I am a pack rat. I collect random pieces of computer gear and electronics that I never needed, never used or will never use again.

We’ve been spending an hour a day going through the wasteland formerly known as the basement, throwing away junk, sorting, organizing, and cleaning. Eventually, we’ll hire someone to finish the basement and have a nice area for gaming.

Yesterday I took out all of the garbage we’ve bagged in the past week (12+ giant bags), including a dead television and an old couch.

One of the dogs woke us at 3:30AM this morning. I jumped out of bed to see what the fuss is about and I saw someone stopped in front of our house, in front of the garbage. The dog must have startled them. When I got to the window, they were jumping in the car and sped away.

My first thought was that they were interested in the TV. It was a 27″ TV — big, with no obvious signs of damage. No one in their right mind would have been interested in the couch. What didn’t occur to me, until Dena pointed it out, is that the TV was too big to fit in the car. So what, exactly, were they doing looking at my trash in the middle of the night?

Some friends have suggested identity fraud and I’ll admit that does make a bit of sense. Digging through someone’s trash in the middle of the night would be the safest way to do it. Luckily there wasn’t anything at the curb I’d worry about but it does make me seriously consider buying a shredder for personal documents that we happen to throw away.