Last night, I couldn’t fall asleep. I kept getting out of bed and looking out the windows at the scooters - I just had a weird feeling and I couldn’t shake it. But the dog wasn’t barking, so I kept telling myself, you’re just being paranoid, go to bed.

After about the fifth time checking, and not seeing any strange cars going by, or seeing any strange movements, I finally made a serious attempt to sleep. My last check of the scooters was around 1:00 in the morning. I figured the strangeness I was feeling was because of the noise the rain was making. I also tried to convince myself that thieves simply don’t go out in the rain (don’t the bad guys prefer good weather, too?). Plus, the dog didn’t bark. So, I went to bed and finally fell asleep.

I get up this morning, turn on the coffee, look out the window. I notice that the cover on the GTS is gone. I think, OK, maybe there’s a one in a million chance that Dwayne took it off, or maybe the wind blew it off the scooter. I call Dwayne at work, of course he didn’t touch it. I walked, and then drove around the area, in the hopes that maybe I’d find it. I didn’t. I noticed that the leaves I’d piled near the scooter were intact, so that allegedly blows the wind theory.

I call the state police (I put them on speed dial since the last time). We can’t make a report of something like this, he said, but we’ll make note of it. Just like last time. At least he didn’t say It was probably just kids.

So, again, unless there was a freak wind gust, someone got away with my scooter cover when they allegedly tried to steal my scooter. Or maybe all they wanted was the cover — in that case, their mission was successful. This Dowco cover has the words PROPERTY OF CRYSTAL WATERS written on the inside with a magic marker, and may have the essence of cat pee around the back edge. I’d wanted to write some other choice words in case someone stole my cover again, but I didn’t want to assume someone would actually try it again.

For what it’s worth, the GTS is perfectly fine. It wasn’t tipped over, and no one messed with the ignition; no scratches, no damage. ::: knock on wood :::

I know that if a thief really really wants a scooter, they will find a way to get it. The only thing we can do is try to slow them down enough so that maybe they’ll move on. And we can buy good insurance.

Moral of the story: No matter how “safe” of a neighborhood you live in, lock your scooter. If it’s in your garage, lock it. If you lock it, add an alarm. If it’s windy, lock your scooter cover to your scooter. Actually, lock your cover to your scooter anyway.

::: sigh :::

I hope your day is going better than mine.