Sounds like a simple request, but where do you address these things? God? The police? My facebook page? None of that seems to help.

I've tried really hard to be a good boy--perhaps He'll grant me one. He's been known to smite people, but I don't think He takes requests on that. Seriously, though, I rarely feel the vindictive urge, but I would love to see them smote right now. I can't imagine they're contributing to society much.

So it happened Thursday night, I guess--a much milder replay of my car break-in from two weeks earlier, though this time, it really hacked me off.  I've mentioned that I've been riding such a wave of great developments on my book that I didn't even get in a bad mood over the earlier break-in. It just couldn't get me down.

I still have not even reported it the first one, much less gotten anything fixed. Just couldn't quite bear to deal with it. I guess I was afraid all the annoyance of the calls and estimates and so forth would bring me down.

So this time they widened the hole in the broken window (what was the purpose of that?) and tossed all the worthless crap around again looking for something. (See inset picture for the old view. The big pic is the latest.)

This time, they got almost nothing. They left all the same stuff, including the black olives that I still have not brought in. But I was having a worse week, and the prospect of it continuing out in to the future was too much.

Also, I was/am really frustrated with myself, because I think I left my Discover card and Sam's Club card (which is also a credit card) in the car. I was being careful about having nothing in the car, but I was supposed to stop by Sam's on the way home from the gym, so I put both in my car compartment while I go in. I ran long and didn't make it to Sam's, but forgot to take the cards out and into the apt when I got home. That was the night they struck again. Damn!

I'm glad I didn't get it fixed, at least. Last night, they busted the whole a bit wider--(why was that necessary?) and went in to check for more.

The worst part is that they found the cards, so now they'll assume I'll keep being a ripe target and keep returning. Ugh. (A few summers ago, I was hit three times over the course of about a month.)

The inconsiderate bastards once again left a door ajar, so the dome light stayed on and the battery died. (That perplexed me for awhile, but I think they were trying to avoid slamming it to be quiet.)

Here's the odd detail I don't get. They locked the door with the smashed window when they were done. The only unlocked door was the opposite rear door that was left ajar. And they went into the front seat to get the credit cards. They might have climbed over the seats, but it would have been easier to unlock the front door and go in that way. If they did, they locked it when they were done. How odd. Any theories?

A friend also suggested that with the dome light on and a broken window for half the night, other passersby might have been drawn to it and gone through my car as well.  

So there was more frustrationg because I got a friend to jump it when I discovered Friday evening as I went to the gym. That was no biggie, but I thought driving to the gym would recharge it and I'd be fine. It was nearly dead when I came out two hours later. God.

It was 8:30 p.m. in the gym parking garage. I called a friend, who wasn't home, and I didn't want to bug the guy at the front desk. I thought about other friends, but didn't want to bother them.

I decided to wait for someone to come out. The first guy said no, he was in a hurry. The next guy who drove up saw me lurking, maybe thought I was a panhandler, and stayed in his car, waiting me out. I moved to the stairwell door, to wait for the next person to exit, or at least the next guy.

A woman came out, and at first I let her pass, then thought What difference does it make?--forgetting, in my frazzled state why it makes a difference. She said yes, but looked nervous and I immediately regretted asking her.

As she pulled her car up, I was sure she was afraid this might be a set-up to mug her or something. I saw the broken window, which I had not explained, and she would notice. Lots of danger signs. Maybe I was trying to steal the car? Although that would make me the world's dumbest car theif: stealing a beat-up 18-year-old car that wouldn't run, and getting help from a witness to get it out of there.

I decided assuring her that I was not a mugger or theif would only add to the impression that I was. I considered telling her to never mind and I'd wait for a guy, but that might just insult her more.

She pulled up, plainly nervous, and stayed in her car, with the doors locked. She wasn't sure how to get the hood open. I motioned for a release under the dash somewhere, and tried to describe through the window she opened a crack. She found it, I got it up, and attached everything as fast as I  could. I've done it so many times, I finally know the correct order.

I got us both on our way quickly. She smiled and drove off.

I was still agitated that the car might continue to fail. And I next planned to use it to go out clubbing Saturday night. That would be great to find it dead at 2 a.m., leaving the club, in a bad part of town.

I don't know what the hell caused the failure in the gym, but it didn't repeat. And oddly, no one charged anything on either credit card. Isn't that what they were after? They left open the compartment where I keep them, and they again left my membership card for the bathhouse, though it's still expired.

(It's possible that the "stolen" cards are actually in my apt somewhere, though I spent 40 minutes searching the damn place.) Sam's was really annoying, because on the phone they said I could get a new card at the store and shop immediately, but the damn woman at the desk insisted my credit was cancelled and I had to reapply, and was then rejected. Huh? So I couldn't get groceries, because they only take Discover and their own card. (I forgot that you can actually use cash for groceries, and I had enough in my wallet for the essentials.)

It's all little crap, nothing major, but this time it's getting to me. Plus, all the decisions about what to do.

I've sort of gotten used to no music or NPR, though I miss it a lot.  And we've had this incredible weather where it's been over 70 and in the 60s more than half the time, and no rain, so the big hole has been no issue. We had a few short cold snaps, where it was really cold in there--one open window can make it really cold when it's close to zero. Denver rarely gets that cold, but I have a feeling a broken window will cause problems. I can't leave it there indefinitely.

Maybe I'll just to move to NYC right away, where I hear they've got the whole crime thing under control now. Hahaha.