Friday, February 19, 2010

Life, Luck, and Larceny


Wednesday morning, I was on the receiving end of what can only be called a rude awakening. My husband had to practically shake me out of an unusually sound sleep (which I really needed, by the way) to tell me that someone had broken into his car overnight and stolen his briefcase...or rather, rifled through its contents before throwing the rejected material, along with the case itself, on our front lawn. What was missing? The checkbook and credit cards, of course.

In his defense, I will say that my husband almost always puts his briefcase in the trunk of his car...and almost always parks said car in the garage. But this was one of those golden moments when circumstances combine in rather inglorious ways to produce disaster. And not only did the thieves make off with our personal information, but they broke the car window doing it.

Needless to say, we spent the entire morning closing/reopening checking accounts, calling credit card companies, placing his and hers fraud alerts with Equifax et al, and commiserating with our neighbors, 20 of whom were also hit. I couldn't help marveling at how this person or persons managed to do so much damage in so little time! Quite an impressive feat for the perpetrator(s). More on the depressive side of the spectrum for the rest of us.

Making matters worse was a day so full of obligations and commitments that I had no idea how to get them all accomplished. Instead of diving into my list at 8 AM sharp (as previously planned), I stumbled into it somewhere around half past noon. Adding insult to injury, after we'd spent the entire morning closing bank and credit accounts, around lunch time a neighbor lady brought two things to our door: the missing checks and the missing credit cards, both of which she spotted in her bushes while walking the dog. In other words, all of that frantic calling and canceling was for naught. Hurray. I guess.

Today I'm feeling more philosophical. All's well that ends well, right? (Though I did have to set aside several hours yesterday waiting for the Speedy Glass guy to come and fix the car window.) Scheduled to arrive at 11 AM, he finally made it by 3. Ironically, the reason he arrived late to our house was because my helpful husband, after making our own appointment, went up and down the street giving everyone the phone number. They all wound up scheduled for the same time we were. Not surprisingly, the repair truck entered our neighborhood on the "wrong" end of the street, putting our car second to last in the rotation. I barely made my hair appointment (canceled twice this month and sorely needed), but I did get there. Thank heaven for small favors! In fact, considering the state of my long, limp, lifeless locks before salon magic saved the day, this boon might even qualify as a tender mercy. Especially since I'll be front and center giving a talk in sacrament meeting this week.

(I haven't even started preparing it.)

Wish me luck!

;)

14 comments:

See Mom Smile said...

I feel your pain! Been there. Such a violation of space. Love your blog and your music!

Momza said...

That happened to me last fall...all they took was my GPS though. It was the one night I remembered to take in my purse thank goodness.
I wonder why they tossed your cc?
Hope your weekend goes better!

Lisalulu said...

i'm sorry...what a wake-up~ hopefully I'll be as prepared if emergency strikes

karen said...

So sorry! It's a horrible feeling to have strangers going through your things. I'm glad it all ended up OK - no one hurt, credit intact. And hair done!
Your talk will be wonderful - how could it be otherwise? You have the gift to connect to others. That's 90% of it.

VK said...

The whole thing us just terrible. That they got that many people without anyone hearing and calling the cops is remarkable, and just the fact that you were invaded is such a dirty feeling. But one of the worse things is waiting for all the credit cards and following up on them etc when you didn't even have to in the end. Pretty creepy.

Unknown said...

Oh! Not the kind of day you like to hear about, although I think you all made the news, I remember hearing about your neighborhood! So sorry! There's something so unpleasant about knowing someone invaded your personal space . . . just glad you're all safe and sound and I'll be more diligent about watching my space!

Kristin

Caroline said...

I hate you had to go through this!! The same exact thing happened to us last year. About 5 cars in our neighborhood were broken into, windows smashed, briefcases and GPS systems stolen. It's so hard to be philosophical when something like that happens!

Katie Blacker said...

ahh that is the worst. You just feel so violated knowing someone has gone through your things - and in your case, extremely rudely!

Chris and his roommates were robbed in Provo a couple years ago. it is not a fun time.

good luck on your talk this Sunday!

Darlene said...

Oh my gosh, I am so sorry for you. We have been there and done that. It is awful to have to do all that, only ours was even worse because I left my purse in a fast food place and of course someone took it. We not only had to call and cancel everything and close and open our bank account, but we had to change the locks on the house. What a day that was for us, so I feel your pain. It sounds as if they weren't proffessional though or they wouldn't have tossesd the credit cards. I'll be Dave will no longer leave the car in the driveway.

Jess said...

What a rotten start to what should have been a good day! I love that through it all you remain so positive, and even manage to find a blessing in something as small as making a hair appt. on time. you rock Sue! good luck on your talk, although I'm sure it'll be great anyway.

Grandma Honey said...

Oh my, this is really crummy. And to think you made all those calls for nothing. I read something about this sort of thing in Reader's Digest this week. It said that we should not have our "home" listed on GPS as our actual home address..but instead put it as a business close by. That way if someone steals our car they can't be directed to our house, use our opener to get into our garage, and then get into our house. I thought it was good advice.

Please update us on all this. How terrifying too!

Unknown said...

Oh man, I feel your pain. I've had that happen several times. It is such a violated feeling.
I hope the guy gets caught.
It's always amazing to me how they can do so much damage in such a short time without being heard.
I think everyone on your block must have been sleeping heavy.

Em said...

ahhhhh!!!!! stab my eyes out now! yay is right, but served with a side of frustration. hate it when i do a ton of work for absolutely nothing. aaarrrgggghhhh. i'm so frustrated for you! i think i would then focus my energy on the car window that really does need to be fixed. of course murphey would hit you the only time you leave the car out with the briefcase in the car. hope everything gets back in shape, and yay for only broken glass;-) at least it wasn't your electronic life!

Karen Sue said...

HOW ROTTEN!!
I remember a friend having his car broken into in a parking ramp...and they stole all of his 8 tracks!! WOW that dates me, doesn't it. The thief probably didn't get too far with all that 8track cargo to carry!!