The theft of my laptop...and why my dog is special

Hopefully you've already read my story about the theft of my laptop either in my previous posting or on my latest posting on my tech-related site Jon's Tech Central. "And now," as Paul Harvey would say, "the rest of the story."

A few days prior to my laptop being stolen I was home alone save for my dog Zoe. We were both laying on the bed staring at the idiot box when suddenly the dog gets up and starts running for the door, barking. I walked to the front door to see what she had heard that I hadn't. No one was on the porch but someone was in the driveway walking away from the porch, and it appeared like he had something in his hands. When he turned around I could see that the man had in his hands an old crappy clock that we had left on our porch. We, in fact, wanted to get rid of it. We just hadn't gotten around to it yet. The man himself was obviously a drunk. Most of his teeth were missing. He was dishevelled and dirty. I could smell alcohol on his breath.

I was furious. How dare this drunk walk onto my property and help himself to something that wasn't his to take. It didn't matter that it was something I didn't want any longer. That wasn't the point. The point was that this drunk was trying to steal from me. He claimed he knocked on the door. Bullshit. Even if I wasn't home did that give him the right to just walk off with it? Hell, no, it didn't. At one point he asked if he could have it. Hell, no. I let him know that in no uncertain terms that he'd better get the hell off my property and that if ever saw him again anywhere near my house I'd call the police.
I think that I was justified in my reaction. I still think I'm right.

But at the same time I know that alcoholism is a disease. I know that being an addict and being intoxicated makes you do things a clean person wouldn't. I know that that man needed help. I felt like maybe instead of threatening him I should have reached out to him. Maybe. Again, I still felt justified in my actions. But that didn't stop that twang of guilt as I walked back into the house.

Fast forward a few days to when I got my laptop stolen. There were few, if any, possessions I owned that were more valuable to me. Now I am without it...but I still have the piece of crap clock.
So let's take a look at the big picture. Some poor sick soul tries to take something from me that I didn't want anyway. I ignore his sickness and threaten him. A few days later my new car is vandalized and my most prized possession is taken from me. Are these events somehow connected? Is there some weird sort of karma going on here? Was God trying to tell me something? This will bother me for a long time, I think.

This segment is called, "My Dog is Special". My dog is a year old chihuahua. She has what is considered in some circles a "deer head", as opposed to an "apple head". See here? Buddy, on the left is an apple head, and Zoe, on the right is a deer head. Deer heads have flatter heads, longer ears, and longer snouts than apple heads. What makes her special is that in addition to the fawn-colored coat (which is no so uncommon) she has four white paws and what I like to call a white "sleeve" going up her front left leg. I've searched for Chihuahua pictures on Google and Yahoo and have yet to run across one with that exact color pattern. Once, on "The Dog Whisperer" I saw a Pit Bull with those markings but that doesn't count! A Pit is not a Chihuahua! And THAT is why my dog is special.