The obligatory update post

Weeeeeelllllll now. Been a while again since I updated. But I'm home today, and I'll tell you why:
Some miserable, festering little arsehole of a criminal wannabe broke into our house last week and now I'm home waiting for the home security company to come and install a home security system. I don't think the 'perp' was a pro, because all he took was SPOUSE'S iPod, though he walked past SPOUSE'S wallet at least once before going upstairs, and finding SPOUSE actually in, to his shock and dismay, left very quickly through the front door.

We think he saw me leave for work in the truck from the back driveway (yes, we have two driveways - I can tell you think we must be RICH BEYOND COMPARE), didn't realize that SPOUSE'S car was in the front driveway, and assumed the house was empty. OR, and here's the disturbing thing: he may have thought the male of the house was gone because I drive the truck, and maybe he'd hit upon a defenseless, sleepy female, all alone in the house after hubby'd gone to work. The Waltham Police, bless them, were here before SPOUSE was even off the phone with them reporting the break-in, and they said...get this...they said that there have been some break-ins in the area lately, with nothing taken. Now this doesn't frighten me so much as PISS ME OFF. Unless it's just vagrants, going around to empty houses, using the toilets and taking showers, then leaving without taking anything - what can a thief have in mind breaking into a house and not taking anything? Hmmmmm? I'd have killed the little bastard.

And I'm a bit bemused by it at the same time. If he went upstairs looking for jewelry, he'd have found a lot of junk, costumey stuff with skulls on them from my old punk days, and a novelty kids' watch or two. And, really, he would be welcome to it. Any jewelry I own that is worth anything, is on my finger, and it's insured. Everything we have that is worth stealing (and worth our reporting because of the deductible on our insurance) is too big to get out of here without the entire neighborhood descending upon the thief like a bunch of angry, poisonous gnats.

The neighbors, whom we have finally gotten to know thanks to this incident and one or two yard sales they've had in the past few weeks, are, if possible, as pissed off and freaked out as we are. "Hey, I've lived here 15 years and I've never heard of anything like this happening." Or "Yeah, that guy has been here 30 and he says he doesn't remember any break-ins at all." Which makes me feel wonderful. Welcome to the neighborhood!

Anyway, we're keeping an eye on some of the neighborhood teenagers, in case any of them are in sudden possession of a new iPod with some terrible music on it. Not that we suspect any of them specifically - they seem like your average, sullen, skateboarding teens. But isn't it sickening how your sense of trust can be destroyed, in an instant? It sickens me that we have to lock every window and door when we go out, and it sickens me that we have to have a security system installed so we can sleep at night.

The world sucks.