The great FIL car caper.

[Pom]

So we are flying home to Michigan to handle some FIL things.   We need to look for some paperwork, arrange for repairs to his rental property, meet his in-home care staff, tour the memory care facility he is wait listed for and most importantly TAKE.AWAY.THE.CAR.   I have to confess, we are both a bit apprehensive about this. Scratch that, sort of scared shitless.  

We are going to try to get in the house on Friday (without him there) and make sure all the guns are unloaded and remove the ammo from the house.  We've tried contacting the Sheriff's office because we'd like them to be there on Monday when we take the car or at least inform them since he will call them and report it stolen.   He's been confrontational his whole life, so this will not be fun.  We also need to collect all keys to his truck, tractor, lawn mower, etc...  His new car we've decided to move to the garage at our vacation house about 45 minutes away.  Otherwise, he WILL call the dealership and ask for a new set of keys.   We only have room for the car at our property, so our options are pulling some plugs on the truck and hoping he can't figure it out, switching the truck key to one that doesn't work or filing the key down, putting glue in the ignition.  Any other thoughts?   

I need hair pats and possibly bail money if they lock my ass up for stealing his car.   My life is so Gone in 60 Seconds.   (hot)

ETA:  our other "grand theft auto option" is for me to drop Mr.Pom off and leave.  Mr. Pom takes FIL out to lunch, they drive the car and Mr. P keeps the keys.  He asks to borrow it to run to his friend's house.  And then just leaves....my concern is the staff will be left to deal with him.  All the scenarios suck.   Needless to say, we will be on his SHIT list.





  

[sjh722]

Oh, yikes. I don't envy you. Good luck with your grand theft auto.

[Deleted]

Oh Pom, you guys are dealing with so much.

I'm going to admit, imagining you and your H sneaking around, trying to find keys, gluing the ignitions shut, sneaking cars away kind of makes me giggle. It's so "Mission Impossible." Good grief. And GOOD LUCK.

Can you give us a play by play?

[Pom]

Sept 16, 2014 20:55:50 GMT -5 @idaholakelady said:

Oh Pom, you guys are dealing with so much.

I'm going to admit, imagining you and your H sneaking around, trying to find keys, gluing the ignitions shut, sneaking cars away kind of makes me giggle. It's so "Mission Impossible." Good grief. And GOOD LUCK.

Can you give us a play by play?

If I don't get shot, I will certainly report back.  

ETA:  Now I have the Mission Impossible theme playing in my head.  LOL

[Deleted]

Sept 16, 2014 20:56:56 GMT -5 Pom said:

Sept 16, 2014 20:55:50 GMT -5 @idaholakelady said:

Oh Pom, you guys are dealing with so much.

I'm going to admit, imagining you and your H sneaking around, trying to find keys, gluing the ignitions shut, sneaking cars away kind of makes me giggle. It's so "Mission Impossible." Good grief. And GOOD LUCK.

Can you give us a play by play?

If I don't get shot, I will certainly report back.  

For some reason, the whole scenario makes me think of the Clint Eastwood movie. What's it called? The one where he's an angry old man, whose neighborhood has changed as he's aged, and he's widowed, and the kid tries to steal his car to get into a gang, and he makes friends with the family.... 

Not that your FIL is Clint Eastwood. Just that old man + guns + cars... 

[Pom]

Sept 16, 2014 21:00:41 GMT -5 @idaholakelady said:

Sept 16, 2014 20:56:56 GMT -5 Pom said:

If I don't get shot, I will certainly report back.  

For some reason, the whole scenario makes me think of the Clint Eastwood movie. What's it called? The one where he's an angry old man, whose neighborhood has changed as he's aged, and he's widowed, and the kid tries to steal his car to get into a gang, and he makes friends with the family.... 

Not that your FIL is Clint Eastwood. Just that old man + guns + cars... 

Gran Torino.   Yeah, FIL is in Michigan and Polish with guns and crabby.  But Clint's character is a pussy cat compared to FIL

[Deleted]

Could you take it to get an oil change somewhere and have them "drive it off the lift"

Oh no! No more car....

eta--or maybe just take it to a nice farm in the country?  

I'm so sorry you're dealing with this

[compassrose]

Seems like this is the neverending adventure. I'm so sorry. I bet your H is so grateful he has you to go through all of this with.

Keep us updated!

[lurknomore]

Oh Pom...yuck! I fully admit I know your FIL only through the stories you've told here. But, if you're safe, tell him you're taking it all and run. That is if course after you've modified what you can, hidden what you can, etc. the worst he'll be able to do (again, assuming you're safe) is yell and scream and tantrum. More than usual lol. And what, never speak to you again? Isn't he already doing that? Thats the best thing!!! Call the cops and report you? At least then he's fully aware where his stuff is and who has it. If he thinks it is stolen, he'll make everyone's lives miserable (incl yours and Mr Poms I'm sure) trying to get it back, filing claims, reports, etc. and maybe, just maybe, he'll have a moment of clarity when he realizes it is for the best. Get, a girl can dream, right?!?

I don't envy you this weekend but I totally respect what you're doing. No one has the balls to take my FIL's car away. GL, stay safe and I'll be thinking of you. And of course...keep us updated!

[Deleted]

Good grief. If you get arrested I'm sure we can start a gofundme account for your bail. Don't worry, we are here for you.

Good luck, be safe, and please keep us posted as this unfolds. This is way more exciting than my regular life.

[Deleted]

Hugs. This is so hard. With my grandpa we just did mechanical things. Distributor cap was easy. Good luck!

[DarcyLongfellow]

I'm so sorry you're dealing with all that.

But I am cracking up at all the car theft scenarios! Please report back!

[jerseyjaybird]

Pom, you have the patience and fortitude of a saint. Best of luck this weekend.

[hamster]

Ugh. I'm so sorry you are having to deal with this. Big hugs.

But seriously. Have the cops there if you can.

[Deleted]

Pom does he know you're coming?

[Pom]

Sept 16, 2014 23:38:59 GMT -5 @idaholakelady said:

Pom does he know you're coming?

Yes Mr P told him. I would not be at all surprised if he thinks he's coming back to TX with us. He wants to winter vacation at our house

[spunkarella]

Oh, pom. Your FIL is seriously lucky to have you guys. Best of luck this weekend and please report back!

[gogreengowhite]

Good luck this weekend, Pom.

I really hope this goes smoothly for you.

You know I'm in Michigan, if you need bail money or back up PM me!

[oswin]

Good luck! For the truck, do you know what mechanic he usually calls? If it stops working he may try to get it fixed, so you should let his mechanic know what's going on.

[Deleted]

Oh my goodness pom, I am sending you good vibes for your mission impossible.

There's gotta be a reason that you can't just sell these things, right? Maybe bc you don't have full authority by law quite yet? That is obviously where my mind went first...sell the damn things.

As that is likely off the table...How handy is he? I would start with the basics...like removing battery and plugs (super easy), draining gas tanks (also easy) but if he is very tricky and resourceful, that can all be "righted" fast. Can you "get in trouble" for damage? Because a few select injuries can put any motor vehicle out to pasture, largely. Sugar in gas tank as an extreme. Tires are another good one - remove and hide one tire of each vehicle at lake house.

Ahhh good luck to you guys.

Had to admit I laughed out loud when u compared him to Clint - that movie is superb.

[bostonmichelle]

Pom please stay safe. I hope it all works out and goes smoothly for you guys this weekend. I agree to call his mechanic and make sure he knows of your escapades. Please let us know if you need bail money or anything else!! Good luck and stay safe!

[UnderProtest]

Oh dear. Good luck with this. I hope it goes okay.

How is your mom doing?

[monsterz]

No advice on how to steal a car just want to wish you luck. This is not an easy situation you are in.

[nomad100]

Nothing to add on the advice side. Good luck and hoping you have a big bottle of wine waiting for you at your vacation place for when it is all over.

And on the lighter side, here is what Mr. Pom will look like as he rappels in FIL's house to get the keys to all the vehicles.

[ssmjlm]

First off, hugs. You both are amazing for handling this all.

Secondly, I know when my sister would "steal" my car or my parents car for her extracurriculars, the police told us it wasn't technically stolen b/c she was family, blah blah blah. And that we would have to do a lot of legwork to actually get it reported stolen. So silver lining maybe?

[rikki]

I will pray for you. Pray for everything!

Seriously, you are amazing for dealing with this and I hope it all goes ok.

[drloretta]

Sending good thoughts that you get through this OK

[Pom]

Thanks everyone.  Truly.  I really feel pretty surreal about all this stuff.  I'd rather take a beating than deal with him and Mr. Pom is there too.  Honestly, we are not worrying about ruining our relationship since he doesn't like us to start with...  but hey, we arranged care givers to take him places and he's still driving with an invalid license, so he cooked his own goose.   There's more drama with him this morning, it just never ends.

UnderProtest   My mom is doing better, thanks for asking.  It was a shorter episode (36 hours), so she didn't go to the hospital.  It's terrible for her.  My sister has been staying with my mom all summer and they are coming up to stay with us this weekend.  So something for us to look forward to!

[sparkythelawyer]

Can you take the guns and put them in a storage facility somewhere so that he doesn't go acquiring more ammo somewhere?

Can you store one of the cars at the rental property?

Can you find a garage that would agree to store one of the cars for a while?

Sorry you have to go through this!

[Pom]

Sept 17, 2014 9:41:51 GMT -5 sparkythelawyer said:

Can you take the guns and put them in a storage facility somewhere so that he doesn't go acquiring more ammo somewhere?

Can you store one of the cars at the rental property?

Can you find a garage that would agree to store one of the cars for a while?

Sorry you have to go through this!

Thanks.  His only way to get more ammo will be if the care givers take him and I am sure they won't.

No garage at either of his rentals.

We will see if we can find somewhere to take the truck.