I Stole My Own Car

The day started out like any other rainy July day. I assessed the weather and decided that making Little Squid ride his bike to camp in the rain was just cruel. And, as I was in "nice mommy" mode, I decided to drive him instead of making him take the subway.

Grabbing my keys from the hook by the door, I quickly determined that there were two sets of keys attached and, that the second set MUST be my car keys.

And so it starts ...

We get to the car and I realize that the second set of keys on my ring are the keys to our bike locks, not the car. (Just goes to show how often I've driven since school let out.)

Not really wanting to go back to the apartment, I borrowed the keys that our parking lot keeps on file, promising to return them when I returned.

An uneventful trip to camp ensues and, having dropped off Little Squid, I head over to my school's summer school site to do some work. A few blocks later, my phone rings. Good, lawabiding citizen that I am, I wait until I am stopped at a light to dig it out and answer it.

It's LoJack. Telling me that my car is being moved without my authorization.

Then I see a missed call from Mike indicating that he also got the alert.

And I just start laughing! (Then I text Mike to let him know that I am actually in the car.)

(The battery in the fob on the parking attendant's set of keys had died. We knew it was old and I was intending to replace it this week after having already replaced the batteries in our sets. I've have now replaced the battery so if LoJack calls again, we'll know the car is really being stolen. Maybe.)

Good News, Bad News

Good News: I got my car back from the shop and it's all shiny, clean and (on the driver's side) dent free.

Bad News: I filled the gas tank ... $72. I'm riding my bike to work today.

Good News: Little Squid graduates from elementary school tomorrow. (We're taking the subway.)

Bad News: Squidette becomes a teenager on Saturday. (O.k., maybe it's not really bad news.)

Good News: I finished warping the loom.

Bad News: I still haven't finished the blanket. Something about not knitting on it and summer temperatures ...

So ... the verdict is that the good news is really nice and the bad news ... not so bad.

LoJack Works ... Sort Of

Apparently LoJack is only good for locating your car if it is actually stolen. They cannot help you locate your car if say ... it is relocated by the police because a crane fell and caused your car (with you in it) to be damaged by falling debris resulting from said crane falling.That's just one of the "dings." Something hit the second row door on that side with enough force to damage the runner and there is a nice dent over my gas tank door. There are some other minor dents and scrapes. Yeah, I have absolutely no idea what actually hit the car. I saw the crane falling, swerved to avoid it and, apparently managed to do so.

The entire incident, including my swerve and the crane missing my car, was witnessed by an angel looking out of her apartment window. She saw the car stop and ran down to the car, and stayed with me for a good two or more hours until just before Mike arrived. Yes, I sent her flowers.

Yes, I'm o.k. and the damage to the car is totally repairable and, except for my deductible, covered by my insurance. And GEICO says that they will attempt to recoup their outlay and my deductible from the responsible party. Yup, sometime 10 years from now I'll get a check for my deductible and Mike and I will have a very nice dinner. 'Cause that's as far as it will go that far down the road.

*The title of this post is due to my LoJack going off and calling me to say my car was in motion. That was about 40 minutes after the Detective called to say that I could finally have it back and about 5 minutes before I actually arrived back on the scene (by bicycle, of course). Took another hour and a half before I finally located my car. LoJack only works if you actually report your car stolen. Not if the police relocate it for more benign reasons.