If this subject has not been discussed before, I’m sure it would be of interest to many of us. If you’ve been in the trades for very long, you have probably been ripped off at least once. I would be interested in account of your misfortunes and any security measures you have found successful, but it is with some fear that I bring up this topic at all. There is a chance that security information will wind up in the wrong hands, but I hope that more of us will be helped rather than hurt. I certainly would be happy for any advice on this topic.
Let me start it off with a account of what happened to us on a job last winter. We were working on a large remodel located on a cul-de-sac near the top of a hill overlooking the San Francisco Bay. I have had some single tools stolen in past years (I had 3 sawzalls ripped off in 5 years before this robbery), but that did not prepare me for what I saw when I opened up the job one morning. Our two Knaack boxes were open and tool boxes, minus the tools, were scattered around the garage floor. We use the same key for all our company locks on job boxes and chains that secure them and other tools that don’t fit in them, like ladders and larger compressors. My first thought was that some disgruntled/fired former employee used his key to get back at us. But I quickly realized that there has been no one like that that I could remember in the 15 years I’ve been with the company, and in fact most of us have worked here for 10 years or more. Then I noticed some small piles of brass “powder” on the concrete floor. They had drilled out the locks through with a small bit, perhaps a carbide 1/8″. It probably took them all of 10 secs. per lock. These locks were the classic Master #5’s that we see on most job boxes, and the wards are unguarded. The locks were not even fully destroyed, and I found they would still lock, and that any key using the #5 blank would work.
The dirty deed was done on a blustery, rainy night and no neighbors saw or heard anything, even though it was a “crime watch” neighborhood in a ritzy area. Amazingly no company tools were taken, but I lost about $5000 worth of tools and my co-worker about $2000. Included were all those special tools, many no longer available, that I have acquired during a 28 year career in the biz. The cops found no prints, and they only took what would sell easily. These were professionals, and we certainly wondered about the subs who had been on the job. But we have used these same subs for many years and get along well with their their employees. The cops said that often there are people who simply cruise neighborhoods looking for job sites. Oftentimes men will come by our jobs “looking for work,” but it’s hard to tell whether they are there to case us or to get hired. I expect most are legitimately looking for work.
Later, an old friend at our local lumber company (he’s written articles for Fine Homebuilding, among his many other talents), told me that pros like these steal tools in San Francisco, sell them in flea markets in L.A., and vice versa; so it’s tough to trace them, even if they are engraved with your name or drivers license no. Not that that hurts, and I always record serial and model nos. when I buy a new tool. I haven’t gotten anything back, but I was able to supply the police with a pretty complete list of all the power tools. I suggest you engrave and photograph hand tools, also. You’ll need a record for insurance purposes, if you are covered. We exchanged the keyed locks for combination locks (the Sesame brand fit our Knaack boxes without much slop). They have worked so far, but I expect they could be thwarted somehow. Any other lock suggestions? Is there a Medico-type lock that would work with job boxes? Some of our boxes have a 3/8″ steel angle iron welded to the front edge of the lid to prevent someone opening it with an ordinary crowbar.
I am concerned with the availability of powerful cordless tools that can make fast work of chains and locks. I used to speculate that since there were no cordless grinders on the market, there was a tacit agreement among tool manufacturers not to produce them for fear of selling a tool that could make short work of chains and locks, even case-hardened ones that would defeat a sawzall. But now such grinders are available, and will be effective, albeit noisy tools in thieves’ arsenals. Does anyone have an idea about how to defend against grinders? Pit bulls are not an option on our mostly high-end residential jobs. In fact, once a stucco guy let his unsupervised pit bull out of his truck and it bit an inspector who had come to give us our final! We nearly strung him up on the spot, along with his mutt.
I hope we can share some helpful defenses against rip-offs, and at a minimum, slow down the s.o.b.s who steal the means of making our livings.
Bicycle Bill
Replies
This is a building job story, but just so you don't feel so bad...
Next house up the street from us. Estate sale of the house as the father had passed on. Kids not in the immediate area. House is listed with a broker who advised the kids to leave the nice antique furniture in the house so that it showed well. Broker put up nice pictures on the realtor web site.
Thieves rolled up in a moving truck, broke into the lock box to get the house key, and moved out all the expensive antiques.
I never did hear what happened to the broker. I'd have killed them.
Sorry to hear about your loss. It is outrageous to find that people will do such things.
Entered the home building business as a carpenter and have become a custom builder. Use locks for jobsite stored tools? No way...as a carpenter, we never left tools on the job.
This is not alway successful, as my framer recently had $5,000.00 stolen from his van parked in his driveway, but it is probably better than leaving them on the job.
I have grown past the problem as my three main tools are in my office: computer, adding machine and phone.
Weld a piece of 4" pipe around the hasp to enclose the lock. Weld a plate 5" from the end of the pipe to prevent chisel, hammer, and drill access. It is a pain to lock and unlock but it slows down the creeps.
Weld a piece of flat over the hinge(s).
Store boxes of nails in the bottom or a few bags of readimix to slow them when they try to carry it off.
My dad found a sleaze using his stolen (from our home garage) roofer/tinner tools. They had a few words and Dad caught the guy near the edge and threw him off the roof - minor broken bones. The judge was quit harsh with the old man, "taking the law into your own hands..." rhetoric. Pop told him the courts and the law weren't doing their job. "Contempt of court! $100!" My dad gave him a little more lip and "Contempt of court! $200!" Dad shut up and figured the judge would eventually need gutters, a roof or a furnace and he would even the score big time. He never did get even, and I haven't had the opportunity either.
My father was a small-volume builder in MO, and lost tools and construction materials several times, even from our locked garage. He never did come up with a foolproof storage method.
One funny story, happened 28 years ago -- we lived in Columbia, which is a university town, and were often losing construction materials to students. One night Dad went to check the job site and found a teenager trying to steal a 16' long 2x12 in his Volkswagen Beetle! He had it sticking through both windows like a wing, right in front of his neck. Dad asked him (gently) what he was planning to do with that lumber and he casually said he needed to make some shelves. He said he considered any lumber lying outdoors on the job site was automatically "scrap".
I'm sure you pros out there encounter this attitude even more today.
If you are using any keyed locks with a single, in-line row of pins, even the so-called high-security types, you may want to check out:
http://www.toool.nl/bumping.pdf
The technique described is simple, easy to learn, and defeats almost every residential lock set out there no matter how many pins it has. The only way to stop this new "hack" is to use commercial high-security locks. Some insurance policies will not payoff if there is no evidence of forced entry. Bumping leaves no evidence of forcing and many victims are treated skeptically (or worse) when they file a claim.
Yes, I was waiting to see this post. 90% of locks with 7 blanks and 3 seconds. Not good. There are a few out there that are bump-proof, though I don't recall the brands off-hand.
This will become a bigger issue in the near future - the word has just hit the street on this recently. It won't be long before people are bumping my front door and meeting ole Shep and I get sued for owning a dangerous dog...
You can only get sued for a dangerous dog if there is a party left to sue you. Let the dog finish his job and don't intrefere with someone/dog while they're working.
I read that pdf file.They mention taking 30 seconds to bump a lock open. Before I got to page 7, I had already devised a way to use a common, cheap construction tool to make the method almost completely foolproof, and take maybe 3 or 4 seconds to get the job done. That 3 or 4 seconds would be accomplished after a great deal of practice at it, of course. Just like their 30 seconds was accomplished.Basically I would start with the common construction tool, and add a few small "engineered" parts of my own, and end up with a tool that would easily accept any bump key. And keys could be changed very quickly.I could also develop a simple attachment combining my homemade parts, so that anyone could attach it to the right tool just by snapping it on. Then attach a key, and be good to go.Once the tool was put together with the right bump key, it would probably take more time to "calibrate" the setup than to actually use it. Like maybe 6 to 8 seconds.My method could even be shmoozed so that no bump marks would be left on the lock at all.No. I am not telling. Unlike them, I do not believe such information should be "published".How many homeowners... How many contractors... How many people at all out there... Who are NOT crooks... Are going to know about this ?We now know, of course. But how many people, really, are going to ever know this ? For that matter, how many people would even pay attention if they were told ? How many people who read this thread, are even going to bother reading that pdf file, for instance ?"Publishing" that kind of thing only gives the people who are paying attention, more tools to rip people off with...BTW: If I, with absolutely no real experience at picking locks, could figure this out in less than 4 minutes, then I am sure someone who spends all their time doing it, who then reads that pdf, is also going to easily figure it out very soon.When washday is done, the finally tally will still be... Anyone who wants your stuff badly enough, is going to find a way to get it no matter what you do. Don't worry about this bump stuff. Just take whatever precautions you can, and go on with yer life. Just as you do now.
A good heart embiggens even the smallest person.
The people who published the article on bumping were sending a warning. As for keeping it a "secret", the crooks have known about this technique for a year or so. At the end of the article they show examples of keys and locks that cannot be bumped. We probably would do well to heed their advice. Change your plans for locksets and read the fine print in those insurance policies.Of course the bigger problem is a lack of morals, and that can't be solved with any simple solution. Barry Asmus said it succinctly:"When values are sufficient, Laws are unnecessary. When values are insufficient, Laws are unenforceable."
Great quote.The article said it has been known about for at least 50 years.As far as I am concerned it is just like all of a sudden being freaked out about mold.There is some common sense to it, but in the end it becomes just a scam to get more money for "better" locks, and more expensive insurance.
A good heart embiggens even the smallest person.
Having lost everything...... tool wise ,,,,,,,,,on my bithday, no less.I have to only say "THERE , IS A SPECIAL PLACE IN HELL FOR TOOL THIEVES"
Only thing better is to make a hell for them on this earth.
be breaking fingers
We can imagine something that only exists in our heads, in a form that has no measureable, tangible reality, and make it actually occur in the real world. Where there was nothing, now there is something.Forrest - makin' magic every day
pike 'em....
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!<!----><!---->
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
..remember the scene in the movie Hustler with Paul Newman? They broke both his thumbs
......would like to see them wipe their own azzes with the casts on...
Should I pray for forgivness for having such nasty thoughts?
bum...two wrongs don't make a right, but... three lefts do... :)
Pike 'em?
Naw.....too fast and too easy. merciful almost.
Smash one knee and the ankle on the other side. Same deal with a hand and an elbow. Miserable POS will remember forever.
Not an exponent of the DILLIGAF system.
pike one or two heads out front...
word would get out that this site needs a wide berth...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!<!----><!---->
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Tsk tsk tsk......too obvious that a killing was commited.
The smash method lets the POS crawl away to his hole. Whats he gonna do.....call the cops and say he was bashed while robbing someone??
Not an exponent of the DILLIGAF system.
we found that, that way when we showed up for work this morning...
no officer... I didn't know he had a bud...
can I get to work now.. day light is burning...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!<!----><!---->
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Aaahh
next time call me.....I want to watch. :-)
Not an exponent of the DILLIGAF system.
wasn't there.. didn't know it was happening...
it was like that before Igot there...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!<!----><!---->
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Nah, you should get a plaque from the city for performance of a civic duty.
be how cum no one serves anymore?
AN HONEST MANS PILLOW IS HIS PIECE OF MIND.-Laumonster '06
We abandoned the use of combination locks a long time ago and still lose tools now and again. We even secure the Knaack boxes to the floor with pipes and large bolts. Company once did a home remodel on top a hill above Los Gatos and one Sunday morning someone came and rolled the entire, fully loaded box, out of the house and down the hill about 50 yards. Compressor, nail guns, hand tools, drills, hoses, saws and Knaack box, all gone! They loaded it onto a pickup and took off with it. How they got it onto the truck I've no idea cause it probably weighed 1500 lbs or more and they had to get it through several rooms inside the house and down some steps too. Must have been a winch and some kind of truck mounted crane. Often thought that if they just put that much ingenuity into construction work rather than theft, they could get hired anywhere.
Sorry to hear this story. I don't offer my method as real security. It is one I learned from a next door neighbor growing up (did it have anything to do with me?).
Anyway, he had a color - his was a cream like color, and all his stuff was painted his color.
I chose a particularly ugly color - federal safety purple (I know this color has ramifications to some, I said ugly). I aim to spray this ugly stuff in the hardest to clean off areas. That's my first line of defense. I take the eye appeal away.
Second, I write my name on the tool with the dremel so you can read it from the air. I'm not neat about it, but I aim to go across such things as model plates, formed brand letters, etc.
Then I like to sometimes outline the name with a magic marker. They might even get the idea that a crazy guy owns it (no cheap shots guys).
They may cart them off tomorrow, but I figure a thief is too lazy to take the paint off, etc. The tools on Ebay that are marked with names won't go as well either.
everybody around here use those "Conco " boxes. those that haul freight sea or rail. you need a cutting torch to get into. holds tools and materials.
Unfortunately jobsite theft has become a business.
We no longer leave anything over around $200 in our boxes. I work commercial and I come home with 2 lasers, 5 hiltis and a couple of yoyos covered up in the back of my cab.
Still run the risk of some tweaker breaking in the truck and hitting it big.
When space allows, most companies are using the containers Brownbag mentioned, I haven't seen one of those peeled open....yet!
We had a site hit in Antioch, 8 gang boxes gone, loaded into the landscapers dump truck driven away.
Our company (drywall) occasionally recovers stuff found in the garages of busted drug dealers/ fences.
What a world.
Mike
Trust in God, but row away from the rocks.
I had the locks drilled out of a Knaack box on a job in the Berkeley hills and switched over to the combination locks with 4 resettable tumblers. They're Master brand, I think. They can't be drilled open in the same way but if you leave the box open and the lock tumblers showing the combination, someone can just walk on the job, check the combination, and come back later to open the box.
I switched over to the master combo locks after I locked my toolbelt (with my keys in one of the pouches) into my Knaack box. The frustration only escalated. I found that the master combo locks had to be compressed a fraction of an inch after dialing in the combo to release. It turned out to be such a tight fit in the knaack box that the lock wouldn't compress and therefore wouldn't open. Finally with a second set of combo locks and the locking mechanism in the box ground down for clearance so the lock would compress I was able to use the combo locks.I learned a lot about how easy it is to defeat a padlock in the process of getting my box opened without keys those two times.My old boss always said "locks only keep honest people honest"Someone posted earlier with concerns about cordless grinders. All I needed to remove my locked key locks from my boxes was a cordless drill and 30 seconds per lock. The combo locks took a bit longer. A grinder sounds slow and noisy in comparison.I would go for lagbolting the box to the floor from the inside and creating a secret, concealed locking mechanism like a few machine screws run through the lip of the lid and into the main portion of the box. Some of the screws that require special security bits/tips would be a good option if you are really into maximum security.To the guy who thinks it takes a cutting torch to get into a shipping container: All the ones I have seen are locked by a standard key lock that can be defeated in a minute or two with a cordless drill.I recall a few years ago someone posted their system was to use a gutted clothes dryer as a tool storage bin. Any would be thieves would likely not realize it was the repository for tools.Karl
Man, a lot of bad stories from the bay area. Thanks for the warning.
By the way, I had a friend down here who was on a job where a shipping container did get cleared out, by someone using a cutting torch. There's no sure thing, I guess.
zak
"so it goes"
This subject has been discussed before.
rule #1. dont leave your lively hood somewhere you cannot see or hear if someone is breaking in.
#2 make it as hard as possible for them to get in. it helps eliminate most quick attempts. get custom things made if you have to. $300 worth of custom brackets is cheap.
#3 make it harder than the guys next door.
#4 thieves dont care about your locks, paint job, door, tool boxes, nothing. if they want in they will get in.
i have lost about 30 thousand dollars worth in the last 5 years. i have seen what they are willing to do.
good luck.
i feel sorry for the guy i ever catch stealing mine or anyone elses. i will fkn kill them. can you tell im bitter?
Tmaxxx
Urban Workshop Ltd
Vancouver B.C.
cheers. Ill buy.
I've only had small stuff stolen, but if I was to leave a passel of tools on a jobsite ( which I don't), I think I'd get a couple of cameras with night vision capability, hook them up to some motion detectors and an old vcr that still has recording capability. It wouldn't keep the tools safe, but you might get your stuff back and take some scum off the street (or jobsite as the case may be). Seems like a lot of trouble, but didn't this thread start out with a horror story from BicycleBill (sorry for your and your partner's loss) about loosing $7,000 worth of tools? You could set up a surveillance system for probably less than $500. The cameras would be the most expensive thing to by, and they're likely available for a couple of hundred dollars each. Shouldn't have to do it, but you have to keep your livelihood safe.Yea, what a world.
Cameras are a waste of time in my experience.The place where I work spent God knows how much money to install maybe over a hundred cameras in several different apartment complexes(projects).Any time something happens,it's the same story,some guy,average height,build,baggy pants,hooded sweatshirt...gee,only like a billion people that fit that description.It's become a bit of a joke among the people who work here.We have a couple of shipping containers in the yard.They're sturdy but they're locked with a padlock so that's the weak link.They could be made out of 12" thick steel but if it's secured with a padlock what's the difference.When I worked for a contractor,any power tools were loaded into the van at the end of the day.It's a pain in the ####,but not as much as showing up to work the next day and having all the tools gone.He seems pretty business savvy,so I'm sure he figured the extra time/labor into his bid.Also had a buddy who went thru the same thing as one of the other posters.His car got broken into,so he decided to leave the doors unlocked to save the window from being broken,but they ended up breaking it anyway.They never seem to try the door so make sure you leave the window down.
The cameras and VCR would just be more stuff for them to steal. What you need is a webcam sending the pix to a remote server.
-- J.S.
" i feel sorry for the guy i ever catch stealing mine or anyone elses. i will fkn kill them. can you tell im bitter? "
After a while one learns that there are times when mercy is not an option.
be a learning experience
We can imagine something that only exists in our heads, in a form that has no measureable, tangible reality, and make it actually occur in the real world. Where there was nothing, now there is something.Forrest - makin' magic every day
Thanks for all your responses. Sadly, the speed and numbers of responses shows how widespread theft is in our business. Just a couple of things I forgot to mention:
I know that most of you are hip enough not to buy suspicious tools at flea markets, but the average Joe Homeowner will buy them because he doesn't know some of the obvious signs. The most common clue is power tools without their factory boxes. Thieves often leave them at the scene of the crime (as they did to me), because it's easier to get away with less bulk. I often hear from clients, amateur woodworkers, or even other carpenters that they found this "great deal" at the flea (Wow, a skilsaw for only $20!). If you talk to folks like that, please tell them that any honest tradesman wants the box the tool came in for protection, blade storage, etc. And there are a fair number of tools at flea markets with the serial numbers ground off and crudely spray-painted.
Here are some morestories that I was part of, one frustrating, one satisfying. We were on a condo conversion, and even though there was a large crew, we got ripped off in broad daylight. When the ' roach coach" came to the building at break, we put down our tools as usual and headed out front. The bald-faced thieves came in the back and made off with a bunch of power tools. We never caught them and they never came back, but we quickly installed a heavy steel door in the back, shutting the barn door after, etc.
When I worked for a different company, we were remodeling a former Brink's armored car office/garage in an iffy section of town. The building had an inner fortress (1" bullet proof glass and 16" solid concrete walls with enough rebar in them to keep us busy with a torch for days). The trucks were parked inside the main building outside this "bunker." Inside the bunker was a walk-in safe with 2 large combination locks, so that 2 employees with different combinations were needed to open it. The boss told us to take home the company tools because he was afraid of the neighborhood; but after a couple of days it hit me that since we were working next to a Brink's safe that was to be saved as a design element (the architect thought it would make a cool office supply storage room), why the hell didn't we use it? We called in a locksmith to put a new combination on the lock. He reset the locks, but he left before would we could check out the new combo. We didn't realize how complicated it would be to open the safe: these locks had some 60 numbers on each and the locksmith had set it up so that it required five different turns on each. They were not at all like the locks on high school lockers, which will open if you miss a number by a little. If you went a smidge past the number, the safe wouldn't open and you had to start over again. Even though the combination was the same on each lock, it was very easy to blow it in the dark, winter mornings while holding a flashlight. So, we had the ultimate job box, but it cost the boss a couple of hours a week to use. Not one of my best ideas.
But there was one gratifying almost "instant karma" incident I remember. We were building a dance studio that was next to a coffee shop. There was a commercial remodel going on just down the block, and we got to know the carpenters during breaktimes at the coffee shop. One day they came in obviously unhappy and told us that the night before some bastards had broken in and taken sawzalls, skilsaws, and even their belts, which you would think might be hard to sell for much. We sympathized, but no one ever expected to see their stuff again. But never underestimate the stupidity of thieves. Two weeks later, a couple of guys came by our jobsite and tried to sell us a couple of job belts! We stalled them while we surreptiously sent a guy down the street to bring back someone from the crew the crew that had been ripped off. Sure enough, the belts were theirs. It was all we could do to keep from beating those chumps to a pulp while we were (roughly) holding them for the cops. Go directly to jail, do not pass go!
Bicycle Bill
I don't know if this one is true or not, but our neighborhood in the 70's wans't so nice. People were stealing the fireplace mantels out of houses, and one enterprising theif went so far as to try and sell it back to the homeowner...
Not to hijack but...
Around 1999-2000 (I think) I was talking a Dewalt engineer and a sales rep over lunch and I questioned why they did not have a cordless angle grinder on the market. They told me that they developed a prototype but the battery and motor tech at the time could not give them any more of a run time than like 4 or 5 minutes because of the high rpm needed. A short run time like that was not useful for people who really use a grinder. I think they are on the market now because battery and motor tech has gotten to the point where a workable grinder is possible. I mean how long has Milwaukee had their cordless porta-band on the market?... same deal I bet.
There was never an agreement between tool companies to not make a product. They are going to throw batteries on any tool that they can make work usefully and sell enough to be profitable. I was also told that Dewalt played around with the concept of a cordless jobsite tablesaw and mitersaw but they both would have had very short run times and the weight was very high. I think he said the tablesaw would have weighed something like 120 lbs with using multiple batteries... again, not practical.
Back to matter at hand...
Crooks are going to break into anything if they want it bad enough and all you can do is slow them down or make the cost of stealing it more than they are willing to give. A good cutting torch is going to defeat any padlock and they are quiet. If you leave tools on site install motion sensitive flood lights, be on speaking terms with the neighbors so they spot unusual activity, use a trailer (they are hard to move with no wheels or tongue), use a shipping container or just do something to slow the thieves down.
Dewalt's Joblock system seems interesting though I don't have a clue how much it costs. Has anyone here used it? It would probably pay for its cost in one or two prevented thefts.
I heard of a big local homebuilder around here who had two bobcats stolen in broad daylight one Sunday afternoon. A guy just rolled up with a hay trailer to the cats parked in a empty lot in this half finished subdivision with people out mowing their grass. He used a key (there are only what 5 or 6 different ones for the older cats) and drove each one onto the trailer and drove off, he was there less than 15 minutes and ripped-off $15k in equipment. The HOs in the area didn't think anything of it because none of the contractor's trucks were marked and his guys worked the occasional weekend. His communication with a couple of the residents he had just sold homes to could very well have prevented the loss.
I think the best way to keep thieves from taking your stuff is to just make it a royal PITA to take it in the first place so they have little opportunity.
-day
After having everything I had securing my stuff destroyed including my vehicles, I came to the realization that it doesn't matter what you do people are going to take what they want.
After having to drive home on a seat full of shattered glass in the middle of winter, I told myself I won't lock my doors again. Quit destroying my sh!tty truck and take what ever you can sell to get your fix. Man what a freakin cold ride home.
I explained this to my insurance agent and he agrees, less he has to pay too. He knows that tools are going to get boosted, that usually doesn't hurt him to bad its what they destroy to get to it is what pours salt on an open wound.
Bottom line I got tired of fixing everything these f--kheads broke trying to take my stuff. The harder it is to get the more they want it. I've had to fix entry doors, trim, sheetrock, overhead doors,etc. I hate redoing stuff that was already done right.
I lock houses up but I don't leave much on the jobs anymore either.
That doesn't matter much either I was installing windows and doors on a frame and my truck was 40 ft away out of sight and someone stole around a $1,000 in tools out of it. At least they didn't break any windows.
I'm only half as dumb as I look.
I got to that same place.I then left the doors to my nova unlocked. And the glovebox had never been locked.I DID leave the alarm on, so that at least I'd know when someone opened it up.The idiots who break into cars are exactly that... brain dead morons.Some moron broke the wing window on the door to reach in and discover that the lock was already pulled up. All he had to do was try the handle first, but nooooooo Eisenstein had to break the wing window immediately.Once inside, he literally ripped the sheet metal glovebox door almost in half getting it open. Once again, all he had to do was try it, but the idiot just went right straight for the demolition.I did at least have the half-disgust, half-pleasure of sticking a gun in his face and watching him piss on the front seat.
A good heart embiggens even the smallest person.
Thats the stories my insurance agent told me. Vehicles being trashed cost them just as much to fix as the little bit of stuff they stole.
My brother had his car almost totaled because of idiots like that. Just for a $300 stereo, they caused $4,500 in damage to his car and they probably sold it for $50.
I'm only half as dumb as I look.
I had 800$ of damage done to a 400$ subaru for the thieves to take a 40$ POS audiovox head unit.
and one of my favorite winter gloves. not both. just one.
fun drive back from vt to nj
WTF are you going to do with one glove? What kind of animal steals one glove, Michael Jackson? I'm only half as dumb as I look.
Yeah.... they also happened to be the best gloves I ever owned. I hope the punks that did it get a real bad case of something.
like hemmroids. or kidney stones the size of golfballs. or poison ivy in a really bad place... something very horrible.
Yup.Since I caught the guy, he was arrested. But he was back out a half hour later.Meantime, he broke the window, and almost literally tore the glovebox door in half... All for nothing.The only thing he found in there worth stealing was a 'max' double aa flashlight that I had forgotten and left under the seat.A cop took that out of his pocket, showed it to me, then proceeded to steal it himself. (He didn't believe it was actually mine. And you know he didn't give it back to the perp. When I checked with them a few days later, the cops knew nothing about a flashlight.) Would have been less stress, heartache and anger in the long run if I had just let the perp walk after he pissed his pants.
A good heart embiggens even the smallest person.
That sucks man, trashed your love macheen for a flashlight.
I think the guy learned his lesson sucking off the end of gun and pissing himself.
He may have walked out of jail in a short time, but he will think twice about stealing.
I'm only half as dumb as I look.
Absolutely true.The car was parked in the inside garage under our building.Vehicles were constantly being broken into there. Every night.After that, there was never another breakin in that garage the rest of the time I lived there. It was at least a dozen crackheads doing the breakins. Word got around to all of them real quick...They thought it was their own private little smorgasbord, as long as they thought everyone was scared of them. But as soon as they learned there might be a price at the plate...
A good heart embiggens even the smallest person.
I doubt it once, a thief always a thief just a little smarter and more devious waiting on his oppertunes.Better to have shot his ear off and labeled him for life.
ANDYSZ2
PS I stand corrected Luka posted before I got my comment in so don't I look silly!
WHY DO I HAVE TO EXPLAIN TO FRIENDS AND FAMILY THAT BEING A SOLE PROPRIETOR IS A REAL JOB?
REMODELER/PUNCHOUT SPECIALIST
Edited 8/23/2006 8:09 pm by ANDYSZ2
Not silly at all.In that garage, they were a captive audience, so to speak, if they got caught.Outside the garage, is a different matter. For one, outside, anyone and everyone can walk or drive by. It's hard to get "the message" out to everyone that might someday come past your vehicle on the curb or driveway. But access was limited to that garage, so only a limited audience needed to get the message...
A good heart embiggens even the smallest person.
Stencil on the front of the boxes "Snake Inside - To Be Opened Only By Handler"
I've been robbed 5 times in 30 years. Each time they took "only" a few tools, not enough to make my deductible, but more than enough to make me feel like breaking someone.
One time was when I was working repairing a front porch. i don't think I was out of sight of my van for more than a few minutes, but it was enough time for some sleaze to grab my recip saw and a drill. I called the cops, and they told me they usually are able to find the tools.
Well, its been about 15 years, and I'm still waiting.
While stuck in an alley waiting to leave a job in downtown Seattle we wandered into a nearby pawnshop. Everytime I hear a stolen tool story I remember the complete aisle of sawzalls, the complete aisle of nail guns, the wormdrives the hammerdrills, any tool we use daily had it's own long,long shelf.
The new metal cutting cordless tools wll cut the lid out of any job box in half a minute or the side of job trailer.
I'm out about$6700.00 since 2000.
the worst has to be somebody stealing the ladder while yur up on the 3rd story flat roof..
or the paint pump while yur using it..
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!<!----><!---->
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Ya, that story wins a trophy.
I remember something like he was around a corner up high on the ladder painting an apt. building wall or whatever when suddenly the sprayer quits. By the time he got down and back to where the compressor was suppose to be all that remained was a paintdrip line to the curb.
become a contender for bigtime wrestling
AN HONEST MANS PILLOW IS HIS PIECE OF MIND.-Laumonster '06
I'm not a big time contractor but a one man operation. My method is simple:
It takes ten minutes to pick up my tools and load up the truck.
It takes a month more or less to replace it all if it goes away.
http://grungefm.com