Home Forums Discussions General Discussion DO NOT MESS WITH ME TODAY!!

Look out patients! Early in the spring one of my 2 air conditioners in the office was stolen. I replaced it with a new one. I came in yesterday morning and BOTH of them were stolen!!! The b@#*%rds even disabled the security camera I put up after the last robbery. The temperature in the office is now 85 at 8:00 in the morning. I am not in a good mood. I asked the police officer who came out how one can best protect the units in the future. He said if it were him, he would put cobras in them. Funny guy

Condolences to Leslie. And to whomever took the AC's, if Leslie catches them. Around here, people get shot for less. Actually, around here, people get shot for no reason at all, but that is another story.

Here's hoping for nothing but cool breezes in Southern Indiana today.

I am not really a fan of guns because I always worry they will wind up in the bad guys' hands. But, give me a baseball bat or a cattle prod and watch me go to town. Even a can of wasp spray.

You can buy cages for the air conditioners. Has happened at our offices twice. We have some sort of heavy duty cage this time.

Very sorry to hear this. I installed a couple of window AC units for an older patient. She had hers stolen as well. I secured the unit casing right into the wooden frame of the building, and then slid the compressor and internal works back into the outer case. They have not been stolen since.
It could just be that these thieves just want to be as cool as you.

What's the cpt for that?

Wow, that sucks Leslie. Crappy way to start your weekend

How infuriating! I just don't get the mindset that allows someone to steal at all, but an air conditioner? Come on, whomever you are, at least show some class!!

Ridiculous! Sorry Leslie. If i see anyone here in chicago running like they have stolen two air conditioners I will take their knees out! Was there other damage?

Sad that one would have to put a cage like that around a unit to keep it from getting stolen. Good idea!

Those are fairly common in Chicago. Probably the best idea.

@ Leslie My condolences as well. Another option would be barbed wire around the cases.

I think letting a guard mule roam around the outside of the office would be a good deterrent . But short of this unfortunately I do not think that anything is out of the realm of possibility when it comes to thieves.

I live in the old south. I can easily see on of "the boys" stealing the cage for that AC so they can use it to keep any possums they catch. Of course, later on someone would then come along to steal the then unprotected AC.

JamesNT

Is it my imagination or is this cage empty?

I lifted the image from a company webpage that sells the enclosures. I guess they didn't want you to think that the AC unit was included!

Are those just ACs for offices and not the whole building. Is it possible to get Central Air? I know, expensive. Ours are on top of the roof. Would be kind of crazy to try to steal them.

Maybe an out of work electrician could run about 75 volts through them.

If they are just for your office or kitchen, you could get interior ones with exhausts.

Have you talked with a professional security person? I am not sure if you did the security camerage yourself. I think a professional could install one that wouldn't be visible. Even a flood light that only came on when someone was in the area or touched the AC would help. I think a very low light would be good, and if an extemely intense flood lamp came on, it tends to make one believe they have been caught.

When I saw this thread initially, I really thought it might be a joke. The thought of a couple of guys trying to sell an air conditioner out of the back of their car is just too bizarre. Then I remembered an interview I had heard, probably on NPR, about the upsurge in crime of people stealing heavy equipment from construction sites. (PSST... Buddy... can I interest you in a nice D-9?). So, yeah, I guess nothing is safe. And had it happened to me, I would feel just incredibly violated.

The closest I can come to wrapping my mind around this is how frustrating it is to have a bear break into a cabin. One trick I have heard of recently involves coating cans of bear spray with bacon grease, and leaving them hanging near the door. The bear bites it and doesn't come back. Can you think of some variation on this?

Clindamycin suspension maybe?

Shouldn't there be a law that all icins and ycins be spelled the same way?

Leslie, when I saw this go by yesterday while I was on the road, my first thought was claymores or an open 220 circuit. Besides the liability, you would end up with a mess to clean up.

Seriously, the key to physical security is to make it just hard enough that the bad actors choose someone else - the corollary of "you don't have to be the fastest wildebeest in the herd, you just can't be the slowest."

The cage, as well as the suggestion to lag the AC sleeves into the framing from inside make the AC *far* more difficult to remove, and thus far more likely that thieves will move along looking for easier pickings.

When doing physical security improvements, I would make the mounting connections inside, or if they must be mounted externally, we would use high strength steel, then have the mounting bolts , once in place, welded to the frame. It means removing them will require specialized cutting tools that your average bad actor isn't going to have at hand.

Drop me a PM if you need some additional help. I'm not in the varmit hunting business these days, but I know some guys who know some guys.

Well, you all made me laugh so perhaps the fact that it is 90 degrees in my office at 7:00am won't hurt so badly! What a great group of friends.
The units are not window units. The roof is out, I already thought of that. A guard mule might be an idea but I am afraid he would be too enticed by the McDonald's next door and keep slipping over there for a Big Mac and McFlurry.
I am waiting to hear from the insurance company and in the mean time, there is a heat wave for the midwest...bas@%rds.
I will likely go with some kind of cage although, if they want them badly enough, they will get through those too. But I also am seriously considering running an electric fence charger to the cage and posting a "WARNING!!! HIGH VOLTAGE" sign on the cage.
My next concern is whether the patients would be offended if I wear cut-offs and a muscle shirt in the office this week. Bad thing about that is that I would have to shave my legs

David,

I love the bear bait idea. Maybe I could hang some copper tubing (which is why they are stealing air-conditioners) dangling outside. Fill them with honey bees, or snakes, or ricin.

And yes, Bert, all icins should be spelled the same.

Wow! It's the 99th time out of 100 that Leslie and I agree. That damn Brother MFP.

90 DEGREES at 7AM. Ouch.

It is headed your way, Wayne.

Leslie:

I think you should do the following. Though expensive would be worth it.

Get a camera put it up there. Get a sensor they would have to hit right as they are stealing it. WHen they touch it an electric shock goes through their bodies (i have a shocker i made in HS if you want to borrow it!) and a recording comes out and says "You are caught! Now I am gonna F&$% Up your life Jagoff!"



hey may as well have him/her S$%* in their pants while they aer up there!

Then sned it out on you tube!

Yes the evil one in chicago~!

Ketan,

Although you indeed sound sinister, I am right now sitting in a 93 degree office at 7 am and I believe the thoughts going through my mind are far more dastardly than any of yours . Being a farm girl everything from cattle prods to castrators to head gates then castrators, nests of bumble bees, manure launchers, hands in pto shafts, fence chargers hooked to chain link fencing, de-horners, hog tail pliers, ear tattooers, barbed wire underwear, pond scum facials, cleaning stud sheaths, stacking square bales in a barn in August, breaking a yearling mule and cotton mouth snakes are all in the running.

Leslie,

Go borrow some scrubs from the hospital. It's like wearing thin pajamas, and socially acceptable in the office setting.

That's all I have worn in the office since I went solo 15 years ago. The Pendleton suits and high heels are somewhere in the Ohio River

I can't imagine being in an office that's 93 degrees. Brutal, don't know how you do it.

I do hope that you have a couple of really big fans in the office. Also, do note that on newegg.com you can get a portable AC (well, semi-portable. They are on wheels) and it will be delivered in about 48 hours. Easy to set up.

93 degrees! Ouch!....but it's a wet heat! I think you deserve another medal for showing the metal by keepi on! You rock! I would have hired a locums and stayed home....indoors.

Maybe one of these will work for you Leslie?

that's funny.

Love the hat, Marty! Yes, we do have some really big fans...sent my biller out for them (another reason to do in-house billing) as well as Popsicles and a bag of ice. But, the new units were put in yesterday and it is chilly in here now...ahhhhhh.

My electricity was out last Monday, it was 93 degrees as well. I was hoping it would be restored soon, so I stayed in the office until 10, saw 3 patients in the waiting room (big windows).

Left, came back at 1 pm, still no power. Saw 2 more patients in the parking lot. (Simple stuff like rashes and colds, have portable otoscope.) Since I didn't have power, I cancelled the rest of the day. First day back from vacation, I didn't feel like working anyway.

Still, you have to be creative. Charted on the patients the next day.

Leslie, glad to see you don't have to sweat to keep your cool.

Wendell, I have held office on my front porch when our electricity has been out. I have also seen patients in their cars. Once I even diagnosed acute appendicitis on a patient in the back of a horse-drawn wagon. Now I have a camping lantern I can go from room to room with. Problem is, it is a hard getting it in ears

For two months, I saw patients in the Olive Garden parking lot.

YUMM

Oh so this is turning into that kind of thread.

Yeah, after the flood of 'aught 5, our office was closed and I practiced out of the building's elevator for two weeks. It wasn't so bad seeing patients, but sometimes when the elevator hit ground, the snare would slip off the polyp so the colonoscopy took a little longer.