More Precious Than Gold

After a wonderful week in South Dakota, the sad fact is that the journey home was much less pleasant. I’ll spare the details but suffice to say that for 11 hours we had masks on continuously save for a blessed 45 minutes sitting at a table at Smashburger in the Denver airport eating burgers and drinking vodka.

Our flight to SFO was delayed, then after we boarded we sat on the ground for another 45 minutes because we had lost our place in the take off queue. This plane crammed a remarkable number of people into a confined space, and when Stoker looked at the way my knees folded against the seat in front of me since there was no place else for them, she remarked that I must be uncomfortable. Really darling, what gave you that idea?

We skipped the overpriced and under iced airline vodka, and eventually arrived at SFO. The bus home was considered ‘private transport’ so we didn’t have to wear the masks. Finally around 12:30 AM our bus arrived at the location where our cars were parked. We were both looking forward to getting home to a glass of Cote du Rhone and a reunion with Luke the Dog.

I put the bags in my Honda Element and fired it up. There was a huge roar, and I thought the plane had followed us to Stockton and was attempting to land. But I shut off the engine and the noise went away. I tried to start the engine again, and the same thing happened. Then the light bulb went on and I realized someone had stolen the catalytic converter.

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Shock was soon replaced by fury. The tour company paid for permission to use this lot. There was 24 hour live person security. There were surveillance cameras. Didn’t seem to matter. Everyone had waivers in place of course, but that didn’t stop me from making a few heated remarks about the state of affairs.

Our tour guide was incredibly helpful. She got her husband to come and give Stoker a lift to Casa Brumby in case Luke the Dog needed to go outside to go. I waited for the Deputy to arrive to take my non-emergency report. The Deputy was sympathetic but told me not to get my hopes up regarding recovery and arrest. He said he had taken hundreds of these reports and made a grand total of 1 arrest. Probably released without any jail time either, it being a non-violent offence.

Finally I got home and opened that bottle of Cote du Rhone. Luke was glad to see me and jumped into my lap, but he must have sensed tension because he soon left for his other chair which he allows Stoker to share. I did limit us to a single bottle although I was sorely tempted.

None of the other cars was touched. I have since learned that Honda catalytic converters from models circa 2002-2012 are favored by the catalytic bandits. The Element has the added benefit of a high ground clearance which makes it much easier to crawl under with a cordless Sawsall and cut the muffler.

Thieves target catalytic converters because they contain precious metals, like platinum, palladium or rhodium, that are valuable to metal dealers. Honda converters on older models are favorites because they contain more of these metals than run of the mill converters. And the prices of these metals have soared recently, so thefts are epidemic, and no location is safe. My brother has a motor home he parks under cover at a locked storage facility surrounded by a 10 foot chain link fence. Some gang scaled the wall and took around 15 converters in one raid. Including his.

For the past two days I’ve been dealing with towing companies and repair shops and insurance claims agents and adjusters. I must say that I have been treated very well by these folks. The adjuster and the shop agreed on a price, a whopping $3500! But I only have to pay $250 of that. I have a nice rental car, much nicer that the my poor old Element, for free. Everything went smoothly and quickly and my financial loss is minimal.

But I’m really disturbed by how crimes like this are so prevalent and nothing seems to happen to the perpetrators. My out of pocket costs are minimal, but the cost to society is much larger since insurance companies have to make a profit and increased claims mean higher rates. Same for retail prices: thanks to cell phone cameras and the internet we can see brazen incidents of shoplifting daily. People walk into stores and walk out with bags full of stuff, and nothing happens. The State says they won’t prosecute cases and the store employees are told not to confront the thieves lest the situation escalate to violence and someone get hurt.

Over the years I’ve had two nice bikes stolen, and we suffered home break ins at Casa Brumby and at a house we were renting in Phoenix. Add the catalytic converter to the list. The Bible advises us to forgive those who trespass against us. But it also suggests appropriate punishments along the lines of ‘an eye for an eye’. I guess I’m kind of an Old Testament type.