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annoying and wacky... any suggestions to stop this?

04:05 / 09.02.02

so, here's the story...
my car, a nifty little '96 metro given to me by my brother in april (long story, but i get to sue it) got broken into in October. my nice cd-player was stolen and passenger window smashed out to the tune of $130... this was after talking "AL" from Al's Discount Glass down by $30. He then became " Shady Al" to me (complete with Simpson's- like tag line of " Oh, Shady Al, won't you ever learn?") when he asked me out, fresh cuts on face, and after he said " You look good enough to go out with.", on the one day i wore a skirt to work.
anyway... TWO DAYS later my car got broken into at a theater here in Atlanta, where I was stage managing. Driver's window smashed this time, nothing taken but a sweater. Radio still gone at this point. 2 weeks later, my apartment has the parking lot paved, and we all have to park on street. You guessed it, my car, which was locked, is broken into, tho not smashed, and trunk is rifled, box 'o cd's that had NOT been stolen first two times is taken, as well as my winter coat.
cut to: January. two weeks ago. I go to leave my house, to see a film, and come out to find my driver's side window smashed out and my $15 best buy radio ripped right off the cord plugged into the lighter.
So "Shady Al" knocked $5 off as I asked him to since I am now buying windows in BULK (fer fuck's sake), and I have a window again.
I also had bought at a Dollar store some fuzzy dice,back in october, like right before all this started, hanging them in my mirror. I burned some sage in the car last week, and took the dice off mirror, but honestly... is there ANYTHING you guys can think of (short of a car-alarm, as duh, I don't have money for it, since I keep having to buy windows.)?

any help would be nice.

Thanx,
Grendix

PS... the theory that "Shady Al" is doing this to get more buisness has already been discussed, and dosen't explain the original break-in.

10:05 / 10.02.02

Um - this might sound really stupid, but it might work...

Put some sort of protection magic on your car, invoking the spirit of the car. Make it your intent that the car will be watched over, and protect itself.

It works for mine...

12:29 / 10.02.02

Smear dog shit all over it.

14:03 / 10.02.02

is there ANYTHING you guys can think of (short of a car-alarm, as duh, I don't have money for it, since I keep having to buy windows.)? – Grendix

You know, often having a car-alarm won't help, as many thieves can either circumvent them or disconnect them.

You – and your car – seriously need some protection, however. Is there anyone you know in your circle of friends who is knowedgeable and would be willing to add their energy to a protection spell (ie cast it with you)? Something like an invisibility spell would work nicely, where you concentrate on a cloak of invisibility covering and protecting your car.

On the Shady Al note: is there any other glass store or auto repair shop in your town that you can go to? I'm sensing major energy drain there. Stop giving him your money and energy if at all possible.

It's really important to take care of your own health as well, because the very stress of having your car repeatedly broken into and constantly putting money into it is enough to drain you. That's another reason why I think you should get like-minded folks involved, because right now you may not be able to muster enough energy to give the spell the <oomph!> it needs.

If you don't have anyone around you that can help, perhaps if you create a sigil and put it up here we can send you some mojo? It can't hurt.

Good luck, and keep us posted.

14:16 / 10.02.02

Would an invisiblity spell be the best way to go? I get this funny feeling it would work too well, some other car would try to park in the space that seems empty, and Grendix would have a great deal more to worry about than broken windows. What about a spell that deflects attention. You know one that says "Hey I'm here, but not that important pass on", something like Obi-Wan's jedi mind trick in Star Wars.

14:38 / 10.02.02

I get this funny feeling it would work too well, some other car would try to park in the space that seems empty, and Grendix would have a great deal more to worry about than broken windows. – Trijhaos

Good point...what Grendix could do is make sure to specify in the spell that the car is invisible to thieves looking for a car to break into. This way, crashing into other cars won't be such an issue.

02:00 / 11.02.02

good ideas on all counts, fellas...
don't want to make it invisible to other cars and get all crashed up, windows are expensive enough.
as for people here, I am freinds with the lovely Kali, but I don't know if she wold be interested, and I don't know enough to do on my own I think. Am still sorta novice-like in this stuff, tho positive repitition works for me sometimes, like ' all my money will come to me.' however, in this case, my grandmother sent me money to help with window, and a bit left over.
so maybe i'd have not gotten the money if car had not been broken into... hrmmm

i will try to draw a sigil, and see about getting it scanned in, as I can do that.

thanx for yer help!

~G~
*keepin' it real, yo, since 1983*

02:32 / 11.02.02

wait, I'm unclear on a point. Do you believe that it's Shady Al who's breaking into your car?

11:00 / 11.02.02

Lionheart: Grendix has considered the possibility that Shady Al may be involved in later break-ins, but s/he's not sure and the idea still doen't explain the initial break-in.

Whether or not he's involved in the actual car damage, he's causing hir a bit of stress, and that's why I suggested s/he stop going to him and look for another auto repair place.

Hope that helps.

[ 11-02-2002: Message edited by: Ierne ]

17:57 / 11.02.02

Any protective magic on your car will help.
Do you give your car a name, or anthropormorphise it in anyway? If so you can invoke the spirit of your car, and protect it, give it one of those fuzzy special-effect-light psychic shields. However one ritual which has always appealed is this:

Car Voodoo Doll:

Get a toy car, same model as your car. Paint it/buy it the same colour as your own. Dab some oil from your car on it, and in the name of the elements consecrate the model, as your car, and thus make a voodoo doll representation of your car. Then make a little altar, either with a white cloth, or a protective colour, and surround the car in healing herbs, so that it is in a protective circle. Take five minutes everyday, before you go to bed is an ideal time, and burn a white candle on the altar, and visulise the herbs protective energy flowing around the car and protecting it from harm.

18:07 / 11.02.02

I'm sure this question is going to be asked; What if you can't find a toy model of your car? I know I've looked, but I can't find a toy model of a Dodge Spirit. Would a toy that looks similar to the car work as well, or does it have to be exactly the same?

18:06 / 12.02.02

ummm... Don't leave CDs in your car

19:14 / 12.02.02

Gho5tD4nc3r: the toy car ritual is a fantastic idea

Trijhaos: I doubt it would have to be an exact match. Besides, you can paint the toy car (as Gho5tD4nc3r suggests) and otherwise make it resemble your car as closely as possible. If it looks like your car to you, you'll be alright for the ritual.

03:18 / 13.02.02

Sorry about this:

Have you been locking your door? If so, maybe you should stop. They might decide not to break your windows if they can get in through the door.

04:42 / 13.02.02

Well, now that you got rid of the obviously cursed fuzzy dice, things might get a bit better. Just be careful what you do with them though. Don't keep them in your home!

ps: I'm only half-kidding about this. I've seen shit like this happen.

Tuna Ghost: Pratt knot hero

06:14 / 14.02.02

In the book City Magik (which is all about urban shamanism and even mentions Grant Morrisson and the Invisibles), author Chris Penzack advises parking your car under a streetlight, as they apparently are a city's gaurdians, "silent protectors casting a shield of light". Make of that what you will.

When my car was broken into (drivers side window smashed), it must have just given up because it died soon after. I had to park it in the school's rec center parking lot, the only security for the broken window being a couple of plastic bags. So I put a sign on the door that read:

Hey crackhead, don't bother to break into this car; as you can see, some asshole beat you to it. So fuck you and fuck him too.

I'm not sure how well it worked, but it felt good each time I saw it sitting alone in the parking lot when I was at school.

06:46 / 16.02.02

The City Guardian thing is a wonderful line, but USE YOUR HEAD! If you are joe car thief and you see two cars, one in the dark, and one under a streetlight (read spotlight), which do you go for? Some things are magic(k), some things are just common sense.

23:53 / 18.02.02

and some things are both, depending on the context.

01:27 / 19.02.02

yes, I anthropormorphise my car. it's a '96 Geo Metro, so I call it Supes. Well, here's my logic, Metro= short for Metropolis, where Superman lives. So a short Metro would be Supes, as that's short for Superman. It's a lovely blue w/ my brother's South Park Elementary sticker on the back window, and my Miskatonic University one above it.
I hope it's not the ju-ju from MU on it, as I didn't even put the sticker/decal on 'til sometime in January.
The car-voodo idea is good, I'll check for a Metro-looking car at the toy store. I have some matchbox cars left over from two halloween's ago when I went as the Autobahn (long story).

As a matter of fact SMatthew, the most recent time, the passanger door was unlocked, and the lazy bastard just broke the drivers side window for spite I suppose.

I've been leaving my door unlocked since it happend, at home, tho not when out. Currently there's a box of books in the backseat from goodwill, so I guess that if they want to not be an ignorant fuck, they're welcome to them.

I haven't made a sigil yet, as I've not had a day off in like a month, no kidding, and have been watching the Olypmics after work, before my 2nd job, and after that one too. So I am a nutball for them.
PS.. I am a girl, so the whole gender thing can be resolved.

03:52 / 20.02.02

well... when you do make a sigil, think about it carefully, because I've just seen to it packing an extra punch. Hope you don't mind the initiative- I can (in this case) pull the plug if you like.

I've always had a soft spot for metros. Both my sister and my girlfriend were coerced into getting them by me. They were almost as pleased by them as I was.

00:33 / 25.02.02

Vadrice... thanks for your help. As I said, any is appreciated. I like the little blue metro too. It's swell and gets great gas milage, and I can mock those SUV drivers from it, smugly. Not made the sigil yet, as work this week was sorta hectic, then I went to see pretty much the world's worst cover band friday here in Atlanta. If "Living Large" comes to your town, don't go, unless the place is serving $1 drinks as the Vault was friday night. My mates got smashed and the bill was $15...!
More later, watching the end of the Olymics.