I went down to the parking garage in my condo building at 8AM this morning to drive across the bridge into San Francisco for my Sunday morning AA meeting, only to discover that my car was not in my parking space..... Yup, it was stolen some time last night. From a secured parking garage in my building. It's an old Honda Civil with nearly 300,000 miles on it, and it's by far the worst car in the garage (I am amazed at how much money some of my neighbors spend on their cars!!). But the thieves ignored all the expensive cars and took mine.
I've already filed the police report & talked to my insurance company. got all the info I need about what to do if/when they find it. Contacted my sponsor, who I had been hoping to see at the meeting this morning, just to let him know I wouldn't be there today. I even spent a few minutes looking at a couple of 'cars for sale' web sites already, just in case. So not much more to do for today. Glad I don't have anywhere I need to be today. I guess I'll walk over to that great farmer's market that happens around the corner from my place every Sunday. I usually miss it because I'm in the city at the meeting.
A couple of things that I observed -
1. When I saw that the parking space was empty, I immediately knew what had happened. I didn't need to retrace my steps or second guess what I might have done with the damned car last night, debating whether it was really stolen & if I should call the cops or if maybe I had 'left it somewhere'....
2. I didn't freak out. I mean, yeah, I don't like it at all, and there's a strong chance it's going to end up costing me a good chunk of money to buy a replacement, but my vital signs remain normal and I have just instinctively put one foot in front of the other to do the next indicated thing. I seem to have gained the ability to intuitively know how to handle a situation what would have previously baffled me.
3. I though about the person who stole it, and was immediately grateful that my life is now so much better than what that person is doing with their own life. Don't get me wrong, I'm not letting the jerk off the hook and I WILL press charges if he is caught, but I'm very grateful that my life today doesn't involve whatever motivated the guy to put his freedom at risk by stealing a crappy old car. What a miserable way to live.
Anyhooo, that's the news from here for this morning.
-- Edited by davep12and12 on Sunday 19th of January 2014 01:07:20 PM
I am sorry about your car. Hopefully they will find it and the person(s) who took it. My SO's car was broken into a while back and he too has an old car which he has used some less than appealing names to describe it. We couldn't figure out why his was targeted because it was the oldest one in this area.
I think it is great how you found grateful moments out of your experience and thank you for sharing.
Beings that we're trying to maintain a somewhat civil tone on this board, I won't say what I hope happens to the sorry S.O.B. who swiped your car. Stay tough,Dave.
Honda Civics are one of the most commonly stolen vehicles because by design they're incredibly easy to steal. The key and ignition locks are very weak and can often be opened/started with other Honda keys or even with an appropriate sized piece of metal.
good on ya,dave!!
ya gave me a good flashback t some years ago:
I lived in a rather large apt complex. came out to go to work and my truck wasn't out there. instantly went in and called the cops to report it stolen. welp, a lil while after the cops were there, I had a lil bit of a moment I remembered from the night before. I was tryin to unlock my apt door. dam thing wouldn't open. door opened and I realized I was at the wrong apt. turned out I was at the wrong building!
cops found my truck on the other side of this huge apt complex. but it was still someone else that stole my truck for the ride over there!! honestly! it was!!!
Thanks for the support you guys. I was looking over my insurance policy last night and waddaya know... I've had the policy for about fifteen years, and apparently at some point I decided to add "comprehensive' coverage to the policy, which is something that I typically might not have done. And if I'm reading this thing right, it means my insurance should cover this. Huh. It's rather surreal, discovering that I had done something quite responsible that is now probably going to resolve a bad situation. Completely the opposite of the kinds of 'discoveries' I used to make about things I hadn't remembered doing, you know?
The insurance office is closed today for the MLK Jr. holiday but I'll speak with them again tomorrow. For now, it's an impossibly gorgeous June-like day here, even for California, (I know it's lousy for most of you further east of here, I hope things warm up for you soon) so when it's time to take a break from working here maybe I'll take a stroll around the neighborhood and enjoy it. Life does not suck.
I am grateful that I don't have to go look at my driveway and make sure I'm not the one who stole your car! LMAO! I know it sucks, but like you point out, the price that ol' car will cost someone else would likely buy one of those nicer, high dollar cars in the parking lot. I am grateful I'm not him.
And yes, I have lost and reported my car stolen in the past...
When I walked to a little store to get something to eat the next day I saw it in the parking lot in front of a Irish Pub. Yep, that's right, I had left it there and the bartender had taken me home at closing time. Well, as I walked up to it and reached for the door handle, a bunch of police cars pulled up, they jumped out of their cars, threw me on the ground, knee in my back, gun(s) at my head, arms pulled behind my back.. hand cuffs installed. I was screaming... "WTF!" I was told I was being arrested for auto theft. I told them it was mine, I was the owner. They ran the plate, it came back to me. They ran me... I ended up in jail for unpaid tickets and failure to appear in court. What a screwed up way to live!
Like you my car is old... 24 years old. A 325i bimmer, convertible. Way over 300,000 miles on it. But its mine and I got nothing but love for it. However, if someone was to grab it.. they would probably pull over and get out and go back to walking pretty quick. LOL
My ex, that someone took off my hands... well, the guy that would steal my car would get a better deal! :)
John wrote...."I am grateful that I don't have to go look at my driveway and make sure I'm not the one who stole your car! LMAO! " I double that LMAO, John and what a horrible experience you went through.
Speaking of cars, I read on another alcoholic board that someone was reconsidering their sponsor because their sponsor drove an older car than she did so she thought her sponsor was not as successful as she was herself. Huhhhhh?
Phillip....so glad you may have insurance to cover your loss. I hope everything works out today for you.
I'll never forget the day I woke up at my apartment (alone - thank goodness lol), got all ready for work, walked down to my garage and my car was NOT THERE! I never for a moment thought it was stolen. I immediately walked to the phone (wo - this was back when you had to walk to a plug in phone I just realized) and called a taxi to drive me around town to all the bars and main 'pub streets' to search for my car! At that point in life I was young enough for it to be considered 'normal' college days drinking behavior and I didn't feel all that embarrassed about it. That's the bad thing about being a young alcoholic... there is such an easy excuse at all times! "Hey - I'm young!" But deep down I already knew that my life was not totally like my other 21 yr old friends.
If I went back to drinking now at 35 I'm sure it would still look exactly like this humiliation or worse - and the cool thing about AA is that I learned that nothing is a reasonable excuse. Absolutely nothing.
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Thanks for everything. Peace and Love on your journey.
