Shame on me once, Shame on me twice...

So... the other week Lynn's car got broken into. I'd left the door unlocked by mistake. I was pretty mad about the whole thing, both at myself for leaving the door unlocked as well as the fact that someone actually went up my driveway into my backyard and went through her car while we were home.

Now I've got to admit, I feel like even more of an idiot today. My car, sporting a new tire, is back in our driveway. And I left the door unlocked last night.

Whomever this guy is, he must be coming up our driveway every night. Because the vast majority of the time, those doors are locked. But it wasn't last night, and I got in my car this morning to go to work and found my center console open, the glove compartment open, and the passenger side door hanging open a tiny crack. Fortunately, my car (a 2005 Dodge Magnum RT AWD, that's with the HEMI 5.7L V8 mind you) is smart enough to shut off the interior lights and electronics if a door is left open, and started up without any trouble.

Looking around, I couldn't find anything missing. At first, I thought he'd taken my MP3->FM radio transmitter (my car came with the cheap stereo unit), but I later found it on the floorboard; he'd tossed it. A box of Lynn's checks had been rifled through, but it doesn't appear any were taken. One of my pay stubs from work was in there, untouched. I use direct deposit, but it's nice to know he's not the identity thief sort.

My leather jacket was still in the back seat, complete with about $25 worth of winning lottery tickets from Christmas still in the inside pocket. Other than the fact that everything was thrown around, nothing is missing from what I can tell. Obviously the guy was looking for cash, just like happened with Lynn's car.

But I feel like an idiot for a couple reasons:

A) Lynn's car got broken into, I should be taking extra care to lock car doors every evening after work. Usually I've got my daughter in my hands and by the time I get her put inside and set down so my hands are free, I'm thinking of something else.

B) It's been 2 weeks since I said I'd get a surveillance system set up, and while I got the rig set up, I lost the webcam I was modifying to see in infrared. Even after I did find it it, I got tied up in getting my Hummingbird vs Snapdragon article published to AlienBabelTech.com. I've basically been way too slack in getting something done so I can catch the guy.

C) I realize that, while I was modifying the webcam to see in infrared because it's too dark in the back yard for it to see, it shouldn't be necessary at all. When my car door was opened, the interior light must have come on. This is probably why the guy went through the car so quickly; he was worried we might notice and look out the window. So the camera doesn't really need to see infrared, it should just be looking for the light in my car to come on, which it shouldn't (in theory) have any trouble seeing.

So tonight I'm going to get this done. I'm going to catch this guy.