ABOUT THE LIVING LIFE IN COSTA RICA BLOG

I (Vicki Skinner - aka "THE Sarong Goddess") created this blog in 2007 to share DETAILED Finds•Lists•Info•Events•Experiences to help bring more EASE to people living in, visiting or thinking of moving to Costa Rica since DETAILS are NOT easy to find!
I’m NOT an expert (an "expert" 2 ME knows 101%-NOT me). I believe in sharin info•helping where I can! And with over 2,200 entries, so some things might be out of date, so if you find old info PLEASE help each other by getting the updated info & sharing it with me to revise. At least you have some basic info to get you started.
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Thursday, January 9, 2014

SAFETY HINT - ALWAYS CHECK ID!! When someone comes to your gate•door - ALWAYS CHECK ID+ in Costa Rica


So today, while House Sitting WAYYYY up in the mountains of Escazu, up, up, up a LONG STEEP driveway, in a BIG beautiful house TOTALLY removed from it all, a motorcycle starts LAYING on the horn at the gate below - for over 5 minutes!! 

Since that past 2 weeks there were 2 Home Invasions on this block of expensive houses (which went UN-reported at least in the English media I might add) I was going to PROTECT MY tush and the house, so I got into the car and drove down to the gate to find out why this person would keep honking for over 10 minutes at that point. 

When I got there it was a guy saying he worked for the Costa Rica power company - Fuerza y Luz. 

Since we've all heard stories (all OVER the world) of people pretending to be utility workers and Home Invasioning people, I asked to see his ID (and this time I looked CAREFULLY to see if the picture matched the face since banditos often steal someone's id).  Now, NORMALLY I would say, CALL the company (which would mean having the electricity and water company phone numbers IN your cell), but my cell was in the shop - so I took a picture of his id up close (below), and one of him with the id (above.  YIKES - I JUST realized, it would have been smarter to take a picture of the driver, the id AND the vehicle WITH the license plate!  JUST in case).

So what I did next I think is a CRUCIAL preventative measure!!  
I told him before I opened the gate, I needed to send the pictures via WiFi to my Facebook - for my protection - and I hoped he could understand that since Costa Rica's been having MORE and MORE problems with crime (MANY of which go UNreported because MANY people have shared a feel of "Why bother" since rarely anything seems to come from reporting it)!

Once I felt comfortable I let him on the grounds and luckily the meter was just up a bit.  I waited and let him out and he was gone.

I REALLY BUGS me that I even feel I MUST be so suspicious - but these are different times which call for being AWARE•CONSCIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!


So next time someone you don't know comes a knockin' on your door•gate - CHECK THEIR CREDENTIALS!!  The life•possessions you save could be your own!!!



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