What I think of thieves -
I keep one large stack about 6 ft tall & 13ft long at NE corner of property line,against my north fence with one neighbor & my east fence with another neighbor.The south end of stack butts up against a big walnut tree.In Aug 2009,a Saturday morning I was in back looking for some lumber underneath a tarp on an extra picnic table,near that stack.I noticed a big space missing along the north end,about 3 ft square infact.I had a good idea where it went,which I'll explain further.
My then neighbors on the east - a younger couple had only lived there a few months - she worked for the DNR in some capacity - he did nothing that I could see,since he was always home when I got home from work in late afternoon.And in summer he would sit in the backyard until 3-4 AM around this chimnea outside burner,burning wood & drinking beer all night.After noticing that huge hole in my woodpile,I started to smell smoldering wood from over the fence - looked over & lo & behold,there was some of MY wood still sticking up in that firepit. My parents happened to be visiting at the time,they were in my house at the time.I was furious,I immediately jumped fence to the north,then back over it in their backyard.I run up to their porch,practically ripped the screen door off the hinges,pounded on the door & started screaming "GET OUT HERE YOU F-ING THIEF OR I'll DRAG YOUR ASS OUT
" Turns out others heard me 2 blocks over,I was ballistic.Meanwhile my parents heard the commotion & went out back to see what was going on. I said "Here's my phone,call the cops NOW!"
The woman came to the door,she had no idea what was happening so I explained calmly & pointed to their firepit.She said 'he's inside asleep' (This was almost 10AM) I said "Tell him to come out,I want to talk about something..." He finally showed up,he could barely stand & you could tell he was higher than Charlie Sheen lol.I kept telling him what happened,he said 'uhmmm it was our roommate,he's been staying here for a couple weeks,he sits outside all night blah blah..." I replied "I dont care who it is,they're a goddamn thief!!" She was literally begging "pleease dont call the cops..we'll do anything,replace the wood,we have our own wood why would we steal from you blah blah..." I showed him the firepit with my pieces of Honey Locust still smoldering in it.Soon 2 cops showed up & 1 said "Is this where I can get free firewood? ;-) " I told the cop, "If you look at that burning piece,I can prove its mine because it was ripped with my saw,I can match the kerf marks from my saw teeth." The cop said "please calm down,we're here to sort this out,if possible..."
Long story short - they took all our names,I agreed not to file any formal complaint but I had 1 yr to follow up on this if any future incidents occured.Immediately after the cops left,the couple went back inside their house,opened ALL the windows & outside doors,put several fans in them to 'air them out' for whatever reason..... :roll:
I think they got my message ;-P I hadnt seen either one for several months outside once Spring arrived. My neighbor to the north told me last July,"Oh,they moved away in June,she apparantly got a job with the DNR in Washington State & took the deadbeat boyfriend with her..."
