of mice and men and a honda accord

aka: grand theft auto
aka: early onset alzheimer's
aka: dude, where's my car?

Plans are funny things.

One minute you're planning on a trip to the grocery store and an early matinee movie. The next minute you're searching the streets for any sign of your car, swearing you left it right here the last time you drove it. One minute you're carefully pulling together your grocery list and checking fandango for movie show times. The next minute you're tracing and retracing every step you've taken over the past 2 days, wondering what the heck you're forgetting. One minute you have a nice little Saturday of errands planned. The next you're on the phone with the Chicago police department reporting a stolen vehicle.

What an unexpected Saturday!

As soon as I started walking towards the spot I knew I had left my car on Wednesday night, I felt like something was wrong. What's that grey SUV doing in my spot? But to go right to "someone stole my car" just seemed a little rash. So I walked up and down and around the block a couple times. I retraced every move I could remember making between 9pm on Wednesday night when I parked my car after work to 11am on Saturday morning when it was no longer there.

Did I actually end up driving to work on Thursday or Friday and forget I had, leaving my car in the parking garage? Had I moved the car recently without remembering why? Had I actually parked somewhere differently on Wednesday night? Is this just another sign of early onset Alzheimer's?

After asking these over and over, in a million different ways. (And actually calling my dad to re-walk through the last 72 hours just to be sure I wasn't missing anything.) The only real answer to any of these questions was no. And that's when I had to say it out loud: I think my car has been stolen. Cue intense cop drama music here.

Cut to me calling the cops to file a police report. In which case I wasn't sure exactly what to say so I defaulted to every movie or show I've seen and stuck with "I'd like to report a stolen vehicle". Cut to me frantically looking up my insurance coverage to be sure that I indeed had upgraded from just collision to comprehensive back when I purchase the Accord a couple years ago. (Luckily, I had.) Cut to a montage of all the random questions from the CPD and Progressive that, I suppose, they just have to ask....

Is there any signage around the spot that indicates parking restrictions? (Would someone actually go straight to a grand theft auto accusation before checking this all out themselves?) Do you typically lock your car? (Ummmm yes. I live in Chicago. Do people not lock their cars?) Do you typically take your keys with you from the car? (I find it helps, especially when you lock your car, to actually take the keys with you in order to unlock it in the future.) Do you have your keys now? (Do you mean am I sure a roommate or friend didn't just borrow it?) And, finally, how old are you? (Is this relevant?)

I promise I wasn't as snarky as I sound in my commentary above. But I do have to admit, the whole ordeal was rather comical. Which, on the plus side, kept my spirits up admits the initial uncertainty of what the heck happens next?

I guess what happens next is I wait. Wait for the car to someone show up. Wait for the police to call. Wait for any word on it's whereabouts. Just wait. Both the CPD and Progressive kept letting me know that when they find my vehicle this or that would happen. Glad to see they're so optimistic. But I've seen The Other Guys. At this point I'd rather not have my car be returned to me after God knows what happened to it in the last few days.

In the meantime, my new Progressive claims rep, Josh, has been a major help in securing a rental car for me from Enterprise and letting me know he hopes to have it all buttoned-up in a matter of 2-3 weeks.

In his experience it usually turns up in the first 7-10 days. So if we get to day 11, I should probably be looking for a new set of wheels... You know, as much as I have complained about my car's age and lack of radio and, most recently, noises, when it comes down to it I'm rather happy to have a car. Rather happy to have my car even. Sure it may not be the most stylish ride on the block, but it gets me from point a to point b in one piece. And it's paid off.

I certainly wasn't planning (or saving) for a new vehicle just yet.

But the best laid plans of mice and men, right?