Tuesday, February 2, 2010

21 Things Your Burglar Won't Tell You! Memories.

(But these convicted Burglars did!!)

1. Of course I look familiar.   I was here just last week cleaning your carpets,  painting your shutters, or delivering your new refrigerator.
2. Hey,  thanks for letting me use the bathroom when I was working in your yard last week.    While I was in there,  I unlatched the back window to make my return a little easier.
3. Love those flowers.  That tells me you have taste ... and taste means there are nice things inside.  Those yard toys your kids leave out always make me wonder what type of gaming system they have.
4. Yes,  I really do look for newspapers piled up on the driveway.    And I might leave a pizza flyer in your front door to see how long it takes you to remove it...!!
5. If it snows while you're out of town, get a neighbor to create car and foot tracks into the house. Virgin drifts in the driveway are a dead giveaway.
6. If decorative glass is part of your front entrance, don't let your alarm company install the control pad where I can see if it's set.     That makes it too easy.
7. A good security company alarms the window over the sink.   And the windows on the second floor, which often access the master bedroom  -  and your jewelry.     It's not a bad idea to put motion detectors up there too.
8. It's raining,  you're fumbling with your umbrella,  and you forget to lock your door  -understandable.      But understand this:     I don't take a day off because of bad weather.
9. I always knock first.    If you answer,   I'll ask for directions somewhere or offer to clean your gutters.     (Don't take me up on it.)
10. Do you really think I won't look in your sock drawer?     I always check dresser drawers,  the bedside table, and the medicine cabinet...
11. Helpful hint:   I almost never go into kids' rooms.
12. You're right:    I won't have enough time to break into that safe where you keep your valuables. But if it's not bolted down,   I'll take it with me.
13. A loud TV or radio can be a better deterrent than the best alarm system.   If you're reluctant to leave your TV on while you're out of town,   you can buy a $35 device that works on a timer and simulates the flickering glow of a real television. (Find it at faketv.com.)
14. Sometimes, I carry a clipboard.  Sometimes, I dress like a lawn guy and carry a rake. I do my best to never, ever,  look like a crook.
15. The two things I hate most:   loud dogs and nosy neighbors.
16. I'll break a window to get in,  even if it makes a little noise.   If your neighbor hears one loud sound,  he'll stop what he's doing and wait to hear it again.    If he doesn't hear it again,  he'll just go back to what he was doing.     It's human nature.
17. I'm not complaining,  but why would you pay all that money for a fancy alarm system and leave your house without setting it?
18. I love looking in your windows.   I'm looking for signs that you are at home,  and for flat screen TVs or gaming systems I'd like.    I'll drive or walk through your neighborhood at night,   before you close the blinds - just to pick my targets.
19. Avoid announcing your vacation or weekend holiday on your Facebook page.   It's easier than you think to look up your address.
20. To you, leaving that window open just a crack during the day is a way to let in a little fresh air. To me,  it's an invitation.
21. If you don't answer when I knock,  I try the door.    Occasionally,  I hit the jackpot and walk right in. . . . .
Sources:   Convicted burglars in North Carolina,  Oregon,  California, and Kentucky;   security consultant Chris McGoey,  who runs crimedoctor.com; and Richard T. Wright,   a criminology professor at the University of Missouri - St. Louis, who interviewed 105 burglars for his book,  "Burglars on the Job."

One more protection for you and your home:
"If you don't have a gun,  here's a more humane way to wreck someone's evil  plans for you.
 I guess I can get rid of the baseball bat.   Get Wasp Spray!
A friend who is a receptionist in a church in a high risk area was concerned about someone coming into the office on Monday to rob them when they were counting the collection.  She asked the local police department about using pepper spray and they recommended to her that she get a can of wasp spray instead.

The wasp spray, they told her, can shoot up to TWENTY FEET away and is a lot more accurate, while with the pepper spray, they have to get too close to you and could overpower you.    The wasp spray temporarily BLINDS  an attacker until they get to the hospital for an antidote.   
She keeps a can on her desk in the office and it doesn't attract attention from people like a can of pepper spray would.    She also keeps one nearby at home for home protection... "

Because of Anonymous' comment, I am adding this: http://www.snopes.com/crime/prevent/waspspray.asp
I thought this was interesting & might be of use!!

So, of you're looking for protection, look to the wasp spray.
"That's going to give you a chance to call the police;  & maybe get out."
Maybe even save a life.

______________________

A lazy day today, as no one was coming, and I didn’t have to take any one anywhere.  I leisurely drank my morning coffee, tended to emails, then a long soak in the tub, washed my hair, and laundered sheets.
I think I have a head cold, but with my sinuses messed up, it is difficult to tell.  I still haven’t been to my new doctor to find out what can be done about these cysts in my sinuses.
_____________________

This is a ‘mizzy’ time of year for me.  Four years ago today,  my granddaughter was laying in Galveston Hospital (UTMB) in a coma hooked to numerous machines, having been hit my a DDD (dam drunk driver).  Also, I had just been informed that my dog had terminal inoperable spleen cancer, and needed to be PTS.

On top of that, I had about 10 sick and injured Llasa Apsos here who belonged to a neighbor who had had a severe stroke.  Her daughter and granddaughter saw the $ signs in the dogs, especially the puppies, and wouldn’t let me take care of them.  They thought it was going to be easy!! But they had never been around a mess of dogs, and didn’t know how to take care of them. They lost some pups with coccidiosis, and then didn’t vaccinate them, so they got parvo.   They hadn’t left food or water for the dogs, so they dug out of two fences, and were all over the streets, some injured,  trying to get to me.  Naturally, I had to pick them up and take them in, and got the worst ones to Kenya of the SPCA, for immediate medical attention.   So I couldn’t leave or spend time with my dog.

I was so stressed that I had some kind of a kind of heart attack, like Atrial Fibrillation and angina.  I was weak, and even passed out on the dog room floor, awakened by being licked by the Llasas, who all loved me, as I had lovingly groomed them for many years.

 I knew that I had to do something, so I called my friend Sherry of the Llasa Rescue. (The dog’s owner had told me that if anything happened to her, that is where she wanted her dogs to go.)   Sherry and her family drove many miles, and took all the Llasas that night.  But I still wouldn’t go to the hospital, as I wanted to spend the last day or two with my dying dog, and see my granddaughter one last time.

I took aspirin, nitro glycerin, green tea, and sat and held him all night.  The following morning, Jay helped me pack the old motor home, and I drove to Galveston, with enough pain meds for my dog for three days.  I did see my granddaughter for the last time before she passed away on the 14th. February. Jay went with me to watch my dog while I was in the hospital.

Jake and Shari, yes, our JATexas, who I have known since the old RVAmerica chat, of http://jatexas.blogspot.com/ and his great website : http://jatexas.com/ let me plug in outside their house at High Island, so I could see my granddaughter again the following day in Galveston. 

But my dog was getting worse, and Jay had got hold of some beer, so I unplugged, and I drove through the night to the only Animal Emergency Hospital that I knew where it was.  So early that morning, my doggie went to Rainbow bridge.

Finally, after Jay dug a resting place next to Honky, my white cat, and Critter, my late DH's dog, I went to the Urgent Care Clinic near the house, and an EKG confirmed that I had had a heart attack.

In loving memory of my Levi, today.

6 comments:

A couple of newer paintings 2019 said...

Oh, Penny, how awful for all that to happen to you at once. You're a very strong person!

LakeConroePenny,TX said...

Thank you Sandra. I know you are missing little Bib as much as I miss my little Levi.
Bobcat is trying to comfort me, by sitting on my lap as I type.
Happy Trails, Penny, TX

KarenInTheWoods said...

Penny, for all you have gone through, all I can offer is a great big HUG... my heart goes out to you.
Thank you for sharing.

LakeConroePenny,TX said...

This is part of a comment from "Mom of Bark and Bite".
Her husband, who has cancer, is in bad shape.
PLEASE LET US PRAY FOR HIM.

"Tried to get him to let me call 911. He had a fit. So I shovel ice off my a little long walk (no small job)so I could get him to my car.We went to the ER. Told them what was going on. They had him on fluids in short time and thank God admitted him. As of now. He has fluid on his left lung with pneumonia in his right lung. But there is a lymph node in that lung so that could be some of the problem. They think he may have a kidney blockage. They want the biopsy but the surgeon ( one of the few good Doctors) said they still can't do it until his breathing gets better. They may have to put a needle in his lung to drain off the fluid.They are filling him full of antibiotics and doing breathing medicine. HE IS FINALLY GETTING HELP. He is still not eating or drinking but this is a start."

We all wish you the very best, Vickie.
Thank you to all who will join me in praying for her husband.
Penny, TX

Anonymous said...

It's a violation of Federal Law to use WASP spray, a registered pesticide, in this manner. Use pepper spray as it works on those which cannot feel pain. This is why police department use pepper spray and not WASP spray. Don't believe me? Call a WASP spray manufacturer and not a single one of them will recommend you use their product in this fashion because its a violation of federal law. The CHEMICALS in WASP spray can cause permanent eye injury. Have kids in your house?

LakeConroePenny,TX said...

Hi Anonymous,
Thank you for your comment. It makes sense.
It is a dangerous spray, but I am no good with a gun, so I might not even be able to hit them with the wasp spray. But if it scares them away without spraying them, it has done it's job.
I looked it up on Snopes:
http://www.snopes.com/crime/prevent/waspspray.asp
So it is a mixed bag.
I do have pepper spray too, and an audible alarm, if they are not scared off, which is the main object.
Last resort is a golf club behind the door, and that is not it's intended use, either.
Just a gt. grandma trying to stop others from being hurt.
Been There, Done That. Penny,TX