Cottage Grove Cops
Yesterday I had a phone introduction to the local police. They called me from inside my house to let me know that my neighbors called to say that my garage door had been open for quite some time.
After the initial shock (I had thought that they were calling to ask me for money or something), I asked if the big screen TV was still there, and then if the cat was still there. Both were, and both were OK. They said that it didn't look like anything was taken, nor did they see any tracks in the snow around the house. Is it wrong that I asked about the cat second?
I wondered how the police got my cell phone number, but then I remembered that the work order for my cable install was sitting on the counter and it had my cell phone number on it.
The door to the house from the garage is always unlocked, which is how they got into the house and how they worried that someone else might have gotten into the house. We were thinking that the garage door "bounced" when it closed, maybe hitting a buildup of ice at the bottom of its travel (we were getting freezing rain that morning). I don't believe that happened, however, because I watched the garage door close, worried about just such an event. I also drove down to my mailbox (about two houses down on the opposite side of the street) to put in a post office survey, and I looked back at the house as I got back in my car.
My guess is that some radio transmission set off the garage door opener. It's not a super expensive garage door opener, so I doubt it's one of those with 4 billion rotating codes. There are numerous reports that military radios can set off garage door openers or prevent car alarm transmitters from functioning. So, that's my guess.
But, to be on the safe side, I'm thinking of getting a new lock for the door into the house that's a combination lock so the door will always be locked, but I won't have to carry a key. I'm also going to reset the code on the keyless garage door opener. If the garage door keeps opening, I guess I'll have to switch to a newer model.
All in all though, I was very impressed with the fact that the cops came out to check out my house (they had been told that I was in the process of moving in, so I guess they thought I was at risk or something), that they called me to let me know they were there, and that they said that they would have a patrol car swing by a little later to make sure that nothing happened after they left. All in all, a very pleasant experience with the local constabulary.
After the initial shock (I had thought that they were calling to ask me for money or something), I asked if the big screen TV was still there, and then if the cat was still there. Both were, and both were OK. They said that it didn't look like anything was taken, nor did they see any tracks in the snow around the house. Is it wrong that I asked about the cat second?
I wondered how the police got my cell phone number, but then I remembered that the work order for my cable install was sitting on the counter and it had my cell phone number on it.
The door to the house from the garage is always unlocked, which is how they got into the house and how they worried that someone else might have gotten into the house. We were thinking that the garage door "bounced" when it closed, maybe hitting a buildup of ice at the bottom of its travel (we were getting freezing rain that morning). I don't believe that happened, however, because I watched the garage door close, worried about just such an event. I also drove down to my mailbox (about two houses down on the opposite side of the street) to put in a post office survey, and I looked back at the house as I got back in my car.
My guess is that some radio transmission set off the garage door opener. It's not a super expensive garage door opener, so I doubt it's one of those with 4 billion rotating codes. There are numerous reports that military radios can set off garage door openers or prevent car alarm transmitters from functioning. So, that's my guess.
But, to be on the safe side, I'm thinking of getting a new lock for the door into the house that's a combination lock so the door will always be locked, but I won't have to carry a key. I'm also going to reset the code on the keyless garage door opener. If the garage door keeps opening, I guess I'll have to switch to a newer model.
All in all though, I was very impressed with the fact that the cops came out to check out my house (they had been told that I was in the process of moving in, so I guess they thought I was at risk or something), that they called me to let me know they were there, and that they said that they would have a patrol car swing by a little later to make sure that nothing happened after they left. All in all, a very pleasant experience with the local constabulary.
posted by Mark at 7:37 AM
1 Comments:
Nice! Cops are good for something.
My mom and the people across the street have the same type of door opener and on occasion even today - one of them will hit their remote and both doors will move - it's that random frequency thing.
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