Fun times…not

My wallet was stolen out of my car yesterday. Late in the day I decided to get off my lazy duff and go walk around the Rose Bowl as I do nearly every day but usually much earlier. By the time I got there yesterday it was pretty empty. But I parked near other cars, tossed my purse in my trunk, locked the car, and headed out. An hour later I got back to an unlocked car, and immediately knew I had been robbed. Sure enough, my purse was on top of the bags I had hidden it under in the trunk, minus my wallet. You’re always in shock when something like that happens - you think, did I somehow leave my wallet at home? Did it drop under the car? But no. Somebody had watched me put my stuff in the trunk and had managed to get into my car, either with some clicker skeleton key, or the car sensor had unlocked itself as I walked away (this wouldn’t be the first time that has happened), because I remember walking around to lock the door, so I know I didn’t forget to lock it. The idea of someone watching me, when I was mostly alone on this long trail, really gave me the creeps. I always carry pepper spray, but still. There was a shady looking guy sort of meandering on a bike. I’m pretty sure it was him. He clearly was not there for a work out. 

So, a few frantic hours calling to cancel the three credit cards and three debit cards in my possession (none had any charges), and having to call my health insurance since the next day they were due to charge my premium to my credit card, and calling car insurance to get new cards sent…and now living with no credit or debit cards for a week plus while I wait for new ones, which is already causing all sorts of problems and complications, and wracking my  brain to think of what else I had in there…my library card, which can wait; luckily I had duplicate health insurance cards at home, and my license was on me. It’s nothing like some 15 years ago when my purse was stolen from a gig with my keys, checkbooks, wallet, and phone, which lead to shutting down my bank accounts, having to be driven home and breaking in to my own house, changing all my locks, having my car towed, etc etc…and those people were professional identity thieves who used my license for years after to mess me up. God, I hate these fucking people. 

Now I don’t feel safe at the Rose Bowl anymore even though intellectually I know as long as I don’t store valuable shit in my trunk (something I never felt comfortable doing) and go early when everyone is there is perfectly safe, and probably safer than any other trail I could take, even my own neighborhood. I’m definitely never bringing my purse again when I know I’m going to be walking somewhere - I don’t need all that shit. I’m also only carrying my credit and debit cards - the others can live in my safe since I almost never use them. And I really should be tying all my auto-pays to my bank account and not my credit card, since every couple of years this card gets compromised and I have to call a thousand companies to switch payments over. Seriously, F that. So I’m going to change the way I do some things to hopefully avert a disaster like this again in the future. It sucks that no matter how careful you think you are, someone can always get you if they decide to target you. Makes you feel so vulnerable and scared. 

I contacted the desert contractor yesterday as I’ve been doing the middle of each week, and he pretty much admitted nothing has gotten done. I don’t think he’s worked on it once this entire month. He had a family member die of covid and has been dealing with that, and every crew he hires quits after just a day or two. Sigh. What a mess. I asked him if he thinks he’ll be able to finish on his own with no help, and he said yes, but was asking for another month-six weeks’ time. So, mid-November. What can you do? I mean, I could fire him and try to get my money back, and then have a half-finished building left open to the elements and vulnerable to thieves out there for months while I try to find someone else (which I won’t). Or I can just take a deep breath and tell him to keep going, which is what I did. It sucks that we’re going to miss this entire fall out there…but again, when I look at my calendar I see no open weekends until November, anyway, so does it matter that it’s not done…? It’s just frustrating and scary, because I don’t know if I can trust this guy or not. I *think* he means well but is just a disorganized mess; if he were chipping away at it I’d feel better, but like I said I don’t think anything has happened out there for weeks. 

In other, happier news, tomorrow the holiday trifecta kicks off with me decorating the house for Halloween, listing some costumes on my Etsy store, and preparing a spooky secret Santa-style gift for someone in my FB feminist group. This may be our first sort-of normal holiday season, and I’m here for it. We plan on trick or treating. It’s a shame the school can’t do their normal super fun Halloween carnival, but that’ll just have to wait. 

I decided to take a break from the 5:2 fasting diet and try something new. I haven’t lost a pound in ages - only slowly gaining - and, regardless of the fact that the real reason I’m gaining is I’m eating too much on my non-fast days, it still means I’m stuck in a rut and what used to work for me no longer works for me. So, in the fasting vein still, I decided to give a little delayed fasting a try; since it’s really easy for me to skip breakfast and not eat until lunch, I’ve been doing that this week. So I eat a normal lunch at noon or one and then a normal dinner at 6 or 7 and then that’s it. It’s just a way to fool myself into consuming fewer calories. I’m already down 4lbs. Water weight, I know, but encouraging nonetheless. If I can just lose 4-5 more I’d be happy. That’s when I feel really good and all my clothes fit. I intend to go slowly, take weekends off, etc. I think I can do it. It’s a lot less brutal than earmarking two days a week to only eat 500 calories. That system does work, don’t get me wrong - but right now this one seems a little more doable. We’ll see how it goes.