Septimus Prime
Member
As the title says, yesterday--probably sometime in the early evening or late afternoon--someone broke into my house and my neighbor's house, turned out all of our shit, and stole most of our valuables. What was surprising was that they left pretty much all of our electronics alone (although they did break my external hard drive by dropping it onto the floor), but they took things like jewelry and other valuables.
Some things I learned:
1. Dusting for prints is basically useless. Our duster person was able to determine that the assailant wore gloves, but even if they didn't, I learned that dusting relies on extraordinary luck. It doesn't work on textured surfaces, it doesn't work on smudged prints, it doesn't work when there are too many prints, they don't do doorknobs and light switches, and even if it does work, the conditions required for leaving a usable print are crazy! Even when she was trying to show me what they were looking for, she had me press my hand on a mirror, and she dusted that...and that print wasn't even usable! I had to redo it, rubbing my forehead first, and then pressing the glass harder.
2. Fingerprint dust is fucking im-fucking-possible to fucking clean. It's easy to wipe off of glass surfaces, but good luck with anything else. It's so fine that it embeds itself into any porous or scratched surface, and it's going to stay there forever.
3. Check your homeowner's insurance! As it turns out, my policy looks like it has good coverage, but--surprise!--that limit also has sub-limits on it, such as a $3,000 maximum for all jewelry! So whoops! Of the stuff that got jacked, a few pieces, alone, are worth more than that, so I'm boned! Whee! Check your policy.
Anyway, the most important thing is that I'm safe, my wife is safe (we weren't home), and our dogs are safe. The burglars threw some nuts and prunes onto the ground to distract the dogs, I assume, but luckily that stuff isn't toxic to them, and they didn't hurt the dogs any other way.
Stay safe!
Some things I learned:
1. Dusting for prints is basically useless. Our duster person was able to determine that the assailant wore gloves, but even if they didn't, I learned that dusting relies on extraordinary luck. It doesn't work on textured surfaces, it doesn't work on smudged prints, it doesn't work when there are too many prints, they don't do doorknobs and light switches, and even if it does work, the conditions required for leaving a usable print are crazy! Even when she was trying to show me what they were looking for, she had me press my hand on a mirror, and she dusted that...and that print wasn't even usable! I had to redo it, rubbing my forehead first, and then pressing the glass harder.
2. Fingerprint dust is fucking im-fucking-possible to fucking clean. It's easy to wipe off of glass surfaces, but good luck with anything else. It's so fine that it embeds itself into any porous or scratched surface, and it's going to stay there forever.
3. Check your homeowner's insurance! As it turns out, my policy looks like it has good coverage, but--surprise!--that limit also has sub-limits on it, such as a $3,000 maximum for all jewelry! So whoops! Of the stuff that got jacked, a few pieces, alone, are worth more than that, so I'm boned! Whee! Check your policy.
Anyway, the most important thing is that I'm safe, my wife is safe (we weren't home), and our dogs are safe. The burglars threw some nuts and prunes onto the ground to distract the dogs, I assume, but luckily that stuff isn't toxic to them, and they didn't hurt the dogs any other way.
Stay safe!
