life in the big city

You can argue about whether our town is a city. Technically it's a borough, but with over 31,000 inhabitants, it qualifies as a city by many definitions. It definitely has lots of city problems. We love the neighborhood we live in and feel completely safe here. However, we were reminded today that we definitely haven't chosen life in the suburbs. Peter left for work this morning to discover that our car's side window was smashed and our stereo was ripped out of the dash. The only other thing taken was his Leatherman Wave-- a treasured and often used Christmas gift. When the cops showed up they said they've been having lots of similar break ins lately, and they check the pawn shop a couple times a week for stolen property. They evidently arrested a couple kids for theft, but now it seems like others are on the loose. It's almost comical to note that although the stereo is actually a very good one, it's on its deathbed and doesn't play CDs properly anymore. We're most frustrated by the expense and inconvenience of needing to replace the window. Peter is actually picking one up at a junk yard right now. We were blessed to find one for $50 after only 3 calls, but Peter will lose several hours he doesn't have to spare ripping the door apart. So Peter lost his favorite tool, we're out some money, Becky can't run her errands conveniently, and we won't be listening to music for a while... but life will go on. At least life in the big city keeps us on our toes. By the way, if you'd like to see the 2 bullet holes in our windows from Becky's adventures 2 Sundays ago, feel free to come visit. (OK... so maybe they're just beebee gun pellet holes from the not so careful kids across the alley, but it makes our life sound really dangerous if we leave out the details.)