S/O Personal Security

lovemesomemonster · July 2015

Ah security.. I suck at this! I couldn't find my house key for a while so I rarely locked the front door if I went to the grocery store or to run errands (too lazy to go out the garage) and even now that I have found it I rarely lock it when I am only going to be gone for an hour or so. I have left the garage wide open all night multiple times, there is no deadbolt on the basement door, and I rarely lock my car in the driveway. When I drive to other places I do lock my car always, unless it's hot and I'm road tripping with the dog then I leave one door unlocked with the car running and AC on if I run into a store.

I do have a gun in my nightstand that FI insisted on and makes me target practice and the dog is always on high alert if he's not home for any noises outside at night. I'm in a very safe neighborhood and two of my neighbors are retired so they tend to keep an eye on the place. They will even grab packages that are left on my front porch if they know I am going to be gone for a couple of days.

Grew up in the country, keys were left in the cars at all times, not sure any of us even had a house key and we didn't lock up at night. I blame my sense of security on that.

novella1186 · July 2015

ShesSoCold said:

My sister and I take the train downtown together a lot. I live a few miles from the train station so it's a walkable distance but we'd rather not. My mom used to tell us that she'd pick us up in the middle of the night if it was nice out, but not if it was raining or shitty. Because anyone who would rob or rape us wouldn't be out in shitty weather.

We thought it was funny.

lol that's funny; I always feel a little safer in shitty weather cuz I always think "No one wants to go out in this. Not even robbers."

AddieCake · July 2015

novella1186 said:

AddieCake said:

We lock and deadbolt the doors, also have a security bar for the sliding doors to the porch, and now we also have to keep our key fobs in the freezer.

Our keyless entry cars were broken into a couple weeks ago in our driveway. Apparently, there is a device you can purchase to do that now. Keys in the freezer prevents access, apparently. Iusually keep my car in the garage, and will definitely every day now.

Dang I hadn't heard of this. My car has keyless entry and we don't have a garage :S

We hadn't either, until it happened. A friend said she heard it was a thing, so I Googled it, and sure enough. Fortunately, nothing was taken. My husband even had a laptop in the car. They just rummaged through and left things out of the consoles and glove compartments. Almost like a warning? Creeped me the fuck out.

ShesSoCold · July 2015

AddieCake said:

novella1186 said:

AddieCake said:

We lock and deadbolt the doors, also have a security bar for the sliding doors to the porch, and now we also have to keep our key fobs in the freezer.

Our keyless entry cars were broken into a couple weeks ago in our driveway. Apparently, there is a device you can purchase to do that now. Keys in the freezer prevents access, apparently. Iusually keep my car in the garage, and will definitely every day now.

Dang I hadn't heard of this. My car has keyless entry and we don't have a garage :S

We hadn't either, until it happened. A friend said she heard it was a thing, so I Googled it, and sure enough. Fortunately, nothing was taken. My husband even had a laptop in the car. They just rummaged through and left things out of the consoles and glove compartments. Almost like a warning? Creeped me the fuck out.

We used to have an issue with unlocked cars getting messed with in my neighborhood. Up and down the alleys kids would go through any cars that were unlocked and the only thing that we could ever figure out that was stolen was cigarettes. So I'd like to say that your incident could have been idiot kids looking for cigarettes but it's weird that they would have that technology.

So bascically I'm useless.

southernbelle0915 · July 2015

ShesSoCold said:

AddieCake said:

novella1186 said:

AddieCake said:

We lock and deadbolt the doors, also have a security bar for the sliding doors to the porch, and now we also have to keep our key fobs in the freezer.

Our keyless entry cars were broken into a couple weeks ago in our driveway. Apparently, there is a device you can purchase to do that now. Keys in the freezer prevents access, apparently. Iusually keep my car in the garage, and will definitely every day now.

Dang I hadn't heard of this. My car has keyless entry and we don't have a garage :S

We hadn't either, until it happened. A friend said she heard it was a thing, so I Googled it, and sure enough. Fortunately, nothing was taken. My husband even had a laptop in the car. They just rummaged through and left things out of the consoles and glove compartments. Almost like a warning? Creeped me the fuck out.

We used to have an issue with unlocked cars getting messed with in my neighborhood. Up and down the alleys kids would go through any cars that were unlocked and the only thing that we could ever figure out that was stolen was cigarettes. So I'd like to say that your incident could have been idiot kids looking for cigarettes but it's weird that they would have that technology.

So bascically I'm useless.

Yea, this happened in our neighborhood two summers ago. My car was unlocked and they took my change purse (meter money) and a swiss army knife. No damage but all the consoles and glove boxes left open.

novella1186 · July 2015

southernbelle0915 said:

ShesSoCold said:

AddieCake said:

novella1186 said:

AddieCake said:

We lock and deadbolt the doors, also have a security bar for the sliding doors to the porch, and now we also have to keep our key fobs in the freezer.

Our keyless entry cars were broken into a couple weeks ago in our driveway. Apparently, there is a device you can purchase to do that now. Keys in the freezer prevents access, apparently. Iusually keep my car in the garage, and will definitely every day now.

Dang I hadn't heard of this. My car has keyless entry and we don't have a garage :S

We hadn't either, until it happened. A friend said she heard it was a thing, so I Googled it, and sure enough. Fortunately, nothing was taken. My husband even had a laptop in the car. They just rummaged through and left things out of the consoles and glove compartments. Almost like a warning? Creeped me the fuck out.

We used to have an issue with unlocked cars getting messed with in my neighborhood. Up and down the alleys kids would go through any cars that were unlocked and the only thing that we could ever figure out that was stolen was cigarettes. So I'd like to say that your incident could have been idiot kids looking for cigarettes but it's weird that they would have that technology.

So bascically I'm useless.

Yea, this happened in our neighborhood two summers ago. My car was unlocked and they took my change purse (meter money) and a swiss army knife. No damage but all the consoles and glove boxes left open.

That's creepy to me. H noticed one morning that the door on his gas tank was all scraped up and he assumed some kids (or some jackass, or whoever) were trying to steal gas, but you can't open his gas tank without hitting a button that's inside the car. It was just weird. But luckily that's the worst thing that's happened in our neighborhood, knock on wood.

NowIamMrsKlein · July 2015

Back when I was a poor struggling college student circa 2004, I drove this piece of junk car that was a miracle that it managed to limp me to class everyday. I had to carry this personal booster pack with me because the car would seriously suddenly die while driving it. I got really adept at boosting the car in the middle of the road and then trying to get it to the side of the road. Surprisingly never even came close to an accident with that, even the time it died in the middle of a left hand turn....

Anyways, this car had a fun secret. It had a push button start. And this was an 1988 camry, so you know it wasnt supposed to have a push button start. Somewhere along the way something had gone awry and the start and ignition just didnt like to work together so it was jiffy rigged to this button, essentially permanently hotwiring it.

One morning I came outside and my drivers door is wide open. Great. The steering column is ripped apart. Obviously someone really wanted this car, thought it was an easy steal. I grabbed duct tape, taped the plastic back to the steering column, pressed my secret button and off I went.

Seriously. The car didn't even need a freaking key and these guys failed to steal it.

Maggie0829 · July 2015

We make sure that the doors are locked and the garage is shut. I also shut and lock our deck door even if our windows are open. But then again we have a three level town home with no stairs to our deck so if someone really wanted to break in they would need to make sure they had a ladder in their burglary bag. Other then that we don't do much else. H has guns, but they certainly won't come in handy if someone breaks into our house at night since they are in a safe in the basement. But H does keep a baseball bat under the bed. Oh and we have a super friendly dog but she has a fierce bark.

I guess I just never really feel unsafe at home. Bad things could happen regardless of how prepared you are. So I take the basic precautions and then hope for the best.

redheadbride15 · July 2015

I've spent my entire adult life living in big cities, including some not-so-safe neighborhoods of Philadelphia and Boston. I lived alone for almost the whole time until 2 years ago when I moved in with my now-H. So I guess I consider myself "tough". I've walked home alone late at night countless times, in the dark, through sketchy places. I lived alone on first floors with no bars on the windows. I've had at least 3 bicycles stolen, as well as some random things like houseplants, and once all of my credit cards. I know some people who have had their car windows smashed and things taken from the glove compartment. But otherwise I've been totally fine. So maybe I'm a bit more nonchalant about security than I should be. We lock our doors and I don't leave anything visible in the car - that's all.

ETA And oh yeah, I wear my diamond engagement ring on the subway, and everywhere else.

PrettyGirlLost · July 2015

I try to use common sense when I'm out and about- I'm aware of my surroundings at all times, I don't travel alone at night with a large purse or bag, I don't listen to music or yak on the phone, especially in the fall and winter when it gets darker earlier, I try to make sure my phone has a charge in case I need to use it in an emergency, and I carry a stun gun.

At home, we live in a 1st floor duplex so we keep the blinds drawn and doors and windows locked when we are not home, we use timers on lights when we are away and also in the fall/winter so we aren't coming home to darkness, the windows have special safety devices on them that don't allow them to be opened from the outside wide enough to let anyone climb in.

huskypuppy14 · July 2015

At my parents house we all leave the cars unlocked with the keys in the ignition., and the house s unlocked during the day, and if it's locked, they key is right outside in an obvious place. My parents have a long driveway (as do I) and it's on a main road. If people come up to the house, they are either guests or lost. There has never been a problem. My dad's philosophy, is if someone wants to steal something, they'll find a way. If someone wants to get into your house or car badly enough, they'll break a window. Having the door locked isn't going to stop them.

Now in Boston, I lock my car always. I've seen people late at night try all the doors of cars parked near Fenway, hoping for an unlocked car. At my house in the burbs, I don't lock my car usually, but I do take the keys inside. I have a long driveway, so our house is secluded a little. When we take the dog for a walk, we leave the back door unlocked.

WinstonsGirl · July 2015

Thinking on this, I have a friend who lives in Vancouver. He was sick of people breaking into his car (breaking the window) to steal CD's, his grocery cart quarter, etc. or to find that there was nothing of value in the car that he now just leaves it unlocked at all times. He has a club on his wheel so the car itself can't really be stolen. He says he always know when someone was in there cos his quarter is gone from the centre console.

kmmssg · July 2015

We have a security system and DH and DS are fanatical about locking their cars. If there is nothing in mine I'm not so fanatical.

We were watching the previews at the cinema when we went to see Age of Ultron. We get a call from the security company that the alarm is going off. It is supposed to take an 80 lb thing to set off the motion detectors. In 3 1/2 years we have never had a false alarm so I am pissed as we just paid an arm and a leg to see this movie and we are an hour away from home. We had someone just do a drive by to see if anything unusual was going on but by the time they got there, we had 2 cop cars in the driveway. Nothing happened. Only thing we can figure is that it was super windy that day and we left some windows opened and the curtains were moving a lot.

DH is kind of anal about how cars are parked if we are leaving on a trip. I guess that is a good thing. No dogs just cats.

kvruns · July 2015

kmmssg said:

We have a security system and DH and DS are fanatical about locking their cars. If there is nothing in mine I'm not so fanatical.
We were watching the previews at the cinema when we went to see Age of Ultron. We get a call from the security company that the alarm is going off. It is supposed to take an 80 lb thing to set off the motion detectors. In 3 1/2 years we have never had a false alarm so I am pissed as we just paid an arm and a leg to see this movie and we are an hour away from home. We had someone just do a drive by to see if anything unusual was going on but by the time they got there, we had 2 cop cars in the driveway. Nothing happened. Only thing we can figure is that it was super windy that day and we left some windows opened and the curtains were moving a lot.
DH is kind of anal about how cars are parked if we are leaving on a trip. I guess that is a good thing. No dogs just cats.

I had a battery go out on a window sensor at 2 or 3am and the alarm went off and cops came (cuz I didn't know the it was a bad battery). Another time I was about 30 min away and apparently a light bulb fell off the table (how, I have no idea) and shattered which caused the glass break alarm to go off - again sent me into a panic on the drive home thinking someone broke in. Those false alarms are so scary

Kahlyla · July 2015

We usually remember to lock the doors if we're going out of town for a while. We try to remember to bring the car keys inside the house instead of leaving them in the actual car. I once went all night with the entire hatch of the vehicle left wide open; luckily it didn't rain.

Possibly we should try to do more...

emmaaa · July 2015

I grew up and still live in a very rural area. Growing up we rarely locked the doors even. My family had guns in a cabinet.

About 3 years ago, my dad's house was broken into and had all of our guns stolen. My dad actually just got them back this spring.

Since then we always make sure to lock the doors at our house and my dad does the same. We lock our windows but sleep with them open in spring and fall. We keep our guns in a safe and I have my pistol on my nightstand and DH has a shotgun in the corner.

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