The Gate to Hell

I keep getting more and more optimistic as the days drag on. My life is way too exciting and my time is too limited to share as I had in the past but here goes...

Friday morning at 2:45 AM, the dogs were going nuts. I would not have woken up without them. I got up and heard knocking and whispers, so I tiptoed to the kitchen.

I saw the burglar trying to get thru my bars and already had pried my door open! He was NOT scared of the dogs, as most locals are. (Foolish, because my dogs, without a doubt, would bite an intruder.) No doubt he intended to club the dogs to death if he'd gotten inside.

I was inches from him, but he did not see me. He gave up on my gate, and walked back to his buddy's van. I'm really glad I have burglar bars and a padlock on my door!

The van was a cream or white newish taxi type, and I could hear them talking. They sat there discussing the neighborhood and how long they thought it would take for someone to wake up. Then they saw my shadow in the window and said "There's a fellow, let's go, let's go." They drove away slowly.

When I started hearing the noises, I started calling Campus Security. I called and called and called, panicked that I couldn't get them to pick up. To make sure it wasn't my phone, I started calling the girls that live up and down my street, thus waking them up.

I called security for 30 minutes and could NOT get them to answer. The ONLY reason they came is because Mel made them. The burglars had gotten her window open about 15 minutes before I noticed that they'd come to my house.

Security would not check on anything. They actually stood there, next to the Ross vehicle, with their arms crossed staring at their feet. WTF!?!?! Then they called their security supervisor and handed me the phone. I told him I'd been trying to call for 30 minutes, he replied "That's not true." Like hell it's not.

The police came, and took a statement. Neither the police nor Campus Security would walk around the house to check on the property and other tenants, despite Mel and my pleading.

These two burglars were just testing to see how long it would take to alert me. They will be back.

My landlady has asked a really buff police friend of hers to stay with us because she's scared too. He's armed and a very good guy. Even Salty likes him! (And he loves her cuz she's mean.)

I've taken more security precautions, in addition to all the things I'd done before. I have a small pick axe that I now keep next to me, rather than in the kitchen, as I sleep. My mace is on my bedroom door rather than on my cable tv box. I put an additional window alarm (VERY loud) on my front door. It shrieks if the door is opened more than 1 inch. I made a sign for my door (pictured above) reminding potential burglars, in this overly religious society, that stealing is wrong. Someone suggested I get post an "Evil Eye" on my door to curse those that entered, so I did that. (I feel totally pathetic resorting to voodoo though!) I'll be picking up an air horn plus a round Master Lock (that can't be cut with bolt cutters) on Monday. And I made a snare on my burglar bars to catch the thief so I can hack him to bits with my pick axe.

75 days of school and 81 days left on island...