Goodbye Garmin

I take back every awful thing I have ever written/thought/said about my dear Garmin GPS. My little bossy British aid has been kidnapped, right out of my car. I went out the other morning and loaded Kaden into his car seat and when I went around to the drivers side, the door was open. I automatically felt sick to my stomach because I knew something had to have been stolen. My Garmin GPS. Just the thought of someone rummaging around in my personal things makes me a little queasy. I usually take my Garmin in with me every time, but I left her out this ONE night and look what happens! I did quick inventory of what else may be missing, and that was it. If the a-hole thief was smart, he would have taken my car seat and stroller too, because any parent knows that those cost WAY more than a GPS. Duh.

This is a pic of the memorial service I had for my Garmin. All of her friends came except the extended warranty (we all know how useless he can be):

When I got home from my errand, I sat and sulked for a while, filed an online police report, and checked Craigslist just in case there was one listed on there. No luck. I called Hubbs and of course the first thing he asks is, "was the car unlocked?" I didn't think it was. "Well then the alarm should have gone off. You must have left it unlocked. You ALWAYS need to lock the doors. Yadda yadda yadda." Then, when I was talking to my dad later that day, the first question he asked was, "well, was your car unlocked?" Is this a man thing?! Obviously when I got out of the car and was carrying six bags of groceries, a purse, a gym bag, and a baby up to the second level where our apartment is, I didn't stop and intentionally UNLOCK the car for the evening for whomever peruses the parking lots at nights for goods.

Anyways, the next morning I thought I would check Craigslist again. HOLY CRAP! A Garmin Nuvi 1450 was posted the previous evening for the low price of $40. And he didn't even spell it right!!! And only $40? Really?!

I called the number as fast as I could. I figured if I could buy the Garmin back, I could tell it was mine from the history on it and I could go to the police. I know, dumb plan, but I was still upset! Of course I got their voicemail. I left a message saying please call me ASAP because I am interested in the Garmin posted on Craigslist. I followed that up with an email and 2 texts. While waiting for the call back, I looked up the address of this person from using their phone number online. Two miles from me. THIEF.

I finally got a text back three hours later saying the Garmin was still available. I asked if it was the 1450 model as was listed, and whether it came with any accessories like the charger and mount (which I still had in my purse). He said no accessories came with it and it was a Garmin 255 model, the 1450 model had been sold. I then typed his phone number into the search bar of Colorado Springs Craigslist and this is what came up-

If you can't read that, it's an array of iPods, navigation systems, and even a gift card. All being sold for dirt cheap! All small electronics that could easily be snatched from cars. THIS IS THE DOUCHE THAT STOLE MY GARMIN! I can feel it! But he had already sold her. For $40. The devil in me wanted to call or text mean, hateful messages, and the angel in me wanted me to call or text bible verses saying God forgives, but I just called the police instead. I realized at this point there's nothing that can be done to get it back, I was sure of it. But I just had to to let them know that there is a MONSTER on the loose. They told me there would be no way of proving that it was my GPS, and pretty much I was out of luck just like I had thought. Hopefully they at least check into the guy so maybe some other people can get their stuff back, but it sounded like my call was a huge waste of time. Oh well.

This is kind-of how I picture my thief. Except mine is taller. And meaner, with a BIG frown. And he wears a ski mask. Scratch that, he wears the Scream mask. And carries a knife. And a WWF gold belt, because NO ONE messes with my thief. Except hopefully the Colorado Springs Police Department. (I have no idea why I painted my thief to be such a bad ass when in actuality he is a piece of human trash).

Anyways, I've decided to take matters into my own hands to prevent future theft in case I happen to leave the door unlocked again (which I'm still not admitting to in the first place). I am going to leave a bunch of stuff around my car that would scare a thief off rather than invite him in. Things like- O.J. Simpson-style black leather gloves, duct tape, a rope, and of course the book "How to Hide Dead Bodies for Dummies".

Anyways, just want to finish this post off by saying I am really not as upset about the stolen GPS as it seems in this post. This week the South experienced horrific tornadoes. The scene is devastating. Over 350 lives have been lost, thousands injured, and countless homeless. If you are considering purchasing anything frivolous in the next few days (such as a GPS), please consider donating that money to the victims of the tornadoes. I know Red Cross and Salvation Army are taking donations (you can easily text "redcross" to 90999 to donate $10), and I also know another foundation you can donate to that goes directly to helping the victims- http://www.joshwillinghamfoundation.org/. This is a fellow baseball player's foundation that personally distributes the money.

SMILE today!