Safe, Wherever You Are.

Spring is here. Well, sort of. Sunshine Savings Time has arrived on schedule, as reliable as New Year's Day and also the Fourth of July. Your own clocks have sprung send, you changed the batteries inside your smoke alarms, and not too many of you overslept at April 2. Now you get to completely clean the filters on your ac units and do whatever else you must do to make sure you're ready in the warm summer months. Maybe even do some spring cleaning.
This is also the season you get bombarded through ideas for travel -- for spring break, summer time vacations, and short weekend getaways to some mountain cottage or beach house or country resort. Sometimes it seems that half the hub and a large section of the suburbs empty out any weekend once spring arrives.
And guess what? Late spring and summer are among the list of happiest times on the planet for thieves! Why not necessarily, when there's nobody around to notice that they've broken into the home, and you won't become back until Monday along at the earliest, maybe not for your week or more - during which time your prized possessions have been completely fenced, your car is through the chop shop, and tracking the intruders gets harder with every single day that passes.
So before you decide to pack the SUV or call a cab to use you to the flight terminal, take stock around your home or apartment. Here are a few things you must think of doing before you break free on your get-away.
· Tell someone - the police department, a neighbor, nearby members of the family - about your vacation. Let them know if you find yourself leaving, where you'll often be staying, when you'll often be back, and how to make contact with you in an urgent. If you have a security system linked to the police and/or shoot department, make sure they realise that you're not there.
· Cease delivery of mail and even newspapers. Nothing shows your absence as good as several days' worth of newspapers before your door or a fabulous mailbox so full nothing else will fit.
· Ask someone you trust to be mindful of the house while you're away. Make sure they have perhaps a spare key. They can guarantee that no deliveries slip with the cracks and keep your place looking occupied. A friend with a key will also be helpful in an catastrophe of any sort. Imagine you will get sick while on holiday retreat, and the insurance papers you'll need for treatment are locked in your house. Or if there is a break-in, they'll be open to a) call the police and b) be there once the police come to consider.
· Take valuables on your safe deposit box. Tend not to leave jewelry, negotiable attachment certificates, coin collections, along with easily portable items at a desk or bureau, whether or not it's locked. If you do not have a good safe that will store them in, take those to a place that truly does.
· Set timers to change lights and appliances on / off. Sophisticated systems will permit you to preset 'random' times; simpler ones turn for a passing fancy appliances every day while doing so. But don't leave your place looking empty.
· Look at your security system. Ensure that all access points tend to be securely locked. Front doorway, back door, and garage doors are extremely vulnerable. So are windows. If you don't win key-operated window locks, encourage them. Better yet - for city apartment dwellers below the 3rd floor - get bars put on all accessible windows.
 
Also remember - when you get back home, thank the individuals that watched over your house - send a note to the police area, take your friend away to lunch or get them flowers. Because the best security on this planet comes not from a lock and keys, but as a result of being - and having - good neighbors.
At this point, make your plans, and have absolutely a great vacation!