Grr burglars
I got home nice and early and got the bread dough started for home group, and was just about to lay the table when I got an urgent call from my mom to come to Schoonzicht aka The Claremont House. (Before I got married 6 months ago, my brother and I lived there together, me upstairs and he downstairs. I am in the final stages of moving, my furniture is mostly all still there and some of it is going to different places.) Anyway, the house has been sold, she had to meet someone there from the heritage department or similar, in order to obtain a permit to demolish the house. This takes a while so we need to apply for the permit so long, even though the new owner, who is a developer, will be actually doing the demolition.
So, Mom was meeting the heritage department person there yesterday afternoon at 16h30, but when she got there she found that there had been a break-in. She contacted me just before 17h00. So I jumped in the car, when I got there ADT security and Allglass were there. A large windowpane, first-floor height from the ground had been broken. For some reason ADT had not received a radio signal. The house is surrounded by PIRs so the alarm goes off as soon as anyone walks into the garden. At least when ADT were called, they arrived very fast and called the glass people who came within minutes. I was also impressed with Allglass who offer a 24 hour emergency service. By the time I arrived the pane had already been replaced and they were just finishing up.
I had to have a look around to see if anything was missing. Upstairs my bedroom had been rifled, they had looked under the mattress obviously, it was all skew and some small boxes that I had packed and left on the bed were tipped out all over the floor. All the drawers in the room had been opened and some of the contents also flung around the room. Imagine, they didn't want my MAC eyeshadow or my glitter lipgloss. Lucky for me all my valuables are already at L's house so all that was there is stuff that I didn't need in the last 6 months and have not yet moved over. Like my awful shoes (must Freecycle most of them) and lots of summer clothes that I am going to want now that the weather is warmer.
My brother was not so fortunate, he is very fond of his techno toys and so he has some nice stuff, his DVD player and amp were stolen, as well as his camera, with his birthday dinner photos from the previous night of course. I am not sure if anything else was stolen. I guess the burglars were in a huge hurry as they did not take any alcohol which is most unusual. Also, they didnt take his rock hero game guitar thingy.
But what is really a blessing is no-one was hurt, my brother's girlfriend is often there by herself during the day. The burglars had a piece of metal that they left in the house, it was obviously intended as a weapon.
Also, my mom arriving at the house alone did not have to face burglars, they were gone already. She did cut her foot on a piece of glass though, so my car first aid kit and spare slippers came in handy.
Anyway my dad was going to put some burglar bars over the window, so I had to call in L to come and help, he rushed home to grab some tools and materials and came and helped which was great. There was a great deal of climbing up ladders, drilling and hammering.
I looked around the garden and found a tree stump that had been placed next to the fence for the burglars to make their getaway.
After I had done what I could (there was a fair amount of running around and finding things), and L and dad had things under control, I went home to see what I could cook for supper as L had naturally not had a chance to shop as he had planned to do. The work got done by about 8 pm.
The burglar alarm guy was still supposed to come and fix things though, to see why there was no signal and also to fix a PIR that had been trashed by the burglars. Burglar alarm guy had said he would be there by 18h30, my folks waited there until after 20h30 but he did not arrive and they could not contact him on his cell, which is worrying. Anyway after that they came round and we had supper, luckily L had bought mince so there was something in the house to cook...
As soon as they left I lay down and went to sleep! I had to get up later to shower, it was very emotionally exhausting I think but it was relief more than anything else, that things were not worse.
Anyway today I found out that my brother KNEW that the alarm radio signal gadget was not working, he just hadn't gotten around to having it repaired.
So, Mom was meeting the heritage department person there yesterday afternoon at 16h30, but when she got there she found that there had been a break-in. She contacted me just before 17h00. So I jumped in the car, when I got there ADT security and Allglass were there. A large windowpane, first-floor height from the ground had been broken. For some reason ADT had not received a radio signal. The house is surrounded by PIRs so the alarm goes off as soon as anyone walks into the garden. At least when ADT were called, they arrived very fast and called the glass people who came within minutes. I was also impressed with Allglass who offer a 24 hour emergency service. By the time I arrived the pane had already been replaced and they were just finishing up.
I had to have a look around to see if anything was missing. Upstairs my bedroom had been rifled, they had looked under the mattress obviously, it was all skew and some small boxes that I had packed and left on the bed were tipped out all over the floor. All the drawers in the room had been opened and some of the contents also flung around the room. Imagine, they didn't want my MAC eyeshadow or my glitter lipgloss. Lucky for me all my valuables are already at L's house so all that was there is stuff that I didn't need in the last 6 months and have not yet moved over. Like my awful shoes (must Freecycle most of them) and lots of summer clothes that I am going to want now that the weather is warmer.
My brother was not so fortunate, he is very fond of his techno toys and so he has some nice stuff, his DVD player and amp were stolen, as well as his camera, with his birthday dinner photos from the previous night of course. I am not sure if anything else was stolen. I guess the burglars were in a huge hurry as they did not take any alcohol which is most unusual. Also, they didnt take his rock hero game guitar thingy.
But what is really a blessing is no-one was hurt, my brother's girlfriend is often there by herself during the day. The burglars had a piece of metal that they left in the house, it was obviously intended as a weapon.
Also, my mom arriving at the house alone did not have to face burglars, they were gone already. She did cut her foot on a piece of glass though, so my car first aid kit and spare slippers came in handy.
Anyway my dad was going to put some burglar bars over the window, so I had to call in L to come and help, he rushed home to grab some tools and materials and came and helped which was great. There was a great deal of climbing up ladders, drilling and hammering.
I looked around the garden and found a tree stump that had been placed next to the fence for the burglars to make their getaway.
After I had done what I could (there was a fair amount of running around and finding things), and L and dad had things under control, I went home to see what I could cook for supper as L had naturally not had a chance to shop as he had planned to do. The work got done by about 8 pm.
The burglar alarm guy was still supposed to come and fix things though, to see why there was no signal and also to fix a PIR that had been trashed by the burglars. Burglar alarm guy had said he would be there by 18h30, my folks waited there until after 20h30 but he did not arrive and they could not contact him on his cell, which is worrying. Anyway after that they came round and we had supper, luckily L had bought mince so there was something in the house to cook...
As soon as they left I lay down and went to sleep! I had to get up later to shower, it was very emotionally exhausting I think but it was relief more than anything else, that things were not worse.
Anyway today I found out that my brother KNEW that the alarm radio signal gadget was not working, he just hadn't gotten around to having it repaired.