Somebody Stole My Laptop, This Evening!

Thursday, July 16th, 2009: 5:30pm: At the Portland Central Library:

Somebody Stole My Laptop, This Evening!

I needed to print out an employment resume (& financial information for my landlord). Since my laptop, on the third floor (on the special study tables, made just for laptops), was not connected to the library's printers, I had to jump onto one of their computers, pull out the files (since I emailed myself it), jog down to the second floor, print out for one lovely dime.

As I rose back up to the third floor, the librarian hawked me, "Was that your laptop," she glazed with her concerned owl eyes of grace. Plus, the librarian lady asked the last remaining hispanic gangster-like twenty-something year old man (who is always there), his shruddle followed with a prompt disapearance (as he was gone when I discovered this alteration to my life). My calm response shruddled "My bad," and the cop gave me some good advice, which included a number (to report it missing, to the cops), and to report it missing to the library, down stairs.

6pm: as the library was closing: I fuddled back to my building, partook in some free watermellon from the second floor lobby. Dropped off my bag. Max up to the Lloyd Center as I cell-phoned my brother this situation, then jogged up Quest at SE 31st/Holgate for community health dinner. Their heart went out to me about this situation. But I am not going to let this get me down. "Do I look sad?" I asked the man I was eating with, "It probably didn't hit you yet," he answered. I replied, "But what can I do? I mean, people will cry. That is what we do. But you cannot cry forever. You eventually have to get over it. So. I am not going to let this tear me down"


LAPTOP DETAILS:

My laptop is grey. It is a Gateway. Pentium 4. It has a Freegeek and Revolution Hawaii stickers. It had this "DVD06" DVD, featuring my home video project. One GB of RAM. 40 GB of Hard Drive. It was originally Windows XP. Now, it has Linux' Ubuntu 8.10 on it. The background wallpaper is a picture of Michael Jackson when he was around ten. The wallpaper is actually the picture to my Facebook profile. I do not even have the serial number to this laptop: so, should I still report it to the cops without the serial number, will they take me serious without it? The laptop also had a wireless card and white headphones. Plus, a partly broken black power cord. The DVD drive can come out of it, too, plus, the cover to that drive is missing. The Caps Lock key is missing off it, too. There are hours of DVD recorded home videos on its drive. There are unique folders, to help organize my thoughts, my things, my world, folders like the following:

Home, Museum, Club, Office, Inbox, Log, Pog, Dog, Mog, DVD07, DVD06, DVD08, DVD09, Tog, Nog. Before it had Ubuntu 8.10, it had version 8.04. It has three basic partitions on it. One is around twenty GB: this one is almost full of my home videos. Another is around five GB. I had a lot of things saved on it. A lot of projects that I have been working on for most of my life.





My Problem:


All of those projects. That is what upsets me. Not the missing computer. But all of the things I was working on. But not things for me, either. It was not projects for my video games. I actually don't play much video games. Or movies. Or anything that is much fun. So. It always seems to get me down. I always have this heart for making the world a better place. I have left my computer out and about before. Even at Powell's. For hours. But it is just so very weird. I did not even like the computer. I told my brother, just last night, when we were talking about this, that I do not even like computers, well, I do not even like phones, or talking. As he stood silent for a second, I tried explaining that I only use them to get things done, to help people. But that is my only problem. All of those projects. I felt like I lost my heart. I feel like I don't even want to work on things anymore. But then again, I need to learn my lessons. Get back up. Do more backups. Do not stay down. Get back out there. Through Jesus.



But I am not going to let all of this get me down. That is what I am tellig people, everywhere I go.

I do not even have the serial number to this laptop: so, should I still report it to the cops without the serial number, will they take me serious without it?

If You Wear It, Bear It!

Put on the uniform, in your heart, first, before you come apart.

Easy for me to say. Since I do not have one, officially. Not yet. But then again. I have thought about it. Should you wear your uniform? I have thought about that for years. I understand if you have problems with the uniform. When I say you, I am first talking about myself. I use to have a problem with it. But you really have to think about it. You have to ask yourself. Where and when did it all begin? Why were they wearing uniforms? Who's idea was it? Why where they doing it? Was it worth it? Well. I cannot answer that question for you. But. Personally. I would have to say yes. It was worth. I mean. Sure. It depends on the person. Because. If you put on the uniform. That does not mean anything. If you do not put on Christ, inside. People do that. Sure. When people do that. Then. It makes the uniform look bad. You may know somebody who did not take care of their uniform. When they were not wearing it. When they were elsewhere. Doing other things. Saying other things. Not walking the talk. When nobody was looking. They were not representing Jesus. And. Sure. that happens. And that makes me..... how do I say...... sad. You can easily say. Therefore! I will not wear it. It might make me look bad. It might offend somebody. Or...... there are other reasons (or excuses) why one may not wear a uniform (but in doing so, we miss the point) ...........

Or to a lesser extent. It may be the appearance of the uniform. I understand. I do not believe in being immodest. I believe in fashion. Looking good. But. You need to stop for a second and think about this. Now. I would have to say. First. I don't think the uniforms look that bad. Sure. We could work on it. Redesign it. To fit this generation. Maybe. We could think about that. But that is besides the point. Because. It is not that bad. They look fine. Honest. But. Say. Hypothetically. Even if they didn't. It would not matter. Because Jesus matters more. We want to represent Jesus. We want to label ourselves, so to speak. We want to be available for people. What way is better? We want to be set apart. We want to be in the world. But we do not want to be the world. You do not have to wear a uniform. But it is very recommended. You do not know what you are missing. Opportunities are awaiting. There are open doors. But the uniforms may be your only way in, your only foot in the door. You just never know!



The only problem that I would have with uniforms.

If you wear it. Then bear it. That is all that I can say. Put it on, internally, before you go out, externally. I mean, sure, we make mistakes. Do not wait until you are perfect before putting on your uniform. But you should pray in the morning. Ask God to put on your spiritual uniform, the armor of Christ, before you get dressed for the day. Do not take the uniform as mere tradition. Sure. That is what it is. But it is more than that. It is not just tradition. I mean. How do I say that? Tradition is not a bad word. I use to have a problem with that word. But it is only bad if you do not do it for Jesus. Out of the heart. I mean. Really. Tradition usually becomes heartless. Brainless. It becomes isolated from love. And that is the biggest problem with anything. But it does not have to be. If you wear it. Then that is good. But do not forget why you are wearing it. Pray, everyday, that you do not forget.......................



If you wear it, bear it!