Gone in 60 seconds

Our car was stolen for a few hours last week. It all turned out okay, but it made for an exciting morning.

Thursday morning Doug went out to drive the car to work and it wasn't there. He came in to ask me if I had parked it somewhere else, but I knew I hadn't, so he called the police to report it stolen. Just as he was making the report, someone else was running the plates on a suspicious-looking car a few blocks away. It had been abandoned in a residential neighborhood with the windows rolled down, and something about it apparently caught a local police officer's attention. So Doug went to pick it up, and he had me call the school to let them know he was going to be a little late.

We have two Acura Legends (both bought used). It seems they tried to take the other one, too, as the lock had been jimmied, but I guess they weren't able to get it started. The funny thing is that the one that they took is the one with the bad transmission (it won't shift into fourth gear) and the dashboard lights that hardly ever work. We aren't sure why they abandoned it a few blocks away--perhaps they just got where they were going--but I can just picture the thieves saying, "Man, this car stinks! Let's ditch it." Ha. If they were looking to go joyriding, they were disappointed.

The only lingering effect from the car's misadventure is a couple of damp seats (not the driver's seat, thankfully). Kate's car seat was untouched in the back, and even Doug's leather cap that he had left on the passenger's seat was still there. The whole thing reminds me of a couple that used to be in our ward at church--she was an opera singer, and he was a tuba player in a symphony. Someone broke into their car and rifled through their CD collection and didn't take anything. It's got to be oddly comforting to know that you're not even cool enough to steal from.