Being a conservative, I believe in shooting thieves wherever they are found.:D

Seriously though, the helplesness and rage surrounding being burglerized is indescribable to anyone who has not been. I feel for you, trekkor. You know, even if all the stuff is insured, it's just pretty darn hard to shrug it off. I have all kinds of fantasies about what I would do if I caught some meth-head punk ripping me off. None of them end well for said punk.

So I must admit to some naivety concerning meth. Why is it a bigger problem than other illicit drugs? More prevelant, cheaper, more expensive, different class of people, what? We have had a crime problem generated by the illegalization of certain drugs for my entire life. Has meth created more drug users, or just more choices among drug users? It is made to sound like a relatively new problem, but isn't it just what we used to call "speed" in the '60's and 70's? If so, it was fairly common even back then. Why the sudden turn for the worse?

I really feel for you guys... I cannot even imagine coming into my house and finding it burglarized. I've had vacant rentals burglarized and that's bad enough, thank you.

Wish I liked dogs more... they seem like the best deterrent.

Jeff: A number of factors. In the past we had recreational drugs like Pot, LSD mescaline etc and then serious hard drugs like smack. Only users of the latter generally needed to resort to crime to feed their habit - and this was a small group usually confined to inner cities where these drugs are sold.


The crystal meth thing is so insiduous because it has spread to rapidly to kids in suburbia - and these kids feed their habit through B&E's. It's an ugly drug which is very addictive. It gives you delusions of being able to cope with things much better than without it - and is thus psychologically as well as physically addictive. And it is relatively expensive - unlike the recreational drugs of our generation. If you are dependant you might easily need $50 to $100 per day - or more. Hence you need a source of funds.

But in short is crystal meth is a drug for teenagers - and its use has become widespread across an entirely different demographic than hard drugs in the past.

Pretty scary stuuf happens in todays world.

People will kill for pocket money.

I worry what would have happened if my wife came home while they were loading up my stuff?

I'm not the fighting or shooting type. Let's just just suppose I was able to chase them off or somehow disable them for the police.

Them you have the whole revenge. And they come in numbers.

Totally uncool.

Feel like I need to live behind 12 foot walls.


KT

Tough luck, trekkor...sorry. And tools too...damn.
I hate thieves!!!

I got burgled 4 months after buying my place, 20+ yrs. ago. Left a bathroom window open.
I was dog-sitting g/fs dog at the time...pup and I left for several hrs., came back and I could smell what I thought was one of his accidental piles. I looked and looked...finally looked in my bedroom.
Hmm...something strange in here - what is it? WTF? A pillow case was gone.
Police said that's what they do...head for bedroom first, grab a pillow case and load 'er up.
.
They caught the bastard 3 months later in November...heroin addict living under a bridge.
Cops drove him around so he could name the houses he hit.
I lost leather jackets bought in Rome, a very old and valuable gold railroad watch, my Guild guitar, etc. etc.
About $4k worth.
He sold my stuff within minutes for $100 worth of heroin.
He hit one house for over $20k...Rolex watches, etc.
.
Oh, that strange smell that I thought was Rascal's poop?...it was the residual smell of the bastard thief.
I realized it was his when the cops told me that he smelled so bad that they had all windows open and A/C on in November as they hauled his ass around.
.
A big time sense of violation, it was. I had a new respect for rape victims...I'm tellin' ya.
Did I say I hate thieves!!!?
.
ps Better be checkin' out those Jehovah's Witnesses more closely, trek. :)

Re: meth...radio report said it's becoming rampant in boomer gen. and housewives/soccer moms.
Very hooky stuff and cheap to make. Good return on investment if selling it, so they said.

Drugs are sooo fk'g bad. Never did the hard stuff, myself.
I lost a great employee to meth about 6 yrs. ago.
He became one crazy mutha...lost a good 80 lbs. in a few months.