October 31, 2006
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Vanagon Update
Part of the deal with living here is that I have to park my van on a little strip of land next to the road.
The road is a one-and-a-half-lane windy back road that only the neighbors ever drive. Our house is on what’s called a ‘flag lot,’ which means there’s an alleyway from the road to the front door of the house.
The driveway in front of the house has room for two cars. The landlord gets one, and whoever has senority in the house gets the other. I have the seniority, but I also have a van that leaks oil a little bit, so I have been banished from the second spot.
Thus, my van sits on a little spot of land at the end of the alley, on the street, with just enough space for two cars.
In the past, every car to be there gets broken into, and last night was my turn.
They stole some MiniDiscs, a weather radio, and the carpet from the back of the van. That’s it. Hundreds of dollars worth of tools they didn’t find, or perhaps didn’t want to carry. They left the in-dash radio; didn’t even steal the faceplate. Just some MiniDiscs, a hand-held radio, and the carpet
So I’m trying to figure out how anyone could go through the glove box in my van and decide they wanted MiniDiscs. I mean, if they have a player, then yay. They get to listen to Neil Finn and Sigur Ros. The carpet was $7.99 and was in crappy shape anyway. Replacing the weather radio isn’t such a big deal, either. And I always have to wonder: Why doesn’t anyone make an in-dash radio that picks up weather bands?
Anyway. Feh.
I’ll have to get that oil leak plugged up and reclaim my Parking Space of Power. The Lord Of The O-Rings: The Return Of The Van.
The other gripe I have today is that the road parking space is fine if you have a lightweight vehicle, but with a heavy one like mine, you end up getting stuck. My van gets stuck in the mud. It wouldn’t be much problem, since it’s on an incline, but someone always parks in the downhill space, leaving me to lose traction and worry about ramming into that other car. So today I’m kinda trapped because I can’t move my van.
Makes me want to rebuild the transmission with positraction.
Comments (7)
Blech. What a friggin’ pain.
Did they break a window? Or just jimmy their way in there?
Doors unlocked.
Smart.
I always wonder why people break into the most inexpensive looking cars and take the most inexpensive looking junk.
I say trick it out and get the 4WD transmission from a Thing.
They must have read your ‘give something away’ post.
heh.
I had a similar “break-in” (the car was unlocked) a few years ago. But since I keep nothing in my car but the occasional change of clothes… the only reason I knew someone had been there at all was that he had left the door ajar and the ashtray pulled open, with its contents of random house keys (to houses I no longer lived in– sort of a collection) scattered on the seats. Oh, and I assume “he” because he then, apparently, peed on the windshield. I am still mystified by that.