# Assholes that steal extension cords in winter should be eligible for life in prison. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 13, 2013, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-that-steal-extension-cords-in-winter-should-be-eligible-for-life-in-prison/676209 "2013-12-13T00:36:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-that-steal-extension-cords-in-winter-should-be-eligible-for-life-in-prison/676209/21 "2013-12-13T04:39:54Z")
I didn’t dismis them. I said they’d be expensive to run because they’d have to heat the coolant hot enough to open the thermostat. How else could it circulate the coolant? It would take less power to run them in a climate that doesn’t experience consistant -20 to -40. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-that-steal-extension-cords-in-winter-should-be-eligible-for-life-in-prison/676209/22 "2013-12-13T04:45:45Z")
They go on the lower rad hose so they don’t have to open the thermostat. I thought that was obvious. ---
**Author:** ![flatlined](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@flatlined](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flatlined)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-that-steal-extension-cords-in-winter-should-be-eligible-for-life-in-prison/676209/23 "2013-12-13T05:05:43Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > 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 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. OK, I think I’ve got it now. So, its so cold during the day that you consider jobs depending on if they have outlets? And then some fucking jerk comes along and steals the cord that you use to make your car go? Life in prison is too good for that sort of person. They need to be shipped to Sheriff Joe’s Tent City during the middle of summer. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-that-steal-extension-cords-in-winter-should-be-eligible-for-life-in-prison/676209/24 "2013-12-13T05:11:45Z")
> [@flatlined](#): > > OK, I think I’ve got it now. So, its so cold during the day that you consider jobs depending on if they have outlets? > > And then some fucking jerk comes along and steals the cord that you use to make your car go? > > Life in prison is too good for that sort of person. They need to be shipped to Sheriff Joe’s Tent City during the middle of summer. Yep. Although, to be honest, newer cars with fuel injection are way, way, way better than older (25+ years) carbureted models. But still, plugging your car in in -40 weather is a good thing. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-that-steal-extension-cords-in-winter-should-be-eligible-for-life-in-prison/676209/25 "2013-12-13T05:19:22Z")
> [@kushiel](#): > > … but it’s like the unspoken \*\*rule \*\*of Canadian courtesy - don’t steal the extension cords! Seems like more of a guideline actually… ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-that-steal-extension-cords-in-winter-should-be-eligible-for-life-in-prison/676209/26 "2013-12-13T05:33:39Z")
> [@kushiel](#): > > 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! Totally. If you catch someone doing that, I would completely support public punishment for them. Freezing them to a post in a public place would work for me. > [@flatlined](#): > > OK, I think I’ve got it now. So, its so cold during the day that you consider jobs depending on if they have outlets? > > And then some fucking jerk comes along and steals the cord that you use to make your car go? > > Life in prison is too good for that sort of person. They need to be shipped to Sheriff Joe’s Tent City during the middle of summer. A lot of jobs do have places you can plug in during the day, but a lot don’t, too. If you have to park all day without plugging in, everyone goes out at lunch and starts their cars and lets them run for a few minutes so they’ll still start when you go out after work to go home. > [@White SIFL](#): > > Seems like more of a guideline actually… It is a universal rule of etiquette in Western Canada - you don’t mess with someone else’s car-plugging-in cord. You just don’t. Even punk-ass idiot kids don’t mess with them (probably because it’s too cold for their little lily asses). I would go with the cord under the hood of the car and then just wrap it around your rearview mirror when you drive off. No more cords for asshole thieves! ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-that-steal-extension-cords-in-winter-should-be-eligible-for-life-in-prison/676209/27 "2013-12-13T05:43:35Z")
> [@flatlined](#): > > So, its so cold during the day that you consider jobs depending on if they have outlets? Many jobsites and some public areas supply block-heater outlets, usually with signs stating they’re for block heaters only because many cars, though it seems fewer than in years gone by perhaps because of the newer materials used inside passenger compartments, have in-car electric car warmers. They used to screw into the bottom of dashboards. They, too, have a plug hanging out the grill area and the car warmer is plugged in overnight to keep frost from forming on the windows. Some apartment blocks and probably some public areas with outlets have interupters linked into the block-heater circuitry. They turn the power off and on twice a second. I lived in such a block. But now I use a remote control that I point through the window to turn the power on and off. The block-heater extension plugs into a gizmo that the remote control turns on and off. The gizmo, in turn, plugs into the outside socket. Other people use timers instead of such a gizmo, especially if their routine is the same each day. Apparently a rule of thumb states a block heater needn’t be on more than four cosecutive hours, not all night. I don’t know if that still holds, though. And I had two cars, both V8s, that had a block heater for each bank of cylinders. Those cars didn’t need four hours. A car in a good state of repair likely would start without being plugged in anyway. The point of a block heater is also to help the oil flow immediately upon startinq the engine so it isn’t starved of oil before the oil is warm enough to flow. Synthetic oil helps in that regard, too. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-that-steal-extension-cords-in-winter-should-be-eligible-for-life-in-prison/676209/28 "2013-12-13T06:06:51Z")
> [@flatlined](#): > > OK, I think I’ve got it now. So, its so cold during the day that you consider jobs depending on if they have outlets? That’s right. You guys worry about jobs with good health plans; we worry about jobs with outlets. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-that-steal-extension-cords-in-winter-should-be-eligible-for-life-in-prison/676209/29 "2013-12-13T06:21:10Z")
> [@kushiel](#): > > 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! > [@j666](#): > > 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. Face it. That virus of American greed, me first, self-entitlement and pure selfishness has finally gotten through Customs and crossed the border into Canada. There is no turning back. You’re no longer a virgin. ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-that-steal-extension-cords-in-winter-should-be-eligible-for-life-in-prison/676209/30 "2013-12-13T14:29:40Z")
> [@lel](#): > > So that would be like stealing air conditioners in the tropics in July. Not cool. I see what you did there. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-that-steal-extension-cords-in-winter-should-be-eligible-for-life-in-prison/676209/31 "2013-12-13T15:05:25Z")
> [@kushiel](#): > > 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! And these thieves are discourteous? That’s damn clever – no one could possibly predict thieves would flout social norms of courtesy! ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Booker\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/71c47a/32.png) [@Happy\_Booker\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Booker_1)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-that-steal-extension-cords-in-winter-should-be-eligible-for-life-in-prison/676209/32 "2013-12-13T15:32:25Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > And these thieves are discourteous? > > That’s damn clever – no one could possibly predict thieves would flout social norms of courtesy! The level of discourtesy rises to a particular level. “Do not piss in the well” is enough of a social norm that no sign needs to be posted. The same holds true of stealing extension cords on the Prairies. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-that-steal-extension-cords-in-winter-should-be-eligible-for-life-in-prison/676209/33 "2013-12-13T15:49:14Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Well, this gives me a chance to indulge my artistic side: > > ```auto > > 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. Beautiful art, but I’d be concerned the thief would be a total dick and cut the male connector off the block heater, so he could slip that cord out of the lock. Which would be far worse than just having your extension cord stolen I assume. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-that-steal-extension-cords-in-winter-should-be-eligible-for-life-in-prison/676209/34 "2013-12-13T16:21:36Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Beautiful art, but I’d be concerned the thief would be a total dick and cut the male connector off the block heater, so he could slip that cord out of the lock. Which would be far worse than just having your extension cord stolen I assume. That’s a good point. If we’re prepping for massive dickishness, or cuntishness as the case may be, I guess securing the extension cord to a fixed object like the outlet post or the car itself would be better. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-that-steal-extension-cords-in-winter-should-be-eligible-for-life-in-prison/676209/35 "2013-12-13T17:08:04Z")
Ricky and Julian needed your cord for their pot-growing operation. 😉 (Trailer Park Boys.) ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-that-steal-extension-cords-in-winter-should-be-eligible-for-life-in-prison/676209/36 "2013-12-13T18:34:20Z")
> [@Happy\_Booker](#): > > The level of discourtesy rises to a particular level. “Do not piss in the well” is enough of a social norm that no sign needs to be posted. The same holds true of stealing extension cords on the Prairies. Exactly. Oh no, I just thought of something - kids aren’t learning to drive any more, so more of the little assholes will probably be stealing extension cords because they won’t understand what a truly shitty thing that is to do. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-that-steal-extension-cords-in-winter-should-be-eligible-for-life-in-prison/676209/37 "2013-12-13T18:52:08Z")
A friend of mine theorizes there’s an invisible latitude north of which assholes don’t go, because assholes at heart are whiny wimps. This case pokes a serious hole in his theory. ---
**Author:** ![AdmiralQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@AdmiralQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AdmiralQ)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-that-steal-extension-cords-in-winter-should-be-eligible-for-life-in-prison/676209/38 "2013-12-13T19:02:55Z")
I wish laws would be changed to allow deadly force to be used against those committing an act of theft. After a few criminals have been shot during the commission of their crimes, I have a feeling shit like this would much more rare. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-that-steal-extension-cords-in-winter-should-be-eligible-for-life-in-prison/676209/39 "2013-12-13T20:30:30Z")
> [@bup](#): > > A friend of mine theorizes there’s an invisible latitude north of which assholes don’t go, because assholes at heart are whiny wimps. > > This case pokes a serious hole in his theory. It’s global warming, the assholes are migrating. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-that-steal-extension-cords-in-winter-should-be-eligible-for-life-in-prison/676209/40 "2013-12-13T20:38:05Z")
This thread makes me fantasize about video cameras and public shaming. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-that-steal-extension-cords-in-winter-should-be-eligible-for-life-in-prison/676209.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-that-steal-extension-cords-in-winter-should-be-eligible-for-life-in-prison/676209.md?page=3)