The Burglary :(

We are very sad to report that our house was broken into and the burglar(s) took anything and everything they wanted.

While we deal with the insurance claim and replacing items, we are more focused on protecting ourselves and our home from future break-in's.

We hope that our misfortune can be a lesson for us all. Here are some tips that we would like to offer:

- Get an Alarm! It is much wiser to get an alarm BEFORE something happens than afterwards. Often this will give you a slight discount on your insurance. (our police friend recommended ADT)

- Get an Alarm Sign! If you aren't going to get an alarm, spend $10 to buy a sign saying you do (http://www.ebay.com/ has a LOT of them!)

- Install motion sensor lights outside

- Install video cameras, or a cheaper option, fake video cameras http://www.fakecamera.com/

- Don't help burglars! Don't store hammers, shovels, ladders in your back yard.

- Know what you have! Take photos of everything you own, room by room, drawer by drawer. It is a difficult memory game to remember what fills every kitchen cabinet and each drawer when they are empty. Also, write down serial numbers of everything in your home that has one (TV, appliances, etc). This will help immensely with an insurance claim

- Make copies of passports, birth certificates, credit cards, etc. And store them in a different location or better yet, send them to someone else (we will be happy to accept them)

- Hide and Seek! You can fool them. Hide your valuables in a safe and then hide the safe. The best place is a child's room as that is the last place they tend to look.

- Keys! Keys are one of the most valuable things you own. Don't leave your spare keys in an obvious spot.

- Leave something for them! In an obvious hiding spot, leave some cash. This is a tip repeated and repeated because they will not leave until they have enough valuables and best that they take the obvious money and leave the house relatively quickly then turn-over the whole house.

- Engrave all valuables such as stereos, microwaves, video cameras, with your driver's license number. (Engraving tools are usually available through your local law enforcement agency)

- Get a Dog! Humane Society: http://www.hsus.org/ (definitely the most fun thing on the list!)