I was almost early to work this morning. That is, until I noticed that someone had shattered the driver's side window of my car, stealing my digital camera, radar detector and cheap sunglasses.
In the 13 years after college that I've lived in Milwaukee, I've never had anything stolen from a car -- until now. In 1996, someone smashed the rear window of my Toyota Tercel outside The Mad Planet, but they didn't take anything. This theft, however, will be expensive.
After a call to my insurance agent, I learned that the items inside the car are covered by my homeowner's policy, not my auto insurance. So, the value of my digital camera, memory card and radar detector, probably around $500, are below the deductible. I'm still getting quotes for the replacement of the window -- but the best so far is from Autoglass Specialists at $325 -- which is also below the deductible on my auto coverage.
Guess I learned my lesson about leaving a tiny digital camera only partially hidden in the armrest.
Money aside, I'm just really bummed out that someone would break into a car, parked on the apron of my garage, for a used camera, radar detector and Target sunglasses. Fixing this problem is not just a hassle, but it leaves me concerned about the safety of my neighborhood.
Random acts of crime are just that -- random. Or maybe they're crimes of opportunity.
Either way, I'm out at least $500 today, probably more, if I want to replace everything. Sure, it could be worse -- it always could be, and I'm blessed to be solvent enough that I won't have to be one of those drivers with a plastic bag taped to their window for months. But right now, that's a small consolation. This was an unbudgeted, unnerving expense, and it really stings.
Andy is the president, publisher and founder of OnMilwaukee. He returned to Milwaukee in 1996 after living on the East Coast for nine years, where he wrote for The Dallas Morning News Washington Bureau and worked in the White House Office of Communications. He was also Associate Editor of The GW Hatchet, his college newspaper at The George Washington University.
Before launching OnMilwaukee.com in 1998 at age 23, he worked in public relations for two Milwaukee firms, most of the time daydreaming about starting his own publication.
Hobbies include running when he finds the time, fixing the rust on his '75 MGB, mowing the lawn at his cottage in the Northwoods, and making an annual pilgrimage to Phoenix for Brewers Spring Training.
