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OT---Am I Overly Cautious???

J

Jiles

Well-known Member
When I leave my home for three days or longer, I always---
1) Turn the water main off
2) Turn off power to ALL unnecessary 220 appliances.
3) Two timers set to control lights and radio.
4) Unplug all unnecessary 110 items.
5) Turn Central unit up or down.
6) Have neighbor collect mail and newspaper.
7) Disconnect and unplug computer and TV sets.
8) Every time I leave my home, I sat my home security system.

I have never had a breakin or had items stolen from my property but I also don't leave items outside in easy reach.
My wife and kids laugh and say I am overly cautious and all this is not necessary.

I say if I have time why not :?:
 
These are all sensible precautions, but the truth is you will never know if they prevent some calamity or not. It's unknowable.

For a few years I lived in the inner city. Whenever I went on vacation I went to incredible lengths to keep my "neighbors" from transferring ownership of my belongings: bars, chains, locks, boards with nails sticking up, lights on timers. I put a lot of stuff in the attic and nailed the scuttlehole. There were some bold SOBs around there.
 
You may be going a little bit overboard, but hey....if it works and your not having any problems then..........haha on your wife!
Next time you leave town for 3 days or longer let her take care of everything. Then if you get broken into or something comes up missing you can tell her "I told you so".
Seriously though, sounds like you have some very good habits that have saved the whole family a lot of grief, whether they know it or not.
 
Some places you have to do all what you do. I do some. I know some friends that were robbed becauce of a facebook message stating that they would be gone for afew days. So it doesn't hurt.
 

Makes sense to me even tho I don't do it..... We had tv antennas as a kid and when a storm came, we would unhook the antenna cable and stick the end in a mason jar with the idea that if lightning struck, the glass would insulate and not let it start a fire.....
 
Remember that breakins can happen when your away for a few hours, it doesn't have to be days. They stake out your house and make a list of when you come and go so they know when your house is empty. That's when they strike.
 
Jiles - I read an article that contained several interviews of inmates that were serving time for burglary. ALL of them said that a TV or radio that could be heard playing from the outside of the house was the biggest deterrent for a break-in. I have a satellite radio hooked to our stereo, and it's on 24/7, and turned up when we leave home. AND I keep my fingers crossed. So far so good. . .

You're not being overly cautious. We turn the stereo up when we check the pasture fence.

Paul
 
Overly cautious?? Maybe, Maybe not. but number 6. if the neighbor has a big mouth, it might not help. fill out a short form at the post office (or have the form and mail it in) and they will hold all mail for the time requested.
 
How well I know. The only time they ever came into the house (as opposed to the yard and my shop) was once when we left the house for 45 minutes. The wife had actually seen the guy casing the house earlier in the day, riding his bike back and forth.
 
Three years ago we left for RPRUP and got home to a missing Dish box and cut phone wires. Had to be kids but you won t have these problems.
 
(quoted from post at 05:11:06 07/18/11) Overly cautious?? Maybe, Maybe not. but number 6. if the neighbor has a big mouth, it might not help. fill out a short form at the post office (or have the form and mail it in) and they will hold all mail for the time requested.
Click to expand...
You may be correct--but I trust my neighbor more then someone at postoffice!
 
As the old saying goes "better safe than sorry. At my place our house yard is fenced, mainly to keep my long departed Rottie in. The shop which has a carport for my wifes car attached is about 70 feet from a road and is not inside a fence.. My truck parking is not fenced either. Lately we have had cars driving by day and night real slow. I don't know what they are up to but as a result I an going to get my motion sensor lights in working order and I just started fencing all of our property. About 700 ft of fence altogether. Around here, when seconds count, the cops are only hours away so we are prepared for that also.
 
Do what you like if you have time. I bought insurance and
commercial locks. I do turn the water off when we go away in the
winter but only cause no one is there to load the fire.
 
we have had several lightning strikes around/on our old house which has lightning rods. The last one burned thru the 110 wire in the wall right at the TV. That's close. At least 2 neighbors have had burst water pipes while away in the summer. Your precautions will allow you to relax more when away.
 
We have a slightly less rigorous program- we do lock the doors when we're going to be gone for more than a couple days.
 
Just make sure before you leave that your wife didn't arrange for a house sitter. They might be uncomfortable.
 
If it makes you feel better then why not do it. As for me, if Im going to be gone overnight I usually lock the door. If Im going to be gone for a few nights I might take the keys out of the vehicles that are still here. Usually not though. Everything I've got worth stealing is insured, and a lot of things that arent. Same with water and fire, its covered and and most cases worth more to the insurance company than to me. So far I've had 2 things stolen from me in my life. A battery out of my 65 Mustang sitting in the driveway in 1985 and a revolver out of a tractor sitting out in a field out of sight on a job 8 miles away.
 
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