Date:         Fri, 27 Oct 2006 09:08:41 -0400
Reply-To:     Joy Hecht <jhecht@ALUM.MIT.EDU>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Joy Hecht <jhecht@ALUM.MIT.EDU>
Subject:      Re: A Friday Tale of Woe and a Request for Info
In-Reply-To:  <C167399C.136ED%steeles@horizonview.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Wow, I'm sorry to hear your car was stolen - and in SUCH an annoying way!  I
know what it's like.  My 12-year-old 135K miles Honda Civic was stolen in
2002, from the street in front of where I lived.  I know that feeling,
walking around the block thinking "maybe I really parked it somewhere else?"
even though I _knew_ where I'd parked it, and the broken glass on the street
showed how they'd gotten in to steal it.

The police found it within a few hours, stripped of a few key parts
(carpets, seats, AC ducts) and a few of my personal items, as well as the
license plates.  They took my favorite yellow umbrella - HORRORS! - and all
my New Jersey maps - but left all my other maps, and probably didn't know
what my hand-made Greenland kayak paddle was, so at least they didn't steal
that! :-)  

The cops knew there was a ring of people stealing old Hondas, they knew
where there were being taken and stripped.  And why, you might ask, haven't
they staked out that lot and caught the guys?  Well, it was New Jersey.

The towed it to a tow lot, where I visited it and so did the insurance
company.  Their agent told me the thieves, just to be nasty, had peed in it
in the blistering July heat, and it stank something awful, so there was no
point even thinking of repairing it.  

This was a blatant lie.  Simply utterly untrue.  I dragged a friend into
driving me back there a second time just to confirm that no such thing had
been done.

But I didn't even know a mechanic who might able to fix it, probably would
have had to commission another car theft to replace the parts, etc. etc.  So
I took my little settlement from the insurance company, and that's how I
landed up with a Prius.  Well, that and a lot more money.  

I still want my Honda back!  She was my first car (I was a late bloomer
where cars were concerned).  She was going to be a one-owner car, and we
were going to be together till 300K at least!  

So yes, Steve, I totally understand.  It sucks.


Joy




****************************************************************
Joy Hecht
now living in a real house in northern Virginia
and Matilda, 1989 Burgundy Vanagon
now living in the driveway and resting after two and a half years
lugging Joy and her stuff around...

For musings about life traveling in the van or living in one place:
http://www.joyhecht.net

****************************************************************
  

:::-----Original Message-----
:::From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM] On Behalf
:::Of Stephen Steele
:::Sent: Friday, October 27, 2006 4:21 AM
:::To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
:::Subject: A Friday Tale of Woe and a Request for Info
:::
:::The Good, Bad and Ugly of my last two weeks...
:::Right here and now I will preface this tale with an acknowledgement that
:::all
:::of this is about cars, conveyances, transports; NOT flesh and blood, true
:::crimes and/or national treasures.  But I need to ramble a bit and get
:::this
:::whole thing off my chest. If you are pressed for time...delete this... if
:::not... read on 'til you become pressed for time and THEN delete this.