paranoia

sometimes i have this recurring, somewhat totally unfounded panic: that my car is being stolen at that very moment.

now, i have never had a car get stolen. i always make sure to lock the doors and set the car alarm, which not only makes an incredibly annoying sound (especially when i accidentally set it off in the middle of the night -- an all too frequent occurrence), but it disables the ignition if not deactivated properly. i live in a pretty safe neighborhood (despite the drug dealers we got arrested middle of last year because they set up shop out in front of the house -- ssshh, don't tell my mom).

but really, this stolen car panic hits me out of the blue too frequently.

and usually, i run through a pretty consistent train of thought:

"did i lock the doors?"

"i think i remember clicking the button ... and i think i remember hearing the alarm set."

"yeah, pretty sure i saw the headlights turn on."

"okay."

"well, but wait -- do i have anything valuable in there anyway?"

"computer's at the house ..."

"do i have any client files in there?"

"no, i think i took all those to the office."

"okay."

"okay."

"..."

"what about in my trunk?"

"anything valuable in there?"

"the glove box?"

"sitting in plain sight on the passenger seat??"

that's the point when i realize how ridiculously paranoid i am being. and i try to force myself to forget about it and not rush out to check.

of course, i am always quite happily relieved to walk out (run?) to the car when it's time to leave and see little reggie sitting and waiting for me. he's such a good boy.

today was one such panic.

i arrived at stake conference about 17 minutes late, found a great parking space, and hurried in, all the while attempting to text guilt trip one of my friends into coming to stake conference, to no avail. oh, well.

i found a seat next to a cute couple in my ward and settled in to listen to the talks when the panic started.

so ... here we go ...

"did i lock the doors?"

"i think i remember clicking the button ... and i think i remember hearing the alarm set."

"yeah, pretty sure i saw the headlights turn on."

"okay."

"well, but wait -- do i have anything valuable in there anyway?"

"computer's at the house ..."

"do i have any client files in there?"

"no, i think i took all those to the office."

"okay."

"okay."

"..."

"what about in my trunk?"

and that's when i remembered that i already catalogued the trunk. [*sigh* *of* *relief*!]

now, if anyone actually does steal my car, i already know what to claim on my insurance!

wait -- does insurance cover trunk contents? hmm.

well ... if not, i guess i have a shopping list for replacing all that stuff myself!