I was ROBBED!

I was recently on a trip to Washington DC with a friend to do some sightseeing and shopping (Can I just say that I LOVE outlet malls?). It's not unusual for my office to call me at least once when I'm out of town. So when my cell phone rang on a Monday morning in Williamsburg, VA - I wasn't terribly shocked.

First - a little background. My office is in the middle of a HUMONGOUS remodel. Since we are using the office during the remodel - there have been many days where I move equipment out of a space in the evening so that remodeling work can be accomplished; and then move it back in the following morning so that we can see patients.

However, when my boss asked me if I'd moved any computers before I left (the Thursday before) - I was a little confused. The places she asked about had all of the remodeling work finished several weeks ago. So I told her I hadn't moved any, that they would have had to have been used on Friday (after I left) - but to check with a couple other people to see if they had moved the computers.

Unfortunately, the next call I got about 2 hours later confirmed the worst. The office had been burgled (is that a word?)! Sometime over the weekend, someone walked out with several computers, flat screen monitors, and miscellaneous other equipment. And it gets worse... I get a phone call later that afternoon after it is discovered that my laptop computer and my personal external hard drive have also been stolen.

I'm speechless. I honestly don't know what to say to my boss. My mouth won't work - and my brain is going 150 miles a minute. My pictures... My music.... My sense of security... all gone. And the worst part is, I'm 1/2 a country away and can't DO anything. Not that I could do anything if I were there, after all - the stuff is gone. The police don't even come to the office to take a report so what chance is there that I'll see any of that stuff ever again? None. Zilch. Nada.

Two hours after that, my brain kicks into rescue mode - I call my boss and tell her to call some computer experts (besides me - I'm too close to the situation) and tell them what happened and what we think may be compromised - and then ask them what to do. I tell her to inactivate my account and a couple others. I tell her what I can remember is on the laptop and external hard drive and there is nothing to compromise patient privacy so we dodged a big problem there.

We've since discovered more things that were taken that weekend. And we know it happened while construction crews were in the building (although there is no indication that they did it). But they were in the building when it happened and probably weren't as careful about locking up and closing doors as I would have been.

Now - its almost three weeks later and I have a little perspective. I have a new laptop - nicer than the old one. I have a new backup hard drive - bigger than the old one. iTunes lets me transfer purchases to a new machine. I've found copies of lots of pictures that were uploaded to photo sharing websites, burned to CD for mom, copied to a memory stick for a digital photo frame, still on my memory card - so its not the disaster I first imagined.

I'm sad that I no longer feel safe alone in the office at night or on the weekend. I'm sad that I find myself suspicious about co-workers I don't know very well. I'm sad that someone has something important to me - and they don't care what I've lost. I'm sad I was robbed.