Wow, Row Jimmy - I'm sorry your local police aren't more responsive! Here, they had an officer out within a few minutes, I was impressed. Though they never did call me back (the records department) with any information about what happened.

The guy didn't return today either, so I'm starting to feel a little calmer. Like I said, I think I learned a lesson about being visible in the window. It sucks, I feel like I should be invisible up here on the second floor (but apparently my blinds are not very good at blocking people from seeing in!)

Justafriend - thanks for the suggestion! My T actually mentioned getting a dog too, and said that they'd had a police officer speak in their community, and he said that the houses with dogs were NEVER broken in to, bad guys just don't want to deal with it at all. Dogs were more effective than alarms, apparently!

I don't have any pets right now. I like dogs (and cats!) but I feel really nervous about being able to take care of one. I've never really had a pet as an adult. But, I'm thinking about it. Right now, I'm lucky that I mostly work from home, so that would be good... but there's some talk that someone in our "leadership" is complaining and wants my group to start coming in to the office. I don't know what's going to happen...

Oh, and my neighbor (shared walls) has two very yippy chihuahuas. She's very social and is out or traveling quite often, and they just bark and bark and bark non-stop[, especially when she's not there. I worry that if I had a dog, that might stress them out (and make them bark too). It feels a little unfair to put them in that position, but maybe I could find a super-chill, older dog that's used to living in close quarters?

A guy that I used to know had a rottweiler that was incredibly laid back and sweet. He brought her in to the office once. But, he said, the night somebody approached a window in his house... she put her paws up and just gave a scary, low growl... problem solved, lol.

So, I'm thinking about it!