The theft

About 2 weeks ago, I got in the car with G to take him to school, and noticed the dash showing the passenger-side door open. It was. Then I looked around and noticed several things looking odd--both openings in the dash completely empty, and the between-seats thingy open and much emptier than before.

I frantically checked the rest of the car, all the while talking wildly, with G asking age-appropriate but still maddening questions ("Who took them, Mommy?" "Are they in jail now?"). My hockey gear was all there, including my skates, which are worth more than the rest of the gear combined. G's soccer ball was there. The manual and registration for the car was there.

But many things were not. My cell phone with its brand-new, handwoven bag for the ear thingy. The electronic key for the pool, with the pool-entry card attached. Several friends' housekeys, which were only identifiable by pets' names, if at all. Also, keys to our church (only stamped with "outside door" and "office"). My East Bay Regional Parks District pass and hangtag (and the out-of-date pass and hangtag that I'd never pitched, as well as the hangtag for Laney College, Spring 2005, ditto).

It wasn't till I was packing for last weekend's trip that I found I couldn't find the portable DVD player I'd just bought in March. It worked out to maybe $30 per use. Crap! Oh, and that was when I realized they'd stolen my cassette adapter that I had been using with my iPod, as well as the iPod car charger and my car charger for the cell phone--and, ironically, the iTrip Andrea had tried SO hard to get to me and had finally managed to give me. I'd tried it twice. Buttwipes.

Then on Tuesday, I learned that my neighbor had had a theft, too. The previous night, thieves had come onto their driveway and unscrewed and stolen the lens covering the right-hand turn signal light. WTF?

The police at today's accident confirmed that there has been an increase in burglaries all over our town. Yuck.

(again, counting my blessings that

• My iPod wasn't in the car
  
• The car wasn't broken into--either I left it unlocked, or they managed to flip the lock through the 1" gap in the window (that day was hot)
  
• My fanny pack wasn't in the car (which, like leaving it unlocked, is rare but not impossible)
  
• They didn't look in the ashtray, which contained some inexpensive pearl jewelry but also a not-valuable diamond ring that has profound sentimental value)