There Are A Lot of Pictures For This Post

I GOT MY CAR BACK!!!


So here's what happened:

Earlier today I got a call from a guy who said he found my registration in his car. His car had also been stolen on Friday - in South Salt Lake - and found at about 4 on Saturday morning in North Lake.

He said there was a lot of stuff in his car that wasn't his, and he hasn't seen my registration until he got home, but everything else was taken to the police station. 

I called NSLPD to follow up with them and was told to call Monday to get an idea of when I could go up there to look through the stuff that was collected (it needs to be processed first...). 

I had a really lousy night of almost no sleep, but sometime during the afternoon I was able to take a nap. A little while after waking up - at 6:15 - I got a call that I thought I recognized as SLCPD dispatch. I answered and... They found my car! Standard procedure is to have it towed to impound 20 minutes after finding it but I told her I was at least 30 minutes away (they found it in Sugarhouse) and she said she'd let the officer know. 

My visiting teacher took me up there, and the whole way up I was wondering what kind of condition it would be in. Brian (the guy who found my registration) said his car was in decent shape and that he'd have to get a few things fixed and cleaned up, but overall it was okay. So I was hopeful mine would be too. 

Here's the car after getting it home and before cleaning it up:

the little slot in the driver's side door. normally there's hand sanitizer, air freshener, etc. there.

thoughtful(?) enough to leave a cigarette in case i really needed to relax once i got my car back.

junk in front of the passenger seat.

damage to the steering wheel.

it's supposed to look like this.

where the only money in the car was kept - there's a little drawer that is supposed to go in that space.

other junk left on the passenger seat (that lotion is mine, but it doesn't go on the seat).

junk in the back seat. you can see that little drawer thing between the driver and passenger seats that was also ripped out - nothing was kept in there... ever. it's the pointless vandalism that bothers me the most. destruction for destruction's sake.

back seat junk.

there should actually be more stuff in the trunk - but all of it was organized before. i threw everything away except for the small dog bed, a bottle of unopened water, window washer fluid, and an ice scraper. other things that should be there - dog leashes, dog harnesses, extra oil, water, coolant, paper towels, clorox wipes, etc.

a syringe...

i don't want to know what's in there (looks kind of like gloves) - i just threw it away.

a bunch of tiny rubber bands dumped in the front seat.

this was from a ward party years ago. i never hung it up there though...

it belonged wrapped around the gear shift. it registered that they had moved it when i was driving home. i threw it away because i knew they had touched it.

close up of the syringe. i hope they didn't give my car a disease...

i found the horn cover in another place. i was able to put it back on, but now that side is super-sensitive. super, super sensitive. it'll take some getting used to.

and a pretty sunset while i was parked on the driveway cleaning out the car.

Other things that were taken: sunglasses (I bought $10 sunglasses earlier today), my tassel from graduating with my master's (it was looped around the gear shift), a bottle of love spell lotion that my sister gave me about 5 or 6 years ago that I've used multiple times (the bottle was definitely getting low, but I would have used it until it was empty if they hadn't taken it)... and other things that may come to me later, like when I reach for them and they're not there.

I'm so glad it's over.

On the positive side -

~ my visiting teacher was able to come right over and drive me up to get my car, and the officer was able to wait until we got there (he did call when we were just a few minutes away just checking to see where we were).

~ one of the positives from it being stolen was that I wouldn't need to transfer a bunch of stuff to another car. my car is so emptied out right now (glove box included) that it's almost like having a new car. very empty. very nice.

~ things could have been so much worse. there is some damage to it, but nothing that changes the way it drives.

~ I got rid of some things of mine just knowing that they had been touched - and I didn't like that feeling - so that helped with the decluttering.

~ things feel very sanitary now - I wiped down everything I could think of with multiple clorox wipes. I also febreezed the devil out of the whole interior. ever since I learned from this book that febreeze actually kills odors and doesn't just hide them, I feel like it's a good thing to use. (: I sprayed the interior to death and then left the doors open for a little while to let it dry off.

~ I have learned how to operate a club. they're really easy to use, but I had never used one before. and now, it's an accessory that my car will never be without (yes, I put it on tonight even though my car is parked inside a locked garage). the officer suggested getting one since some people have their cars stolen repeatedly. $22 from o'reilly auto parts. not too shabby.

~ lastly, my car has street cred now. (: AND, my parents can no longer ask the question, 'who would want to steal that car?' and i have a feeling (or at least a desperate hope) that this baby will last at least another year, giving me a chance to save more than what I would have gotten from insurance had it remained stolen.