*stressed out rant*

[Greco101]

Well, since I purchased a z5500 system a while back, I no longer needed my shelf system that I used to have hooked up. I put it up on craigslist for 75 bucks and had 3 people wanting it for 75 even, then a number of others saying "70, etc...)

I didn't respond to any of them right away, as I wanted to clean it up (little dust in the nooks and crannies) and disconnect it of course because it was now hooked up to my tv as surround sound.

Well, when I had it all cleaned up, I turned it on and tried to open the cd tray and it was jammed. The cd's inside all slid out and jammed in the back. When I opened it, it broke a gear so now it was busted. I pulled it apart and screwed the post back on yada yada yada in the end, I got it to open and close just fine except it seemed a little slower, and when it closed, it'd open back up by itself. Then it started making grinding noises, gear broke again. *trash*

So there went 75 dollars that was supposed to be going towards my gf's christmas gifts.

Life can really bring you down when money is short. Sometimes I wish it was like the old days where you pretty much worked for what you had... You find a piece of land... and start building on it. You build your own damn house... grow your own damn food, ect. Now-a-days, it's impossible to find a job w/o transportation; even then you have to have experience which is hard to get considering it's a first job. Ha... It's like a never ending cycle of hell. It's getting to the point where you need to graduate COLLEGE just to get a job. Kinda hard to do that when you can't afford a car let alone afford school and to top it off, once you have a car, try going to college while working full time with employers that wont hire students! It's great.

Honestly, if only there was a way to get justice on that ****ing POS that stole my moms identity, drained her accounts, maxed out credit cards that they got with her identity... it'd be ****ing great. But there's not because I live in the USA. It's been a year since it happened and still, my mom hasn't seen a penny of her money. No wonder identity theft is so easy to get away with... the ability to buy SS#'s and background information online for cheap doesn't help either.

If that never happened, I'd have my car... I'd have a min-wage job (at least) which would help me pay for school and gas which would put me up to date with my life and education. Instead, lost the car because my mom had no money, lost my chance at a job which puts my life on hold for school. YES! It's just one giant train wreck. I love it.

Ohhh, I love the holidays. :dead:

[Ichbin]

Damn...

Identity theft is always no fun.

How did she lose it?


I'm also sure that everything will turn out great in the end. We all love ya Grec.

[Greco101]

they kept stealing mail from all the mailboxes around ours. Our neighbors are going through identity theift too from the same person - "Melissa D. Ankers."

We all put up new mailboxes (with locks) and just 2 weeks ago someone punched out the lock on our neighbor's mailbox. Apparently they know my mom no longer has anything else to steal...

Someone also bashed in our other neighbors mailbox around the same time.

I also thought this was interesting: http://www.boston.com/yourlife/home/articles/2005/07/07/real_estate_transactions/

$930,00019 Brimmer St. , Unit 4 -- Hillary H. Gaeth to Melissa Ankers

Could be another Melissa of course but you never know...

[D1337]

Thats seriously messed up. Internet fraud is one thing, police have to deal with websites and credit card companies, but when someone is actually stealing mail out of mailboxes and getting away with it when its happening to an entire neighborhood thats fcked up.

All it would take would be an undercover police car to sit out in sight of your neighbors mailbox and wait for the crime to be committed.

[Greco101]

We know where the parents live... and her boyfriend who I'm sure was involved lives in a motorhome in the driveway (about 15 houses up the street.......) which is illegal and plenty of an excuse for cops to show but they don't care.

[Quakken]

Identity theft is pure evil.

I hope fate finds the guy who stole your mom's identity someday. I hope he finds your way into your hands. I hope he gives you a reason to beat his damn face in.

I hope you can get your life back in order.

[xRyokenx]

Life seems to be too stressful for everyone these days. No matter where you go someobody's pissed off about something or is impatient in general. I'm starting to figure just to focus on the little things that make me happy and to just be patient with everything else even though I've been born into a hell.

Sorry about all that's going on in your life dude. My life isn't too fun at the moment either... I'm working to turn that around but it just takes so much damned work. Believe me, if I had a way I'd help you out... and everyone. Suffering bothers me and I like to help when I can or give advice... but damn... I can't think of anything and I'm poor myself. Maybe after I've got a job landed in Psychology with a little more cash and hopefully I can do some good with what I learn. Hmm... well, it's bed time. Good luck dude and take it easy.

[Omega]

Life seems to be too stressful for everyone these days. No matter where you go someobody's pissed off about something or is impatient in general. I'm starting to figure just to focus on the little things that make me happy and to just be patient with everything else even though I've been born into a hell.

People should probably take a few pointers from my situation then. The only people who get my jagged edge are those who piss me off (Freshmen mostly), but otherwise I'm pretty calm, cool, collected, logical and I almost never rush for anything. I mean hell, I've got a tetraplegic sister in the hospital who doesn't even qualify for any rehab at this point and I'm not about to go blowing **** up. It's extremely hard to get me to that point and I think only two or three people have.

One of them is my dad (we have an AWESOME relationship now), One of them has a broken leg (he was in a full leg cast for 2 weeks because I dislocated his hip bone), and one of them had a broken nose. All three were more than two years ago.

Anywho, I don't know what I'm acheiving here except useless spewing. I guess what I've been meaning to say is if you can, **** these guys over hard. You've got a shotty, right?

[Greco101]

Thanks for the replies guys, it helped a lot believe it or not.

Didn't mean to pull a Dr. Sues... :)

[Airbozo]

Couple of things to think about;

Tampering with a mailbox is a "Federal Offense". Get pictures of someone breaking into a mailbox and the friendly neighborhood FBI agents will be knocking on someones door. Then the Postmaster General will get involved as well. Local authorities, the FBI and the Postmaster FTW! Since you have no job right now, create one by doing surveillance on said mailboxes.

Living in a RV in the 'rents driveway may be a violation of the local building code, but the police have nothing to do with it. File a complaint at the county offices and they are required by law to investigate. You have to give your name though (which stays private), but that is so they can follow up...

Good luck!

[NightrainSrt4]

Greco dude I feel for ya man.

As for me, Im glad we didn't have to pay for my surgery this past summer, that the insurance covered it. We've gotten the bills in and so far they've hit well above $70,000. I would not be able to go to school right now if we had to pay all that, and if we didn't pay it and I didn't get the surgery I'd be dead within the year most likely.


But with what I did have to pay for, going to schools been tough. Luckily I have family to help by cosigning for loans but it sucks hard. They gave me $20,000 for school this year, but in turn I owe them over $70,000. So by the time I graduate I owe the damn company almost $300,000. Sucks hard thinking about it.

[Greco101]

Well, the other night at 11pm, my girlfriend and I see a car pull up by the mailboxes and turn off its lights. They were there for about 20 seconds then left. Exactly an hour at 12, it pulls up again and turns off it's lights... we hear someone walking around in the bushes about 20 feet from my window. I think they have seen me in my window since it's nearly impossible to black out my room with all the electronics in here and they drove away slowly down the street with their lights still off. It was an old white toyota pickup.

I told my mom about it the next morning and she talked to our neighbors today. They told her one of their cars got broken into that night and THEIR neighbors found our neighbors checkbook and handbag in their trash can.

I decided to take Airbozo's advice about doing a little neighborhood watch... I spent a while blacking out every light in my room with electrical tape so I don't have any backlight in my room when looking through the windows.

Our neighbors (being pretty wealthy still, even after their identity theft) may be putting up a security system to cover our corner but it all depends on if they can handle the "complexity of the systems available" since they aren't all that computer literate.

My mom's going to ask my grandma if she could possibly put out a little money for a decent night vision monocular for me since I happen to have a perfect view from my window.

[Quakken]

this is getting good...

If you have enough hard drive space, you could set up a very low-res webcam (something like 4 frames per second) and have it watch the mailboxes/street all night while you get some sleep.

I seriously want you catch some of these thieves. They sound like bad bad people, and the less bad bad people on the streets the better.

Good luck!

[killergamer]

This stuff hits me in the wrong place.:evil: All I want to do is go out and beat the sciznet out of them.:twisted: I like the web cam thing the only problem with that is that if the camera is that bad it might not get a good enough video to show as Evidence. I hope you get these creeps. I would love to beat them to a pulp.

[xRyokenx]

I have a night vision monocular... it needs IR to see though and the eyepiece is chipped (not the lens though)... if there were a way to sell it besides eBay...

[Omega]

Sit out there with your shotgun, in a bush. When they come by, cock it, just for the noise. If that doesn't repel them, get out of the bush and point it at them.

You'd be surprised how much good a loaded shotgun can do, and I KNOW you have one. That sound alone will make somebody think twice.

[Greco101]

Problem is, they may not come for a couple weeks. I can't just sit out there every night all night for a month haha. With night vision at least I get a visual and have something to go with to the cops.

Plus there's always that chance that they are armed as well and I'd hate to get 20+ years in prison for defending someone elses car and/or mailbox.

[xRyokenx]

A skunk in the mailbox always works... so long as your neighbors don't accidentally open it, hahaha. You could get a camera with a night vision lens on it too or something (depending on the price).

EDIT: Still working on finding a camera for the monocular by the way.

[Omega]

Problem is, they may not come for a couple weeks. I can't just sit out there every night all night for a month haha. With night vision at least I get a visual and have something to go with to the cops.

Plus there's always that chance that they are armed as well and I'd hate to get 20+ years in prison for defending someone elses car and/or mailbox.

Proximity sensing robot that, between the hours of like 10pm and 5am will load a shotgun at a certain range and fire it another range?

But you've got a good point. Also, if there's no witnesses and you do end up having to defend somebody else's car/mailbox or even yours, you could say it was a case of self defense. If they were armed too, you would probably get off scot-free.

[Greco101]

Not in California. Someone can break into my house and if he/she doesn't attack me... he can get away with taking anything he wants. All I can do is call the cops but if he's outta here before they get here... HE'S scot-free... In fact... he could sue ME if I came after him in MY house. Not too long ago, an older woman was sued by a robber because he was attacked by her dog when he broke in and she didn't have "beware of dog" warnings anywhere around the house.

It's pathetic what this country has become but that's another story.

[Omega]

Not in California. Someone can break into my house and if he/she doesn't attack me... he can get away with taking anything he wants. All I can do is call the cops but if he's outta here before they get here... HE'S scot-free... In fact... he could sue ME if I came after him in MY house. Not too long ago, an older woman was sued by a robber because he was attacked by her dog when he broke in and she didn't have "beware of dog" warnings anywhere around the house.

It's pathetic what this country has become but that's another story.

Mmm, well, thanks for giving me another reason to leave California as soon as possible =/

[Greco101]

Yep, I'm outta here as soon as I get the chance as well. The way things are looking, it wont be for a while though considering I can't even get a car. I have a '69 Nova that I can drive around town but can't drive freeways because it's geared for 8th Mile. Can't afford to have it regeared either lol. Like I said before, it's just been one huge train wreck for me lately... heh

[xRyokenx]

So my instinct telling me to avoid California is legit... that place just screams "stay away" and "idiot central"... no offense to anyone here that lives there... too many very opinionated people and bullcrap laws. I could rant for hours but I'll save the few kilobytes of server space and go to bed, lol. People are just... really screwed up these days. I hope I don't get killed by an angry lynch mob before I have a chance to do the world some good in the future after getting my PhD in Psychology... hmm...

Sad place we live in... I could say some things but I dunno... damned paranoia... it's nothing to really get me in trouble but there are a lot of people out there that take things wrong... stupid things... meh... time for bed.

If anyone wants to chat about it, send me a PM.

[Omega]

So my instinct telling me to avoid California is legit... that place just screams "stay away" and "idiot central"... no offense to anyone here that lives there... too many very opinionated people and bullcrap laws.

Meh, insult my state all you want, I don't care. I plan on moving to Phoenix for college anyways.

California really does have a lot of bull**** here, like ridiculous laws city/statewide, dumb ass emission standards, stupid firearm laws, etc.

Oh, and everything in California gives you cancer.

[xRyokenx]

Oh, and everything in California gives you cancer.

Not really meaning to insult it... but it's a screwed up place... at least from what I've seen.

So... even health food, eh? :p

I don't like NC either... I'm having trouble figuring out where in this world I might want to live. Some things people do just blows my mind... you'd think it wouldn't bother me anymore but it does. :neutral: Bed for me. 2:40am is too late. Gah.

[Greco101]

I've talked to a couple people on eBay about my situation and one was even willing to sell me a whole night vision/bipod/camera mount at his cost. I'm still looking around because just because it's at his cost doesn't mean it's the lowest although it's definitely nice of him.

I'm determined to catch these bastards. I'm so sick of this ****... it's pathetic that I can't even live in a decent neighborhood without scum coming in and stealing and ruining peoples lives (literally.)

[D1337]

I guess im the only one who wants to move to cali. huh.

[Ichbin]

And I thought Arnold was good at getting rid of aliens (Sorry bad pun)

I think it depends on what part of cali. I hate the cali citys, the "Country" isnt so bad though.

[Greco101]

Until the firebugs come out.

...and if you can afford the fire insurance + mortgage. An average home in places like Alpine go for around 800,000 - 900,000. Before my mom's credit/bank account were screwed over, we looked at a house out there. 2000 sq ft, small pool and 1/4 acre (**** land... all down hill) for 750,000.

Now we're renting a 3br-2bath close to ghetto-ville (about 2 blocks from a street called kenwood which is lined with section 8 apartments filled with gang bangers. You'll see cops there nearly every time you pass through. NEVER

NEVER

Move to southern California. It is immigrant/ low-life central. Didn't used to be but you'd be surprised "how fast a plant can grow once you plant a seed."

[xRyokenx]

I'm about to ****ing kill myself. NOTHING IS WORKING TODAY. NOTHING AT ALL. Everything's been slowly going downhill and it's almost to a 1000ft cliff. Well... if I'm not here for a while you can safely assume that I'm dead or in an insane asylum.

[Greco101]

I'm about to ****ing kill myself. NOTHING IS WORKING TODAY. NOTHING AT ALL. Everything's been slowly going downhill and it's almost to a 1000ft cliff. Well... if I'm not here for a while you can safely assume that I'm dead or in an insane asylum.

or going #2. :)

calm down bro, we're all pretty much pissed off/getting screwed over one way or another now-a-days.

[xRyokenx]

Yeah... what crap isn't broken already is going kaput on a regular basis. Fun times. Still... this crap is driving me insane. Life shouldn't be filled with this much bull**** yet it is. Now where's that guy that I hired to clean all this **** up? Oh yeah... I didn't hire anyone. *Gets the "Hypothetical Phonebook of All Your Needs" and looks up a nonexistent phone number... and dials a hooker... I mean... a psychologist, lol*

[Greco101]

Ya... life can suck ass some times, you just gotta get through it and eventually you will be having fun. It's gunna take me a long while to actually get the "game" going since I've been pretty ****ed with school, a car, a job ect... I feel like a little kid again... having to have people take me places, etc... sucks ass but it'll work out eventually and some day I WILL be rich. I will own my own businesses. I will get my education... etc. There's not really a deadline but it does suck for your life to be controlled by something or someone else. It's not fate... it's just ****, and **** happens.

[xRyokenx]

I'm taking next semester off from school. The plan was originally to take a year off from classes but with that court bull**** I forgot about that. So I'm now taking six months off at least to work, build up a bank account and get some new parts. I might have a girlfriend (first one... hooray me) tomorrow if all works out... which I doubt. I feel really old and about 6 years old both at the same time. Talk about massive confusion.

Now if only people would hire me for these low end jobs without me having 6 PhD.s in like... fast food service and... like... ****ty minimum wage job employeeship?

[Greco101]

Ya, I feel ya man... it's not like the old days where you could get a job at 12 if you damn well felt like it. Almost EVERYWHERE requires a diploma and work experience. Kinda hard to get work experience without getting a job though... assholes...

In all honesty man, a girlfriend may be the last thing you want if you're already stressed out to the point where u think about dying.

Women can be fickle, lying, cheating, manipulating, controlling creatures and often can hold you back even more than you already are. I got lucky on the 3rd long term relationship and have a wonderful girlfriend now, supportive, smart, funny as hell, etc etc etc etc but holy hell, did I go through some **** with the other 2 long terms, not to mention a couple crazy bitches in between that, that lasted a week or 2 before I said buh-bye.

[xRyokenx]

Well... it'll take my mind off classes, lol. I guess the only way to see what'll happen is to try, eh?

[Crazy Buddhist]

Set up a motion triggered webcam looking at a mailbox in a house that hasn't been targeted yet. See what you get. Patience is the wise man's ally in these situations, not a gun.

:)

ps Maybe you will be rich, maybe you won't. You are right that everything changes. How we personally either react or respond to such changes is entirely up to us and is the greatest single influencing factor on the quality of our lives - no matter what they throw at us. We can learn to respond from a place of wisdom rather than react out of habituated tendencies. It's well worth making constant effort in that regard.