Shoot to kill

[PegLeg45]

........ And this type of leniency is exactly why we have so much of it. "Being attached to your goods", doesn't have a damn thing to do with it. Most of these types would stab, shoot, or beat you to the end of your life, in order to take what is rightfully yours. I possess the same attitude to keep it. And it isn't because, "I'm so attached to it". We used to hang horse thieves in this country. You see what direction we've been going since we stopped.

Bingo.

[MikeBjerum]

it's not the cost of the goods,  my livelihood and how I feed my family that is.  how would you feel if someone came and stole your job out from under you

And this boys and girls is why we park our vehicles in buildings.  By the way, loss of job does not cross the line of reasonable man being in fear of great bodily harm or death.

[TAB]

I would love to park it inside.  my garage is not anywhere deep enough.  long bed crew cab truck. 14 foot enclosed trailer.  not to mention the fact that the trailer is too tall.  the truck is a hair over 20 the trailer is 18 and a half.  the trailer is 10'2" tall.  let's forget the fact that my garage is full of a boat and tools.  there is a reason why I park it on the side of the house behind a locked gate.  not everyone has a bunch of space to store things.  I could not build a structure large enough on my property to store it.  buying property large enough to do so is also out of the question right now.    it would literally cost me about 500,000 dollars just for the land.  probably about 1.2 by the time I'm done building house, a barn and getting the necessary services to it.  that's me building it, only hiring out the slab, and excavations...anyone want to loan me a million dollars?  things are not cheap here,  they are not California expenseive, but they are not cheap. 

when I can build a house for about $80 a square foot, and a barn for 20.  between the well , septic, power it would cost somewhere around $400,000.   that alone is more than 3 times I have invested in my home.  so yeah,  I should start on that project right now.

things are not black and white in the real world.  whether I like it or not being construction is who I am.   just like you can't take the ghetto out of a n....

[MikeBjerum]

Cost of doing business TAB.  Every business man decides what it costs to operate, and then prices accordingly.

Contractors in our area who don't have the space at home purchase or lease space where tools, equipment, and supplies can be stored.  Insurance savings, convenience, maintenance savings, and ability to stock pile supplies all add up to pay for a storage building in a hurry.  When our electrician built his new building he added overhead doors front and back with room for both his trucks inside.  He also included ability to wash without endangering his warehoused supplies.  After the first year he could document that his labor savings were paying for ALL the utilities in the entire building.  The ability to park close to his supplies for quick restocking of the vehicles, and the ability to have his supplies delivered into the controlled space save time he was paying for.  Even with the penalty for parking vehicles in the building he is paying less overall for insurance due to protection of equipment.

We even have local farmers and truckers putting up 20'x90' insulated and heated buildings with 16' overhead doors on both ends to park their rigs in.  They are cash flowing the added expense of the shop by being able to run #2 fuel year round.

We have never figured out the value of putting the trucks and pickups inside, but the increased trade in value of equipment due to being shedded pays for most uninsulated sheds within ten years.

All in how you set up your business plan.

The bottom line, and an attempt to stay on topic, is that it is all about avoiding issues rather than being careless and contributing to the problem.  Just like locks keep honest people honest, controlling your property does the same without crossing the line of the reasonable man.

[TAB]

let me ask you guys this, if some one was stealing your car, would you confront them?

would you do it unarmed? 


as billt  said, that's how it can lead to a shooting very quickly.  its not much of a stretch to think some one committing a felony would be willing to commit another felony by illegally carrying a fire arm. 


anyone that really believes I would shoot to kill if they stopped trying to steal my car does not know me at all, but any threating movments would result in them being shot,  I would be in fear for my life/limb at that point.  no one wants to shoot anyone, but I will be damned if I will sit by and let them take it.  more so if I have the means to stop them.  I have had way to much stuff taken from me over the years.  at least once a year I have had several hundred dollars worth of tools stolen from me. 

guess what, insurance does not cover that.  $1000 deductible, so unless then take a lot, its not worth filing.  guess who pays for that?  every one I work for, I mean everyone.    yes theft is a part of doing business, but it should not be.

in 2011  300 mill in just heavy equipment was stolen.  its estimated that industry wide is 1 bill  a year in this country.

in 2003  the national ass of homebuilders did study of act reported theft said that 1.471% of the cost of your home was due to theft.  that was 2003 and only a small group of contractors  140k in total.  that's tiny fraction of the nations total number of contractors( hell ca has that in just general contractors. ) 


like it or not, theft is a huge prob, insurance is nice, but at the end of the day, it still comes out of every ones pockets.  at the very least its going to cost me a grand and several hours of my time.  time that I really don't have to spend on crap like that. 

trucks are not cheap these days.  even 15 year old diesel pick ups are selling for 20k( look up ford 250-350s with the 7.3 power stroke pre 2001.5)  new trucks are $$$ for what I have now only 2015  its $52302  and its nothing fancy.  just a cloth seat,  4x4 crew cab long bed diesel. 

[Sponsor]

[TAB]

Cost of doing business TAB.  Every business man decides what it costs to operate, and then prices accordingly.

Contractors in our area who don't have the space at home purchase or lease space where tools, equipment, and supplies can be stored.  Insurance savings, convenience, maintenance savings, and ability to stock pile supplies all add up to pay for a storage building in a hurry.  When our electrician built his new building he added overhead doors front and back with room for both his trucks inside.  He also included ability to wash without endangering his warehoused supplies.  After the first year he could document that his labor savings were paying for ALL the utilities in the entire building.  The ability to park close to his supplies for quick restocking of the vehicles, and the ability to have his supplies delivered into the controlled space save time he was paying for.  Even with the penalty for parking vehicles in the building he is paying less overall for insurance due to protection of equipment.

We even have local farmers and truckers putting up 20'x90' insulated and heated buildings with 16' overhead doors on both ends to park their rigs in.  They are cash flowing the added expense of the shop by being able to run #2 fuel year round.

We have never figured out the value of putting the trucks and pickups inside, but the increased trade in value of equipment due to being shedded pays for most uninsulated sheds within ten years.

All in how you set up your business plan.

The bottom line, and an attempt to stay on topic, is that it is all about avoiding issues rather than being careless and contributing to the problem.  Just like locks keep honest people honest, controlling your property does the same without crossing the line of the reasonable man.

you seem to forget, I am just a small fry,  me and 3 part time guys( all retired that do it because they love it and are very good at what they do)  yes, I did 1.5 mill last year in gross, that's a drop in the bucket for most contractors.    I made a little better then industry standard for a GC  that being between 3-5% of gross, I made ~7%.  a good chunk of that came from me consulting, rather then actually working.  with out that I would have been right smack in the middle of that range.   


you can call it what ever you want, just remember at least 1% of what you spend on a construction project goes straight to the thief.  so when can I sign you up for $100k remodel?

make a check out to me for 99  and one for 1 to "meth head" 

[MikeBjerum]

let me ask you guys this, if some one was stealing your car, would you confront them?

Are you in the car or close to it?  If not, a simple shout command or question as to what is going on, and then avoid confrontation, and call 911.  If I am in the car or close, it is do what needed to survive.  Every situation is different, and just because you have a hammer doesn't make them all nails.

Your thread title of "Shoot to kill" is what started this whole issue of hot headed over reaction, and that is what would come up if you are ever in an incident.  Don't believe me, check out what they drug George Zimmerman through.  Granted, he had issues, and he has had some since, but everything they could dig up was used to paint him as a racist hunter.

[MikeBjerum]

Large or small every business man has expenses.  Our sheds that used to house every bit of our equipment to farm 1,000+ acres and maintain livestock will fit inside a single shed on the neighbor's yard, and he has four of them - One is twice the size of our largest, and it is his insulated and heated shop (he can unfold his 80' planter and 120' sprayer inside at the same time with the tractors attached.

Weather you paint two houses a year, or farm 5,000 acres, you need to include cost of equipment and housing it in your business plan and cash flow.  How many hours a month do you bill, and what would you need to increase your rate to if you were to lease a building for$1,000 per month?  Two full time on average (175 hours per month each) would mean $2.86/hour/man increase in your charge.  This isn't even considering savings listed in my earlier post.

[Solus]

And this boys and girls is why we park our vehicles in buildings.  By the way, loss of job does not cross the line of reasonable man being in fear of great bodily harm or death.

Might not take much to break into a garage and steal the vehicle.  Particular if you are unwilling to confront the thieves to avoid turning the incident into a self defense situation.

[MikeBjerum]

Breaking into your home garage does bring things closer to a threat that will be responded to with force.

You can nit pick me all you want, but leaving valuables in the driveway or on the street is asking for problems, and there is a level of threat that must be met to rise to the level of deadly force.