Tuesday, April 22, 2025

Car Stolen Again

Woke up to a phone call at 7am this morning. It was from an Erie County dispatcher who said they believe they had Becky's vehicle that had been stolen. I said I didn't know anything about it and then looked out the front window down at the driveway. It was empty. Our car was gone. He told me the car was found in Amherst near Main and Kensington and to call the Buffalo Police.

I dialed 911 and was connected to our precinct and they said our car was found and they would take me to it to identify it. They said it could be driven. I got into the back of the police car and they took me to my car which was sitting in the middle of a side street near the intersection of Main and Kensington. The car was running. It was a mess and the ignition column was torn apart just like last time. There was a lot of junk in the car from the kids who took. They also stole the big yellow steering wheel club that was in the back seat. We had stopped clubbing the car early in the winter.

The police escorted me back to our house as I drove the car. I followed them back along the expressways. I pulled into our driveway and one of the officers used a USB device to turn off the engine. They told me there was a significant rise in the Kia and Hyundai car thefts over the past few weeks.

Next I called our insurance agents about the car theft. They had me contact our insurance company Travellers. That was an ordeal. Because I needed to have the car towed to a repair shop they kept putting me into their roadside assistance program. Everything was automated. I finally had to call a third time to ensure I talked with a person and got things going properly. Then I found it easier to set up an online account with Travellers and make the claim in the system. That took a couple of tries but I eventually got a claim in the system. I waited about a half hour and then looked at the progress of the claim... nothing seemed to be happening. I looked deeper into the claim process and found the person who was assigned my claim. I sent them an email outlining what I needed to happen. 

I wrote... Hi, I filed a claim this morning concerning my stolen and damaged vehicle. This happened once before in 2023 so I know the process. Our car was recovered and is now back in our driveway but not driveable. We need our car towed or taken from our driveway at 366 Crescent Ave, Buffalo, NY  and taken to Gerber Auto Repair at 2643 Delaware Ave for repairs. There is an Enterprise Car rental on the property which I will use.

Please make this happen. We need the car rental and our car fixed ASAP. Thanks.

I got a call from him a little later. He thought things were moving along fine. They set things up with Enterprise Car Rental and repairs to be made at Gerber Auto Repair. 

A Buffalo police detective contacted me to make a report on the car theft incident.

Brian down the street drove me over to Enterprise on Main Street to pick up our rental car which I then drove home. We will have it for the time it takes to get our car fixed.

Travellers sent out an appraiser who looked over the car and arranged with Gerber to pick up the car. Gerber contacted me and we talked about getting the car to them. They contacted Walters Towing who then contacted me to arrange a time to pick up the car. They came by a little after 5 pm and would take the car to their secure facility overnight and then take it to Gerber in the morning. We didn't want to leave the car vulnerable.

Tomorrow I will take the rental car over to Gerber and do the paperwork.



Saturday, April 19, 2025

Funny is What I Do

Our grandson Andrew told us that Funny is What I Do! This kid just turned 4 years old last week and this is how he describes himself. Cracked us up. Yes, he is funny. He's also very loving and smart. He is fun to be around. Sure he has his 3-4 year old moments but overall he is a wonderful little boy and a joy in our lives.

Friday, April 18, 2025

Pizza & Wings

Sean and Ashley and the kids arrived this Friday afternoon of the Easter weekend. We had a very nice time with Andrew and Autumn although it was a little cold to be doing much outside. We did spend a little time in the backyard.

We were planning to have some pizza and they wanted pizza and wings from Mr. Pizza so Becky and I went over and got some. It was delicious as usual and we had just enough for a nice meal.

Then it was time to watch some basketball playoff games.

Thursday, April 17, 2025

Another Coles Dinner

Becky and I decided to go out for dinner this evening after spending the day getting the house ready for Sean and Ashley and the kids visiting us for the weekend. We wanted to relax a little bit so we over to Coles. It seems like we've been there a lot recently. I think this would be the third time in about a month. Not complaining.

I had a beef on weck sandwich and Becky had a chicken milanese. I had a couple of draft beers too.

The restaurant was a little quieter than the past couple of times. Last week we were there on a Friday evening and it was jumping. Today was still very nice with good service and great food.

Wednesday, April 9, 2025

Kitchen Range Hood Installation

It took three weeks, just like they said, for us to get our kitchen range hood delivered and installed. They came by today in the mid-afternoon and had it done in about 20 minutes. These guys were good.

Now we are very happy with the new stove and the range hood with the fancy lights and the wonderful fan. 

It was nice to get rid of the portable desk lamp that we've had next to the stove for many years.

Tuesday, April 8, 2025

Jupiter String Quartet

Tonight we experienced the last concert of the season in our Buffalo Chamber Music series. It was wonderful as always. We enjoyed it very much and we're looking forward to next season after seeing the brochure for the 2025-2026 series tonight.

The Jupiter String Quartet played tonight and the first half was spectacular with a Haydn string quartet followed by an interesting modern piece by Caroline Shaw. After the intermission there was a Brahms string quartet.

As usual we saw lots of people we knew including several neighbors.

It was a cold night but no snow or ice. We parked in our usual area and enjoyed the walk back and forth to the music hall.

Monday, April 7, 2025

Icelandic Sounds - Kitchen Listening

I spent the morning listening to the haunting music of the post-rock Icelandic band Sigur Ros. Three of their albums on the stereo lasted a little over three hours of blissful sounds and cerebral voices.






  • Agaetis Byrjun, 1999
  • ( ), 2002
  • Takk..., 2005
I could have kept this going all day playing the rest of their albums in my collection but I'll save those for another time.




Sunday, April 6, 2025

Bunny Hops

Earlier this evening Becky and I saw a couple of bunnies playing in our front yard. They would sit there chomping on some grass or something then suddenly hop up and charge each other. It was hilarious to watch and we stood there at the window for some time being highly entertained. 

Later in the dark they were out there still doing the same playful hopping around.

Saturday, April 5, 2025

Ashley Visit

Yesterday we had a surprise visit from Ashely. She was coming into town to help her uncle who was being transferred from a hospital to a rehab center in the Southtowns. Sean called us in the morning to ask if it was alright for her to stay with us Friday night and she would drive back on Saturday. Of course we said fine.

We had reservations for Coles on Friday evening at 6 pm so we let Ashley know that we could add her to the reservation if she wanted to have dinner with us after she was done with her uncle. It turned out that she was running late with what she needed to do and she would not be getting to our house until 8:30 or 9 pm. 

She had to first stop by the hospital and get the house keys from her uncle. Then go to his place in Cheektowaga and get some of his personal stuff to bring to the rehab center. He was being transferred there from a medical transportation service and things were running late. She was able to have something to eat that her friend Mel brought over to her.

So quickly gave the house a quick cleaning and put some clean sheets on the guest room bed. Then we went over to Coles for dinner and we were back by 7:30 pm. 

Ashely showed up around 9:15 pm with a vase of flowers. Then we hung out for awhile watching the women's basketball tournament and doing a lot of talking.

This morning we had some breakfast and talked more. She had a lot to do today before driving back home so she left around 10 or so. We had a short but intense visit with her and looking forward to her coming back in a couple of weeks with Sean and the kids.

Friday, April 4, 2025

Coles for Dinner

Tonight we went over to Coles for dinner. It was a Friday night so we had made reservations for 6 pm. Since Ashley was coming over to our house later tonight we went to Coles a little early at 5:30 pm. We got the last booth in the bar area although there were still several tables there. The place filled up very quickly especially the big dining room.

We had a wonderful dinner and had a great time. We don't usually go there on the weekends and it was really hoping. We often go on Thursday evenings. I had a fish fry which was delicious as was the coleslaw and fries. I actually finished the whole dinner plate which is very unusual. Becky had a Buffalo chicken finger wrap.

I also had a pint draft of Ithaca Flower Power IPA and then an Abita Purple Haze which I hadn't had in a while.

We enjoyed our evening there and we were amazed at how many families with small children were in the pub. It was fun to observe. The place was incredibly crowded.

Then we were off to go home and wait for Ashley to come over and spend the night with us.