Well, eight days on the road for work, a weekend of a R&R with friends, and I am exhausted. I just got home, but by the time you read this, it will be 12+ hours later.
By the time the plane landed at Newark Airport this evening I just wanted to be home, make some dinner, shower, and go to bed. Well, to the contrary, I got to experience a bit of personal drama. I am a regular customer at a place called Vista Parking on frontage Road in Newark, NJ just a mile or two from the airport. Listening to the video about your car being secure, I am about to report the contrary.
I opened the rear door of my truck to load my suitcase into it, and several pieces of gear that I normally keep in the back of the truck came falling out, and I immediately noticed my get home bag was missing. It is usually strapped into a plastic bin I keep tied up in the back of my SUV. The contents of the pack were basically one to two days worth of food (MREs), Buck brand hunting knife, folding knife, fleece, first aid kit, hat , gloves , socks, t‑shirt, fire making gear, emergency blanket x 2, emergency poncho , etc. I was devastated, angry, very angry. Most of the components of the pack can be found here:
- Car preparedness for the urban or suburban dweller
- Car preparedness Part 2, The First Aid Kit
- Car preparedness, Part 3, hunting and fishing gear for your car kit.
- Car Preparedness, Part 4, Food
- Car Preparedness, Part 5, Hygiene, Navigation, and Fire
- Car preparedness, Part 6, My Comfort Supplies
I thought, who could possibly want that gear? Then I checked the rest of the car. They went through the center console of my truck, and then I noticed they pulled off the fuse box cover and left it on the floor of the truck. The thing that hit me, is there was a letter in the center console with my NJ address on it. Need less to say, I high tailed it to the apartment. There are many reasons I was worried about getting here quickly. Thank goodness I do not have a family to worry about. Needless to say I took my hidden key from its hidden location, and I am going to re-key the door tomorrow. It is hard to know when the pack was stolen out of the truck. It could have been today, and if that is the case the criminal asshole that took it because it was something he felt entitled to, could very possibly show up at my door at 3:00 a.m.
I am glad my apartment was not the target of a burglary due to this issue so far. I am pretty confident that it will not be, but I am re-keying the lock tomorrow anyway. I’m not happy that I am going to have to be more vigilant around my apartment for a while now too. Every time I come home and leave for any reason for any period of time, I am going to look around more now for someone that looks unusual or out of place in my neighborhood. Not to mention, I am going to have to find a way to better secure my guns and ammunition than I do currently. This has really set off a chain of thought and actions that is sort of a pain in the ass.
I am going to have to replace the gear too. WTF! As if I just happen to have a ton of extra money floating around right now.
What sucks, is that I know all they really wanted was the backpack and took everything. That is what really sucks. Additionally, I am never going to use Vista Parking again. Not because they are bad. They have been very good and trustworthy up to this point. It is the one person who screwed me that has negatively impacted their business. I used to refer people to them. Not anymore, and negative publicity online is not too good a thing either. I am trying to keep in mind that is one loser criminal scumbag that ruined a business relationship. I parked there about a week a month, and averaged 75 — 100 dollars a month in parking fees. 1,000 dollars a year in business isn’t much to sneeze at. Too bad, because they were convenient, but not so much going forward.
Sorry, Vista Parking , you lost a customer tonight due to one asshole’s need to feel entitled. If he had asked, I would have given him the bag no questions asked, because that’s the kind of person I am.
I hate assholes.