After 30 years we got robbed...

The worst thing abouth the meth menace, is that its spread worldwide. I used to think alcohol was the most destructive drug, but this crap is worse. Down here, they call it "pee", and its called "ice" too.
Personally, i like my sleep, and can think of nothing worse than staying awake for days, slowly going insane.
The only way i can see to stop losing your hard earned stuff, is to live in your shop.
If you have to shoot a thief, fire a second shot into the roof, and tell the coppers that you fired a warning shot first, but the tweaker kept coming at you.
I hate how our love of old cars can be turned sour, because of some f#*k up.

 

Legalize the stuff but make it so that anyone wanting to use it will need to have their balls removed or face execution if caught with it.

And I agree with the Kiwi above about moving into your shop.

 

Betrayal by one in whom a man has invested his best efforts is one of the worst offenses of all. When it is committed, the sting lasts longer and the poison fouls a man's mind long after accounts are settled. No matter what the outcome of that person's offenses as levied by society, the memory lingers in a man's mind because of the wrongness of it. Time being an imperfect mechanism for erasing our feelings, even it cannot fully heal the scars. I hope you learn this and yet do not feel that helping someone you thought needed help was the wrong choice. Helping other people has no reward except that it is better than doing nothing. Even when you have been burned once, you must decide between going with your better self and doing something to help, or doing nothing. And nothing should not be the plate you eat from. If you do nothing for someone the next time because you have been offended once, the offense that was done has been doubled and you lose all over again.

 

fuck that, move to a state where they allow you to protect whats yours.

 

i don't mean to be the bearer of bad news but 25 years ago i was "cleaned out". Noone ever caught nothing recovered, to this day every once in a while i have a recall of walking into the mess left behind and all the historical handmade specialty stuff. Really knocked me off my path for a while. get back to it or it will drive you bonkers.

 

It's bad enough when they take your stuff. Don't let them steal your integrity.

 

Wrong. The criminal is not the victim. He choose to use drugs. After that, he loses all rights to be considered a victim of anything except his own stupidity.

This ignorant consideration of criminals as victims has been a significant contributor to the downfall of American society. Sure, there are exceptions, but the vast majority of today's criminals have no one to blame except themselves.

 

"Yep, the criminals have all the rights it seems. There was a shop owner in Miami who was getting broken into all the time, they were coming in one window. He rigged up a shotgun to that window and a few nights later bagged a theif who was breaking in. The shop owner was arrested for murder. If I ever have to shoot someone to defend myself you can bet he will be found with a knife next to him.
Don"

Just in case you didn't know, they put you in jail for booby traps in Texas too.
Larry T

 

i understand your pain on this one. ive had almost the same thing happen here. a few times. and once by my own family member.you know why you never heard about this drug problem back in the day. because up until the 30s they were legal. sears use to sell hype needles and even herion. there were more farmwifes addicted to herion that you could imagine.it was a pain reliever.if these people didnt have to steal to get a overpriced drug it would slow down alot of this crap.they pass laws to make oxycotin harder to get which in turn makes me jump thru hoops to get the meds i need to get out of bed every morning.i go to a pain dr. every month. i have to its this or blow my brains out.but now i cant get the dr to raise my dose even tho ive been on the same dose for 3 yrs. did it stop the problem .no it didnt they still get it. now they just rob the drug store while i lay in bed screaming in pain.make drugs legal and take away the incentive to make and distrubute the drug and crime will fall because then they can go to a drug store and get what they need.and leave our shit alone.but really, i dont see a clear cut answer to the problem.its gonna take society to change its attitude towards alot of things but i dont see that happening.anyway there will always be theives.drugs or no drugs.so keep your powder dry and ready.i do.

 

That really sucks. Drugs are a big problem and the War on Drugs is not the the solution.

 

Jesus guys, some of you should listen to yourselfs...

I am a substance abuse counselor, a recovering addict and some one that is constantly appalled at the inorance that is laid out around me.

Now I know this will most likely fall on deaf ears but on the off chance one of reads it and reconsiders what you're saying for a second then it was worth it.

drug addiction is just the physical manifestation of the emotional deficiencies that lie with in us.

I hate a theif as much as anyone and I openly admit that I have wanted to cause serious bodily harm to some people in the past for stealing from me, hell may would even now, but all of this "beat his ass" and cut his hands off" talk is rediculous.

I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings here but do you think for a second that you are the first person that has beat their ass?

I knew a young lady that was addicted to crack that was beaten by a dealer so badly that her eye popped out of its socket and her orbital cavity was crushed, she stayed out for another 3 weeks before she was arrested for something else and got the medical attention she needed.

she then 6 months later relapsed again for another 2 years.

if having your eye popped out of socket and getting a portion of your skull crushed is not a deterrent then do you really think you're going to make a difference?

 

Its a shitty deal, I'm sorry about the loss of your stuff. I'd like to speak up as someone who has been on both sides of this stuff. I'm over 5 years clean and sober now but i have experience being both people in this situation. I recovered as a result of the 12 steps of AA.

Don't blame the guy for being an addict, he didn't choose to pour his life into sucking white smoke out of the hot end of a pipe. With that said, he is absolutely accountable for his actions, you have every right to be pissed. The fact that he is an addict doesn't absolve him of responsibility for stealing shit, it really just says that without an entire change of his way of living and thinking that he will be on the pipe again and won't be able to control it when he starts. If the guy doesn't want help and doesn't really want to and is not willing to change then you might as well lock him up because he won't change. Change from something like that is an inside job and threats of stuff really don't do anything.

The use of drugs and addiction, which are two different things are a massive problem which there is no easy answer for.

As to this guy specifically, if he straightens his shit out and really does what he needs to do then he'll be making amends anyway. Otherwise he will just slowly die from what is wrong with him. Forgive, but don't forget and lock your stuff up real well.

 

I'm glad you're clean and all but I totally disagree with you. If that's the case, then why isn't everyone on here addicted to this stuff? It's because most of us are smart enough to never have tried the shit to begin with. Just trying it the first time is the same as making the choice "to pour his life into sucking white smoke out of the hot end of a pipe".

 

I both agree and disagree.

I'm not a crack head (never tried it) but I can relate my experience with alcohol to this. The first time i took a drink it was as though i had found the part of me which was left out when i was born. From that point on i was going to go back to that because it was the only thing which made me feel like i even belonged on this earth.

There are many people who have smoked crack and after a period of time made a decision to stop and stopped. They got a few days between them and a hit and never went back to it, those are normal people who tried smoking crack. I have met those kind of people. There are also people who are real crack addicts, who are the people who go hard for that stuff until they die or by god get clean. That is because the effect that crack has on them is different than the effect it has on normal people who try crack.

real addicts are a little different than normal people.

However in one respect you are correct, before the first time they ever smoked crack they did make a choice to take the first hit. I would ague that that is a little different from making a choice to become a crack head, but i could see how you might see it that way.

Really, what sane person would make a conscious decision to become a crack head?

I'd love a rational description of that thought process.

I would also respectfully challenge your opinion on this matter.

Do you have any experience with this first hand?

If you don't have any your opinion is really just that, an opinion. What i just shared is not my opinion, it is my experience and there is a world of difference between opinion based on whatever you believe and firsthand experience. It is like the difference between reading a porno mag and having sex, a complete world apart.

 

I am speaking as a father of one of those crack (or in our area it Meth) heads. It is sad what drugs have done to this world. My son has stolen and vadelized a lot of my and his step families stuff. He has screwed his life up and every time I have tried to help him he has screwed me again. We are no longer speaking and every time I pick up the paper I half expect to read about soothing else he has done. I know my son had nothing to do with your robbery but please except my apologies. As the dad of one of those crack heads I carry a little shame even though he is 20 years old.

 

thats just sad.

 

Well, this really sucks. I'm really sorry that this happened to you.

You said yourself that they are different from normal people. What makes you think they have a rational thought process? Am I supposed to feel sorry for them or the people they victimize?

Really? I don't blame the guy for being an addict. He can do whatever he wants to himself but he made his choices. I really don't care what his original intentions were. He has ended up being a blight on society. As far as his psychological issues, I really don't care about that either. I guess I've reached the end of my tolerance for these bullshit punks victimizing decent people. Do I sound angry? Yeah, I am.

Yeah...apparently it doesn't lie within all of us.

Agree.

Sorry, guys. I guess I'm feeling a little hotheaded about this and I don't mean any disrespect to the posters I have quoted, I just disagree. I'm frustrated and pissed that another person was victimized by these lowlifes. I don't feel any sympathy for them. Sorry.

Edit:

Now, you I do feel sorry for. I don't think your apology is necessary. Your son has made his own choices because he's his own person. He has to own it, not you. As a parent, I know it must be hard to not feel some blame. Hang in there.

 

The OP got the word out about his theft, hope he gets it ALL back. Now can we stop the drug addiction talk and get back to HOT RODS?????

 

Getting back to the subject of hotrods would probably be for the best.

 

We have a crack head in the family. I can tell you from experience that addicts steal from the people who are closest to them, in part, because they expect to be forgiven. Forgiving addicts is another word for "enabling." As long as you do it you will be a victim. As hard as it is to do, the only way out is to say "no" and let them fall. The potential for rehabilitation is directly related to the consequences of using.

 

Good to hear that! The younger guys in my office make me feel as though I am the only one who has never even tried weed or any other "controlled substance". Never saw the attraction. So there ARE more of us out there somewhere!?!?!? Cool. I mean, I will have a beer or two every now & then, but definitely never let it get past that.

What I've found is that damn near every one of these pricks is working HARDER to break into places and to lie & cheat their way through life and to avoid capture than if they'd just get a real job and show up on a somewhat regular basis. Gauging from the level of talent that they have at the local fast food joints, Best Buy, and retail stores, their bar is set REALLY low anyway, so WTF?!?!? Get a job dude!!!

I've had a few situations where "my spidey sense" was tingling and I had to walk out the door and take the conversation OUTside because I felt like they were casing the place to see what they could steal later. You could see their eyes checking out the "inventory" and the doors and windows... Also had a few of the neighborhood slackers "working" for me painting the shed, helping me to dig trenches for water lines, etc. but the very second that I'd advance them a little money for the work that they were doing they'd disappear and I'd have to finish it myself. I always say that they're not getting paid until the work is DONE, but of course they always come up with the "I need to get my prescription filled and my disability check is late, and..." and you feel sorry for them.

You can TRY all that you want to to help these people, but until THEY'VE had enough and WANT to change, it'll never stop.

 

My wife is always bitching about how much hair my Rottweiler sheds. My garage is attached and there is living space above it. No windows and the entry door opens into the front mud room, which is open to the rest of the house. My Rottie is one of those ever vigilant types. I have to tell him to calm down when cars even drive by. He doesn't like people much. I just pity any poor bastard that breaks into my house...

 

There lies the problem with quitting drugs.
The user needs a reason to quit.

 

Sorry to hear about your loss. Similar burglary happened to me. They stole hot rod parts, 1894 Winchester made in 1897, entire music collection, etc. I had taken my Sig Saur with me that day, and the punks tried to flush 90 rounds of 9 mm down the toilet. Go figure. Punk 18 year olds. Turned out they said they were on drugs. Police caught them with the goods, two days latter. Long story short, I agreed with one of the parents who said their boy would enlist in the Marine Corps that week, if I dropped the charges. I agreed. He's been in the Marine's over nine years now.
Today, the armed forces will not consider any applicants who have a felony on their record. My brother-in-law who was a Marine Corps Recruiting Sgt told me that.

 

You're right Harv. Sometimes, I just can't keep my mouth shut. Sorry guys.

 

Jesus man.....Sorry to hear all that. I'll deal with a lot in my life but when it comes to drugs....I have zero tolerance for that crap. Such a shame after all you did for him. Hopefully one day he will realize what he did and actually care.

 

Well, the kid is in jail and the attempted armed robbery charge is going to send him off for a long time. I'm pretty sure that the driver of the car finally broke down and told the whole story. I still haven't gotten anything else back, but I'm ok with it. Not that I like it, but what else can I do, right?

The most heartbreaking part of this whole story is that because of stupidity, peer pressure, lack of proper parenting, or whatever combination thereof, another young life has been devoured by the "Dope Monster".

I preach it to all of my friends, I tell my kids, my neices and nephews, whoever will give me a chance... KEEP YOUR KIDS CLOSE TO YOU and these other influences won't have a chance to get next to them. When my kids were young, we took them to the races every weekend, went to their ball games, took them to dance, took them to church, thoroughly checked out wherever they were going, and just basically "kept them close". Not that they are perfect, but at ages 28 and 31, we've just never had a single problem with either one of them.

Anyhow, maybe there's nothing else good that can come out of this, but maybe it will remind someone out there in HAMB-land to draw a little closer to you own child, and if that's the case... that's a GOOD thing.

 

We have had our small sub shop broken into 3 times in a year, I keep doing things to stop the breaking in and they keep getting in, finally I installed an alarm system and they got in, 30 secs later they were fleeing. We know exactly who it is but cannot prove it, herion addics, a ball bat to the caps might sober them up. Any way I can appreciate where you are comming from, sorry about your loss.