2005 Turns Bad

So everything was going pretty well. Christmas was great with the gifts and happiness and such. Marigold and I drove down to Louisiana last Friday to be with her family for Christmas. We had Turduckin and everyone smiled contentedly. Except for Mirabella (Da niece) who was barfing in the back room. Luckily she got over it quickly and the next day she was jumping around and screaming just like any healthy five year old should. Little did we know that we would all be barfing in the back room soon. The mounting rumbles began for me on the drive back home on Tuesday. As we pulled the car up to our apartment after about ten hours of driving I raced in so that I could spend a few hours in the bathroom. The first thing I noticed upon entering was that I didn't need to open the door. It was already open. The computer desk is opposite the front door in the main room and it was clearly missing some of its main components, like the recently purchased computer and monitor and cable internet hub and Wacom tablet and keyboard and mouse and printer and stereo system. They did not take the old computer which I still have set up because I never really finished moving all the files and programs over to the new one. And it was a good thing too. I hadn't backed up any of the new files on the stolen computer. That means many an illustration is gone. I only have the low res versions that might be posted here or on my other site. I could try scanning in some of the print outs I have, but I am skeptical about that. One of the good things is they took the old printer, the one that doesn't work well, and left the new Epson printer I bought last month. They also took our old digital camera, not the good one which we had with us. They stepped right over the new mat cutter Marigold got me for Christmas and pushed aside the sewing machine I got her. So at least we have those to keep us warm at night.

Here is the front window they most likely came in through. The latch you see was our high-tech security system.

They only took things of street value - pawnable or tradable items. Fortunately for us this means we didn't lose much that was unique and handmade like artwork or our Social Security Cards. In fact they moved the SS Cards in order to riffle through Marigold's jewelry. They did take plenty of that. In fact I never knew Marigold had such valuable pieces. Had I known they might have gone missing years ago.

Anyway, Marigold lost one particular ring that was her grandmother's and she is most sad about that. If it doesn't turn up at local pawn shops, which we are trolling now, I hope that we can get the full (estimated) value of it through our renter's insurance. We are still revising the police report to have an accurate list of all the missing items, and looking for old pictures of stuff.

Like night and day I got over my stomach virus the other night. One day I can't stand up straight, the next - everybody thinks that I am lying about being sick. Marigold and her dad are the only ones not to be incapacitated by it yet. I think that it took a bit of the sting out of getting robbed for a while.

And then when we were starting think more positively about it all, another bomb hit us last night. I'll let Marigold talk about it when and if she is up to it. I have lots of work to do now that the next quarter, my last, is starting next week. So I can't sit around and be gloomy, but I'll try to squeeze it in.

P.S. Many areas of New Orleans, especially The East, still look like Katrina just hit. Don't believe the hype that New Orleans will be back up and livable by next June if they can't even get electricity up and the garbage out of the streets. The disconnect between the PR machine and the actual situation shocked me.