Some bastard stole my good ladder today

[zxcvbob]

28' fiberglass extension ladder -- about $200 worth.  I had it laying next to the house in the bushes from where I used it over the weekend to clean the upstairs A/C condenser.  Not visible from the street.  Been waiting for Daughter to help me (cuz i hurt my back last week) move it back to the garage but she's never home.  And I know better than to ask my wife to help with anything.  So today I decided I better go move it myself before somebody finds it and steals it, and I was a day late.

Just needed to bitch about it.  Yeah, I know I shouldn't have left it there.

[Ron]

That sux, bummer.

There is somewhat of a connection between me and my tools.

They've been paid for by the sweat of my brow and in turn have helped me to make the money that has funded my current lifestyle.

[Jamisjockey]

Look on the bright side: Some industrious criminals like to use your ladder when left out to access upstairs and often unlocked windows as a point of entrance. Also, some upstairs windows don't have alarm sensors.

[Monkeyleg]

That's really frustrating. Have you thought of etching your driver's license number into some of your larger tools in case you see them later and can ID them?

Earlier this year I'd just finished installing a new rear storm door, and was taking my tools to the garage. I don't like to leave the garage door open when I'm not around, so I was stacking the tools at the end of the sidewalk at the edge of the alley next to the garage.

I was walking back with yet another armload of tools when I saw two of the area "salvage specialists" pull up in their beater pickup. One got out and started walking toward the tools, his eyes really big.

I said, "Mi herramienta (my tools)," and he quickly got into the truck and they took off.

Can't leave your stuff unattended for even a couple of minutes.

[French G.]

Leave another one out, rigged to a big explodey paint marker. Bonus points if you can obtain a CS grenade. Wait. Laugh.

[Ben]

Just needed to bitch about it.  Yeah, I know I shouldn't have left it there.

No, you know what? You SHOULD have left it there. You should have been able to leave it there, or on your front lawn, or any damn place you want.

I hate thieves and all the extra work they make me go through to protect my stuff from their low down grubby mitts.

[sanglant]

Leave another one out, rigged to a big explodey paint marker. Bonus points if you can obtain a CS grenade. Wait. Laugh.

or take a dremel and cut-off wheel to it then paint it, and leave it in the same spot.







on second thought better not, they might sell it to some poor sap/dummy knowingly buying stolen goods.

[French G.]

Aluminum extension ladder and a fence charger? Just trying to help.  When I lived adjacent to the hood I had my shed broken into several times, always took the weedeater worth maybe $20. The week before I left some bum at the bus stop lofted a beer bottle through the rear glass of my truck for no apparent reason. The neighborhood got a whole lot quieter once the projects a mile down the street were torn down. We were the cruising ground, conveniently located between home and the liquor store.

I worry more living in the sticks, the place is so small that there is no way to be out of town and not have everyone know. Breaking into known vacant places, usually hunting camps, in search of guns is pretty much crime #1 around here.

[sanglant]

some of these and throwing the breakers might be fun if your going out of town.(cover your windows with this for extra points.{and it's great stuff if you have light sensitive headaches }) just remember to get the up before letting the kids back in the house. man, i'm getting crotchety in my old age.

[Boomhauer]

I worry more living in the sticks, the place is so small that there is no way to be out of town and not have everyone know. Breaking into known vacant places, usually hunting camps, in search of guns is pretty much crime #1 around here.

The key is to make the locals (and local criminal element) think that you are batshit crazy. Move vehicles around your property at random intervals. Shoot at odd times. And frequently. Greet unwanted visitors in...interesting manners.

Word will soon get around that if they go onto your property, they will suffer a horrible, screaming death at the hands of the crazy dude who owns the place...

[French G.]

I think they already got that clue, but I keep trying. 

[Balog]

No, you know what? You SHOULD have left it there. You should have been able to leave it there, or on your front lawn, or any damn place you want.

I hate thieves and all the extra work they make me go through to protect my stuff from their low down grubby mitts.

Ayup.

[Gowen]

A trick they did at my work to keep people from taking the tools is to paint it PINK.  Not some pale pink, but bright neon pink, the kind of PINK to make Mabs take notice.

[AJ Dual]

If this were some other forum than APS, I'd start a thread about this cool new ladder I had gotten.

But since this IS APS, I won't.

[Monkeyleg]

If this were some other forum than APS, I'd start a thread about this cool new ladder I had gotten.

That's never stopped anybody before.

I can talk about the 10' stepladder that I got for $350 back in the 90's if you like.

[KD5NRH]

The key is to make the locals (and local criminal element) think that you are batshit crazy. Move vehicles around your property at random intervals. Shoot at odd times. And frequently. Greet unwanted visitors in...interesting manners.

Occasionally turning a 3x6 ft patch of ground just in view of the road will give them something to think about.  They'll supply their own details, as someone's always disappearing from some nearby town with no forwarding address.