Recently we restarted a subscription to the daily newspaper (trust me, this is relevant). We don't have a newspaper box, so the newspaper lady (I don't know why I assume it's a woman) has to walk it up to our front stoop which not only triggers the motion light, but also puts Gracie on alert and she has to let us know every morning when the paper arrives. Another important piece of information for you to know is that our bedroom (much to our chagrin) faces right out to the road and driveway (can be loud when the school buses roll in) and we generally sleep with the window open. This newspaper is delivered disturbingly early - at about 3:30AM each morning. So each morning about that time, Gracie barks, we tell her to stop and roll over and go back to sleep.
So this morning, Gracie barked, and we woke up with the automatic words coming out of our mouths, "Gracie - No. That's enough". However, this time, Keith had a feeling something was off, so he sat up, pulled the curtain back and surveyed the street. I, in the meantime, looked at the clock, saw that it was 2:30 and said, "What are you doing? It's probably just the newspaper lady here early". But he continued to watch as he saw a car driving very slowly and suspiciously past our house after already making the turnaround in the cul-de-sac. He had spent yesterday cleaning gutters for some folks and had two pretty expensive ladders still strapped on the Explorer. He noticed a bright glare of lights coming from beyond our house (as if the car stopped and applied its brakes) about where the Explorer sat. So he got up, went to the garage, and checked on the Explorer and his ladders. He didn't see anything, so came back to bed.
Not 10 seconds after he got back in bed, I heard the distinct sound of our car starting up. The next two minutes were very surreal. I clumsily spit out the words, "That's our car! They're stealing our car!", as I am clambering over Keith to get to the window. Keith quickly clued in and was up with me. My instinct for some strange reason was to scream incoherent words in the most visceral way I've ever done while banging incessently on the window (what exactly did I hope to accomplish? Was the guy going to see and hear me, stop what he was doing, get out and say, "Sorry, I've been caught, I won't really steal your car."). In the meantime, Keith is also yelling, but at the same time, leaping out of the window and chasing after the car. As Keith is leaving the house, the guy has just started to back out, so Keith is able to catch up with him by the time he hits the road. Keith bangs on the window as the guy is shifting into first gear, but does not slow down and is able to peel out and tear off down the street, just brushing the side of Keith's leg. As Keith said later, "I could have pulled a Hollywood and jumped on the windsheild, but he wasn't going to stop".
While Keith is doing that, I finally clue in and call 911, in the off chance a police car is close. But by the time they get all of the information, the car is long gone. Keith went out in the Explorer in hopes they got so freaked out (because what car thief really expects the homeowner to leap out of the window?) that they dumped the car immediately. So he drove around a little bit, but didn't find anything. In the meantime, Gracie is pacing nervously and staying as close to me as possible. Have I ever said how much I love dogs? (No, she didn't exactly chase down and catch the robbers - or even follow Keith out the window, but she joined in our yelling and is the one that alerted us in the first place - she gets some credit for that). And that was that. As the police officer said that came by later to take the report, with Hondas like these, it's not "Gone in 60 seconds" it's "Gone in 6 seconds" because the thiefs find a key that works and just let themselves into the car, start her up and take off.
You might wonder if we learned any lessons from having this happen to us once before. We considered buying a Club after last time, but we know ourselves too well, and knew we would not be consistent using it. The only thing we did do is add comprehensive insurance to our policy. So at least now, if they don't find our car, we'll get a little bit of money. We did lose our car seat, some CD's and the new, albeit crappy, stereo and speakers that we bought after the last theft. I suspect if we get the car back, those will require replacing....again.
Quite the night, and in retrospect I still laugh. Mostly at me helplessly banging on the window and Keith jumping out of the window in his boxers. We think back and wonder a few things. How did the guy not trip the motion light (or did he, and we just assumed it was the newspaper delivery?), how did we not hear any doors opening, and how did we not see him when Keith was looking out the window? I guess these guys have done this more than once, and even though they might be high as a kite, they are still good at what they do. Looking back, I am glad I/we didn't notice anyone sitting in the car when we looked out the window, because I know Keith and he would have jumped out of the window and as he said, "beat the shit out of him". While I don't doubt Keith's strength and ability, that guy could have easily had a gun, and things could have turned out a lot worse. A car is just a car, and while it is not in our budget to get a replacement, I'd much rather deal with insurance companies than hospitals.
In lighter news, how about that election? Finally, this country got something right. Having not a lot going on around this house, we had our own little election party and played a "fill in the electoral map" game with each other. Prior to results coming in, we each filled out our own map, trying to predict the results. The winner was the one with the most states correct, which was Keith, by one state.
Meanwhile, we finally finished up our kitchen. It needed a few more cracks repaired, some texturing done and a last coat of paint. I've become so restless, I had to help out a little. Don't worry, it's good quality, low odor paint, and I really didn't do that much work.
And we've been taking lots of walks, and have found that Gracie likes to play in leaf piles. There are lots of piles around as people load the leaves into the street and wait for the city to come scoop them up for them. That provides us with lots of entertainment as we encourage our dog to do silly things.
Pregnancy news? Not much. Although all the excitement last night might have kick started something. I am quite sore, achy and crampy today. Who knows, maybe tomorrow will bring even more exciting news?
1 comment:
Whoa. That's a wild story! I'm glad you guys are okay, though it's a bummer about your car.
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