Take a phone in the bathroom with you....

[Lisa L from MI]

if you are alone and taking a shower/bath.....that is what the PD just told a good friend of mine whose house was broken into while she was home!!! I do always take a phone with me in the bathroom when I shower but thinking just "not to miss a call"....

Long story short....."maybe" .....she is a single mom...kids were all gone, she is an early sleeper and decided to take a bath around 7pm yesterday...her dog (not very big...mutt type really...a rescue...but really cute....survived having heartworm....but another story since I lean't her the $$ for treatments......but ok....).....

She called me tonight aobut it...and Lacie (the dog) was barking at the front door...she got out of the tub and decided not to go to the door since she was not expecting anyone....Lacie still going nuts....then nothing....she didn't have any lights either...as normal if her kids are gone and goes to bed early (her normal is 9)....

Anyway..hard to explain....but he went around back and actually knocked on her door wall off the mudd room she has...and she glanced around the wall and saw the guys legs outside the doorwall...pacing kinda....still no lights...I don't know why but Lacie was barking at the doorwall....then all of a sudden the guy dissappeared and a huge rock came through the door wall..She grabbed Lacie....and started running...."I am calling 911"....the guy walked in the mudd room and she saw the shadow (since it was dark)......and screamed more......She had a blanket on the door wall and that is why she only saw his legs outside....

911 made her lock herself in the bedroom til the cops arrive (6 plus a k-9 unit)......didn't find anything....they made the dogs smell the rock that was thrown etc etc.....

When she called me I was just shaking at the whole story...DH works nights!!!! Mabel is a good "watch dog" as alerting me to stuff...but I normally sleep upstairs here with the door shut to my room with her in my bed (besides last night...first time....but another story again )...Wondering if I should just let her roam the house if need me at night (my kids are on the main floor)......

Anyway, they didn't catch the guy.....I don't think I mentioned as well, that the guy was knocking on the doors too (remember my post about the guy knocking on my door in the afternoon when DH was home about "buying the hoopdee"??)......

Anyway, my friend is safe.....thank goodnesss...and Lacie is safe....just to think if my friend wasn't home?? I don't even wannna think!!!!

Anyway....back to the topic....and sorry....but.....the cops said to ALWAYS ALWAYS take a phone into the bathroom with you if you are alone.......just think if she was still in the tub and this guy was totally in the house....


Oh...and yes...I will sleep REALLY good tonight!!!....Good dreams TOO!!!

Thanks for listening...and sorry if I rambled on too much!!!!
BUT...BRING THAT PHONE IN THE BATHROOM WITH YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Free4Life11]

You know I NEVER thought of this! Good idea.

 

[momsgoofy]

I always do this...have for years thanks to my momma...the girl scout leader. We actually had a phone installed in our bathroom before the days of cordless phones. I always worry about my dad, who is totally cellular...he's elderly and lives alone...so I'm always naggin' him to take the phone with him in case he falls, but this is another reason...gonna use it the next time as a segway to remind him.

I do hope your friend is doing okay...not too shaken still...it would be bothering me for days. Thanks for sharing the story to remind us all!

 

[kaylajr]

Wow
how scary for her

I take my phone EVERYWHERE with me
I am seldom with out it out of hands reach


this is due to a situation similar to the one you described

 

[PixieDust32]

I ALWAYS do this, I am alone all day, the kids go school and DH to work, we have 2 little dogs that bark at any noise, mail man, cats, everything, but when i take a shower I always take my phone and my cell phone, because I watch Court Tv all the time and they said that the bad guys/killers etc, can cut the phone lines or your power but not your cell phone!! I also have a baseball bat there and pepper spray, you never know.

 

[Msslaydbug]

Thanks for the reminder. Sometimes I take it in with me and sometimes I don't. Betcha next time I will remember to take it with me. I hope your friend will do Ok !

 

[LindsayDunn228]

Oh man!! How terrifying!!!

As you guys know, I am a paraplegic. On the front of my seat cover, there is a small loop (to hang to dry). Our cordless phone is hanging on that hook ALWAYS. The only time it comes off is when I leave the house. At first I did that for practical reasons. I hate rushing through the house looking for the phone when it rings. When it's on my person it makes it so much easier. Make sense?

The story makes me even more glad I do this!

 

[Marseeya]

OMG! I'm so glad your friend is okay. Give her plenty of

That scares me because I never answer my door. We had a whole thread about it a while back, but a few people warned that something like this could happen if a burglar thought you weren't home. One thing that helps us is a big snarling barking dog.

 

[DizznyChick]

that is so scary

 

[LindsayDunn228]

OMG! I'm so glad your friend is okay. Give her plenty of

That scares me because I never answer my door. We had a whole thread about it a while back, but a few people warned that something like this could happen if a burglar thought you weren't home. One thing that helps us is a big snarling barking dog.

I always make sure my TV is on and loud enough you can hear it from outdoors (which isn't really loud). I'm hoping that will help.

 

[Pixiedust34]

It is a good tip to keep the phone with you, especially if you are home alone!

We keep the cordless phone right on our bedroom nightstand in case we have a night time emergency. I never thought of taking the phone in the bathroom.

 

[DVC Sadie]

Im so sorry your friend had to go through that, and now you are worried as well. Do you have a home security system? If not, I would look into getting one installed.

 

[LisaNJ25]

I am glad your friend is ok..

You know what I always think about... you would think that if a robber broke into your house as soon as he saw a phone he would take it off of the hook. This way you could not call 911.

 

[TheRatPack]

My grandparents always had a phone installed in the bathroom....when I was younger I always thought it was odd to have a phone hanging beside the potty. But now I always take the cordless to the shower with me if I'm taking a shower....etc. 90% of the time though I get ready in the morning while everyone is here before taking the kids to school.

I wonder why the guy wasn't scared of the dog. My dogs are rabid....they bark and bark and even though they are small I think they would bite without hesitation if they sensed a stranger who was dangerous. I'm sure that the intruder probably could kick them or something, but I've heard them going on and on from outside when the UPS man comes or anyone else knocks and I don't know that I'd take my chances and break in on such a riot.

 

[Martha7]

Im so sorry your friend had to go through that, and now you are worried as well. Do you have a home security system? If not, I would look into getting one installed.

That's what I was going to suggest. She can also get a system with a back-up satellite connection capability, which means that if the burglar cuts the phone line, it won't disable the alarm's connection to the monitoring station! (My DH used to work in the security industry!)

 

[mickeyfan2]

We have a security alarm, so that is all that I need. The security company told us there are two reasons for the alarm. The first and obvious one - to call the police and fire company when we are not home. The second and less obvious one - to let us know somebody is in the house and to get out safely.

 

[Marseeya]

I always make sure my TV is on and loud enough you can hear it from outdoors (which isn't really loud). I'm hoping that will help.

Same here. My TV is right next to a window, so even if it's not loud you can hear a little "boom boom" from it. Plus, my car is always in the drive. It's usually pretty obvious that someone is home -- I just choose not to answer the door.

Lately people have been driving me nuts. Our neighbor defaulted on his mortgage and so the mortgage company keeps sending someone out -- the same guy keeps pounding on my door wanting to get info on the neighbor despite the fact that I already told him once that I don't even know the neighbor's name. Then other people keep knocking on my door wanting to know about the house, because there's a sherriff's notice on it. Hello! I don't live there, how am I supposed to know about it? It's ridiculous.

Anyway, sorry to go OT.

 

[AmyJ of Ca]

Our house was broken into while we were all home and asleep in bed. The a$$(hole then came into our bedroom, while we were sleeping and held me down as he reached over me to hit my husband in the head with a big monkey wrench. We didn't sleep another night in our house until we had an alarm system put in that will work even if some psycho cuts our phone line. If I'm home alone or just with the kids, my doors are locked and the alarm in on!! Everyone shouldn't think that these things happen in other neighborhoods. We live in a pretty nice area, on a cul-de-sac in the middle of the block. There are many homes nicer than ours and many homes showing their age. There is no rhyme or reason for these things. Keep yourself protected!! Did I mention that this animal did this even though at the time we had a port-a crib in our bedroom with an infant in it sleeping!!! Amy

 

[Tigger&Belle]

How scary!

Like what was mentioned, it's also another reason NOT to ignore someone knocking at the door, even if you do not answer the door. Make sure that someone knows that you are home. Someone did break into our house when we were not home after knocking on the door and they would not have broken in had we been home (they knocked on a neighbor's house, but she answered, so he went to our house). We now have a dog who sounds like she would rip someone apart, so they might not some into the house, but at night she gets crated, so she couldn't do anything to alert us.

I'm glad your friend wasn't hurt, but I'm sure she'll be shook up for awhile.

 

[simba928]

I always have my phone with me when I am home by myself, even if I am just going from the living room to the kitchen to grab something to eat (the kitchen and living room are really open and pretty much the same room). My Jake always barks at things, even when there is really nothing there. That scares me so bad. Anyways, I also make sure the screen door is locked in addition to the front door. That way if I would need to open the door for some reason, I could, but it would be harder for anyone to get in.

And one more thing...don't think that just because you have a dog, you are safe. Some dogs might scare someone off, but then they might not. My cousins have a large golden retriever dog. Of course this dog wouldn't hurt a fly and is a very good tempered dog. Someone broke into their house one day. Their dog didn't even faze the guy that did it.