Someone broke into my neighbors home today. It happened in the middle of the afternoon. We live in a cul de sac at the end of the street. I was home all day as were at least 3 other neighbors and none of us saw anything.

The burglars stole a couple things of loose change probably a few hundred dollars in loose change that is.

Its kind of a rude awakening when someone breaks into your house or car and we are close friends with our neighbors so this touched a little too close.

That said we are looking at some practical steps so that it won't happen again and if it does so that we are prepared.

1. We're sending the change to Kroger. Our bank is out of state, so we take our spare change every couple years to Kroger, cash it in and use the cash to buy that weeks groceries. No change in the house, means no change to steal.

2. We destroy the stupid visa checks as soon as they come in the mail. The credit card companies do everything they can to get you to spend more, and that includes sending 'convenience checks'. Well guess what, they are convenient for theives too!

3. We have an alarm and we are keeping it turned on. This burglar went in during the middle of the day. The house had an alarmed (turned off) but there were signs and stickers, they didn't sweat it and busted in through the door. Our alarm will be on. Alarm systems are not cheap. We bought ours last year after several people that worked for my company started to threaten my life and my family.(I was a whistel blower against my company regarding their tax issues) Seriously think about the investment. It adds to the value of your home and helps protect you in other emergencies including fires, and injuries and things.

4. We have a loud barking dog. Now we just got our yearly letter from the county. Every year a different neighbor complains to the animal shelter about the dogs in the neighborhood. 3 out of 4 homes in our sub division has at least one dog. So we all receive a letter telling us that we are on probation for ten days. Even homes that don't have dogs get put on probation. Well I'd rather be on probation for a loud dog(the dog is a house pet and doesn't live outside) than make it a little easier for a burglar.

5. Turning the inside lights off. One of my other neighbors is a deputy sherrif. He tells me that its actuall wise to turn off your interior lights while you are sleeping. You know how to get around your house, the burglars do not. If you light things up, it makes it easier for them. Leave the lights off inside and they will trip and fumble and bumble around and that might give you enough time to call the police or protect yourself.

6. Don't leave the expensive stuff in plain site. Close shades and things so that expensive things can't be seen from the window.

7. Simple stuff, Close and lock the doors and don't leave stuff outside that might be stolen.

8. Watch your neighbors houses and keep an eye out. If something doesn't look right or you don't recognize someone. Do something about it. Call the authorities, call your neighbor do something.

9. Tell your neighbors if something happens. If a burglary does occur, tell your neighbors and the people in your subdivision. If everyone is forewarned there is a better chance that the burglars might get spooked away by nosy neighbors, or might get caught if they try something again. Tomorrow, I'm distributing flyers around the rest of the subdivision to let everyone know that this is occurring in our neighborhood and to tip them off so that the burglars will find it a little harder next time.

10. The police suspect teenagers in this situation for several reasons I won't mention here. I think its important for everyone to look out for and protect teenagers. They often need our help and this sometimes means that we need to protect them from themselves before they do something that might hurt themselves or others. Breaking into property is something that some teenagers experiment with as they are maturing. Some grow out of it and some get into lots more trouble or worse. If you see teenagers doing something they are not supposed to, talk to them or their parents about it or talk to the authorities. Stop them from ruining their life chasing a cheap thrill. We all make mistakes when we are young, and sometimes teenagers just need a reminder (gentle sometimes and sometimes stern) to help tip the balance between doing something that is stupid and choosing not to do something because it is stupid.