Author Topic: Mail Box vs. Punks  (Read 2752 times)

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Offline Ky Kim

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Mail Box vs. Punks
« on: October 16, 2008, 05:05:22 PM »
I couldn't tell you how many mail boxes I have replaced over the years.  I just buy the cheap plastic ones, because its either brats, or cars hitting them.  The post has only been replace a few times, but the mail boxes themselves more from punks than anything else.  Ours was busted all to pieces along with one of the neighbors.  >:(-

Well I got creative this time, knowing it was some punk kids.   >:(- The neighbor across the street saw them take off running.  >:(-

Bought a new plastic mail box, and had an old 25 mph road sign, them baby's won't bend.  (this is all my idea) the only way we could shape it was heating the metal up with a torch.  We've got the shape, we're going to put it over the new mail box like a sleeve.  Spray paint it black, put the flag on the outside of it just like its a regular mail box.  Let them hit it with a ball bat or something and they're going to know it.  It should bounce that baby right back at them, or bounce back into their car..LOL.  Hope so anyway.  If nothing else, it will make a loud enough boom should wake anyone up.  Were also going to have extra screws in it, so it just don't come off the post.

Would love it have it on camera when it happens......Revenge is sweet sometimes well not so much as revenge as a surprise... ;)

Kim
« Last Edit: October 16, 2008, 05:10:20 PM by Ky Kim »

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Offline PondmaninAL

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Re: Mail Box vs. Punk Kids
« Reply #1 on: October 16, 2008, 05:16:53 PM »
Some one has been vandalizing mail boxes on our street. One neighbor actually put a steel pole up in line with three mail boxes so no one could get a swing on them as they drove by. They've hit ours once. There's a story about these kids using a 2x4 stud to take out mail boxes until one day, some one set up an immovable mailbox and post. One night, someone heard the sound of screeching tires and then a crash. They found the two boys with broken ribs. They got medical attention paid for by the federal government. :)
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Offline Esther

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Re: Mail Box vs. Punks
« Reply #2 on: October 16, 2008, 05:31:06 PM »
WHY WHY do they do these dumb things? Makes me want to take something to their heads.

I look at the way "some" tenants treat our property and how they treat their own property and wonder if young people have lost (or never knew) about the value of money and property.  I see them throw perfectly good things away. They move out and leave stuff of value at times amongst the garbage. (I mean garbage, real garbage, the kind that rots and smells and has crawling things in it.) The last one left lots of what they thought was trash and sometimes I go through it and sort it out. For instance, there was a 3 speed Honeywell air filter that worked and had a brand new $25 filter wheel in it. I gave it to my asthmatic son. Someone threw a perfectly good Red Flyer tricycle in our dumpster. We pulled it out and gave it to my cousin for her day care kids. I found some clothes that fit my granddaughter so took it home and laundered it. She thought it was great.

But boy, they'll squeeze out every government/social aid penny they can.  Makes me so mad to see them buying Gator Ade and fast food but can't pay their rent. OH AND SMOKE--don't get me going on the cigarettes they go through!!

Guess I got way off track because the people you are talking about are probably kids/teens and the people I'm talking about are usually in their 20s and 30s.

Offline karen J

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Re: Mail Box vs. Punks
« Reply #3 on: October 16, 2008, 05:34:08 PM »
I've been at war with the mailbox vandals as well.

When we moved in to our house here, it had an ugly black mailbox on a post. So I took the post, added a gingerbread bracket from Home Depot, stenciled a new, white mailbox with ivy, name, & house numbers. Painted the post white, too. It looked really pretty and I got a lot of compliments from the neighbors.

Within a week, some kids kicked the lattice gingerbread and broke it off. Next day, I found a huge dent in the box (baseball bat type dent) None of the kids ever fessed up to it, although I think I know who did it and offered "immunity" if they came over and helped me glue it back together. It doesn't help that the bus stop for all three schools (GS,MS, HS) are all at the end of my driveway. It could have been any one of those kids being bored waiting for the school bus.

Oh well, we've gone through a couple of versions of the same mailbox. Sometimes it's the bracket, sometimes it's the mailbox itself. Sometimes it's the flag that gets ripped off. The current mailbox is rusting now.
Someone bought a 10 acre lot next door to us with a very long driveway, and not once did those giant house-building/concrete paving/lumber trailer trucks damage our mailbox! Huge, heavy equipment never bothered our mailbox, but teenage kids? Yup.

HOWEVER, I must say that the Rustoleum paint that I used to paint my house numbers and stencil that mailbox has held up wonderfully!  :) Shameless plug for Rustoleum paint.  ;)
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Offline MikeW

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Re: Mail Box vs. Punks
« Reply #4 on: October 16, 2008, 06:47:44 PM »
Well done Kim. I for one will be looking forward to stories of broken ribs / arms, and maybe even damaged cars. Some kids are just a darned good argument for mercy killing.

Cheers,

Mike
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Offline Mikey

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Re: Mail Box vs. Punks
« Reply #5 on: October 16, 2008, 09:40:54 PM »
Sorry to hear you have to be going through this but it's good to hear you are a fighter. :boxing:   Must be frustrating.  I guess every neighborhood has idiots like those.  I'm firm believer in what goes around comes around.....  &-)
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Offline Sandye

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Re: Mail Box vs. Punks
« Reply #6 on: October 16, 2008, 10:59:46 PM »
Good for you, Kim...for trying to fight back!  It's a sad state of affairs when you need surveillance cameras ALL over your property...but sometimes it feels like that.   >:(-

Offline Roark

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Re: Mail Box vs. Punks
« Reply #7 on: October 17, 2008, 06:03:10 AM »
If you're serious about fixing the problem, try this:

Contact your local post office and file a "Hold Mail" request for 2 weeks.  This puts the postal service on notice that you won't be accepting mail and makes sure the postman doesn't get involved in a private dispute for a bit. (Important!).

Buy yourself a nice, shiny-new mailbox.  (Bait!!!).   Place it on it's end and fill it full of concrete.  Let it set.  When it's solid, put it up on the old post.  Paint everything until it shines.  (BAIT!!!). Maybe make the gingerbread look especially fragile.  Dunno... whatever trips your trigger.  You know your local vandals preferences. :) :) :)

Setup your video camera and work on your editing skills while you wait.   When you hear the crash and the bang, go and retrieve your camera.  Ignore the bleeding bodies.  They'll take care of themselves one way or the other.  Write-down any license numbers you might observe.  ::)

Edit your video.  You want three different versions.

Version 1 goes on YouTube, complete with the names of the miscreants in the credits.  lol
Version 2 goes to the US Postal Inspector along with a complaint which explains how you *think* you've just figured-out who has been stealing your mail.   @O@
Version 3 goes to the local police along with a sworn statement for the vandalism of two mailboxes, etc.  O0

(Note that you can reclaim the concrete-filled mailbox in a few minutes by drilling-out the rivets which hold the top section to the baseplate).

Roark
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Offline crazyfishlady

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Re: Mail Box vs. Punks
« Reply #8 on: October 17, 2008, 07:28:16 AM »
We live near a high school for 4 years we replaced our mailbox every two to three months. One evening I even saw a grown woman back over it the drive away without saying a word. She left her taillight next to our downed mailbox, what an example for her kids.

My son-in-law made us a wonderful mailbox 12 years ago that is still standing. He encased a standard rural mailbox in 1/2 inch steel welded to a 12 inch I-beam and cemented in with for 12" steel rods. I have no idea if it has been attacked since; but sleep well knowing it will take out any ball bat or shoulder that does attempt to hit it.
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Offline Joyce

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Re: Mail Box vs. Punks
« Reply #9 on: October 17, 2008, 07:58:49 AM »
Roark, that sounds like something my dad did once.
When we first moved into our new house in 1972,
my dad raked and seeded the entire lawn himself, by hand.
This was one half acre.
The grass was just emerging when the punks drove their car across our lawn diagonally,
cuz our house was on a peninsula, road on 3 sides, so they made a short cut.
So my dad, very pissed off, raked and reseeded the following afternoon/evening when he got home from work.
We had 2 huge corrugated cardboard boxes leftover from the frig and washer/dryers.
So he put them across the reseeded and re-raked area, empty as a barricade...and bait.
For 3 nights in a row, the punks ran the boxes over...
whooping and laughing as they flattened the boxes and ruined the lawn again.
They also pitched beer bottles all over the yard each night.
My dad diligently fixed the lawn each afternoon/evening when he got home form work.
On the fourth night, he fixed the lawn, unflattened the boxes and put them back in place,
then filled them with leftover cinderblocks from when they built the foundation to our house.

That night, the punks came back...but didn't get too far.
They rammed into the boxes and crunched their car, got pretty bruised up too.
My dad called the cops, and they all were hauled away.
The car was hauled away too, not before my dad put all the empty beer bottles in it that he collected over the past few nights.

 lol

« Last Edit: October 17, 2008, 05:16:36 PM by Joyce »
Peace to all  ... Joyce



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Offline Ky Kim

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Re: Mail Box vs. Punks
« Reply #10 on: October 17, 2008, 04:01:33 PM »
Lots of neat ideas!  I like the concrete one.

Your dad did good Joyce.

Kim

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Offline Sandye

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Re: Mail Box vs. Punks
« Reply #11 on: October 17, 2008, 04:05:10 PM »
Your Dad did better than good, Joyce...that was priceless!!!   lol lol lol

Offline miguynmkoi

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Re: Mail Box vs. Punks
« Reply #12 on: October 17, 2008, 04:50:17 PM »
Note to self:  When I need "inventive" advice, call Roark!  :D ;D

Hope the flavor of all the advice helps, Kim!  ;)

Offline PondmaninAL

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Re: Mail Box vs. Punks
« Reply #13 on: October 17, 2008, 05:05:56 PM »
I remember working a temporary job in Gainesville, Florida with my wife. We would pass this house that had a Gator mailbox next to the drive. I mean that it was shaped like a gator standing on it's hind legs. Anyhow, we noticed that the gator was missing one day. It stayed gone for a while. Well, they either got it back or put a new one up but this time, it was in a chain link cage. All four sided and the top were chain link fence and was sitting on a concrete slab which the posts were sunk into. There was an opening in the chain link where the mailbox door was. :)
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Offline Esther

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Re: Mail Box vs. Punks
« Reply #14 on: October 17, 2008, 05:54:13 PM »
Such good stories. Those folks did what we've all wanted to do to get even with people who need their heads smacked.

Offline Roark

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Re: Mail Box vs. Punks
« Reply #15 on: October 17, 2008, 06:23:31 PM »
Note to self:  When I need "inventive" advice, call Roark!  :D ;D

I do make house-calls... but I usually require a deposit on my consulting fee which is not less than the expected amount of any bail. :)  O0 lol :really:

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Offline miguynmkoi

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Re: Mail Box vs. Punks
« Reply #16 on: October 19, 2008, 04:30:48 PM »
 lol lol lol
 ;D O0 O0

Definitely worth the cost for me to see that kind of action here!  ;)

Offline Mikey

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Re: Mail Box vs. Punks
« Reply #17 on: October 19, 2008, 05:11:48 PM »
Yes, I look forward to seeing their reaction on YouTube  lol
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Offline Ky Kim

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Re: Mail Box vs. Punks
« Reply #18 on: October 19, 2008, 08:38:30 PM »
 lol lol lol

Haven't got it finished yet.  I got side tracked painting the boys room.  I took off Saturday night from my 2nd job, and had Sunday and Monday to re-coop and to odd things.  Now to go order the carpet, get the furniture out of there and get it installed.

Have a new refridgerator coming Wed.  Its been hopping around here.  I've put things off inside for far too long.  Now that the fish tank hazard happened, its got my butt in gear.  Gonna tackle one room at a time, until I get to the living room.  Its alright the way it is, except for getting new carpet. 

Kim
« Last Edit: October 22, 2008, 06:26:14 AM by Ky Kim »

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Offline Monica

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Re: Mail Box vs. Punks
« Reply #19 on: October 20, 2008, 07:36:15 PM »
A couple years ago some one blew our mail box up with a bottle bomb or something.  I was the only one that  heard a loud boom the night it happened but the next morning my husband called me a said he knew what i heard and he told me the mailbox had ben blown up.  My door was in the drive way and the majority of it was probably 25 feet away from where it should have been.  I bought a cheap one to replace ir but dh hatted it so when our house was finished in May of this year I let hime get a new one.  If something happens to this one he is going to have to learn to lay brick, so we can brick it in.
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Offline Indiana Karen

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Re: Mail Box vs. Punks
« Reply #20 on: October 21, 2008, 04:46:55 PM »
I can't begin to count the mailboxes we have had destroyed in the past 30 years.  They have been hit with ball bats, shot and blown up!  A few years ago, hubby had one made out of steel but they still managed to get it off the post and stole it.  Then he had another one made out of steel welded to a steel post and sat in concrete.  That did the trick, we've had it about six years now. O0

Karen

 

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