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Music.

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Hello, and welcome to another episode of the Self-Initiative Project Podcast.

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I’m your host, Jim O’Brien.

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This episode, we’re going to be talking about things that we can do to make our homes more secure.

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If you’ve been following us on Instagram, and if you’re not,

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I hope that you do, you can find us easily enough at the Self-Initiative Project.

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But if you’ve been following us there, you know that probably around the first

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week of August, we started a series on things that we could do to make the home

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more secure for ourselves and our loved ones.

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So go out there and find that. But I thought, you know, what better way to put

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all the information, gather all the information in one spot and just put it

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all in a podcast to put out there for you guys.

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So I hope that you enjoy it. And if you do be sure and tell your friends and

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family about us so they can come learn some information too.

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And so look, I hate, I know I’m going to disappoint some of you. I know it.

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I’m probably not going to cover every single tip that’s out there that’s possible.

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Some of these tips may or may not be applicable to you, though I suspect that

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most of them will be, especially if you’re not following very many of them already.

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And I can’t claim this information to be mine. I’m not saying that any of this

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information is unique or original.

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I’m just saying that I’m putting it together for you idea to hopefully give

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it to you so you can act on it.

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And look, it doesn’t do any good just to listen to the information.

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It’s important that you go and like I said, act upon it, develop the routines

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and the habit to follow these tips and advice that we’re giving you to make

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your home more secure for you and your family.

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So the way that I thought that we would break this down and depending on the

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source, you know, again, this is an original content, but the way I kind of

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think of it is I wanted to start out at the street.

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If you imagine being outside your home looking up your driveway or maybe you’re

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in the backyard looking towards your house,

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I want to start on the exterior of the house and I want to start at the street

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level and kind of move up and work my way around the house and then move to the inside.

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And in my mind, that’s about as complex as it needs to be.

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And after we talk about some of the things that we can do on the inside,

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on the interior of our homes to make our houses and homes more secure,

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I want to talk about the safe room.

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And there’s a specific reason why we talk about the safe room.

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And we’ll talk more of that in a little bit.

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But with that, we can get started again, starting with the exterior of the house

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and working our way down the street.

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And look, these tips by them, you know, on their own, it’s like details, right?

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Details are details and they seem trivial, but you add them all together.

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And that’s what’s really going to help make the difference and making your home

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more secure. So don’t think about these on an individual basis.

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Think about which ones you can do together that in totality go towards making a safer home.

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And again, it’s not just about you listening to the information and knowing

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and having the information. It’s about…

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Implementing the tips that you hear with us during this podcast or that you

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see on our Instagram account.

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And it’s about, again, developing the habits and routines to lock the doors

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and turn on the lights and make sure your kids know what to do, too.

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That’s just as important in a family scenario or roommate scenario,

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significant other, whatever.

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It’s important that they know what to do. And you guys kind of work together

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to have a game plan. And if you’re living alone, it gets a little bit easier,

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but it’s also critically important that you have a game plan for yourself.

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So, again, starting at the street, you know, it sounds simple enough,

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but, you know, you can start by

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bringing your mail in and bringing the newspaper in out of the driveway.

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And after the garbage men or garbage people take away your garbage,

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bringing your garbage can, your recycling bin back up to the house.

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And what that does is that gives anybody that’s looking at your property or

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considering your place as a potential target,

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someone casing the joint, the house, as they say, this gives,

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this lets them know that, hey, I’m home. I take care of things.

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I care about how things look and I’m paying attention.

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And, you know, it’s easy enough to bring in the mail every day or every other day.

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When you go on vacation, you can even put in a notice with the United States

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Postal Office, having them hold back your mail while you’re gone.

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And then, you know, in that same form, and you can fill it out online on the USPS website.

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You also let them know when you’re expected back and when they can deliver it again.

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And when they deliver it, there’s usually a few rubber bands around,

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you know, stockpiles of your mail, but you can have it postponed while you’re away.

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An alternative, if you can’t bring in your mail, is have your neighbor do it

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or a trusted friend do it while you’re away so you keep up appearances.

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Don’t let newspapers collect at the end of the driveway because that looks like

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at the very least you’re lazy and neglecting your place.

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And it could be an indication for someone, again, looking at the property casing

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it that no one’s home because there’s 12 newspapers in the the driveway.

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And again, bringing up the garbage can and recycle bins.

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And those things in and of themselves, again, don’t seem like a big deal,

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but it goes towards making the place look like it’s kept up and that someone’s home.

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And if you can’t do it, there’s ways to have other people do it for you.

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And if nothing else, it just goes towards making the neighborhood look better as well.

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So, you know, one of the devices they make is the earliest warning sign that

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you can give yourself, or I guess alert that you can give yourself,

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I should say, is they make these driveway alarms, if you will.

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And what they are is they’re general sensors that send a beam across wherever you aim them, right?

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And they’re usually good from zero out to upwards of 20 feet.

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My limited experience with them is it’s more like zero to 12,

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zero to 15 feet in depth and distance, distance enough to get across your driveway more than likely.

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You put one of these weatherproof or mostly weatherproof sensors,

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they’re battery operated, out on a post of some sort.

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And then what it does when the signal’s broken, it sends an alert back to the

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base unit that you keep in the house, obviously, and it beeps.

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And it lets you know when someone’s either walking up your driveway or driving up your driveway.

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I think, you know, unless you have a super long driveway or a really large piece

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of property that you’re trying to monitor, but obviously you can’t see everything

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all the time and you can’t be everywhere at one time.

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I think, you know, you may or may not look into these types of things.

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You can find them on Amazon.

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There’s a whole slew of them on Amazon, like everything is these days.

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And certainly on a larger piece of property or a super long driveway,

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you might want to consider this as being one of the earliest warning warning

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indicators, alerts that you could possibly put into place for yourself.

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One of the things that you can do that’s really easy is work your lights.

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Your house generally has some sort of exterior lights, whether it’s right at

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the porch, over the garage, on the side of the house.

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And if you don’t have floodlights on your house, I highly recommend this.

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They’re relatively cheap. I think as some of the big, big box home stores,

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you can pick up basic floodlight units, you you know, that have the two big

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bulbs in them and a motion sensor in them for roughly 20, 25 bucks at the most.

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And then they go up from there and you can get fairly fancy pants with them.

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But for 20 bucks, you can get a basic floodlight that has motion detection into place.

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And, you know, it’s nice to light up the place after dark when you need to,

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especially if you hear spooky bumps in the dark, boogeyman out in the front

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yard or whatever. It’s nice to be able able to turn on lights.

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But the nice thing about the motion detection lights is, is that they’re off until they are not.

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And, you know, yes, dogs and sometimes flying insects and, and whatever can,

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can set them off, but generally they’re not quite that sensitive.

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You know, they’re going to pick up on motion and or infrared heat,

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sensing some of them to trip when someone moves on your property,

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depending on where you have the lights aimed and where you have that motion sensor aimed.

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You can get some pretty early indicators.

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And, you know, I like the idea of the motion sensor too, because that means

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I don’t have to leave my lights on all night long, which my neighbors really

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appreciate because I’m not shining bright LED floodlights in their front or

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back windows all the time.

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And the other thing is, is that at least I’m kind of the of the mindset that

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That if a light turns on suddenly because someone walks up and trips the motion

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sensor, you know, that’s likely to startle them.

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And bad people like to operate in the dark. They don’t like to be lit up and

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have the spotlight put on, so to speak.

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I highly recommend motion detection floodlights, particularly over the garage,

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on the sides of the house, up towards the top, you know, the,

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not the awning, but you know what I mean, at the roof juncture,

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any place that you feel like that’s a little extra dark or somewhere you wish

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there could be some lights on it, or maybe it’s just a good place that if someone

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did trip, you know, the lights via the motion indicator,

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it’s the earliest point that you could have a light turn on.

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And I, and so I highly recommend the floodlights. Of course,

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the porch lights are great too,

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because if you come in and out from a dinner date with your significant other,

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or the kids are coming home after dark, it’s a good idea to flip on the porch light for them, right?

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And today with the advent of smart bulbs,

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it’s easy enough to screw in a a smart bulb into your outside porch lights and

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be able to have remote access control via your smartphone for those particular

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types of lights and be able to turn them on remotely.

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And for that matter, when you’re home, turn them on via voice command with things

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like OK Google or Amazon Alexa or the handful of other systems that seem to

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be coming out on a daily basis now.

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So you can and have precise control over those lights, including like interior

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lights, which we’ll be talking more about here in a bit, but you know,

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including being able to set those porch lights up on timers even.

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So there’s really a myriad of options as far as lighting goes.

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And so if you don’t have those lighting options in place yet,

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that would be one of the first things that I’d recommend for you doing. Really important.

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And again, there’s no reason to have to leave them on all night burning electricity

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and ticking off your neighbors.

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One of the biggest tips that I give people all the time, and I think I feel

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like I give it because I’m so adamant about it for myself, and I know so many

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people don’t follow this rule.

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When I was a kid, I remember my teachers too, probably, but I remember my parents

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saying, look, you don’t open up the door for people, for strangers you don’t know at our front door.

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And of course, we had salesmen and other peddlers walk up to the house all the

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time and knock on the front door. And I knew better than to open that door.

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So that was never a problem for me. But as an adult now, and I guess as I become

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kind of more antisocial when I’m home, is I really have developed the habit

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of not answering the door.

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If I’m not expecting you, I can’t see who it is or, you know,

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I just don’t know who you are. Right.

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And what I mean by answering, someone wanted me to clarify this.

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So what I mean by answering is opening. You know, I’m from the South.

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So I guess here, at least for me, answering means opening. But I get it semantically.

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It’s semantics, but it is a little different.

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If you’re home alone, especially if you’re a female,

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someone knocks on the door and you can’t see them, you’re not expecting them,

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and you don’t know who it is,

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there is nothing wrong with, so long as you don’t open the door,

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Therefore, there is nothing wrong with you in a very firm, loudish voice answering

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them verbally to let them know that you’re home.

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Tell them, you know, tell them you’re on the phone and can’t answer.

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Come to the door that, you know, if they have a brochure or something, leave it.

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Let them know that your boyfriend or your husband’s going to be home or whoever’s

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going to be home in about five minutes.

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And, you know, they can come back later. there is

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some merit to announcing your presence so they’re

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not tempted to kick in that front door thinking that no one’s

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home home invasions are rare but when a home invasion occurs it’s a little bit

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different because the people and usually it’s done in teams of are two or three

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or more usually when a home invasion is committed they’re not afraid of people

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being home and and they know your home and they’re coming in one way or the other.

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But burglaries, for example, are more, you know, they’re not looking for trouble.

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They’re looking for easy targets. They’re looking for the homes that don’t have

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the lights, that don’t have the security signs, that it’s apparent,

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you know, have 12 newspapers down at the end of the driveway,

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it’s apparent no one’s home.

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Those are the types of houses that those types of bad people are looking for

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because those guys don’t want any trouble.

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So if you announce yourself, If you’re home alone, that is an approach you can take.

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My personal policy is, is not only do I not open the door, I just simply don’t answer.

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I let my dogs bark, which if you don’t have big dogs, that’s a good idea too.

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We’ll talk about that more here in a minute, but I just let it go.

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So don’t open the door for anyone you’re not expecting, can’t see, or don’t know.

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I just touched on it briefly, but one of the things you can do on the exterior house,

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whether you actually have a security system or not, is to put stickers and signs

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in your yard, on your property, to let others know that you’ve got a secure home.

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And I recommend having a security system, which again, kind of jumps ahead here.

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But I recommend having a security system. But again, the sign is just more to detour.

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And that’s an important piece of these layers of security we’re building for

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ourselves around the exterior of the home is why not, what’s a little white

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lie in letting the bad guys know that your place is secure?

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Because again, they’re looking more times than not, they’re looking for easy targets.

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And if they see or they think or they believe that you have a security system,

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they can go right next door or a couple of houses down and potentially find

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a much easier house, one that doesn’t have a security system.

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So that’s a great little tip for you, too.

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So there’s been some I’ve seen some back and forth a little bit about whether

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or not security cameras do any good or not. And I get it, right?

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So the question is, and this is a recent post of ours on Instagram,

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is whether or not to camera or not.

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Some believe that today cameras don’t do a lot of good because people that are,

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you know, intent on doing something they shouldn’t be doing aren’t even going

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to pay attention to them and don’t even care, especially if there’s people involved.

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And I think that’s an important differentiation.

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So I personally believe that security cameras on the exterior of the house is a good idea.

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If nothing else, it lets me see the package delivery people kicking my package

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to the front door instead of coming up and setting it down gingerly on my front stoop.

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Allows me to see who’s knocking at my door.

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A lot of times I’ve, you know, because my policy is strict, I don’t open the door.

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Sometimes I’ve logged into my camera, pulled up my camera on my smartphone just

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to see that it’s my neighbor knocking on the door and they, you know,

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they need a cup of sugar or whatever it is, right?

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And there is the chance that you could catch an image of the person that broke into your house or,

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you know, breaking into your car in the driveway, etc

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there is the chance that you can get them captured on

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film you know cameras vary today and vary

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in cost with feature with their features but cameras can record remotely they

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can record on hardware they can record to the internet cloud you know the interwebs

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they can record to themselves with smart cards that are in the side or back

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of the camera they trigger you know they can be

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triggered to begin recording when something does trip them to go off.

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They can send you emails of images during the day.

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So I think they do a lot of good. I think the reason some folks believe that

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cameras don’t good, and I understand why and tend to agree, is that out in public,

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there are so many cameras today and everyone,

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even the bad guys, have gotten so used to cameras being up anywhere,

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no one even thinks about them anymore, right?

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I also think that when crimes are committed out in public versus on someone’s

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private property, I think when there are people involved,

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I think the key differentiation of why cameras are overlooked slash ignored

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is because emotions are involved when people are involved.

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It’s a lot different than taking a piece of a property, right?

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When you’re at the convenience store and you’re intent on robbing it,

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robbing the person behind the counter, or it’s a gang related and you’re having

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a shootout in the parking lot.

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I don’t think any of those scenarios, the people committing those crimes are

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even concerned about video cameras that might be on that property.

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So I think when it comes to public and there’s people involved,

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the emotions are there, which kind of tunes out everything around you anyway

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when you’re focused on an individual person versus around the home.

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It’s probably likely going to be more property related.

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And again, home invasions are a little different. That’s when people are involved.

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You can see plenty of videos of people involved in home invasions when the guys

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kick in the front door knowing that they’re home and come in.

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And you can see then that the cameras or the thought of there possibly being

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cameras doesn’t seem to really register.

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So I think the differentiation is emotions. But I think the benefit,

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so the point of that is, is that the benefit of having cameras on the exterior

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of your home is greater than not having them.

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In other words, you have the potential of catching footage of bad things happening potentially.

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And you can see who is at the door when you have cameras. And now they even

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have systems not to promote any one system, but they have the doorbells,

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you know, that when you bring the doorbell, the camera flips on so you can immediately see.

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Now, I don’t, I’m not necessarily recommending one of those,

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but it is another option that conveniently lets you see who’s ringing that doorbell.

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So just some food for thought there on the camera scenarios.

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00:19:33,505 –> 00:19:38,285
And again, the pricing’s all over the board depending on the features. I recommend wireless.

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I recommend the ability to record and or send emails.

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A lot of options out there to explore for sure.

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So while we’re out in the front yard, kind of stepping back again,

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and I know I’m all over the place because there’s a lot of tips to point out and talk about,

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is I think in addition to bringing in the mail, keeping the driveway free of

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newspaper and bringing in your garbage can is keep your grass cut.

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If you have a home and you’re in charge of your property, Keep your grass cut. Don’t be lazy.

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If nothing else, this goes a long way towards making your neighborhood look better.

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And if you’re lucky, maybe if your neighbor sees that you’re keeping up your

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place, they’ll start keeping up their place too.

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And, you know, play catch up with you and mow their grass too that week.

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The reason why I say mow your grass is just like the mail and everything else.

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It just goes towards, it looks like somebody’s home. home, it looks like the

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00:20:34,385 –> 00:20:36,965
place is kept up and that you care about your property.

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So, you know, if you’re not big out and working in the yard or,

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you know, you have an illness that keeps you from working out in the sun or

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00:20:44,525 –> 00:20:48,805
whatever it is, pay a kid to come and mow it for you.

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00:20:48,865 –> 00:20:53,505
And again, it just goes towards keeping things neat and tidy in the neighborhood, if nothing else.

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Let’s talk about the driveway some more. So a lot of us, myself included,

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I have a car that I park in the driveway.

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And you know, it’s easy when you’re home and the car’s parked right up against

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the house in the driveway.

302
00:21:06,160 –> 00:21:08,800
It’s easy enough to leave the doors unlocked, right?

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Or even leave the keys in it, potentially.

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And this is just a big no-no. Your driveway, even though we would like it to

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00:21:17,000 –> 00:21:21,460
be different, at the end of the day, isn’t a whole lot different than a public parking lot.

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It is, but it isn’t. The amount of crime that could be cut down simply by locking

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00:21:28,300 –> 00:21:31,580
up our personal property could be tremendous.

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It’s important to keep your car doors locked wherever it is.

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A couple of other tips is don’t leave your keys in the ignition and don’t even

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leave your keys in or on that car.

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You know how sometimes they make the magnet carriers, you could put a key in

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00:21:50,560 –> 00:21:53,340
and stick it underneath your car somewhere. Well, that’s old school.

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Everybody knows that trick, right?

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Don’t put them above your sun visors. Don’t put them underneath the front seat.

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Don’t put them under the mat and the front floorboard.

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Take your keys in and lock your car.

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Keep it locked. Don’t leave your keys in it. And when you do go out to get in

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your car, please take the additional two to three seconds it will take you,

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maybe a little bit more if it’s after dark, and do a brief check of the back seat.

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Make sure you’ve got no unwanted hitchhikers in the backseat.

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And that in and of itself will make you and your car, your automobiles,

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your vehicles in your driveway that much safer.

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00:22:31,620 –> 00:22:37,400
So I kind of consider neighbors as part of the exterior of my house, right?

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And over the years, I’ve gotten to know most of the neighbors on either side of me and in front of me.

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And some recommend, you know, finding a neighbor that you trust well enough

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00:22:48,900 –> 00:22:52,580
to leave a key with that you can kind of let know when you’re going to be out

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00:22:52,580 –> 00:22:54,600
of town so they can keep an eye on the place.

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I personally think while you don’t have to hang out and party with them all

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00:22:58,520 –> 00:23:02,040
the time, I personally think it’s a good idea to get to know your neighbors.

330
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It seems like society as a whole has kind of gotten away from this.

331
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I know when I was a kid, neighbors and such talked seems like more than what they do today.

332
00:23:10,260 –> 00:23:16,760
Maybe not, but I think it’s a good idea to get to know your neighbors and do favors for one another.

333
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And I think it’s simple enough to ask them to keep an eye on the place,

334
00:23:20,960 –> 00:23:25,240
even if you’re not comfortable giving them a key to your home just yet.

335
00:23:25,560 –> 00:23:29,280
Comes in handy. I know I do it for some of my neighbors and they do it for me.

336
00:23:29,380 –> 00:23:32,220
And I actually hold the key for a neighbor or two as well.

337
00:23:32,360 –> 00:23:37,760
So that’s a good idea is to get to know your neighbors and use them as needed.

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00:23:38,320 –> 00:23:42,260
To wrap up the exterior of the home, I want to talk about some other maintenance

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00:23:42,260 –> 00:23:48,760
items. So one of the things that we can do in addition to the grass is trim your hedges back.

340
00:23:49,887 –> 00:23:52,707
When I say trim your hedges back, I’m talking about two things.

341
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One is the height of the hedges.

342
00:23:54,667 –> 00:23:58,107
And the height, they say, really should be kept at about three feet.

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00:23:58,227 –> 00:24:03,627
Now, look, I know a lot of hedge types and a lot of hedge styling and landscaping,

344
00:24:03,627 –> 00:24:06,887
you know, has hedges that are taller than that.

345
00:24:06,967 –> 00:24:10,987
And that’s fine. But as a general rule, what you’re trying to do is make it

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00:24:10,987 –> 00:24:15,267
increasingly more difficult for someone to be hiding out in your bushes,

347
00:24:15,347 –> 00:24:19,307
hiding out in your hedges, waiting on you to get home, especially after dark

348
00:24:19,307 –> 00:24:22,247
when you’re not looking for folks to be behind your hedges.

349
00:24:22,587 –> 00:24:27,307
So the idea, the ideal is to keep them at three feet, three,

350
00:24:27,427 –> 00:24:31,287
three and a half feet, I say there about like I got some azaleas out front.

351
00:24:31,367 –> 00:24:36,587
I keep it about three and a half feet, give or take. and the second and i think

352
00:24:36,587 –> 00:24:41,907
more as important if not more important is keep your shrubs and hedges off of

353
00:24:41,907 –> 00:24:48,627
your house keep at least i would say a foot between your house and the bush and again this just.

354
00:24:49,327 –> 00:24:54,287
Keeps things it allows air and maybe even a little sunlight to get back there

355
00:24:54,287 –> 00:24:58,167
so moisture doesn’t build up so you’re really again just taking care of your

356
00:24:58,167 –> 00:25:02,407
property which is a which is a side benefit it to security, right?

357
00:25:02,987 –> 00:25:08,247
But it’s enabling it to be a clear side of path so that when you walk by,

358
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you can see everything and don’t have any points of blockage.

359
00:25:13,127 –> 00:25:17,587
So keep them trimmed to about three, three and a half feet and keep them at

360
00:25:17,587 –> 00:25:20,027
least about a foot off of your house.

361
00:25:20,607 –> 00:25:23,967
I know we kind of talked about a lot of different things with the exterior of

362
00:25:23,967 –> 00:25:25,727
the home. And again, I’m not trying to cover everything.

363
00:25:25,987 –> 00:25:31,987
I’m sure there’s a lot of other tips, but I do want to move on to the interior of the house.

364
00:25:32,207 –> 00:25:36,727
And a lot of the same tips and advice are going to be given for the interior.

365
00:25:36,987 –> 00:25:42,447
We have the door to talk about and locks. We have security cameras.

366
00:25:42,647 –> 00:25:44,167
We have security systems.

367
00:25:44,547 –> 00:25:48,547
So a lot of the things that we’re going to do on the interior of the house are

368
00:25:48,547 –> 00:25:52,947
like the things that we did on on the exterior with some new items.

369
00:25:53,087 –> 00:25:57,467
So starting out with cameras, again, I think.

370
00:25:58,430 –> 00:26:01,470
Cameras are a good idea, especially on the interior house.

371
00:26:01,830 –> 00:26:05,250
Of course, you know, you don’t want to be recording guests and things like that

372
00:26:05,250 –> 00:26:08,450
when they’re over, but they’re really good because if someone were to get inside

373
00:26:08,450 –> 00:26:12,070
your house, you have a potential means of capturing their actions.

374
00:26:12,290 –> 00:26:15,510
Obviously you’re going to be able to know when it’s a stranger versus someone,

375
00:26:15,590 –> 00:26:21,090
you know, and who knows, maybe, maybe in the unfortunate event that your babysitter’s

376
00:26:21,090 –> 00:26:24,270
done something they shouldn’t have, you’ll have it on film and thank yourself

377
00:26:24,270 –> 00:26:26,710
later for that to help the case.

378
00:26:26,710 –> 00:26:32,950
But I think cameras have a place inside the house as much, if not more, than on the outside.

379
00:26:33,410 –> 00:26:39,050
And it doesn’t mean that you have to have $300 cameras in every single room,

380
00:26:39,190 –> 00:26:44,530
but you do want to think about points of entrance and egress that make sense

381
00:26:44,530 –> 00:26:48,330
to potentially point a recording camera there, too.

382
00:26:48,890 –> 00:26:55,050
Talking about security systems, buy yourself a security system,

383
00:26:55,150 –> 00:26:57,230
a security alarm, whatever you want to call it.

384
00:26:57,770 –> 00:27:04,410
Cellular is the way to go now, but get a security system installed if you haven’t already.

385
00:27:05,070 –> 00:27:11,070
This can be your number one guard against someone coming into your house.

386
00:27:11,130 –> 00:27:14,890
Again, we’ve talked about the security signs being all over the windows and

387
00:27:14,890 –> 00:27:17,150
signs in the front yard and the backyard, et cetera.

388
00:27:17,290 –> 00:27:20,550
But when it comes down to it, you really should have a security system,

389
00:27:20,610 –> 00:27:23,930
especially in this day and age, because you just don’t know.

390
00:27:24,370 –> 00:27:27,850
You should have your security system monitored. In other words,

391
00:27:27,970 –> 00:27:30,750
tie it into a monitoring station.

392
00:27:30,910 –> 00:27:34,730
And the monitoring station, their job is when your alarm is triggered,

393
00:27:35,010 –> 00:27:37,730
they call you to make sure everything’s okay.

394
00:27:37,890 –> 00:27:41,970
And if you don’t answer or you can’t provide them the information they ask you

395
00:27:41,970 –> 00:27:45,430
to provide, they’re going to send the local police. And that’s a good thing.

396
00:27:45,670 –> 00:27:50,670
This is especially critical if you live out in the middle of nowhere or further out away.

397
00:27:51,070 –> 00:27:56,510
I can’t emphasize the importance of having your system monitored.

398
00:27:56,970 –> 00:28:04,010
And I know there may be instances where you don’t want to have to afford monthly monitoring fees.

399
00:28:04,210 –> 00:28:09,170
Monitoring fees can be as little as I’ve seen $14 a month,

400
00:28:09,330 –> 00:28:13,310
usually paid quarterly, temporarily all the way up to 60 plus a month,

401
00:28:13,410 –> 00:28:18,670
depending on what type of system and the company that installs the system for

402
00:28:18,670 –> 00:28:21,030
you. I would just caution you that.

403
00:28:22,034 –> 00:28:26,074
Really pay close attention to the equipment that the company is offering you

404
00:28:26,074 –> 00:28:31,674
and how they’re tying that free equipment or that package deal together with

405
00:28:31,674 –> 00:28:36,154
monitoring because free equipment’s easy for them if they’re charging you 60

406
00:28:36,154 –> 00:28:38,854
plus dollars a month to monitor the system, right?

407
00:28:38,994 –> 00:28:45,834
So pay attention and I won’t mention any names, but consider highly reviewed,

408
00:28:45,974 –> 00:28:52,474
highly ranked, more small mom and pop security shops that really have a good,

409
00:28:52,474 –> 00:28:55,214
a really good reputation in the community.

410
00:28:55,314 –> 00:29:01,014
And you find good reviews in multiple spots, Google, Yelp, et cetera, et cetera.

411
00:29:01,434 –> 00:29:06,354
Because I think ultimately you you’re likely to get maybe a better deal. Yeah.

412
00:29:06,474 –> 00:29:11,014
You might pay potentially more or some for the equipment itself,

413
00:29:11,174 –> 00:29:17,294
but you’ll find that the monitoring fees fees are probably more in line with where they should be.

414
00:29:17,974 –> 00:29:23,154
Look, security equipment today runs the full gamut. I mean, you can get anything you want.

415
00:29:23,294 –> 00:29:26,974
Some of the add-ons that are likely add-ons, because you know,

416
00:29:27,014 –> 00:29:30,694
typically the base packages, if you’re looking at packages of equipment,

417
00:29:30,794 –> 00:29:36,154
just cover basic doors and a few windows, right? So you’re going to add windows more than likely.

418
00:29:36,294 –> 00:29:39,514
If you’ve got a really big house, you’re probably going to add some doors.

419
00:29:40,134 –> 00:29:44,294
You at least want to cover the doors and windows on your first floor, right?

420
00:29:44,434 –> 00:29:48,534
And that’s in addition to the basement. Certainly, if you’re on a basement and

421
00:29:48,534 –> 00:29:52,434
have windows and doors in the basement, you definitely want to have those covers.

422
00:29:52,634 –> 00:29:58,014
But windows and doors on the first floor, at least if you’re in a super big house,

423
00:29:58,274 –> 00:30:03,094
it’s probably diminishing returns to worry about the windows on the second floor

424
00:30:03,094 –> 00:30:07,874
is too much unless you have balconies with French doors and windows those on that balcony,

425
00:30:08,094 –> 00:30:12,294
then those are places you’ll likely want to consider adding additional window

426
00:30:12,294 –> 00:30:14,274
and door sensors that trip.

427
00:30:14,854 –> 00:30:20,374
For windows, they not only make sensors that detect when the window’s been moved

428
00:30:20,374 –> 00:30:23,954
up and down, but they also make glass breaks.

429
00:30:24,094 –> 00:30:26,894
Some of those are sometimes built into those movement sensors.

430
00:30:27,234 –> 00:30:29,754
More modern systems have glass

431
00:30:29,754 –> 00:30:34,334
break, glass motion, whatever they are across the room for the window.

432
00:30:34,814 –> 00:30:38,694
I’m not a security technician, so I can’t tell you exactly how those work,

433
00:30:38,834 –> 00:30:41,334
but there are some options when it comes to glass breaking.

434
00:30:41,514 –> 00:30:46,574
So it’s a good idea, not just installing the movement sensors,

435
00:30:46,874 –> 00:30:50,994
but also ensuring whatever you do, you consider glass breakage because those

436
00:30:50,994 –> 00:30:55,774
sensors are designed to listen for the sound of glass breaking.

437
00:30:56,294 –> 00:31:00,154
So that’s a good idea. Of course, motion detectors in the house are good.

438
00:31:00,294 –> 00:31:04,414
Someone walks through a room, not expecting it, trips the alarm that way.

439
00:31:04,874 –> 00:31:09,234
Especially in a basement scenario, having some motion detectors in places that

440
00:31:09,234 –> 00:31:14,034
are less frequently visited by, you know, you or your family’s a good idea.

441
00:31:14,154 –> 00:31:17,814
So if you know there’s motion, there’s likely something going on or a good chance

442
00:31:17,814 –> 00:31:19,954
there could be something going on that shouldn’t be.

443
00:31:21,071 –> 00:31:25,311
I caution you, they do sell, I’m not sure what the technical name is,

444
00:31:25,391 –> 00:31:30,551
but they do sell more pet-friendly motion detectors, motion sensors.

445
00:31:30,791 –> 00:31:33,331
My experience with those have been hit or miss.

446
00:31:33,711 –> 00:31:38,191
Sometimes they don’t pick up the big dog you have in your house,

447
00:31:38,231 –> 00:31:42,031
and other times, depending on the dog’s movements, I suppose,

448
00:31:42,271 –> 00:31:47,851
or where they move or how they move across the sensor, I have found that they get tripped anyway.

449
00:31:47,851 –> 00:31:52,811
So just remember, if you do have pets in your house, you’ll likely need to bypass.

450
00:31:53,371 –> 00:31:57,431
When you arm your system, you’ll likely need to bypass those motion detectors

451
00:31:57,431 –> 00:32:03,151
where the animals reside mainly, and then be sure they’re on everywhere else.

452
00:32:03,231 –> 00:32:06,751
Because again, security doesn’t work if it’s not on the rest of the time.

453
00:32:06,751 –> 00:32:10,891
The other things that I recommend are a speaker.

454
00:32:11,071 –> 00:32:15,391
You usually get some sort of loud noisemaker inside the house,

455
00:32:15,431 –> 00:32:18,831
as they should, and they scare you to death when they go off,

456
00:32:18,871 –> 00:32:21,171
and they’re good and loud and hurt your ears, as they should,

457
00:32:21,351 –> 00:32:24,951
because that’s what they’re supposed to do is alert you and get your attention

458
00:32:24,951 –> 00:32:28,511
and scare the wits out of the bad guy, too, if they happen to be in the house,

459
00:32:28,551 –> 00:32:29,831
the bad people in your house.

460
00:32:29,831 –> 00:32:34,131
But I also would recommend considering an outside speaker.

461
00:32:34,331 –> 00:32:37,791
And so what they’ll do is they’ll put a weather resistor or weatherproof speaker

462
00:32:37,791 –> 00:32:44,391
up again high on the house so that everybody in the neighborhood knows when your alarm goes off.

463
00:32:44,511 –> 00:32:48,031
And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Now, if you’re prone to trip your alarm

464
00:32:48,031 –> 00:32:51,651
and have a lot of false alarms, your neighbors may not appreciate that over time.

465
00:32:51,771 –> 00:32:56,651
But hopefully those are few and far between. between the outdoor speaker I contend

466
00:32:56,651 –> 00:32:57,871
is increasingly important.

467
00:32:58,631 –> 00:33:01,631
Again, if you’re out in the country and kind of out in a way.

468
00:33:02,572 –> 00:33:05,532
You should certainly have your system monitored.

469
00:33:05,692 –> 00:33:10,872
But that outdoor speaker can be just as loud as the indoor and louder,

470
00:33:11,072 –> 00:33:17,112
which alerts folks that could be further away and let them know that you may need help.

471
00:33:17,272 –> 00:33:20,452
And if you’ve reached out to your neighbors, as we talked about earlier,

472
00:33:20,712 –> 00:33:23,612
hopefully they come and check up on you, if nothing else.

473
00:33:23,732 –> 00:33:28,312
So those are kind of the add-ons, the glass break sensors, the motion detectors.

474
00:33:28,432 –> 00:33:31,792
Of course, we talked about the cameras too. And you can tie your security cameras

475
00:33:31,792 –> 00:33:33,372
into your security system.

476
00:33:33,872 –> 00:33:38,712
Those are sometimes part of the package. And that outdoor speaker really are

477
00:33:38,712 –> 00:33:42,092
strong options to consider when you have your system built.

478
00:33:42,412 –> 00:33:45,572
Of course, cellular now is a way to go.

479
00:33:45,812 –> 00:33:49,792
At one point, it was considered for backup and that sort of thing.

480
00:33:49,932 –> 00:33:54,792
Now, it really is the way to go. The thing that you have to be cautious of when

481
00:33:54,792 –> 00:34:00,152
you’re using internet-based security systems is that we remember that 911 works

482
00:34:00,152 –> 00:34:03,872
different over voiceover internet protocol, VOIP.

483
00:34:04,672 –> 00:34:09,252
So that is something to consider if you’re considering an internet-based or

484
00:34:09,252 –> 00:34:11,812
VOIP-based security system.

485
00:34:12,612 –> 00:34:16,692
Cellular is probably still going to have, if not landline, is still going to

486
00:34:16,692 –> 00:34:22,412
have a place for you and your security measures whatever you elect to do there.

487
00:34:23,052 –> 00:34:28,472
Let’s talk about dogs for a minute. I’m a dog lover, so I’ve got two big dogs

488
00:34:28,472 –> 00:34:32,772
in my house. It is highly unlikely that someone knocking on my front door.

489
00:34:32,872 –> 00:34:36,752
Here’s my two big dogs is going to want to come into my house on their own,

490
00:34:36,772 –> 00:34:40,292
not knowing my two big dogs. I recommend it.

491
00:34:41,030 –> 00:34:45,630
They have dogs. Dogs serve a lot of purposes. Not only are they loyal,

492
00:34:45,790 –> 00:34:49,590
loving pets to have and teach kids responsibility,

493
00:34:49,870 –> 00:34:54,570
et cetera, but a dog, whether they’re actually mean and vicious or not,

494
00:34:54,710 –> 00:35:00,970
a big dog’s bark goes a long way towards keeping people out of your house that

495
00:35:00,970 –> 00:35:04,490
don’t otherwise have a reason to be in there, shouldn’t be in there.

496
00:35:04,870 –> 00:35:09,670
So there’s a place for dogs, big dogs in particular, but even a small yippy

497
00:35:09,670 –> 00:35:14,730
dog may discourage the bad folks trying to do bad to your property.

498
00:35:15,350 –> 00:35:18,230
The other thing that you can do, and I can remember hearing this when I was

499
00:35:18,230 –> 00:35:24,530
a kid, is when you leave, you know, at night on vacation, leave a radio or TV on.

500
00:35:24,630 –> 00:35:29,170
This just simply gives further, you know, the illusion that someone’s home,

501
00:35:29,410 –> 00:35:31,610
especially if it’s part of the normal routine.

502
00:35:31,770 –> 00:35:37,290
And again, a lot of times in the cases of houses being broken in and such, it’s not just random.

503
00:35:37,390 –> 00:35:41,950
These people have cased your house. It could be six months ago when they were

504
00:35:41,950 –> 00:35:46,590
looking at your place last, but you can bet that if they decide to hit you,

505
00:35:46,690 –> 00:35:50,270
they figure that it’s a good place to hit.

506
00:35:50,450 –> 00:35:56,070
And so, you know, following your routine or otherwise, they may think twice

507
00:35:56,070 –> 00:36:02,150
before coming in if they hear that radio in the background or if they hear that TV in the background.

508
00:36:02,990 –> 00:36:07,390
And so especially if you have those dogs, when you’re away from the house,

509
00:36:07,450 –> 00:36:11,310
sometimes dogs enjoy a little music or a little sound in the background to keep

510
00:36:11,310 –> 00:36:12,730
them calm and at ease too.

511
00:36:12,870 –> 00:36:15,110
So it’s really a win-win across the board.

512
00:36:15,670 –> 00:36:21,170
So another part which could have arguably been the exterior of their house is

513
00:36:21,170 –> 00:36:24,130
the garage, especially if you have a carport.

514
00:36:24,310 –> 00:36:27,170
You want to pay special attention to that space.

515
00:36:27,510 –> 00:36:30,330
When you come in, especially after dark, you want to make sure

516
00:36:30,330 –> 00:36:34,410
you get in as quickly as possible and of course with after you’ve turned off

517
00:36:34,410 –> 00:36:39,750
your car you want to close that garage door as quickly as possible if you have

518
00:36:39,750 –> 00:36:44,890
a carport it’s extremely important to make sure your doors are locked your keys

519
00:36:44,890 –> 00:36:49,010
aren’t left in it and and that you’ve checked the backseat prior to getting in.

520
00:36:50,194 –> 00:36:55,534
Some take it to the extreme that say technically you should back into your garage

521
00:36:55,534 –> 00:36:56,994
before you shut the door down.

522
00:36:57,174 –> 00:37:01,234
So you’re facing out all the time and no one can sneak in behind you.

523
00:37:01,434 –> 00:37:05,394
I can tell you, I don’t take things that far. I pull straight into my garage.

524
00:37:05,474 –> 00:37:09,074
I suppose if I wanted to take a step further, I would back into my garage.

525
00:37:09,234 –> 00:37:11,514
So I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you that tip too.

526
00:37:12,014 –> 00:37:16,714
If you want to take things to the next level, you should technically back into your garage.

527
00:37:16,714 –> 00:37:21,594
Again, the idea being is that that keeps you looking forward so that no one

528
00:37:21,594 –> 00:37:26,094
has the opportunity to come in behind you, you know, and sneak up on you and

529
00:37:26,094 –> 00:37:30,314
get you when you’re looking at the tennis ball hanging down to the ceiling,

530
00:37:30,394 –> 00:37:32,954
making sure you don’t drive into your kitchen or living room,

531
00:37:33,054 –> 00:37:34,274
which I know some people have done.

532
00:37:35,014 –> 00:37:38,914
Let’s talk about lights, lighting in general. You know, we’ve talked about the

533
00:37:38,914 –> 00:37:42,554
floodlights and the porch lights and the value of those on the exterior of the house.

534
00:37:42,754 –> 00:37:45,714
They’re just as valuable on the interior of the house.

535
00:37:46,414 –> 00:37:49,594
Obviously, we all want to see in the dark and need to be able to see in the

536
00:37:49,594 –> 00:37:51,374
dark. So lights serve their purpose.

537
00:37:51,554 –> 00:37:57,354
But they’re also another thing that you can do while you’re away that help thwart

538
00:37:57,354 –> 00:38:01,354
people thinking about potentially coming in on your property when you’re not there.

539
00:38:01,494 –> 00:38:03,994
Lights make it seem as though someone’s home.

540
00:38:04,354 –> 00:38:08,874
And what I recommend is putting your lights on timers.

541
00:38:08,934 –> 00:38:13,354
And they make these dial timers that have an on and off switch set on the dial.

542
00:38:13,354 –> 00:38:18,374
And you set the little pins or push in the little pins where you want the turn

543
00:38:18,374 –> 00:38:19,854
on and turn off times to be.

544
00:38:19,934 –> 00:38:25,334
Some allow two or three sets of pins so you can have multiple off and on times,

545
00:38:25,514 –> 00:38:28,394
but you really want to think about having those lamps on.

546
00:38:28,534 –> 00:38:32,374
Plus it’s nice to have them automatically turn on for you in the evenings at

547
00:38:32,374 –> 00:38:35,714
the time that you’ve set anyway, so you don’t have to worry about turning on your lights.

548
00:38:35,754 –> 00:38:39,874
But especially when you’re away, again, whether you’re on a hot date with your

549
00:38:39,874 –> 00:38:43,134
significant other after dark, or you’ve gone away on vacation,

550
00:38:43,374 –> 00:38:44,274
this is really important.

551
00:38:45,468 –> 00:38:50,328
This is the modern age. Forget the timers. Now we’ve got smart outlets and smart

552
00:38:50,328 –> 00:38:52,948
bulbs that connect to our Wi-Fi in our house.

553
00:38:53,048 –> 00:38:58,508
And it’s very easy just to drop a couple of names here. I have no affiliation with them whatsoever.

554
00:38:58,828 –> 00:39:04,628
But TP-Link is one that puts out pretty good stuff, both bulbs and outlets.

555
00:39:04,788 –> 00:39:08,528
And I know the Belkin Wemo is another one that gets talked about quite a bit.

556
00:39:08,588 –> 00:39:12,568
And there’s others, right? And again, you can find a whole slew of them on Amazon. on.

557
00:39:12,708 –> 00:39:16,748
But it’s the time of the smartphone and the smart apps and things like that.

558
00:39:16,868 –> 00:39:21,188
So these smart outlets and bulbs connect to your Wi-Fi.

559
00:39:21,188 –> 00:39:25,508
And then through the power of apps on your smartphone, you can control those

560
00:39:25,508 –> 00:39:30,068
lights individually or even put them in groups and control the entire group,

561
00:39:30,148 –> 00:39:36,148
the entire room or multiple rooms all together with the push of a simple button in the app.

562
00:39:36,148 –> 00:39:43,488
So you can control the lights that you choose through the bulb or the outlet via the app,

563
00:39:43,608 –> 00:39:46,988
simply turning it on and off through the app when you’re away from home makes

564
00:39:46,988 –> 00:39:51,268
it easy to turn on those, even those exterior porch lights remotely.

565
00:39:51,268 –> 00:39:56,588
But the other nice things that it allows for is setting up the timers through the app.

566
00:39:56,708 –> 00:40:02,448
And not only that, giving you the flexibility to set up random times on random days.

567
00:40:02,588 –> 00:40:08,128
So if anybody is paying attention to your home, they don’t necessarily see a

568
00:40:08,128 –> 00:40:12,548
pattern to when the lights, because again, the lights being on in your house

569
00:40:12,548 –> 00:40:15,508
when you’re not home is to give the illusion you’re there.

570
00:40:15,508 –> 00:40:18,988
And I guarantee you don’t set your lights to come on.

571
00:40:19,048 –> 00:40:22,068
You don’t turn on your lights at 6.02 p.m. every day.

572
00:40:22,808 –> 00:40:26,128
So, you know, it kind of makes sense to randomize those times.

573
00:40:26,288 –> 00:40:30,748
The other nice thing about a lot of these or several of these smart outlets

574
00:40:30,748 –> 00:40:34,868
and bulbs now is not only do they connect to the app, but if you have a system

575
00:40:34,868 –> 00:40:37,168
like OK Google or Amazon Alexa,

576
00:40:37,728 –> 00:40:40,088
you can now control those lights

577
00:40:40,088 –> 00:40:43,728
and or those appliances, even for that matter, through voice command.

578
00:40:43,728 –> 00:40:47,368
And that’s really nice. Some people call you lazy.

579
00:40:47,848 –> 00:40:53,168
I enjoy convenience. And it really is because now either through the,

580
00:40:53,228 –> 00:40:56,528
for example, either through the Alexa app, I can speak.

581
00:40:56,808 –> 00:41:01,008
When I’m in my house, I can speak and Alexa picks it up.

582
00:41:01,288 –> 00:41:05,448
Or, again, I can do everything through the Alexa app that I could,

583
00:41:05,548 –> 00:41:08,568
the brand of smart outlet or bulb that I have.

584
00:41:08,668 –> 00:41:11,848
You know, you wind up having a couple of different apps on your phone.

585
00:41:11,848 –> 00:41:16,448
But it really makes it easy and convenient once you get it set up. So those are options.

586
00:41:17,268 –> 00:41:20,048
I want to go back and talk about doors for a minute.

587
00:41:20,088 –> 00:41:25,388
And specifically, we’ve talked about why you don’t open the door for perfectly

588
00:41:25,388 –> 00:41:28,588
good strangers or someone you’re not expecting, etc.

589
00:41:28,848 –> 00:41:30,908
But I want to talk about the locks on the door.

590
00:41:31,794 –> 00:41:35,314
The short of it is you need to keep your doors locked and you need to keep your

591
00:41:35,314 –> 00:41:38,694
doors locked, especially when you’re away, but you need to keep your doors locked

592
00:41:38,694 –> 00:41:40,454
just as importantly when you’re home.

593
00:41:40,574 –> 00:41:44,814
And this may cross over for some of you to say, oh, that’s paranoid.

594
00:41:44,994 –> 00:41:48,454
I’m not going to have to unlock my door every time I go outside.

595
00:41:48,714 –> 00:41:54,454
Well, it’s a small price to pay to keep yourself safer and more importantly,

596
00:41:54,534 –> 00:41:56,514
your children or your loved ones safe.

597
00:41:56,614 –> 00:42:00,274
And that’s the way you need to look at this. It’s just one more simple step

598
00:42:00,274 –> 00:42:04,614
that sure slows you down a couple of milliseconds, but it’s important.

599
00:42:05,594 –> 00:42:08,894
As far as the types of locks, there’s all types today.

600
00:42:08,974 –> 00:42:14,294
And just like smart bulbs and outlets, there’s now smart locks and smart keypads

601
00:42:14,294 –> 00:42:15,574
and all of that for your doors.

602
00:42:15,674 –> 00:42:18,414
I don’t have any experience with those, so I’m not going to speak to that.

603
00:42:18,534 –> 00:42:22,954
But what I am going to speak to is the good old fashioned deadbolt and the good

604
00:42:22,954 –> 00:42:28,894
old fashioned lock on the actual doorknob itself. if you have a doorknob, say, on your front door.

605
00:42:29,294 –> 00:42:34,594
But at the very least, you need to have a deadbolt, a good, solid deadbolt in store.

606
00:42:34,894 –> 00:42:40,994
And, you know, most of the big box home stores carry decent brands of locks.

607
00:42:41,194 –> 00:42:45,194
Of course, you can get online and find some even more secure,

608
00:42:45,374 –> 00:42:49,214
crazy, expensive locks if you really want to go all out for yourself.

609
00:42:49,614 –> 00:42:54,634
But it’s important you get a good deadbolt. And if you don’t feel like you can

610
00:42:54,634 –> 00:42:59,754
install it yourself, paying someone to have them install it is a good idea.

611
00:43:00,514 –> 00:43:04,634
The key piece to a deadbolt is.

612
00:43:05,814 –> 00:43:13,314
Unless you have a solid wooden door with no glass in it or on either side of

613
00:43:13,314 –> 00:43:20,134
it, basically around it, you want to stay away from what they call single cylinder deadbolts.

614
00:43:20,194 –> 00:43:23,694
And what this is, you’ve seen them and you probably have them in your house

615
00:43:23,694 –> 00:43:28,534
already, is on the outside of the house, it’s a key entry.

616
00:43:28,614 –> 00:43:34,254
You have to have a key to unlock the deadbolt and thus get into the house.

617
00:43:34,854 –> 00:43:39,854
The single cylinder on the inside, though, just has what they call a thumb turn.

618
00:43:40,154 –> 00:43:42,374
It’s the lever that goes back and forth.

619
00:43:43,614 –> 00:43:47,634
Again, for a solid door, solid wooden door, solid metal door,

620
00:43:47,634 –> 00:43:51,514
or whatever it is that has no glass in it or on either side of it,

621
00:43:51,534 –> 00:43:54,434
and I can’t think of what that’s called right now, but it doesn’t matter.

622
00:43:54,614 –> 00:43:59,914
When you don’t have glass, that’s a perfectly acceptable type of deadbolt to

623
00:43:59,914 –> 00:44:05,054
have installed because there’s no way, of course, they could always chainsaw through the door.

624
00:44:05,194 –> 00:44:10,134
Again, nothing’s a hundred percent. If there’s a will, there’s a way to get in, they’ll find it.

625
00:44:10,434 –> 00:44:15,474
But for most of the time, when you’ve got a solid door with no No glass in it

626
00:44:15,474 –> 00:44:17,794
or around it. Single cylinder is good enough.

627
00:44:18,750 –> 00:44:24,010
When you have French doors with glass, when you have these fancy pants front

628
00:44:24,010 –> 00:44:29,750
doors that show off the stained glass or allow folks to look into your house,

629
00:44:29,790 –> 00:44:31,430
frosted glass or otherwise,

630
00:44:31,810 –> 00:44:36,850
or you have the glass running down either side of your front doors or your back

631
00:44:36,850 –> 00:44:40,530
doors for that matter, you need to move to a double cylinder.

632
00:44:40,930 –> 00:44:45,670
And this is the type of deadbolt that you actually need a key to unlock it from

633
00:44:45,670 –> 00:44:49,070
both the outside as well as the inside.

634
00:44:49,190 –> 00:44:53,270
Now you say, well, that really makes it difficult for me to get in and out of

635
00:44:53,270 –> 00:44:54,710
my house, yada, yada, yada.

636
00:44:55,910 –> 00:45:00,230
Well, it’s really not that big of a deal to walk over to the door with a key

637
00:45:00,230 –> 00:45:02,710
to unlock it to let yourself out. It’s really not.

638
00:45:03,190 –> 00:45:08,690
If you’re going to be home, you probably could leave the key in it so long as

639
00:45:08,690 –> 00:45:10,830
you don’t leave it in there at night when you go to bed.

640
00:45:10,970 –> 00:45:13,210
You should be taking your keys to bed with you anyway. way.

641
00:45:13,510 –> 00:45:19,490
But I really recommend and insist on the double cylinder when there’s glass

642
00:45:19,490 –> 00:45:23,950
in the door or around the door, because what that’s going to prevent is someone

643
00:45:23,950 –> 00:45:26,970
simply knocking out the glass, which is what they do.

644
00:45:27,050 –> 00:45:30,350
That’s how they come in. But it’s going to prevent them from simply knocking

645
00:45:30,350 –> 00:45:35,210
out a pain and reaching through and flipping that thumb turn really easily.

646
00:45:35,310 –> 00:45:42,510
Again, look, at the end of the day, there is no 100% guarantee. There’s no such thing.

647
00:45:42,930 –> 00:45:48,450
But the more of these tips and things that you do that I’m telling you to do

648
00:45:48,450 –> 00:45:51,190
that you do, the more secure you’ll make yourself.

649
00:45:51,750 –> 00:45:56,790
But whether individually or together, there’s nothing that’s ever 100%.

650
00:45:56,790 –> 00:46:01,010
I know we all want the magic bullet and the quick fix and the magic pill,

651
00:46:01,170 –> 00:46:02,830
but there’s no such thing.

652
00:46:03,370 –> 00:46:07,610
All we can do is the best we can do and making sure that we’re doing all that

653
00:46:07,610 –> 00:46:10,970
we can do to make our homes secure. And that’s what we’re talking about.

654
00:46:11,790 –> 00:46:16,190
So getting back to the double cylinder, yes, it takes a key to get out from

655
00:46:16,190 –> 00:46:19,450
the inside, but this just makes things that much safer.

656
00:46:19,570 –> 00:46:22,630
With that being said, if you’re renting a house.

657
00:46:23,621 –> 00:46:30,061
You might want to make sure that you aren’t required to use a single cylinder

658
00:46:30,061 –> 00:46:32,141
for fire code or whatever else.

659
00:46:32,321 –> 00:46:36,461
I think that is an issue, at least in some counties or cities,

660
00:46:36,841 –> 00:46:42,181
but you’ll need to investigate that yourself for where you live to see what’s appropriate.

661
00:46:42,501 –> 00:46:46,461
But if there is no ordinances or no codes that you need to be following,

662
00:46:46,741 –> 00:46:52,241
the double cylinder is the way to go when there’s glass in and around the door, period.

663
00:46:52,241 –> 00:46:57,901
Speaking of locks, and this is one that’s overlooked, and I always overlook

664
00:46:57,901 –> 00:47:00,241
it because my windows stay locked all the time.

665
00:47:00,381 –> 00:47:03,121
Your windows have locks on them. Keep them locked.

666
00:47:03,421 –> 00:47:07,981
Matter of fact, let’s just say this. Anything that can be locked should be kept

667
00:47:07,981 –> 00:47:11,961
locked unless you’re home, in it, using it, and going to be around.

668
00:47:12,541 –> 00:47:15,581
So windows are no exception. Keep your windows locked.

669
00:47:15,581 –> 00:47:23,141
Again, so oftentimes crimes happen, burglaries happen because of things being

670
00:47:23,141 –> 00:47:29,701
left unlocked, whether it’s a door, a window, or a car, especially with cars.

671
00:47:29,701 –> 00:47:34,901
Cars, I’ve been on a couple of ride-alongs with local law enforcement,

672
00:47:35,021 –> 00:47:39,421
and I can tell you right now the times that there were car break-ins,

673
00:47:39,481 –> 00:47:41,941
I can’t even really call them break-ins, it was because,

674
00:47:42,221 –> 00:47:49,221
or one of the reasons was because in every, every case, the car was left unlocked. locked.

675
00:47:49,541 –> 00:47:53,661
And I can remember taking that a step further. I can remember in recent past,

676
00:47:53,781 –> 00:47:59,781
I was in a more upscale part of town on the North side of Atlanta and going

677
00:47:59,781 –> 00:48:01,601
to have drinks or dinner.

678
00:48:01,701 –> 00:48:06,641
One evening I was walking through a parking lot in this very upscale part of

679
00:48:06,641 –> 00:48:13,161
town and no less than three cars were running in the parking lot because all

680
00:48:13,161 –> 00:48:15,201
three cars had pets in them.

681
00:48:15,281 –> 00:48:18,441
All three cars precisely had dogs in them.

682
00:48:18,941 –> 00:48:23,261
So I don’t know if the doors were actually locked or not on those cars,

683
00:48:23,361 –> 00:48:24,961
but all three cars were running.

684
00:48:25,401 –> 00:48:30,121
Guess what has had an uptick in car break-ins?

685
00:48:30,181 –> 00:48:34,901
Guess where has had an uptick in car break-ins? That fancy pants part of town

686
00:48:34,901 –> 00:48:38,941
because people are leaving their cars running, which means their keys are not

687
00:48:38,941 –> 00:48:40,761
only in the car, they’re in their ignition.

688
00:48:41,161 –> 00:48:44,581
It just makes it really easy to punch a window out and get in and you’ve got

689
00:48:44,581 –> 00:48:46,121
yourself a joy ride for the evening.

690
00:48:46,401 –> 00:48:51,081
So keep your stuff locked up and keep your keys away. That’s the bottom line there.

691
00:48:52,068 –> 00:48:56,288
So you remember earlier when I mentioned this idea of a safe room and we’re

692
00:48:56,288 –> 00:49:00,828
not talking, I’m trying to remember, I think the movie was safe room or safe house.

693
00:49:00,928 –> 00:49:04,188
And I think if I’m not mistaken, it’s starred Jodie Foster.

694
00:49:04,568 –> 00:49:07,948
We’re not talking about that. I mean, if you’ve got the money and the gumption

695
00:49:07,948 –> 00:49:10,808
and the time to do that, then more power to you.

696
00:49:11,008 –> 00:49:14,748
But that’s not really what we’re talking about in this particular context.

697
00:49:14,828 –> 00:49:17,908
Although I guess it’s an extreme version of it.

698
00:49:18,608 –> 00:49:25,868
We talk about choosing a safe room in your house to be your go-to should someone

699
00:49:25,868 –> 00:49:28,608
come into your house when you happen to be there.

700
00:49:29,148 –> 00:49:34,868
The idea being is that you never, well, I shouldn’t say never because there’s no such thing as never.

701
00:49:34,948 –> 00:49:42,268
You ideally should not go room clearing and do, you know, tactical CQB,

702
00:49:42,408 –> 00:49:48,108
you know, close quarters combat type room clearing because it’s extremely dangerous.

703
00:49:48,348 –> 00:49:52,948
And you can ask any Marine or anyone else that’s been in Iraq or Afghanistan

704
00:49:52,948 –> 00:49:55,868
what the most dangerous job over there was,

705
00:49:56,088 –> 00:50:00,888
and they’re likely to tell you it was room clearing and going door to door and

706
00:50:00,888 –> 00:50:03,688
doing room clearing on these huts and villages there.

707
00:50:03,988 –> 00:50:07,148
It’s no different when we’re home well it is

708
00:50:07,148 –> 00:50:10,048
different when you’re home the biggest difference being is that

709
00:50:10,048 –> 00:50:13,568
a lot of us are not military and and

710
00:50:13,568 –> 00:50:16,348
thank you for your military service for those of you

711
00:50:16,348 –> 00:50:21,488
that have it but for us civilians room clearing is not something that we’re

712
00:50:21,488 –> 00:50:28,188
skilled in and i dare venture that very few of or any of us have had serious

713
00:50:28,188 –> 00:50:33,088
extensive training in room clearing so this is why the concept and the idea

714
00:50:33,088 –> 00:50:34,968
of a safe room becomes important,

715
00:50:35,208 –> 00:50:37,468
especially in family situations.

716
00:50:37,968 –> 00:50:43,288
And this is a matter of picking a room that makes sense for you and or your

717
00:50:43,288 –> 00:50:45,908
family members to get to if they can.

718
00:50:46,168 –> 00:50:49,288
This is the room where you feel most safe.

719
00:50:49,468 –> 00:50:55,108
This is the room that you likely have at least concealment, if not cover.

720
00:50:55,268 –> 00:50:59,048
The difference being concealment hides you, cover not only hide you,

721
00:50:59,128 –> 00:51:01,748
but could stop around if someone was shooting.

722
00:51:02,108 –> 00:51:04,728
This is where you’re going to have your key information.

723
00:51:05,548 –> 00:51:10,848
You’re actually going to have a spare key for your house there to get to officers

724
00:51:10,848 –> 00:51:14,028
when they arrive on the scene, because when you go to your safe room,

725
00:51:14,128 –> 00:51:16,948
you’re going to be calling 911, hopefully sooner than later.

726
00:51:17,508 –> 00:51:20,588
In your safe room, this is basically your gathering spot.

727
00:51:20,748 –> 00:51:24,588
This is where you’re going to stage any weapons. If you have weapons,

728
00:51:24,588 –> 00:51:28,248
If you’re a believer in having guns for home protection, like myself,

729
00:51:28,608 –> 00:51:32,888
this is likely the place that you’re going to have those weapons and have them staged.

730
00:51:33,128 –> 00:51:35,068
And I’m going to emphasize this.

731
00:51:35,428 –> 00:51:39,628
You should keep your weapons locked up at all times, at all times,

732
00:51:39,628 –> 00:51:45,228
unless you’re with them or you’re nearby and or don’t have small children in the house.

733
00:51:46,379 –> 00:51:52,039
If you’re away from home, if you don’t have it nearby, and or you have children,

734
00:51:52,199 –> 00:51:55,059
especially small children, you’ve got to keep them locked up.

735
00:51:55,199 –> 00:51:59,499
So you’ve got to be, you know, you’ve got to think ahead about what type of

736
00:51:59,499 –> 00:52:01,819
safe, what kind of locks you’re going to use.

737
00:52:01,979 –> 00:52:05,019
You need to be practicing getting those locks off and more.

738
00:52:05,219 –> 00:52:09,659
And along with that, you need to know where that gun is and be able to get to

739
00:52:09,659 –> 00:52:13,819
it and be able to efficiently and effectively get it unlocked and ready to go.

740
00:52:13,819 –> 00:52:19,879
But the idea is that you want to retreat to your safe room and stay hidden with

741
00:52:19,879 –> 00:52:21,059
the door locked, ideally.

742
00:52:21,339 –> 00:52:24,939
And, you know, hopefully the bad guys aren’t going to come to you.

743
00:52:24,979 –> 00:52:27,879
But if you do now, you’re prepared, but you’re out of their way.

744
00:52:27,959 –> 00:52:30,299
Let them take your stuff and get out of the house.

745
00:52:30,639 –> 00:52:35,419
That’s what insurance is for. It’s not worth getting hurt or worse,

746
00:52:35,519 –> 00:52:40,039
getting killed because some dude was walking out of of their house,

747
00:52:40,099 –> 00:52:46,059
out of your house with your 70-inch, your brand new 70-inch LED 4K television.

748
00:52:46,299 –> 00:52:47,739
Let them have it. It’s called insurance.

749
00:52:48,219 –> 00:52:52,579
This is also the place that you want to teach your children to come to if they can.

750
00:52:53,419 –> 00:52:57,999
Small children, the exception, the reason why I said never, is you’re not necessarily

751
00:52:57,999 –> 00:53:03,119
going room clearing, but you may have to go get your small children because they may be asleep.

752
00:53:03,259 –> 00:53:06,319
They may just be hanging out in your room. So you have a couple options.

753
00:53:06,859 –> 00:53:12,079
You need to try to get to them to get them back to your chosen safe room without

754
00:53:12,079 –> 00:53:17,979
the bad guys finding you, or you need to make the decision for yourself, and only you can do this,

755
00:53:18,159 –> 00:53:23,619
make the decision that your child’s bedroom is going to be the safe room,

756
00:53:23,719 –> 00:53:27,399
and then you need to stage your weapons and have your goodies in there and make

757
00:53:27,399 –> 00:53:29,299
that your safe room. One or the other.

758
00:53:29,977 –> 00:53:33,357
But you have to make that call and only you can. So you either make it to where

759
00:53:33,357 –> 00:53:37,157
you got to go and get your small children and bring them back to your safe room

760
00:53:37,157 –> 00:53:41,797
or make your small child’s room the safe room, knowing that that’s why you’re doing it.

761
00:53:41,877 –> 00:53:46,537
And then hopefully older children are old enough to be able to make it to the

762
00:53:46,537 –> 00:53:52,057
safe room or you’ve made other plans of where they need to go until the coast

763
00:53:52,057 –> 00:53:55,517
is clear and they know what to do. And that’s part of the family plan.

764
00:53:55,797 –> 00:53:58,637
But in your safe room, you’re going to carry a few things. Hey,

765
00:53:58,677 –> 00:54:02,677
we’ve talked about staging of weapons, guns, knives, whatever your plan is.

766
00:54:02,757 –> 00:54:03,917
Don’t know that’s on you.

767
00:54:04,137 –> 00:54:09,317
I would just say keep them locked up and just plan on you need to account for

768
00:54:09,317 –> 00:54:13,237
that in the scenario that something happens in your safe room.

769
00:54:13,377 –> 00:54:14,477
You’re going to keep lights.

770
00:54:14,737 –> 00:54:16,597
You know, you’re going to keep flashlights.

771
00:54:16,997 –> 00:54:20,897
I also recommend this as a tip. And again, this is not original information

772
00:54:20,897 –> 00:54:24,677
for me, but a tip that I picked up was keeping glow sticks in there because

773
00:54:24,677 –> 00:54:29,637
what I’m going to do when an officer comes and comes around and looks in my back bedroom,

774
00:54:29,877 –> 00:54:33,277
I’m likely going to open up the window and I’m going to toss him my house key

775
00:54:33,277 –> 00:54:36,297
so he can get in and get to the bad guy where I don’t have to.

776
00:54:36,717 –> 00:54:39,857
And so a glow stick, I might tie to that key.

777
00:54:40,137 –> 00:54:43,937
Or when I toss the key out the window and he drops it, I can toss,

778
00:54:44,217 –> 00:54:46,577
you know, a glow stick out there in the area.

779
00:54:46,677 –> 00:54:49,657
Maybe they haven’t come around the house yet. You know, whatever the scenario

780
00:54:49,657 –> 00:54:53,177
is, I don’t know if that was kind of silly, but whatever the scenario is tie

781
00:54:53,177 –> 00:54:58,057
your freaking house key to a glow stick, snap it, throw it out there and let them get to it.

782
00:54:58,237 –> 00:55:03,177
You want to keep copies of your driver’s license and or your passport in your

783
00:55:03,177 –> 00:55:06,037
safe room so that you can readily identify yourself.

784
00:55:06,077 –> 00:55:09,717
Maybe your wallet’s in the purse that you left in your car, which you shouldn’t have.

785
00:55:10,569 –> 00:55:13,849
But who knows, maybe you’re comfortable leaving your purse in your car because

786
00:55:13,849 –> 00:55:17,629
you parked it in the garage and the garage door’s down and you know that’s okay.

787
00:55:18,269 –> 00:55:22,389
But you don’t have your wallet on you when you’re in your house, usually, right?

788
00:55:22,529 –> 00:55:26,409
Or at least some of the time. You may not be, you may not have access to your

789
00:55:26,409 –> 00:55:27,729
concealed carry permit.

790
00:55:27,909 –> 00:55:31,469
You may not have immediate access to your driver’s license.

791
00:55:31,529 –> 00:55:37,329
So the idea is to keep a copy of these documents so that when the officers do

792
00:55:37,329 –> 00:55:40,589
arrive on scene, and you’ve got a quick way of showing them who you are and

793
00:55:40,589 –> 00:55:44,049
more importantly, proving that it’s your house because your address should be

794
00:55:44,049 –> 00:55:45,429
on those documents for sure.

795
00:55:46,469 –> 00:55:52,109
So flashlights, glow sticks, a spare house key, copies of your driver’s license,

796
00:55:52,309 –> 00:55:57,969
et cetera, are all things in addition to weapons and the weapons being staged.

797
00:55:58,169 –> 00:56:02,309
The idea being, again, you don’t want to be moving around your house a lot.

798
00:56:02,469 –> 00:56:05,529
It’s not Hollywood. I can’t emphasize this enough.

799
00:56:06,409 –> 00:56:11,049
Don’t get your information from TV shows, the media, or Hollywood movies.

800
00:56:11,329 –> 00:56:15,769
It’s bad. It’s wrong. And you’ll get yourself hurt. This is about not moving.

801
00:56:15,989 –> 00:56:19,369
You’re not trying to be the bad, you know, the really slick,

802
00:56:19,469 –> 00:56:24,549
cool, tactical military dude like in the movies that’s going to sweep and clear

803
00:56:24,549 –> 00:56:27,929
his house with this fully automatic silenced AR-15.

804
00:56:28,429 –> 00:56:31,929
That’s not what this is about. This is about getting yourself and your loved

805
00:56:31,929 –> 00:56:36,809
ones to a safe spot, waiting until the law enforcement arrives.

806
00:56:37,189 –> 00:56:40,409
And then, you know, if, if the bad guys come into your space,

807
00:56:40,649 –> 00:56:43,409
then, you know, you’ve got to have a plan to deal with them,

808
00:56:43,469 –> 00:56:48,589
which I’m assuming you will and do, but that’s something that only you can decide.

809
00:56:49,089 –> 00:56:54,389
So you want to have a phone because again, hopefully you’re calling 911.

810
00:56:54,609 –> 00:56:58,709
So hopefully you keep your cell phone in your bedroom and you know,

811
00:56:58,709 –> 00:57:01,589
your safe places where you’re going to have your kids ultimately,

812
00:57:01,789 –> 00:57:04,389
right? That’s the most important thing you’ve got is your kids.

813
00:57:04,609 –> 00:57:07,849
You can replace your TV. You can’t replace your kids.

814
00:57:08,813 –> 00:57:12,973
And then, you know, along with the safe room, look, guys, it does no good if

815
00:57:12,973 –> 00:57:17,913
other members of the family don’t know what you’re doing, what your plan is, or anything like that.

816
00:57:18,013 –> 00:57:21,413
So I can’t emphasize the need to have a family plan put together.

817
00:57:21,853 –> 00:57:25,333
You guys have open, honest communication with one another.

818
00:57:25,513 –> 00:57:31,373
So everyone’s on the same page. And so when and if the small percent of time

819
00:57:31,373 –> 00:57:34,493
that something bad’s going to happen with you and your house,

820
00:57:34,673 –> 00:57:39,153
you guys know what’s going on. And look, it’s not even about something bad happening

821
00:57:39,153 –> 00:57:40,213
while you’re in your house.

822
00:57:40,273 –> 00:57:42,513
It’s just about home security in general.

823
00:57:42,613 –> 00:57:46,353
It’s no different than what happens if the house catches on fire.

824
00:57:46,513 –> 00:57:49,533
Surely you’ve got a plan for that. Where is everyone going to meet?

825
00:57:49,593 –> 00:57:53,233
How is little Timmy going to get out of his bedroom window?

826
00:57:53,533 –> 00:57:58,553
You know, what’s the game plan? What’s the meeting place in the front yard? Is it in the backyard?

827
00:57:58,973 –> 00:58:04,313
Does everybody know how to operate a fire extinguisher? Does everyone know how to dial 911?

828
00:58:04,313 –> 00:58:07,353
911 does everybody know that when you dial 911

829
00:58:07,353 –> 00:58:10,833
you give your address very first thing because

830
00:58:10,833 –> 00:58:14,253
if the call is dropped or something else you want to make sure they get that

831
00:58:14,253 –> 00:58:21,133
information them triangulating your location is not a sure thing and even if

832
00:58:21,133 –> 00:58:26,253
they are able to triangulate your location it’s not pinpoint accurate so the

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00:58:26,253 –> 00:58:29,173
first thing you do when you call 911 is give them your address.

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So having a family plan, communicating that plan, getting everybody on board,

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00:58:34,333 –> 00:58:37,933
running through scenarios, practicing that plan if you feel like it,

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00:58:37,973 –> 00:58:41,673
those are all things that need to be part of the consideration set as well.

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00:58:42,193 –> 00:58:47,513
So with that, we’ve covered some tips and pointers and strategies that you can

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00:58:47,513 –> 00:58:49,353
use to make your home more secure.

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00:58:49,933 –> 00:58:53,373
We’ve kind of talked about the, we’ve been all over the place,

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00:58:53,453 –> 00:58:57,073
but we started talking about the exterior of the home and what we can do there,

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00:58:57,073 –> 00:59:01,593
moving into the interior home with a lot of overlap between those two.

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00:59:01,713 –> 00:59:07,613
And then we’ve talked about one of the most important is having a safe room and a game plan for that.

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00:59:08,093 –> 00:59:13,053
And so we hope you’ve had at least a couple of takeaways from this podcast.

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00:59:13,173 –> 00:59:17,813
Like we said, we’ve been running this series of posts on Instagram now since

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00:59:17,813 –> 00:59:22,113
the first week of August, and we just thought we’d put it all together in one place.

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00:59:22,193 –> 00:59:26,333
We’re going to continue those posts on Instagram until we run out of things

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00:59:26,333 –> 00:59:31,413
to post relative to home security, but we really hope that you’ve gotten some

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00:59:31,413 –> 00:59:32,893
good information out of this.

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00:59:33,033 –> 00:59:37,333
And look, if you have, feel free to share this podcast with your friends and

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00:59:37,333 –> 00:59:42,113
family or anyone else you think you would benefit that would benefit from it.

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00:59:42,153 –> 00:59:46,473
Share it with your church, share it with your schools, share it with your business people, whatever.

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00:59:47,133 –> 00:59:51,773
And we would greatly appreciate it. But most importantly, we hope that you’ve

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00:59:51,773 –> 00:59:55,093
gotten something good from it and that you make your home more secure.

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00:59:56,033 –> 01:00:00,473
So with that, we want to thank you for listening in again to our episode six

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01:00:00,473 –> 01:00:02,553
of the Self-Initiative Project podcast.

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01:00:03,153 –> 01:00:07,153
I’m your host, Jim O’Brien. Thanks so much for listening and we’ll see you next time.

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01:00:07,120 –> 01:00:26,573
Music.