Theives Everywhere

The BBQ Pit
1

Someone broke into my house. I had a Mac G5 with piles of legal software all used for film editing. The price tag for the computer plus software is somewhere in the neighborhood of 8 Grand give or take a hundred bucks. It’s gone. The money I can deal with but the stuff I will miss is all of my projects.

Before I go any further can people please lay off the whole, “you should have made backups” shit?

I’m in film school. Over the past year and a half I’ve made quite a few short films. Six or Eight of them were really quite well done if I do say so myself. They are all gone now. I won’t ever see these projects again. It may sound silly but I am about to cry over it. I was very proud of that work.

I had my sound effects library on this computer. Hundreds of hours of recording, importing, tweaking, cutting, EQing, etc…GONE! I have to start from scratch.

I had just finished importing my CD’s into my computer. It took me about a day (24 hrs) to do it. Then I put my CD’s into storage. Now, not only do I have to go get my CD’s - which will take about a day, including travel, I have to import them all over again. My MP3 player will have the same playlist for quite some time now. I was gonna import some Boys 2 Men into my MP3 player when I got back to school. I have been in between girlfriends for about five years and I’m kinda lonely. It would have helped.

The worst thing, by far, is my diary. I had my diary on my computer. I don’t want people reading my private thoughts.

I’m missing other things, like my MBox, a really nice Camera and whatever little jewelry I had.

I’ve had a bad week. I’ve been extremely stressed about school and the loneliness has been rough this week, I didn’t need this. I’m somewhat trusting and don’t really expect this stuff to actually happen. I grew up in the country. My parents door is unlocked for weeks at a time. I’m not used to stuff like this happening.

I totally could have minimized the damage if only I wasn’t such an idiot. I was supposed to buy an external hard drive but I couldn’t afford one as I just bought a new desktop computer which has a hard drive of 250 gigs (or something). I didn’t figure I’d need the space. I should have backed all of it up. I didn’t. I should have put all of my projects on DVD but I kept putting it off. I should have been a little more careful with receipts. I wasn’t.

I don’t know anything about insurance but I don’t think I have renters insurance…I may but I don’t know. I don’t have the 10 or so grand I need to replace everything. I don’t need this right now. I really don’t.

Fuck me and fuck them.

2

:frowning:

pets drm’s head, brings cocoa and a blanket

That really sucks :frowning:
commiserates
Report it to the cops ASAP! It may end up in a pawn shop (most criminals aren’t that bright).

3

Wow, dude… I can’t imagine how nauseous I would be if I were you right now and nothing I can say can make you feel better but I sincerely hope the criminals are apprehended and, by some miracle, you get your stuff back.

4

I’m sorry to hear about your work- that really is awful!

I second reporting it to the police ASAP- that is VERY important. Also, do you have homeowner’s or renter’s insurance? You computer should be covered by that.

5

Man, can I empathize with you. I work in film as well and had a laptop stolen from me at my London flat. That, and a watch my father gave me. I would have paid anything to get the two back. But I never did.

What can I say? It was one of the worst things that ever happened to me. I beat myself up about it for ages. And no matter what I did, I never got them back. (Frankly, I’m getting that sickening feeling in my stomach right now just thinking about it…)

All I can say is that life goes on. There’s a famous story somewhere about a great writer who left his notebook on a train. Can’t remember the guy’s name, but he swore it was the best thing he ever wrote.

At the end of the day you will get past this. Somehow. You’ll be smarter in the future, backup shit, etc. And I know it’s a fucking cliche, but “that which does not kill you…blah, blah, blah.”

You’re an artist. That’s means you’ll learn from this. You’ll be better tomorrow and the next day and the next day. You’ll survive this and it will make you stronger. I promise.

Keep fightin’ the good fight. I’ll be rooting for you.

  • leander
6

Oh man… you’ve got my sympathies there. If something like that happened to me, It’d be like losing a limb…

I hope it manages to get back to you somehow… barring that, I hope the thing spontaneously explodes and takes the assholes with it.

At the same time, I hope you can find a great deal on a new computer and can start some new projects!

7

If you’re in college and still a dependent of your parents (they pay your health insurance? They claim you on taxes?), you may very well be covered on their homeowners policy.

8

Dude, they would have stolen the external as well.

Contact Apple, give them the serial number, and let them know it was stolen. It might just turn up. Also, keep an eye on eBay.

9

Man, that fucking sucks donkey ass!

10

Around six years ago, my parents moved and asked us to go through whatever stuff we’d left in the attic and mark it to be saved or thrown away. I had a box full of spiral notebooks and folders of drawings that I’d saved since I was nine years old. I marked it and put it in the pile of “stuff to be saved”. When I came back a month later to haul it to my place, it was gone.

I know it was an accident, but to this day when I think about it, I’m still angry with my mom.

I’m sorry for what’s happened. Like the others said, report it to the police, and if you have renter’s insurance, make a claim.

11

Thanks for the sympathies y’all. It’s all been reported to the cops and they were fairly straightforward to me. They basically said, “yeah, you won’t get this stuff back” which I do appreciate. I mean, I’d like to have it back but I’m happy to have a definitive answer.

I dont’ have renters or homeowners insurance so today as a last ditch effort I called my parents and they, in fact, have a ryder (rider?) in their insurance policy that covers me as a student. I’m lucky that they are responsible people.

I just have to deal with my school computer for about 30 days while I wait to see if everything turns up. I really want my projects back.

Again, thanks all for your help and sympathy. I really appreciate it. it appears I’ll be made financially whole but as far as my projects are concerned, I need to keep my fingers crossed.

As fate would have it, I am mere weeks from moving out of this appartment. heh

12

Man, that reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaallly sucks. You have my sympathy.

When i was a freshman, i most of a twelve-page paper that i had just stayed up all night writng, and i was pissed off at that. I can’t imagine what you must be feeling after losing so much important stuff.

Take care, and do your best to keep your chin up despite the awful circumstances.

13

This thread just reminded me to back up my hard drive. Now I have a duplicate… ::: whew :::
Not so much about theft around here but crashes…

Sorry you lost the stuff …

14

i’m hopeful that I can, at least find some of my projects. I transfered a couple from my old laptop to my desktop. I think, if I search around my parents basement, I may be able to find the CD’s with at least a few of my old projects.

What possesses people to do stuff like this? I mean it’s a nice computer but do a lot of people besides geeks like me get a lot of use out of Protools, Avid, Final Cut? What’s the most you’re going to get for a used Tower anyhow, It’s a G5 but still? it’s nine months old, I doubt I’d get more than 1000 for it, if that. My film camera is nice, and cost me a lot but I doubt anyone is going to pay enough for it to retire from. The other stuff won’t go for a great deal either. An MBox, and a few watches? Sheesh.

Yet when you add all the stuff that was stolen it’s well over 5 Grand, and doesn’t that make it grand theft as well as breaking and entering? I’m not a Lawyer but I think that’s more of a sentence than if they just stole an XBox or something.

If you’re gonna risk going to prison, why not at least make it worth temporarily losing your freedom. I actually had a teacher tell me that.

15

drm, my complete and heartfelt sympathy – that is soooo horrible!
Is it worth checking with the teachers you submitted projects to? Perhaps they retain copies, possibly in case grades get protested, or to investigate if allegations of plagiarism arise.
Another thought: could you somehow put the word out that you will buy back the computer, or at least the hard drive (unwiped), no questions asked? Sucks to let the thieves benefit, but maybe worth it for having your creations back.

Good luck!

16

I don’t know if you live on campus, but if you do, be sure to have your friends keep their eyes out for posters advertising said computer for sale. A long shot, but what the hell?

17

Tenar: Good one, it’s a shot. I live accross the road from campus and computers go up for sale almost daily around the school. If the theif was smart (or stupid depending on your point of view) he would try to sell it at school - seeing as the biggest market is there.

StarvingButStrong - that reminds me, a few of my teachers did make copies (presumably to show next year either a good example or a bad example of that particular project). THAT is where I go on monday. As for your second thought I’m a big believer in Karma - that will be taken care of, but not by me. I may very well put the word out that all I want is a chance to save the contents of my hard drive. All I want is my projects back. Oh, my contact lists would be nice to have to.