I had my beloved Garmin GPS system mounted in my windshield while I ran into a mall for a few minutes. And someone apparently saw it and thought it was so nifty that they just had to have one.
In fact, they liked it so much, they just had to have that particular one.
Which is why I came back to the car and found all the glass from the front passenger window inside the front seat and the GPS–Majel II, as we’d nicknamed it–gone.
Whenever I leave the car I always, ALWAYS, take the GPS down out of the windshield and put it in between the front seats, away from prying eyes…except today. Except for this one dámņëd day where I was thinking about other things and left it where it was…this one dámņëd time…
And someone smashed his way into the car and took off with it.
SON OF A BÍTÇH! SON OF A FÙÇKÍNG BÍTÇH!!!!! MOTHER FÙÇKÊR!!! GODDAMMIT!
• 
There are, basically, two kinds of GHPS, though they overlap.
One is the kind Peter, i’m sure, had, which is designed to tell drivers where to go.
The other is the kind you buy your kids a cell phone with it built in (or a company puts it on their vehicles to tell them that the driver is goofing off in a rest area and then driving faster than the speed limit to get in on time).
The first type just reads its own position from the GPS satellite constellation and tells you where it (and, consequently, you)is (are?), and then consults its little internal records and tells you where to go. It is a receiver only.
The second type checks its location, and then either phones home and tells you where it is, or else it waits till you ask it and then it tells you. It is a transmitter or a transponder.
Very few of the ones sold for civilian road navigation have the “phone home” feature; if nothing else, they don’t have any way to do so.
====================
As to having stuff stolen:
Way back in ’92, i went to see Cirque de Soleil for the first time, when it was down on Twelfth Street, here in Atlanta. (Mrs. David will probably remember).
I parked up behind the High Museum.
Great show.
When i came back to my car, i discovered that the driver-side window had been smashed, and my radar detector, which (in my hurry, running late to meet my mother, brother and sister-in-law) i had left in place on the widshield (something i never did) had taken flight.
The expense of the broken window and the lost radar detector was one thing; the loss of five (literally) irreplaceable CDs (two of them discs that officially didn’t even exist) which the bášŧárd probably wouldn’t even have noticed if he hadn’t already been in the car was the real pain.
Also, I like Mr. David and his work. It hurts me to point out that he spent his hard-earned money…money that will shortly disappear, as writing will soon no longer be a paid profession
What…when did this happen? Why do I NEVER get the memos?
Posted by: Bill Myers at February 4, 2007 07:37 AM
By the by, if anyone reading this thread hasn’t had their car broken into, trust me, the broken glass gets EVERYWHERE and is a NIGHTMARE. When thieves smashed one of the windows of my girlfriend’s Jeep, the glass got into every imaginable crack and crevice, including the gearshift.
Not to mention he’s short a window in the dead of frelling winter.
-Rex Hondo-
” Why do I NEVER get the memos?”
You got the memo. You’ve just been too worried about fruitcakes.
Thomas E. Reed–first off, since I’m writing several things currently, mind telling us first, why writers will no longer be paid, and second, where you got this information? And second, I might be completely obtuse(oh, be quiet, Bills) but why does your ability to have a unit yourself and your lack of desire to own same affect your feelings over someone else having something stolen? And just as an aside, using your laptop while driving is kind of like juggling while trying to escape from a straightjacket. REALLY hard, and you’re bound to do neither very well.
But please understand if I have a slight lack of sympathy. After all, it is an item that I can’t afford, don’t want and consider a profound waste of money.
Bill Myers already said what I was thinking about this–the fact that someone has something I might not be able to afford in no way mitigates my sympathy toward him when it is stolen–but I’d also point out that this is kind of the attitude that makes stealing easy. The thief probably also has little sympathy for people who have more than they do and doubtlessly feels that his theft is no great moral crime.
Please understand that in no way am I suggesting that you are encouraging or enabling criminals. It’s just that we are all in this together and we can’t start deciding that some of us are less deserving of living free from criminal scum than others, which is how your comments came off.
Micha:
Nope, a GPS is a 100% passive device; it’s a receiver for very-low-frequency radio transmissions from the overhead constellation of GPS satellites.
In a nutshell: the GPS listens for transmissions from the satellites. Each one broadcasts a round-the-clock digital signal that says “I’m Satellite #18 and my internal clock says that it’s now 8.892 seconds past 7:51 AM” or somesuch.
Your GPS receiver can figure out how far away satellite #18 is by comparing that time with its own clock at the moment the timecode is received. It’s exactly the same as calculating how far away a lightning storm is, from the amount of time between the flash and the arrival of the BOOM! If you know the speed of sound, it’s simple math.
The GPS receiver knows where satellite #18 was at that precise instant because it has a built-in almanac that tells it where #18 ought to be in its orbit at this precise time of day. If the receiver can pick up transmissions from at least three satellites, it can calculate your precise location from simple triangulation. If it’s picking up at least four, it can calculate your position and your altitude.
It’s a common misconception that The Gummint (which owns the GPS constellation) or Big Business can track you via your GPS receiver. Again, unless it’s a device specifically designed to transmit your position somewhere (like a tracking GPS in a fleet vehicle), they’d have better luck using Google Earth. At least they have a shot at finding out where you were three years ago…!
Bill Mulligan, in case you haven’t noticed, YOU’RE writing for free. Right now. In fact, if you’re writing on your own Internet connection, you’re paying to have your words read.
The greatest fiction created by the WGA and the SFWA is that “money flows from the publisher to the writer.” The time when writers are paid for writing is coming to a close. No one will buy a book when they can read it, pirated or not, on their home computer. And no one will pay to read anything that is available on the Internet. (Witness how the New York Times attempt to get people to pay for reading their content failed.)
As for other venues, Hollywood has been doing its level best to eliminate the writer from the production process for decades. And given the quality of movies for the last few years, it’s easy to see that no writers were involved. Todd McFarlane insisted that writers were not necessary, and his comics sold well without anyone writing them. He just drew whatever violence he wanted and people snapped up the books. And as we all know, Todd’s brother Seth McFarlane has his series “Family Guy” written by manatees, who aren’t covered by any possible union.
Mr. David is making money now, and I think he’d agree that it’s not enough money, but the cloud no bigger than a man’s hand is on the horizon. Pretty soon, to pay for the privelege of writing, he’ll have to get a job at McDonald’s like us other former members of the American middle class. I’m glad I could clear up this matter for you.
Posted by: Thomas E. Reed at February 5, 2007 01:14 AM
Bill Mulligan, in case you haven’t noticed, YOU’RE writing for free. Right now. In fact, if you’re writing on your own Internet connection, you’re paying to have your words read.
People have been writing letters to their local newspapers long before there was an Internet. The conditions are the similar: you write for free, and if you want a copy of the newspaper in which your letter was published you have to pay for it. This did not result in throngs of paid writers losing their livelihoods and being sent to the poorhouse. Nor will the Internet.
Posted by: Thomas E. Reed at February 5, 2007 01:14 AM
The greatest fiction created by the WGA and the SFWA is that “money flows from the publisher to the writer.”
As long as writers are paid for manuscripts, this is not fiction but fact.
Posted by: Thomas E. Reed at February 5, 2007 01:14 AM
The time when writers are paid for writing is coming to a close.
Ah, yes. And the Millenium Bug will cause society to grind to a halt and the end of the world is nigh.
Posted by: Thomas E. Reed at February 5, 2007 01:14 AM
No one will buy a book when they can read it, pirated or not, on their home computer.
Really? Because having an Internet connection is becoming nearly as ubiquitous as owning a television. And yet I continue to see bookstores doing brisk business.
Posted by: Thomas E. Reed at February 5, 2007 01:14 AM
And no one will pay to read anything that is available on the Internet. (Witness how the New York Times attempt to get people to pay for reading their content failed.)
Witness how the Wall Street Journal’s attempt to do the same succeeded.
Besides, the New York Times online edition derives revenue from advertising (hence the advertisements you see there). Circulation revenue has never been the main source of revenue for newspapers — in fact, historically circulation revenue hasn’t been enough for newspapers to break even. That’s deliberate. Rather than charge an arm-and-a-leg for the newspaper, publishers derive the bulk of their revenue from advertising. That keeps the papers cheap enough that people will want to buy them, ensuring a large enough audience to justify premium ad rates.
So a lack of circulation revenue isn’t necessarily that big of a deal for the New York Times’ online edition.
Posted by: Thomas E. Reed at February 5, 2007 01:14 AM
As for other venues, Hollywood has been doing its level best to eliminate the writer from the production process for decades.
And failing. The vast majority of movies and T.V. shows still utilize paid writers.
Posted by: Thomas E. Reed at February 5, 2007 01:14 AM
And given the quality of movies for the last few years, it’s easy to see that no writers were involved.
You mean stuff “Battlestar Galactica” and “The Sopranos”? I have to imagine writers were involved with those and the myriad of other quality shows over the last several years.
“Survivor” and its ilk aren’t the only game in town. Not by a longshot.
Posted by: Thomas E. Reed at February 5, 2007 01:14 AM
Todd McFarlane insisted that writers were not necessary, and his comics sold well without anyone writing them. He just drew whatever violence he wanted and people snapped up the books.
Much of that was driven by a speculator bubble that has since burst. Todd McFarlane is no longer the force in comic books that he once was. So that example serves to undercut your thesis.
Posted by: Thomas E. Reed at February 5, 2007 01:14 AM
And as we all know, Todd’s brother Seth McFarlane has his series “Family Guy” written by manatees, who aren’t covered by any possible union.
Which was a joke written by paid writers.
Thomas, at the risk of repeating what my evil twin Bill Myers has already said (I’m currently operating on Eastern Sickly Time), the bookstores sprouting like weeds would seem to call into question whether or not people will pay for books. The number of magazines is huge and it seems as though there is at least one magazine for every niche market out there.
I do indeed write for free here (and y’all are getting your money’s worth) but there are a lot of people who have gone from writing on the internet to writing for paid gigs.–some of them ON the internet. Those captions at the Stolencelebritysextapes.com website didn’t just appear by themselves. The internet has provided a means of exposure for aspiring writers that was unheard of a few years back.
Even in the niche market of comics–which is by no means in a healthy situation–there are a lot of writers making a living. Looking back at classic 70s Marvel, how many writers were there? And other than Stan Lee how many were doing well?
To me, this is like saying that the use of CGI will throw all actors out of work. Don’t think so.
I stand corrected on the GPS thing. Thanks to everybody who has an understanding of the device.
————
I think even writers who write bad Hollywood scripts get paid for their work.
Oh, one addendum: it is hardly likely that Peter would end up forced to sling burgers at Mickey D’s should your prediction come true (which it most assuredly will not).
I work in sales and I can tell you that my writing skills have been invaluable and one of the biggest reasons for my success. Because I can write, and write well, I have been able to get appointments with busy high-level executives by sending them persuasive e-mails.
People who know how to write will always be in demand because in business communication is and always will be vital.
Andy–it MAY be a complete fiction, but it makes some DANDY tense moments in stories.
Just to add something to the Bills’ point–my esteemed friend Mr. Mulligan, while clever and verbose, doesn’t write anything here LOOKING for reinbursement. Somewhat a different situation than Mr. David coming out of his writing room with more manuscripts per day than the sky has stars and sending them in to see them packaged and published.
“I think even writers who write bad Hollywood scripts get paid for their work.”
Micha, my friend, I bloody well hope so, or I’ve wasted 16 years on this dámņ thing.
Cory Doctorow of BoingBoing, who comes from writing family, makes his published work available on his site — reserving only the creative commons license (you can pirate it as long as you credit him, with profits only allowed from third world markets).
His reasoning is that people who are too cheap to give him a try aren’t going to read him anyway. By making his published work available online, a relationship can be established with potential buyers that would not be established conventionally.
This policy has worked so badly his publisher has stooped to hiring Dave McKean to illustrate his covers.
At the top of Cory Doctorow’s personal homepage, he links to a service pirating his first novel for free email serialization. Check out his outrage: http://craphound.com/?p=1756
My Garmin (sounds like the same model… oddly, I named mine Geordi) was also stolen the ONE time I didn’t stash it in the glove compartment. I’d bought it for when I moved to Boston to ease the transition from Dallas. It almost always worked like a charm, except when you’d get right in the city, where the buildings seemed to confuse its reception. But as far as general travel, it was a charm.
The fault was all mine, as I’d made two trips to my vehicle to retrieve groceries, and accidentally left the passenger’s side door open when I left, so this time there was no broken glass to deal with. However, the theif did pass up some more lucrative stuff, such as credit card bills and a blank checkbook that I’d left in the front seat. I feel lucky.
Geordi served me well for the six months that I had him, and was well worth the price I paid on Amazon. I’m familiar enough now with Boston to get to most places I need to get to, so I haven’t replaced him yet. But I do miss the little bûggër.
-Ken
Posted by: Bill Myers
I remember Harlan talking about the girl who got all upset and just about called him a liar because he was claiming he wrote those incredibly wise words that Spock and Kirk spoke, implying that they were just actors reading a script…
And, judging by some recent lawsuits, the “reality” shows have writers, too – they just call them seomething else and pay less.
Posted by: Bill Mulligan
The number of magazines may appear huge, but is not at all large compared to what was on the stands forty, fifty or sixty years ago…
Indeed, i know of at least one person who gets paid for writing online reviews for Amazon – which i do for free. (And which i’d better get busy on again, ‘cos i’m about to slip out of the Top 1000.)
Which is not to say that Amazon passes his reviews off as regular customer reviews; they g into the “Editorial Reviews” section.
Posted by: Bill Myers
As i recall, Peter started in sales at Marvel.
Sorry for the misspelling of “reimbursement” up there. Misspelled words are one of my pet peeves.
I heard that every time Peter receives his share of a book’s sales, John Byrne chews the wings off of an angel. That kind of money spends twice as good money earned.
Thomas E. Reed,
“I do indeed write for free here (and y’all are getting your money’s worth) but there are a lot of people who have gone from writing on the internet to writing for paid gigs.–some of them ON the internet.”
Hëll, I’ll throw out at least one example. I picked up a book that Chris Rock was praising to the moon in one interview. It’s called The Broke Diaries. The thing started as a series of online blog postings by the author about her daily struggles of being dirt poor in the city and some of the things she did to get by. The postings displayed humor and style and got a following. The following generated buzz and got her a book deal. The book sold well and got featured as “book of the month” by several book clubs. She got paid to collect her online work in book form and it sold to more people then had ever heard of her blog postings.
I’m only giving that as an example because I can remember that one right off the top of my head. There have been a number of other books that started life as online blogs and gotten the blog writer a publishing contract. That trend seems to be the direction things are moving still and not the other way around.
Some websites do give you content for free, but many of the writers there also have pay for print gigs. Some magazines are going to the digital format only, but the reason most of them are going online only is because their sales weren’t getting them the profit they needed to survive. Most successful magazines use their magazine as their main format and just offer the online reader “exclusive” content that, when free, isn’t that big a deal. You want the really good stuff, you pay at the news stand or you whip out your credit card.
Are there websites or trends that, taken by themselves, might back up Thomas E. Reed’s theory? Yes, but only in the short term. There are sites that are part of larger businesses that are losing money each year in order to launch the next wave of online publishing. They’re kind of like the Fox News Radio. Right now, Fox News Radio is growing as the big syndicated news thing for radio stations to have as their top and bottom of the hour news provider. This isn’t solely due to popularity. They are under selling themselves and losing money, much as many new ventures from larger corporations can do, to get on as many stations as they can. Once they’re numbers are better, they’ll start charging the rates they need to make a profit.
Same thing here. There are a lot of websites out there that are operating in the red or just at the break even point. Some are trying to grow as is and some are holding out with crossed fingers for that big change in the market that Thomas says is coming. Well, lets say that Thomas is right and “free” online publishing washes away the paperback industry. People gotta make a living. People wanna make some $$$$. The year that paperbacks and magazine racks disappear is the year that you start paying premium bucks for a hëll of a lot of today’s “free” content on the web. Businesses will always get money from the consumer, CEO’s will always find ways to get rich and good writers will always get paid for there work. And guys like me will just keep tapping away and blogging on their sites.
seems to me the unit should be trackable if you have the ESN #. As soon as they plug it in in should be able to be pinged somehow.
To me, this is like saying that the use of CGI will throw all actors out of work. Don’t think so.
Bill Mulligan, you are wrong! Look at movies like the LOTR trilogy, where they use CGI to portray one of the most complex and interesting characters in the series, Gollum! Do you see any actor there? All they need was some fancy CGI, and then a motion-capture suit worn by an, uh, actor… well, he only did the motions, and then they did those fabulous facial expressions based on, the… uh, same actor… but what about that voice? Yeah, his voice! That was done by, uh, the same actor again. Rats. Never mind. 😉
Sorry to hear about the GPS, PAD.
I wonder how long it is before pørņø producers–always the folks on the cutting edge of turning technology into profit–start using CGI to make x-rated entertainment with dead actors. Humphrey Bogard and Ingrid Bergman in the scenes tehy could never show from Casablanca, that sort of thing.
True, cgi characters do not have the ability to show the normal range of emotions that a real human can but the same is true of pørņ actors so this seems a nice fit.
“I wonder how long it is before pørņø producers–always the folks on the cutting edge of turning technology into profit–start using CGI to make x-rated entertainment with dead actors. Humphrey Bogard and Ingrid Bergman in the scenes tehy could never show from Casablanca, that sort of thing.”
I saw (part of) this documentry about the famous directors that started in the 70’s. and one guy claimed that George Lucas — who did not like to direct — told him the thing to go into is pørņ, since it requires less effort. and this guy said that George Lucas might have gone into pørņ and would have become even richer.
Didn’t the movie Sky Captain use CGIs of Lawrence Olivier (spl?)?
Peter,
Sorry to hear about the theivery. That sucks.
Humphrey Bogart pørņ?
The power fantasy of Rick taking advantage of Ilsa may be potent enough for interest in a computer-generated encounter in Casablanca.
But a happy, naked Humphry Bogart, with his big head, his skinny arms, and the box he has to stand on so Ingrid Bergman won’t look down on him? Why don’t you ask for Charley Allnut pørņ while you’re at it?
“Didn’t the movie Sky Captain use CGIs of Lawrence Olivier”
My impression was that they just used old footage of Olivier, spiced up with some cgi hoodoo.
Itw ould actually be quite simple to use motion capture on a real actor and replace their features with that of anyone you choose, though it is much much harder to make realistic humans than a fantasy character like Gollum. we are so used to seeing real people that any slight difference in the way the computer renders them becomes apparent and looks disturbing–the creepy Tom Hanks from Polar Express gives me the Flying Monkey willies.
(I read an article a while ago–wish I’d saved it–that postulated something tot he effect of that this is why robots will look robotic instead of human. The more they look like us the more creeped out we are by them, while a totally robotic Robby The Robot or Lost in Space Robot are less likely to inspire fear.)
“I read an article a while ago–wish I’d saved it–that postulated something tot he effect of that this is why robots will look robotic instead of human. The more they look like us the more creeped out we are by them, while a totally robotic Robby The Robot or Lost in Space Robot are less likely to inspire fear.”
I dunno. Cheney got elected, he’s pretty dámņ robotic. Scary too.
Human-like robots freaking out humans?
Jeez, I can think of about twenty Sci-Fi shows and movies without even trying that have played with that concept. Isaac Asimov touched on that in his Robot novels as well.
If you read the bit online, you may have read it on MSNBC or BBC. They’ve been doing a lot of stuff around the “Sculptor roboticist” David Hanson’s work (as he’s pushing the designs and concepts a bit) and the Japanese Female Robot Q1Expo.
Q1Expo. That’s the one that freaks me out the most. It almost does look human in photos and it doesn’t look a whole lot less real on video footage unless it has to do large movements.
After typing that bit, I had to find a link for anyone who has never seen anything on Q1Expo.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4714135.stm
Better. Go to Wikipedia and put Actroid or Q1Expo into the search.
Human-like robots freaking out humans?
Jeez, I can think of about twenty Sci-Fi shows and movies without even trying that have played with that concept. Isaac Asimov touched on that in his Robot novels as well.
I finally remembered what it was I was thinking about–“Uncanny Valley” theory. Basically it states that as robots become more and more human-like in appearance they will be more warmly regarded–until a certain point is reached, where the robot is almost identical to humans but not quite their. Then a level of revulsion sets in. Further refinements to to design will eventually return the positive emotional response to the robot’s appearance.
Yeah, read about that one. Getting past the Uncanny Valley point is the thing people who see Hanson’s work have the most problems with. He talks about it in most of the things that I’ve read about him and his work.
Strangely, I don’t see too much about it in the stuff about the Japanese people’s reactions to their human-like robots.
Aw, crap. I work with a guy that’s obsessed with Asian women, and he’s always said if he could have a living Asian doll….
Aw, crap.
Remember when the Final Fantasy movie came out? Our local paper ran a full page article on it, with the main character rendered not in her spacesuit or whatever she wears(sorry, didn’t have time to see the movie) but in a bikini. You know, because they could. And as much as photorealistic CG is pretty cool, I still kinda prefer pen and ink for animation.
“And as much as photorealistic CG is pretty cool, I still kinda prefer pen and ink for animation.”
Oh, yeah. I will fight to my last breath over how well done, traditional animation, or animation that has been, at most, just tweeked by computer animation, is head and shoulders better then computer animation in 9 out of 10 cases.
…and that tenth case would, I’m guessing, be either The Simpsons or Futurama, both of which are and were digitally animated while looking like traditional cel animation…
As for the idea that the time of writers getting paid to write is coming to an end, here’s something to consider: Most of us who write, but not for a living, have to do other things to support ourselves and our families. This is part of the reason that not everyone sits down and writes that novel or comic or TV series they’ve had in their head for years (another part of it is that a lot of people don’t want to write something as much as they want to have written something). If it becomes impossible to make a living by writing, then a lot of people who currently support themselves that way will have to stop writing (or cut way back, perhaps limiting themselves to blogs)and find other employment.
Also, many animation companies, particularly in japan, have moved to the use of “digital cels,” scanning the douga/genga and digitally inking, coloring, and then animating them, saving considerable time and material.
-Rex Hondo-
“…and that tenth case would, I’m guessing, be either The Simpsons or Futurama, both of which are and were digitally animated while looking like traditional cel animation…”
Actually, I was going to go the other way and praise some top notch CGA work. I was a big fan of some of The Mind’s Eye DVD’s animation back in the day and there has been some CGA films that looked really good. Even the Simpsons and South Park look good because the animation style fits the show. Most of the CGA that I dislike has been from things done on the computer, seemingly, just because they could.
I believe that they used the technique that Rex mentions on Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust and the new Appleseed to differing degrees. Bloodlust’s just seemed to fit better. It’s all personal taste, though. Even if mine just happens to be right.
🙂
It really sucks to have your šhìŧ stolen. It’s one of the worst forms of invasion. I remember visiting a friend at Columbia Presbyterian hospital in New York. I parked my car on 169th street and Broadway (in a housing area owned by the hospital and lived in by hospital employees).
As I was walking back to my car, I saw a guy leaning all the way into my vehicle– through the passenger side window he had just broken. He was stealing my stereo (and no, to this day I do not know why he just didn’t open the passenger door… I am guessing he didn’t want to sit in the shattered glass).
This is during the middle of the day and dozens of people were literally walking right past the guy as he did his dirty work.
I walked up to the guy and punched him hard between the ášš cheeks– causing him to slam his head into the bottom of the dashboard and stun himself. I then reached in and grabbed his shirt (a button down one) and violently ripped it apart and pulled it behind his back– temporarily locking his arms to his side.
I then pulled him out of my car by his belt.
I am proud to say that his head bounced off the hood of my car just like stuntmen’s heads bounce off cars in the movies.
I have two comments about the incident:
1) Thanks, Dad, for making me watch all those Clint Eastwood and Charles Bronson movies.
2) Even though I know I “made the days” of (2) NYC cops when they came to collect the “master thief”– I still hated the fact that someone had violated my privacy and screwed with my stuff.
Sorry to hear of your loss, Peter.
P.S. Apartment residents and/or city dwellers: If you park in a “secure” garage, take your personal šhìŧ (papers, documents that can identify you and your vehicle with your social security number, etc.) AND your garage door opener OUT of the car with you EVERY TIME you park your car. Yeah, it’s a hassle…BUT GET USED TO IT.
Otherwise, I’ll be forced to write about the time I had my car parked in a “secure” garage in Los Angeles– then had it stolen, then had the thieves call ME five days later… threatening to KILL both my girlfriend and I if I didn’t give them $5,000!
Otherwise, I’ll be forced to write about the time I had my car parked in a “secure” garage in Los Angeles– then had it stolen, then had the thieves call ME five days later… threatening to KILL both my girlfriend and I if I didn’t give them $5,000!
You should have given them the number of the last guy who tried to steal stuff from you. They would have seen that they were lucky.
Ðámņ, man, who are you in real life, Chuck Norris? If it had been me telling this story it would have ended with the line “the next thing I heard was the team of surgeons…”
I love how I read this and thought “Fûçkìņ’ New York!” and then proceeded to leave my car unlocked at my girlfriends apartment while I slept over only to come out in the morning and here her say, “Shawn, why is your door open?” to which my only respnse was, “Oh, so someone could steal my IPOD.” That dámņ ipod cost more than my ghetto-ášš car.
Grantedd, it was still only half the price of one of those garmins, but it’s still a pìššër, and I totaly relate to the pissedoffness.
i had my tomtom 300 stolen from my car on frebruary 26 along with my sunglasses and photos of kobe and jordan i got at all star weekend. i typed in google if i could find my gps once its activated then i found this site. i could know how its like man!