On a more serious note you can buy cordholders that attache to the front grill of the car so that your cord is always attached to the car rather than the post you plug into. Lets you use a single cord for home and work and you can keep the connection between the extenstion and the block heater under the hood.
Won’t stop vandalism but pretty theft proof.
I’ll run over the liitle SOBs with the studded snow tires on my walker.
Except when they do, ala the OP. It was a joke.
I just want to say that killing people for stealing extension cords is entirely wrong.
They should be flogged within an inch of their lives, with the very cord they stole.
The best justice is poetic justice.
THAT’S NOT FUNNY!
Yeah, I knew you were making a joke - we take stealing extension cords very seriously around here. 
I dunno. I see a lot of homicidal fantasies here, along with tongues firmly in cheek. But I believe I would seriously like to impose a minor privacy violation on 20,000 innocents just so I can expose the rat bastard(s) who stole kushiel’s extension cords. My inner law/order tyrant demands justice.
Maybe we could interview the scoundrel’s acquaintances as well. Just so they know. Seriously, the OP describes some sort disturbance in the Force.
Punishment for one night; to be forced to use their own body heat to keep said engine warm.
I doubt the thieves carry the requisite cutting tools. It’s a crime of convenience.
Rewiring a new plug on the block heater would be a shitty experience in the throws of winter, but I’m willing to bet it could be done for less than 10 bucks if it came down to it.
I drive diesel and am very dependent on the block heater under certain temperatures, no matter how well maintained the truck is, because the diesel turns into gel in cold temps.
Cutting tools? I’d think a simple pocket knife would do the trick, wouldn’t it?
What does this mean? (desert dweller here, please be gentle. I’m curious)
Many public places, apartment complexes, etc. and some homeowners, particularly those with steep driveways, put a bucket of rock salt and/or sand near the driveways so that anyone who gets stuck on the ice can put some under their wheels to get traction.
We don’t generally have block heaters here in New England but we do have the these.
See above.
Private homes only leave out rock salt when it’s necessary - steep driveway, infirm resident - OR it’s a nice thing - there’s an icy patch of sidewalk.
But if it’s hooked up such that cutting it is the only way to steal it, it’s probably also under power. A thief cutting that with a pocket knife probably solves your problem for you.
Yeah. I forgot about diesels.
Also, a lot of people leave their snow shovels in their front yards - stealing those would be totally uncool, too.
My understanding is that England used to hang people for a lot things, including theft, in the 1600 and 1700s. Didn’t seem to decrease crime much then.
Where I live, we don’t use salt much, because the temp is too cold for the marginal effect of salt in melting the ice. Chez Piper does have a tub of sand out by the front steps, however, for just that purpose.
I meant to, honest. I was going out to get something from the grocery store, and as I was leaving, I remember thinking, “Got to unplug before I go.”
Got home; as I drove into the driveway, noticed a long groove in the snow, running from the outlet to the car.
First thought: “What the heck is that?”
Then noticed that the cord wasn’t there.
Second thought (no doubt inspired by this thread): “Has some b**d stolen my cord?!”
Third thought: “oh-oh - I don’t remember unplugging…”
So I got out and checked the front of the car. There, dangling from the bumper like a long, black snake, was the power cord to my block heater. The plug-in was broken off, and about 2 feet of cord pulled out from the engine.
Fourth thought: “Sh**t!”
Then, as I went up the front steps, there was my cord and timer, all neatly curled up on the steps, by some good Samaritan who had obviously found the whole thing stretched out across the sidewalk to the street, and took pity on a poor incompetent, putting it back on the steps.
So no, no-one in my neighbourhood faces life imprisonment, and to the contrary, some nice neighbour or passer-by did what they could to help.
Still, I’ll have to take it to the dealership as soon as possible to get the block heater fixed - temps are in the -10 C range now, but predicted to go back to -28 C by the end of the week…
Sorry to hear that, Piper. I picked up a nice extension cord on the road last week - I think it must have fallen off a car, because the ends weren’t bent at all.