It’s a terrible feeling knowing that my car was stolen from my own driveway. It’s made me paranoid. Last night I had a lot of friends over, and there were 10-15 cars along the curb. Every twenty minutes, I walked outside and paced up and down the street to see if any car had been broken into. We were playing doubles in ping pong, and I spaced out in the middle of an intense volley. I gave someone my paddle and stepped outside to walk up and down the street–for the fifth time.

I’m trying to have a good attitude about this whole stolen car situation, but I cannot deny how much it sucks. I don’t know why they chose my car and not another. I don’t know if its the last time something of mine will get stolen, or if this is the beginning of more thefts. I don’t know how someone can justify stealing someone else’s car. I paid for that car with my own money that I worked for, and they took it all away in less than ten seconds.

I’m trying to think of creative ways to protect my cars. It’s a tough situation at the house because I have a two-car garage. Matt Maher’s GTI is in one spot, and my ‘54 Chevy is parked in the other. I don’t want to put my pimp ride on the curb, and I don’t think it’s fair to kick Matt Maher out of the garage so I can fit in a second car.

I’m going to get a Club for the steering wheel, and an alarm. That will take care of theft, considering it already has a lot of modern anti-theft gizmos. I’m going to put more lights on the outside of my house too. Some will be motion-sensor, others will be on through the night.;

One option is to create a tasteful gravel parking spot in my backyard for my Chevy and park my Element in the garage for easy in-and-out daily life. I have a side gate that gives easy access to the backyard, so all I really need to do is re-think how to finish my landscaping project that I began last fall. I’d need to find a good-fitting car cover to protect it while it is parked. It doesn’t rain much in Arizona, so this is more just to protect the car from the sun and from paint scratches.

Another option is to park the Chevy under my covered patio outside of my dining room. Although it sounds a little irrational at first, it could actually add a lot of rock ‘n’ roll to my house. With the right lighting, it could become a piece of art to add some excitement to my otherwise predictable home. I just think it’d be cool to be able to admire it while I’m lounging around the house.

This idea of having a car in my house has been with me since I was ten years old. I watched a sitcom in the 80s called “My Two Dads” because they lived in a hip loft. One of the dads had a sofa that was made to look like a classic big-fendered 40’s hot rod. I couldn’t imagine anything cooler than that. So maybe it’s time to make it happen.