We Can Haz Burglars or The Further Adventures of Number One Son - Fit the Fourth

[jacey]

Just got an email from N1S in Brooklyn. Sometime in the early hours of the morning someone let themselves into their shared  flat while they were all sleeping and stole two wallets a camera and a laptop. The laptop unfortunately belonged to N1S. Though it was 2.5 years old it was a top of the range Dell with a 17" screen and all the extra perks to handle large graphics files for architecture projects.

This coming just after the brilliant news that he's been awarded the Rome Scholarship in Landscape Architecture at the British School at Rome for 2008 - 2009 for which he will, of course need a laptop. Well, let's face it, you need a laptop for just about anything academic these days.

Insurance? What is this foreign word insurance of which you speak?

At least the files were backed up!

(Slinks away to back up own files...)

Comments

[brownnicky.livejournal.com]

Oh, that is rubbish. Insurance- well it's great if you can afford it. Maybe there are equipment or book grants he can apply for, student discounts, sponsorship of some local company who wants to help a local lad made good? Otherwise Dell always seem to have offers.
Sorry. But at least they weren't hurt or anything.

Pollyanna

[heleninwales.livejournal.com]

Oh, no! At least there was no violence or damage. :(

Do you have any local educational grants or funds your son could apply for? Our daughter got a small grant towards all her books from a fund set up by a local benefactor many years ago. There are more of these than most people realise so it could be worth investigating.

[birdsedge.livejournal.com]

Thanks to both Nicky and Helen for the idea of sponsorship and grants. First off I'm going to write to Dell.

And yes, you're right, no one was hurt and apparently the burglar had to practically climb over a visitor who was sleeping on the couch. The police were very surprised. Burglars mostly run if they see someone in the room. There's speculation that it may be a fairly local job, someone who knows the building.

[heleninwales.livejournal.com]

local job, someone who knows the building

Sounds like it to me too. Or even someone who knew the household. :(

[ferlonda.livejournal.com]

Ah, yes. New York. Everyone we know who has even visited there has gotten robbed. Luckily all he lost was a laptop and not his life. I'm glad Joe's safe. It sure is a drag, though. Well, he probably needed a more up-to-date model anyway- 2+ years is getting a bit long in the tooth for a working laptop. Sigh. Really glad he's okay!

[birdsedge.livejournal.com]

Thanks.

Unfortunately, though the laptop was 2.5 years old, it was such a good spec machine when it was made (made-to-order-spec) for him that it was still well up to the Rome job - which basically involves some film editing.

This may actually force him to look for a second hand Mac before he leaves NY

BTW, we may have broken your record. Artisan visited NYC twice without getting robbed and we visited as a family once. We had not one scary moment.

[ferlonda.livejournal.com]

There's an exception to every rule- and I'm SO glad it was you! Twice, no less. :)

You know us, "Macs rule" is the theme for us. That is too bad about the Dell, though- and regardless, it was his machine which he knew and probably liked just fine.

That robbery sounds so suspicious. Very weird. I hope it gets figured out.

[birdsedge.livejournal.com]

It does sound suspicious... even more so because a) the thief seems to have had a key and b) he/she seems to have known what time to catch them all sleeping when the last one home didn't get in until 5 a.m. and c) the police found some of the stuff the thief had discarded on the stairway leading up from the apartment... and the exit from the building is down. Far be it from me to suggest to them what to do next but taking a close look at the other residents in the block would seem like a neat idea to me.

Anyhow, locks have been changed.

[dadgaderie.livejournal.com]

I just heard a report about 'lock bumping' that made me rethink my original thought (this must have been an 'inside job' by a 'friend'.)
check out this youtube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKAJ845IBPg&feature=related

A skilled rat bastard could easily open any door with one little tap if he had the right bump key.
I recall that New York dwellers often had 6 or 7 locks on an apartment door. I wonder -- did Joe had only one?

[birdsedge.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I'd never heard of bump keys. I'll pass the info on. I also found this fix on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKAJ845IBPg&feature=related