Or, at least, forced to spend an hour outside with the minimal amount of winter clothing to not die.
This is my 4th winter at this apartment complex, and I’ve never had my extension cord stolen. But some fucker has stolen 2 this year! Fuck this! This is goddamned Saskatchewan, fuckfaces, we kind of need these fucking cords. Go buy your own!
I swear, if I find out who you are, I will make you suck my big, fat non-existent dick. Better yet, I’ll make you suck a big, fat frozen steel dildo and laugh as you decide whether to walk around with it stuck to your face or tear your bloody tongue off it.
For you lucky buggers who have no idea what the fuck I’m talking about: when you live in a climate colder than a witch’s tit, your vehicle has a block heater in it that you plug into an outlet so your engine doesn’t freeze. When the temperatures get like this, you need it.
As a suggestion, when you connect the extension cord to the block heater plug, can you put a padlock around both cables, one small enough that neither the plug nor socket can pass?
I endorse this rant. Also, although it’s a pain in the ass to do it, you can secure your cord while it’s in use by parking on top of it. In ten years in my old apt I never had a cord stolen, and not only did I not use the above trick but I left it wrapped around the post when it wasn’t in use.
If the outlet was on a post, I would just do what my parents do and drill a protector around it, but it plugs directly into the exterior wall of the building.
Well, this gives me a chance to indulge my artistic side:
extension cord (female) /=== ===\ block heater (male)
========= ==========
\=== ===/
cords connected
/======\
===================
\======/
cables bent to touch each other
/======\
/==========\
/ \======/ \
| |
\ /
\ /
\ /
\ /
\ /
\ / <- place small padlock around both cables
The gist being to lock the cables together such that they can’t be physically separated, as the padlock creates a passage too small for either the extension cord’s socket or the block heater’s plug.
Back when I lived someplace cold (Winnipeg), I would “lock” my extension cord under the hood of my car. I would open the hood of my car, hook up the block heater, then close the hood onto the extension cord.
I started doing this after coming out of a night class at UofM in February and not being able to start my car because some jackass stole my cord.
I now live in California where people get cold when the temperature gets below 50°F (10°C).
OR, put a large screweye near the outlet and put a padlock through the screweye and around the cord. Then you wouldn’t have to unlock it everyday. Just unplug the cord and leave it on the ground (if that’s applicable). The only problem you risk with that is pissing off the would be thief and having them cut it.
Sure, if you always have the same parking spot, and can make the modifications. I’ve seen a few parking lots where there are outlets near each space, the spaces themselves not reserved to any particular person, vehicle, or apartment.
Ah, okay! They don’t steal the cord when it’s plugged in, they steal it during the day when I leave it out. I know a lot of people are now going ‘WTF why don’t you take it with you?!’ but it’s like the unspoken rule of Canadian courtesy - don’t steal the extension cords!
This is a great idea. The only downside being that you’d have to unlock it every morning and then take your extension cord with you. Otherwise this is brilliant.
We are talking about two or more people who both experience central plains winters.
I am from New England, where rooves collapse, ice storms strip down power lines for weeks, and airports are the best in the world* for staying open in winter weather, and I am humbled by Midwestern Winters.
No, stealing someone’s car heater cord is just the quintessential Dick Move.
It’s as bad as stealing the rock salt some one leaves at the end of the driveway.
It’s the kind of thing that gives me religion, because I know there has to be some kind of god to damn that kind of person to some kind of hell, and one worse that a midwestern winter if you can imagine that.
It’s probably Best in the US, and it doesn’t matter if every other airport is closed, but I will not let facts interfere with my outrage on some-one else’s behalf.
Well, excuse the heck out of me. My alternate suggestion was to strip some of the insulation off the hot wire so anyone who touches the cable in the wrong place gets killed, but there may be local legal issues.
Seriously, we both know there are things You Just Don’t Do. Some crimes one can expect a person to take reasonable precautions against. Other crimes one can believe beneath the lowest of the low.
People have a responsibility to each other; you can steal the gold, but never the salt pork.
I’m so happy that even with the link, I have no idea what you folks are talking about. That’s because I have never lived in the frozen wastelands.
So, please tell me if I’ve got it right…block heaters are installed under the hood. It takes a cord to go from the heater to a power outlet. Said cord has to be plugged into the car and then into a power outlet. Is this happening in a parking garage or with the cars out in the weather?
Anyhow, fuck people who mess with your ability to go to work by stealing something like that.
Well, pretty much yes all around. Depending upon your circumstances your parking garage at your apartment building might provide this (an electrical outlet), and perhaps your employer might also. As a home owner you need to figure it out for yourself.
The block heater is installed in the lower portion of the engine block and keeps the engine oil warm(ish) overnight, typically. I’m sure you can understand the benefits. Some models are inserted in series with the lower radiator hose, and include a small circulating pump that warms and circulates your coolant. Both modes have their pros and cons depending upon whether you want your car to start, or if you want to be instantly warm after your car starts.
The cord for this equipment usually protrudes out through the car’s grill or underneath the grill or bumper but only by a few inches: hence the need for an extension cord.
The only way those would work is to heat the coolent hot enough to open the thermostat. They would be fugitves from a humungous electric kettle, and with a pump would cost a mint to run.
ETA: I mention specific block heater types and you dismiss one of them as being inefficient and not worthy,
I provide a link to the actual product and then you dismiss that as being only viable in a certain geographic location. You have no proof. You have no cites. You have no credibility.