Today’s musical accompaniment (mp3) provided by Admiral Stereo.
My psychic powers kicked in early this morning, as I was puttering around the house, getting ready to go to work. Some inner voice told me I should check on my bike. I went into the living room and peered out the window onto the front porch.
Gone.
Looking through the window wasn’t quite enough to convince me. I rushed out onto the porch to behold the absence of bike without an intervening glass panel. It still wasn’t there.
I swore loudly and punched and kicked the air a few times.
No, it wasn’t locked up. Usually I lock the bike up, but not last night for some reason. I should have (obviously) but I didn’t. I suppose I was lulled into a false sense of security because our porch is ten feet off the ground. It seems fairly removed from the street.
This sucks because that bike is my primary means of transportation. (So I walked to work this morning, which is nice, but still.) Also, I realize now that bike was my single most expensive possession after my personal computer. It cost something like $450, which is a lot, but worth it since I ride every day.
As Tim pointed out when Xy’s bike was stolen back in February, crimes like this “makes us suspicious of strangers and sometimes even neighbors.” I’d like to imagine my bike was snatched by a random wanderer, but that seems unlikely. I hate the fact that I’ll be looking at all my neighbors and wondering, “Did he steal my bike?”
Sigh.
I’ll buy a new bike, and file a claim on my homeowner’s policy, and report this to the police. For now, I’m taking solace in the fact that even if my bike gets stolen every six months, it’s still cheaper than a car. It also makes me happy to know I have some latent psychic abilities. Too bad those didn’t extend to foreknowledge of the thievery. Then I would have taken proper steps to secure the bicycle, such as locking it up.
Oh, wait, that’s just common sense. Of which I have none.
I know your area is still in somewhat of disrepair due to katrina, but does NO have a system of registration for bicycles?
Bloomington does, and it works. You simply register your bikes make, model, serial number, etc. You get a tag/sticker that you place on the bicycle in an inconspicous place.
Should it be stolen, when you call the police you give them the tag number and tada, they have all the info they need.
A bike of mine was stolen many years ago and I got it back, only because of the tag. At least that’s what I was told.
Sorry bout your loss B….
That sucks. Maybe check out Plan B for your next ride (http://planb.bikeproject.org/)… Or get one of those fancy Dahon folding bikes (http://www.dahon.com) and bring it inside at night.
My fiancee’s mom had her generator stolen from the back of her house and it was chained up to the house cinder blocks. They sawed through the chain, the dirty bastards. I don’t know how a person steals from someone living in a trailer. It’s a sick feeling being suspicious of people.
A lock on your bike may’ve deterred them though, but I can’t believe someone just strolled up those stairs. Good luck finding a replacement.
I had a table stolen from my porch once. I had motion sensor flood lights installed and it never happened again.
I liked the fact that the porch was dark until motion was detected then it was like daylight – no tempting sights but if someone approached the lights came on, ruining their night vision for a little while and surprising them.
i remember when my car was broken into, they stole my cd player, and of all things…my soccer cleats that were in the front seat.
i mostly had a feeling of….violation. but yeah, i looked at EVEN my neighbors with suspicion up until i moved out of that apartment.
i’m sorry b.
that song is some hot stuff!!!
Just in the vein of stolen, violation, theme. I used to live in a Bad Neighborhood in Providence R.I. Every night my car would get broken into. There was nothing in it so I started to leave the window down. After that the “bad guys” would hang out in the car, smoke crack and leave Chinese TakeOut containers. Good times
I had the psychic feeling this morning too. I found my car battery was dead when I left for work. I found that the button for the headlights was halfway pressed. What is going to gnaw at me is that I never had the headlights on the day before. Also, the driver door was unlocked. (now, that I may have done myself on accident). And finally, someone smashed my next neighbor’s porch light last night. All of that could be totally unrelated, and the light was probably just kids playing around or something. Still, I have that same guilty distrusting feeling of my neighbors. I think I may start turning my back porch light on at night.
Sucks! That was a good bike too. Was that the one with carbon fiber frame?
Lee, yes, NOLA has a bike registry system. No, I never got around to registering this bike, I don’t think.
Tony, this bike has a butted aluminum frame. I liked it a lot. I’m thinking I’ll replace it with the same model. Hang the expense.
Also, I should mention that a friend gave me a loaner bike to get around. Thanks Wink!
Glad to hear that you’re back in the saddle, so to speak, albeit with a loaner. B, I’m really sorry to hear about your bike being stolen. It really sucks.
Karen, that story was horrible! Yikes!
Sorry for the loss. That was a sweet looking bike — I like the mudguards too. I have a similar bike to that one – Bianchi Avenue.
While living in Providence I only rode my bike to work and did save tons in money. I now take the train in Chicago and spend exactly $17.50/wk or around $70/month.
My bike was stolen here several weeks ago! I grew very trusting in Maine, where you didn’t have to lock anything up. I hate that.
Of course, I had three – that’s right, three – bikes stolen in 2 years in Philly. Kryptonite locks didn’t stop the robbers. I am never paying more than 60 dollars for a bike again.
we filed a claim for a stolen bike and then again when our apartment was actually robbed and when we went to change our renters policy into home owners they told us they were planning on DROPPING us for the two claims… huh? no, seriously, huh? so, beware…
fyi – my friends have moved down. they’re quite happy. and mostly hopeful. we’ll be visiting labor day.
[…] Yeah, I think this will get me around town. It cost a few bucks but it’s worth it. This is my primary means of transportation. And I won’t be leaving this on my front porch where it can be stolen. They’ll have to break into the house if they want to get their hands on this one. […]
[…] After my bike was stolen last week, I walked to work and then called the cops from my office. I was told I would need to call back from the scene of the crime, since an officer would need to come by to file the report. Can’t be done over the phone. I would need to call when I had a block of time free to wait for the officer. […]
The philly scum are apparently not satisfied with stealing bikes that are locked up in the street anymore. On my ride home I am starting to be harassed by young black kids shouting at me to give them my bike. Sometimes they even chase after me for a few blocks. Its pretty terrifying because I have no other means of getting home from work. I almost feel like finding another job to avoid being outside at night. Ive been mugged twice in the last year and I’d rather not go through that again