Petty Crime

Today started well.

An old friend came over for a cup of tea and to catch up on all the goings on and happenings of the past year. Her son is getting married soon and that was a favourite point of discussion.

While having tea, Hooligan started to bark ferociously and I went to have a look what was causing the distress.

Since his altercation with Deedle, he stays mostly inside and keep me company in the study room where he sleeps the days away in front of a big bay window.
I thought that perhaps a bird or a beetle had flown into the house, as they do many times.
I scanned the study and the adjacent bathroom, but found nothing.

I felt uneasy, as this was not Hooli's usual behaviour.

My handbag was on a table, and I thought it best to put it a little bit out of eyesight .
I went back to my cup of tea.

About ten minutes later the dog barked again, but calmed down fairly quickly.

After my friend had left, I prepared my shopping list and as I was on the verge to leave, I went to get my handbag. It was gone.
And so was my old Sony Cybershot which was on the table where the handbag had stood.

To make a long story short, the thief entered through a very tiny window (no burglar bars as the rest of the windows have) and helped himself.
It was a lucky day for him as he scored a full house as far as the contents of my handbag were concerned.

Upsetting is the thought that these people enter your property and unbeknown to you, you are being watched and observed.

Now I know why Hooli was so upset, and further proof was a dirty footprint (no shoes) that was left on a white duvet as he fled through the tiny window.

I called Johann from the office, and while he was scanning the property and the streets (They sometimes throw the stuff away that has no interest), I started to make numerous calls to the banks to get the banking cards and cheque books cancelled.

While busy on the one phone, another call came through - it was my neighbour just two houses away - the Cybershot was found in their outside trash bin ... it carried an address sticker on the lens cap when I had sent it in for previous repairs.

It was wrapped in an old castaway towel in which the thief tried to obscure the identity, and it does not seem to have been damaged.
Only after it has been scanned for fingerprints will I be able to check it out.

My purse contained my ID document, passport, driver's licence and a considerable amount of cash. All but my cell phone.

The police came, took the statement and since there were fingerprints on the window when it was forced open, somebody will come round tomorrow to take imprints.

I am sorry for having lost my lovely leather handbag. It was a gift from Blanche and Chris about three years ago when Christoff was born. It had travelled with me on the occasions I visited Oz, carried many things of interest, as a matter of fact, for three years it carried a big part of my life.

The whole episode is distressing, and to have all of the cards and other documents replaced will take days, weeks, months to come.

And unfortunately, apart from the cost involved, huge payments will have to be made as far as patience, persistence, perserverance and endurance go.

In our lovely country, this is known as petty crime, and I guess I should be thankful for not having come face to face with the intruder - it could have cost me much more - my life.

Without any means of identifying myself, I feel like a non entity.

As I said, the day started off well.