My vehicle was broken in to last night. It was sitting in my driveway and I live in a nice neighborhood. I DM'd a game on Saturday night and left my large brown leather briefcase inside my car (looks like a computer bag) with most of my D&D books and just relaxed all day Sunday and didnt take it out. I also had my messenger back full of ties in there.
So when I went to my car to drive to work I opened up the passenger door to put my laptop in and it was unlocked. My glove box was open. I didnt even notice my briefcase was gone. I backed up and surveyed my car for damage and noticed my ties strewn all over the street. WTF? I picked them all up and, aside from being dirty, they were ok. Then I thought, "Of F***, my D&D books!" These things get expensive, you know? I looked and found it was missing. Bastards!!
So I looked across the street and there, on its side and open, was my briefcase, opened, with all the books inside.
What? Youre too good for D&D? Screw you!
You know what, moron? You missed my $200 sunglasses. Idiot.
What? Youre too good for D&D? Screw you!
Just goes to show some people have no sense of value, and you can't put a price tag on nostalgia. :-D
I breathe a sigh of relief for you, though. The thought of losing any of my extensive book collection, D&D or not, fills me with fear.
On a sad note, the same thing happened to me years ago, though they didn't still my D&D books. Just my art supplies and $200 worth of tuition money, and my wallet. The lost art supplies hurt more than the tuition money - full set of Prismacolor colored pencils, which ain't exactly cheap.
Here's to hoping they show up in the "World's Dumbest Criminals" or some similar publication. Or maybe a Darwin Award.
If I were to weigh my anger based on losing the books (which contain the hardcover version of SCAP) and my sunglasses or stereo, I would have been more angry over losing the D&D books.
Although recovering the ties was a relief. Some of those cannot be replaced. And, to be honest, shopping for ties blows. Man, thats tough!
:]
Man that blows; I feel for you.
I looked at the title of this thread, then looked at the amount of gaming books I've had to replace because they floated away off my bookshelves, and I just have to disagree with you. =/
That being said, I'm glad your books were recovered. And as a fellow tie afficianado, I can respect the difficulty of replacing a tie collection - some of them can be expensive, and finding the perfect tie to me is the same as my girlfriend finding the perfect pair of jeans (or shoes) (or handbags).
And as a fellow tie afficianado, I can respect the difficulty of replacing a tie collection - some of them can be expensive, and finding the perfect tie to me is the same as my girlfriend finding the perfect pair of jeans (or shoes) (or handbags).
For me, it's jeans. Modern jean companies seem to have this issue with us rubenesque women and getting clothing that fits well and looks good.
That being said, yes, good thing your books were recovered. Also remings me of the "You know you're a gamer when..."
"...Losing your dice bag would be a serious financial blow."
and
"...you own your own weight in rulebooks."
...and I live in a nice neighborhood.
I also sympathize with your plight of being pilfered (my car was stolen TWICE in a one-month period) from my driveway.
That said, this is Las Vegas; I'm not sure there is a "nice neighborhood".
By the way, I know for a fact that thieves do play D&D. Thats why Borders Books on Rainbow moved their gaming accessories behind the counter for a few months late last year (I asked). That and I happen to have known a few less than honorable gamers in my gaming career...
Haha, I actually live in Las Vegas! And I still frequent that Borders quite often. Their gaming selection is lacking.
Seems the thieves missed a golden opportunity to enrich themselves. Fortunately, their lack of judgement preserved your gaming collection. ;)
A guy walking down the street is suddenly set upon by 3 rogues. He battles them ferociously for nearly 30 turns before being subdued. Upon surrendering the lead rogue cuts open the mans purse and finds only 3 coppers!
"Are you kidding me?!?" he says. "You fought like demon from the Abyss for 3 lousy coppers?"
The man replied "You just wanted the 3 coppers? I thought you were after the 500 gold in my shoes?"
Glad you got your books back.
I heard of someone who had their D&D books stolen because they left them in a laptop bag, and the thief mistook them for a laptop. He lost his notes for our campaign, which was unfortunate. Luckily, I think he only lost the core rulebooks and a few others, which were easily replaced by the insurance, and he needed to buy the new 3.5 books anyway.
The man replied "You just wanted the 3 coppers? I thought you were after the 500 gold in my shoes?"
Those are some heavy shoes! They'd be more likely to rob him for those Boots of Holding he's wearing ;)
On a sad note, the same thing happened to me years ago, though they didn't still my D&D books. Just my art supplies and $200 worth of tuition money, and my wallet. The lost art supplies hurt more than the tuition money - full set of Prismacolor colored pencils, which ain't exactly cheap.
No kidding, I remember my set of 48 costing around $55 and replacement pencils for ones that got used up or borrowed are about $1.25 per pencil. Lousy thiefs.
|
I can defiantly understand this thread. I had my car stolen about 7 months ago from the parking lot at O'Hare. They recovered my car about 4 days later stripped of everything. I went down to the impound lot to look in the car and see if they left anything. They took everything from the glass to the carpet and dash. I managed to look on the floor by were the passenger seat was and the only thing they left after sitting on the streets of Chicago for 3 days was my soundtrack CD for The Life of Brian. So I certain that thieves do lack a sense of humor and taste.
Sorry. I already had all of those books.
Would it make you guys feel any better that one of my partners shot a car burglar right in front of me? (...didn't think so....)
The guy attacked him with a screwdriver....bad tactical decision...attack cop armed with gun with screwdriver....I applied direct pressure to his wound and kept talking to him to keep him conscious until EMS got there. By this time large crowd had gathered (it was at a shopping mall).
"Why did you guys shoot him?" the crowd asked.
"He was breaking into a car and attacked my partner with a screwdriver..."
No sympathy from the crowd for the car burglar. One guy even said he hoped that he died. This was in the early 90's when our City was losing 130 cars a week to thieves and over 300 cars a week were being broken into.
The guy recovered and we arrested him two years later driving a stolen car.....however, I'm still glad he didn't actually die.
For a more amusing war story from my past involving police work and D&D--I handled an accident one time where one of the involved parties was obviously a gamer. His trunk had flown open and AD&D books were scattered all over the place. I helped him pick up the books. "Hey, here's a d20...can you identify it?" I asked him....he busted out laughing.
"Like there's anyone else around whose d20 that might be!" he guffawed. Only later did he look at me kind of weird, because I guess it hit him that most people don't call d20's...well, d20's.
|
Eleven year ago, Thanksgiving Eve (that's what I call it), around 10:00 at night at my parents house in Metaire, Louisiana (right next to New Orleans).
I was going to go out for some food but my parents' dogs (two black labs) were going nuts. Figured they had to pee. SO I let them out with me.
The dogs run straight for my car and I see someone sitting in it. He gets out and starts shooting. Four shots at the dogs - all miss thank god. Then he runs across the street to his buddy waiting in another car. My dad comes running out. As the two of them drive past they shoot four more times at us. My dad actually feels one bullet go past his head (we later found had gone through the garage door). Once again they all miss thank god.
We called 911 and like 6 cop cars got to our house within 2 minutes. They never caught the perps. To this day I say that of someone put those SOBs in front of me I'm not sure if I would be able to stop myself from beating them senseless.
All in all, however, I consider myelf lucky that the dogs realized somethin was wrong and that I didn't jsut ignore them.
They saved my life. One of them is dead now (he was old) but the other is still around. Whenever I go home to visit my parents I make sure to give her lots of hugs and attention.
|
|
That being said, yes, good thing your books were recovered. Also remings me of the "You know you're a gamer when..."
"...Losing your dice bag would be a serious financial blow."
and
"...you own your own weight in rulebooks."
A little bit off subject, but you mentioned your weight in books.. I am in the military and when you go to different bases you are allowed a certain amount of weight depending on your rank, so Here I am thinking the 500 lbs was more then enough to deliver all my stuff over seas and have no problem... well when my stuff finally got to me I ended up being over weight on stuff... the big thing was the 950 pounds worth of RPG books that I brought with me. oops... Now I have to pay them for all the extra weight.. DOH!
Aberzombie,
I'm really glad you're still here to tell us that story. I'm glad no one got hurt.
On another note:
950 lbs of RPG books!!! Wow!
Cars can be replaced. Not all RPG books can....and then there's the notes that, if lost, could ruin a whole campaign. I keep all my notes on PC now and back up the data regularly.
Just another example on how much people (at least where I live) hate car burglars. About 18 years ago, two guys stole some cinderblocks from the bed of an old man's pick up truck. As they were backing out of his driveway, the old man grabs his M-1 Garand and puts a .30-06 round through the driver's throat, killing him.
By Texas law, you can use deadly force to prevent theft at night time if you can show that you had no other reasonable way to protect the property. Well, it was day time and it was a 50 yard shot with a rifle through a car window. The homicide unit arrested the old man and charged him with manslaughter.....the grand jury refused to indict the old man and he walked away free after killing a car burglar over some cinderblocks. I talked to the guy a few years later--he had absolutely no regrets, he claimed.
I joke around alot, but this is a serious matter to me.
I really have no pity and no respect for anyone who steals another's things. I work hard for my stuff. I take great care of my stuff. I would KILL for my stuff. And I would have no remorse whatsoever for killing an individual who would set foot in my home to steal my stuff.
I know I would be the one ending up in jail for doing such a thing... But I would be one PROUD prisonner.
Ultradan
That's quite interesting to hear how things would work in Texas.
I have no idea how it is *exactly* functioning over here in Germany (where I now live), but since pretty much no one is legally allowed to have a gun, such a story as told by f2k could not happen so easily, I guess. One would just get their stuff stolen and file a complaint with the police (to no avail, of course).
On the other hand, there are much much less armed violence here (both in relative and obsolute figures).
I guess it's a trade-off: you give up your right to effective self-defense and accept that the police and army are the only one out there to protect you, but in exchange you gain an overall drop in armed criminality.
But back on the topic: the only time I got my D&D stuff stolen was in high school. Turned out it was done by some alpha-male soccer player that thought it would make him look cool to burn and trash some RPG material in front of his friends... The 80s were a funny time to be a gamer...
Bocklin
|
Sounds like a perfectly reasonable law to me. I am a Christian, but I do not agree with the whole "let God punish them" train of thought. The world is slowly getting more violent and unsafe for innocent people to live in and if we don't have laws and practices that make the criminals scared of doing the crime, then we are asking for it when a 4 time burglar robs us, or a 2 time s*x offender is allowed to end some poor child's life. We have a "3 strike" law where I live and yet I always read about 3 time + offenders doing something again, why? Because we as a society do not punish the guilty as they should be. We feel that they still have rights. When you become a monster you should be treated like one. People need to stop worrying about the criminal's rights and worry about the protection of the innocents who have no idea that a monster just moved in on their block. I have a guy who moved into town who is on the registered s*x offender database listed as 58 yrs old and his offense was with a kid under 12. Why is he allowed to have a life when the pre-teen had their's torn from them? Why do I have memorize this monster's face so I can recognize if he is casing out my 3 year old? The answer is because society allows this crap to happen and is so worried about EVERYONE's rights that the people who deserve to have their rights protected are the ones being left to fend for themselves. I agree with the people touting "life is sacred" and all but when 1 person kills someone, goes to jail and gets out to do it again, now the "life is sacred" crowd can add 2 lives to their tally instead of the one that deserved it.
Sorry, touchy subject. (gets off of high-horse)
as always IMO
FH
Would it make you guys feel any better that one of my partners shot a car burglar right in front of me? (...didn't think so....)
The guy attacked him with a screwdriver....bad tactical decision...attack cop armed with gun with screwdriver....I applied direct pressure to his wound and kept talking to him to keep him conscious until EMS got there. By this time large crowd had gathered (it was at a shopping mall).
"Why did you guys shoot him?" the crowd asked.
"He was breaking into a car and attacked my partner with a screwdriver..."
No sympathy from the crowd for the car burglar. One guy even said he hoped that he died. This was in the early 90's when our City was losing 130 cars a week to thieves and over 300 cars a week were being broken into.
The guy recovered and we arrested him two years later driving a stolen car.....however, I'm still glad he didn't actually die.
For a more amusing war story from my past involving police work and D&D--I handled an accident one time where one of the involved parties was obviously a gamer. His trunk had flown open and AD&D books were scattered all over the place. I helped him pick up the books. "Hey, here's a d20...can you identify it?" I asked him....he busted out laughing.
"Like there's anyone else around whose d20 that might be!" he guffawed. Only later did he look at me kind of weird, because I guess it hit him that most people don't call d20's...well, d20's.
Nice to meet another cop on the boards. I'm a mountie in Canada, and where I'm stationed, we deal with car thefts on a very daily basis from March to November (it's hard to start the cars in freezing tempuratures! And hotwiring doesn't help in the least, haha), the big thing they do here is take them out into the fields and burn em. More than 80% of the cars we recover are completely burnt.
I have no sympathy for the fool who tried to jump your partner. I hope the bullet hurt. A lot.
To the original poster, I am glad your books were still around. The sense of security will come back, but it takes a lot of time.
Hail and well met, Vecna. There are two cops in my gaming group and I know about six others on my 1100 man Department who also play D&D. We don't have any freezing problems here, as I'm on the Mexico-U.S. border....it's a "dry heat" LOL.
I'm a detective now (and have been for 13 of my 18 years on the job) and I worked Auto Theft investigation for 4 of those 13 years. I attended a two-week conference in San Antonio in 1999 where several RCMP financial crimes investigators were present. We had a great time, although they kind of resented us christening them "Royal Canadian Mounted Accountants." We bought them some Shiner Bock and they got over it, though.
We don't have any freezing problems here, as I'm on the Mexico-U.S. border....it's a "dry heat" LOL.
I'm living in Dubai, and commute to Saudi Arabia each week to work - we don't have much of a freezing problem either - we set the standard for "Dry Heat" over here - I was out once (in wool business suit no less) when the thermometer hit 60 celsius, 140 fahrenheit.
We don't have much of a crime issue over here - public floggings, dimemberments, and executions, combined with fear of job loss and deportation are pretty effective at keeping people in line.
Nice to meet another cop on the boards. I'm a mountie in Canada, and where I'm stationed, we deal with car thefts on a very daily basis from March to November (it's hard to start the cars in freezing tempuratures! And hotwiring doesn't help in the least, haha), the big thing they do here is take them out into the fields and burn em. More than 80% of the cars we recover are completely burnt.
I have no sympathy for the fool who tried to jump your partner. I hope the bullet hurt. A lot.
To the original poster, I am glad your books were still around. The sense of security will come back, but it takes a lot of time.
Yesterday I left during lunch to get a car alarm installed. The alarm has a 2 way LCD attached to my keychain. The installers set the sensitivity up fairly high, high enough so that when someone drives by with a loud exhaust note it will sound the warning and my keychain chirps. Expensive purchase.
Every single chirp I heard last night while trying to sleep would make me jump out of bed to look out my window. Every door slam I heard would prompt the same response.
I hope that sense of security comes back soon. Im tired today.
I just need to add my two cents in. Frist I want to let the first poster know that I'm glad that he got his books back.
Second I am a rehabilitated theif. As a kid (15 years ago) nothing was safe. Now that I work and buy my own stuff it makes me realize what damage I was doing as a kid.
And as far as thieves not playing D&D I didnt untill I went to prison (at age 16). Going that young tends to make you think WTF am I doing. But I agree with you all that thieves SUCK!!! even though I was one myself.
I hope that all goes well for you all.
Later.
|
|
Yesterday I left during lunch to get a car alarm installed. The alarm has a 2 way LCD attached to my keychain. The installers set the sensitivity up fairly high, high enough so that when someone drives by with a loud exhaust note it will sound the warning and my keychain chirps. Expensive purchase.
I'd get them to turn that down if I were you.
But you know, I always thought, "What would it be like if I installed D&D style traps in my home and car?" For the car you could have poison needles, maybe a gas trap, or something. If it were legal I'd do it in a heartbeat.
I don know a guy who installed his own version of a kill switch in his truck. Basically, he put a switch in the line coming from the battery, then hid said switch under his dashboard. All he had to do was flip the thing and, voila, no power to the car at all. Of course, that wouldn't help if they were just doing a smash and grab type thing.
Sounds like a perfectly reasonable law to me. I am a Christian, but I do not agree with the whole "let God punish them" train of thought. The world is slowly getting more violent and unsafe for innocent people to live in and if we don't have laws and practices that make the criminals scared of doing the crime, then we are asking for it when a 4 time burglar robs us, or a 2 time s*x offender is allowed to end some poor child's life. We have a "3 strike" law where I live and yet I always read about 3 time + offenders doing something again, why? Because we as a society do not punish the guilty as they should be. We feel that they still have rights. When you become a monster you should be treated like one. People need to stop worrying about the criminal's rights and worry about the protection of the innocents who have no idea that a monster just moved in on their block. I have a guy who moved into town who is on the registered s*x offender database listed as 58 yrs old and his offense was with a kid under 12. Why is he allowed to have a life when the pre-teen had their's torn from them? Why do I have memorize this monster's face so I can recognize if he is casing out my 3 year old? The answer is because society allows this crap to happen and is so worried about EVERYONE's rights that the people who deserve to have their rights protected are the ones being left to fend for themselves. I agree with the people touting "life is sacred" and all but when 1 person kills someone, goes to jail and gets out to do it again, now the "life is sacred" crowd can add 2 lives to their tally instead of the one that deserved it.
Sorry, touchy subject. (gets off of high-horse)as always IMO
FH
You do have a point, and an overabundance of leniency can cause a lot of problems, as per your examples. That being said, I like to think that honest remorse is worth something. While there are plenty of repeat offenders, how many people serve their time in prison, get out, and just honestly try to put their lives back together? Murder should carry a life sentence, sure, especially when a child is involved, but as soon as the legal system stops being concerned about EVERYONE'S rights, we all may as well be slapped in handcuffs and hauled away. It's really difficult, sometimes, but we need to remind ourselves that it's just as monstrous to label someone 'a monster' and declare that they have no rights as it is to actually be that monster.
As far as killing someone over a bunch of stuff, I honestly can't get behind it. Sure, one works hard for it and if someone swipes it from you, they should be punished. But a stereo, computer, or pile of D&D books are all replacable. A life isn't, even a criminal's.
Enough of that. How about those big furry twenty sided dice you can hang from your dashboard? Talk about CRAAAZZZYY!!
We bought them some Shiner Bock and they got over it, though.
*cries*
I haven't had Shiner Bock since I left San Antonio, eight years ago. Have a six pack of the Honey Wheat for me, will ya?*goes to local microbrewery and consoles self with a huge plate of nachos and a pint of beer*
...fuzzy dice...
Have them, love them.
I once had my DnD books stolen simply because they liked the pictures... Stupid people. Around here kids brag, and I quickly tracked down my stuff. I would fear for the person who was stupid enough to steal my dad's stuff though, he would kill them. My dad has everything that was offered to the public for DnD, all the way back to when it first came out. Unfortunatly I cannot contact my father to get to any of it for reasons I will not disclose here.
|
|
My vehicle was broken in to last night. It was sitting in my driveway and I live in a nice neighborhood. I DM'd a game on Saturday night and left my large brown leather briefcase inside my car (looks like a computer bag) with most of my D&D books and just relaxed all day Sunday and didnt take it out. I also had my messenger back full of ties in there.
So when I went to my car to drive to work I opened up the passenger door to put my laptop in and it was unlocked. My glove box was open. I didnt even notice my briefcase was gone. I backed up and surveyed my car for damage and noticed my ties strewn all over the street. WTF? I picked them all up and, aside from being dirty, they were ok. Then I thought, "Of F***, my D&D books!" These things get expensive, you know? I looked and found it was missing. Bastards!!
So I looked across the street and there, on its side and open, was my briefcase, opened, with all the books inside.
What? Youre too good for D&D? Screw you!
You know what, moron? You missed my $200 sunglasses. Idiot.
Hilarious post. I can feel for you in the sense that i also carry 100's of dollars in gaming books in my trunk. I would be devastated if they were ever stolen. I would also agree with you that the mainstream thieves are unaware of the value of D&D books and accessories.
Thoth-Amon
We don't have much of a crime issue over here - public floggings, dimemberments, and executions, combined with fear of job loss and deportation are pretty effective at keeping people in line.
AMEN!! I turely think that if there were more corporal punishments like those in public, there would be a lot less criminals roaming around the streets! Sure it's gory and nasty and cruel. Which is WHY IT WORKS!!! People seem to have a problem wrapping their minds around the punishment of being locked up for years on end, which ends up more often then not just teaching you how to be a better crook. I don't think ANYONE would have any problem wrapping their mind around what 10 lashes to your naked back would feel like!! Instead of having US pay to keep them locked up, feeding them and putting them through college(!), strap 'em to a post at high-noon and whip the day-lights out of them!!
*pant, pant*
Ok, rant finished. I feel better now...
|
|
The guy recovered and we arrested him two years later driving a stolen car.....however, I'm still glad he didn't actually die.
For you and your partner's sake, I'm glad too. That said, the death of anyone willing to attempt murder to break into a car would be scant loss.
Let's just say that I think Florida's newish "no retreat" law is a step in the right direction.