Some thugs broke into Mom and Dad’s old home this afternoon.  I was working there until noon this morning and took the afternoon off to take my sister-in-law to the doctor.  I returned around 6 PM to find the rear door kicked in and the screened porch door cut and the lock pried off. 

Mom and Dad moved into a house down the street from me about a month and a half ago.  While all their “good stuff” had already been moved away and stored, I did have boxes upon boxes of old tests from my office, loads of books, boxes of dissertation stuff and a bit of studio gear stored there.  Apparently they were looking for very specific things; –guns, checks, jewelry, etc., …and I’m really not sure if they found any checks or jewelry (I think I’d moved all of that).  Perhaps they’d carried a few things off, but I returned before they took all they intended.  They had made a big pile in the living room of stuff they intended to come back and get.  These things were mostly tools from the garage, a new window air conditioner in the box, a couple of old cassette players, an old TV, and a dummy hand grenade (hey, –it looked cool). 

Here’s a list of what they didn’t take (and I’m very blessed that they knew nothing about what they left):

Trapkat Midi Controller (needs updating to latest software version)

Reel-to-reel tape player

Shortwave radio

78 RPM player that works

An old tube radio

Oak mechanic’s toolbox

Sitar

Trumpet

Tons of music

Framed poster signed by composer Dominic Argento

Greek guitar

Dulcimer

Rode mic

Lots of cables

Conga drum

2 African talking drums (one authentic, the other from Pakistan)

Crotales (the pitches needed for performing Les Noce by Igor Stravinsky)

An old pair of Studio Monitors

2 Hotspot monitors

Misc. mic stands and booms.

You can tell that I’m feeling very blessed right now;  and I moved all those items plus the booty they planned to return for to a new location.  I put padlocks on all the rear doors tonight and repaired the kicked-in door as best as I could.  The police came and made a report and promised to check the house several times tonight to see if they might snag the burglars upon their return.    

What a night!

Whew!!