In this case, that’s something of an oxymoron, but read on!
My 1987 Ford pickup truck (F-150) was parked at the top of our impassable driveway (MUD!), on the side of the all-but-impassable road that hasn’t been graded in over four years. The truck pretty much lives up there for half of the year, because that’s how long the driveway stays useless except for swallowing shoes. Today I went up to the truck to get something out of the back–I can’t even remember what– when I noticed that the left rear taillight assembly was missing. Not smashed, just gone! I stared at the hole in the back of the pickup bed where the light was supposed to be for a long, long time in disbelief. A taillight assembly from an ’87 Ford truck isn’t the sort of thing one normally thinks of as being prized among thieves, God knows.
I know it was stolen because it had to be unscrewed, and I found one screw on the ground. Unfortunately, the thief cut the wiring harness instead of simply unscrewing the bulb sockets, so that when I replace the taillight, I’ll have to fabricate some hodge-podge of wire and electrician’s tape–after I somehow figure out where all the wires go, of course.
And replace it I will, because I just completed a Google search and found a brand-new replacement taillight assembly for $19.92 plus shipping. This is where it gets truly idiotic, because whoever stole my taillight risked capture, arrest, and worse for less than the cost of two movie tickets and a big buttered popcorn! It could be someone in the neighborhood, too. Just around the corner is a house with–ta-dah!–a beat-up ’87 Ford pickup in the driveway. Backed in, oddly enough, so one can’t see the, um, taillights…
I’m not saying whoever lives there did the deed, but that would fit the utter STUPIDITY of going to all that trouble to get an old truck part that costs less than 20 bucks brand new. I think I’m more upset at the lack of intelligence than I am for having my truck crippled.
Since the incident, I’ve parked the truck back down the driveway, near the house, because I have tools and such stored inside, and the idiot might come back. But I said the driveway was impassable, right?
It is.
And that truck won’t be going anywhere for weeks and weeks…
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