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Felonies and Friday Favorites 31

I only have 1 thing on my list this week.

Tuscaloosa County Sheriff’s Department. They are my favorite people this week.

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My subaru and his truck were broken into last night. The sad fact is, we didn’t realize it until around 9am. The reason our doors were not locked is because we never really “went to bed” or did the usual going-to-bed things like lock the doors and set the alarm. It’s a long story.

The house construction is moving along quickly and it was time for the spray foam insulation. The workers needed to use the power/electrical box in the shop which meant the washer/dryer, hot water heater, and dishwasher would not be able to be used all day Friday. Stephen was going into night shift Friday, so he was trying to stay awake and get into that sleeping pattern.

During the summer, I stay on whatever sleep/wake rotation Stephen is on. It’s just easier. So, I was also trying to stay awake. We both were in the shop finishing up clothes and dishes so the power could all go to the insulation job. Around 1am, he was asleep watching the Braves. I was still wide awake so I was working on some school projects. Around 1, I went to my car to get my teacher notebook. Around 3, I put all my teacher stuff—bag, packages from amazon and oriental trading-in my car because I was going to school Friday.

I stayed up watching TV but was planning to move the last load of clothes so I wasn’t ready for bed so I didn’t lock up or set alarms. At 5am (2 hours later…TWO HOURS), the insulation guys got started and their truck woke me up. I’m in an RV, I hear everything. Stephen got out of the chair and came to bed and we locked up then, having no idea we had been robbed.

At 9, we got up and he got ready to make a trip to look for some wood and couldn’t find his wallet. We looked everywhere. I went to my car, knowing we took it to the flooring place but also knowing he used his truck to go somewhere else later. I couldn’t find my bag. I knew my bag was in the car because I put it there at 3 am. My school laptop was gone. My bag was gone.

They were nice enough to leave my running shoes and unopened amazon box.

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But my bag had my 2 Garmin watches, medicine, all my makeup (not much, but ALL of it), organizer bags with stuff in them, my beloved purple buttery leather filofax malden with my license, debit, paypal card, and SS card. Stephen’s wallet was taken. There was plenty of things they could have taken and WOULD HAVE taken if they had time to dig a little. If they had opened my lift gate, there was plenty to pawn off. It’s like they had 10 seconds to grab what they could, but could not take anything heavy or bulky. My bag is heavy enough to trigger the air bag for the passenger side.

We also had the vehicles parked a few feet further away from normal. Mine is usually parked under the awning as close to the RV as I can get it. Today, it was on the edge of the gravel drive away from the shop. Prime sneaking location. The people up the road had a detached garage that is used for a music studio. Thieves got them, too and got a LOT of guitars and other musical instruments.

The police say they had someone driving and staying in the shadows on the road and 1 or 2 others would walk up to the properties to grab the stuff. They said they’ve probably tried this several times before but our doors are usually locked.  Seeing the cars out of the their usual parking location may have tipped them off that we didn’t lock them and they risked it.

THAT freaked me out, knowing how many nights I’m still awake with a few millimeters of RV material separating me from thieves. They suggested game cameras on the low end or continuous loop video surveillance on the high end. We will have both very soon.

So that’s the long story and it will take a few days to get banking info figured out and getting serial numbers for all the tech that was stolen. This incident will not go away quickly so I figured I would share the details and maybe help anybody in the future.

What I’ve learned

  • Get cheap game cameras if you don’t want expensive systems.
  • Take any sentimental things like a letter from your grandmother or notes from your kids out of your bag.
  • Every so often, take a pic of your bag or do a “what’s in my bag” photo catalogue. I know I will think of more things later when I go to look for those things. I never thought about doing a bag update.
  • Don’t leave your expensive fitness tech in your car. Insure it if you do. I’m out about 500$ of tech, NOT including the laptop.
  • Lock the doors. Even if you’re not going to bed. Just make a habit of locking it when you get out like you do at stores/work.
  • Remember it’s just stuff and things could have been a LOT worse, but it’s still my stuff and I should know what’s in the car.

This was a downer of a post, but it’s life and I’m a life-caster. As far as food and workouts today, I ran this morning, but didn’t even get a chance for coffee. It was an awful day.