vanillafluffy: (Laundry)
[personal profile] vanillafluffy
I was going to do a load of laundry. Business as usual, right?

Oh, no....

So I go to turn the washer on and nothing happens. Okay, don't panic. The breakers have been known to trip when there's stuff going on at that end of the house. I check the box, nope, everything there is normal.

Okay. For a variety of reasons, my washer was plugged into an extension cord which ran from the front corner of the garage, catty-corner to the washer. It's been that way for at least ten years, and if it ain't broke, don't fix it, right?

At this point, I thought to check the extension cord. I figured maybe something fell off a shelf and knocked it loose, or a squirrel chewed through it, y'know, random shit.

There was NO extension cord. it wasn't loose, it wasn't damaged, it was flat-out GONE.

This gives me cold chills, because in order to do that, they would have to not just open the garage door to unplug it, but follow it all the way back to the washer (where the washer's plug was lying there forlornly).

I called the sheriff's department. After fifteen minutes on hold, I reported my burglary, and they sent a pleasant young man out. I mentioned that this was not the first thing to disappear. (In addition to my missing mailbox, an old baker's rack I had flower pots sstored on walked off a couple months ago.) Unfortunately,, the garage door is so old and funky there was no chance of getting prints from it (Where's Horatio Caine and Co when you need them?!), no I'm basically SOL there.

I did, however, take a few minutes to bring him up to speed on the Neighbors From Hell, and he's going to keep an eye on things, and pass the word to his colleagues.

Meanwhile, I need a new extension cord, and I need to get a handyman out to do something about that garage door. I can't afford to replace it, but if I can immobilize it to restrict access, that should solve the problem.

This used to be a nice, quiet neighborhood. Those were the days....

.

(no subject)

Date: 2012-03-19 09:52 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pwcorgigirl.livejournal.com
Oh, honey! Thank goodness you tipped the police about the Neighbors from Hell. Maybe they'll step up the local presence by sending a car through the neighborhood more often.

We've had a few things stolen here: the doormat (go figure) and the GPS out of the kid's car, but never anything taken from within the house. Gives me the shivers too. *hugs*

(no subject)

Date: 2012-03-19 11:17 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] vanillafluffy.livejournal.com
I think I'm more angry than scared. And the fact that it was something so ridiculous---the replacement cost of an extension cord, even a really long one, is under $20---I realize that the odds of it being recovered are exactly zero---but I *hoped* they'd get prints and maybe tie it to someone now or later. <---Disorganized run-on sentence of the year.

Anybody who goes rummaging through someone else's stuff is going to get nabbed for something eventually.

.

(no subject)

Date: 2012-03-20 01:22 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thru-the-blinds.livejournal.com
Dear God, that made my skin crawl just reading it. Makes you wonder what ELSE they may have taken? Either that, or I hope whoever nabbed your extension cord really, REALLY needed it.

(no subject)

Date: 2012-03-20 03:48 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] vanillafluffy.livejournal.com
Iy makes me glad that I've procrastinated in implementing my plan to stash small appliances out there, or I'd be missing my shop-vac, crockpots, iron, Foreman grill, etc. Sometimes sloth pays off!

.

*mind boggles*

Date: 2012-03-20 03:22 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kukkurkurat.livejournal.com
An extension cord? That is just plain odd. Ok, we have lost a metal grill but as far as I know it was looted for the metal... *shivers* Yes, definitely the sloth this time was a VERY GOOD THING.

Re: *mind boggles*

Date: 2012-03-20 04:19 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] vanillafluffy.livejournal.com
*nods* It hasn't escaped me that the shelves and the mailbox were both metal, even before that night's news reported that metal thieves have hit Orlando so hard that they're enacting laws to add severe penalties to people caught stealing the wiring from street lamps and the like. It seems there have been accidents, some of them fatal, caused by poor lighting due to the thefts. Here, though, I think it's a case of the rotten little shits around here being light-fingered and seeing how much they can get away with.

.
Edited Date: 2012-03-20 04:20 pm (UTC)

Re: *mind boggles*

Date: 2012-03-20 04:49 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kukkurkurat.livejournal.com
Goddamn shit fuck it. I HATE people like that. You really should put electric wires and some car batteries to your fence...Za-ZAPP!

Re: *mind boggles*

Date: 2012-03-20 04:55 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] vanillafluffy.livejournal.com
I've considered that, believe me. Also landmines, razor wire and punji sticks. I'm just afraid of retaliation.

.

Re: *mind boggles*

Date: 2012-03-20 05:02 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kukkurkurat.livejournal.com
Landmines can really backfire, but razor wire sounds reasonable....

Re: *mind boggles*

Date: 2012-03-20 05:13 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] vanillafluffy.livejournal.com
What would really be perfect is one of those bear-traps you see in old cartoons, where it clamps around the leg with teeth? Pity, I don't *think* they're legal any more....

.

Re: *mind boggles*

Date: 2012-03-20 05:22 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kukkurkurat.livejournal.com
You should check the legislation on them. Sometimes things like that slip through...

Re: *mind boggles*

Date: 2012-03-24 10:40 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] vanillafluffy.livejournal.com
I should be so lucky....

.

(no subject)

Date: 2012-03-22 09:06 am (UTC)
ladyjane: Upset kitty in snow. "Kitty does not approve of this shit." (Kitty Does Not Approve)
From: [personal profile] ladyjane
Check the garage door and see if there are holes on the edge of the door that line up with holes in the track. If there are, you can immobilize it by tieng it down with a hank of clothesline or (better) a chain and and padlock.

(no subject)

Date: 2012-03-22 09:07 am (UTC)
ladyjane: Upset kitty in snow. "Kitty does not approve of this shit." (Kitty Does Not Approve)
From: [personal profile] ladyjane
PS: I do hope you have a good lock on the door that goes from the house to the garage. If not, get one ASAP!

(no subject)

Date: 2012-03-24 10:45 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] vanillafluffy.livejournal.com
No holes in the track, but I have it immobilized with a strong clamp set in the track.

I need a whole new door; the one I have now has a window in it.

.

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