My hubby grew up in some rough neighborhoods. Sometimes I think he goes overboard with security, but I am glad he does it.

He ALWAYS turns off the garage door opener when we leave town (unplugs it from the power source). That makes it just a bit more difficult for someone to get stuff out thru the garage. Of course we have so much junk (and i do mean junk) in the garage that no one could park a car in there (goodness knows I would love to be able to do that). But it's just an extra bit of deterrant. He also has junk blocking the side door to the garage, so there's no way to go in thru that door (I'm not sure if that's planned or just junk overflow!

So sorry your vacation was cut short by all the troubles you've had. Keep your chin up and hang in there.