grand theft auto

in uganda car license plate numbers essentially replace VIN numbers for permanent car identification. for example, all offical records of our landcruiser refer to UAD 592H. not only is the license number on the plate but it's also etched into every removable piece of glass on the car. until tonight, i didn't know why. i'd heard about people's mirrors being stolen, but didn't think too much about it until last weekend when my driver side mirror was stolen while i was shopping in nakasero. then tonight on my way to dinner at the local sushi restaurant i got stuck in a traffic jam at the garden city roundabout. i am in the car surrounded by lots of other people in their cars, and some guy casually walks up and steals my passenger side mirror, too. while i am sitting right there in the car! i had enough time to yell "you f#%&er!" but that was it. turns out people etch all the glass on their car with the license plate number to prevent theft. go figure. i plan to etch away once i buy new mirrors.
101paige 101africa
another revelation is that the taxi drivers keep their cars on empty only partially because they don't have money to pay for gas. the bigger reason is to protect themselves against losing a bunch of gas to the gas siphoners making good business in the city.