I had about the best Christmas one could have expected under all the circumstances. Though my divorce is just over a year old as far as it's "official" final date, my ex moved out over 3 years ago so there's been time to adjust. I proposed to a wonderful woman and she accepted - her family even inviting me down to Cape Cod for Christmas dinner. I had a hectic Dec. 26th planned, but I had no idea what I was in for.

My fiancee and I got up and headed back to NH at about 9:30AM. I dropped her off at her house and made arrangements to pick up my daughter so I could drive her back to her apartment in Philadelphia with the new TV I bought for her in the trunk (she's just getting started and has next to nothing).

We drive down, the weather gets worse along the way, but we get there safe. We get the TV out of the trunk and a few other things (and this is the important part) save the remaining couple of bags for later.

We get the TV set up (a nice 32" HDTV) and decide we have JUST enough time to pick up dinner and see a movie - using "Bing" to find out where the next showing of "Sherlock Holmes" is - about 8 miles as the crow flies but 10 via the roads.

Nice dinner, good movie. I even texted my fiancee telling her how good it was. Went out to the parking lot that was under I-95 behind the theater on South Columbus Blvd.

That's when I saw the glass all over the ground.

Someone smashed my right-rear window. In the end, they took my daughter's duffel bag with a lot of her clothes in it, my bag that I use as a briefcase that, among other things, had my birth certificate, legal name change records, my divorce papers and the copy of my application for a security clearance (as I work for a defense contractor). I had those papers with me because I'd been trying to get the last stipulations of the divorce decree finalized - a pension account that needed to be released - and I kept related documents in a notebook that was in that bag. They also took my overnight bag that had my Kindle, some odds and ends along with the clothes - one piece of which was an irreplaceable 'special edition' t-shirt my daughter had gotten me on one of her trips. They went through my glovebox and detached the iPod from the cable connecting it to my sound system - BUT THEY LEFT THE $1000+ GPS/stereo/SatRad/CD/DVD player!

The cops were quick and professional. The thieves bought 4 things on my Kindle but Amazon has already started processing a refund.

Because of those papers, I have to go buy identity protection.

The cops said something interesting - that they lose cars in that lot EVERY NIGHT. It makes me wonder if I have a "McDonalds" case because of the woman who spilled hot coffe. She won a judgement (that was reduced) not because of the coffee being hot, but because McDonalds knew they had the temperature too high and did nothing about it. I've had more than one person tell me that I should speak to a lawyer as the theater directs everyone to this lot.

Using the 'wrap' that the TV came in and some packing tape leftover from my daughter's move, I sealed the window as best I could and made the 330 mile drive home yesterday - making sure to let everyone know that I got home safe because I hadn't even started trying to go to sleep until after 2:30AM (discovered the theft at almost midnight) and I heard EVERY noise in the neighborhood which made sleeping almost impossible.

The stuff is just 'stuff'. The identify theft possibility is a real problem. The worst is what this does to me. I can't tell you the kinds of thoughts that run through my head. I am not a violent man, but I've had images in my head of torturing the people responsible, given the chance, if I'd found them with their asses sticking out of my car - slamming a car door or trunk on their bodies and, to put it mildly, not stopping.

This is VERY unlike me - it is NOT who I am. And it is because I feel like this that I loathe and despise the thieves who violated my space and stole my daughter's property. They've made HER feel guilty for not putting her duffel in the trunk - she put the SWORD (bought on a college trip to Spain but only now getting to her apartment) in the trunk, but not the 'ratty gym bag' - and they left the sword in the trunk - but took my overnight bag (which had my Kindle).

These people - and I use that term loosely - have, for a short time at least, changed my personality for the worse. I have a rage inside me that literally scares me, should I ever confront these people (and, presumably , would do something stupid and probably get hurt in the process) even though they're disappeared into whatever sewer of a life they lead.

These things have done nothing for their lives. They are no closer to any goals they may have for themselves. They have risen to NOWHERE and are just as pathetic and decrepit as they were on Christmas. And they are having an effect on me that mentally drags me down with them, temporarily.

I shouldn't feel this way. I'm better than this. I'm better than them. But I still feel like I want to see them bleed for what they did. I want to see them suffer. It's still fresh in my mind as this happened about 33 hours ago.

I am NOT happy.

djplong--- You have every right to feel violated. We had a home invasion, many years ago. You could be at my door bleeding to death and if I didn't know you I wouldn't let you in. We had the same feelings as you did, with regards to what we would like to do if we could get our hands on the jerks. What a horrible experience you have gone through. I hope they find the bums and you can recover some items, especially the important papers. Keep us posted.

Certainly understandable that you want to rant and glad all of you are ok !!!!

Hope your new year begins on a better note and continues !

Not sure if you have or not but get a fraud alert on all three credit services quick fast an in a hurry. It's free, you can do it on one and it sends it to the other two automatically. Ask me how I know....

I am very sorry for you and I am sending you this hug. We humans are all wired the same...or at least us decent humans are...to provide and protect our family and things. You are feeling justified anger and your testosterone makes you want to hit just like my estrogen makes me want to cry.

Go do something physical, shovel snow etc....and know that you have a group of friends here in TV who are irate about this and feel very bad for you.

When things like this happen all we can do is to think...we are still alive and still have opportunities for much happiness.

Sending kind thoughts.

Sorry to hear about your victimization by felonious miscreants. Your "vent" reminds me of the old saw about what the definition of a conservative is. That would be a liberal that was mugged the night before. I have not intended to make light of your encounter with crime, but to keep the topic police at bay, I've injected a political component.

I had a liberal neighbor once and enjoyed backyard lawn mowing breaks debating politics with him. He was into the whole liberal agenda and a true believer. One day he called me because his bicycle was stolen at the train station. He was a financial executive in New York and a daily train commuter. After I told him to report it to the police, I saw him the following day. He was furious about the police not putting out APB's and staking out the railroad station. He showed me reward posters he had made and posted all over the RR station and the surrounding businesses. It included incentives for information that led to the arrest and conviction of the thieves. This from the man that defended criminals as the product of society and not their own actions. The same guy that wanted to empty our medieval prisons and integrate recidivists back into society now demanded the arrest, conviction and incarceration of a bicycle thief. A liberal that became a victim the night before suddenly was sounding like Archie Bunker.

Bear with me as I connect the dots on this seemingly unrelated excursion. I will try to bring it back on point. Having extensive first hand experience in administering and working court authorized wiretaps, I can attest that they are one of the most powerful weapons in the arsenal against drug trafficking, organized crime and terrorism. Nothing else comes close in effectiveness and results. Very simply, given this context, the bad guys absolutely need to communicate electronically at some point during the plotting or carrying out of their nefarious work. If I recall, in a previous post, you addressed wiretaps with a degree of disdain. Those who lost friends, neighbors and family members in my circle of friends living and/or working in the shadow of the towers, would take issue with you. One hot wiretap, authorized or not, may have prevented 9/11. Would you have traded an unauthorized wiretap that exposed the tragic 9/11 plot, in the name of privacy? Therein lies the rub. The raging, ongoing debate between security and privacy is classic with compelling arguments on both sides. While I personally align with security...I do understand the consequences of government abuse...especially with an administration that currently passes muster as a soft tyranny.

Sorry....not trying to hijack your thread...just giving it..."political" relativity. Hope all goes well with your efforts to mitigate possible identity issues. dklassen in on the mark with his advice.

DJPLONG good luck in dealing with your problem.

I felt the same way on 9/12 just wanted to go after them personnaly.

Sally Jo - I can't imagine how much worse I'd feel if it was a home invasion. We just had a celebrated case in nearby Mont Vernon, NH where a home invasion turned into a brutal murder (by machete) of a mother and the near killing of her 11-year-old daughter - a miracle she survived. It's not for this thread, but I have personal connections to this case.

dklassen - I signed up for LifeLock's deluxe service this morning (a year's worth). They're getting me copies of all 3 agency reports on me and now I'm "flagged" in case anyone tries anything. They did NOT get my wallet so the credit/debit cards, etc, are safe.

graciegirl - My daughter's guilt is starting to fade a little because her friends (in Philly) are telling her that the NH plates may have been a more likely reason for targeting my car. Who knows the truth, but if it helps my daughter, I don't care.

cabo35 - I know exactly what you mean. And I don't consider you making light of this at all. Though it IS dangerous to bring 9/11 into the discussion, I know the point you're trying to make.

Warrantless wiretaps won't stop street crime. And the problem I had with the administration was that there was already a process in the works for emergency cases where you could quickly get an after-the-fact warrant.

Letting law enforcement agencies share data? My reaction to that was WHAT?? YOU MEAN IT'S NOT *ALREADY* LEGAL?

Before you think I had no connection or am out of touch with what 9/11 families think, I should, in the name of full disclosure, let you know that my cousin barely escaped with his life when he ignored the "all clear" notice to re-enter the 2nd tower - decided to go home instead and then the 2nd plane hit. We lost people from our office in one of the flights from Boston (man taking a family vacation to California). Survivors from our sister company who was hit hard (Cantor Fitzgerald was a Marsh McClennan subsidiary just as my company, Putnam Investments, was) came up to our not-completely-finished new office building because we had the space. Was weird seeing all those New York area license plates in the parking lot.

What made me mad about the Bush administration was the "we don't need warrants AT ALL" attitude.

I will not give up my liberty for security that the government cannot guarantee.

We do not need to throw out our freedoms. Your example of the "one hot wiretap" is classic. Under the old system, they could do just that - and retro-actively get a warrant from a court set up FOR EXACTLY THAT REASON.

For people who sound the clarion call about government intrusion and "marxist policies", I truly do not understand how they could POSSIBLY be in agreement with having the government look over their shoulder 24/7. Why don't we just put ALL phone calls through a government filter then - and maybe the government can then decide who was can and can't call? Why? Because we are innocent until proven guilty.

If you don't trust the government with your health care, why would you trust them to restrain themselves when it concerns your liberties?

When I found a gun in my house (my mother had one) I kept it for a while (legally) and then a few years later, for personal reasons, turned it into the police. While doing this, I was steadfastly ADAMANT in the right for any law-abiding citizen to own a gun. It was just that, at that time, it was not a good choice for me.

Yeah, I'm a "get tough on crime" kind of person. I felt violated by this and it's a hassle that I have to go through all this to make sure nothing else happens to me. But I don't want to be in a place where I'll have to submit to "your papers please".

In my case, cameras in the parking lot might have been sufficient but, after the fact, there's a much more interesting case study in how to properly and improperly handle these thefts.

I lost an Apple 120GB iPod and an Amazon Kindle (V2).

Amazon de-registered my Kindle and has processed refunds for the stuff the thieves tried to buy. Nobody can use my Kindle once the batteries run out.

Apple has my iPod registered. iTunes knows the serial number but only displays it when it's connected. There is no place on Apple's site for reporting a stolen iPod. What Apple SHOULD do is have a place where people can report it and, the next time someone tries to sync up with iTunes (since that's free software), turn the iPod into a brick. This would make iPods a much less attractive theft target.

Amazon - good. Apple - lacking.

And one thing I forgot... Props to the Philadephia Police Department for quickly responding. They were classic examples of what we want cops to be when we need them - professional and courteous. I knew they couldn't do anything, in all likelihood, but they completely understood that I needed a police report number for insurance purposes. ...and the insurance companies are thanking me for thinking about that before filing claims.

and even sorrier that this type of thing is becoming all too frequent in America today. Much of it is being done to buy drugs. These drugs and the money that can be made selling them cause most of the street crime and street gangs in the US today. Our attempts to pursue a 'war on drugs' has caused this country to have the highest prison population, both in absolute numbers and ratio to the population, in the world.

The definition of insanity is, per Albert Einstein, "...continuing to do the same thing and expecting different results." We must come to grips with the fact that US citizens will continue to use drugs, even if they are illegal and legalize them and allow their sale by private businesses, just as we have done with alcohol. After prohibition ended, the street gang wars, policeraids and imprisonment of ordinary citizens stopped. We can do the same with drugs if we find it within ourselves to accept that we have been wronf for so long.

Dear djplong,

I'm so sad to hear your bad news. I can understand how you must feel. I'm sending my love and best wishes to you and your daughter, and hope the caring of your friends, loved ones and friends you haven't met yet--like my hubby and me at The Villages-- lifts your spirits.

All our best to you.

Life is slowly returning to normal now that I have a 'whole car' again - the glass guys came by yesterday afternoon so now it's "back to work" time again. Just have to sum up all the lost items for the homeowner's insurance, have the auto insurance adjuster look at it tomorrow and get the reimbursements.

djplong, I'm so sorry this had to happen to you. Your anger is completely understandable and justified. I thank God that you and your daughter are all right and did not happen upon this taking place.

My best to you and your family in 2010.

Thanks Chelsea - and that's what I keep telling myself - nobody got hurt.

Had two thoughts yesterday.

1) Realized that if the perps try to do anything with my identity, they might be in for a surprise. Given where I work, more than just "the police" might get involved prosecuting anyone for trying to "be me".

2) I tempted fate. When my daughter and I went for dinner before the movie, she was embarassed at how much the rather deluxe salad she bought cost. She apologized saying that the toppings were a bit expensive (and she even put on avocados). I told her to not worry about it. I was having a great time with my firstborn - maybe the last time ever that I would be able to have this much one-on-one time with her. I said "Nothing can ruin my mood tonight".

When you taunt "Murphy" like that, I guess you're asking for it