So my wife went to pick up her car today at the Newark Tow Yard. As I thought, it was stripped and damaged to the point of being undriveable. The steering wheel was damaged and airbag missing (they are apparently the hottest item on the car for thieves), the side skirts were ripped off, the rims were gone and replaced with spare tires/doughnuts, the front license plate damaged, the ignition ripped out with wiring exposed, shift and emergency brake knobs missing. No telling what damage was done under the hood, since I haven't gone home to check yet. The insurance appraiser should be checking it out today. Oddly enough the cat-back Tanabe exhaust was still there (probably too old and dented for the thieves to do anything with it). BTW- Again, I'm not using a real photo of the car here, just one I found to illustrate the point since I haven't seen the real car yet.

Did I mention I hate car thieves?

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Tags: theft, stolen, honda, civic, police, recover

Well it looks like they found my wife's car (they being the Newark City Police Dept). The car is currently in an impound lot in Newark and unfortunately their business hours have forced us to wait until Monday before we can find out how much is left of the car. It could be whole or stripped clean for parts, we just don't know (the photo to the right is from the 'net and not my wife's car... it does look just like that though... or it "did"). I'd also like to know the circumstances surrounding the discovery. Was it in a ditch, just parked abandoned on the side of the road, or in a chop shop they just busted? Hopefully it will all be clear on Monday.

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Tags: theft, stolen, honda, civic, police, recover

My wife's car was stolen yesterday. In her words, "Now I really do live in Jersey." It was a 1997 Red Honda Civic DX coupe 2dr with a nice set of rims, AEM intake and a Tanabe cat-back exhaust. No tint, no stickers (other than old Rutgers parking stickers), and no lowered suspension so it wasn't too ricey. She fondly called it "Mr. Lazer" (my Prius is "Mr. Car"). Just in case anyone in the NY/NJ/PA/Con area sees it, the NJ license plate # was JKC38J. Not holding out much hope though since it was stolen just a stone's throw from Newark, NJ... land of Chop Shops. Newark is just under Jersey City as one of the Car Theft Capitals of the world and the Honda Civic is one of the most stolen cars in the world. It was a good solid car too...very few problems, and my wife fully paid for it long ago.

She says that we shouldn't get another car for her because we can't afford it right now and we're trying to get out of debt/save for a house... we'll see. There are always good deals out there. In the meantime, we already filed a police report (called the Bloomfield "Boys in Blue" to the scene of the crime yesterday), filed a claim with our car insurance company, and cancelled the EZ-pass tag for that car. For now I'll be shuttling my wife to and from the train station for work.

Thieves are the dregs of humanity. Car Thieves don't even deserve to be called human. Sigh.

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Tags: theft, stolen, honda, civic, police, insurance

I've copied some of my old Personal Finance Tips and Tech Reviews from my old site to the new one. I'll be able to continue writing more reviews and tips now! You'll find them on the side navigation bar or at the links above.

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Tags: personal finance, tech review, 401k, gadgets, money, investing

Rose Tyler is set to have her last adventure with the Doctor during the Second Season finale of the new Doctor Who series. Billie Piper (Rose Tyler in the show) will end her current tenure as the latest companion to the Doctor when the Second Season (28th Season if you include the original series ends --currently airing in the UK on the BBC, and will air probably later this year or early next on SciFi in the US). Doctor Who will tape Season Three (29th Season) starting this summer with plans for a Christmas Special and then 13 more episodes to tape next year for Season Four (30th Season). No telling who the next companion(s) for the Doctor will be, but he was rarely without at least one going back to the original long running series and specials (which this latest series is a direct continuation of).

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Tags: Doctor Who, Rose Tyler, Billie Piper, BBC, SciFi

Bill Gates is transitioning out of his Daily role at Microsoft and will devote more time to his philanthropy. In an after market press announcement, Bill Gates stated that he will be leaving Microsoft on 7/08 (2 years). Even though he's leaving, he's staying in "name" since he's retaining his Chairman position. Good on him for spending all that money to help the global problems in health and education. Unfortunately, Monkey Boy (Steve Ballmer) is still at the actual helm at Microsoft.

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Tags: Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer, Microsoft, monkeyboy

We safely made it back home to the US late Friday Evening. I have tons of photos to go through and edit in Aperture/Photoshop. You'll be able to see them hopefully later this week on my Photo site (link on the left).

During our trip, I was able to stop by the CNBC offices, made a few new contacts, and spent time with some old colleagues. We did quite a bit of window shopping in Singapore, but found little that could beat the prices online back home (surprised the hell outta me, I thought Electronics would be cheaper there). Even the "negotiated" prices for most electronics and Photo gear were more expensive than the usual US online prices.

Most of our time was spent in the Philippines, and I'll definitely relate more about my experiences there over the next few days.

Of course we immediately picked up Ricky Saturday morning and re-activated the RickyCam later that afternoon. Needless to say he was ecstatic to see us. His kennel/Puppy Hotel even gave us a report card of his behavior during his 2 1/2 week stay. He became quick friends with the staff there (after some initial trepidation/sadness from our departure) and only caused them trouble when they tried to trim his nails. This wasn't a surprise because that's his most hated activity back home (far worse than going to the vet for him). Whenever we have to trim his nails, we have to use a muzzle and I have to keep a tight hold on him so he won't scratch my wife or me. They were able to do a few nails, but gave up after struggling with him. We'll finish the job later today. He was able to get 2 playtimes/cuddle times and walks during his stay, as well as a daily snack. His suite even had two rooms with a doggy door between, so that he could "eliminate" on the patio and sleep/play in his more secluded bedroom. He probably had a better time than we did in some of our Hotel Rooms during the trip! The Puppy Hotel actually had various webcams throughout their facility including two in the play areas, but we were never able to catch Ricky when he was in front of the cameras (and we of course constantly checked online while abroad).

Speaking of online, during this trip I was able to stay connected via either a Hotel broadband/wireless connection or by way of my GSM Cell Phone (usually a GPRS connection, though I could occasionally get EDGE) as a bluetooth modem for my PowerBook. Even deep in the rainforests of Eastern Samar along the Pacific Coast, I got a fairly good GSM connection going.

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Tags: rickycam, vacation, philippines, singapore, cnbc, travel, exotic, holiday, resort