That's even weirder than the copper pipe thefts you hear about.

The lady who knocked all the internet in Georgia and Ukraine or where ever was digging for copper pipes!

I knew catalytic converters weren't in the engine because people crawl under cars and steal them for the platinum. They stole ours from our 12-year-old Toyota 4Runner WHEN IT WAS PARKED RIGHT NEXT TO OUR HOUSE. The DH did a blog entry on his SUVs blog about it, and he got hundreds of responses. It turns out that these converter thefts are happening all over the country--apparently, the thieves somehow all know about this, although the car owners and the general public don't.

I even knew about the catalytic converter thefts, because Tim works for a metal scrap recycler, so they are very aware of the current copper theft and the SUVs' catalytic converters being ganked.

And even though I knew about all that, including the thieves crawling under the SUVs to do it, I *still* somehow got it into my head that the catalytic converter was in the engine.

No, I can't explain that. That is a perfect example of common sense stuff I should know, but didn't. (I am not saying that everyone should know about catalytic converter theft; I'm saying that, given the data I already knew -- that catalytic converters were stolen from SUVs by thieves who have to crawl under the car to steal them -- I should have put 2 and 2 together to realize that the dang thing could not have been in the engine.)

I've either saved myself $40/mo on phone and internet or I'm going to be battling Verizon for a bit.

There were lightpost thefts in my old hood. They left my car alone, though. Except for the cabbie that ran into it and borked the gas tank flap. Now I have a locking cap and people honk at me daily to tell me the gas flap is open. I respond kindly, they are being nice.

Tim Goodman gives Game of Thrones a rave review.

That's even weirder than the copper pipe thefts you hear about.

Because we build in such bad neighborhoods, we can almost count on the wire under the house being stolen out. Even if there's a padlock on the crawlspace - we've had to upgrade to piano hinges and angle irons with holes drilled for padlocks. They get $15 of copper; we have to pay for $1500 of rewiring. Also, we have to install metal cages around our A/C units. We have to turn people away from climbing into our dumpsters for scrap pretty much every day. And anyone rebuilding in NOLA can expect to have their wire/pipes stolen at least once, if not twice.

Heck, in Moldova, people stole park and bus stop benches to burn the wood, and manhole covers and storm grates for the scrap. It was common practice to shove tree branches into the storm drain so they would stick out so people wouldn't fall in or lose a wheel. Since, of course, there were probably no functioning street lights.

The whole Game of Thrones thing is so baffling -- I didn't read Tolkien, and I'll admit it, but I LOVED the movies. And one of the reasons I haven't read Tolkien (sorry, fans!) is the writing seems dated and ponderous to me, much as I adore the story and the characters (so, thank you for the trilogy, Peter Jackson!).

I'm really interested to pick up Game of Thrones, though, because the snippets I've peeked at seem really readable, and the story looks great.

hey get $15 of copper; we have to pay for $1500 of rewiring.

Wow. And ugh.

That's even weirder than the copper pipe thefts you hear about.

Because we build in such bad neighborhoods, we can almost count on the wire under the house being stolen out. Even if there's a padlock on the crawlspace - we've had to upgrade to piano hinges and angle irons with holes drilled for padlocks. They get $15 of copper; we have to pay for $1500 of rewiring. Also, we have to install metal cages around our A/C units. We have to turn people away from climbing into our dumpsters for scrap pretty much every day. And anyone rebuilding in NOLA can expect to have their wire/pipes stolen at least once, if not twice.

I know this isn't workable with copper wiring, but our neighborhood has had a lot of success with a program the police started where they (the police) give homeowners a specific color of paint. The homeowners paint the copper pipes, and then if the pipes are stolen and taken to a scrap yard, the people at the scrap yard know it's stolen copper and can call the cops. Apparently other cities that have instituted such a plan have seen copper theft go WAY down.

The Atlanta area also has a big problem of thefts of copper from HVAC units. They get maybe $50 worth of copper and the home owner has a $3,000+ replacement cost. I know a guy who had it happen to him twice. There was a group targeting houses for rent, including the house across the street. Recently they've been targeting churches.

Every couple of years, someone gets fried shooting down power lines for the copper.

Every couple of years, someone gets fried shooting down power lines for the copper.

Jesus Christ. That's a new one to me. Darwinism at work.

We get periodic e-mails from the community council reminding homeowners to not leave any scrap metal lying in plain sight, like the driveway, because thieves will just stroll on up and take stuff. Or not even scrap, really -- stuff like lawnmowers.

This is stressful to me because I live with a hoarder and we have 3 (non-working) lawnmowers and an old a/c unit in our backyard (not to mention the damn drill press). The good part is our fence is fairly high and obstructive, so the stuff isn't immediately visible from the street.

Still, we're attractive to metal thieves, and it freaks me out. This has become somewhat of a point of contention.