Well someone finally managed to steal my bicycle, I suppose an applause is in order. Three different attempts in three completely different locations around St Petersburg in the last month, though sadly I didnt see it coming this time. I was parking overnight a good 5 miles north of the city around some familiar businesses like Target, Cold Stone, Panera Bread, Chipotle...Ive spent at least 20-30 nights in this parking lot as it has everything Jeffro needs to survive and saves me lots on gasoline! This time the bicycle was even tucked in its home position, squished between the rear garage door and the lift gate of the truck. The handlebars are really the only thing visible and I never worried too much about it here. I was asleep in the truck and remember waking up very briefly around 4am, not quite sure if it was a bad dream or what had awoken me but I ended up falling right back asleep within a matter of seconds. Sadly after 4 years of sleeping in your vehicle you get a bit numb to the noises, the street cleaners, the traffic and whatnot. Plus with the fan going, it all turns into white noise. Though a short while later came a huge thud and I re-awoke screaming obscenities at the top of my lungs. It is hard to describe the state of frantic. You just have no idea whats coming at you or how to react. Screaming in anger at an unknown assailant while simultaneously being scared beyond compare for your own life. Fumbling around in the dark, trying to find your flash light and a pocket knife which suddenly seem so insufficient for the task at hand. Cursing myself for not being able to quickly turn on my security cameras and see what Im up against. A thousand bucks would afford some quality solar batteries, enabling me to run the cameras 24/7 without the need for the generator but this was always money that I budgeted elsewhere for repairs. Are they waiting for me outside? Are they working on the lock and coming inside? I heard a few voices, how many of them are there? Do they know about all the musical equipment? Have they been following me? Suddenly I seem so unprepared for it all. Suddenly this safety bubble Ive been living in disappears, but not before reminding me that it was an illusion all along. All in all, Im left with the unavoidable truth that I am absolutely alone out here and in times of need the only ones who can hear my screams are the enemy. But now there is only silence. By the time I got out of the truck, there was no one around. I was amazed to find that even though my bicycle was gone the lift gate had been re closed. This must have been the noise that awoke me so violently the second time, as my lift gate can be opened somewhat gently but certainly not closed with the same finesse. Walking around the truck I turned the corner to find....what is this I see on the ground? A bicycle?! Not my bicycle, but THEIR bicycle?!? Their shitty little Schwinn bicycle?!?! This was all some punk kids?!!? Holy hell. Maybe 2 or 3 of them, up to no good at 4am and simply decided they wanted my bicycle. They were just about finished up when they closed the lift gate and I started screamin. One of them clearly took off running before remembering he had a bike of his own, dumbass. I picked up the bike and rested it on the truck. A few moments later as I continued to walk around, someone starts yelling at me from across the parking lot telling me how he saw the thiefs running away down the street. Still a little bewildered at the time and unable to reason much of anything, he started walking much closer without really offering any information and it dawns on me now that this was probably the damn kid who left his bike and was trying to get me to run off so he could snatch it back. What a trip man....absolutely dumbfounded, total disbelief. Im not sure what to think of it all but I took his damn bike and drove off. No good deed goes unpunished I suppose. It is time to make my safety a little higher priority. This means spending the extra gas to get to safer locations, investing in some new solar batteries so at least there is a little black box of security footage incase anything ever goes wrong, and maybe purchasing a better weapon for self defense. Nunchucks? Cross bow? What do you guys think? I really hope to help others with my life but cant do any good if Im dead or get my truck hijacked. So instead of starting a fundraiser to help me cover these new expenses, I am simply going to end this animal shelter campaign a bit early. Worry not as we all ready made it a success and managed to raise $768 in a little over two weeks time. Im excited to say that I still donated half of my earnings to help a cause greater than my own and I look forward to the future when I have more income to give. Ill repost once I divvy up the money and drop off the toys for everyone. Thanks to all the wonderful people who helped make it a success and I greatly appreciate your continued support. R.I.P. The grey Gary Fisher bicycle I purchased in Austin, TX two years ago. Twas a wonderful machine.
Posted on: Wed, 17 Dec 2014 16:23:43 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015