Nice people thread part 4 - sugar and spice and all things

lostinrates

LydiaJ wrote: »

Oh lir, that sounds most unsettling for you. Glad it all seems to be OK now, and also glad you've got the dogs. Can I suggest you write the grid reference on stickers and stick one to every phone in the house? Then if you ever need to call the police again, it'll be right there.

I think that's a brilliant idea. Coincidentally I have defra coming for an inspection tomorrow too, so I will check my idea of our grid reference with theirs....one of the things that they are checking.

fc123

lostinrates wrote: »

I would really like it, if as the riots get wound up and punishments issued we could also spend some time teaching people what ''respect'' is, how it works and what it means. They go on and on about ''respect'' which I think they confuse a little with courtesy and a little with ''getting what they want''.

....the respect word is bandied about so much...really winds me up.

tomterm8 wrote: »

Am I being terribly liberal when I say the vast majority of teenagers (of either sex) I meet are polite, hard working, and decent law abiding citizens? London is a city of 6 million, and there were a couple of thousand yobbos running amok. But most people are not like that.

No ....not really as what you say is true....the vast majority of every type of group is as above. It's just the minority get all the attention and make the most noise.

lostinrates wrote: »

No sign of LJ since the brimingham stuff???

Anyay, here I am worrying about you lot and I had an intruder tonight. Very odd.....loud music in a car that then left then all I could see was the end of a lit cigarette...dogs were going crazy (''fresh meat'' they barked, ''yes'' I hissed at them ''and it could be armed'' - been watching too many riots?) Called the police gave them good directions, but couldn't remember the grid reference.....watched them sale past where person was smoking, with lights on. Then cigarette disappeared and dogs shut up.....

took them 15 mins to find there way back (they'd gone to another address) then they explored the barns while I shot off to check field gates (can't see horses but the chains are all on the gates).

Heart is pumping now. Its horrid, but not so scary on previous occasions.....overactive imagination tonight. It was probably a couple had a tiff and one turfed the other out at a convienent looking spot.

That's a bit worrying..are you OK?
Will you have some budget to get some CCTV set up around your place? Could act as a deterrent too as anyone up to no good doesn't want to be filmed/recognised.

We had it installed in our shop after an incident (it was a 'straw that broke the....' type of incident) and post install, our shoplifting (99% by hardcore druggies) dropped dramatically.
We felt so much safer too for some reason.

lostinrates

[QUOTE=fc123;45965443That's a bit worrying..are you OK?
Will you have some budget to get some CCTV set up around your place? Could act as a deterrent too as anyone up to no good doesn't want to be filmed/recognised.

We had it installed in our shop after an incident (it was a 'straw that broke the....' type of incident) and post install, our shoplifting (99% by hardcore druggies) dropped dramatically.
We felt so much safer too for some reason.[/QUOTE]


I'm fine thanks sweet fc. My heart is dancing a tarentella but its more the late night and slight hysterior having watched and typed about more unusual and threatening crime Silly woman, eh??

Police were very nice, despite being lost. I got what I think of as the stereotypical team: Tweety and Fatty. Tweety is tough, five foot two with a voice belonging to a bigger woman, and a blonde pony tale...she's the boss, and is worried people won't know it. Fatty is somewhere bewtween late forties and late fifties and probably has emphasema, but always buys more than his fair share of rounds at the pub. However, they have good torches, he's a big target and if someone does turn out to be here they'd probably hold them off long enough for me to get the others here.....if I have the grid reference and my mobile not beebing saying it needs charging.....:)

In allseriousness, they were very kind, and reassured me I did the right thing, and to keep an ear open for the dogs and call 999 again if I'm in doubt.


edit: re cctv...its one of those things that has been going to happen. We need to do somehting to our electrics. They were sort of promised as a housewarming gift but I don't like to badger. It would be good though. I wonder if the secret dwarf room should be a panic room. Its small enough to induce panic certainly.

michaels

That is the problem with bankers - they judge everyone else by their own standards.

Generali wrote: »

We've rewarded generations to take what they want and be barely chastised if what they want happens to belong to someone else. The idea of working for a living is ridiculous. You fight and you take and might is right. The police and the community around you won't help you look after your property so you look after your own and take what's unguarded.

That's the reality in large parts of London. The vast majority of it, even the expensive bits.

My dad was in 'Nam...last year with my mum doing indo-china - I will ask them.

misskool wrote: »

Anyone knows if 4 days in Ho Chi Minh city is enough? Or could I do it in 3 days?

Generali

LIR it sounds to me like they were smoking weed in your drive. Lights might do the job. People smoking grass like privacy.

A dog would also see them off.

neverdespairgirl

Sounds horrible, LIR!

Would you consider a motion-activated solar-powered light? My parents have those, they are great.

Generali

michaels wrote: »

That is the problem with bankers - they judge everyone else by their own standards.

To be fair, most bankers can buy stuff and don't have to smash the place up to get it. Anyway, when I was in investment banking I was too tired to riot!

I admit that our net effect on the economy has probably been worse than 200 rioters with a couple of bricks each.

All joking apart, there seems to be a substantial culture in London of stealing. I used to reckon on buying a new bike each year for example. Perhaps this isn't a topic for the nice people thread tho.

John_Pierpoint

GDB2222 wrote: »

I think they have metal couplings between the plastic sections. Also, how do you know they haven't thought about this and incorporated a bit of metal in the plastic pipes? Or even, heavens forbid, they are making accurate records now?

Those modern yellow plastic pipes (say 5" diameter) can be heated and butt jointed - ie the melted polyethylene just "welds" one length to the next as it is "snaked" into the ground.
[I retrieved an abandoned length, where someone had messed up trying to join one piece to the next and used it to make a field entry with hardcore across a ditch.

Generali wrote: »

LIR it sounds to me like they were smoking weed in your drive. Lights might do the job. People smoking grass like privacy.

A dog would also see them off.

People do all sorts of things in cars - and chuck garbage out of its windows.

I have built a simple level crossing type barrier across my access track some 100 meters from the house to discourage such uses; most antisocial urban "visitors" are scared of dark open spaces.

Of course, should the track be a public right of way it cannot be blocked.

misskool

oh, lir, i hope you're calmed down now. take care and you did the right thing.

Davesnave

misskool wrote: »

oh, lir, i hope you're calmed down now. take care and you did the right thing.

Seconded. I've only just read the thread.

CCTV can look a bit incongruous in the countryside. We have one place with it near here, and it stands out. Good security lighting is a different matter.

While CCTV certainly had an effect at our school, the improved traditional deterrents, like better fencing, had more. I well remember the night one of our new picnic tables (the type with two built in benches) went missing. One minute it was sitting there in the playground, and then, on the next sweep of the camera, it was gone. As the camera was one of those enclosed in a dome, there was no way the thieves timed it; they were just lucky.:(

I'd say good PIR activated lights and your dogs are your best allies, lir.