the burglary story

Someone broke into my car last night and stole the Blaupunkt Kiel CD30 cd-player-radio. Someone who apparently deserves to meet the stubborn brutality of soldiers in various parts of the world listen to 2 weeks of boring parliamentary speeches to experience the real meaning of pain. Or as Walter of Big Lebowski would put it: this is what happens when you **** a stranger in the ***. Anger….aaaarrgghhh!

Well, what you get is perfect blog content. After all, there’s nothing much I can do right now.

The irony:

• I had bought this cd player in 2001 – current street value for this aged, sometimes-not-so-well-working player should be something around EUR 15,-. A new, very basic cd player sells for about EUR 49,- in Germany. Hmmm…
• He (the thief) only stole the radio with the detachable front cover (which I had btw hidden under the passengers seat in an extra box). He also forgot to steal the cool extra of this radio – an auxillary audio cable which helps to connect external devices (cd, mp3, etc players) to the player. This didn’t stop him from searching throughout the car for anything else of value. Other electronic devices, such as a portable hands-free speaker and a car charger for my mobile have been ignored by this person. He even ignored a collection of about 50 burnt CDs.
• I keep a folding shovel in an extra box in the back of the car – he even opened it to search for hidden values. I guess he did this while searching for the front cover (the folding shovel is my ~ Safari heritage).
• It happened directly in front of my mum’s place on the street. I haven’t been here for about three months and only wanted to stay 1 night as I am currently moving goods to her place and this is why I had left the trunk of the car uncovered – which was empty despite of this tool box (and no tools have been stolen).
• This has happened before – one succesful attempt some years ago, and one unsuccessful attempt two years ago. It is a good neighbourhood, but it happens all over the city. Mind you, we are talking about the City of Bremen in Germany – and not Nairobi. Nairobi thiefs do it better, wiser and steal more stuff. Also, I wonder that he didn’t even touch the gasoline tank. The other day I doubled the value of my car by fully refueling it. A litre is about EUR 1,30 these days.
• To prevent this in future, I had installed something known as “armored door plates” – which are metal covers that sit around the locks in the doors. VWs, Audis and even Porsches of the late 1980s are known to this violability – they all come with the same locking system which can be opened within seconds using a Made-in-China screwdriver. Just apply this under the lock, push it inside and pull it up – click – the door opens. As I said – to prevent this, I had installed armored door plates. In vain, as it seems. But then, there’s no secure car on the market – even modern Mercedes-Benz and BMWs can be opened with proper tools within 30 seconds. Car manufacturers never talk about this but are well aware of the problem.
• My car is old. Really old. An ’89 Volkswagen Golf 2 where the only shiny part of paint is underneath the bonnet – the rest is covered with rust and dents. Who on earth would expect anything of value in such a car? Presumably only someone who enjoys opening old cars. Bastard…
• I had been working in the living room late last night and heard some noises outside. Thought about getting out and checking my car, but the lazy part in me persuaded me to stay inside. You see, it happened before and to my mind, the car was too old and too “unsexy” for burglary – and why on earth should they choose my car? Well, wrong thinking.
• While reporting this to the nearby police station, I met a couple who had the same problem. Apparently, there has been a series of raids on car radios late last night.
• My plans were to remove it from the car within the next few weeks, take it to Kenya and install it into Mbuzimoja’s Suzuki. In other words: it would have been stolen anyways – either here or later on in Nairobi.

Imagine me – I am very laid-back when it comes to my car. It is old, it has done its job and it will go into retirement by the end of September. Now imagine the majority of my fellow Germans – the car means SO MUCH to them. In fact, some ppl here don’t have children in order to afford luxuries like a good car. What about them, what about their hurt feelings?

Now let’s see if the insurance agrees to pay for this…as for now, I still have to realize what it’s like to drive without music. A horrible scenario…ngoma ni maisha!

Author: jke

Hi, I am an engineer who freelances in water & sanitation-related IT projects at Saniblog.org. You'll also find me on Twitter @jke and Instagram. View all posts by jke