Well, I managed to recover my pickup from a lot in Contra Costa County today. It was an ordeal: trips to two police stations, a cab ride to nowhere in San Pablo, $650 in impound fees, and the discovery that some strange and dirty business had been going on. In addition to stripping out the last bits of my stereo, the thieves removed my futon from the bed and left a couple car batteries, and some other hardware back there. Plus about 1000 new miles on the odometer. Moamar! What happened?

This is all very frustrating, especially the bureaucratic runaround. Nobody seems to really know how anything works. The fees are an insult too (aren't I the victim here?), but luckily I can afford them and am fortunate not to lose the vehicle completely, so I'll can swallow it. But the whole thing makes me realize one again just how deeply fucked you are if you're poor in this country. Anything goes wrong and your back is up against the wall. It's a real shitty situation.

Anyway, it's interesting experience at least to see into the world of police stations and towing companies. To be honest, I really wish we didn't have such a car-centric culture. I think it would be a nicer country that way.