Well, I was having a pretty good day until I took a neighbor out to get her perscription at the Kroger at Southland (she refuses to use the "Rite-Aid" at Broadway and South because the clerks there are "snooty" even though it is three blocks away vs. 3.5 miles). She treated ne to lunch at the Glendale Garden Cafe. I enjoyed a bowl of potato soup (the special on Monday). She had a half sandwich and a cup of soap. About 2:30 PM we got to Kroger's at Southland, and spent about 35 minutes shopping (women!). We leave about 3:05, get home in 15 minutes, and I helped her unload her stuff, and got to my garage about 3;30 PM. I found the garage door open. I probably didn't check to see if it went down, and stayed down (the "child protection" feature on the door works quite well, any obstruction causes it to rise up again). I pulled in and began my inspection. Tools (check!), snowthrower (check!), lawn mower, lawn mower, where the hell's the lawn mower, oh, sonuvabitch the bastards stole my lawnmower, Oh, God, Oh, Christ, oh crap. Tell my mom, and go out into the alley to see if there is some kind of trail. Start to walk toward Walbridge, turn left, see a neighbor at the corner of Chapin and Walbridge, and the letter carrier. "You see anyone pushing a red lawn-mower" "No, what happened". Explained what happened, and continued up the street, crossed, and turned north on the alley between 300 block of Chapin and Havre. Pass the back yards of the new houses they're building on the 300 block of Chapin. Hear a call behind me. A blond woman motions toward me. I walk back (not in good enough shape to run for no reason). I asked if she called me. She had. She had seen a "black guy pushing a red lawn-mower" on Walbridge toward the park at about 2:30 PM. I head that way. I see a couple of young black guys, but no lawn mower (of course, it's been over an hour). I go home. I at least have a serial number (but is it for that lawnmower or the replacement I bought when one got its guts chewed up by a stake rising errantly from the ground). Well, I've got a serial number. I then find that my BC90Y Troy weed eater is missing. I don't have a serial number for that. An expensive day when you leave your garage door open in the Old South End of Toledo, OH.
Surviving In The Old South End
Comments ... #
I accidentally got lost behind the Zoo last March. Scarey.
I called the police. Maybe I should have made more of it, but I called the "non-emergency" number. They were all very nice. I got a call back from what sounded like a younger woman. She said that someone would contact me in the next couple of days for details about what was stolen. I hope that the city has one of its "sting" operations going. Maybe I can get my lawn-mower back if it's sold to a "fence" since I have the ID number. Of course, it will probably end up being sold for maybe $20 or so to someone in the neighborhood who doesn't mind buying stuff off the street.
posted by oldsendbrdy on May 12, 2008 at 11:17:24 pm #
Sorry to hear about your bad luck, Brady. The ONLY halfway good thing about it is, used mowers and lawn equipment is/are both plentiful and cheap. I think I've only bought around two brand new lawnmowers in my entire life. Usually was a 50-100 buck special. Probably crackheads.
High crime begets low crime. I've had just about everything not nailed down stolen at one time or another, even things I thought no one could possibly want. This whole region is nice and depressed, an economic tragedy.
Here's what craigslist has available as far as a replacement for the lawnmower:
http://toledo.craigslist.org/search/grd?query=mower&minAsk=min&maxAsk=maxhttp://toledo.craigslist.org/search/grd?query=lawnmower&minAsk=min&maxAsk=max
A reel or scissor mower might be an option as well.
Funny thing about that. I just gave my old reel mower to my nephew (he's 10). He was pleased as punch to use it to make a little money, and develope his muscles. Maybe I'll be an "Indian giver".
posted by oldsendbrdy on May 13, 2008 at 01:04:24 am #
As I said, Brady, it was probably crackheads, and it has always amazed me through the years and then decades, that the zoo does indeed loom as some sort of invisible barrier-once you go beneath the nearby overpass, it's like you're in a different world...and it's remained that way , even though the encroaching world of drugs knows no bounds-or shouldn't.
Charlatan, I'm not sure how much of it is depression, and how much the need to purchase "recreational" drugs. We have a house at the corner of Chapin and South that is being stripped of what may be valuable. I haven't been inside, but both homes on the property (it is owned under one title) have had their doors broken open. Several of us have called the police, and they referred it to the city. We were told it would be 1-7 days before the property would be boarded up. I checked AREIS, and the owner was in Illinois. I found her phone number on the "white pages" of the Internet, and called her home. She is in the hospital. I can't afford to be spending out of my own pocket to board up the place, and the neighborhood won't chip in. It looks like another "absentee" landloard will see their investment go to ruin.
We have "urban" squatters who move into abandoned houses, and live in them until they are found out. Sometimes they light fires against the chill, and the house burns down. Crackheads can't afford much else, but crack.posted by oldsendbrdy on May 13, 2008 at 01:15:54 am #
Darkseid, I agree that crackheads are part of the problem, but another might be overinflated expectations. Across the street from the above home (on the northeast corner of Chapin and South) another old house (which was quite stately at one time) waits for a decision. The prior owner went to prison on a morals sentence, and GMAC has the mortgage. They have someone mow the lawn (but don't shovel the snow). The house was in the process of renovation when thieves went in and stripped all the copper water pipe. The roof has large holes, mold is throughout the house (which was torn down to the studs in the kitchen inside), and the porch is ready to collapse on someone when they step on it. But no one will take the initiative to tear it down. It sits there as a fire trap waiting to burn, or an invitation to squatters until they are found out. But I guess someone hopes they can renovate it, and sell it to some fool, or ask an overinflated rental for it.
posted by oldsendbrdy on May 13, 2008 at 01:34:19 am #
Sounds pretty racist to me. Just because some "black" guy was seen pushing a lawn mower, he must be the thief and a crackhead?
And to top it off, you take the time to type it all up and post it on the internet?!
Rents have been inflated with inflated real estate prices.
The official unemployment rate is hugging 10%, that means the real rate could be double that.
Some people have nothing, therefore nothing to lose, therefore why not steal, use drugs, and act like they live in a society that doesn't give a hoot about them.
You're right, FatBabe, that's why I didn't pursue it with them. The woman could have been mistaken, she could have given me the wrong information. Racism is part of my make-up. It is easy for me to believe that a black person could have stolen my lawn-mower. It is also easy for me to believe a black or hispanic, or rich or poor, or elderly or child could have stolen my mower. In other words, I get a little paranoid after every incident such as this. It was my fault that I left the garage door open. You don't tempt others. And it is best to own nothing of value here. It is just the way it is.
posted by oldsendbrdy on May 13, 2008 at 09:45:08 pm #
I mentioned crackheads, but I don't recall athing about saying the perp (or perps) had to be of a certain hue. I don't think Brady said they had to be of a certain ethnicity, either. But.....look at toledo statistics on crime. It ain't our fault the 'inner city' has the highest crime rate. Most of it's black on black, too. Which isn't my or Brady's fault, either.
You know, nothing is in isolation. I got a little depressed, but my neighbor used what I always use when something happens that throws her for a loop: "Nobody died." And even death wouldn't bother a capitalist who invests in a profitable chain of funeral homes.
I mowed this neighbor's lawn for $10 an hour. If she wanted more "service" I spent more time, and consequently charged more (I tried to very precise; a difference of three minutes was 50 cents between tasks). She had a lawn-mower than ran poorly. I bought a lawn-mower and used it for my yard, and to mow hers. When it was stolen I had the choice of using her lawn-mower (which stalls every few minutes), or quitting the job. I don't have the patience to do a mowing job where you have to re-start the machine every three minutes so I told her she would have to find someone else. She may (at more cost), or may decide to chuck it in, and move in with her daughter (she gets discouraged too). This theft has more reprecussions than the machine I lost. Any "profit" I had made went with the machine. Now the question is: do I replace it (the third lawn-mower in two years), or do I just say the hell with it? I have my mom's lawn-mower. I can use it on our yard, and the property I own across the street. I just don't want to chance using it on the neighbor's yard, and ruining it (like happened with the first lawn mower).
A neighbor across the street has a yard that needs mowing. She bought a new lawn-mower with her income tax refund. She had it three days, and it was stolen. She never got a chance to mow her yard, and some neighbors are mad because it looks like hell. She must be discouraged too. I see yards that need mowing as I drive around, and now I have a new insight: they've all had their lawnmowers stolen, and they've said, "The hell with it."
posted by oldsendbrdy on May 13, 2008 at 10:16:17 pm #
Sounds pretty racist to me. Just because some "black" guy ...."
I read this awhile ago, but had to 'revisit', because this struck me as quite funny!
One poster said a possible suspect was black. Another said crackheads (as crackheads steal & fence to support their habit), then someone in the audience puts these two statements together and screams *racism'!
Holy Jesus, now we're gonna have Fat Albert and Jesse Jackass descending on ToledoTalk for racist remarks. If these three were SO friggin concerned about racism, each of them would be calling for the immediate removal of the Not-So-Reverend Wright for his racist remarks about whites!
How 'bout it Jesse? What say ye, Fat Al? Cast your vote on that one, FatBabe?
posted by GraphicsGuy on May 13, 2008 at 10:53:24 pm #
Homeowners insurance covers theft. I hope your neighbor's deductible is reasonable. If they don't own, but rent then they should get Renters insurance. It's cheap and worthwhile.
GraphicsGuy - I think "reverend" Wright is a flaming, hate-mongering racist of the top degree. He gets to say what he wants because he's not in a position of authority where you can get removed for such remarks. He's just a bad as the KKK or Skinheads. And look what we allow those fools to do - march down Mainstreet USA!
It's a sick, sick world.
Jumping Broadway past the Zoo will be a pure function of shitfuckers trying to sell their homes for far more than they are worth. They either just leave and ditch the mortgage, or they rent in desperation to the criminal class.
I'm watching for-sale and for-rent signs popping up like after-rain mushrooms in this latest (and failing) home-selling season. What happens to this area depends on what those bastards do.
Any idea where all these stolen mowers go? Are they scrapped? Sold to some a-hole that knows he's buying stolen goods? They have to go someplace. Are mowers stolen from locked garages? Are other items taken with them? I know money's tight so I understand if what I'm proposing gets rejected but Sams, Costo and Radio Shack all sell modestly priced outdoor surveilance camera systems. ( I'm looking at one because of a neighbor problem.) If you had video would the police then take it seriously?
I have one on the front of my house. I haven't put one in the alley, but I guess I'll have to. Police did bring up right to privacy vs. my right to be safe. I had a plastic "viewport" at the peak of my garage but no camera (in case someone complained). Now I think I'll put the real thing in. You can get them either wired, or wireless. I prefer the wired version.
posted by oldsendbrdy on May 14, 2008 at 09:26:14 pm #
Talked to a neighbor today who left out a lawn-mower she had borrowed from her mother a few houses away. I told her what happened to me. She said she'd forgotten about the mow when she went to work, and was going to put it back in her mother's garage. We also talked about the vacant houses on the corner of South and Chapin. Her sister had lived in one of them, and she asked me if I knew how beautiful the woodwork was inside (these homes are from earlier in the century when the wood was done with lots of curlicues). I told her "not any more". The hole in the roof had allowed rain to get into the first floor, and damage both floors of apartments. Insurance allowed for some renovation, but then thieves broke in and stole the copper water pipe. I doubt that home will be on any historical registry. Just as we were beginning to talk about the house on the west side of the corner she said a guy behind me was taking pictures. I turned to see a guy with a digital camera across the street. I hurried to see what was going on. I saw his car (a white car with the paint scraped off the side and "Department of Neighborhoods" on the passenger side). I knocked on the window, and he rolled it down. I told him we were glad to see him, and that neighbors had been reporting the house for the last two weeks. He said that the place would be boarded up, and that the city may have to pursue the issue in the courts for further action. I told him that I had gotten the address of the owner from AREIS, looked up her number in the "white pages" on the Internet, and called her. The fellow who answered said she had been laid off, and was in the hospital. I told him I doubted much would get done by her. But the forms must be followed.
posted by oldsendbrdy on May 14, 2008 at 09:39:25 pm #
You can't do much more than what you already are. I too had the privacy issue brought up to me when I inquired about professional home installation. It's murky. The company I talked to said to place the cameras so that they aimed at my house rather than away so that the vandals would only be taped on private property (mine). Easier said than done. Odd though that one of my businesses has an outdoor camera that also catches part of a busy street. The police know this and on several occaisions have asked to look at the recordings. It's good enough to capture license plate numbers. We are only too happy to help them. As for home we are going with a Costco system, self installed, and I'm pointing the damn cameras where they will catch who I need to catch coming over the back fence, privacy be damned. You have to protect what's yours. It's your right. I can't wait to file a police report and slap down a CD with their digital mugs captured forever.
Old South End seems to be getting worse and worse. I've heard lots of stories about the old people who moved there in the 50's when it was a nice neighborhood and can't even go outside for fear of being accosted. Unfortunately, the crappiness also seems to have migrated down Broadway. The Zoo has always been a natural barrier, but if that gets jumped, the new South End is going to be the next to fall. The Blade had a story this weekend about someone being robbed at gunpoint at 7pm on Marengo (near River Rd. and Sherwood) and the Marco's on Rugby and South Detroit was robbed in broad daylight a few weeks ago. It's hard enough to find a safe place to live in the city limits these days, pretty soon everyone who wants to let their kids play outside unattended will have to live in the suburbs.
posted by Ace_Face on May 12, 2008 at 09:18:36 pm #