regarding '5 minutes alone' with them, this time I'll agree with Chris. None of us are as young as we used to be, you'd likely be outnumbered, and knives argue better than fists. And even if you did get some 'satisfaction' you'd likely wind up in more trouble than them. The idea however does remind me of a somewhat amusing story from about 15 years ago. Apparently two members of the ACT Brumbies, who were flatting together, arrived home to find a robber in the place. I forget the names but I recall that one was a winger and the other a flanker. The robber attempted to run for it but was, not surprisingly, no match for elete athletes. They caught him and 'detained him until the police arrived'. The joke of course was that they occupied the time demonstrating the finer points of rucking and mauling and that the offended was relieved when the police arrested him. :lol:

[strongmanmike]

It's ok, while I'm pissed about it, I'm not interested in giving the perpetrator a hiding because in the end I think if you have to spend your time breaking into peoples home to grab things I recon your life probably isn't that good to start with...so I'll just thank my lucky stars I am in the position I am ie have a job, a great scope and camera, good health and a family that loves me :love:...oh and you guys :D

oh and hey.. the Royal Observatory guys like my astrophotos :thumbsup:

:lol: :sadeyes:

Mike

[desler]

Terrible news there Mike, But on the plus side, you and your family are safe. Keep an eye on the second hand dealers' especially for the jewelry.

If your wife spots it in the local cash converters, there are remedies you can take (remembering state laws differ widely) to get your property back.

Take care and good luck.

Darren

[jenchris]

Get a small safe back up your photos and put them in the safe!

[tlgerdes]

There an element of truth on that story. If you feel your life is in danger then they will respond immediately. When our house was being done over, our elderly neighbour rang my wife, who then rang the police, my wife said that our elderly neighbour was scared to death. By the time my wife got home 7mins later there were 3 police cars waiting out the front. They wanted to search the property before we she could go inside.

[Peter Ward]

I had a similar experience about 10 years ago... not good at all...hence understand what you are going through.

Subsequent dealing with insurers was a pain. I can only suggest you be quite hard nosed about all claims, I recall we came out $5-6k worse off as nearly all of my wife's jewelry was nicked, much wasn't individually listed.
We got stuff all. Subsequently changed insurers and listed *everything*

Give the 'missus a big hug. Buy her something special and move on...

[Hans Tucker]

Yep had the same experience earlier this year...but it happened twice in a two week period. The first time they took my Laptop and a modified EOS 350 camera. But before I could get window locks installed they broke in again but this time they got into the garage and kicked...yes kicked a huge hole in the wall which is the crappy plaster board both sides of the wall...jeez I appreciate the double brick construction of WA houses. I ended up having a security system installed at my expense in the rented house...mainly because I have $60K of Astro gear.

Mike I don't want to sound alarmist but they could be back within a month once they think you have replaced the gear that was taken so please be vigilant...and sorry to hear that it happened to you...it is a crap feeling.

[kustard]

Nothing worse than coming home and finding something missing.

When I was living at Sutherland I had bought myself a Celestron C8 and had taken it out one night for some viewing. I came home, drove the car into the garage and unloaded the scope into the back of the garage and then went upstairs to bed. I came down in the morning and found the garage had been broken into and the scope stolen. Nothing else had been taken. The scope tripod had been extensively modified by a member of SASI and I had a few pictures I was able to give the police but it was never recovered. Luckily my contents insurance came to the party and I was able to get a replacement withing a couple of months.

Ever since I've swapped jobs and now work with my wife at our cafe, we've had two break-ins where they've broken the cash register and smashed open one of our claw game machines. It's a horrible feeling and I wouldn't wish the dramas involved on anyone.

I hope you get back something that they took, even the smallest thing helps to restore faith, otherwise here's hoping your insurance does you right.

Cheers,
Simon

[bobson]

I agree! Any dog is better than alarm. We always had dog and now even have two of them. They bark as soon as someone gets close to our fence. They are man's best friend in so many ways!

cheers

bob

[GTB_an_Owl]

terrible news Mike

but HEED the line - "they will be back" - because they probably will

3 to 6 weeks as others have said

just enough time for you to get a couple of those security lights that plague the astronomer and install one or two cameras

i now use 2 x IR reversing cameras from ebay that were bundled with a 7" LCD screen ($98 - yes only 98 bucks)- hooked into my computer using a capture card and a program called yawcam which has movement capture

check out the live feed from those cameras on my weather site http://weather.gtbastrowise.com.au

i also get emailed of any capture as well as recording to the hard drive.

my van/office/workshop has been done over - and yes they were back 3 weeks later - only to find me sitting in the van and opening the door before they could
i didn't catch them - but they were picked up later that morning and one of them (16) was charged with breaking his parole

geoff

[starlooker]

Mike, maybe you should check the local pawn shops/cash converters on a daily basis for a week or two to see if your property shows up.

Maybe even let the owners know exactly what was stolen, so they can keep an eye out for them.

[RobF]

Feeling for you Mike. Hope you and the family can move on and REALLY feel for you for loss of laptop. You never realise just how many settings you configured on a lappy until you lose them all. Hope you can sort software out without too much pain and get out for some star therapy soon.

[dugnsuz]

Legal Pepper Spray!

Sorry to hear of your dramas Mike - no-one needs that kind of crap in their life. Hope you and your family are coping as best you can.

Doug

[naskies]

Commiserations... I've been there myself - twice! :( They crooks returned before we had a chance to install proper security screens and better locks.

The police officers that came out to talk with us pretty much said they couldn't do much about it, short of catching the thieves in the act.

They also suggested having a guard dog - which we've done in the form of a German Shepherd. Late at night, I sometimes hear the dog going berserk and someone swearing as their footsteps pitter patter away... still gives me a chuckle every time! :lol:

[strongmanmike]

Thanks for the overwhellming support guys :)

We need to keep it all in perspective, there are people going through much worse than we are.

There will always be thieves... I don't want them to force me to live in a fortified home, however a good alarm system should arrive in the mail today..

Mike

[casstony]

Governments could certainly do a lot more to reduce drug related acquisitive crime, from early intervention in primary school right through to better support for addicts, and maybe even some form of decriminalisation to remove profit from the equation.

Some years ago I was hang gliding with some friends near Los Angeles and one of the guys didn't make it to the designated landing area, having to land in a nearby grassy area which turned out to be part of a gated community; we had to get through a road-block with guards before we could pick him up. Personally I prefer to pay a bit more tax to fund a more inclusive, equitable and friendly society.

[TrevorW]

Remove the incentive and tighten the laws relating to pawn shops, also engrave everything you own.

I also believe GPS tracing tags should become more widely available at a reasonable price

[Omaroo]

I'm using my iPhone to take multiple photos of everything I want protected, and entering these into an iPhone app called "Home Inventory". This app lets you attach these photos (up to 9 for each item) to line items in a database, with explicit descriptions of each item including serial numbers, value, source, receipt numbers etc, etc.

It then backs up the data to a secure online database as well as leaving you with local data on all of your iDevices and desktops. No way you'd ever lose the data as it exists in multiple locations. Reports can be generated from any device and sent where they're required.

I'm sure something similar is available for other device architectures.

[h0ughy]

sorry to see you were robbed Mike. Seems like everything is happening in that house? hope you recover the estate stuff,

[shelltree]

Really sorry to hear that mate :( I was broken into in April, it just makes you feel so violated and so so angry. And some things just are not replaceable.