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Joe Dirt's Rant Post


Joe Dirt

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Joe, as Glenn says, things should have some relation to metal work but that can be pretty attenuated at times. Do NOT rant about anything political or religious.  We are probably so varied here in those areas that someone would be offended no matter what was said.  However, if you want to rant about general human idiocy and fallibility or a particular personal problem with a boss or a neighbor that is metal related since it is something blacksmiths other than you have to deal with.  If it is about a particular organization such as law enforcement, building inspectors, the VA, the US patent office, scrap yard owners, mechanics, etc.  we may be able to help since we have such a wide and varied experience and expertise. 

Think of us as a bunch of cousins and uncles and a few aunts at an extended family gathering.   You wouldn't bring up politics because of the "eccentric" views of Uncle Joe and you don't want to set him off.  You wouldn't bring up religion because of Aunt Mary who is always ready start to save everyone, and any mention of sex will give Aunt Alice the vapors.  But Uncles George and Slag are lawyers, Uncle Thomas is an IT guy, and Cousin Frosty and John know a lot about most everything, and surprise, surprise there is a lot of family experience in metal working.  And, by nature, we are all problem solvers who want to help and may be able to suggest something you hadn't previously thought of.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

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 Absolutely Glenn, I completely understand. George I have been lurking for a bit and any advice to avoid the wraith of the curmudgeons is always appreciated. I may not participate much but I do see y'all as a big family so to speak. May be a mixed can of nuts but y'all are my kind of people ;) I may end up needing some advice once everything comes to a head with the VA and when it comes to legal matters but that'll be for a different post. This is more just to get this off my chest to you fine folks than to rant. 

  I'm not trying to steal the spotlight or derail SinDoc's consolidation of madness. I feel of all places y'all will understand what I just went through and what I am still coming to terms with.

    The little ladies so called best friend had gone through a bad break up and needed a place to stay while she got back on her feet. Despite my concerns she stayed with us. Long story short she got my credit card info. and bleed my bank account dry. It's bad but I won't get into the details.

   Anyways we were in a bind so I scrapped about 97% of the metal I have been collecting over the past few years. Originally it started as a way to make ends meet but once I decided I was going to pursue bladesmithing it was more than just a scrap pile to me. Mixed up a few good buckets in haste. Lost a good bit of copper, brass and what I thought could be bronze. Some nice tubes for lanyards or mosaic pins. One bucket had all my nails and doodads from learning to tapper and control my hammer swings. Would have been nice to keep a few especially since I don't have any pictures. That there was another lesson in it's self learned the hard way. Should have slowed down and payed more attention.  Let go of about 6000 lbs or so of assorted metals.

  With some of the things I have learned here a got a better price on a good note. I did keep a nice bit that I feel has potential for some blades as well.

Thank y'all for your time.

Joe Dirt

 

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  Joe, that's rough, but I have found that if you have your health and a good attitude you can rebound from bad times.  Eventually.   Being young helps as well.  Depends on each individual's situation though, I suppose.  I wish you well.

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Oh criminy Joe, that stinks! No good deed goes unpunished isn't just an old adage. 

What do the police / DA say? A person ex-best friend or not shouldn't be allowed to steal without paying the piper. Maybe her ex isn't such a bad guy. eh?

Looks like your salvaged tonnage is helping fill the gap while you recover, maybe not in the way you expected but it is / was money in the bank anyway. 

While these problems may not be directly related to metal working, you are family and a family of blacksmiths is a place to talk about them. Language, poison topics, and such not counting of course. It IS a international family site after all.

You may never see your money again but hopefully you can help prevent the perp from robbing anybody else. Maybe get her the help she needs if an addiction is involved.

Say your piece Brother, we're pulling for you.

Frosty The Lucky.

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Joe, I agree with Frosty that law enforcement should be informed, particularly if it was a significant amount of money.  As an old prosecutor I know that the past cannot be changed and Humpty Dumpty can't be put back together again, but I always approached criminal prosecutions as a way to discourage and deter both the defendant and others not to engage in the same bad acts again.

My observation that people who do this are very self-centered and think they deserve whatever it is more than the person who has it for whatever weird reasoning goes through their heads.  I have seen cases where someone will steal something that would have been freely given if they had asked but they, for some reason, did not/could not ask for it.  Much different mental process than most of us but there it is.

As to your metal, it did serve a good purpose by helping to bail you out economically.  There is more out there.  And to keep things in perspective, when knife making you probably couldn't use more than a few pounds of steel per week even if you were working at it full time.  Even a few pounds of bronze or brass or copper will last a long time for various fittings.

Good luck getting through this and if we or I can help let us/me know.  Don't be shy or embarrassed.  We've ALL gone through rough patches and situations and come out OK on the other side.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

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   Anvil you're right, it wasn't doing much just sitting there. A bulk of it wasn't much either. I believe it may have been more work than it was worth or not the greatest for smithing. Big ole well head nuts and bolts. I didn't mean to sound whiney on something trivial considering the circumstances. I was hoping when I did turn it in I could invest in some good known stock or to help cover some of the cost on a good belt sander.

  Nodebt I am definitely trying to look at the brighter side of things for sure and counting my blessings. I will be trying to keep my chin up while I push forward.

  Frosty and George I have notified the police and fraud department. Waiting to hear back from both. Luckily my bank will be able to cover some of the loss. They can go back 60 days. I was expecting a complete loss so this is very good news. 

  After everything we did to help this lady I can not turn a blind eye to this. Not that we gave a bunch, we couldn't but we gave all we could. Even got her kids Christmas gifts since she couldn't. I just couldn't let them watch our kids open gift's. 

  Been trying to climb out of a financial hole since before covid hit. Felt like we were finally seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. I know it's rough on everyone right now. 

  Enough with my sniveling. I appreciate y'all's kind words. Just needed to vent a bit and I do really appreciate you all letting me bend your ears. The scrap did help and it wasn't salvaged in vain. Hoping to get back to hammering soon and sharing my progress with y'all. 

 Thanks again

 Joe Dirt

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Look at it in a positive light.  You are rid of some excess baggage, which makes room for some more and better stuff.

We all have some stuff that has been waiting way too long to find a use or a project. Empty space creates a vacuum so proceed with caution, and allow only the good stuff back in.

You may want to take some time and take inventory, with photos, and serial numbers for future reference.  Collect all the wooden handles and apply each with a good coat or two of 50/50 boiled linseed oil and mineral spirits as a preservative.  

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Joe, when I saw you were in OH I thought to say stop by and go though my pile for what may be useful to you, but it looks like you much farther away that I initially thought. Either way, if you find yourself coming to my area, drop me a PM… I’ve go some good stuff lying around, that I may never get around to using.

David

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This is why my wife collects all the receipts and checks the credit card bills line by line. Especially when I was living on the border and crossing over every work day; she wanted to make sure nobody stole my credit card number.  There were also places I didn't use a credit card as they had a higher incident of card number theft.  Cash still works for smaller purchases.

Recently a friend's Husband overspent and she had to sell off all her smithing equipmend to keep the house.  I offered to buy back all the stuff I had sold her at the same price; if she couldn't find a better one.  Now I've loaned it  to her so she can continue to forge until I have another need for it.

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  Great news! Had a surprise in my account. Fraud department was able to cover the last 60 days.

   Glenn it's getting better every day. As crazy as it sounds it really was a blessing in disguise. The way every thing happened it's just a weird feeling, not sure how to discribe it.

  I had been thinking of organizing it all for some time now. I had been procrastinating because of what I know I would end up doing. I'll bear y'all the details but it would be kinda like Gilligan's Island , " a three hour tour "  :DWith it completely out of the way I can set it up efficiently. In order for me to get the good stuff I have to take it all. So now I will organize as it goes in the truck making the process a little quicker once I off load it. Thanks for the Intel. on the handles. I know I have some boiled linseed oil (does it go bad?) I will have to grab some mineral spirits.

  Goods/Dave thank you for the offer. Man I wish I wasn't on the opposite side of Ohio just to see what other folks are holding on to and how y'all store it. :D I am already getting some stocked backed up. I work with a bunch of good folks in the oil/gas field. I inadvertently applied  TPAAAT but with metal. Scored a forklift tine and some different types of dies. Going to have to do some testing on these slip dies. Did a little research and they're heat treated. Hopefully I can nail the heat treat so I can make so much needed tools and some blades if I'm really lucky. Also got almost 700' of 1/2" cable, it isn't in the greatest shape but it's a mountain of metal. I have to figure out a efficient way to cut it, it's a bear to move as is. Scored a little bit of cast iron too. Thank you again for your offer it is highly appreciated.

  Thomas this has really made me open my eyes to making sure our funds are secure. Technology is a crazy double edge sword (that's how it feels to me anyways). The theft was done using an application for a smart phone called cash app. If I wasn't so paranoid before all this and listened to my bank teller, I would have been able to nip this in the bud when it first started with the banks app.. When I originally noticed the funds dwindling I had assumed it was my girlfriend. Yes sir I do know what happens when you assume things. Needless to say I have been kissing up for my misjudgements.   That is really an awesome act of kindness you did with that forge. I wish I would have realized what kind of community y'all have years ago. Have had some not so great experiences with other trades/crafts. It really is amazing how passionate and helpful the blacksmithing community is.

  I thought just forging and making knives were going to be therapeutic for me but the whole experience has. It's been crazy jumping down this rabbit hole but I sure am glad I finally did. With that being said I thank you all so much! Hope y'all have a great day.

 Joe Dirt

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If you have any cash in a dedicated long term savings account; see if that account can be "isolated" from all the remote access methods.   I also NEVER do banking from my PC; yes I'm old and surley; but malware NEVER sleeps!

Why I'm not on "Social Media"; I tell folks I have a degree in CIS and so know too much to be there.  "If you are not paying for it; you are being sold as the product!"    (Good reason to make a donation to IFI....)

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Thomas,

  I have been talking with the little lady about setting the account or accounts up differently and that is one thing we "negotiated" :-)

  I feel the same way but I like to kid myself into believing I'm not a sheep but a wolf in sheep's clothing :-D We all see where that lead me.

  I believe y'all needed some beer and chips in April and donated..... or was it tea? :-D None the less I will proudly do it again! With the plethora of knowledge and camaraderie here it's worth every cent!

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