Ouch, that stings, especially the Social Security card.

If it makes you feel any better, I lost my driver's license and ruined my ipod last night. We should all get together and do some collective whining.

He or she took all my notes from Turkey! Come on, e doesn't need those, e could have left those. Curiously, e left the extremely large HD TV and the Xbox untouched.

augh! i'm so sorry...

Well, MY's computer was stolen, so he's really taking the brunt of this. Ugh.

So, police watch! It's 9:45, and I called them at 7:30! Who's taking bets for before noon?

As you say, clearly he didn't need the Turkey notes, or your passport. This "robbery" looks like a clear cover-up for something far more sinister...but what?

I think it's a goon from the health insurance lobby trying to silence MY.

Hey Ezra, you had all your ID forms stolen a while back, right? Where do you start?

That's so terrible, and kinda scary. Did they break a window, or what? So sorry this happened.

It's actually kind of funny, there's a pile of evidence stacked rather orderly outside the back door: a 2x4, one of the trim bricks from our garden, and a shovel from the cubby out back.

The point being, e cycled through these simple wedges until e found something to pry open the deadbolt.

did you guys have renter's insurance?

Oof, how awful... sympathies, all around.

No.

Jesus. I'm really sorry.

that really sucks, re the laptop. man. dunno what else to say except i'm sorry again. i don't know what i'd do in that situation.

Currently I'm watching Battlestar Galactica and trying not to contaminate the crime scene, per the police's instructions, but maybe that's not how everyone would respond.

Oh no, that's terrible. Sorry, man. Re: ID papers, a birth certificate is the magic document. If you don't have one at your house, get a copy from whomever has it. Makes things much easier.

Yikes. Sorry to hear it, Kriston.

You should immediately contact Equifax or one of the other credit bureaus and place a fraud alert on your information. Like, right now. Go.

I'm on the phone with them now. Thanks.

That's awful, very sorry to hear it. Stanley's offering good advice, I think.

That totally bites. Sympathies.

That's awful, man. I hope they catch the punk. Sorry about your troubles.

It turns out to be incredibly simple to initiate a fraud alert. Experian's automated system asks for SS#, year of birth, phone number, and street number. Any credit application with those variables is flagged and requires voice authorization. They also pass on the info to the other two credit unions. Thanks, creepy monolithic financial institutions!

Identity theft is no fun. Physical theft is even ickier. Both combined? I'm really sorry.

You'll need a police report to put the beefy 7-year fraud alert on your credit reports (can you tell I've had to deal with this recently?) so prepare yourself for more phone calls later.

Ugh. Many sympathies.

Best of luck in dealing with this situation.

That really sucks. I've never had renters insurance either, but it does seem like a good idea.

I had my wallet and passport stolen while in DC. n I had a California license, and I was able to get them to mail me the paper proof of it. The Social Security office is on M street, and they'll send you a card.

My passport was discovered in a crack house in Maryland. The police wanted to make sure that I was okay, and they contacted my undergraduate institution which passed on the message. (I think that they googled me.) Homeland security had the passport fedexed to me.

Shit, sorry to hear about that, K. Wish I could offer some helpful advice, but it looks like many of your pals in the eastern time zone already did that before I logged on. Good luck.

My sympathies. Good that the creepy monolithic financial institutions are working for you in this case.

How bloody awful. I think I'd be more creep'd out knowing that someone was in the house while I was sleeping than losing stuff. Stuff can be replaced, but you can't.

Speaking of your gigantic TV, I'd move it out of the doorway. It's very easy to spot it from the street.

When my wallet was stolen near D.C. a few years back, all they took was the $40 cash. A workman found my wallet with the credit cards, my license, and everything else intact behind a maintenance panel a few months later. Hopefully, your criminal will be just as uneducated about identity theft but I'm glad to hear you're taking precautions just in case.

Does D.C. use your SSN as your driver's license number? If they do, you might want to ask if you can have an alternate ID number. I did that when I got my license replaced in Virginia post-robbery to be on the safe side in case it ever happened again and I had a savvier criminal. I want to say there's a law that states have to give you a non-SSN identification number if you request it but I could be misremembering.

Yeah, I think MY and I are going to indulge in nesting behavior and buy curtains. And uzis.

Good advice, Becks. I still support a Texas DL, and they use a de-identified number for their licenses. When I (finally) switch to a District license after (finally) receiving my replacement license from Texas in the mail, I'll look into that.

Thanks for all the comments and advice; I'm grateful.

Keep careful track of the police report, and make a whole bunch of photocopies. It'll help with the passport replacement.

Oh, man that sucks.

One thing to worry about -- my understanding is that there's a tendency for burglars to wait a couple of weeks, until the expensive stolen stuff is replaced, and then break in again. You might want to leave Wreck downstairs at night for the forseeable future.

Make sure Wreck knows how to load the Uzi.

God, I'm mad as hell! How does that happen? Do you guys leave your door open? This clown was casing you guys out, no doubt. I suggest putting up a fake but fairly conspicuous camera by your door (something small, obviously) if that's allowed. But it�s not like this guy just stumbled onto your place by chance. Sorry to raise the creepy factor. Here�s hoping that the Kriston Capps signing up for 10 different credit cards is apprehend. Very Weak. Apologizes.

Our security system,

{ [ home(Wreck)home ] }

where { = lockable iron gate and [ = door with a deadbolt. Last night, our security was in a suboptimal state:

{ [ home( )home ] /

where / = iron gate left unlocked and Wreck's absence downstairs is noted. So e was able to use a shovel as a crowbar to smash the deadbolt, which is currently lying on the floor.

. . . now I'm sort of bothered thinking about it. Hey, this was kind of funny, I thought, maybe we can talk about that? Some Istanbul stories? Did you guys hear Dick Cheney shot some guy?

On the bright side, I hear you're up for a major award this weekend.

True! Too bad that no one would spring for airfare so I could attend (including myself). I'm confident but I gotta say, some of the competition (Technorati, The Onion) aren't exactly featherweights. One way or the other, it's an honor just to be nominated, obv.

jesus h. christ kriston, i'm so sorry to hear about this.

oh man. i was going to try and trump you with an exploding car, but you win. UGGGGH. the next time we see you, we will buy you alcohol. that is the only solace i understand.

Keeping your dog in your room is practically like leaving the key in the lock!

Sorry for your loss. Hearing this this morning depressed my whole day.

As for the passport, there are two forms. You'll need to visit a passport office (normally a USPS joint) with DS-64 form and a DS-11. If you were born in the U.S., you'll need at least a birth certificate (per above).

Can you tell I've done this before? Helpful advice: don't leave your new passport in a Honda Civic with Virginia plates outside the 9:30 Club when the Decemberists are playing...

Terrible news, Kriston and MY. I'm sorry to hear it. You've inspired me to finally get around to getting renter's insurance, that's for sure.