Feeling violated

This posting has nothing to do with dating. But it is fresh on my mind.

Yesterday, I did some errands midday for 2 hours. When I arrived home, the back door had been kicked in. I called the police and they searched the house. No one was inside.

My laptop, some cash, my wedding ring and a ring of my mother’s was gone. All the drawers and cupboards had been opened, but not ransacked.

My laptop was my business. While I backed up weekly, I had just put the finishing touches on the manuscript for the Dating Goddess book, which my agent was expecting this weekend. I hadn’t backed up the last 20 hours of work, as I was going to send it to him after one more look through when I go back. All my financial information was on it, and although the computer was password protected, it was on when he took it, so those files were open.

With the police we speculated it was a kid as he didn’t take other things that could be fenced. They said mostly this kind of crime is related to drugs. Our neighborhood has never had a problem with this before.

While the rings had value, it is the info on my laptop that is most bothersome. I will watch eBay and Craigslist to see if a dented Mac G4 is for sale in the last day.

I am writing this at the library while I get my extra computer connected to the web. I wanted you to know. BTW, the cops said my one-inch deadbolts only kept honest people out. So make sure your dead bolts go not just into the door jamb, but into the stud. I would have less angst right now if I knew that, as he wouldn’t have been able to kick the door in.