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I almost forgot something. If someone has a serious grudge against you they could tamper with the car doors. If your car has "pull" door releases, look carefully because someone might tape a razor blade under the release. If your car has a button release, check for needles etc. taped to the button. It only takes a quick look.
Moral of the story--don't just do things without paying attention. Personal security requires that you be alert.
When oyu approach your car, walk around it. Look carefully to see if it has been tampered with. Me? I look down at the tires to see if someone has punched a hole in one since a quick way to catch you is to ensure you have a flat tire. Sneaky thieves will punch 2 tires so you *really* cannot get away. And *really* sneaky people will not punch your tires--they'll put 2 caltrops down right under the tire so everything looks fine until you start to drive away--then "Bang!" and you're stuck.
So look at things first.
I ran into this a couple of days ago in the Washington Post. It is a graphic of Home Burglary tips and useful information. You should check it out. Among other things, it points out the 3 most common places to hide valuables (closet, freezer and drawer) and points out that thieves know this too. So you should hide your stuff somewhere else.
Hope you find it interesting and useful.
Sorry about being gone for 2 weeks: Lot to do as I did my regular work. But to continue about cars and the danger therein.
Get a locking gas cap. I know it's inconvenient. But if someone wants to be a pain in the tush, all they have to do is pour sugar (it takes more than a spoonful but I won't say how much) into your tank. It won't take long before you have a major engine problem on your hands. Or if they *really* want to be malicious, a ping pong ball in the gas tank will cause you to stall out and is almost impossible to diagnose without taking the gas tank apart.
There are also other, more malevolent tricks with gas tanks that I won't describe that can make the car go "boom". So a locking cap is a good thing.
