A couple of days ago, I woke up early, which is what I usually do every weekend, set up my laptop at my home office desk and plug it in. While waiting for it to start, I unrolled my yoga mat for some breathing exercises. I needed to go to the restroom and some coffee. After some minutes, I came back to my desk and found that my laptop and my two mobile phones have disappeared into thin air!
Most of us think our home is the safest place on earth. Unless you live in a fortified castle, your home may not be safe at all. Most of us in the city live in apartments without high iron fences and gates. There is always the danger of thieves breaking in. And the police wouldn’t be helpful at all. If you’re as naïve as I am, you’ve got some brain bashing to do.
Here are some tips to outsmart a thief:
· Foremost, and this is very obvious, securely lock all your windows and doors at night. Double check if you aren’t sure. If you leave your house in the daytime do the same. Never mind if your home smells of stale air.
· Always lock your house during the daytime even if everyone is home. Especially so if you’re alone and asleep.
· When you leave your house, don’t make it look empty. Leave the TV and the light on to make it feel like people are inside the house.
·Don’t bring strangers inside you home such as people asking for directions, someone selling you something or asking you some favors. Some may look harmless or friendly like the taho vendor, the junk dealer, or someone soliciting your help. Don’t make an exception. Some thieves make friends so they can observe the contents of your house and study the entrances and exits.
·Vary your waking and sleeping habits. If a thief knows your weekend schedule or even your daily schedule it would be easy for him to schedule the time he’ll come and strip you of your valuables. This may be difficult to do since we’re creatures of habit but make it point to fool him. Pretend you’re sleeping when you’re not and vice versa.
·Don’t set your desks or tables near windows.
·Don’t put your cell phones, digicams, camcorders, laptops, wallet or any precious possessions near windows even if you think they are closed securely. A professional thief can open it much like Houdini, the magician.
·Use thick drapes instead of lacy curtains. They may look breezy and nice but offers a chance for thieves to monitor your movements inside your house.
·Don’t show off your possessions. You bought them to help you with managing and enjoying your life. It wasn’t meant to be shown off to arouse envy. Some would be attracted to the idea of pulling off those digicams or hi-tech mobile phones from your hands.
·Don’t be careless with your possessions. Be vigilant. Place them in a safe place always.
·Keep your money out sight, out of temptation.
·Live your life simply. Don’t be too materialistic.
Of course, you can buy another laptop, mobile phone or digicam but that stuff saved in their memory cards are irreplaceable. So it won’t break your heart just in case, here are additional things you can do to keep those memories from getting stolen.
- Save those precious pictures immediately in a CD after uploading them in your laptop.
- Do the same with your important files and documents. Or you can send them to your email address.
- Remove the memory card of your camera and keep it in a safe place if you know you won’t be using it for some time.
- If you’ve got some important data in your mobile phone like phone numbers and text messages consider writing them in a notebook. Transfer the pictures in your mobile phones to your blogs, email or a CD.
If this same thing happened to you, your possessions are better stolen than your life taken. That’s still something to be thankful for.
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