anybody have Lockable Outlet Covers outside? We have a thief!

[sumbride]

Contractors have been working on the house next to us for a few months. At some point, M said they could use our power for an hour, one time. If I had been there I would have screamed NO!!!

It''s been months since he said that and as I''m home today I noticed my recessed lights were dimming every time they flipped on the saw next door. So I walked out, saw the extension cord so brazenly plugged into MY house, and stormed over to the workers to ask what was wrong with the generator sitting RIGHT there.

"uh, I ran out of gas... it''s just been an hour or so..."

I said "you''re dimming my lights! You can''t use our power. It''s UNACCEPTABLE."

"I know that Ma''am. It''s just that I forgot my gas can today and I ran out of gas...."

I said, "NO. It''s UNACCEPTABLE."

He unplugged it, I called DH who called the man that owns the property. He''s a lawyer, and a sleazy one at that, so we know we''re probably in a bind now. Our electric bill last month was $66 higher than usual. That''s a LOT of "oops..." but I doubt we''ll get any help from Mr. Property Owner who is only renovating this house under court order.

So, long story short... I have to go buy external outlet covers that lock. Anybody have any to recommend?

 

[sumbride]

Huh, guess I''m the only one that lives in a questionable area? Urban pioneering, they call it... ah well. Hubby found one at Home Depot so I''ll try and install it tonight and see how it goes. I want it to be locked up tomorrow when they notice we''ve left for work. Bwahhahaa.

And yes, I did try to turn the outlet off but we don''t have it wired to a switch and the circuit controls the outside light and the basement lights, both of which we need to be able to use.

 

[bee*]

What a cheek! Sorry to hear that sumbride-I can''t believe that they just went ahead and used it.

 

[jcrow]

wow. unbelievable!
a similar situation happened to our neighbor across the street. the landscapers came and planted new trees in the median between our homes. after the trees were in place the landscaper walked into their yard and pulled their hose and watered the neighborhood trees! and when she walked outside to see what was going on, he asked her if she minded watering the trees a few more times! the neighborhood trees. she flat out said no. that''s what her HOA fees were for!

 

[ringster]

--

 

[Steel]

OMG!

I am so angry for you...

I would be the crazy angry woman...and he is a lawyer...should know better...bloody builders...blooming cheek...rotten thieves...agh!

I would explode!

ETA: I wonder can you poison electricity....

....so that their equipment spontaneously explodes....hahahahhahahah

 

[sumbride]

Ha, Steel! Posion! If only. I did think for a second about yanking the cord out while he had the saw going but I had visions of him getting injured and though I wouldn''t mind it TOO much, it would probably be bad for my karma.

What really ticked me off is that he started using his generator as soon as I told him I was unplugging him. Out of gas? No, he just didn''t want to pay for it! At $3+ a gallon, I wouldn''t either, but our electricity ain''t cheap these days either!

We turned our front water supply off right after we moved in because some kids were playing with it. Now when DH wants to water the tree in front of our house (we don''t have a HOA), we have to turn the water on, water the tree, then immediately turn the water off! He''d been reaching up into the wall from an access panel to do it, but when he went out of town and I couldn''t reach the knob, I cut a hole in the wall! Need to put a panel over that too! Or a large framed picture.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

I don''t know of a good one but how dirty of them! You have every right to be pissed. That is the same as stealing!

 

[phoenixgirl]

I hate situations like this! I am irritated for you!

I know this is a totally different setting, but the janitor who cleans my classroom is the laziest man on earth. He won''t clean your chalk tray unless you specifically ask him because he "doesn''t like to." I asked him a gazillion times and he would do it once and never again, so finally I left this typed note about how this was the last time I was going to ask and I was just going to complain about him if he didn''t do it regularly. I heard him training a new person and telling him he had to clean my chalk tray or else I''d complain. Um, I''m sorry, which one of our job descriptions would cleaning be under . . . the teacher, or the janitor?

I''ve finally just taken to being really curt with him. At the end of each year, the custodial staff empties out all of our furniture (supposedly) into the hall to give our rugs their yearly cleaning (because 100+ teenagers in and out of the room all year long couldn''t create enough grime for them to be cleaned any more often than that). Because we''ve cobbled together a sad collection of really old broken furniture that we''d like back in our rooms the next year (a lot of stealing of hot items like podiums and stools and extra bookcases occurs at this point in time), the janitors put the room number in masking tape on each item.

So on FRIDAY of the last week of school last year, lazy janitor man walks around to each classroom he''s responsible for and says, "Hi, yeah, can you do me a favor? Yeah, we''re going to need you to put the room number on all of your furniture." I had heard he was coming before he actually got to me, so I had time to ask the vice principal in charge of maintenance if this was from above or just something he made up. She didn''t know about it. So when he got to me I cut him off at "yeah . . ." and said, "The numbering? No, I won''t do that. I talked to [v.p.] and she said we''re not responsible for that and it''s your job." He explained that he couldn''t guarantee that I''d get the same furniture back then, and I said, "You''ll just have to number it like every janitor does every year then. That''s not my job and I won''t do it." And he said OK and walked on to the next room to ask that person to do his job for him!

And the thing is, if he had made his "request" earlier in the week when we had kids whose parents made them to come to school even though they were exempt from their exams, we could have gotten them to do it . . . they were asking to take down our bulletin boards and move our books because they were so bored. But to push this off on us, HIS job responsibility, at the 11th hour . . . And about half of the teachers did it because they were too polite to contradict him and didn''t want to lose their furniture! I''m only so curt because he has made so many ridiculous requests and interrupted me so many times (I''m on my cell phone with my parents telling me that my mom has emphysema and he''s barking, "CUSE ME! CUSE ME!" to ask about wiping down the board or something) that I no longer care about being polite to him. But there are people who take advantage of most people''s instinct to be polite.

 

[sumbride]

PhoenixGirl, I totally understand... that''s ridiculous!!! You had every right to "complain" about him not doing his job!!!

 

[sumbride]

Well, this is what we installed! It works. With that lock in place, you can''t lift the cover, no matter how much you try! And this is actually really nice because you can plug things in, like Christmas lights, and lock the cover over them. Nifty!

We have another outlet out back. They''d have to leap the fence to get to it, and thus be trespassing on top of stealing, but hubby is getting another one tomorrow for that one.

 

[jcrow]

Date: 1/9/2008 4:52:03 PM
Author: sumbride
Ha, Steel! Posion! If only. I did think for a second about yanking the cord out while he had the saw going but I had visions of him getting injured and though I wouldn''t mind it TOO much, it would probably be bad for my karma.

What really ticked me off is that he started using his generator as soon as I told him I was unplugging him. Out of gas? No, he just didn''t want to pay for it! At $3+ a gallon, I wouldn''t either, but our electricity ain''t cheap these days either!

We turned our front water supply off right after we moved in because some kids were playing with it. Now when DH wants to water the tree in front of our house (we don''t have a HOA), we have to turn the water on, water the tree, then immediately turn the water off! He''d been reaching up into the wall from an access panel to do it, but when he went out of town and I couldn''t reach the knob, I cut a hole in the wall! Need to put a panel over that too! Or a large framed picture.

so water now this? yikes!
see the thing with our neighbor is that the tree planted isn''t even her tree! the neighborhood hired landscapers to put in a few trees on the median and at the entrance of the neighborhood. i''m sure if they took her water they must have done the same to other homeowners in the other tree locations. crazy. and our hoa isn''t cheap!

 

[sumbride]

Date: 1/9/2008 7:47:28 PM
Author: jcrow

see the thing with our neighbor is that the tree planted isn''t even her tree! the neighborhood hired landscapers to put in a few trees on the median and at the entrance of the neighborhood. i''m sure if they took her water they must have done the same to other homeowners in the other tree locations. crazy. and our hoa isn''t cheap!

I totally agree that the HOA should be paying for the water. They can haul tanks around and water the trees.

We live in the middle of Baltimore City, so the trees we planted on our block this year were donated by the city, but planted by volunteers, and we planted them too late, so we had to water them. A LOT. The hose didn''t stretch very far so we carted buckets of water down the street to each tree every other day... but we did it because having live trees improves our property and our neighborhood... and we DON''T pay someone else to landscape. If we did, I would expect the city to water, but there are a few services you don''t get in cities and landscaping is one of them. Of course, some of the kids on our block are little hoodlums in training and took great pride in destroying some of the trees... about 5 of them. And then one of our neighbors who was REALLY excited about her tree actually OVERWATERED her tree and it drowned. Rotted, actually. sigh... the joys of city living. I love the diversity, I love our house, but sometimes the tedium makes me nuts. I''m just not ready for the suburbs though.

 

[lyra]

Date: 1/9/2008 4:52:03 PM
Author: sumbride
Ha, Steel! Posion! If only. I did think for a second about yanking the cord out while he had the saw going but I had visions of him getting injured and though I wouldn't mind it TOO much, it would probably be bad for my karma.

What really ticked me off is that he started using his generator as soon as I told him I was unplugging him. Out of gas? No, he just didn't want to pay for it! At $3+ a gallon, I wouldn't either, but our electricity ain't cheap these days either!

We turned our front water supply off right after we moved in because some kids were playing with it. Now when DH wants to water the tree in front of our house (we don't have a HOA), we have to turn the water on, water the tree, then immediately turn the water off! He'd been reaching up into the wall from an access panel to do it, but when he went out of town and I couldn't reach the knob, I cut a hole in the wall! Need to put a panel over that too! Or a large framed picture.

You can get plastic pre-made hinged panels to cover the water turn-off valve. We had to put two in our basement. You should be able to find them at Home Depot or that type of store. They will be in the plumbing section.

I don't know about the outlet covers. I don't think I've seen lockable ones. It's a valid issue though. That's something that would have me fuming for sure. ETA: DOH! didn't see your photo. That's a cool idea, and it looks nice too.

 

[TravelingGal]

Sumbride, glad you found something...that looks like it will keep these guys away! I didn''t have any suggestions, but when I read your post, I was quite pissed off on your behalf. How infuriating!!

 

[upgrading mama]

that is unbelievabe, and gutsy!!

something similar has happened to us:
we own a business and have a dumster on premesis. someone who lives in the area asked if they could toss a bag of garbage in there ONCE and pay us a buck (where we live in canada you pay 1 dollar for a bag tag) so I told him no problem, toss it in, and keep the buck.

we have seen them skidding out of our property many times trying to throw garbage in. It''s like, if you are nice once, they take advantage, but you don''t want to be a jerk, right???

 

[Catmom]

Date: 1/10/2008 12:03:43 AM
Author: Sophie
that is unbelievabe, and gutsy!!

something similar has happened to us:
we own a business and have a dumster on premesis. someone who lives in the area asked if they could toss a bag of garbage in there ONCE and pay us a buck (where we live in canada you pay 1 dollar for a bag tag) so I told him no problem, toss it in, and keep the buck.

we have seen them skidding out of our property many times trying to throw garbage in. It''s like, if you are nice once, they take advantage, but you don''t want to be a jerk, right???

We did a major redo of our master bath last year and of course had the obligatory dumpster in our driveway. I would see the mailman dumping his garbage in it and people driving by just stopping and dumping their car garbage in it but the worst is that we would wake up in the morning and people would have come during the night dumping tons of stuff like they had just cleaned out their basement. Ridiculously it got to the point we had no room for our construction debris.

Sumbride I''m so glad you got the locking covers. It really frosts me when people do that sort of thing!

 

[AmberGretchen]

Wow...just wow. These stories are just unbelievable. I guess I shouldn''t be anymore but I constantly find myself surprised at how outrageously inconsiderate and rude and blatantly illegal/inappropriate people can be about respecting others'' property. I''m so sorry sumbride - but glad that you guys have got the locking outlet covers now so hopefully it won''t happen again!

 

[cnspotts]

It really amazes me what people will do sometimes. My brother experienced something like this last year. He and his wife life live in ATL in a very nice neighborhood, unfortunately many of the owners are "renting" to sec 8, govn''t assit renters which makes for an interesting mix of 1/2 million $ homes being lived in by people that cannot afford to take care of themselves or the utilities.

One night my brother noticed an orange extension cord attached to their outlet box outside...it ran to the neighbors house where there was only a young boy at home. The boy said his mother told him that every night he needed to run over an attach the cord to my brother''s house because it was the only way they could have any electricity! My brother is pretty hot tempered so it was all he could do to contain his anger for the boy....I''m sure he let it rip on the mom at another time. He said if they''d asked he''d have considered it for a time but to sneak over....no way!

Glad you found a lock box for your outlet, hope that helps.

 

[sumbride]

I was chatting about it with a neighbor last night. He told me his gate was sort of bent inward and he thinks it was by accident. I said "No, somebody was probably trying to break in." He just looked at me and said, yeah, probably. I noted how much more cynical I have become since moving to the city. For the most part it has helped me.

A few weeks before Christmas somebody tried to pull that "I''m the Water Inspector" scam on me and I wouldn''t let him in because he said he "didn''t have any ID". It was the MIDDLE OF THE DAY. He was most likely there to rob me and assault me, not inspect my water. The city doesn''t send people without notice, and certainly not without ID. He went away when I yelled that he "didn''t work for the city" as my neighbor was standing by, but who knows what would have happened if we hadn''t had an audience. He was a lot bigger than me and probably could have overpowered me easily. This, of course, freaked DH out. Of course, what he didn''t say is that HE probably would have let him in because I''m much more cynical than he is. He still thinks people are mostly good. I wish I felt that way.

The dumpster thing is big around here too... every time there is a house rehab going on, and there are a TON, those dumpsters get filled with other people''s trash. Mattresses, furniture, etc.... despite the fact that we do have monthly "dumpster days" in our neighborhood, where the city puts one out. Guess who uses that one the most? Contractors! ha.

Oh, and the funniest moment... during the tree planting last summer, somebody drove up, picked up the tree from the spot on the sidewalk where it was to be planted, put it in their SUV and DROVE AWAY with it. They STOLE a tree! The cops chased for a bit but then gave up. It was a donated tree, but COME ON! You''re stealing a tree? How low is that???

 

[sumbride]

Date: 1/10/2008 3:09:15 PM
Author: cnspotts
It really amazes me what people will do sometimes. My brother experienced something like this last year. He and his wife life live in ATL in a very nice neighborhood, unfortunately many of the owners are ''renting'' to sec 8, govn''t assit renters which makes for an interesting mix of 1/2 million $ homes being lived in by people that cannot afford to take care of themselves or the utilities.

One night my brother noticed an orange extension cord attached to their outlet box outside...it ran to the neighbors house where there was only a young boy at home. The boy said his mother told him that every night he needed to run over an attach the cord to my brother''s house because it was the only way they could have any electricity! My brother is pretty hot tempered so it was all he could do to contain his anger for the boy....I''m sure he let it rip on the mom at another time. He said if they''d asked he''d have considered it for a time but to sneak over....no way!

Glad you found a lock box for your outlet, hope that helps.

MAN... that''s worse! And to teach the boy that too? WOW. Really sad.

A block away we have a report that a neighbor is running a generator INSIDE his house because he can''t afford to have something rewired so he has no power. Yes, INSIDE. You know, what they tell you on the news not to do because people die? He said he would have the money AFTER Christmas... he had to buy toys for the kids first. My response? He''s doing that with KIDS in the house??? They may not be ALIVE after Christmas!!! We reported him to the city for some assistance. I hope he got some.

 

[cnspotts]

Date: 1/10/2008 3:15:14 PM
Author: sumbride
I was chatting about it with a neighbor last night. He told me his gate was sort of bent inward and he thinks it was by accident. I said ''No, somebody was probably trying to break in.'' He just looked at me and said, yeah, probably. I noted how much more cynical I have become since moving to the city. For the most part it has helped me.

A few weeks before Christmas somebody tried to pull that ''I''m the Water Inspector'' scam on me and I wouldn''t let him in because he said he ''didn''t have any ID''. It was the MIDDLE OF THE DAY. He was most likely there to rob me and assault me, not inspect my water. The city doesn''t send people without notice, and certainly not without ID. He went away when I yelled that he ''didn''t work for the city'' as my neighbor was standing by, but who knows what would have happened if we hadn''t had an audience. He was a lot bigger than me and probably could have overpowered me easily. This, of course, freaked DH out. Of course, what he didn''t say is that HE probably would have let him in because I''m much more cynical than he is. He still thinks people are mostly good. I wish I felt that way.

The dumpster thing is big around here too... every time there is a house rehab going on, and there are a TON, those dumpsters get filled with other people''s trash. Mattresses, furniture, etc.... despite the fact that we do have monthly ''dumpster days'' in our neighborhood, where the city puts one out. Guess who uses that one the most? Contractors! ha.

Oh, and the funniest moment... during the tree planting last summer, somebody drove up, picked up the tree from the spot on the sidewalk where it was to be planted, put it in their SUV and DROVE AWAY with it. They STOLE a tree! The cops chased for a bit but then gave up. It was a donated tree, but COME ON! You''re stealing a tree? How low is that???

Holy Crap! I''m soooooo glad that you didn''t let that guy in....scary. You have to be sooo careful, that''s one reason I have to have a dog, especially where we live now.

Landscaping thieves are such jerks! In some places I''ve seen them chain the new landscaping for a while so that it can''t be stolen. There were neighborhoods where I used to live that the landscaping would go in and the next morning it would be GONE!

 

[sumbride]

Date: 1/10/2008 3:28:04 PM
Author: cnspotts

Date: 1/10/2008 3:15:14 PM
Author: sumbride
I was chatting about it with a neighbor last night. He told me his gate was sort of bent inward and he thinks it was by accident. I said ''No, somebody was probably trying to break in.'' He just looked at me and said, yeah, probably. I noted how much more cynical I have become since moving to the city. For the most part it has helped me.

A few weeks before Christmas somebody tried to pull that ''I''m the Water Inspector'' scam on me and I wouldn''t let him in because he said he ''didn''t have any ID''. It was the MIDDLE OF THE DAY. He was most likely there to rob me and assault me, not inspect my water. The city doesn''t send people without notice, and certainly not without ID. He went away when I yelled that he ''didn''t work for the city'' as my neighbor was standing by, but who knows what would have happened if we hadn''t had an audience. He was a lot bigger than me and probably could have overpowered me easily. This, of course, freaked DH out. Of course, what he didn''t say is that HE probably would have let him in because I''m much more cynical than he is. He still thinks people are mostly good. I wish I felt that way.

The dumpster thing is big around here too... every time there is a house rehab going on, and there are a TON, those dumpsters get filled with other people''s trash. Mattresses, furniture, etc.... despite the fact that we do have monthly ''dumpster days'' in our neighborhood, where the city puts one out. Guess who uses that one the most? Contractors! ha.

Oh, and the funniest moment... during the tree planting last summer, somebody drove up, picked up the tree from the spot on the sidewalk where it was to be planted, put it in their SUV and DROVE AWAY with it. They STOLE a tree! The cops chased for a bit but then gave up. It was a donated tree, but COME ON! You''re stealing a tree? How low is that???

Holy Crap! I''m soooooo glad that you didn''t let that guy in....scary. You have to be sooo careful, that''s one reason I have to have a dog, especially where we live now.

Landscaping thieves are such jerks! In some places I''ve seen them chain the new landscaping for a while so that it can''t be stolen. There were neighborhoods where I used to live that the landscaping would go in and the next morning it would be GONE!

You know, it was scary, but at the time I was more angry that he tried it on me! How dare he think I would fall for that! I didn''t get scared until later and then I sort of flipped out for a bit, and then I was ok. But yeah, it''s tough. The thing is, at the time I thought it was a different scam because he beat on the door and we''ve been having "Knock and Robs" lately, where kids knock on the front door, and when nobody answers, they go around back and break in. I wanted to make sure they knew I was home. DH said I shouldn''t have opened the door at all, but that''s why I did. I didn''t open the door to him, though. I opened it, stepped out, and pulled it closed. Force of habit due to the cats, but it also gave me a bit more ground to stand on, I suppose. He couldn''t see inside my house.

We don''t have a dog because we aren''t home enough, but I wish we could have one.

 

[nebe]

Date: 1/9/2008 2:04:04 PM
Author: sumbride
I want it to be locked up tomorrow when they notice we''ve left for work. Bwahhahaa.

You''re so cute.

I''d run over there with copies of your 3 previous electric bills, and then last months and demand money. If not... small claims?

Give em hell!!!!

 

[nicolejrx]

Good for you for getting the lockable cover!

Last March we got a very unsettling call from our realtor. Our house was on the market 2 1/2 hours away from where we lived and was empty. The lot next to us was being built on and he had some bad news. He went up to check on the house that day and the people who were building next to us had a Bobcat up on our driveway!!! We had a long winding hill kind of driveway so it was no accident. Oh and they were flooding the lot next to us with a hose that was attached to my house!!!! I was so mad and felt so helpless because I was so far away! Turns out they didn''t want to bother getting their water hooked up before they flooded the land! My realtor of course threatened to call the cops but the contractor agreed to pay us when we got the bill. My water bill (I kid you not) was 750 dollars the next month! They ended up using thousands upon thousands of gallons of MY water all the while they were never even saying a word to us like I wouldn''t notice the 750 dollar water bill! I eventually got repaid for that but they never repaid me for the 150 dollars of electricity they used... Maybe one of these days...
Nicole

 

[sumbride]

Wow, Nicole! That''s beyond awful!!!

I wonder just how often theft of resources is "built in" to the construction plans? I mean, come on... if you weren''t planning on stealing the neighbor''s water, just how DID you think you were going to flood the property? GRRRR.

 

[strmrdr]

Date: 1/9/2008 2:04:04 PM
Author: sumbride
Huh, guess I''m the only one that lives in a questionable area? Urban pioneering, they call it... ah well. Hubby found one at Home Depot so I''ll try and install it tonight and see how it goes. I want it to be locked up tomorrow when they notice we''ve left for work. Bwahhahaa.

And yes, I did try to turn the outlet off but we don''t have it wired to a switch and the circuit controls the outside light and the basement lights, both of which we need to be able to use.

sorry I didn''t see it I''d have told ya too hit almost any hardware store.
In IL utility theft is a felony id just have called the cops.

 

[sumbride]

Date: 1/11/2008 5:00:02 PM
Author: strmrdr
sorry I didn''t see it I''d have told ya too hit almost any hardware store.
In IL utility theft is a felony id just have called the cops.

In Baltimore they would have laughed at me. Bigger fish to fry.

 

[phoenixgirl]

That''s awesome! I just love thinking about the moment when the contractor guy considered using your power again and then thought, "Oh crap."

That''s really scary about the "water inspector"! I''ll have to remember that one. My husband would be more likely to let somebody like that in too. But he is becoming a little less polite as well. Last weekend some creepy guy approached us as we were heading into a restaurant and told us the old "I''ve been stranded here due to [terrible misfortune] and just need [five, ten, fifteen, or twenty, however much he thinks you''d go for] dollars to get back to [place where his life will be magically better once he gets there]." I have to hand it to the guy though -- he did come up with a creative way to incorporate his missing teeth into his tale of woe. DH actually heard the same story from the same man several months apart downtown where he works, so he''s caught on to the scam and just said no, but I wouldn''t even let the person talk to me. One time at a reststop some scuzzy guy knocked on my window as I was about to back out, and I just shook my head, shrugged, and reversed.

We live in the city too (smaller though--Richmond), and while the chances of some crimes are higher (petty theft, graffiti, vandalism, mugging), I don''t think the chances of big crimes like home invasions or random malicious attacks are any higher (unless you hang around in really crime-ridden areas). I actually think we would be less likely to have our home targeted because of how the looters would have to park their car on a high-pedestrian traffic street or in an alley where dozens of houses on four sides of the block can see our backyard.

And I can''t tell you how many people I know who live in the suburbs who leave their doors unlocked all the time or their houses really easy to break into. I feel very safe here because your neighbors are so close and would notice something strange going on. Yes, my car has a big dent where somebody kicked in the fender (and everyone else''s on the block) on Halloween, but that was before we had a house with off street parking and motion-sensored lights by the garage.

I think living in the city helps you develop street smarts, which everyone needs these days.