When we moved into this house last summer, we found that the handles on three exterior doors were of the indoor passage type, suitable for a bathroom, perhaps, but not for any door that might have to stand up to a burglar. The previous owners had left us only one key, and it fit only the main door to the garage. Said door is so flimsy that a good shove would send it into next week, and its lock is of the knob-on-the-knob type that a knowledgeable person (such as I) can open with a bobby pin.

One of the basement windows was broken, to boot.

Our very first business in Stratford, after the real-estate agent and the lawyer, was with the locksmith and his buddy the glazier.