Hello everyone,
This is my first post on this board (have been lurking for a while and signed up a few months ago). I'd never expected my first post to be this serious, so here goes. I'm interested in any feedback you may have!
Last saturday night I was at home (with my parents and brother, I'm 29 he's 25) like I was for the last few weeks (holidays). Anyway, I was working late at night on my thesis, upstairs in my bedroom. At about 12PM went down for a quick snack; at 3:00 AM went down for a 'lumpia' (sp?) in the microwave. All was still well in the kitchen. Then, at 4:30 I went down
for some biscuits and noticed that in the kitchen, 2 closets were open plus the door to the machine shop. This last door we always keep closed (not locked) because of mice. The 2 kitchen closets that were open puzzled me; my first reaction was that someone else of the family needed something out of the kitchen earlier that night, though I was puzzled, because
nothing useful is in those particular closets (oatmeal, cooking book, seldom used gadgets), plus I had been awake all night and thought everybody else was asleep. When I noticed the machine shop door open, I went in the shop to check it out (though I was pretty certain my brother had been there, as he does every now and then; though he always closes the door!). Anyway I went in and checked the shop for broken windows and open outside door; all was ok. Went back into the kitchen, ate a few cookies and went back upstairs (through the garage, as I always do at night). Now, when I had set a first step on the stairs I heard a very slight 'ting' (like when you hit a zipper against a window pane, but very quiet); however, I thought I had made that noise myself (we have a clock in an annoying place that I often 'lightly scrape' at night (I don't turn the lights on until I'm in the garage or kitchen). So I paid no more attention to it and went upstairs, back to bed, continuing to write on the laptop.
That morning, my mother came upstairs to say we had been burglared. Nothing had been taken. Then, out came my story, and alle the (tiny) events of that night seemed to fall into place. They had entered by the kitchen door (forcing it with a screwdriver or something), had time to open
the machineshop door, saw my car in the shop plus lots of tools (lathe, mill, drill, etc., not the stuff your local friendly neighbourhood junkie is interested in), went back into the kitchen, opened the 2 cupboards, and by then they probably heard me coming down the stairs, with me opening the hallway/garage door and then opening the garage/kitchen door. My guess is he (they?) then hid in the living room (cause I'd have seen them if they were in the kitchen or machine shop). After a minute I had 'checked' things and thought all was ok, had my cookies and went back upstairs. Then,
he/they decided to leave, from living room back to kitchen and out of the house. Well, at least I think that was what happened that night. He probably wasn't inside more than a minute when I disturbed him. And he was a neat burglar, after he entered he closed the kitchen door. (of course, if I'd seen an open door, all my alarm bells would start ringing)
D*mn, I really feel stupid for not having checked the house any better; in hindsight, all the signs were there, something just wasn't right.
But suppose I DID check the living room and found someone there (with screwdriver or crowbar). Me in my undies (BM upstairs in my pants).
Now, I consider myself a little prepared; when I'm dressed I ALWAYS carry a Benchmade BM710 (not so much for defence but more for practical use, but still, I'm fast with that knife; and yes, the carrying of a knife is VERY forbidden in the NL; nowadays, people can even be 'preventively searched' i.e., without any particular suspicion or 'due cause', as you call it) and since a few months I always have a Surefire E2E with me (in my right socket; works pretty fine, BTW). That night though I was undressed; all I had with me was my underpants... And I thought I was always in code 'yellow'. Time to rethink the plan...
In the night my 'unarmedness' wouldn't have stopped me from thoroughly checking out the house & garden, if I thought anything was wrong; it was only later during the day that I realised that guy had something with him that could be used as a weapon... It's not about what happened, but what could have happened that later made me think.
In hindsight, at the moment I knew something wasn't as usual and had a very slight hint of a burglary; but when I had made a quick scan, all seemed normal enough to me. At first I was disappointed that I hadn't
looked any better for burglars; only later did I realise that may have been lucky for me...
Anyways, that's the story; never thought my first mail on this board would be this serious (well, compared with some other stuff I've read here it's child's play), but for me it's serious enough. Though I'm a bit glad/proud that I did scare them off (without my knowing so) which made the damage almost none (only damage to the door, nothing stolen). But I can't
imagine how anyone can be so stupid to burgle (sp?) a house where there's light burning upstairs (i.e. in my room)! Or did he think he would be the only one awake at 5 AM ?!
I'm pretty sure he'll be back though, because he has been in the living room, which is crammed with nice goodies (nothing electronics, but antique-like stuff).
We don't have a dog (and will never want one) and no alarm; what I consider worst is that anyone has free access to the house (driveway unfenced/no gate) and also from the back it's possible to have access. Have told my father often to do something about this (it won't stop
a professional, but a junkie may opt for another house). BTW, our across the street neighbours have totally fenced of their house; doesn't look pretty, but I guess it does work.
Anyway, that's the story, sorry if it's a bit long. If anyone has tips on what to do (or not to, for that matter) I'd be interested in knowing. Somehow I think he/they 's going to come back. I know for sure I won't be having a midnight snack again without my surefire clipped left on my underpants and my BM710 on the right side. Time to install some extra-strong elastics ;-) Though I'd rather have a more powerful tool than a flashlight to blind him with and a knife to flash (knife vs. screwdriver.... don't want to be in that fight). It's not going to happen over here in our cosy little kingdom. Self-defense is technically not illegal (sometimes...), but once you hurt someone (even a burglar) you'll spend more time in the judicial system than your uninvited 'visitor'. And ofcourse, defence of property is completely way out of line! I *LOVE* this country! You Americans, guard your rights while you still have them. Over here, a .22 is just as illegal as a submachine gun or double-barrel shotgun; even non-firing replicas (i.e., kids toys) are considered weapons. (Yes, a Nintendo gun (sic!) that has been painted black is classified as a weapon!).
And me, well, I was born in The Netherlands, but I don't think I'll die there...
Greetings,
Peter.
(Funny thing though, for months I've been warning my family members not to leave those big knives lying around on the kitchen sink at night; anyone who breaks in and sees them, it's just begging to be used). Though I consider it a sad world if, inside your own house, you start thinking like that :-(
This is my first post on this board (have been lurking for a while and signed up a few months ago). I'd never expected my first post to be this serious, so here goes. I'm interested in any feedback you may have!
Last saturday night I was at home (with my parents and brother, I'm 29 he's 25) like I was for the last few weeks (holidays). Anyway, I was working late at night on my thesis, upstairs in my bedroom. At about 12PM went down for a quick snack; at 3:00 AM went down for a 'lumpia' (sp?) in the microwave. All was still well in the kitchen. Then, at 4:30 I went down
for some biscuits and noticed that in the kitchen, 2 closets were open plus the door to the machine shop. This last door we always keep closed (not locked) because of mice. The 2 kitchen closets that were open puzzled me; my first reaction was that someone else of the family needed something out of the kitchen earlier that night, though I was puzzled, because
nothing useful is in those particular closets (oatmeal, cooking book, seldom used gadgets), plus I had been awake all night and thought everybody else was asleep. When I noticed the machine shop door open, I went in the shop to check it out (though I was pretty certain my brother had been there, as he does every now and then; though he always closes the door!). Anyway I went in and checked the shop for broken windows and open outside door; all was ok. Went back into the kitchen, ate a few cookies and went back upstairs (through the garage, as I always do at night). Now, when I had set a first step on the stairs I heard a very slight 'ting' (like when you hit a zipper against a window pane, but very quiet); however, I thought I had made that noise myself (we have a clock in an annoying place that I often 'lightly scrape' at night (I don't turn the lights on until I'm in the garage or kitchen). So I paid no more attention to it and went upstairs, back to bed, continuing to write on the laptop.
That morning, my mother came upstairs to say we had been burglared. Nothing had been taken. Then, out came my story, and alle the (tiny) events of that night seemed to fall into place. They had entered by the kitchen door (forcing it with a screwdriver or something), had time to open
the machineshop door, saw my car in the shop plus lots of tools (lathe, mill, drill, etc., not the stuff your local friendly neighbourhood junkie is interested in), went back into the kitchen, opened the 2 cupboards, and by then they probably heard me coming down the stairs, with me opening the hallway/garage door and then opening the garage/kitchen door. My guess is he (they?) then hid in the living room (cause I'd have seen them if they were in the kitchen or machine shop). After a minute I had 'checked' things and thought all was ok, had my cookies and went back upstairs. Then,
he/they decided to leave, from living room back to kitchen and out of the house. Well, at least I think that was what happened that night. He probably wasn't inside more than a minute when I disturbed him. And he was a neat burglar, after he entered he closed the kitchen door. (of course, if I'd seen an open door, all my alarm bells would start ringing)
D*mn, I really feel stupid for not having checked the house any better; in hindsight, all the signs were there, something just wasn't right.
But suppose I DID check the living room and found someone there (with screwdriver or crowbar). Me in my undies (BM upstairs in my pants).
Now, I consider myself a little prepared; when I'm dressed I ALWAYS carry a Benchmade BM710 (not so much for defence but more for practical use, but still, I'm fast with that knife; and yes, the carrying of a knife is VERY forbidden in the NL; nowadays, people can even be 'preventively searched' i.e., without any particular suspicion or 'due cause', as you call it) and since a few months I always have a Surefire E2E with me (in my right socket; works pretty fine, BTW). That night though I was undressed; all I had with me was my underpants... And I thought I was always in code 'yellow'. Time to rethink the plan...
In the night my 'unarmedness' wouldn't have stopped me from thoroughly checking out the house & garden, if I thought anything was wrong; it was only later during the day that I realised that guy had something with him that could be used as a weapon... It's not about what happened, but what could have happened that later made me think.
In hindsight, at the moment I knew something wasn't as usual and had a very slight hint of a burglary; but when I had made a quick scan, all seemed normal enough to me. At first I was disappointed that I hadn't
looked any better for burglars; only later did I realise that may have been lucky for me...
Anyways, that's the story; never thought my first mail on this board would be this serious (well, compared with some other stuff I've read here it's child's play), but for me it's serious enough. Though I'm a bit glad/proud that I did scare them off (without my knowing so) which made the damage almost none (only damage to the door, nothing stolen). But I can't
imagine how anyone can be so stupid to burgle (sp?) a house where there's light burning upstairs (i.e. in my room)! Or did he think he would be the only one awake at 5 AM ?!
I'm pretty sure he'll be back though, because he has been in the living room, which is crammed with nice goodies (nothing electronics, but antique-like stuff).
We don't have a dog (and will never want one) and no alarm; what I consider worst is that anyone has free access to the house (driveway unfenced/no gate) and also from the back it's possible to have access. Have told my father often to do something about this (it won't stop
a professional, but a junkie may opt for another house). BTW, our across the street neighbours have totally fenced of their house; doesn't look pretty, but I guess it does work.
Anyway, that's the story, sorry if it's a bit long. If anyone has tips on what to do (or not to, for that matter) I'd be interested in knowing. Somehow I think he/they 's going to come back. I know for sure I won't be having a midnight snack again without my surefire clipped left on my underpants and my BM710 on the right side. Time to install some extra-strong elastics ;-) Though I'd rather have a more powerful tool than a flashlight to blind him with and a knife to flash (knife vs. screwdriver.... don't want to be in that fight). It's not going to happen over here in our cosy little kingdom. Self-defense is technically not illegal (sometimes...), but once you hurt someone (even a burglar) you'll spend more time in the judicial system than your uninvited 'visitor'. And ofcourse, defence of property is completely way out of line! I *LOVE* this country! You Americans, guard your rights while you still have them. Over here, a .22 is just as illegal as a submachine gun or double-barrel shotgun; even non-firing replicas (i.e., kids toys) are considered weapons. (Yes, a Nintendo gun (sic!) that has been painted black is classified as a weapon!).
And me, well, I was born in The Netherlands, but I don't think I'll die there...
Greetings,
Peter.
(Funny thing though, for months I've been warning my family members not to leave those big knives lying around on the kitchen sink at night; anyone who breaks in and sees them, it's just begging to be used). Though I consider it a sad world if, inside your own house, you start thinking like that :-(
