I realize that to some, one of my worst days ever may seem trite, but today nearly took the cake.
It started off well - my friend Chris's birthday, so we decided to go play pitch and putt with my gf, Chris, and a third friend as Chris lives literally a five minute walk from probably the best pitch and putt in the Vancouver area. When we got to Chris's, my gf and I threw some stuff in the trunk of my car including the faceplate to my stereo, my wallet (containing the $200 I had just been paid for my Mizuno MP-001 that I sold as well as another $80 or so), her purse (which had in it her wallet, her cell, her keys for both home and work, her glasses and the sunglass clip-ons that she needs or she gets migraines, and my house keys as well as her spare car key), my gym bag, my badminton racquet as we were slated to go to the gym with Chris for his birthday for some basketball and badminton, and a few other goodies. I felt comfortable leaving these in my trunk as my car is alarmed (with an engine kill) and the only way to disable the alarm is to disconnect the battery, so the car itself cannot be stolen. The driver's front trunk release is locked off because of a break in a couple of years ago (in which I got my brother's clubs stolen) and the seats do not fold down without being unlocked, so the trunk is pretty much impenetrable without prying it open (not a common thing out here) or tearing through the back seat (not common either - takes too long).
At Chris's, neither Chris nor our third friend wanted to walk to the course as the third was sore from something and Chris had just woken up, so we piled into my car and drove the 400 metres to the course, straight up the street.
We played our round and had fun but as we walked back to the car, I recognized the tell tale sign that something was wrong - the hood wasn't latched. This has happened every time my car has been broken into as the method of choice for disabling the alarm. The drawback to the 94 Civic is the ease of which the doors are unlocked with a slim jim. Sure enough, the car has been broken into, but I didn't think too much of it because everything was safely in the trunk. The stereo was still there, albeit damaged because they tried to pry it out but failed. My gf goes to check the trunk, just to make sure, and sure enough, she just pulls it open - no keys needed.
Somehow, and I have yet to figure out how, they got into the trunk without doing ANY damage. I know the trunk was secure (you need the key to open it and the "open trunk" light had not been on during the drive to the course so we had definitely closed it).
At first, we just thought of the wallet/purse situation and were upset at the loss of the money, the time to get everything sorted out, the cost of replacing her glasses, cell, how to get a new faceplate, etc.
It wasn't until we were part way home that we realized the key situation. The remaining 15 minutes in the drive were literally the most stressful of my life. We were honestly not sure if my gf's car would be there when we got home, if we would have had our home broken into, how this could all be explained to the insurance company, and were just experiencing the sheer gut wrenching torment of victimization. The only thing we had to hope for was that it was midday and that our landlords would be home (we live in a basement suite) and so the odds of the worst of the worst happening was slim. We didn't even have keys to get into our own house - no keys for her car at all - no money - only my one car key that I'd kept on me during the round, and her debit card because she paid.
Fortunately, when we rounded the corner, her car was still out front, untouched, and the house had not been broken into. Our landlord was home, however he couldn't find the key to our suite - either for the outside door or the door from the inside of the house. We were locked out and had no method of getting in! He really should find those keys. He took us downstairs, took the screen off the window, and proceeded to simply push up on it and this was sufficient to unlatch the stopper that prevents the window from being opened and slid our kitchen window open. That was a whole different sinking sensation - realizing that even without this, our home wasn't even remotely safe for anyone with 10 seconds of time and a little bit of initiative.
The rest of the day was spent getting a new deadbolt and replacing the lock, cancelling credit cards (hers had been used for $75 in gas), and generally getting life sorted out. Neither of our cars are safe right now though, as they have keys to both of our cars as well as our address, so it wouldn't be hard to simply come and have their way with the cars. Our only slight method of protection was to part the cars up against the garage door and have our landlords park behind us until we can get the cars rekeyed. The better part of the day was also spent sickly wondering how much damage this will ultimately cause and feeling totally and utterly victimized. Wondering where we went wrong...was the trunk really closed? What if we had walked? Why didn't we leave our stuff IN Chris's house? Did someone see us outside Chris's and know exactly what to take? How were we so stupid? Should I have known that my trunk could be broken into so easily? How lucky am I that I didn't bring my cell phone (new phone worth a few hundred bucks) or my whole golf bag? How lucky am I that this hadn't happened any of the other few dozen times I'd left my clubs in the trunk?
I know it's just stuff, and that's fine...the money...whatever. It all comes down to the keys. Even now, I still feel uncertain and edgy thinking about it.
Not a good day.
It started off well - my friend Chris's birthday, so we decided to go play pitch and putt with my gf, Chris, and a third friend as Chris lives literally a five minute walk from probably the best pitch and putt in the Vancouver area. When we got to Chris's, my gf and I threw some stuff in the trunk of my car including the faceplate to my stereo, my wallet (containing the $200 I had just been paid for my Mizuno MP-001 that I sold as well as another $80 or so), her purse (which had in it her wallet, her cell, her keys for both home and work, her glasses and the sunglass clip-ons that she needs or she gets migraines, and my house keys as well as her spare car key), my gym bag, my badminton racquet as we were slated to go to the gym with Chris for his birthday for some basketball and badminton, and a few other goodies. I felt comfortable leaving these in my trunk as my car is alarmed (with an engine kill) and the only way to disable the alarm is to disconnect the battery, so the car itself cannot be stolen. The driver's front trunk release is locked off because of a break in a couple of years ago (in which I got my brother's clubs stolen) and the seats do not fold down without being unlocked, so the trunk is pretty much impenetrable without prying it open (not a common thing out here) or tearing through the back seat (not common either - takes too long).
At Chris's, neither Chris nor our third friend wanted to walk to the course as the third was sore from something and Chris had just woken up, so we piled into my car and drove the 400 metres to the course, straight up the street.
We played our round and had fun but as we walked back to the car, I recognized the tell tale sign that something was wrong - the hood wasn't latched. This has happened every time my car has been broken into as the method of choice for disabling the alarm. The drawback to the 94 Civic is the ease of which the doors are unlocked with a slim jim. Sure enough, the car has been broken into, but I didn't think too much of it because everything was safely in the trunk. The stereo was still there, albeit damaged because they tried to pry it out but failed. My gf goes to check the trunk, just to make sure, and sure enough, she just pulls it open - no keys needed.
Somehow, and I have yet to figure out how, they got into the trunk without doing ANY damage. I know the trunk was secure (you need the key to open it and the "open trunk" light had not been on during the drive to the course so we had definitely closed it).
At first, we just thought of the wallet/purse situation and were upset at the loss of the money, the time to get everything sorted out, the cost of replacing her glasses, cell, how to get a new faceplate, etc.
It wasn't until we were part way home that we realized the key situation. The remaining 15 minutes in the drive were literally the most stressful of my life. We were honestly not sure if my gf's car would be there when we got home, if we would have had our home broken into, how this could all be explained to the insurance company, and were just experiencing the sheer gut wrenching torment of victimization. The only thing we had to hope for was that it was midday and that our landlords would be home (we live in a basement suite) and so the odds of the worst of the worst happening was slim. We didn't even have keys to get into our own house - no keys for her car at all - no money - only my one car key that I'd kept on me during the round, and her debit card because she paid.
Fortunately, when we rounded the corner, her car was still out front, untouched, and the house had not been broken into. Our landlord was home, however he couldn't find the key to our suite - either for the outside door or the door from the inside of the house. We were locked out and had no method of getting in! He really should find those keys. He took us downstairs, took the screen off the window, and proceeded to simply push up on it and this was sufficient to unlatch the stopper that prevents the window from being opened and slid our kitchen window open. That was a whole different sinking sensation - realizing that even without this, our home wasn't even remotely safe for anyone with 10 seconds of time and a little bit of initiative.
The rest of the day was spent getting a new deadbolt and replacing the lock, cancelling credit cards (hers had been used for $75 in gas), and generally getting life sorted out. Neither of our cars are safe right now though, as they have keys to both of our cars as well as our address, so it wouldn't be hard to simply come and have their way with the cars. Our only slight method of protection was to part the cars up against the garage door and have our landlords park behind us until we can get the cars rekeyed. The better part of the day was also spent sickly wondering how much damage this will ultimately cause and feeling totally and utterly victimized. Wondering where we went wrong...was the trunk really closed? What if we had walked? Why didn't we leave our stuff IN Chris's house? Did someone see us outside Chris's and know exactly what to take? How were we so stupid? Should I have known that my trunk could be broken into so easily? How lucky am I that I didn't bring my cell phone (new phone worth a few hundred bucks) or my whole golf bag? How lucky am I that this hadn't happened any of the other few dozen times I'd left my clubs in the trunk?
I know it's just stuff, and that's fine...the money...whatever. It all comes down to the keys. Even now, I still feel uncertain and edgy thinking about it.
Not a good day.
Canada
