Laptop Stolen! (Twice!)

A few weeks ago, I took the red-eye from Kansas City to D.C. I made it back to my apartment, unpacked, repacked, and headed to class. I sat for a while waiting for the Metro, got on, made it about a stop and a half, and realized I’d left my backpack on the bench at the station. I turned around as quickly as I could, but by the time I got back to the King Street station, my backpack (with laptop and two new casebooks) was gone.

My girlfriend responded by letting me use one of her luggage bags and her laptop while I waited to hear back from WMATA. She rarely uses either, since she has other luggage bags, and no internet at her house. It worked out pretty well: I have internet, so anytime she needs it (to pay bills, etc.), she comes over to my place anyways.

Well, yesterday, I was at the Pentagon City mall, and it was pretty busy. Carrying a luggage bag with a laptop and books in it can be heavy, and I found an open seat, so to lighten my load and save my spot, I left the bag on the table. Sure enough, by the time I got my food and got back, the bag was gone. What’s worse, the spot I was sitting it was obscured by some ridiculous indoor trees, so the security cameras didn’t catch anything.

I felt pretty terrible about the whole thing. Jacquelyn had gotten the laptop as a gift her freshman year of college from a now-deceased aunt who knew that she needed one for college, but couldn’t afford it. The luggage bag was part of a matching set, but that, I hope, is at least replaceable, while the laptop had irreplaceable memories attached to it. Still, Jacquelyn was really wonderful about the whole thing, and very understanding.

What this means for the blog is that I may have less availablity to post. There are computers at work and school, but usually, if I’m either of those places, there are more pressing things. I’ll probably need to get a new laptop early next week, so the pace will probably pick up by Tuesday or so. Until then, if I could just ask for some prayers for the recovery of both laptops, for Jacquelyn’s departed aunt, and for the people who took the laptops, I’d really appreciate it.