As you may recall, I was recently the victim of petty theft. In fact, the Jeep was hit twice in four days, apparently by two different people (although I suspect the timing wasn’t coincidental). Both times in the same parking lot at work.
Nothing too much stolen, just my sense of security, a few odds and ends, and expensive prescription sunglasses for the second time this year. I have a pricy prescription.
Anyhoo, this has led to some changes, unsurprisingly.
Most obviously, I don’t park in that lot any more. It’s well-covered by cameras, but apparently that’s insufficient to deter theft.
Which in turn means I get up much earlier in the mornings to get a more secure lot, or at least it feels more secure. It’s on the corporate campus proper, and you’d have to be pretty bold to ransack a vehicle there. It’s also twice as far from the building where I work, but it’s still only(?) a 5 minute walk.
I also keep far less stuff in the Jeep, which is annoying.
The biggest financial impact has been a large purchase of Tuffy gear. Practically everything they offer for my model, in fact. So much for being able to afford that lovely manual XJ that just showed up near me.
As it turns out, installing this gear has been a major headache. I had multiple family members help me out Sunday, but it still took about 6 hours just to get the two largest pieces installed.
(And we managed to break my back seat; I can no longer flip it forward. Probably a relatively simple fix...but I suspect I’ll have to remove and then re-install the new storage drawer, which will take multiple people.)
As it got dark we tried to install the glove compartment, but as it turns out my LJ is one of the relatively rare ones that has a different air duct layout behind the compartment. Tuffy has never actually seen one in person, but they’ve gotten a few complaints over the years. If I lived in Colorado, I’d definitely let them take a peek at mine.
Fortunately there’s a fairly easy fix, once I decide to tackle it: use a heat gun on the ductwork and gently mold it out of the way. I have no desire to end up with yet another expensive repair, so I’ve been procrastinating. (Plus I’m not sure off-hand where my heat gun is...or even if I’m remembering correctly that I have one.)
So, yeah, for probably $50 worth of value to whoever stole my stuff, I’ve spent at least $1400 and many hours recovering, I won’t be buying that XJ (probably), and I have more time/hassle ahead of me. Theft sucks.
(On the plus side, the Tuffy gear despite the installation pain is really solid.)