Alarm System

[FastWoman]

After a lot of soul searching, as well as consultation with my better half (who also drives the car occasionally), I'm thinking the car alarm approach is not the way to go. My biggest fear is that the car is driven off and taken on a destructive joy ride. I can recover from a broken window, mangled door, mangled ignition lock, snipped wires, stolen stereo, and/or mangled center console. My insurance would cover it, and I would get back to where I was. What I can't recover from is a totally trashed car.

I've decided to go with a (not so) simple engine enable mechanism that will not have the obnoxious attributes of a car alarm. Just for fun, I'll also wire in a dummy "deafeat switch" somewhere that triggers the horn on a self-keeping relay that is only deactivated with the real enable mechanism. I've decided the sound of the Z's horn is unique enough, and I'd be well notified by the thief's error. At that point I'll be hitting speed-dial, and the race will be on. Will the thief get past my friends at the end of the block? Will the sheriff head him off at the pass? Lots of guns and law enforcement where I live. Living on a peninsula with one way in and one way out has its advantages.