Being thankful for the good things

Well, it would be fair to say that Sunday wasn't the best day ever. Not only did it rain miserably hard all day long, the Seahawks got absolutely hammered by a depleted Steelers lineup, and the effing Yankees staved off elimination thanks to Benedict Arnold. But as the family and I returned from Lummi Island yesterday afternoon, I discovered what was to be my true day ruiner.

As we pulled in the alley to park the van, I got out to move the Nissan, which had been parked outside the garage door. Walking up to the car, it looked as if a seagull had dive bombed the car: it was absolutely covered in what initially looked like berry droppings. But as I got in the vehicle, I found my contents scattered throughout in a manner of messiness that even I don't display. Someone had broken into my car.

Their mode of entry: punching a hole in the rear passenger window & opening the back door. In the end, I lost over 100 CD's going back to my high school days, a pair of Nike Air Max hoop shoes, 2 bags full of books, and my journal, which had a year's-worth of memories scribed in its pages. As for the berries, someone had gone out of their way to smear them all over the exterior, making for another annoying mess comparable to what happened a few weeks ago.

You obviously play the what-if game when crap like this happens. Why did I park in the alley instead of the well-lit street? How come I left all those items of personal and financial value sitting as prey in the Nissan? How lazy is that? Regardless, getting your car pillaged through is so violating that I almost would prefer them stealing my car and taking everything. The capper is that auto insurance doesn't cover personal property theft, and that while home owner's insurance does, the deductible for a claim is $1,000 and they will charge us a new "file claim" fee on our yearly insurance for actually seeking help. So basically I'm completely screwed, pissed, and depressed about the incident all at the same time.

I guess there is plenty to be happy about. The kids - for the most part - are healthy again. The Red Sox absolutely dismantled the Angels to advance to the ALCS. My fantasy football team - Mr. Ping Ping, named after this guy - is about to go 4-1, thanks to Tony Romo, Reggie Wayne, Dallas Clark, & company (My roster is sick, considering I drafted 14th out of 14 teams). Oh yeah, a guy named Kevin plays for the local basketball team...I better keep my chin up. If I'm still sad, I guess this can always make me laugh: