the bicycle thief

there is a saying... "like a thief in the night"
sure enough
it happened
by a thief in the night
lisa's bicycle was stolen last night
quietly... without witness

we do not usually leave her bicycle outside overnight
the kids bikes can often be outside
the adult bikes seldomly stay outside
we just spaced out and did not put it back in the garage after her ride to radius pizza with the boys
bummer
the bike was not even a season old
still breaking it in
now it is gone

the thief or thieves came in with a certain amount of respect
closingthe gate and the latch on the after they left
very well raised theives
even when my neighbors cut through the back gate... they never things as they should

it is a violation

it is an awkward feeling knowing that someone entered my backyard as I slept
not waking the dog
not waking us
not leaving so much as a footprint
just a vacancy where the bicycle had been
coming and going as they pleased
taking whatever they wanted

they wandered about out backyard
snatched a bicycle that was not visible from the alley

lisa noticed the missing bicycle first thing this morning
I was out of the house with the dog by seven am
walked the dog through the woods
thieves often grab stuff and ditch if for later pick up
did not see the bike
went through a paranoid algorithm
walked into the woods by 'screaming man's' camp
bruce fields is the name of the freak that camps in the woods
had the dog with me
screaming man was half awake and mumbling to himself
a vietnam vet and a mental patient on or off medication
he twitches, he screams, he talks to himself
he seems harmless enough
i am not sure if he steals... but it was worth a look
I made mention of the missing bike as i scanned his tarp covered camp for my wife's bicycle
no dice rock slice
not much more than some trash and some junk he salvaged from the trash cans
then went deeper past his camp
still thinking it could be in the area
wishful thinking

did a loop through another section of woods with the dog
then went home and got into the car
drove around guessing for the bicycle
saw all sorts of people on all sorts of bicycles

every bicycle looked like a stolen bicycle
it is not fair to make that judgement
but... it is pretty standard
if the person is not upper middle class or that person is not a bicycle enthusiast
then it is usually questionable why that person would have a bicycle valued greater than seven hundred and fifty bucks

there were many people on suspect bikes
there was not anyone on a women's specific specialized rock hopper comp

bummer

went by the unitarian church at 16th and columbia
thought maybe tommy could be a suspect
sometimes people just can not help themselves
tommy had been doing some yard work for me
a job that he started and has not finished
did not see tommy
did not see the bike
again... wishful thinking

our insurance deductable is too high to cover this
we have to just swallow the loss
that sucks
people suck
once again I brush with a person who will never contribute to society
only take
so many people are vacuums... leeches... parasites

on with my day
a shitty way to start the weekend