It was roughly 9AM and I was working at my desk which is located in my living room. By that time of day everyone in my house is gone except for me since I work from home.
As I was sitting there working I noticed the sound of my someone opening my screen door. This was nothing new and assumed it was a delivery man dropping off a package. A moment later I heard my door open and a strange man waltzed his way into my home. I got up from my desk and faced him when our eyes met. When he noticed me standing there looking at him I could see the fear in his eyes and he walked out and closed the door behind him not saying a single word. There was no way I was going to not do anything about his intrusion so I ran to the door and opened it to confront him. He started to back away and said "I'm sorry, I have the wrong house. I am looking for my cousin." This was a clear violation of the sanctity of my home and the look on my face was a clear indication that I was furious. I told the man "You are lucky I did not shoot you." He apologized again and reiterated that he had the wrong house. At this point there was nothing I else I could do and simply said "Don't come back" and then closed the door behind me- locking it this time.
This ordeal makes me very upset for several reasons. The first thing is that I normally do not leave my door unlocked, especially during the day. However on this day when my wife left for work, she did not lock the door and I also did not attempt to lock it behind her.
Second, what is the point of all my technology when something like this can happen? I have already publicly indicated that I am working on fully automating my home. At this point in time I have almost all of my equipment however have been reluctant to publicly reveal my security system. I will say this, I have motion sensors all over my home and when the house detects that everyone has left, it turns those motion sensors on automatically. If someone opens a door, breaks a window, or somehow finds their way inside, I will know. I am taking it a step further and plan on getting my home to contact the police, thus saving time in hopes that they will catch the intruder in the act. However as cool as that may sound, it proves irrelevant if the door is not locked behind the person leaving. Not only that, none of my security measures proved effective since the house knew I was home. The features do not work unless I leave or when I lock up for the night.
Since this ordeal I have been replaying the situation in my mind. I keep wondering if this man truly made a mistake or if he was combing my neighborhood trying to open doors. I feel it is doubtful the man was trying a home invasion since he was alone. However if it came down to it I do have the means and will to protect myself.
Still, this has forced my hand and I going to move forward with automatic locks. I will not reveal which model I will be purchasing (I’m not even going to mention the one I am going with) however I wanted to share some of them with my readers.
This seems to be one of the more simple auto locks called Lockitron.
This is the August Smart Lock.
This is the Kevo Bluetooth Door Lock.
These are just a few of many electronic locks on the market which can be access through the home owners smart phone.
I refuse to allow this highly avoidable situation ever happen again weather I am home or not. Granted I am still reluctant to show off my security system in fear someone may use it against me, I also refuse to show which autolock I will be purchasing. Regardless, this is all very cool and gives me piece of mind.
However if all my security measures failed, I still have my firearm.
