I hear that. Before I rode fixed, I had my road bike stolen while it was chained to the wall inside my locked garage...

Now that I have some stuff on my bike that is worth stealing, I stick my bike in a locked closet at work and take it up to my apartment at night. I do leave it locked up when I run errands but that's only for like 20 min at a time, usually during daylight and in crowded places. I take every reasonable precaution though (anti theft bolts, bike chain the seat to the frame, ulock on the frame and back wheel, cable to front wheel).

I've got an eye out for a new frame so once I get one I may just plop all my unused parts onto the current frame to make a beater that I can abuse and lock up without getting stressed. Speaking of which, if you're gonna get into frame building any time in the near future, I'd be glad to take a first draft off your hands!

Sounds like a pretty awesome year you got commin man. I'm finally starting med school next fall after over 3 years in the workforce so hopefully my year will go well too.