Mea Culpa! and We've been robbed!

It's been forever since we posted. Life! What can I say? This has been a summer of endings and new beginnings! For some reason it seems to have escalated in numbers, much more so than in my past. I think the only explanation is my age! ugh! There's been the passing of family and friends that marks a place in our heart like no other and their have been births, thank God, which add such joy to everyone they touch and then there are marriages! (More on that subject later.)

We've also had a graduation from college...I know my last post was on milestones, I know, I know I seem to be fixated. We also had a burglary! Awful!

So here's the post, protect yourself. I've learned more about this than I wish I knew. Thank God no one was hurt and in the end all is OK, but nevertheless, you feel so violated. Yuck! Here are my take aways:

Take your digital camera or iPhone and walk around your home videoing or taking pictures of everything! That means opening drawers and closets, flipping over your laptop to get a picture of your serial number...this doesn't take much time or effort to do! And then, this is the clincher, email yourself a copy or upload to a remote site like shutterfly!!! (Or put it all on CD or take the memory card out of your camera and store in a safe deposit box.) You'll have it saved remotely! This works in the event of fire too. Take photos of your passports. Homeland security says that gone are the days of Xerox copies of passports, digital is the way to go. Again, email it to yourself!

If you don't back up your computer remotely, I can't encourage you enough! Never think it's going to happen to you? Well, it's lousy when your computer crashes, but it's REALLY lousy when someone steals your computer! Password protect your computer! You think it's a hassle or a nuisance? Get over it! If it's backed up, you've got all of those much loved photos and music from days gone by!

Be sure your home is secure. Pretty common sense, but again, don't get lax. 

Report your theft to the police! I can't emphasize this enough either. They were terrific and incredibly helpful! Call your insurance company and report it, call Equifax and protect your identity! Equifax notifies the other credit agencies. Cancel all credit cards, change passwords.

Now pick up your digital camera or iPhone and start taking pictures!

~Beppie