The house next door was robbed around 6:30 or so on Friday night. I happened to be sitting on my couch stuffing my face and watching TV and was none the wiser. When I got up to grab another drink I took a quick look outside and I noticed two police cruisers parked in front of the house next door. I guess the neighbors had stepped out for a half hour and got taken for some jewelery and cash in the house. I guess, according to my neighbor, they smashed through the glass of their back door's window and then went inside and then took off out the back when the neighbors came home.
Today we took a peak out back, that's when we noticed that there were two (human) footprints in the snow on the steps up to our deck. There shouldn't have been any footprints out there since nobody who lives here has set foot in the backyard since before the last time it snowed. So odds are pretty good they scouted this place as well.
Scary.
Like I wasn't already paranoid enough about some asshole breaking in here and stealing my stuff. The crime rates in Western Massachusetts, particularly Springfield, are abominable. I can only imagine how much worse they're going to get with the economy in the toilet. I read the news every day and frankly it's made me incredibly cautious. I'm beyond vigilant about locking doors and windows, and all of the other things one has to do to deter these pieces of garbage wrapped in skin. (I don't even like disposing of the packaging for expensive items without trying to make it unrecognizable first. A box for an HDTV just advertises to thieves that those sorts of items can be found in your house.)
This place would've been the jackpot for these scumbags. Multiple computers (desktop and laptop), game consoles, HDTVs, shitloads ot DVDs and CDs, musical equipment, etc. In fact, now that I wrote about what sort of goods are to be found here, I'll probably be paranoid about having gone and announced it on the internet. Luckily, there's usually always at least one person here, and our doors are the hard to break through kind with tiny windows at the top. You'd have to have arms like an octopus to break them and turn the knob. Despite that, I still worry. (Which probably comes from my family's house having been robbed back when I was in high school. Couple that with a healthy dose of paranoia from reading the local news, and you get somebody who is very cautious.) While it would suck to be robbed, I could live with having to replace most of the stuff. Stuff with sentimental value, like my brother's things that I inherited, or the data on my computers, would be a much harder loss.
Might be time to look into acquiring a firearm and a security system though. Maybe some bear traps for the back yard.
Today we took a peak out back, that's when we noticed that there were two (human) footprints in the snow on the steps up to our deck. There shouldn't have been any footprints out there since nobody who lives here has set foot in the backyard since before the last time it snowed. So odds are pretty good they scouted this place as well.
Scary.
Like I wasn't already paranoid enough about some asshole breaking in here and stealing my stuff. The crime rates in Western Massachusetts, particularly Springfield, are abominable. I can only imagine how much worse they're going to get with the economy in the toilet. I read the news every day and frankly it's made me incredibly cautious. I'm beyond vigilant about locking doors and windows, and all of the other things one has to do to deter these pieces of garbage wrapped in skin. (I don't even like disposing of the packaging for expensive items without trying to make it unrecognizable first. A box for an HDTV just advertises to thieves that those sorts of items can be found in your house.)
This place would've been the jackpot for these scumbags. Multiple computers (desktop and laptop), game consoles, HDTVs, shitloads ot DVDs and CDs, musical equipment, etc. In fact, now that I wrote about what sort of goods are to be found here, I'll probably be paranoid about having gone and announced it on the internet. Luckily, there's usually always at least one person here, and our doors are the hard to break through kind with tiny windows at the top. You'd have to have arms like an octopus to break them and turn the knob. Despite that, I still worry. (Which probably comes from my family's house having been robbed back when I was in high school. Couple that with a healthy dose of paranoia from reading the local news, and you get somebody who is very cautious.) While it would suck to be robbed, I could live with having to replace most of the stuff. Stuff with sentimental value, like my brother's things that I inherited, or the data on my computers, would be a much harder loss.
Might be time to look into acquiring a firearm and a security system though. Maybe some bear traps for the back yard.
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2 comments:
My house was successfully broken into once and unsuccessfully broken into a second time when I was a child. I was also the victim of a home invasion as a young adult so I know this paranoia well. I’ve tossed around the idea of getting a gun but I let the statistics of accidentally harming someone you love get to me and always toss that thought out the door. For know I rely on my fists of fury and household items that can be easily transformed into lethal objects. I suggest a security system, dog, and or baseball bat to put your mind at ease.
A more "humane" and less dangerous solution might be stun gun. Unfortunately, stun guns aren't legal in Massachusetts. At least they weren't the last time I checked. A guy I worked with a few years ago had a friend in Connecticut order him one online because they wouldn't ship to a Massachusetts address. The crazy thing is, were he to use it on an intruder, he'd wind up in as much trouble, if not more trouble, than the jerk breaking into his house.
I'd love to have a dog, security aside, I just want one. Too bad I'm allergic.
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