I really didn't want to drive yesterday morning but I was slow at getting out of my apartment. Six minutes was not enough time for me to reliably get to the El Ceritto Plaza station. Hence I reluctantly decided to jump into my car once again.

Unfortunately, the car was not where Laura and I had left it on Monday night. I looked up and down my street in Albany, wanting to doubt the memory of having parked our car. Finally, I went back upstairs to announce to Laura that the car had been stolen. Laura came out with me to confirm what I still found hard to believe.

We had done what we could. We had secured the steering wheel with a club. The doors, I'm confident, were locked. "It's not fair," we said to each other. (Of course, what car theft is fair?) We latched on to the false hope that maybe our car had been sticking into a driveway and thus had been towed.

I called the Albany police department, which then dispatched a young police officer to the scene. We were not that lucky -- our car had not been impounded. I filed the police report while the police and I stood outside the apartment. He told me that there are about five car thefts reported a week in sleepy Albany. I knew that I was only complaining when I said that I had parked for years in south Berkeley without any problems -- so what's wrong with Albany? Such laments weren't going to bring our car back.

Chances are, I was told, that the car would be recovered in several days or at most, in a couple of weeks. We hope that our car won't be banged up too badly. Being a 1991 Toyota Corolla with 110K miles, it was still a good solid car that I had hoped would serve us well for years to come.

This morning, I took a picture of where the car had been and where I still hope it will magically show up again:

Last night, Laura and I consoled ourselves by drawing and telling stories about where the car might have gone. I drew the following:

after receiving some bad news about some dear friends, I was reminded once again that it's only stuff. Still, I got a bit nostalgic for my car -- which is the first car I ever owned. I dug up the last picture I have of it. Has anyone seen it around?