I mean besides the fact that we have a bunch of crap spilling out of the garage and that Joe needs to clean his gutters...Look closely...
Anything missing? Like my fucking CAR!!! Yes, folks this is the view that greeted me this morning at dog-walking time. "Hmm, did I park around the corner? Did somebody bor—" Looks down and sees this (hint: it's not mine)...
"Somebody stole my fucking car."
Right from the fucking driveway. And look closely, the door to Mrs. F's car is slightly ajar, they were in there as well...which is almost more disturbing to me than my car being gone. Jesus. Fucking. Christ. Didn't happen when we gone on our trip, it happened with all of us home, asleep in the house. When we were gone the car was locked and the keys were in the house.
Of course, the degree of theft difficulty was lessened by the fact that last night, the car was NOT locked, and the keys...were...on...the...seat...
It's true, this is not uncommon in the Furious household. We often leave the keys in the cars. If we are parked alongside the house (ie: not in back by the garage, closer to the street) we are pretty adamant about locking and/or bringing the keys inside. But back there? It's like the "green zone"... At least they didn't get a house key too. Because there isn't one on my key chain. Because we don't always lock the house...
Fuck that. It's going to be Fort Fucking Knox around here now. Those stupid creaky garage doors that hardly open and close? Adios. Getting replaced or re-sprung, with openers installed. New locks all around on the house too. Post haste.
As for me? I'm not even sure what to think about all of this. You'd think I'd be all Derek Vineyard about it, but I'm not. I haven't had the car long enough to be too attached too it, and my anger is mitigated somewhat by the feeling of sheepish stupidity for having left the keys in the car. But somebody DID sneak up my driveway and violate our space. Taking away one of our most valuable and personal possessions. So, no, I am not happy this morning. To say the least.
And it had twenty fucking gallons of gas in it too. Fuck.
UPDATE: Car recovered (see comments).
24 comments:
hey I can't find your archives.. I want to link to your old car pic.
Here's the IMPEACH pic.
From this morning...
Cop: "Any stickers or identifying marks?"
Me: "Yeah, a bumper sticker. Let me spell it for you...K..A..K..."
Cop: "What does that mean?"
Me: "Government by the most incompetent or corrupt."
Cop: Big smile. "Good one."
Damn,
That completely sucks.
I guess the only silver lining is it was probably taken as a joy ride. (I don't see a professional car thief leaving a bicycle behind.) So there is a good chance it shows up abandoned pretty much intact.
That is if you still want it...
sorry that this happened, but at least it is a replaceable possession.
Rob
Isn't it great living in Ann Arbor where the cops smile at that. Love AA.
As we have talked numerous times this morning, you know i was bummed out for you. But I have to say I was totally relieved you had left your keys in the car--otherwise I would have been way more freaked out and worried about our super fancy cars :-) [not to say i am not a little freaked out]
Wait: You guys seriously leave your keys in your cars on a routine basis? And you leave your house unlocked?
Don't get me wrong: I feel your pain and all that. But these are just, um... These are behaviors I am unfamiliar with.
Me: "Government by the most incompetent or corrupt."
Cop: Big smile. "Good one."
That's probably exactly the opposite of the response you'd get down here.
Man, what a fucking shitty thing to happen. You've got the whole violation of your personal space, all the bureaucratic rigmarole....
Nothing excuses the thief, obviously. Locked or not, it's not his fucking stuff. But Toast echoes my feelings, I just can't comprehend leaving the house unlocked or the keys in the car. I have left a door unlocked in the house by accident, but never by design.
Hopefully it is just a joyride and the car is found pretty much intact. One of the worst things about having your car stolen is it often ends up costing you money.
Wait: You guys seriously leave your keys in your cars on a routine basis? And you leave your house unlocked?
Well I grew up on a dirt road "in the country" so leaving your keys in the car was just normal. the house..well we aren't actually gone very much (I'm home except for errands) we live on a busy-ish street and it always seemed like you'd have to be pretty ballsy to pull off a break-in with our houses so close together. I mean you can see from the pics that Mr F's car is like 4 feet from our neighbor's window. Plus we've got a crazy dog (who it turns out sleeps soundly at night) I also have always felt like if someone is going to steal something they can figure out how to get in our house (it's old and would be easy to penetrate) or they would hotwire a car anyway...
having said all that we do feel violated and naive... so we'll start locking up.
But Rob was right it was a joyride... it was found at an apartment complex in perfect condition and... locked. We've got it back but the asshole still has a set of our keys!
Glad to know you got it back unscathed...
I am guessing the bike was stolen too, otherwise that is a pretty crappy trade, I'm not giving you my bike for a few hours of driving!
I'm back.
Car is intact. Everything's fine. They ejected my Black Crowes CD and put the radio on some shitty hip hop station, that appears to be the extent of the "damage."
I went straight from meeting the cop and getting it back to the Volvo dealer to find out about getting the car re-keyed—since this guy still has my keys.
Get ready...
It's over a thousand bucks! Looks like I'll be living with my stupid valet key and investing in a Club™.
--
This blows. It's almost like I don't even want the car anymore. I wish they didn't find it. Now I am stuck with a car that will never seem the same to me—I'm going to think about it every time I get in it— and I have to worry this asshole's coming back for it—probably not, of course, but still...
[sigh] Shitty day. Shitty fucking day.
The cop took the bike this morning. It was a real beater, he suggested it was probably stolen as well...
As for the keys, it was just the car key, the reomte, and a key to my office at the college. So, no house key or anything like that...
I am paranoid about the stuff in the garage now though. Especially now that I know he needs another bike!
Fuck. My stomach feels like shit. i'm going home. I'm in a terrible mood.
This blows. It's almost like I don't even want the car anymore. I wish they didn't find it. Now I am stuck with a car that will never seem the same to me
Dude, ya gotta chill. These feelings will fade. Being violated sucks, it's true, but in the end it's just property.
Well I grew up on a dirt road "in the country" so leaving your keys in the car was just normal.
What's funny is when I first read that I missed the "Mrs." and I'm thinking, wait, Furious grew up near Boston. Did I miss something when I lived there?
Well, it really is better to get the car back, no? Do you own the car outright or are you still financing? Just wondering because I would imagine even with theft you would have maybe a deductible plus you may be upside-down.
I was trying to imagine how I would feel in the same situation. I think I would be ok with the car after I got it back.
Sorry ordeal all around though. Too bad they didn't catch the guy actually driving it.
Jeez, what a random story. That's crazy.
And now that all is well (except the $1,000 and Black Crowes part), let me second Toast in no uncertain terms:
You are living in the US in 2007. You have a wife and two children. LOCK YOUR FUCKING DOORS!
And that ends the Mike Public Service Announcement for the day.
Okay, I need to defend family furious. We live VERY NEAR the Furious family and we too often leave our house doors unlocked (not at night, but when we go for a run). We are on a busy street and all the neighbors are friends (It's so 1950's where everyone knows all their neighbors). So everyone watches out for everyone. So I know not locking the house may seem weird, it's not as weird as you think.
So, please everyone, stop with the scolding. I am sure they feel bad enough :-)
And, no, they didn't pay me to write this. :-)
So, please everyone, stop with the scolding.
I wasn't scolding, I was just completely non-plussed. Hey, I wish we lived in a society where people didn't have to lock their doors.
The old Furious House-Locking Policy:
1. All doors locked at night.
2. If everyone/anyone is home any or all doors may be locked or unlocked...
3. If we are running out, front door locked, back door unlocked.
4. Out of town overnight, all doors locked.
5. Garage door(s) often left open, possibly 24/7, never locked. (No keys). Closed (not locked) only when gone for entire day or extended periods (as in vacations).
New Policy:
1. All doors locked, whenever we leave the house. Going to get additional keys made in ten minutes.
2. Garage to be locked/closed anytime we are inside/not home. Both doors repaired today, electric opener to be installed on one this week, new lock on other door.
Anonymous neighbor is right, previously we all had each other's keys, knew where the spares were hidden etc.... Open-garage, borrow-a-ladder policies, etc. I think we will all be tightening things up now.
Hey Toast--sorry if i came on too strong. Just wanted to defend them. I see you post a lot and you seem like a great guy. So sorry about that!
Mr. F--yep we will be better about locking up when we are not home. But we still want you to have our key! Especially if we start being good about locking, but still need a little learning about remembering our keys.
but still need a little learning about remembering our keys
LOL ang... you guys still need to work on remembering to close your doors when you go on vacation! ;)
oh our little utopia has been tarnished!
Does insurance help out at all with the $1000 for new keys? Yuck. I know it sucks that some weirdo drove your car, but it was only a matter of hours. I know you are pissed, but you should be able to drive it again without obsessing over him, no? In a week or two when you've settled down. Ir's a really nice car. Want to trade?
Does insurance help out...?
It probably would, but I'm not going to find out. They found the car so fast, I never had time to call my insurance company. I have a $500 deductible, and they would probably jack my rates if I report the car stolen, so it's not worth it. I'll live with the one key, and no remote.
Damn. I really got to appreciate the remote.
Drove the car on some errands today, and felt more "normal" about it. Went back to the apartment complex where it was recovered hoping to find my keys tossed in the parking lot. No luck.
Hey, we only forgot to close the front door on 3 trips...
LOL. At least we watch each others backs.
What are you doing up?
Sheesh, I don't make it over here for a few days and all hell has broken loose. I'm really sorry about what happened. At least the perp didn't use a jammed-in screwdriver to get it started, ruining the ignition and steering column.
The Club sounds like a good move. But have you checked back with the cops, to see if anyone who's been hauled in for vehicle theft/carjacking/car prowling/joyriding since your car was taken had a Volvo remote in his possession? There's just a chance you might get it back if you keep checking back with the cops.
FWIW, about four years ago, cops nabbed a couple of creeps prowling at night in our part of town. Between them, the creeps had half a dozen garage door openers and several stolen keys.
We got a new car in June and the salesman told us a new remote costs over $200. I told him I thought that was outrageous. But I have to admit they're handy. I hope you're able to somehow get yours back.
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