What's the use of prepping when...

[filsgreen]

You come back from your caravan, obviously carrying lots of stuff from the car. You open the front door get all the stuff out of the car, lock the car door and then shut the front door leaving the key in it. My Mrs has just gone to the shops and as she was shutting the front door they were still there 12 hours later. I think I dodged a bullet there. Anyone else done anything similar? or are you too embarrassed to own up

Phil

[jansman]

I routinely leave my car unlocked, I have gone out and left the back door wide open. The best though was when we had a holiday cottage in Lincolnshire. We left one Sunday afternoon and locked up. We were not going back for 3 weeks and when we did get back I had left the back door unlocked with the spare keys still in it. Nothing was touched.

I reckon we all get the odd day!

[Chairmouse]

Left my keys in the door a few times, usually when one of the cats is being a pain following me round to the shops. Worst ever though went out in a bit of a hurry, was late for work, didn't pull the front door shut properly . 8 hours later came home, door wide open, best part though, the post, an advertising letter drop, and a courier delivered parcel, all on the door mat. Not one of the deliverers had thought to close the door though.

[poppypiesdad]

Left keys in front door overnight , reguarly leave keys in vehichles, left key in passenger door for about 3 days driving with the spare because couldnt find it , i guess its the area you live in .

j

[Deeps]

Left keys in front door overnight , reguarly leave keys in vehichles, left key in passenger door for about 3 days driving with the spare because couldnt find it , i guess its the area you live in .

j

We're a bit like that mate, I don't lock the house when I'm in, Her Maj used to do it more but feels a lot safer now we've got 2 fairly large (but crap) dogs. I've often fallen asleep with the patio door open over night and not worried about it. Before we got the dogs we've left the kitchen door (at the side of the house) unlocked unintentionally possibly for weeks at a time, as you say, it depends on where you live. Missus Deeps is more careful about locking her car although that's because she's a bit paranoid about her car, we're in a quiet wee cul de sac. We only locked our garden shed when we had a large amount of travellers staying 2 fields over, we get them from time to time but this was more of an 'invasion', loads more than usual and we bought into the paranoia that they would be tea leafing, better safe than sorry and all that, our back fence (with a gate) backs onto a field so potential access. We leave it unlocked again which is probably wrong on our part, not much worth nicking but its still bloody mine.

[Haplo2481]

I always lock the doors when I'm in - a couple of years ago a house across the road got robbed while the owners were in the back room. They had left the front door open. They lost the tv and dvd player which were carted away in their own car, the keys hanging up in the hall! Having said that, I've come home from work once to find that I've left the kitchen window open. Hopefully the alarm would scare them off.

[featherstick]

Left keys in front doors and car doors, specially when distracted with trying to remember wallet, shopping list, stopping the kids from running in to the road, etc. Nothing untoward has happened yet, but I wish someone would nick the car!

[Deeps]

Oh, just minded, I've also left the garage open overnight plenty times which is potentially catastrophic, I've got the majority of my 'zombie stores' in the garage.

[yorkshirewolf]

Done the keys in the door and used to leave it open loads.

We used to live in the country in Berkshire, quite a posh area, and left the door unlocked all the time, it was a case of 'we're only going for a walk around the farm'

Being security conscious, i did used to think 'i really need to stop being so complacent...'

Thing is, thieves generally don't go robbing in poor areas as there's not much to steal, they go to richer areas, so invariably, there was a spate of break ins/walk ins and a few neighbors had stuff stolen, we were lucky, maybe down to having dogs, but it really made me sharpen my security head up.

i always got told 'good security requires eternal vigilance' nice to keep in mind

[nickdutch]

I have forgotten to lock the door on a few occasions,and also left a window open. But I try my hardest to do a "cockpit drill" before leaving the house.

One of the many reasons to have a dehumidifier is to completely dry the air in the bathroom after a shower without having to leave the window open when you go out of the house to a meeting.

If you leave the window open to get the air in you could easily be leaving the place open to nasty pieces of work.

Although I live in a relatively nice street, there is always the occasional bad element or the occasional person who is going through personal crisis who might be an opportunistic individual if pressed (through debt, problems with work, addiction, mental breakdown, etc).

I have been "pressed" before, so I know that the temptation to act in a manner that is untoward when you are up against it can be powerful.

So get a dehumidifier.

I have one that I can use for my laundry drying (on clothes horses in the bathtub with the dehumidifier pointing at it and the door and window closed) and another for the main body of the flat which is ideal when steam cooking in the depths of the winter so that don't have to open the windows to get the steam out and thus to let the icy cold wintery air in.

Cooking in the summer aint no problem cos I can open doors and windows, but the winter, that's another issue. I dont tend to do much frying in the winter. But I do slow cook if I want to keep humidity down (and I am patient enough to wait for a dinner).