Date:         Tue, 29 Aug 2000 23:55:11 PDT
Reply-To:     Mark Dorm <mark_hb@HOTMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Mark Dorm <mark_hb@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: urban camping in sf
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed

What if..... you just wanted to walk around San Francisco for the day, and
you wanted to feel like your stuff was protected while you left it in your
vanagon.... Are there parking facilities that you could leave them where
there is good security, cameras and uniformed employees.... That would work
wouldn't it.....? How much do they run for the day? Seven dollars???


>From: Daniel Schmitz <djs@gene.com>
>
>I agree with Ben. You simply can't leave anything of value in your vehicle
>in
>plain sight, and using your curtains is probably asking for trouble. The
>previous
>owner of my townhouse had a friend's car broken into while it was parked in
>his
>driveway...because the friend left a laptop computer on the seat of his car
>overnight. Not too smart...
>
>And I have my own anecdotal experience to learn from:
>
>My '82 Adventurewagen was broken into several years ago when it was parked
>in
>another part of San Francisco (near the Castro), and unfortunately, my
>mountain
>bike and some CDs were stolen. I was just visiting a friend for dinner, and
>my
>van was sacked and pillaged. So now I make it a point to not leave anything
>valuable or visible in my Westfalia, and my CD player is the detachable
>face
>variety.
>
>I have not had, nor heard of, any incidents in my development of townhouses
>since
>I've been there, almost a year now. But you have to be proactive about it.
>It
>also help to have a vehicle that is of limited interest to potential
>thieves.
>
>Dan
>
>Benjamin Tan wrote:
>
> > The best hiding place for thieves (at least in San Francisco) seems to
>be
> > behind curtains and sunshades/screens.
> >
> > I have tinted windows in my VW Fox Wagon and had a (foil-type) sunshade.
>It
> > was the perfect place for the thieves to go through my belongings
>without
> > being seen. This happened while I was in a house in St. Francis Woods
>(which
> > is a very expensive part of San Francisco) for a mere 35 minutes. Mind
>you,
> > this was on Junipero Serra which has 200,000 vehicles passing daily.
>These
> > guys must have been pros though. They got in and took all the valuables
> > including my in-dash stereo without damaging anything else. They even
>locked
> > up after themselves.
> >
> > Oh yeah, they took all my CD's except my business partner's copy of
>Madonna's
> > rendition of Evita which they stomped & crushed on the floor. Was that a
> > message?
> >
> > Called the cops. SFPD's response, "Sir, we get 80 of these calls per
>shift.
> > There are three shifts. Would you just please call your insurance
>company?
> > Here's your police report number..." Cute, eh?
> >
> > Ben
> > San Francisco

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