It's been a while

[LilSmoker]

Hi all, yeah i'm still alive!  ;D

I haven't been on for quite a while as i had a run of bad luck that caused the family and i to have more than a few problems.

A few months ago whilst i was at work, some scumbags broke into our house and took more or less everything of any value that they could carry. They also stole my truck :'(

More or less everything went, cameras, my sons games consoles, pc's, cash, wifes jewelry that had been passed down to her from her mum and grandma. They even took some clothes and aftershave lotion  ::)

The police and we think it was gypsies, or pikeys as they are sometimes known on this side of the pond, i have my own names that i call them, guess you can imagine what they are  :o

The police spotted them driving along in my truck, and stopped them, but they reversed the truck into the police car, putting it out of action, and got away. The truck was recovered a little while later, and apart from needing a new bumper was otherwise ok.

We were just recovering from the shock of it all, when our insurance company informs us that because of a technicality, we were not insured :o Now this is very complicated, and a very long story, so i won't even go there atm, we are still seeking legal advise, but i'm not hopefull :-\

Anyway, we lost a lot of stuff, and ever since i've been working flat out to try and get us back to somewhere that resembles normal.
If i ever caught the scum responsible, i would probably spend the rest of my life in prison, i will never forget that day coming home seeing my wife standing in disbelief crying her eyes out, and the misery it has caused my two sons.

On top of all that, i lost my wallet last week!  :o maybe i should be called lucky?

Anyway, i'm not the sort of guy that wallows in self pitty, as i know people go through much much worse, and as lot's of people have pointed out nobody got hurt, so we're just trying to put it behind us now and move on

I have my truck back now with a new bumper, and all seems fine, except my insurance has increased by £1000 :o  Aren't insurance companies great  ::)

Also we're back on line now as you've noticed  ;D and we're slowly replacing the stuff that went, i know we'll never replace all of it, but we'll do our best.

At least they never took my BS, i'll be blowing the dust off it real soon, and hopefully some lovely ribs will be back on the menu, and i'm dreaming of a nice pastrami (Habs version of course)


Anyway, i hope all my friends here are all ok, and to all the new members "pleased to meet you"

Sorry for bringing the bad news, but i wanted to explain why i've not been around for so long.

The wife and i are off for a week to the coast tommorow (Cornwall), just want to get away for a little while and recharge the batteries  ;D

Hopefully i should be popping in on a more regular basis now, to the best community on the net!

Regards all.............LilSmoker

[sherlock]

Lil Smoker
I really feel for you. I sure hope things continue upward for you. Enjoy your vacation and get smoking.
Nathan

[FLBentRider]

Dude,
That sucks. Its good to hear it's not getting you down.

[Mr Walleye]

Holy Crap LilSmoker! That sucks!  >:(

It is very unfortunate that this type of... scum even exist, or are allowed to exist, regardless of what side of the pond your on. I have a number of better words to descibe them as well, but... It's probably a good thing they don't put me in change of the justice system because it would only happen once.

It's excellent that you still have your sense of humor and are moving on. You can't let these dirt bags get to you any more than they are ready have.

Great to have you back and I hope you have a good time on your little retreat!  ;)

Mike

[hillbillysmoker]

Sorry to hear about your misfortune, but glad to have you back with us. Hope things work out and return to a semblance or normacy soon.

[KyNola]

Welcome back LS,
Sorry to hear of your misfortune but you obviously have the character to rise above it.

All the best to you and your family,
KyNola

[Kummok]

Dang LS, that's just W-R-O-N-G......we had some guests from your side of the pond last month and they were telling me about the "gypsies" there...that they lived in woods nearby and that NOTHING was safe in their neighborhood. He had his LOCKED truck broken into and everything stolen out of it (he's a gardener/landscaper) during the 10 minutes that he was inside a house getting paid by one of his accounts. They couldn't believe the amount of things: snowmobiles, lawnmower, motorcycle, etc that I had "out in the open" at our place here....he said that stuff wouldn't last 3 minutes in his neighborhood, (Surrey), because of the gypsy/drug culture. They told me that they were prohibited by law from defending themselves and the the local police couldn't even begin to keep up with the "small stuff" like burglaries and that the citizen defending his stuff was more likely to be jailed than would be the burglar?!?!?  Sounded like they were pretty earnest/truthful about their experience and smiled a bit when I told them that folks that get caught doing that kinda of thing here have sometimes ended up as "crab bait" when the law didn't do it's job (or didn't get to the suspect(s) in time). Old timers tell us that there's a few skeletons in Kachemak Bay that didn't fall off the boat by accident!?!?!?  :o :o  Not advocating vigilante law, just relating the stories that "some" do.......hearing your experience, it's not that hard to understand why.  :(  You are certainly to be admired for your stick-to-it rebuilder attitude!!

[Wildcat]

Glad to see ya posting again LS.  I feel for your lose but am happy you guys are safe.  They will get theirs in the end.

[Habanero Smoker]

Welcome back LilSmoker.

Sorry to  hear about your situation, and what you and your family are going through. I hope those people get caught, most important I hope you get the insurance problem worked out in your favor.

[Tiny Tim]

Great to see ya lilsmoker.  Sucks about what you've been through, but it sounds like you're handling it well.

[manxman]

Nice to see you back posting LS, you really have had some sh*t to deal with!

Have a great time in Cornwall, you and your wife deserve a good break.  :)

[La Quinta]

Wow Lil smoker...while my step daughter and son-in-law were here (from North Hampton) somebody stole everything they had too. Doesn't matter where you're from...where you live...it just plain old sucks...glad to hear you're both getting away. Let us know if they catch the trash that robbed you. And that's what they are...garbage...

[Arcs_n_Sparks]

LS,

Sorry to hear about all this. Also sorry that you probably had to wade through 31,245,635 posts on the board to catch up!  :D :D :D

Glad to have you back...

Arcs_n_Sparks

[West Coast Kansan]

Great to have you back on the board Lil,  :D  Good luck with all the hastle ahead.  >:(

[Gizmo]

Hi all, yeah i'm still alive!  ;D

Glad to hear you are alive and safe Lil, Certainly have missed you around here.
I hope your fortune changes to the better.