be prudent about sharing your vacation plans online

[gh]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... 181KQS.DTL

[mcgato]

I doubt social networks have much to do with it. For a single family home, it can be pretty obvious that nobody is around for an extended period of time.

Back in the late 80s, I was on a run in Fort Lauderdale with a guy who had returned from a trip to find an empty house. Someone had backed up a moving van and emptied the house. Brazen criminals can be tough to stop.

[unclezadok]

I always leave two Kodiac bears in my house while I'm on vacation. Also, a series of cobras will automatically drop down from the ceiling if anything happens to the bears.

[Brian]

Re: be prudent about sharing your vacation plans online

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/06/07/BUDS181KQS.DTL

Boulder, Colorado, 1984. I ask Garry Bjorklund if he wants me to housesit for him and wife Rhonda while they are in Eugene for the track trials. Garry looks at me puzzled so I explain anyone who can read the Daily Camera (Boulder newspaper) is going to know where Garry Bjorklund is going to be for 8-9 days. Garry nods, and later got his next-door neighbor to watch the place.

Same time: Carl Lewis is on the cover of Time magazine and the feature inside is a "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" deal wherein Lewis delights in showing off (among other things) his collection of Waterford crystal. No surprise to later read that Lewis' home was broken into while he was at the Trials.