Crappy weekend was crappy...

The wifes grandmother is a snowbird...owns a little place in Florida that she visits from January till April every year. Those of us left here in the frigid north take turns checking on her place once a week or so while shes gone, make sure the sump pump is working, pipes arent frozen etc etc.

Go over there this weekend, some punks have kicked in the back door...great

Gone:

• 37" flat panel TV
• 27" flat panel TV
• Bose shelf stereo
• Wii system
• obligatory wad of cash old people feel compelled to leave in the sock drawer

Untouched - all her jewelry, her fine silverware, silver candlesticks, weapons, curio cabinet with various gold trinkets.

So basically, they were dumb kids, and the electronics will never be fenced because theyre sitting at home playing Wii on a 37" tv with the sound routed thru a Bose stereo. They were likely tipped off that this was an easy score because grandma mail ordered some hand lotion before she left, forgot it was on its way, and it sat on the doorstep for a few days in a row.

So, I, being the only adult male in the family, am somehow responsible for cleaning the place up and securing the door until insurance can get someone out to put a new one in and fix the damage permanently. not only did the shiny happy people ruin the door, but the doorframe as well...and berkleying glass is EVERYWHERE! Glad I have a shopvac.

Anyway, just wanting to vent a little bit...not looking for anything. Its really only a few hundred dollars in losses, maybe a grand or twoo tops with the door and everything all factored in.

But we just got grandma to move into this ranch about 5 months ago. Her previous house of 40 years was a big turn of the century "soapbox" style with the bedrooms on the second floor and the laundry in the basement...grandma didnt need to be climbing up all those steps everyday at her age. So we convince her to move into a ranch, in a little community where the HOA covers lawn care, raking leaves, shoveling your driveway and front walk...single floor living with the laundry and bedrooms on the same floor, its closer to her family by several miles...she wasnt to keen on moving, and it took a lot of effort from us, plus a sever increase in trouble from her sciatic nerve causing pain and mobility issues...basically 2 years of begging and pleading for her to agree she needed to go.

What were her first words when we called to break the news? "This wouldve never happened in my old house"

I can guaran-damn-tee it that she will either want to move back to her old house (still on the market, hasnt sold yet), or wont "feel safe" there anymore, and will want a new place. Well, she can hire pro's this time, 4CF Home Improvement and Moving Services, LLC is no longer available.

So my weekend is now shot, b/csome dumb ass bored teenage beotches didnt get enough hugs from daddy...whatever...I put some plywood over the door, with 1/4" carriage bolts and fender washers...no one is getting in there without making some SERIOUS racket. But Im done with grannys home situation. If she wants to dick around with mail order BS and then blame US for her misfortunes, then so be it. She can go ahead and be crotchety by herself. Im not putting up with it anymore.

/rant

The damage to the doorframe and wall structure was extensive enough that there is no way to fix it where the fix would be completely hidden to the naked eye.

not to mention, replacing her Stereo with an exact duplicate would be difficult as its no longer available new...Im not trolling eBay and Craigslist to find a 7 year old stereo just to give grandma the warm and fuzzies.

Insurance will have to be involved - I dont have $2k laying around that I can just throw at this problem.

they'll be back. set up webcams. and tasers.

Makes NO difference where you live. Sooner or later, they will find you.

Sorry to hear of this. They will be back for the stuff that they didn't haul off the first time. Be prepared.

cwh wrote: Makes NO difference where you live. Sooner or later, they will find you.

QFT. My house is in a pretty nice neighborhood but the A/C still got busted open for the copper (this was before I bought it). The neighbors all said they had never seen that happen before.

Ya gots to go to da good neighborhoods to get da good stuff.
Aint nobody in da 'hood got nottin good.

4cylndrfury wrote: Gone: + 37" flat panel TV + 27" flat panel TV + Bose shelf stereo + Wii system + obligatory wad of cash old people feel compelled to leave in the sock drawer Untouched - all her jewelry, her fine silverware, silver candlesticks, weapons, curio cabinet with various gold trinkets.

Hey, look on the bright side. TVs and stereos are easy to replace. Jewelery, curios, etc - not at all. They just took stuff, they didn't take any memories.

Go ahead and set up an alarm system on the house that has a service that she can access them if SHE gets in trouble from a fall or such. This will make her feel better about things and negate her argument before it gets started.

Good idea to get a decent alarm for the house. USE A LOCAL COMPANY, NOT ADT OR THEIR CLONES!!!! Any decent company can include the Help me I can't get up!! Buttons for a very small additional cost. Oh, they really do work, too.

I dunno. I think the "Riff Raff" as my Grandpa used to call em, are pretty scared of us mountain folk. Everybody's got guns. Neighbors know each other and watch out for each other...(knocks on wood.)

The tweekers target out of towners; Florida people with 2nd homes who rent them out when they're not there. Hell, sometimes they don't even steal E36 M3; just party for a weekend.

4CF,

This is your Grandma.

As you know, I made it very clear I didn’t want to move. After suffering through two years of your constant pressure, I capitulated.

Now, my new home has been broken into…something that never happened in all the years I living in my old home.

I can’t undo this mistake without your support, will you please help me.

Well, lesson learned is that all valuable things will be removed and stored at a family members home when shes gone...her jewelry boxes, weaponry, valuables etc are now all at someone else house. We bought a few rubbermaid totes that make moving these things pretty easy - We get a few totes, Mother in law gets a tote, sister in law gets a tote etc...now, anything left is minutia...I guess they could go after the pipes and whatnot. We did put a few lamps on timers, and asked the neighbors to pick up papers etc that may show up and put a garbage can in her driveway on trash day.

Officer nice-guy said if they pick your house, they pick it, and if they want to get in, they will. Its not really probable that you can completely break-in proof your house without building the sequel to Alcatraz.

A security system with an "Ive fallen and cant get up" button is likely on the horizon, but who knows...

In reply to RX Reven'

No

Move her to Ft.Walton Beach. http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/strange/floriduh-blog/sfl-grabbed-keys-20130120,0,3065352.story

4cylndrfury wrote: In reply to RX Reven' No

In reply to JohnInKansas and RX Reven':

If you had any idea how much trouble and effort went into trying to retrofit a 2 story house with a basement, that was built in 1929, to make it work for an elderly single woman who has a hard time not hoarding everything for sale on QVC, whose unable to lift her left foot more than 4" or stand for more than 20 minu...

oh, never mind.

Yes, I am the grinch. Where is that damned christmas so I can steal it?

In reply to 4cylndrfury:

No-cat wasn't intended to be inflammatory, just seemed appropriate.

Life will go on, one way or another. Hope it goes as smoothly as possible for you and the rest of the family.

4cylndrfury wrote: In reply to JohnInKansas and RX Reven': If you had any idea how much trouble and effort went into trying to retrofit a 2 story house with a basement, that was built in 1929, to make it work for an elderly single woman who has a hard time not hoarding everything for sale on QVC, whose unable to lift her left foot more than 4" or stand for more than 20 minu... oh, never mind. Yes, I am the grinch. Where is that damned christmas so I can steal it?

Hi 4CF,

I totally appreciate that I’m not walking in your shoes, don’t know the history, etc..

Thanks for being a good sport.

Sorry guys...I know its one of those things im sure id be poking fun at if it wasn't happening to me. No offense taken. Just a E36 M3ty weekend. Laughter is the best medicine...

Ouch! Sorry to hear about this.

Good luck with your grandmother, I know what a pain they can be to get along with sometimes. Mine was the same way. Her way or no way until she was 94 and just plain forgot what her way was. Good luck, you are going to need it.

Here's the thing, she was used to have the decisions made by her husband/herself for xx number of years. She still figures she's a grown woman and can make her own decisions. Mainly because she can remember when all the rest of the family was E36 M3ing themselves. Feeling like your freedom is gone sucks, and old people are stubborn. Our family just went through this a year ago, good luck.

I was always told to have a radio on in an empty house along with the timers for the lights. Talk radio is good. That, and having trustworthy neighbours knowing about the situation can go a long way. I know I wouldn't want to go in an unknown house with lights and voices, but I'm also not a burglar.

Your GMIL sounds like my grandmother...my parents have been trying to convince her to move, she sorta hoards stuff...and if anything bad happened at the new house you can bet she'd blame the change of location.

In reply to AngryCorvair:

grandma was in on it! its an inside job!!!!

My mother in law keeps trying to think of ways to collect more evidence or put together a theory that might lead to more/better clues to the identities of the perpetrators...

I had to lay it out in plain english to her:

• there will be no "detectives" getting involved
• there will be no drag net established
• there will be no "pawn shop" sales to track back to the sellers
• there will be no further investigation
• there will be no arrests made

they were kids - bored kids, who stole things theyd want to put on the shelf at home. They werent looking to score drug money - precious metals like gold and silver equal cash these days, and they didnt touch a lick of it. They will not be caught...they wont be arrested...the stuff wont be returned.

We need to move on with life. Fix the house, buy new TVs, install some security whizbang, and be more diligent in the future with what goes where, what lights/radios etc need to be set on timers, WHAT THINGS ARE SCHEDULED TO BE DELIVERED...but we cannot fixate on this stuff. No one was hurt, her sentimentally precious stuff was left intact. The home didnt flood out because they stole copper pipe, it didnt burn down because they ripped out wiring...she cant just just move on. Its almost as annoying as the actual crime...