Know your burglars

November 30, 2009

I got this email from a friend and thought it was worth sharing.
It gives you a different perspective on home security. There is
a link at the end to crimedoctors that covers everything from
apartment security to workplace violence and is well worth a look.

THINGS YOUR BURGLAR WON’T TELL YOU:

1. Of course I look familiar. I was here just last week cleaning
your carpets, painting your shutters, or delivering your new
refrigerator.

2. Hey, thanks for letting me use the bathroom when I was working
in your yard last week. While I was in there, I unlatched the back
window to make my return a little easier.

3. Love those flowers. That tells me you have taste … And taste
means there are nice things inside. Those yard toys your kids
leave out always make me wonder what type of gaming system they
have.

4. Yes, I really do look for newspapers piled up on the driveway.
And I might leave a pizza flyer in your front door to see how long
it takes you to remove it.

5. If it snows while you’re out of town, get a neighbor to create
car and foot tracks into the house. Virgin drifts in the driveway
are a dead giveaway.

6. If decorative glass is part of your front entrance, don’t let
your alarm company install the control pad where I can see if it’s
set. That makes it too easy.

7. A good security company alarms the window over the sink. And the
windows on the second floor, which often access the master bedroom-
and your jewelry. It’s not a bad idea to put motion detectors up
there too.

8. It’s raining, you’re fumbling with your umbrella, and you forget
to lock your door-understandable. But understand this: I don’t take
a day off because of bad weather.

9. I always knock first. If you answer, I’ll ask for directions
somewhere or offer to clean your gutters. (Don’t take me up on it.)

10. Do you really think I won’t look in your sock drawer? I always
check dresser drawers, the bedside table, and the medicine cabinet.

11. Here’s a helpful hint: I almost never go into kids’ rooms.

12. You’re right: I won’t have enough time to break into that safe
where you keep your valuables. But if it’s not bolted down, I’ll
take it with me.

13. A loud TV or radio can be a better deterrent than the best alarm
system. If you’re reluctant to leave your TV on while you’re out of
town, you can buy a $35 device that works on a timer and simulates
the flickering glow of a real television. (Find it at faketv.com.)

8 MORE THINGS A BURGLAR WON’T TELL YOU:

1. Sometimes, I carry a clipboard. Sometimes, I dress like a lawn guy
and carry a rake. I do my best to never, ever look like a crook.

2. The two things I hate most: loud dogs and nosy neighbors.

3. I’ll break a window to get in, even if it makes a little noise. If
your neighbor hears one loud sound, he’ll stop what he’s doing and
wait to hear it again. If he doesn’t hear it again, he’ll just go
back to what he was doing. It’s human nature.

4. I’m not complaining, but why would you pay all that money for a
fancy alarm system and leave your house without setting it?

5. I love looking in your windows. I’m looking for signs that you’re
home, and for flat screen TVs or gaming systems I’d like. I’ll drive
or walk through your neighborhood at night, before you close the blinds,
just to pick my targets.

6. Avoid announcing your vacation on your Facebook page. It’s easier
than you think to look up your address.

7. To you, leaving that window open just a crack during the day is a
way to let in a little fresh air. To me, it’s an invitation.

8. If you don’t answer when I knock, I try the door. Occasionally, I
hit the jackpot and walk right in.

Sources: Convicted burglars in North Carolina , Oregon , California ,
and Kentucky ; security consultant Chris McGoey, who runs crimedoctor.com; and Richard T. Wright, a criminology professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, who interviewed 105 burglars for his book Burglars on the Job.

Does this have you thinking yet?
Comments are always welcome.


The devil made me do it

November 28, 2009

Its the weekend again so why not post some more worthless
facts, puns, and famous quotes? Some of these may or may
not have answers but they do make me think.

If you’re in a vehicle traveling at the speed of light,
what happens when you switch on the headlights?

Why is the third hand on the watch called the second hand?

Why do “tug” boats push their barges?

Why is it called “after dark” when it really is “after light”?
Why is “phonics” not spelled the way it sounds?

If work is so terrific, why do they have to pay you to do it?

If love is blind, why is lingerie so popular?

Why do we put suits in garment bags and garments in a suitcase?

Why do we drive on a parkway and park on a driveway ?

Ah, yes, divorce, from the Latin word meaning to rip out
a man’s genitals through his wallet.
Robin Williams

Sex at age 90 is like trying to shoot pool with a rope.
George Burns

The economy is so bad Hot Wheels and Matchbox stocks are trading
higher than GM.

The economy is so bad Motel Six won’t leave the light on anymore.

The economy is so bad Exxon-Mobil laid off 25 Congressmen.

What this country needs is more unemployed politicians.
Edward Langley, Artist (1928 – 1995)

Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.
P.J. O‘Rourke, Civil Libertarian

Enjoy your day, comments are always welcome.


You’re gonna what?

November 27, 2009

Thanksgiving is over for most of us and that can only mean
one thing- Black Friday. Yes its that day when some amongst
us go out way too early, in nasty weather, to get a good
deal. Its the day that bargains can be had at all the big
box stores, drug stores, and even grocery stores.

It is also a day we at the Casa Cruiser avoid like the
plague. The scoundrel has a post about online alternatives to this annual event for those of us who don’t see the attraction to this event.
What I don’t get is, if the stores cut prices so drastically
to get people in their businesses how can they make so much
money doing it?

Some sources say retailers make 35% of their entire annual
revenue in one day by slashing 75% or more off their normal
prices and bringing in more employees to sell it starting so
early that most people don’t remember what their town looks
like at that hour. You can start without me.

On the other hand, I’m usually the one that is out at the
Mall a day or two before Christmas looking for a gift. Some
say the crowds are there then too but at least I can pick
the hour I’m out.
Comments are always welcome.


Happy Thanksgiving

November 26, 2009

Today we give thanks for all we have. At our place the
family comes first and we give thanks that we are all
healthy. We also give thanks for all our friends both
old and new. Friends help keep life bearable when times
are tough. We give thanks for the many freedoms we
enjoy and all life’s trials and tribulations. The free-
doms allow us to pursue our dreams, voice our opinions,
and agree to disagree; and the trials and tribulations
test our patience, help us learn from our mistakes, and
make us humble. And last, but not least,we give thanks
to our veterans both past and those who are presently
serving for protecting us from those who would do us
harm and ensuring our freedoms.

Comments are always welcome.


Pre-Thanksgiving rant

November 25, 2009

Since Thanksgiving is thursday, and I didn’t do a rant
last thursday, I decided to do a little rant today. The
following is a few observations of subjects I’ve seen
discussed online, talked about on newscasts, or heard in
conversations. These observations contain my opinion on the
subject discussed.

There has been some discussion on how many visitors a blog
gets per day. I would imagine all blogs are different, but
on this one at least it changes every day. Some days may be
a hundred visitors or on the best day there were 847. I do
know the counter says over 209,000 visitors since the blog
started.

This H1N1 panic is getting crazy. I don’t get why all the
focus is on this flu when there are other issues that are
more worthy of attention. Has anyone heard much about the
prescription pain killer addiction problem? Its said that
overdoses kill 16,000 Americans every year. That seems like
a bigger problem than the flu which the government claims
kills about 4,000 a year.

Funny thing about those figures is the fact that the CDC
now recommends not counting anymore. An investigative re-
porter found the actual death count was 1% to 17% of the
government figures.

Now that the global warming warming is getting closer to be
proven wrong and based on junk science instead of facts,
shouldn’t Al Gore be arrested for fraud. After all didn’t
he make millions of dollars selling carbon credits to offset
the non-existant global warming problem?

And if there is no global warming there is no need for the
cap and trade bill. This plan to raise our utility rates by
$1,700 per year in a few years, among other things, should be scrapped.The legislators should start acting like responsible adults
instead of kids in a candy store.

Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow.
Comments are always welcome.


A medical innovation

November 24, 2009

This post will not appeal to everyone so I’ll warn you
in advance. While not disgusting or overly graffic if
you don’t like read about certain devices that involve
bodily functions it may not be for you. If you like to
be informed about cutting edge medical innovations that
have the potential to ease suffering then please read
on.

In the picture above, from Popular Science magazine,
is Sandy Hawkins and he is using his new medical device
called a lung flute. Mr. Hawkins, an acoustics engineer,
along with some friends put their heads together about
how to use sound to tinker with various bodily functions.

In this case the innovation Hawkins came up with is a
device that has the potential to help 10 million people
who have cronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
This group of lung diseases include emphysema and chronic
bronchitis and kills 127,000 Americans every year.

If you have COPD like myself you know our lungs secrete
more mucus than our lungs can handle and it builds up in
the lungs. Vigorous coughing helps to get rid of it but
many require drugs to keep their airways open and some
even need the help of oxygen tanks. What some people may
not realize is that this build up can attract bacteria
and lead to pneumonia. Treatment costs run over $27 billion
for all Americans with this disease.

Knowing this Mr. Hawkins went on a 15 year quest to solve
the problem. Then one day while testing a mouthpiece for his
invention he noticed that blowing through it sent a vibration
into his chest. Thus the lung flute was born. Blowing into
the tube flaps thin plastic strips that vibrate perfectly to
loosen the mucus. This device is currently used in Japan and
is awaiting final FDA approval here.

When it gets approved here it could provide a reasonably
price at home treatments. It is tenatively priced at $40 with
replaceable reeds and is as effective as current COPD treatments.
Although this device isn’t currently available here yet, a
website is up and will be updated to order it when it gets
approved by the FDA.
That website is here.

To learn more about the product or to see a video about it
go here.
Comments are always welcome.


Odd facts

November 23, 2009

Here is a little more useless information that nobody will
use in a lifetime. A friend sent me an email and these facts
about the human body were in the email-

It takes your food seven seconds to get from your mouth to your
stomach.

One human hair can support 3kg (6.6 lb).

The average man’s penis is twice the length of his thumb.

Human thighbones are stronger than concrete.

A woman’s heart beats faster than a man’s.

There are about one trillion bacteria on each of your feet.

Women blink twice as often as men.

The average person’s skin weighs twice as much as the brain.

Your body uses 300 muscles to balance itself when you are standing
still.

If saliva cannot dissolve something, you cannot taste it

Women reading this will be finished now.

Men are still busy checking their thumbs.
Comments are always welcome.


Random things

November 21, 2009

It has been a while since I’ve done a post on the thought of the day.
Since it has been a long time I might even throw in a few puns. If
you haven’t had your daily groan lately these might help.

A rubber band pistol was confiscated from algebra class because it
was a weapon of math disruption.

Don’t join dangerous cults: Practice safe sects!

When cannibals ate a missionary, they got a taste of religion.

A chicken crossing the road is poultry in motion

The short fortune-teller who escaped from prison was a small medium
at large.

The man who survived mustard gas and pepper spray is now a seasoned
veteran.

I wondered why the baseball kept getting bigger. Then it hit me.

Too bad the people who really know how to run the country spend all
their time working on old cars.

“GUN CONTROL”: The theory that a woman found dead in an alley, raped and strangled with her own pantyhose, is somehow morally superior to a woman explaining to police how her attacker got that fatal bullet wound.

The economy is so bad Hot Wheels and Matchbox stocks are trading
higher than GM.

The economy is so bad Motel Six won’t leave the light on anymore.

The economy is so bad Exxon-Mobil laid off 25 Congressmen,

And finally………………

Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass…
It’s about learning to dance in the rain.
Comments are always welcome.


It’s a what?

November 20, 2009

These are some neat little vehicles. They are called street
legal bumper cars. That seemed like a goofy name until I tried
to come up with one on my own. Personal motorized devices and
single seat transportation pods just didn’t sound right.

After a little research I found out they go back to at least
a couple of decades ago. That was when a collector bought a
bumper car off a Long Beach amusement park that was closing.
The collector was going to have the bumper car restored and
put it in his living room as a conversation piece. When he
found out the cost it went on the back burner until a tinkerer
wandered in for a look. With a “you know what would be cool?”
attitude the tinkerer bought the bumper car, took it home,
and $50,000 later the first one was on the road.

The guy started with a Harley engine for power but it shook too
bad so he changed to a Honda 750 and the rest is history. Now some
are also powered by Yamaha and Kawasaki engines. These things
would have to get great mileage and have a cool factor off the
scale. They are popular in southern California but may not be so
well suited for our local climate.

The kicker is the claim that these things could go 160 mph! Now
that would be some ride. For some more pictures you can go
here.
Comments are always welcome.


Not a rant

November 19, 2009

Usually I do a rant on Thursday but I just don’t have much to
gripe about so this will be a different post. It will involve
two stories from the FBI and two local topics. You may call
this post whatever revs your mill.

It has been a little over a year since hackers pulled off a big
high-tech heist of 2,100 ATMs which netted the crooks over $9
million in cash. If some computer hackers in their 20s can hack
into the system and steal this much money it makes me wonder if
there is a protected computer anywhere. For the FBI story on it
go here.

The FBI is looking for relatives of Civil Rights Victims after
a lengthy investigation. There are 36 victims that the agency
would like to locate relatives to update the family on the
status of the case and perhaps get more information. For this
story go here.

I was wondering about the free parking experiment going on in
our downtown. The cost is expected to be between $225,000 and
$275,000 and I’m told that there is sufficient monies in the
parking fund to cover the cost. I’m also told that the City
Council will revisit the topic before the next fiscal year.
A pilot program will probably be set up and as I expected a
summer trial may be needed to know the full impact.

The Blackhawk Hotel seems to be a hot topic of late. It
appears the contractors want a loan of almost $2 million. To
be honest I haven’t been following this so I don’t know any
particulars. If time permits I may look into it but I do have
some general thoughts. If the building is structurally sound
I have no problem with restoring it. I don’t know if a study
was done to see if the cost is going to worth the effort so
I’ll leave that up to those who do know.

That is a few of the things going on that I may or may not
know about. There is certainly a lot more going on than just
these few things. If you have something stuck in your craw
feel free to let us know.
Comments are always welcome.