Someone got into my garage last night..

[il Padrino Ute]

Whoever it was stole my bicycle and vandalized my wife's van by spray painting several obscenities all over it. The spray paint was from a few cans that we had in the garage. Nothing else that I'm aware of was stolen.

I blame myself for access to the garage, as I may have forgotten to lock the door to get in from the backyard.

I can deal with the bike being stolen, but it really ticks me off that the thief decided to vandalize the van.

My initial suspicion is that it is the teenage brothers who live behind us. I once caught them shooting paint balls at the back of my house before and they didn't like that I hopped the fence and took them to their parents by the collars of their jackets to talk about it.

[Archaea]

I am not normally a violent man, but the theft of my bikes would rise to the level of justifying almost any level of retribution.

[il Padrino Ute]

Originally Posted by Archaea

I am not normally a violent man, but the theft of my bikes would rise to the level of justifying almost any level of retribution.

Don't get me wrong - I am ticked about the bike being stolen, but I can deal with it. I just don't like that the van was vandalized. My wife doesn't need the headache of her transportation being out of commission until we can get it repainted.

[Archaea]

Originally Posted by il Padrino Ute

Don't get me wrong - I am ticked about the bike being stolen, but I can deal with it. I just don't like that the van was vandalized. My wife doesn't need the headache of her transportation being out of commission until we can get it repainted.

I agree defacing a vehicle is horrible as well.

Losing a bike would mess me up to no end. Fortunately I have another. Losing both, and somebody might have to institutionalize me or conceal the perpetrator in Iran.

[il Padrino Ute]

Understood.

I'm not as attached to my bike as you are to yours, but if someone were to take even one baseball from my Brooks Robinson shrine, I would go ballistic.

I can always replace my bike - maybe upgrade it now that I have a reason to do so. I've gotten to know the owner of the little bike shop close to my house rather well and he's always told me that he'll give me a good deal on the previous year's models.

[Archaea]

Originally Posted by il Padrino Ute

Understood.

I'm not as attached to my bike as you are to yours, but if someone were to take even one baseball from my Brooks Robinson shrine, I would go ballistic.

I can always replace my bike - maybe upgrade it now that I have a reason to do so. I've gotten to know the owner of the little bike shop close to my house rather well and he's always told me that he'll give me a good deal on the previous year's models.

The attachment is not the bike itself per se, but being able to bike. Ordering the types of bikes I ride takes time. I have not gone more than seven days without riding since I started. If I could not ride for weeks or months, I believe I might start drinking heavily or go out with strippers.

[il Padrino Ute]

Originally Posted by Archaea

The attachment is not the bike itself per se, but being able to bike. Ordering the types of bikes I ride takes time. I have not gone more than seven days without riding since I started. If I could not ride for weeks or months, I believe I might start drinking heavily or go out with strippers.

Understood. It's not the bike, it's what you do with the bike.

I need to ride to get exercise. My knees can't take running.

[SteelBlue]

Go over to the neighbors house and tell the boys that you have witnesses who saw them go into the garage. Tell them if they admit to it then you'll leave the cops out of it. You might get lucky enough to have them confess.

[BarbaraGordon]

Sorry to hear about this, Il Pad.
That's just not cool.

Hopefully your shopowner friend will set you up with a great bike at a good price.

[il Padrino Ute]

Originally Posted by SteelBlue

Go over to the neighbors house and tell the boys that you have witnesses who saw them go into the garage. Tell them if they admit to it then you'll leave the cops out of it. You might get lucky enough to have them confess.

I gave this a try, but they were pretty adamant about their innocence until my brother-in-law - who is a Sheriff's deputy - showed up to help put a bit of pressure on the kids in front of their parents. They then rolled on one of their friends who was the guilty party.

Apparently, last week, my wife had gone out in the backyard and yelled at them for throwing snowballs at our 8 year old and his friends and they weren't pleased about it. Their friend who was the one who actually threw the snowballs decided that he was going to get even. So he got into the garage and vandalized the van and decided to take the bike because the opportunity was there.

Long story short - the kid was arrested for vandalism and will most likely end up with comunity service, but he took the bike somewhere and dumped it. When we went to see if we could retrieve it, it was gone. His parents have decided to pay for the van to be painted and will replace my bike. Because of their generous offer, I'l get the same model I had before.