Tool Anniversary

heatboy

In 14 years, I have donated my tools to others 4 times. Once from my shop (all portable, cordless tools) and three times from my truck(s). I swear they follow me around and wait for the inevitable times I forget to lock a compartment(g). The last time was all of my hand tools and meters. The time before that was my Testo 300. I can't get really angry because I'm guessing the price of crack is going up, too.

hb

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Bill Nye_2

August 12

A year ago Saturday was the day all of my tools were stolen. I can't say I am completely over it. I was working on my car yesterday and needed things I "used to" have. I even had to go to the auto parts place to buy a socket.

Now, I'm not as religious a feller as I should be. I do have a fair sense of right and wrong. I know it is wrong for me to wish the things I do on the person or persons that took my means of making a living.

I guess a real Christian would be praying for their forgiveness, I still wish for something else. Some day.. maybe I'll get over it. You can not believe the grief and aggravation that selfish act has caused.

I can't help but wonder , is some one using my tools in good health ? or did some junkee sell them for a fraction of what they were worth for a quick buzz?

I did actually pay for all of the tools and I cared for them and treated them with respect, for what its worth.

Thanks for letting me rant. Like I've said before, this is way cheaper than a shrink.

Have you ever been to the Shelburne Museum in Vermont? I just got back from vacation. Oh what a tool collection they have in the Shaker Shed. Now those folks used and respected their tools!!

frank_25

Join the club

TOO MANY TIMES was I on the thieves hit list. I remember in '69 all my portable drills and sawzall, along with a spare full tool box taken from my truck parked in the back yard between two homes while I went for lunch; then my 300 Rigid at the back of the truck was picked up and carried over pails of fittings, over the drivers seat, and out the door, mid day in front of a supply house. Once I had to replace my gas water heater so I took my tools home, and left then in my car over night. [Gone] Then the fly window was broken to gain access to the front, and from then on it was easy to rape me. All this in front of a YMCA in Brooklyn. And what about coming home to find it had been burglerized? That was the pits. They weren't neat about it. To all these sob's : I wish you a painful death.

gerry gill

yup, i've been hit 6 times..

once i was completely cleaned out..spent every penny i had just to buy new tools..we should be able to hang 'em in the street..i'm not that forgiving either..

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Brad White_108

SIX times?

Dang, Gerry- You really have the "Cosmic 'Kick Me' Sign" on your backside. I am sorry.

I agree with you- as it was with horse thievery, your tools are your livelihood and deserve a higher degree of protection than ordinary theft.

Brad White_9

I love my fellow man, too HB....

But when the heck are they going to love me back?

Even though we do not discuss price here:

As for the "price of crack going up"- hey, plumbers need to keep up too!

Speaking of turning the other cheek...

Mitch_4

only one time I laughed at being hit..

I had a very large tool box inthe truck that held all kinds of addball parts you couldn't get anymore (like matchbook powerpiles, bimetal pilot safetys, the big 6" ones etc) I would strip off of r&r units, or scrap on the roadside...must have weighed 200#.

they broke in my truck and took that and left everything else because the dog started barking, and they skedaddled.

I sure could have used those parts at various times, but the thought of whoever opeing a 200# toolbox to find junk...cosmic revenge.

Mitch

Cosmo_3

hey

I resembled that remark once or twice.....

But it's ok, see we get our cracks approved for duty when we pass our master plumber exam.


Cosmo

Fred Campbell

CRAACK!!

I recieved a catolog a while back, outdoor outfitter I think. They had an item called "Crack Plaster". It came in a plastic lidded tub and when you opened it, there was an extra long T-shirt in there. "A gift for your plumber buddies" they advertised.

Last winter was the most recent "hit" for me. I left the man door open to my garage and they got a cordless combo bag and my pancake compressor. Good thing the guy only had two hands.


TG

Ken D.

But where?

Do they sell these stolen tools? I hope not to our fellow mechanics. Who else could use a Testo or any of the other specialized tools we use? If anyone tries to sell you something out of a car trunk or flea market, don't buy, but do call the police. Scratch ID numbers onto all your tools to assist in locating you.

Tony_23

That's Duluth

Duluth Trading Co. They call it "Crack Spackle"

A little tub with two longtail tees for $23.

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Fred Campbell

Where?

e-bay and flea markets. Out of their trunks at jobsites but that's rare for the reason you mentioned.

TG

frank_25

Where are they sold?

> Do they sell these stolen tools? I hope not to

> our fellow mechanics. Who else could use a Testo

> or any of the other specialized tools we use? If

> anyone tries to sell you something out of a car

> trunk or flea market, don't buy, but do call the

> police. Scratch ID numbers onto all your tools to

> assist in locating you.

Christian Egli_2

Cold trail

Here in Ohio, pawn shops and recycle centers are protected by law. They can accept stolen goods and not have to restitute them to the owner. The owner may buy them back for whatever the pawn broker wants. Same thing if you find your copper gutters at the junk yard, you can't take them back. Bamo, you're victimized twice, and still counting.

I don't know the details of the law, but that's what was clearly explained to me.

Meanwhile, if you buy an item that turns out to be stolen and the proper owner finds it, you get it taken away from you (which is normal since it was stolen in the first place) and you also loose the money you paid. Buying and selling stolen stuff is risky for anyone else but those protected by law. Nice laws we have, isn't that amazing?

I've always wondered how this aspect of the law was handled 100 years ago, before 911 telephone calls and rapid police car emergency response and all the other things that have replaced self defense. Has crime always existed?

frank_25

where are they sold?

Didn't mention this before, but...........Another Rigid 300 and stand were removed from my truck at a job-site, first day, while unloading. Think about it, three guys unloading a van, closing the door without using the extra security lock. Happens all the time. A woman from accros the streeet tells me they went that way two mins ago. I jump into my car with one of the helpers and we're off. I start "cork-screwing" the blocks and find a guy with the 300 under his arm holding it like a loaf of bread. [That head weighs 99 lbs.] He threw it into his car, I blocked the other driver, and proceed to impress upon him the value of that machine to me and the value of his life to him. The forged steel 14" crate opener attached to my raised fist convinced him to...."do the right thing". Later back at the job, I was "convinced" that the stand would be returned to me for "a finders fee of $25." I relented and the exchange was made. I was also given a roll of 12/3 BX as a peace offering. I gave it to the elec-spark-tricians.

jackchips_2

Hard to believe

it's a year Bill but judging from your "rant" it's still painful.

Rather than rehash a couple of my experiences, which could not compare to your loss, I am reminded of something my late father-in-law did.

He did a lot of work in the city of Worcester and if you didn't put everythhing under lock and key in some neighborhoods or leave an apprentice as a guard, many things would walk.

He related a short story of how he had lost a couple of tools so on his last day on a project he bought a cake in one of those round cans, threw it away, and made a personal deposit.

He then left it on his back bumper. waited a short time, saw it was missing and then drove away with a big grin on his face.

Time won't erase the memory of your loss but it will help ease the pain.

Jack

Brad White_108

Crime and Punishment....

Time was, not so long ago, (in England of all places, the polite society), should you commit a capital crime in January, caught soon thereafter, tried in February or March and if convicted, hanged invariably in April, within a month if that, all appeals included. A three-month turn-around was not uncommon and crime horrified for it too was uncommon.

Very little support of the criminal element as you appear to have in Ohio. Your pawn shop law is an open invitation to thieves. Say, is that gold leaf on your state capitol dome?

That is what it might take to change the laws.

Leo

Scratch ID Numbers

When I was a Crime Prevention officer in another life we taught people to scratch their License number followed by state, ex 1234 NY. In the event an officer recovered them he had a number he both understood and could trace.

Leo

Fred Campbell

Wow!

Frankie, That's a good one. I've got 'em too including the time I went all the way to trial, saw him get away with it, and didn't get my stuff back. I admit I bought a Ridgid 300 at a flea market when my nice little Nye mule was "lost". It grieved me to know that I might be capitalizing on someone else's misfortune but that was tempered by my recent loss. Call the cops is good but 9 of 10 they'll tell you they can't do a thing.

Christian Egli_2

Nope that won't change the law, too late

We've always been told it was budget problems and quarrels that left the roof of our capitol building unfinished. Take a look at the pictures.

Thanks to your superior powers of deduction we now know the real story. The best explanation for what our capitol dome looks like.

Incidentally, the roof leaks. It was leaking a few years back when it was entirely redone and it still leaks today - duh.

http://www.cupola.com/html/bldgstru/statecap/slide/ohcap2e.htm

Tony_23

That's Classic

The old fellas sure had a way of dealing with things.

Had an old relative who put horse s*#t in with Red Man tobacco because a coworker was always helping himself, then denying it. He got caught

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Ken D.

Its the same in Pennsylvania.

If your stolen tools end up in a pawn shop, you pay to get them back. It happened to a co-worker.Talk abpout a double standard! Can the only explanation be the politicians all own pawn shops?

amhwrite_2

Tool orders!

Some guys I used to work with used to help the the suppliers by giving demand! In a previous life I worked for a company that did a lot of renovation work in some pretty bad neighborhoods. Theft from contractor's was an everyday occurence. The theives had these middle-men if you will, that would come to job sites and take orders for equipment and materials. Or they would seem to know if your tools were stolen and would be able to get them back for you for a price way cheaper than replacing them. That use to get me seeing other guys buying the stuff from them. One guy in particular used to justify buying the obviously stolen tools as "that's business," or "how do I know the stuff is stolen?" Hey, there are a lot of people with extra threading machines and hammerdrills in their basements to get rid of right? He would tell me that I was just jealous because he beat me to the deal. "That's business" didn't cut it with him when the guy that sold him a hammerdrill could get back most of his stuff that was taken from his truck yesterday! He wanted blood! What goes around comes around and payback's a @#$ch! There should be no protection for anyone buying stolen goods, pawn shops or Joe Q Public, stolen property should be returned to the owner.