Bruce Holland Rogers

Burglars suck
A burglar was lucky enough to pick exactly the right half hour in which to case our flat yesterday, the one time when we were out and our downstairs neighbors were out, too. Holly and I returned home to find our back door in pieces and our computers gone.

As I walked on my way to buy a new computer today (no insurance, so...ouch!) I found myself singing, with the burglar in mind: "You're a f**king f**king a**hole, a f**king f**king a**hole, a f**king f**king a**..." I sang this through several iterations before I stopped myself and tried to identify the tune I had been singing the words to.

It was "If I Only Had a Brain" from The Wizard of Oz. I laughed out loud. It felt good to laugh.

I felt amused again when Police Constable Rebecca paid me a visit and we talked about security. "Queen's Park is a safe ward," she said, "and burglaries are rare here. But I can't say the same for some nearby areas, such as Harrow, Harlesden, Kilburn High Road, or Willesden." Those happen to be the neighborhoods that surround us on four sides.

But even after the burglary, I'm glad that we live where we do. I like all the above-named areas. Those are all the places where I do my shopping, go to restaurants, or just walk for exercise. I like the diversity of this part of London. I just wish we'd had a stronger back door.

Obviously, this has thrown a wrench in my work plans for a while. My computer needs to be loaded with software. I have to try to restore various lost records. Taxes are going to be an extra challenge this year...

So I intend to get back to work as much as possible as soon as possible. But this isn't going to be quite according to plan.

Advertisement