13 April 2016
From the sad but true department, a few weeks ago we discovered that someone had stopped by our house when we weren't here and helped themselves to the Gitrane bicycle we had in the barn, and some pottery that we had found in the kitchen and were saving because we liked it. If they took anything else, we haven't noticed yet.
Neither of these things were particularly important to us, but it's obviously the fact that someone felt welcome to walk around our property and take whatever struck their fancy that bothers us. We had lived for 23 years in a suburb of Greensboro that has gotten busier and busier, especially after the widening of Wendover Avenue. But through all that time we never had a single incident with property theft or trespassing.
We have met several of our immediate neighbors. Other neighbors a little farther afield have stopped by as they were driving by when they saw us working around the house. One just asked what we were doing. A couple more showed a lot of interest in the house and we have happily given them a tour, such as it is. We would love to continue to welcome our local community to this property and greatly appreciate the support that has been expressed for preserving this little piece of history. But we can't ignore this kind of intrusion and, regrettably, have had to spend money on some items to help keep watch on things, rather than helping to restore the home. Hopefully nothing like this will happen again. The LAST THING we want to do is put up gates, and chains, and no trespassing signs.
I do hope that whoever took the bicycle knew what they were taking and is going to restore it. While not particularly old, the name carries some panache. And steel frame bikes are making a little resurgence in the non-competitive road biking world. One of my sons and I were going to restore it, as we are both road cyclists, but as my wife pointed out, I don't have the time for that right now.
Well,that's enough about that.
From the sad but true department, a few weeks ago we discovered that someone had stopped by our house when we weren't here and helped themselves to the Gitrane bicycle we had in the barn, and some pottery that we had found in the kitchen and were saving because we liked it. If they took anything else, we haven't noticed yet.
Neither of these things were particularly important to us, but it's obviously the fact that someone felt welcome to walk around our property and take whatever struck their fancy that bothers us. We had lived for 23 years in a suburb of Greensboro that has gotten busier and busier, especially after the widening of Wendover Avenue. But through all that time we never had a single incident with property theft or trespassing.
We have met several of our immediate neighbors. Other neighbors a little farther afield have stopped by as they were driving by when they saw us working around the house. One just asked what we were doing. A couple more showed a lot of interest in the house and we have happily given them a tour, such as it is. We would love to continue to welcome our local community to this property and greatly appreciate the support that has been expressed for preserving this little piece of history. But we can't ignore this kind of intrusion and, regrettably, have had to spend money on some items to help keep watch on things, rather than helping to restore the home. Hopefully nothing like this will happen again. The LAST THING we want to do is put up gates, and chains, and no trespassing signs.
I do hope that whoever took the bicycle knew what they were taking and is going to restore it. While not particularly old, the name carries some panache. And steel frame bikes are making a little resurgence in the non-competitive road biking world. One of my sons and I were going to restore it, as we are both road cyclists, but as my wife pointed out, I don't have the time for that right now.
Well,that's enough about that.
We live at the end of Old Post Office Rd. We have to keep our barn locked up like a fort. If you have anything of value; sad to say, you must secure it. We had a lock on the barn and they cut it. Sad to say we had to get a security system.
ReplyDeleteDisappointed to hear that. But thanks for letting us know.
ReplyDeleteBreak-ins and the like are very common these days and as most of them never get reported, the numbers are unavailable. A few things you can do as most security systems do little other that give a false sense of security to the owner is to buy a few dome cameras from Harbor F. that are only "dummies" but enough to keep people away as they do not want to take a chance. Mount them above doors and anywhere one might try to enter. Do not install batteries for the red LED as that only gives away the fact they are fake. In the country, a few trail cams (same as used by hunters and those wanting to monitor wildlife) placed along the access road can record activity that normally would never be caught by a "live security system" running 24/7. Locks are only an indicator that something inside is worth investigating.
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