Seems I won't be cutting the grass any time too soon, despite the good weather we've been having, and my reluctant (but determined) desire to get the job done.Sometime between 5:30 p.m. yesterday and the same time today, when I went to get it, someone has stolen my mower. At first I thought perhaps I had locked it in the barn (the sensible thing to do, right?) instead of leaving it in the back of the carport, hidden from view, simply because that was more convenient. No, I couldn't be that lucky. It is gone.
So, what's with the image of the heavy-duty, 32-foot, fiberglass Werner extension ladder? They got that, too.
There's no fool like a trusting fool, which it appears that I am, but acknowledging that, and accepting that I was negligent in my responsibility to safeguard my property, doesn't make the loss easier to bear. And I don't mean the loss of the ladder and mower, though they matter, certainly.
The greater loss is my sense of security and my trust that the rest of the world thinks like I do, which means no one would steal from anyone else, would respect the property (and other) rights of their neighbors, and that they all live by the Golden Rule.
I won't replace the ladder, for - at my age and middling physical condition - I won't be needing it to climb up to the roof line to paint my house again. However, I was planning to use it to fix the upper barn window that was damaged when part of the southernwood tree fell on it last October. Also, I had planned to repair the fascia boards under the carport roof, where the starlings have torn out a hole so they can nest inside...would have needed the ladder for that, too. And then there's that 25'-30' snag of the serviceberry at the side gate that still needs to be cut down...ladder would have helped there, as well. Ah, well - so it goes.
I will have to replace the mower, though. Might take me a couple of months to get the funds together for a good used one, so I'll try to find a neighborhood kid who wants to earn some spending money to cut the grass until then. I do have an old-fashioned **rotary** blade mower that will do, as long as the grass isn't too tall. I'll take it to the shop tomorrow afternoon, have the blades sharpened, the wheel bearings greased, that sort of stuff, you know?
It is going to take a bit longer before my faith in humanity is recovered, though. That's the theft that cuts the deepest.
Dammit.
**Thanks to Z's suggestion, I've discovered that what I have left is a reel mower. It was the rotary (power) mower that was stolen. A brand new reel mower can be had for about $50US, so if it will cost more to have the ancient one repaired, might bring home a shiny new thing. It's good, dog - it's all good.**
15 comments:
I'm so sorry. Most people *are* good, trustworthy, and decent.
The ones who aren't spoil all good feeling. Car and bicycle thieves, those who enter your home, or raid lockers at work.
I've heard that they make much better push mowers these days, better than the stubborn, hard-work one of my childhood. Which I still always preferred to the power mower.
Thanks for the tip about the rotary mowers. I'll see if I can find one.
I know most folks are decent - just feeling a bit disappointed that no everyone behaves decently. This, too, shall pass.
Once we lived in Kingston-upon-Thames, 12 miles SW of London, swanky area, the envy of our workmates, high property prices. But there was a downside: we were burgled four times within as many years. On one occasion the discovery was made by Youngest Daughter (then at our equivalent of junior high) who came home to a house with doors open and the possible threat of a maniac within. On each occasion the insurance company paid up and recommended some protective method or other which we installed and which was bypassed at the next burglary.
On retirement we took advantage of the high property prices, sold up and bought a much more lavish house here in rural Herefordshire where everybody's so damn trusting. Everyone leaves their car on the driveway and locks their doors on the Yale lock alone. Herefordshire? Low crime rates all the time! But my first act on moving here reflected my last protective act at KuT - I installed an alarm. Four years later somebody worked an external lever on the patio windows (which I have subsequently sawn off) and fled when the alarm went off. A year ago someone broke into a neighbour's house and rifled it. Since then, for the shortest periods away, we set the alarm and lock the front door with the mortice lock. The car is always garaged.
I hope I don't sound smug: "resigned" is a better word. Being burgled (at least the first time) is a materialistic version of being raped. The house feels dirty afterwards. And of course the majority of people can be trusted since the majority is in the same boat: they're vulnerable house owners. But how about this:
In truly wealthy areas the thieves make a return visit eighteen months later since they know that all the things they previously stole will have been replaced via the insurance. It seems there are two types of burglar: (1) Organised semi-professional gangs who often live far away from where they commit the crimes (in our case fifty miles away in Birmingham), and (2) crackheads who need drug money and who probably cost you more in damage than in the stuff they lift. In both cases I am regarded as a legitimate target, a middle-class fart who owns stuff.
My experiences have left me with no generalised view of society since there are plenty of others out there who say and do things I don't approve of. In that context burglary is one of the lesser crimes in that it harms fewer people. However, it's so damn personal.
None of this will be of the slightest comfort, dear Crow, and I'm sorry about that. I know you don't care to be "resigned", you're not that sort. However, imagine this. Suppose you'd arrived home at the time your mower was being lifted and you had a gun in your purse. Imagine the fury, imagine the sense of righteousness. And then imagine two lives completely wasted thereafter. No need to respond to this. It's all a bit too sad.
It's a sad world when you can't trust your neighbours. I swear to God if we didn't nail down our garden we'd come home one day and find that gone too.
Sadness. We just can't leave mess out like we used to. Even in the late 70s, I never locked the door to the house.
While you ponder your options with mowers and neighborhood children, our neighbors in the Caribbean would be leaving a milk goat in the yard to eat the grass, and I'd be at risk to do the same if I had a yard.
Of course, there's the matter of milking the goat, but surely someone remembers how to do that.
Having things stolen leaves one with a feeling of violation that lingers long after the stolen object has been replaced (if it can be replaced.) So sorry about the mower and ladder. At least these are fairly impersonal tools.
I like the idea of a goat, though it may not be the most practical solution to the problem. I have a huge yard and am having to rely more and more on hired help to keep it up. I think perhaps letting it go "natural" might be a good idea.
How awful. Theft is such a personal invasion.
But... surely this isn't the first time something's been stolen from your place?
Or is it?
Here in the big inner city, everything that's not nailed down is gone in a flash.
I count on it for getting rid of stuff I don't want--I don't take it to Goodwill, I just set it outside.
(OK, I do put a "free" sign on it, but it truly is gone in minutes.)
I'm sorry, Martha, you don't need this.
I hate to think of that sinking feeling you had when you found it really had gone, and how. Maybe people who live in areas where crime is frequent, take precautions and rather expect to get caught out if they don't, can get a different attitude to it, but for those of us who live in a trusting (admittedly by default) kind of way in a quiet place, once it's happened something much more than the items concerned is always lost.
I went to mow my grass today, and thought the same thing about my mower. My sweetie is in Iceland and he was the last one to use it... I looked all over and couldn't find it. Finally I did spy it - in a small dog run we had built years ago - nobody ever goes there so I didn't expect it there. Anyway, I'm very sorry to hear about yours being swiped - that is lousy.
Bing does our mowing and she says that our "push" mower gives her a better work out.
And believe me, she has the most gorgeous legs...
Sorry to hear about that, Crow. Over here my household insurance would cover such a loss, does the same not apply for you, or don't you have such?
The annoying thing is that the thieves will only get a fraction of what the item was worth, whilst you have to pay out for a new one. You would be better off just giving them the amount they got, just to go away and leave it with you.
Dang! Unfortunately there are many thieves in this world. Had our ladder stolen too, right along side of our garage a few years ago. The sad part isn't that most people need it, but will sell or trade things for drug money! We even live in a very small town, but I trust no one. I lock the house up even if I am out working in the yard! I have had plenty of thing stolen even when the house was locked! Thieves just get craftier and more desperate! I think that I should install an alligator or python!
Oh, I am so sorry! It is horrible to have your stuff taken. As for me, the last two times I have gone away my boat has been broken into and pretty much everything has been stolen. This time the boat wasn't broken into, but I was so worried about it I moved everything off, and now I am wandering around clueless trying to reconnect and reconstruct everything. Next time I think I'll just risk the thieves again.
It's definitely one of the problems of modern life that people can arrive in your neighborhood from far away, steal things, and then leave us worrying about the honesty of those we see every day. Everyone before me has had far more relevant things to say but you're right that losing faith in others is the saddest thing.
Just read your addendum. I do hope that works out.
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