overlap

It's been an interesting couple of days, which I'm trying to keep down into bitesize chunks.

On wednesday night my car was broken into. They went through it, failed to remove the radio due to incompetence and made away with just under a fiver in cash and a torch that wasn't that great. No major harm done, or irreplaceable items stolen, but the potential psychological effects take a bit longer to weigh up. I've never felt vulnerable in my own home, I don't subscribe to tabloid hysteria about a social climate of fear and hatred, and I generally trust the better nature of people until individuals prove otherwise, but all the same, something like this makes me stop and think for a moment or two.

It's a fifteen year old car, though admittedly with a mildly attractive looking radio because the current one was replaced by insurers after the original one was thieved under the previous ownership. That's why it also has an immobiliser now. And there was no danger of the car itself getting removed, as the battery was indoors being charged, due to ongoing electrical problems which I've mentioned before and will come back to very shortly.

There wasn't time to find out exactly which police station I needed to visit to report the car break-in, but I spoke to neighbours who were in so they knew to make sure they lock their own cars properly, and dropped a note in at my local police station which is not attended much of the time.so they knew I had something to report. I'd mostly rather someone keep an eye out for nipping minor crime in the bud before it escalates than the sort of eye for an eye retribution that is one of the alternative reactions possible in the circumstances.

All the same, I could really have done without being distracted on the motorway with wondering whether I hadn't locked a door (no, you can see what they did with a screwdriver to force the lock) and whether I'm now going to need to park somewhere else, or change my car usage habits in some way. In any case, it's only a car and I'm sure I can tell the difference between taking sensible precautions and developing a persecution complex where none need exist.

// posted by uber @ 5:12 pm