I really like the place I live and the gal I rent from... It's less than 3 miles to work, close to the expressways that surround the area, 10 minutes from downtown Norfolk or Newport News via those highways and a network of tunnels beneath the rivers. Most of them are referred to with their initials like the MMMBT, CBBT, and HRBT (where BT refers to them as bridge/tunnels), while others are called by their proximity to a city such as the midtown tunnel or the downtown tunnel.
I digress... The location of my place here in Chesapeake is on the fringe of what my boss (a black woman) refers to as "the hood". I have had no real issues since moving here in April, other than periodically having to drive through some areas where large groups of teens are hanging out after dark... That is until last night...
6:20 this morning I wake to a loud knock on my bedroom door. It is my roommate who has been awakened by a neighbor pounding on our front door. She tells me that the neighbor wanted to let us know that someone had vandalized my car... While I don't have my "8NT-STR8" license plates on the new ride, I do have an HRC sticker and a rainbow strip across the rear window and my first thought was that someone bashed my car because I way gay... Not the case...
I am just plain stupid. I left my GPS attached to the windshield when I got home last night. I probably could have put a sign on my car saying "Free Electronics" and been less subtle... Who ever it was smashed the passenger front glass, got into the car, took the GPS, the brand new HD radio I had installed last Thursday, an inexpensive printer a friend had given me, 4 new CD's, a book map of the area, and the contents of my glove compartment.
All I can say is I hope they need all that stuff more than I do...
After calling the Chesapeake police department, waiting for the forensic guy to show up, calling State Farm (who I think will be able to wiggle out of paying me anything as they gave me two claim numbers, one for my auto and another for my homeowners, each have a $500 deductible) to report the loss, locating an auto glass company and arranging to have the window replaced, calling Best Buy to have another radio installed, and cleaning up most of the glass in and around my car... I am exhausted and it's only 11:30!
My roommate was more upset than I was I think... She wanted to know if I wanted her to stick around until the "po-po" came, I told her I was off today and would be just fine... It is only a car, and no one was hurt...
The glass people should be here around noon, and I have an appointment to have the replacement radio installed at 5:00pm at Best Buy. I guess I will have to live without the GPS and go back to maps to find my way around...
Over and "Out" from near the "hood" here in Chesapeake, VA
