Oh, boy, we're getting far from the original post by Il Padrone about the loose skewer causing his dynohub to be noisy, but I can offer a sad counterpoint...
I've never had anything else stolen. If that's the case here (in the US!), I'd think this should be even less of an issue anywhere else.
I wish the whole issue required less vigilence where I live in Oregon in the northwest corner of the US. Here, methamphetamine addiction is at record rates among the general populace, the economy is poor, and bikes are stolen and traded regularly on street corners for as little as $5 or the next hit of Meth or sold for scrap metal for the same reasons. Our street-corner beggars have bikes far nicer than you would expect for people passed-out in a field; they're stolen. A walk down River Road yesterday revealed a nearly new Kona Sutra, a Rivendell Atlantis complete with Bombadil bag, and a Moots titanium...again in the possession of people with no homes, no income, and no possessions except for a small backpack, used as a pillow as they lie unconscious in their own sputum.
About once a year or so, our local newspaper carries a fresh story about a touring pair or family or individual traveling through town and having their loaded touring bikes stolen while in the grocery store getting supplies. The last story was a happy one, when a single touring bike and tandem were both stolen from a Safeway store on Coburg Road and later found by alert residents, stashed in the stairwell of an apartment building behind the store. The couple's wallets and laptop were missing, along with the information on them, but they got back their bikes and most possessions. They were extremely lucky and such recovery just does not happen very often. This was a first to my knowledge.
My city and county are extremely poor, and taxpayers have chosen to arm themselves in lieu of supporting public safety levies they see as ineffective and overpriced. A bit more than 1 in 20 people have concealed-carry gun permits, and I would estimate easily twice that number carry guns without a permit. The local outlet for Cabela's sporting goods (hunting and fishing, mostly) sell lavender and pink guns geared toward women, though most I know prefer the standard black Glocks, blued-steel revolvers or stainless-steel finish on automatics. Our local dentists' and doctors' offices have signs asking patients to place their weapons in secure office lockers for the duration of their procedures. We have only 16 sheriff's deputies for a population of 351,715 people in a county of 4,722 sq mi (12,230 kmē). Among
all agencies -- State, County, and individual cities, there are fewer than 400 total police officers in the entire county. Police no longer respond to property crimes regardless of value, and do not take reports. If one's computer has not yet been stolen, it can be used to auto-file an online report for an insurance claim. We no longer have government-funded animal control and we don't have a coroner or medical examiner, which means bodies are sometimes left on-scene for some time before collection, murders cannot be adequately investigated, and the court system is in ruins. The County Jail has released 90+% of its population in stages over a couple weeks this summer because there is no funding to keep it open, feed the inmates, or guard the prisoners. The Public Defenders' office cannot provide attorneys and even the most violent offenders -- including those accused of murder -- often spend two hours to overnight in jail before being released with an ankle-bracelet to monitor their whereabouts...except there is no money to monitor them, and they often miss their scheduled court dates or fail to check in with court officers.
Meanwhile any sort of metal that is possible to steal is converted to cash for the purchase of methamphetamines, which are driving nearly all property crimes here. Bicycles, car and truck trailer hitches, house rain gutters, the underground water valves for schools and government offices (expensive flooding results) and the bronze plaques and nameplates from cemetery gravestones have all been prized off and melted down. The catalytic converters are stolen from cars parked in driveways (my neighbor, a roofer, lost his last year), and the City and County have had to hoist 2,500lb concrete blocks over the access doors to the underground electrical vaults supplying the bike path lights. It hasn't helped. Over 2 miles of valuable copper wire was stolen two years ago by a gang that rented a backhoe to lift the blocks and wore neon safety vests and hard hats, pretending to be electrical contractors doing work for the County.
http://projects.registerguard.com/turin/2009/sep/09/bike-path-goes-dark-after-theft-of-wire/http://search.kval.com/default.aspx?ct=r&q=%22wire%20theft%22None of the public questioned them (I saw them myself and shrugged; looked official to me) and the goverment lacked funding to check on them directly or confirm the work was false. My residential phone service regularly goes down because thieves break into junction boxes trying to steal eben those hair-fine wires for resale to metal recyclers.
It is a mess. It is anarchy. It is sad, it is tragic, it represents an incredible loss of human capital, and it is heartbreaking. There is no funding for targeted drug intervention or social services. Most of the addicted are in terrible physical shape otherwise, suffering from unmet medical needs and often severe malnutrition and dehydration as a result of their lifestyle and addictions. There is effectively no local law enforcement and no funding for prosecution, diversion, incarceration, or rehabilitation. I really can't believe the state things have reached here. Man, I hate and despise drugs and the lengths they push people to go. I vote for and support public safety levies, but this is a democracy and the majority rules. There's not a lot I can do except volunteer to make the community safer and better in other ways.
In the photos below (taken in a field blocks away from my home) -- as previously -- I called the police when I saw the junction box being ripped apart by the now-sleeping nearby resident. Having previously been told 911 is only for reporting emergencies, I called the non-emergency number and was again informed property crimes are not being investigated. I called the phone company instead and they placed the box on their waiting list for repairs. It is sad and dangerous when wire theft results in intersection traffic controls being rendered inoperable, but it happens periodically. With the jails releasing even violent offenders, there's really no penalties for wire theft and property crimes, so the police assign them a low priority. They're not even prosecutable offenses in the present economic climate.
It really makes me worry about riding my bike, and I lock it in the livingroom inside my locked house, rather than in the locked garage. Every one of my neighbors have lost their bikes, and that means right next door and across the street, and from fully fenced backyards and locked garages.
Some links for those interested:
http://projects.registerguard.com/web/updates/27962402-55/concealed-county-handgun-permit-lane.html.csphttp://projects.registerguard.com/web/opinion/28152397-47/concealed-handgun-safe-county-lane.html.csphttp://www.registerguard.com/web/newslocalnews/28305571-41/jail-county-inmates-releases-budget.html.csphttp://www.kmtr.com/news/local/story/Nearly-400-inmates-released-from-the-Lane-County/Tb8NaybDeU6TKTidqmpd8Q.cspxhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/16/lane-county-oregon-releasing-inmates_n_1677546.htmlSo, yeah, I've found I have to give some thought to theft and loss-prevention when using my bike, and I lock it whenever I am off it, even while only a few feet away, changing my jacket or tights or taking a photograph. I can't afford not to. This is no longer the same place where I grew up. It is as beautiful as ever outside the City, but my big worry is not the wild animals, but people. I feel safest in truly remote areas where it is only me. That's also why I take such care to stealth-camp where I cannot be seen or robbed while sleeping -- a not uncommon occurrance in my area, and a particular hazard when touring solo or camping here, especially in county and state parks.
Whew.
Best,
Dan.
