Stop for a moment and try to think like a burglar. You cruise through a nice neighborhood a couple of times looking for clues. It doesn’t take long to find a house that sports all of the tell-tale signs of a prime target. The grass hasn’t been mowed in a while, newspapers are piled up at the door, and there are no lights on in the house.

You wait until late at night to make your move. You peek over the backyard fence and take a look around. No pets. Quietly easing your way into the backyard, you make your way over to the back door. The door looks pretty solid, but you notice that the windows don’t. You position your crowbar and pause for a moment. You know that, more than likely, the moment you pop that window open the alarm is going to sound, so you take a moment to prepare and focus. On three… 1…2….3! You pry open the window and the alarm sounds. You know that you only have minutes!

You first run to the kitchen and start searching through all of the cleaning supplies underneath the kitchen sink. Next, you make your way to the pantry where you fumble through the canned goods. You know right where the good stuff is, so you keep moving through the house. You hit the refrigerator and then go directly for the bathroom. Once in the bathroom, being an experienced burglar, you go straight for the hairspray and shaving cream canisters. You’ve hit the jackpot and it’s time to get out of there. Before you leave, you swing by a utility closet because you know these people just have to have one of those priceless cans of Fix-A-Flat in there! You make your way out of the house, get in your getaway car, and head home. Wow, you really cashed in big!

At this point you’re probably thinking to yourself, “That’s the worst burglar of all time! If I were him, I would have gone straight for the jewelry box and stolen all of the jewelry. Gold, silver, diamonds, pearls. You name it, and I would have found it and taken it. From there I would have searched through the drawers of the master bedroom to see if they were hiding any cash, guns, etc. I’d have also checked under the mattress, under the bed, and in the closet. On my way out, I’d have grabbed the keys to the car of my choice and driven their car out of there in style!”

Well, you’re absolutely right. That’s also exactly what a real burglar would have done. However, seeing as how I’m not a burglar, I’m sure a real professional could go through a house much faster than that and leave with way more of your valuable stuff.

We’ll discuss how to improve your home security in a later post, but assuming that someone does break into your home while you and your family are away, there are some actions you can take to make things a little more difficult for them once they’re inside.

Ladies, I know that antique jewelry box that you found for 70% off looks lovely on your dresser, but you might as well put up a giant neon sign that says, “Attention Criminals: Save Time and Make Big Money By Taking My Valuable Jewelry That I Was So Kind to Gather In One, Easy-To-Grab Location”.

Guys, I’m sure you worked real hard for that Rolex, but do you think a burglar might notice it if it’s sitting in a location no more than a few feet from your wife’s jewelry bullseye…I mean box, and probably resting right on top of your wallet?

We can’t secure your entire house in one post, so let’s focus on the small, but valuable items that most people have. For smaller items like jewelery, precious metals, cash, etc, a high-quality safe placed in a good location should do the trick. However, safes are heavy, take up a lot of room, and a good one can be expensive. In many cases, a safe just isn’t practical. What if you could secure your smaller valuables for less than $20 and make them far more difficult to locate than a safe?

When you first read my initial break in scenario, you were probably wondering what burglar in their right mind would first look under the kitchen sink, in the pantry, then the refrigerator, the bathroom, and finally a utility closet. Exactly. They wouldn’t. This is why I recommend that you invest in a few products that will allow you to store your valuables in plain sight, by using everyday household items as camouflage.

To help get you started, here are a few ideas in no particular order. The important thing about the items that I’ve suggested is that they are made from real products. It’s a lot more difficult for a criminal to spot a modified can of Dr. Pepper or Del Monte fruit than it is to notice a fictional can of “Fizzy Bubble Cola” or “Fruitastic Cocktail”. Stick with diversion safes made from real products and place them where you would place the real thing.

As the economy gets worse, and more people lose their jobs, the crime rate is likely to skyrocket as more people reach the point of desperation. With the holiday season approaching and people likely having the least amount of money they’ve had in years, you should expect break-ins to increase dramatically and take steps to prepare. Securing your home should be a top priority, but should your house become a target, you now know how to avoid the cliché hiding places and hide your valuables in plain sight, hopefully frustrating would-be burglars and preserving your property.

Luke Walker

Maybe its something you’re already worrying about maybe not, but wherever you stand know there’s many things you can do to prepare for Swine flu, and of course common seasonal flu as well.

1) Understand what we’re dealing with: First, how bad is this flu really? There are so many versions flying around its easy to get confused, and when you do more research it’s even worse. Type A flu or Swine flu is still influenza, it’s still a flu, so don’t expect aliens bursting out of your chest or something outrageous. Many people in USA that had Swine flu are so far reporting a “mild” regular flu, fever, muscle ache and such. Here in Argentina, reports of Swine flu started as soon as winter approached, with the first cold days. Swine flu was already here but it didn’t get that bad until then. Here the situation was different. People that had Swine flu would usually experience a very strong flu, compared to the regular seasonal one. High fever, headache, body pain and diarrhea. It affected young healthy people, not only older folks or those of high risk groups, and it usually ended up in pneumonia. My 7 year old son had it and the fever was very high. He had pneumonia. Amoxicilin didn’t work, so the doctors gave him Clarithromycin and that stopped the infection. People that took Tamiflu within 24 hs did much better, unfortunately my son got sick before the Swine flu was even mentioned on the news. He’s well now but again, worst flu I’ve ever seen, and the many doctors I’ve talked to said the same story: The strength, how easily it spread, none of them had ever seen anything like it. Our mortality rate is 2.5%, which is very high, almost 10 times as high. Among children, it sure is a number to worry about: 5% mortality rate for children, according to the SADIP Argentine society of Pediatric Infectology, as reported by Telam, the government news agency. Health conditions in Argentina are far from what you can expect in the USA, but it’s still a significant percentage.

2) Washing hands at all times: As many times as needed. When on the street, after touching anything, specially money, doors, getting into a Taxi, elevator buttons or touching anything that has been touched by people during the day, you need to wash your hands. For this, alcohol gel hand sanitizers are particularly useful. In my home, each family member has a small bottle and we refill it with a big bottle every couple days or so.

Small tip: It’s winter, and you are using a lot of alcohol gel, hands soon start to dry up and even crack. Stock up on some bottles of hand skin care creams. Even if you never used such a product in your life, know that specially if you’re a guy that does a lot of manual labor, cracked skin is no joke and can be very painful, even cause an infection.

3) Respirators and eye protection: During peaks, the worst of the season where every living creature seems to be sick, I strongly advice everyone to take extra measures to avoid catching Swine Flu. Get over what other people may think: You should never have cared about that in the first place. If the virus is spreading fast and you simply can’t avoid going to indoor places where people gather such as the office, meetings or public transportation you need to wear a respirator. Swine flu isn’t some deadly biological weapon that requires a fallout suit to protect yourself. The virus travels in small droplets of spit and fluids when people talk and specially when they sneeze and cough. This is what infects most people, along with touching surfaces that had been touched by a sick person as well. Imagine blowing his nose, opening the door, and you happen to open that same door next. So, in a crowded areas you want to keep those droplets away. For this you need a respirator. Respirators should be tested first because the one you need varies since there’s not one size fits all. Usually they come for small or larger faces. When you breathe in you should feel the respirator sucking against your face. I’ve used these for a long time and I assure you, the respirators with the exhaust valve are worth every dollar.

The regular ones get wet soon and its harder to breathe after a couple hours or less, and respirators can be a problem if you have a respiratory or cardiac condition. Also, if someone with poor manners happens to sneeze next to you without covering his face, those droplets suspended in the air can get in you through your eyes, so its better to use tightly fitting shades or translucent safety glasses. I prefer the regular safety shades because they fit tight, wrap around the face, look like normal sunglasses and I wear them most of the time for that purpose in spite of the flu. With eye protection and a properly fitting respirator, you are supposed to have a +95% safety margin, that’s almost what condoms offer against STD, so while not perfect, its as good as it gets.

4) Go see the doctor: Should be obvious enough but well, sometimes it isn’t. If you experience signs of flu don’t wait and see you doctor right away. Don’t suppose its “normal” flu. More than likely, it isn’t. You should get tested for Swine flu immediately, because Tamiflu wont do you any good a couple days later. What happened here in Argentina is that when the flu got bad and waiting rooms were full of sick people, people stopped going to the doctor when in doubt, worried about catching the virus on the waiting room. This made people stay home, even people with other problems that required medical assistance. Ironically, during the worst of the pandemic, waiting rooms where almost empty. Keep in mind that the sooner you get diagnosed and treated properly, the more you reduce the chances of greater complications.

5)Quarantine: No doubt this is the best thing you can do to avoid getting sick. It’s not easy. Bugging in is stressful, you needs to have your preps ready (food, water, home supplies) and for most people its not even an option because of work obligations. Having said that, there are many that can somewhat handle things and rearrange their schedule. If things are meant to get worse, having stayed home for a month already may be a lifesaver. Be prepared for stress and irritated moods, specially kids, they don’t like staying indoors for too long. Here in Argentina, after classes where suspended, the teachers gave the parents (wear a respirator when going to pick this up) booklets to homeschool kids during the time classes where suspended. It’s another way to keep children busy and compensate for the time they are not going to school.

6)Have supplies: If things happen to get bad, there’s a chance that not only classes will be suspended, but also other activities as well. The idea here is to do damage control and stop the flu from spreading even further. Usually this measure is taken a week or two too late, so we all have to be big boys and girls and make mature decisions about sending our kids to school or not, or taking a few holyday days from work until things become more clear. Since we’re trying to avoid contact with other people, it’s important to have your preparedness supplies ready, most important food and water, and whatever else you think you’ll be needing.

7) Keep updated on your State and local news: You need to know what’s going on. Keep in mind that today a person can be anywhere in the world within hours. And I’m not joking, by the time the news says there are reports of a disease in your State, you might already be infected. Timing is everything. If you keep hearing about Swine flu cases in your area, seriously consider your next move. Maybe a week off is a good idea until you see what’s happening at a local level. Call the school parents. Other kids getting sick? I’d call in sick just in case.

Swine flu may be just a regular flu, or like in our case, a bit worse, but there’s no need to go nuts and you certainly can take a few steps to prepare for it better.

Fernando “FerFAL” Aguirre

I used to love this cartoon growing up, but I never realized that its content was more intelligent than our politicians or those running the “Federal” Reserve. This is one of the best explanations I’ve seen as to what inflation is and the terrible consequences it can have.

Perhaps instead of our “leaders” telling us how complex our economic situation is and that we’re too stupid to understand it, they should instead sit down and watch a cartoon that exposes just how foolish they are and how their stupidity is destroying our economy.