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Stolen Laptop: Prevention and recovery

Photo by Arenamontanus (license)

This is Part 3 of a series on my stolen laptop.

As I look back on the theft of my laptop from my car, I realize there are things I could have been done to prevent the laptop from being stolen. I also learned that there are steps you can take in advance to attempt to recover your laptop after it has been stolen.

This begins the "practical" part of this series, and I hope you will find it helpful. But I am also writing for myself, so that I can think it through and learn from my mistakes, and from your recommendations.

Stolen Laptop: Violence and forgiveness

This is Part 2 of a series on my stolen laptop.

Having my laptop stolen from my car left me feeling violated. I'm sure there is only slight resemblance to suffering personal violence, but the experience gave me greater sympathy for victims of violence. The daze. The fear. The uneasiness in innocent situations that would not have bothered me previously.

The incident also affected my immediate family. My wife drove the car that night, taking our youngest daughter out on a date. They were uneasy about leaving a car with one window missing, so they parked right in front of a restaurant window and sat at that window. And watched the car as they ate. And felt uneasy.

Stolen Laptop: In broad daylight

This is Part 1 of a series on my stolen laptop.

Last month, my laptop was stolen from my car in broad daylight. It was in a grey tote bag lying on the floor, right there where you see all the broken glass. I thought that laying a dark bag on a dark floor would make it mostly unnoticeable. That may have hidden it from casual eyes, but not from the thief who set out to do a job.

Putting off solar panels?

We have wanted to get solar panels on our rooftop for years, but the up-front cost has kept us from doing so. I imagine we aren't the only ones, either. The federal stimulus package may change that.

Our power company (PG&E) continues to rob us in unpredictable ways. We thought things would improve when the California energy crisis passed (and they probably have to some extent), but month after month our high bills continue to plague us. We have both a pool and a hot tub and those are probably the killer items. But we try:

Creation vs. evolution?

Last Friday, I saw a license plate border that caught my attention: On the bottom was a "Darwin fish" with legs, but upside-down as though dead. (I wish I could find an image of it.) It read,

Fish Don't Walk
And Jesus Still Lives

Um.

Come together

from 52 to 48 with love

How I voted

"Country first"? Sorry, that kind of chauvinism turns me off. World first. A lot of this comes from my background of growing up overseas as a missionary kid. A BBC poll shows people around the world favor Obama (49%) over McCain (12%). I think they are tired of the USA acting like the stereotypical American tourist. We all share this place, you know? Humility is more powerful than arrogance.

Christian way to vote?

Our girls go to a Christian school which shares its campus with a church. Picking up Erin today, I had Trevor count the number of "Yes on 8" signs on the campus while I concentrated on driving. He reported twenty-two. 22!

The problem I have with this is that it communicates that there is a "Christian way to vote," ignoring the fact that there are Christians on both sides of this or any other issue. And I don't mean just conservative evangelicals vs. "those liberals who don't believe the Bible." Ignoring for the moment how unfair that characterization is, let's stick to Bible-believing, Jesus-is-the-way Christians. You will find such people on both sides -- and this is true of just about any political issue you can come up with.

This is similar to the idea that there is such a thing as "a single Christian worldview," which missiologist Charles Kraft refutes. Sorry. No such thing. So please, don't declare a particular worldview "biblical" and vilify opposing views as "unbiblical". Can one take a stand an issue but maintain humility? I think so.

Wisdom

Learn more at wisdombook.org

(h/t: Mike Todd)

CALL+RESPONSE

CALL+RESPONSE opens tomorrow, for just one week in theaters. In San Jose, it will be showing at the Camera 3 downtown (showtimes) -- just a short walk from my work, so if you go with me, you can have free parking!

The movie was apparently put together with no studio, no distributor, no corporate backing -- just "open source activism" to fight modern-day slavery, featuring interviews with people like Madeleine Albright and performances by musicians like Imogen Heap.

Fight the power.

Update: CNN reports on the film.