Protect your Home post Holidays

After Santa has gone back to the North Pole to take a long rest, don't think for a second that burglars too will be resting in January.

True, the holidays are a prime time for many burglaries, knowing that unde eath that gargantua Christmas tree in the picture window is surely a pile of expensive gifts. But people give burglars easy entry to their houses year-round.

The prowler will ring the bell. If nobody answers, he tests the door knob. If he does this enough times, this numbers game will pay off, because there's always some lunkhead who will leave a door unlocked when they're not home or ove ight while they sleep.

If the main doors are locked, the thief may still persist and try other portals and may even break a window.

For safety year-round but especially post-holiday security, here are tips:

• Get a home security system. If you already have one, good, but not good enough.
• Keep all portals locked, even when you're home. Yes, intruders enter occupied homes—these are more likely to be violent sociopaths wanting fast cash for their next drug fix, or rapists.
• When you're away, even for just a shopping trip, make it look like someone is inside (leave a TV on so the flickering can be seen, or a loud stereo, and/or lights).
• When you're out of town, arrange to have your house look like it's being very lived in by installing automatic timers for exterior and interior lights, and arranging for trusted people to mow your lawn and park their car in your driveway.
• As for the boxes that expensive items came in, keep them in your garage, out of public view, for three months. Then demolish them before leaving them curbside. Better yet, stuff the remnants in a trash bag.
• I know you don't want to live like a vampire, but do your best to keep shades and curtains closed even when you're home in broad daylight.
• Whether or not you have an alarm system, post stickers on your windows and signs in your yards that you do have a system.