sign of the times... a biproduct of the economy...

short and sweet...
it is a sign of the times

it is a bi-product of the economy

with an rise in unemployment there is going to be an increase in crime

I am witnessing this right in front of my eyes


on a block within a neighborhood where people have removed the bars from their windows I am hearing more and more about break ins and thefts

cars are getting hit by the smash and grab
houses are getting hit as well...
some coming in through the windows... other through the sky lights...
if you do not lock your doors you may want to start making a habit of it


on a block that does not really feed into anywhere I am seeing people wandering the block more than usual

no need to pass through... it is not a logical cut through to anywhere

no bus stop on the block
no corner store at the end of the block
these wandering individuals have no business being on the block
unless their business is theft

last night a man caught my eye
did not get a good look at them just noticed someone with a skateboard up the block
did not pay it much mind
just glanced over to see if it was a familiar form
then went along with walking my dog
when I got back from my walk I passed my friend Chris' house...
my spidey senses were tingling

I had known that he was headed out of town for a business trip but was not sure of his actual departure date

something about his house and the way it was lit had me thinking
there was something about it that did not seem right
I went home and ate some dinner
then there was some barking at the door
the doorbell does not work so the barking is what alerts me to someone's presence

the barking was loud, aggressive, and consistent

I expected a Greenpeace Canvaser or maybe a common panhandler to be at my door
but instead it was my neighbor Chris's room mate Deb
Deb wanted to know if I thought Chris would have lent out his bike

loaning out the bike seemed plausable... but in the same way it would make more sense for Chris to loan out his B Bike... the 20 year old mountain bike with canti-lever brakes... brakes with the same pads that were on the bike the day it left the shop

I walked down the block to take a look
Deb had told me that Chris' room looked like he had torn through it looking for something
This seemed odd because Chris is a tad more clean and a tad more organized than your average single straight male

so for his stuff to be in disarray
seemed odd to me

sure enough...
the whole house had been ransacked!
every drawer was open with contents hanging out of the drawers and dropped to the floor

every bag and brief case was out and opened

closet doors were open and the contents of these doors were flowing onto the floor

boxes were opened
s
tuff was everywhere

there were plenty of valuable stuff here and there
perhaps not the gold rings and watches that a thief may be looking for there were blank checks and a blank passport I was not sure what was missing I could only tell what was there total bummer

the bicycle was the only thing that I could identify as going missing
but I do not know what Chris owns... so I do not know what can be stolen

right about now Chris is landing in Thailand
a message to his FACEBOOK account and his YAHOO email will bring this bad news
but there may be credit cards and checks to cancel
there may be guitars and mandolin's missing
but I think that this theif was going to multiple houses leaving with not much more than than his p octets full
a more resourceful thief would have taken the backpack and filled it and ridden away with that

my guess
the skateboard that was left behind was stolen from a different house

tonight I will talk with Deb to see what the police said
a warning/alert has gone out to the block
this is one of several robberies on the block this week alone

crazy times
crazy times that may get crazier!