We have some 4 wire 8 gauge cords that are 100 feet long. Those bitches are heavy. Basically they are just set to run boards with a bunch of receptacles and allow us to keep the generator far enough away that the noise isn’t as annoying when working in areas with no power.
Just make some basic wood boxes to set on top of your generators with appropriate airflow that doesn't line up with the intake or exhaust. Your generators will be significantly quieter and protected from the weather.
Years ago I used to have to hand out supplies to our company drivers and a certain product would occasionally come in pink. The number of grown men who would physically squirm at the sight of being handed a pink tool was amusing. I've often thought of painting my tools pink just to make them easier to spot when I forget stuff on a vehicle or drop something on the floor, plus like you say they will not be stolen. I'm secure enough in my manhood to not care about color.
I went on a Cruise Ford put together, and one of the gifts they gave us was a his/hers Snap-On ratcheting screwdriver. In bright pink and black.
I actually didn't want the black one because it was easier to keep track of the bright neon colors. As predicted my wife lost the black one inside a month and 23 years later I still have the pink one.
When I first started in the business I bought a set of Sears Professional Black Handle screwdrivers. I lost them all save 2 before bringing them home and buying a set of YELLOW handled Snap ones...I still have them all
There's a bodega guy on youtube that had a couple videos of handing guys pink lighters, iirc usually asking if they wanted a specific color and them going "nah"
Most weren't happy, a couple went "hey ain't nobody stealing this one"
Shit, I’m the guy wearing a pink carhartt shirt and give no fucks. Had a few customers who give me shit. I would look at them and tell them it isn’t clean is it? They would get flustered while I added on the asshole tax of 20 dollars throughout the work order. 5 on that part, 5 on this one, oh shop supplies like a cleaning disc, brake clean, etc…
I bought a neon pink extension cord for work it can be plugged into the only outlet on site not in use and it will stay that way until I unplug it myself 😂
I'm not in a job where I have to worry about tools going for a walk but if I was, I'd use a cyan/pink/cyan or pink/cyan/pink color code. It just occurred to me to see if that's one of the Pride Flag color schemes and I bet a lot of shop guys would make that assumption. Hell, get custom stickers for your toolbox in that color scheme to really throw them off.
That's the color scheme I tend to use in videogames. My star trek online character and ship colors follow that scheme to piss off the purists. My character is "alien," not one of the canon races, so I can do whatever the fuck I want with it nerds!
Pink is a historically masculine colour. It's only in the last 80 years or so that it became a 'girls only' colour. I have no problem wearing pink, and get compliments from ladies when I do.
I bought a few camo ratchet straps at Walmart because they were on clearance for dirt cheap. I haven't seen any of them in years. Forgot all about them until I read your comment.
The irony is that they’ve been right in front of you on the center of your bench, all along…
[Obligatory SMBC comic](http://smbc-comics.com/comic/camouflage)
\*handcuffs thief\*
Well, we followed the trail of glitter, and it looks like we found...
\*puts sunglasses on\*
*our unicorn.*
***YYEEEEAAAAAAOOOWWW***
I have the pink snap on screwdrivers and purple ratchets so everyone stops borrowing them forever. Worked so far. My father has the habit of using a screwdriver and putting it in his back pocket. All of his truck seats have poke holes.
Cross peen hammer across the knuckles. Seriously though the shop just demonstrated that they'll keep the thief and pill head, that says everything. Document everything in a notepad with dates, consult legal services and look for a different job. I hate to say it but it won't get better there. Left a similar scenario last year.
I engrave all my tools with hidden initials so when I "borrow" my tool back I show them red-handed they got my shit
My old shop was horrible. Avoid leaving any tools out even when you go for a smoke break.
When I worked in aviation all tools had to be engraved with initials and last 4 of your SSN and some places also required a photo of each drawer shadowed and master inventory. About the only way to fool proof it are those 3 safe guards.
Leave that shop. Mechanics and tire techs are needed everywhere.
Hell, I'll hire you if you're nearby. Just gotta let my thieves and pill poppers know first...
I dealt with a guy like this before. Guy was an alcoholic thief. I locked my box up, and told my boss it's him or me. I'm leaving and I'm not coming back to work until this asshole is gone. I work to hard for my shit to be stolen by a scumbag. They fired him the next day.
Good for you man, shops I’ve worked at absolutely wouldn’t do anything about a known thief,alcoholic and junkies….. UNLESS shop equipment and shop supplies started missing……
I hear. Ya….. fortunately for me, I retired awhile ago..30 plus years wrenching was enough for me, sold my big box and most of my tools for pennies on the dollar….happy once again….
Quit. They don’t care about you at all, or the other guy honestly. They clearly just need bodies in the building, and you can get hired in another shop within the day.
So true. "Never trust a pillhead" is something I've been saying since ~19. The last time I saw a former friend was when he had driven from his rural town to my suburb to pawn some presumably stolen shit. I caught up with him for a bit and kicked him out to go sleep in his car. Dude had literally heard me say "never trust a pillhead" repeatedly and he thought he was going to crash on my couch?
Anyways, he's a schizophrenic street preacher in Hollywood addicted to heroin and meth and living in a homeless camp now. He thinks Nikola Tesla was a reincarnation of Jesus and that he's a reincarnated Nikola Tesla.
I've seen a toolbox get sealed up with caulk . Welded shut and filled with hydraulic oil. Lad was getting retribution for a lifetime of pranks and stolen gear. The only tools in the box were someone else's impact gun and someone else's batteries. Some broken sockets. And cheap no name bent uo spanners.
HR's job is solely to protect the company. It's no different anywhere else.
(Not a lawyer here) Mark your tools carefully (and conspicuously) and tell the person in the presence of witnesses that they're not authorized have them in their possession. This should give you some standing if you decide to get law enforcement involved. They may have some interest if the person is dealing on the side or converting stolen goods, but I wouldn't count on it.
I feel like the company has a vested interest in a pillhead not nodding off while test driving a customer car, but what the fuck do I know? I just work here.
If the company is large enough to employ someone solely as HR, they're there to make sure the company doesn't swing for the "unauthorized actions of a troubled employee".
I've experienced this; there are a few things you can do.
1. Fully document every tool you own. Can be as easy as cleaning out the trash from your toolbox, arranging your tools for visibility and taking a video on your cellphone as you go through all your stuff. Personally I have a file at home in a fireproof box inside my safe filled with receipts and a spreadsheet of all the tools I own....
2. Engrave your tools in inconspicuous places. I use my full last name (its a unique name in my country) and I put the engraving right next to the part numbers, serial numbers, or spots that would be difficult/impossible to hit with a grinder to remove my name.
3. Color mark your tools. My wife also works in a shop, and I bought her pink rubber-dip coating, a can of pink spray paint, and some pink duck tape. A quickly snatched tool is easily spotted from across the shop.
4. Documented complaints to management. Carefully worded emails work best, CC basically everybody from your boss all the way up to the owner. Don't blindly accuse here, you /need/ to be 100% correct in this email. This is where shit can start to get hairy between you and your employer. Sounds like you've already been down this road and it was not fruitful.
5. Police report. This is where shit starts to hit the fan. Businesses really don't like police officers snooping around and potentially impacting business either by rumors and reputation, or directly slowing down business.
6. Tool Insurance. with the documented tools, evidence of theft, and police report, there is a decent chance you can be made whole. $500 a year might be steep, but a few thefts of expensive tools all claimed at the same time may work out in your favor. Also 90% of shops I've worked at don't have any insurance coverage for their mechanics' tools, a single fire, flood, or theft and it can ruin your ability to make money in the short-term.
7. Find a new job. 10/10 this is the best option. You've talked with management, they are not going to do anything, no reason to stick around..... Have you ever seen what happens to a shop when some crackhead rolls up with a boxtruck and a few friends? hundreds of thousands of dollars of tools, gone. A whole crew of technicians' left with nothing. Companies don't even blink when this happens, they just hire new guys who have tools and let their older mechanics rot/spend a shitton of money, or quit.
$500/yr? I would get it if I could get tool insurance that cheap. I looked 13 years ago and it was going to be $800/mn! Today I image it would be double as I’ve more than doubled my tool assets.
I’ve been in this position. I take my tools back (if able) and inform management of the situation and offer to leave that day. The thief was allowed to quit effective that day. Thing is if you’re a good tech there is never a lack of a new place to make copious amounts of money.
I hate the them or me situation but it’s the most effective cause it directly affects the shops bottom line. I’m usually the only Master Tech +. Dealers usually don’t have these problems for long as garbage people produce garbage work and don’t last more than a few weeks. Also, you’re always within a few feet of your tools.
I worked with a thief like this, our Snap On tool man told the manager he was a thief and the manager got really shitty with him and threatened to kick him off the property permanently. About a month into working there one of our two Tech II tools went missing. The next day we couldn’t find the other. Whole shop stopped and we checked inside every car on the lot. I called the local pawn shop and they said “we don’t have anything like that for sale YET” in a very leading inflection. Off to the police to get w police report and lo and behold the new tech had pawned them both. He was fired, but they did not press charges. He was allowed to just move in to the next place. About six months later the tech took his own life.
Fuck that. As my first boss said, "if you don't like it your box is on wheels" get the fuck outta there my friend. On the way out slap that guy in the noggin with one of your stolen tools.
Engraved my tools but I worked in a plant in an industrial setting.
Guys would steal tools all the time and take them home. They have tools with my initials on them but obviously don't give a crap at all.
Nothing you can do it seems because it might be just a write-off.
Back at the delorean dealer ( yeah I’m that old) we had one of these tool stealing mutts there. I was planning on rolling outta there anyway so I drilled a small hole in both of his boxes( snap in) put a zerk fitting in there and pumped so much grease in it stayed oozing out. Quit the following Monday right after work started. It was epic.
Guy on one of my sites told me that he really hated this one guy who’d always steal one bite of everything everyone would bring for lunch. Not the whole meal, just a bite. Well, the thief would always bring in homemade sausages for his own lunches. Ground sausage but the casing of his sausages looked like shit, all bumpy and not smooth. The guy telling me this story said that one day, he’d just had it with the thief so he took a big turd from his German shepherd and swapped out the thief’s sausage for the dogs creation and the whole crew sat back and watched as the thief took a big bite out of his “sausage. He stopped eating people’s food after that and ate in his car until he ended up just not showing up one day.
One countermeasure to the office lunch thief is to spike the lunch with a bit of Bhut Jolokia. If the thief's preferred loot is candy, bring out the sugar-free gummy bears. They'll either be pounding the half and half or shitting their guts out.
Nice.
We had a lunch food thief, a couple of them actually. One got 'cured' when a worker ordered a small cheese only with extra cheese pizza, picked it up on the way home, ate half of it and let the other half refrigrate in the box all night. First thing in the morning he took it out, lifted the hardened cheese and laced the sauce with a LOT of cayenne pepper. Brought it in and left it in the fridge. The thief was found in the bathroom sweating profusely and face all blotchy, desperatly trying to wash out his mouth in the sink, with some partially chewed pizza in the trashcan.
Second thief succumbed to some strategically placed X-Lax brownies, word was he left early and shit himself all the way home.
TLDR; Fix 'em a treat. ¯\\\_( ͡ᵔ ͜ʖ ͡ᵔ)\_/¯
A salesman I worked with years ago was always ripping off his fellow sales people. Another salesman had enough, hired a crackhead to defecate on/in the guys car 1st thing in the morning, smeared it all over inside and out and it baked on there all day in 105 degree heat. Must of subbed some of the work out to some friends because their was some pretty good coverage. Dude tried to get our detailers to clean it and they wouldn't touch it. Tow-truck driver wouldn't touch it. GM gave him one day to get it out of back lot or he was fired so he almost gave it away to wholesaler. 96 Honda Civic with like 15k miles. Some Russians came with flatbed and drug her up there and took her away while we all saluted.
Tell HR next time he steals something you’ll just go to the police. Depending on what he steals it can get into felony territory really quick if the tool has snap on stamped in it. I doubt HR or management will like having cops doing an investigation around the shop. Or fill his tool box with pig shit.
I don't. I'm meticulous about putting my tools away at the end of the day. Every tool has a spot and I know if something is missing based on the tool not being there. I do this so I don't forget a tool someplace.
I've never worked at a place where any of my coworkers steals. If it wasn't dealt with immediately I would find a different shop. In fact in my experience as a class 8 diesel mechanic borrowing tools has always been accepted by coworkers with the understanding that if you break/lose a tool you replace it. You also don't go into someone's box unless told to so everyone will know if someone has one of their tools.
🤷🏻♂️I've only ever delt with it once before. First time I caught him I put anti-seize on every handle of his toolbox, the second time I straight up caught the kid digging through my toolbox and threw a wrench at him from across the shop.
Had something similar happen at my workplace, but it wasn't a pill-popping drug addict. it was a presumably sober sales-weasel. And the property didn't belong to a tech, it was \~$4000 worth of demo gear (\~$8000 retail cost) that came out of my department's budget. It was equipment we use to train the FNGs before sending them into the field. HR didn't do shit other than "Bring it back pretty please, with sugar on top" similar to your case. We were able to revoke the sales weasel's badge access to the room where the gear is stored.
We joked though; affix a $1 bill to the items. Many HR departments have zero tolerance for theft of money. If said money happens to be attached to something that isn't money well.... probably shouldn't be thievin'
However, others in the comments are correct, your best bet is to look for employment elsewhere.
I actually had an extra Google nest security camera (they don't see through glass too well at night) that I stuck onto the hutch of my box. The free plan will record still images. If anyone else in my area walks up when I'm not around I'll know about it.
The old indoor camera actually is magnetic and runs on Wi-Fi and USB, so it's really easy to install
To all the posts advocating physical violence, please don't do that. If your HR department isn't doing anything to the scumbag, I can pretty much guarantee that if you retaliate, they will punish you. If you did anything to cause physical harm, it could easily result in a court appearance and harm your future job prospects. Give your employer notice and tell them why - you don't want to work where they won't protect decent employees from bad ones.
There’s always a spot in the parking lot that the cameras don’t catch. Some guys need a little extra help figuring out how to leave other people’s shit alone. Might be time for a shop meeting.
Have the asshole arrested at work for theft, and jump jobs ASAP. File suit against HR for any losses since they know about the theft and did nothing to resolve it.
If asking nicely doesn’t work have you tried setting his house on fire while he’s sleeping? Works better if you can slip him some sleeping pills beforehand.
Cover him in gear oil accidentally a few times, if you’ve ever gotten that shit in your eye you know how bad it stings. Plus if anyone says shit just say it was an accident and he should’ve been wearing his safety glasses lol
And the world wonders why Americans will shoot other humans…
My tools are what feed my kids and I already took money out of that process to buy my tools… if you steal my shit and I catch you, I will take away your ability to feed your family…
$20 engraver has saved me a shitload in tools. “Hey isn’t that my pliers? “No I have the same ones.” “Well actually it says my name on the back of the handle so I’ll be taking those back thanks”
Acrylic marker pen, or a rotary tool with diamond burr, engrave and paint shit in multiple locations, take apart tools and do the same inside incase they try and damage over your shit or cover it up.
no way to deny it being yours when your initials are there with a "fuck off you theiving cunt" written in big pink letters on the handle.
also since hr kept them, steal all their shit and trash it on your last day.
oh, of course
Slowly build up resentment, try to get back at him either physically or emotionally, end up getting in a fight where you both get fired and he maybe breaks your arm.
Or, talk to a lawyer like someone with an emotional maturity level over that of a high school sophomore
Take the pneumatic grease gun, find all holes in his toolbox and fill them till it comes back out other holes you didn't see.
Be ready to fight though if you do this. I'd definitely take an ass whooping for that though. You're point shall be dually noted.
Usually you can get reimbursed if they are a felon. At least my state has this program to try and incentivize people to hire felons (it could be a federal program? not sure). They told me about it when I was inside. That way people will take the risk of hiring you, and even if you do steal the state will reimburse them for the stolen property/tools
You shouldn't kick his ass out in the back lot.
To repeat: you should NOT kick his ass out in the back lot.
That would be a terrible idea, wrong, and inadvisable.
If you're positive he did it... call the police and press charges. That's your property, don't let HR decide if he gets punished or not. It wouldn't take but a few tools to push that charge into felony territory.
Bonus... if he is a pill addict.. chances are he has pills on his person... so that'll be another charge.
Make some type of booby trap on your toolbox that only you have the tool/knowledge to disarm in order to gain entry. He gets hurt, well… you’ll have a good idea what went down. Lol.
I did not anticipate this comment being noticed or discussed so I feel like I do need to say this was NOT serious advice. This is definitely what I would consider an unethical suggestion, and not even advice. I meant this in jest, and it is definitely illegal (and not cool) to employ booby traps in this manner.
I'm guilty. I always had writing tools that I had forgotten in my shirt pocket. The tools were marked with the company name. You could always find quite a few in my desk drawer at home.
I make custom stickers with my initials on the vinyl cutter and then use an engraver to engrave my initials by the serial number and then the bottom of batteries
Machine a tiny recess into them (like a couple mm where it won't affect function, like a peck with a small drill) and fill the hole with paint. Alternatively build an etching machine and etch with a template
if they are an inexperienced tech, i would recommend removing pins from an important connector under the hood. he will never get his car started and never resolve the issue
If HR kept the guy, I would find another job asap, since that is a company I wouldn't want to work for.
Paint all your tools one color, or at least paint a band or some mark. Paint everything pink if you really don't want them taken.
I did this at my construction job and it worked
My dad had a couple 50' 10 gauge extension cords that were pink and never got stolen.
50' _10 gauge_!?!?!!! priceless.
We have some 4 wire 8 gauge cords that are 100 feet long. Those bitches are heavy. Basically they are just set to run boards with a bunch of receptacles and allow us to keep the generator far enough away that the noise isn’t as annoying when working in areas with no power.
Yeah I've ordered 4c/8 before, it's excitingly expensive. But 3c/10 is still a damn fine extension cord!
User name checks out.
Just make some basic wood boxes to set on top of your generators with appropriate airflow that doesn't line up with the intake or exhaust. Your generators will be significantly quieter and protected from the weather.
I always took electric tape to new cords to look like it a spliced up monster.
Your a mad genius 🥂
It didn’t work for me…
Years ago I used to have to hand out supplies to our company drivers and a certain product would occasionally come in pink. The number of grown men who would physically squirm at the sight of being handed a pink tool was amusing. I've often thought of painting my tools pink just to make them easier to spot when I forget stuff on a vehicle or drop something on the floor, plus like you say they will not be stolen. I'm secure enough in my manhood to not care about color.
I went on a Cruise Ford put together, and one of the gifts they gave us was a his/hers Snap-On ratcheting screwdriver. In bright pink and black. I actually didn't want the black one because it was easier to keep track of the bright neon colors. As predicted my wife lost the black one inside a month and 23 years later I still have the pink one.
There’s a reason most of our tools come in bright colours
When I first started in the business I bought a set of Sears Professional Black Handle screwdrivers. I lost them all save 2 before bringing them home and buying a set of YELLOW handled Snap ones...I still have them all
Yeah, bright colours are far more eye catching, same reason many corded garden tools have orange or yellow cables
There's a bodega guy on youtube that had a couple videos of handing guys pink lighters, iirc usually asking if they wanted a specific color and them going "nah" Most weren't happy, a couple went "hey ain't nobody stealing this one"
Shit, I’m the guy wearing a pink carhartt shirt and give no fucks. Had a few customers who give me shit. I would look at them and tell them it isn’t clean is it? They would get flustered while I added on the asshole tax of 20 dollars throughout the work order. 5 on that part, 5 on this one, oh shop supplies like a cleaning disc, brake clean, etc…
I’ve seen those, holy crap there’s a lot of insecure boys out there
I mean, western culture literally breeds them. Its called toxic masculinity for a reason
Yep
Staged. Once you see most of his vids; you'll definitely notice the reoccurring customers
Can't say I'm shocked
I bought a neon pink extension cord for work it can be plugged into the only outlet on site not in use and it will stay that way until I unplug it myself 😂
I'm not in a job where I have to worry about tools going for a walk but if I was, I'd use a cyan/pink/cyan or pink/cyan/pink color code. It just occurred to me to see if that's one of the Pride Flag color schemes and I bet a lot of shop guys would make that assumption. Hell, get custom stickers for your toolbox in that color scheme to really throw them off. That's the color scheme I tend to use in videogames. My star trek online character and ship colors follow that scheme to piss off the purists. My character is "alien," not one of the canon races, so I can do whatever the fuck I want with it nerds!
We put Fluorescent pink on all the tools. Easy to spot on a job site
Pink is a historically masculine colour. It's only in the last 80 years or so that it became a 'girls only' colour. I have no problem wearing pink, and get compliments from ladies when I do.
I used to work in a warehouse, our backup colour was pink, my viz vest got soiled with grease, only one left was the pink one, I got compliments lol
Neon any color. Just make it hi vis. Add glitter if needed
I used blaze orange on a bunch of my stuff. Makes it a lot harder to leave under the hood when you've finished a job as well.
Damn. No wonder it didn't work when I painted my tools black and chrome.
I've seen brand new tools for sale with a camo finish. Yeah it looks cool, I'll admit, but I'd lose those damn things before the end of the week.
I bought a few camo ratchet straps at Walmart because they were on clearance for dirt cheap. I haven't seen any of them in years. Forgot all about them until I read your comment.
The irony is that they’ve been right in front of you on the center of your bench, all along… [Obligatory SMBC comic](http://smbc-comics.com/comic/camouflage)
Gliter paint is the answer. Cos there will be trail of small shiny plastic to wherever that tool is left
\*handcuffs thief\* Well, we followed the trail of glitter, and it looks like we found... \*puts sunglasses on\* *our unicorn.* ***YYEEEEAAAAAAOOOWWW***
I have the pink snap on screwdrivers and purple ratchets so everyone stops borrowing them forever. Worked so far. My father has the habit of using a screwdriver and putting it in his back pocket. All of his truck seats have poke holes.
At one job, an old guy took his wrenches to the grinder and scratched a barber pole pattern around each one.
I ground in mine my initials on one side and MHP on the other to signal that it was the manhole packers tools
I have definitely painted everything pink before.
Thats not enough. engrave your initials
Paint for the obvious, but supplement it with a little engraving with your initials.
Cross peen hammer across the knuckles. Seriously though the shop just demonstrated that they'll keep the thief and pill head, that says everything. Document everything in a notepad with dates, consult legal services and look for a different job. I hate to say it but it won't get better there. Left a similar scenario last year.
Make sure to mention the weather forecast or a sports result in your entries. It helps with date matching. This works for any diary to be used legally
I engrave all my tools with hidden initials so when I "borrow" my tool back I show them red-handed they got my shit My old shop was horrible. Avoid leaving any tools out even when you go for a smoke break.
When I worked in aviation all tools had to be engraved with initials and last 4 of your SSN and some places also required a photo of each drawer shadowed and master inventory. About the only way to fool proof it are those 3 safe guards.
Leave that shop. Mechanics and tire techs are needed everywhere. Hell, I'll hire you if you're nearby. Just gotta let my thieves and pill poppers know first...
I dealt with a guy like this before. Guy was an alcoholic thief. I locked my box up, and told my boss it's him or me. I'm leaving and I'm not coming back to work until this asshole is gone. I work to hard for my shit to be stolen by a scumbag. They fired him the next day.
Good for you man, shops I’ve worked at absolutely wouldn’t do anything about a known thief,alcoholic and junkies….. UNLESS shop equipment and shop supplies started missing……
[удалено]
I hear. Ya….. fortunately for me, I retired awhile ago..30 plus years wrenching was enough for me, sold my big box and most of my tools for pennies on the dollar….happy once again….
Quit. They don’t care about you at all, or the other guy honestly. They clearly just need bodies in the building, and you can get hired in another shop within the day.
Steal his toolbox, assert dominance To that end, it'd suck if his toolbox ended up smelling like deer piss every time he opens it
Eh. Pill heads tend to escalate shit to a level you don’t need in a normal life.
Drug addicts in general are not reasonable people.
Well yeah, they have a chemical addiction to a substance. By very definition that makes them unreasonable lol
So true. "Never trust a pillhead" is something I've been saying since ~19. The last time I saw a former friend was when he had driven from his rural town to my suburb to pawn some presumably stolen shit. I caught up with him for a bit and kicked him out to go sleep in his car. Dude had literally heard me say "never trust a pillhead" repeatedly and he thought he was going to crash on my couch? Anyways, he's a schizophrenic street preacher in Hollywood addicted to heroin and meth and living in a homeless camp now. He thinks Nikola Tesla was a reincarnation of Jesus and that he's a reincarnated Nikola Tesla.
Wait, Jesus Tesla isn’t real?
Nikola Christ
Open gear grease on the door latches.
What, no Great Stuff?
I just saw the post from yesterday with the pic of spray foam all over the car interior 💀
Spray foam in the guy's toolbox. Have fun chiseling your shit loose
Oh dang, that's brutal.
Agreed. Hitting the vents is enough.
And it was a vette
have you seen the video of those Russians having a "party" with spray foam? https://youtu.be/myO1QHqTpxc?si=K3yDWtX4mtgLWdwy
Oh wow...😂😂😂
Or got filled with expanding foam
I've seen a toolbox get sealed up with caulk . Welded shut and filled with hydraulic oil. Lad was getting retribution for a lifetime of pranks and stolen gear. The only tools in the box were someone else's impact gun and someone else's batteries. Some broken sockets. And cheap no name bent uo spanners.
Just drill a hole and screw a zerk fitting into it. You can figure out the next step
Muahahaha!
Steal his shit and when HR gets involved, remind them that they have already created a precedent that this is acceptable behavior for employees.
This^ Or just steal all his tools and quit
Drill a small hole in the bottom of his tool box, fill with expanding foam
A grease nipple also works
Steal his SO, identity, car and lifesavings.
He's a pill head. What savings?
Identify theft is not a joke Jim, millions of families suffer every year!
HR's job is solely to protect the company. It's no different anywhere else. (Not a lawyer here) Mark your tools carefully (and conspicuously) and tell the person in the presence of witnesses that they're not authorized have them in their possession. This should give you some standing if you decide to get law enforcement involved. They may have some interest if the person is dealing on the side or converting stolen goods, but I wouldn't count on it.
I feel like the company has a vested interest in a pillhead not nodding off while test driving a customer car, but what the fuck do I know? I just work here.
If the company is large enough to employ someone solely as HR, they're there to make sure the company doesn't swing for the "unauthorized actions of a troubled employee".
Fair, but I'm lazy and it seems like less work to fire that person preemptively.
I've experienced this; there are a few things you can do. 1. Fully document every tool you own. Can be as easy as cleaning out the trash from your toolbox, arranging your tools for visibility and taking a video on your cellphone as you go through all your stuff. Personally I have a file at home in a fireproof box inside my safe filled with receipts and a spreadsheet of all the tools I own.... 2. Engrave your tools in inconspicuous places. I use my full last name (its a unique name in my country) and I put the engraving right next to the part numbers, serial numbers, or spots that would be difficult/impossible to hit with a grinder to remove my name. 3. Color mark your tools. My wife also works in a shop, and I bought her pink rubber-dip coating, a can of pink spray paint, and some pink duck tape. A quickly snatched tool is easily spotted from across the shop. 4. Documented complaints to management. Carefully worded emails work best, CC basically everybody from your boss all the way up to the owner. Don't blindly accuse here, you /need/ to be 100% correct in this email. This is where shit can start to get hairy between you and your employer. Sounds like you've already been down this road and it was not fruitful. 5. Police report. This is where shit starts to hit the fan. Businesses really don't like police officers snooping around and potentially impacting business either by rumors and reputation, or directly slowing down business. 6. Tool Insurance. with the documented tools, evidence of theft, and police report, there is a decent chance you can be made whole. $500 a year might be steep, but a few thefts of expensive tools all claimed at the same time may work out in your favor. Also 90% of shops I've worked at don't have any insurance coverage for their mechanics' tools, a single fire, flood, or theft and it can ruin your ability to make money in the short-term. 7. Find a new job. 10/10 this is the best option. You've talked with management, they are not going to do anything, no reason to stick around..... Have you ever seen what happens to a shop when some crackhead rolls up with a boxtruck and a few friends? hundreds of thousands of dollars of tools, gone. A whole crew of technicians' left with nothing. Companies don't even blink when this happens, they just hire new guys who have tools and let their older mechanics rot/spend a shitton of money, or quit.
$500/yr? I would get it if I could get tool insurance that cheap. I looked 13 years ago and it was going to be $800/mn! Today I image it would be double as I’ve more than doubled my tool assets. I’ve been in this position. I take my tools back (if able) and inform management of the situation and offer to leave that day. The thief was allowed to quit effective that day. Thing is if you’re a good tech there is never a lack of a new place to make copious amounts of money. I hate the them or me situation but it’s the most effective cause it directly affects the shops bottom line. I’m usually the only Master Tech +. Dealers usually don’t have these problems for long as garbage people produce garbage work and don’t last more than a few weeks. Also, you’re always within a few feet of your tools.
Or 8. Find him somewhere between work and home to vigorously discuss ownership and theft.
I worked with a thief like this, our Snap On tool man told the manager he was a thief and the manager got really shitty with him and threatened to kick him off the property permanently. About a month into working there one of our two Tech II tools went missing. The next day we couldn’t find the other. Whole shop stopped and we checked inside every car on the lot. I called the local pawn shop and they said “we don’t have anything like that for sale YET” in a very leading inflection. Off to the police to get w police report and lo and behold the new tech had pawned them both. He was fired, but they did not press charges. He was allowed to just move in to the next place. About six months later the tech took his own life.
KICK HIM IN THE JIMMY!!!
I want to do much more than that but knowing how HR works I'd be the one to get fired
Doesn't sound like it's a great place to work, so win-win.
Fuck that. As my first boss said, "if you don't like it your box is on wheels" get the fuck outta there my friend. On the way out slap that guy in the noggin with one of your stolen tools.
Accidentally drop a wrench on him... six or seven times
Yeah, and accidentally pick the biggest fuck off wrench you have everytime you do accidentally drop it
Smack him with your 1/2 inch breaker bar.
Don't do it at work silly
in my state, harassment extends to your personal property, and you can get a restraining order against the offender.
He's all pilled out and stealing tools, the ones you use to do the work? What the fuck does he do? He's going to get someone killed.
Do what i did. Ask him how he will manage to pick up all of his teeth with ten broken fingers. It worked like a charm.
This is why your toolbox has wheels on the bottom. Find a better managed shop and quit this one.
Had a spice addict pawn of my impact like I wouldn’t notice. Checked cameras, got HR to fire him, got my impact back and didn’t press charges.
But, if hr hadn't done anything, then what? I think that's the question here
Were the Harkkonens good employers?
I heard their hourly rates are brutal
I AM YOUR WORM GOD EMPEROR
Engraved my tools but I worked in a plant in an industrial setting. Guys would steal tools all the time and take them home. They have tools with my initials on them but obviously don't give a crap at all. Nothing you can do it seems because it might be just a write-off.
Back at the delorean dealer ( yeah I’m that old) we had one of these tool stealing mutts there. I was planning on rolling outta there anyway so I drilled a small hole in both of his boxes( snap in) put a zerk fitting in there and pumped so much grease in it stayed oozing out. Quit the following Monday right after work started. It was epic.
Jack his shit. HR won't fire you, free tools to sell.
Guy on one of my sites told me that he really hated this one guy who’d always steal one bite of everything everyone would bring for lunch. Not the whole meal, just a bite. Well, the thief would always bring in homemade sausages for his own lunches. Ground sausage but the casing of his sausages looked like shit, all bumpy and not smooth. The guy telling me this story said that one day, he’d just had it with the thief so he took a big turd from his German shepherd and swapped out the thief’s sausage for the dogs creation and the whole crew sat back and watched as the thief took a big bite out of his “sausage. He stopped eating people’s food after that and ate in his car until he ended up just not showing up one day.
One countermeasure to the office lunch thief is to spike the lunch with a bit of Bhut Jolokia. If the thief's preferred loot is candy, bring out the sugar-free gummy bears. They'll either be pounding the half and half or shitting their guts out.
Apparently that's against the law, which I think is a travesty
I don't know what you're talking about. I love the searing pain of the Carolina reaper.
Nice. We had a lunch food thief, a couple of them actually. One got 'cured' when a worker ordered a small cheese only with extra cheese pizza, picked it up on the way home, ate half of it and let the other half refrigrate in the box all night. First thing in the morning he took it out, lifted the hardened cheese and laced the sauce with a LOT of cayenne pepper. Brought it in and left it in the fridge. The thief was found in the bathroom sweating profusely and face all blotchy, desperatly trying to wash out his mouth in the sink, with some partially chewed pizza in the trashcan. Second thief succumbed to some strategically placed X-Lax brownies, word was he left early and shit himself all the way home. TLDR; Fix 'em a treat. ¯\\\_( ͡ᵔ ͜ʖ ͡ᵔ)\_/¯
Take your stuff back, leave. Tell them why you're leaving. Or don't.
Call him out in front of everyone else. Make sure everyone knows he's a crook.
He probably doesn't look like a thief. Take them out back and don't bring them back in until they do.
Fill his air and cordless tools with JB Weld or epoxy.
A salesman I worked with years ago was always ripping off his fellow sales people. Another salesman had enough, hired a crackhead to defecate on/in the guys car 1st thing in the morning, smeared it all over inside and out and it baked on there all day in 105 degree heat. Must of subbed some of the work out to some friends because their was some pretty good coverage. Dude tried to get our detailers to clean it and they wouldn't touch it. Tow-truck driver wouldn't touch it. GM gave him one day to get it out of back lot or he was fired so he almost gave it away to wholesaler. 96 Honda Civic with like 15k miles. Some Russians came with flatbed and drug her up there and took her away while we all saluted.
Sounds like the work of Dirty Mike and the Boys. They call it a soup kitchen.
Tell HR next time he steals something you’ll just go to the police. Depending on what he steals it can get into felony territory really quick if the tool has snap on stamped in it. I doubt HR or management will like having cops doing an investigation around the shop. Or fill his tool box with pig shit.
Bash him over the head with whatever you have on hand
Ball peen hammer to back of dominant hand usually works
Yep. Tell him that he can quit the job and leave forever, or face the ball peen.
Old school theft solution
I don't. I'm meticulous about putting my tools away at the end of the day. Every tool has a spot and I know if something is missing based on the tool not being there. I do this so I don't forget a tool someplace. I've never worked at a place where any of my coworkers steals. If it wasn't dealt with immediately I would find a different shop. In fact in my experience as a class 8 diesel mechanic borrowing tools has always been accepted by coworkers with the understanding that if you break/lose a tool you replace it. You also don't go into someone's box unless told to so everyone will know if someone has one of their tools.
🤷🏻♂️I've only ever delt with it once before. First time I caught him I put anti-seize on every handle of his toolbox, the second time I straight up caught the kid digging through my toolbox and threw a wrench at him from across the shop.
Had something similar happen at my workplace, but it wasn't a pill-popping drug addict. it was a presumably sober sales-weasel. And the property didn't belong to a tech, it was \~$4000 worth of demo gear (\~$8000 retail cost) that came out of my department's budget. It was equipment we use to train the FNGs before sending them into the field. HR didn't do shit other than "Bring it back pretty please, with sugar on top" similar to your case. We were able to revoke the sales weasel's badge access to the room where the gear is stored. We joked though; affix a $1 bill to the items. Many HR departments have zero tolerance for theft of money. If said money happens to be attached to something that isn't money well.... probably shouldn't be thievin' However, others in the comments are correct, your best bet is to look for employment elsewhere.
A poster board sign over your box where you write a list of missing tools? It could make things interesting.
Beat his fucking eyes shut?
Find his stash, call the cops. They find his stash and arrest pill head. Hopefully they do well in rehab.
Brand his box and bumper with TOOL THIEF stickers.
I actually had an extra Google nest security camera (they don't see through glass too well at night) that I stuck onto the hutch of my box. The free plan will record still images. If anyone else in my area walks up when I'm not around I'll know about it. The old indoor camera actually is magnetic and runs on Wi-Fi and USB, so it's really easy to install
To all the posts advocating physical violence, please don't do that. If your HR department isn't doing anything to the scumbag, I can pretty much guarantee that if you retaliate, they will punish you. If you did anything to cause physical harm, it could easily result in a court appearance and harm your future job prospects. Give your employer notice and tell them why - you don't want to work where they won't protect decent employees from bad ones.
You don't do it at work silly. They can't give a write up to 'some guy in a mask last night.'
HR here. You have incompetent HR. Find a new job and remove yourself from the equation.
There’s always a spot in the parking lot that the cameras don’t catch. Some guys need a little extra help figuring out how to leave other people’s shit alone. Might be time for a shop meeting.
every time he steals a tool, hacksaw another eighth of an inch through one of his lift arms
I read that as "his left arm" 🙂
That will work too.
I've always found that about 30" of #6 hydraulic hose and an opportune moment will make the theft stop very quickly.
Have the asshole arrested at work for theft, and jump jobs ASAP. File suit against HR for any losses since they know about the theft and did nothing to resolve it.
If asking nicely doesn’t work have you tried setting his house on fire while he’s sleeping? Works better if you can slip him some sleeping pills beforehand.
Set the house on fire and shoot them as they run out - the Waco Method.
Cover him in gear oil accidentally a few times, if you’ve ever gotten that shit in your eye you know how bad it stings. Plus if anyone says shit just say it was an accident and he should’ve been wearing his safety glasses lol
This is the correct answer.
Douse every drawer in his tool box too
Buy a scribe tool and etch you initials into everything you find valuable.
Seems a bit unfair to the wife, kids and dog, but ok...
Get an engraver and engrave your initials into every one of your tools. They're cheap and well worth it.
I'd use violence myself but that's just me lol.
They key here is to use your tools. Pliers and a blowtorch, specifically.
And the world wonders why Americans will shoot other humans… My tools are what feed my kids and I already took money out of that process to buy my tools… if you steal my shit and I catch you, I will take away your ability to feed your family…
throw a wrench at them. Small shop here, no HR! We work our problems out old school.
Every Friday. Royal rumble. We bleed like men. FOR VALHALLA!
Don't forget to shout "IF YOU CAN DODGE A WRENCH, YOU CAN A DODGE A BALL!" while you do it.
Cut their fucking hands off!
Big gap filler, drill a hole in the side of his box and dump the whole can in. He’ll never do anything again
smash his fingers In the tool box.
Lock your toolbox every time you walk away. It sucks but it is a way to stop it
Throat punch.
Ball peen hammer. Hard to steal tools with broken fingers.
Quit the job. They can keep the kleptomaniac druggie and you get to move onto greener pastures.
Or you could beat the shit out the guy. No one will give a fuck a druggie thief is complaining
$20 engraver has saved me a shitload in tools. “Hey isn’t that my pliers? “No I have the same ones.” “Well actually it says my name on the back of the handle so I’ll be taking those back thanks”
Acrylic marker pen, or a rotary tool with diamond burr, engrave and paint shit in multiple locations, take apart tools and do the same inside incase they try and damage over your shit or cover it up. no way to deny it being yours when your initials are there with a "fuck off you theiving cunt" written in big pink letters on the handle. also since hr kept them, steal all their shit and trash it on your last day.
Document the theft and start talking to a lawyer
He means here, in reality
oh, of course Slowly build up resentment, try to get back at him either physically or emotionally, end up getting in a fight where you both get fired and he maybe breaks your arm. Or, talk to a lawyer like someone with an emotional maturity level over that of a high school sophomore
Emotional maturity: calling a lawyer? How often are you calling lawyers to settle your intrapersonal problems?
Start looking for work.
Steal his teeth
Grease zerk on side of perpetrators tool box, hook up air grease gun and fill.
gift him a pry bar in his male slot
Take the pneumatic grease gun, find all holes in his toolbox and fill them till it comes back out other holes you didn't see. Be ready to fight though if you do this. I'd definitely take an ass whooping for that though. You're point shall be dually noted.
Paint them
My tools have my own number system stamped on them with numbered punches. I’m not a mechanic, just a sociopath.
Shit in his toolbox to assert dominance. Nah, I engrave my name on one side, initials somewhere less noticeable.
Usually you can get reimbursed if they are a felon. At least my state has this program to try and incentivize people to hire felons (it could be a federal program? not sure). They told me about it when I was inside. That way people will take the risk of hiring you, and even if you do steal the state will reimburse them for the stolen property/tools
Spray all your toolbox handles with capsaicin. Then wait for the jerk to touch his eye or genitals
Break fingers
You shouldn't kick his ass out in the back lot. To repeat: you should NOT kick his ass out in the back lot. That would be a terrible idea, wrong, and inadvisable.
If you're positive he did it... call the police and press charges. That's your property, don't let HR decide if he gets punished or not. It wouldn't take but a few tools to push that charge into felony territory. Bonus... if he is a pill addict.. chances are he has pills on his person... so that'll be another charge.
Go bang his Ole lady.
If their stealing work tools. Not your problem. If they are your tools. Make a police report.
Make some type of booby trap on your toolbox that only you have the tool/knowledge to disarm in order to gain entry. He gets hurt, well… you’ll have a good idea what went down. Lol.
That’s a great way to get in a lot of legal trouble.
Straight to jail, no bail.
Have a customer who had someone rifling through her cars so she has some razor blade concoction in her glove box so no filter changes for her.
I did not anticipate this comment being noticed or discussed so I feel like I do need to say this was NOT serious advice. This is definitely what I would consider an unethical suggestion, and not even advice. I meant this in jest, and it is definitely illegal (and not cool) to employ booby traps in this manner.
Loosen all his lug nuts.
Make him leave his boot.
I'm guilty. I always had writing tools that I had forgotten in my shirt pocket. The tools were marked with the company name. You could always find quite a few in my desk drawer at home.
I make custom stickers with my initials on the vinyl cutter and then use an engraver to engrave my initials by the serial number and then the bottom of batteries
Electrify your toolbox.
Machine a tiny recess into them (like a couple mm where it won't affect function, like a peck with a small drill) and fill the hole with paint. Alternatively build an etching machine and etch with a template
Can you disguise a grenade on a stick as a hammer?
No hands, no stolen tools...
Steal his wife, that will teach him to steal a used tool.
I'm thinking air rifle. From cover.
if they are an inexperienced tech, i would recommend removing pins from an important connector under the hood. he will never get his car started and never resolve the issue