By hook or by crook, my ’88 Honda Accord is slowly disappearing. First, my fifth gear disappeared while I was on the Mass Pike. Then, this evening, I discovered that my radio had disappeared while my car was parked outside my house. Now I realize, many would not call it “theft” if my car was unlocked at the time, and I felt a little too stupid to be too put out by the whole thing, but it’s annoying, nonetheless. I’ve left my car unlocked more than once in the last four years – I even left my driver’s side window open for a week once, with no ill results – and have always been pleased to find nothing missing when I realized my mistake. This time, though, when I approached my car and saw the lock in the up position, I had a feeling my luck had run out. At least the thief properly unplugged and unscrewed everything, so the hole that remains isn’t too ragged and unsightly. I’ll have to cover it up with something before long.

I’ve had the car for nearly seven years now, and I still remember digging around under the dashboard one summer afternoon in the parking lot at work in Greenwich, installing the new Kenwood CD-Receiver I bought from Crutchfield. I had driven on the wretched I-95 stretch from Greenwich to school in Fairfield countless times in my first two years there without a cd player in the car, and almost felt stupid finally installing one my last year on the job, but it was immediately worth it. I got my baseball education listening to Yankees games driving home from class on that stereo, and with my iPod at home and computer at work, my car had become the only place I ever listened to cds over the last two years. It will be missed, though I’ll probably end up getting a new ride before I get a new stereo.