Well, this a lousy way to start a week.Last night, shortly after I made my post about yesterday's Jets and Giants game, my office was broken into and burglarized.We've been adding on a two-story library tower to the back of the house. The construction started in June and will continue to December. That's how they got in, entering through the back yard and construction area and ripping down the temporary plywood wall that separates the new rooms from the rest of the house.They pulled open a lot of drawers, rummaged through a lot of stuff, and knocked over my computer monitor, but didn't get much of a haul, all in all. I lost a video iPod and a Bose docking station (although they overlooked the remote), plus two replica swords I had in a corner awaiting the end of construction, so I could hang them on a wall. So far as I can tell, that's all that's missing. They smashed the electronics on our safe, but were unable to open it. Some of the tools that the workmen had left at the construction site were also taken; a power saw, a few other things.One of the swords was a gift from readers, a beautiful piece. That's the only real loss, though. Easy enough to replace the ipod. The second sword was junk.(And no, they did NOT take my computers, so the hard drive where A DANCE WITH DRAGONS lives is still there, and safe, and I haven't lost any work. And yes, I back up regularly, so even if they had made off with the hardware, I have all the finished text saved on disk. So you can all come down off that ledge, please).The most unsettling part of all this was the timing. I came over to the office last night after football to make my LJ post about the games and answer some emails. One of the mails in my in box was from a friend who wanted to come over and watch television. I said sure, then went back to the main house to tell Parris that our friend might be dropping over. She never did, so Parris and I watched ENTOURAGE and CALIFORNICATION and a couple of episodes of THE DAILY SHOW from last week that we'd TIVOed. Two hours worth of television. After which I went back to my office... and discovered the break-in. Spent the next couple of hours dealing with the cops and the aftermath of all this.But if I hadn't gotten that email from our friend, I might have stayed in the office and continued to answer emails, which meant I would have been here when the thief (or thieves) broke into the construction site and then into the house. I would certainly have heard the sound of the plywood wall being ripped down. Most probably a shout from me would have sent them fleeing back into the night... but maybe not. I suppose I could have tried to drive them off with one of those replica swords, but I'm just as glad I didn't have to try. I am not exactly a figure to inspire terror in night stalkers.All in all, we got off light, but it's still a crappy way to start the week, and I'll be spending most of today dealing with police, insurance companies, locksmiths, our alarm company, and the like. And somewhere out there, some asshole has my sword.