Owen's X10 Blog

“Hey, what are you doing with Tony’s snowboards?”

That’s the question one of my neighbors could have asked yesterday as some thieves walked off with some of my roommates things. Unfortunately we live in an area of high population, where no one seems to know anyone else. Is their a correlation between the impersonal nature of big cities and the crime rates in them? I can’t say myself, but in my 22 years living in my parents nest we had very little trouble with theft. I think I remember one time someone driving by with a pickup truck and pulling away with our Rota tiller. Never, that we know of, has anyone entered my parents house or garage and taken our possessions. As a single, young person you have to make decisions about where you want to live. Do you want to pay a lot, and live in a nice area and good location? Or would you like to live in a nice place, in a mediocre neighborhood. Well my roommate and I ended up with a very nice town home in a questionable area.

Living there for 4 months we’ve had no trouble from neighbors or strangers. That is until yesterday when I pulled up to find our garage door wide open. My immediate reaction was to call my roommate, Tony, and tell him of his mistake. He was quick to tell me that he knows the garage was shut when he left. His car is a lemon. In the morning he has to push it out of the garage, the reverse is out, and start it in the driveway. He says he was in the driveway with the door shut letting his car warm up that morning. So I believe him. How they got in – I’m not all that sure, but I know how they left -- In a hurry with an arm full of my roommate’s things.

I’ve been too busy working on the Sentinel website to actually get one and set it up at home. Not only could I have caught those lucky guys in action, but I could have had an email sent to me at work telling me of the event. With our software you can send emails notifying yourself that a motion sensor was tripped and recording had begun. At least I didn’t lose anything significant to my life, and the things Tony lost are very material and can be replaced. I will be getting renters insurance by the end of the month, I do know that much.

Big cities = a higher propensity for petty theft? Could be, but if you play your cards right and take precautions early then you should be just fine. We are taking anything remaining of value from the garage, and if this ever happens again our “guests” will be greeted with the sirens of a protector plus and the eye of a Sentinel Camera. Don’t worry I won’t be moving back in with mom and dad, but I can see changing neighborhoods within the next year.