Seriously pissed off!

[The_Ghan]

Yes!  I am!  I'm seriously pissed off.  I wish, for once, that "gun control" meant "hitting what you aim at"!!!!

 

For the second time in a year my front garden lights have been stolen.  The thing is, they're not "out there" for all to see.  I live in a bushland setting in Sydney.  There is so much Australian bush (and a few imported weeds) that you can't even see my house from the street.  To get from the garage to the front door you need to negotiate two flights of steps and about 25m of winding path.  Obviously, when my wife and I come home from a good night out we need those garden lights along the path.

 

Some prick has come along and stolen all but the three closest to the front door of the house.  They're cheap - just $10 each.  They're plastic.  They're easily replacable.  But, unless the person was familiar with my property, came onto the site at night, they would not find them.  They disappeared, I think, on Saturday evening.  Tonight was the first night we came home late this week and noticed them missing.

 

They're the kind that have two pins that pierce the 12v figure 8 cable as you screw up a thread.  They're easy to remove. 

 

Question: what can I do to stop this dickhead from stealing my lights?

 

My apologies for the language, I speak Australian when I'm angry.

 

Cheers

 

The_Ghan

[bikkuri bahn]

Some kind of wire enclosure? One thing about yards/vegetation which conceal residences from the road, they are attractive to burglars and petty thieves as they don't have to worry about being observed by passerby.

[keitaro]

ghan happens to me all the time sad huh there so damn cheap i don't understand stealing them.....

 

What you do is setup a spring loaded spike trap so when they pull out the light it releases the spring and up flies hundreds of spikes badly wounding or killing the c*nt 

[Mr Frosty]

Re-wire them so the mains electricity is on the outside. 

[Martijn Meerts]

Booby trapping them sounds good ;)

 

 

On a more serious note, the stealing of things is getting out of hand, people just don't respect someone else's property anymore.

[Guest Closed Account 1]

Cactii.

 

Concrete in a coffee can.

 

No trespassing sign and a rifle.

 

I like the idea of the screened guard containing the lamp fixture. Wire twist underneath.

[Hobby Dreamer]

Sorry to hear...

 

The world is full of psychopaths, unfortunately... I'd worry about what other devious things they might do!

 

Maybe get a camera to detect for this...

 

Hope it works out for you

 

Rick

[gmat]

How about having a light switch at the garage so you only turn it on when you need it. Out of sight, out of mind. Or you can mark the bulbs with I'm a thief or I'm a f*ggot with an engraving tool and then mark the lines with indelible ink. I'm sure that they'e lighting up someone's room right now. I'm not anti gay, but the thief probably is.

 

Best wishes,

Grant

[nik_n_dad]

When Nik was 6 or 7, someone stole a bunch of halloween decorations, which to a little guy is pretty traumatic.  Since then we use those nylon/plastic tie wraps to tie things together, to other things.  It won't keep it from getting stolen, but as someone tries to take something they either have to work a little harder, or they end up dragging a bunch of stuff (and may give up).

[Dani]

Do you know those electrical shepherd used to guard animals or teach dogs to don't cross a line?

 

Put one of those...... and better to high voltage power source.... MUAAAHUAHUAHUA!!!!!

 

[westfalen]

I've been noticing a few houses in Japan putting up their Christmas lights, I bet they don't have these problems. It's sad in Australia that anything left outside might as well have a sign on it saying "please take me".

[Guest Closed Account 1]

Engraving or glass etching is the final laugh.

 

So easy to glass etch.

 

Do it and send us a picture.

[The_Ghan]

Do you know those electrical shepherd used to guard animals or teach dogs to don't cross a line?

 

Put one of those...... and better to high voltage power source.... MUAAAHUAHUAHUA!!!!!

 

 

My mother suggested the same .... 

 

Cheers

 

The_Ghan

[The_Ghan]

Engraving or glass etching is the final laugh.

 

So easy to glass etch.

 

Do it and send us a picture.

 

Skip,

 

I've got no idea what you're talking about but it DOES sound kinky.

 

Cheers

 

The_Ghan

[ToniBabelony]

Glass etching? I'd say break a few bottles finely, dip the lights in a little glue, then dip 'em in the pulverised glass and then spray some glue on them. Hilarity and justice ensues.

[Guest Closed Account 1]

Search for glass etching kit

 

http://www.google.com/m/products/catalog?q=glass+etching+kit&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&client=safari&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=7215417283918642476&near=Alabama&sa=X&ei=yObOToa_LcyFsAKYxKD6Dg&ved=0CDEQ8wIwAA#

 

Your applying an acid paste to a template to scratch glass.

 

It's what they use to add numbers to your car windows or designs into crystal.

 

Let the thief show his neighbors and friends he stole the lamps.

 

You'll have the last laugh knowing he has no idea about the etching but his friends probably will notice it first.

 

I'm sure there is a cage for the lamps and a simple chain can thwart the amateur thief.

[The_Ghan]

I C .... these things are pretty cheap.  I'm pretty sure it's just some kid who threw them in the bin.

 

Cheers

 

The_Ghan

[Guest ___]

I always found landmines to be an effective deterrent opt here in the country north of DC. Of course, a lot of the rednecks here all have S&W or Remington, so there's never as so much an issue with thefts as everyone is armed.

[cteno4]

What about a cheap low light video camera with a motion sensor. Little bit more intel might be useful in how to proceed and prevent this from reoccurring.

 

Jeff