[jambutty]

Originally Posted by jaysay

Its surprising how many old people occasionaly forget to lock their doors, I'm only 62 and I forgot to lock my door last week, but this is a despicable act by a callous coward who needs his nuts chopping off

It pains me to read of such incidents, which were virtually unknown 50 years ago. Hopefully the old lady will not be too traumatised.

Like most men of a mature age (that’s just a nice way of putting old git) I wake up during the night, usually somewhere between about 0300 and 0500 with a full bladder. Many times as I wake up I can hear someone trying the front door.

Did I dream it or was it the sound of someone trying my door what woke me up or was it the full bladder? It’s difficult to decide. Some early mornings I hear someone knocking on my door. Dreaming? Possibly, yet it seems so real.

Being aware that in getting older and living by myself I would be probably more vulnerable than an older couple I have got myself into the habit of locking my front door as dusk approaches and certainly before it gets dark. I have also deliberately acquired myself another habit of checking the front door as the penultimate act before going to bed. The key here is that they are HABITS now and habits are difficult to break or forget

The door to my washroom/shower/toilet is just an arms length away from the front door so as I reach for the washroom/shower/toilet door handle with my left arm, the right hand tries the front door to confirm that it is locked. There have been occasions when I found that I had not locked the door and this habit flushes them out. Hmmm! A bit of a pun there.

Being an ingrained habit now, if I forget to go through the checking routine, which happens sometime, and get into bed, I can’t settle and the subconscious nags away at me until I have to get up and check. This entrenched habit and a nagging conscience hopefully shields me from forgetting to lock my front door and checking if I have and going to sleep.

The real oddity is that when I have an afternoon nap I just do it with scant regard as to whether the door is locked or not.