The thieves knew what they wanted, I like to picture them with a list in hand, something written neatly in cursive on a "from the desk of..." notepad:
Things to get from old Saturn today ~ catalytic converter, pipe, muffler, rear bumper, interior center panel, various and random parts of air filter, battery cover, air filter cover, manual, pennies covered in spilled soda, map of San Francisco and an anti theft club.

And there you have it, they were able to cross everything off their list. Does it exceed the value of the car? But of course! But that's okay, this body shop knows us now and they know what cheap skates we are. Used parts? Bring em on! Hey, here's a little something from the pick and pull down the street, we could use that. And thus a car is reborn.
I have to admit the manual missing hurt my heart a little, because it had Geraldine Ethel's actual signature, but I think I'll be okay.

So things are looking up, it seems as though we'll have the car back soon, and the cable guy actually came on Saturday... and he rocked my world by doing a little something he called "my special trick". My special trick allows me to now watch crap like Trading Spaces, I Love the 80's and Queer Eye (which I've never seen before) for the same low price of cheap-ass cable.

I'm starting to wonder if it's true that for everything the Universe takes from me (I know, I'm dealing with material objects here, but allow me to be shallow this week, it feels good) I get something kind of cool back. Now I'm just waiting for that dream job...