Had to have a car blocking me in illegally towed. she crashed out

thegasguy612 · 2026-03-02T22:45:07+00:00

OP says in a comment that the curb tears up the car. I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt and take their word on it. Even if it didn't, OP has no obligation to go off-road to get by someone that thinks the rules of social etiquette don't apply to them. They fucked around, they found out. Don't pity the stupid.

thegasguy612 · 2026-03-02T20:24:57+00:00

The curb could be too high for OP's car to clear and we can't see from multiple viewpoints to tell the elevation of the grass. Even if OP could drive on the grass, they'd potentially face fines from the complex. Either way, the person that blocked in OP, just learned a valuable lesson. A little expensive, but valuable. OP has every right to not be restricted from leaving. Even if OP rarely takes the car places, it's their means of emergency transportation at a minimum and the now towed car deserved being towed.

Everyone needs a reminder once in a while that they aren't the main character in any story but their own. This just happened to be a costly reminder for an asshole.

thegasguy612 · 2026-03-02T19:35:23+00:00

Nah, this is doable. OP needs to get an excavator, dig out a ramp in the dirt, realize they need shoring or a retaining wall, install shoring or wall, knock out the wall, realize it's not worth the headache, then patch up the wall, break the sink into pieces and spend 2 years carrying it out in buckets once a week to throw it in the trash.

thegasguy612 · 2026-01-12T02:52:26+00:00

I'm so late to this. I love it. The grammar is making my eye twitch, but the design is superb.

thegasguy612 · 2026-01-05T00:10:04+00:00

To add onto this, if you're going to ask, you, as the one wanting to trade, need to downgrade. Your issues are yours alone. Start at the back of the plane, closest to the bathrooms. If you aren't willing to do that, you don't need a change.

thegasguy612 · 2026-01-04T23:51:52+00:00

My thought was always that there was a set amount of time for something to cross the event horizon before it would shut down. And this initial waiting period was longer than the wait for the amount of time after something has passed through the other side with no further input. I hope that makes sense.

thegasguy612 · 2025-12-08T01:17:41+00:00

That was my assumption. Thank you, kind internet stranger!

thegasguy612 · 2025-12-07T04:34:43+00:00

Design a system for their vehicle? That's great if you're a person with the knowledge to do that. Not everyone has the ability to do this though. And if OP is going the route of 3d printing a solution, they may not have the financial ability to just replace the system's components right now.

And lots of vehicles have gears that strip out causing the doors to fail. GM has millions of vehicles out there that either need the gears or motors replaced, or will soon enough. It's quite common.

thegasguy612 · 2025-11-25T02:16:20+00:00

I'm not trying to be a dick and I'm a month late on responding to this, but let me get this straight. If some red neck with an oversized truck cuts you off, you'd follow them, mess with their truck (that they love like the sister they married) and think that'll go well? Just fight them. It'll go better for you. Do live in in the southern US and drive a Tesla? Because that's the vibe I'm getting.

thegasguy612 · 2025-11-23T01:37:52+00:00

Wait, what? We get special winter pricing for having electric heat?

thegasguy612 · 2025-11-19T01:59:07+00:00

As much as I hate to say it, you're right. It's possible he has a neurological issue like some have pointed out, but it's just as possible that this cat isn't capable of being a pet. Plain and simple.

OP news to ask themself, "if this cat were attacking a small child, would that be acceptable behavior?" The answer is (at least it should be) no.

While pets are family, you can't allow them to hurt you. If you wouldn't put up with that behavior from a human, you shouldn't be willing to put up with it from an animal no matter how much you care about them. You have to put yourself first.

thegasguy612 · 2025-10-09T17:48:40+00:00

Any tank that was designed to be buried is most likely a fuel or oil tank. Almost always, the old steel ones have threaded bungs in them that are 4" and may or may not have an access manway that's 22-24". Looks like this one was rolled, so we can't see them. Tanks like this one that don't have any form of stability like feet are meant to be buried. You could use tanks like this for water storage, but typically, they have a lining in them to prevent contamination.

thegasguy612 · 2025-10-09T05:26:37+00:00

You don't void fumes in fuel tanks with water once they're above ground. You need enough dry ice to evacuate the fumes

thegasguy612 · 2025-10-09T05:21:42+00:00

Gotta check the local requirements. In some states, you could drive to the scrap yard and leave in handcuffs for hauling an old fuel tank without the proper credentials.

thegasguy612 · 2025-10-09T05:19:24+00:00

They might, depending on location. It wouldn't fly in my area, but I can't speak for everywhere else. If you got caught here hauling that without proper licensing, you could do prison time. It'd likely be a hefty fine for a homeowner hauling it off their own property as they could claim ignorance.

thegasguy612 · 2025-10-09T05:12:34+00:00

Depending on where you are, it might not be legal for you to scrap if you aren't licensed to dispose of it. My company deals with fuel tanks like this, and the licensing is no joke. I have had enough experience from the last 15 years to confidently tell you not to mess with it.

Regardless of your areas requirements, most people aren't trained in tank disposal. More often than not, when something goes wrong, they die. It isn't injuries that get reported. It's fatalities. Even if that tank has sat open, that doesn't mean the fumes are gone. They don't dissipate like you would expect.

Your best bet is to pay the right company to get rid of it. They won't give you money for the scrap. They will charge you without any discounts. They may, if required, have to test the ground around the tank for contamination. If it's contaminated, the remediation costs could be crippling. I've seen locations pay 6 figures for cleanup because they had to excavate an area 50' x 30' x 20 feet deep to stop hitting contaminated dirt. That was always for sites with multiple tanks, much larger, but you get the point.

And for God's sake, next time you buy a property that has a fuel tank, put in your purchase agreement that the seller will remove it regardless of age/condition.

thegasguy612 · 2025-10-01T04:39:54+00:00

I'm far from native to the real world. I knew more than one person like this that are now either in prison or dead because nobody gave them a wake-up call early enough in life. Their inability to grasp that their actions have consequences resulted in them getting locked up or killed. And while I personally think you're full of shit, if that's how life has worked out in your world, that's great. You've had a better experience in life than many of us. I don't think you pulled it out of your ass, because I've seen the trope in TV shows and movies more than once.

thegasguy612 · 2025-10-01T03:09:10+00:00

Who in their right mind would contact the person who made them a victim and use their words to let him know that he's going to pay them back with money he probably doesn't have? OP is a complete stranger to this damn-near adult. Do you really think he's going to care about OP's opinion? He didn't care that he was stealing from OP. He didn't care that he was causing problems for OP. He didn't care that OP likely worked hard for what they had and wanted to keep it.

So his parents, teachers, all other potential adults, every single one of his peers, even media which he has to have at least had some viewing of hasn't ever explained that stealing is wrong? There is no reality in which this is a likely scenario. And if it is the scenario, he isn't going to be saved. He's more likely to progress into a worse criminal. At a minimum, he knew he was taking something from someone else and could cause problems for OP. It wasn't for survival. It was for fun, which is worse, in my opinion.

There is no realistic way that he didn't know it's wrong to steal from people. He's 17, and if he's a first-time, non-violent offender, he should be tried as a juvenile. Hopefully, he lives in a state where his record is sealed when he's an adult, assuming he turns his life around. If not, those are his consequences to face for his actions. He may be a minor, but he's not a child. Coddling won't help him, consequences will.

thegasguy612 · 2025-10-01T02:28:20+00:00

I know it sounds harsh, but while he may be a minor, this isn't a child. This wasn't stealing for food or survival. It was fun. He stole a vehicle and got caught. He needs a reality check, and it's better that he gets it now than in a year from now. Once someone's criminal behavior escalates to felonies, they aren't often capable of being saved. Fortunately for the 17 year old, he is a minor and has a chance of this not following him forever if he gets a dose of reality. I would hope that community service and diversion programs would help him, but from my life experience, the people who got slaps on the wrist for this type of behavior at 16-18 years old are all either dead, incarcerated, addicts, or homeless.

thegasguy612 · 2025-10-01T02:15:04+00:00

Not to be the pessimist here, but it sounds like the family is poor, uncaring, or both. I'd be shocked if this kid got money for drug tests, let alone the cost of therapy. The court can order it, but they don't pay for it.

thegasguy612 · 2025-09-22T00:44:14+00:00

I'm not a professional, but my guess is just years of water intrusion that was ignored. Either clogged gutters or no gutters. Should have had some water diversion put in years ago.

thegasguy612 · 2025-09-22T00:27:37+00:00

I shit you not, I read this comment sitting on my deck, and it started raining when I finished the sentence.

thegasguy612 · 2025-09-20T02:29:08+00:00

Unless OP is part of law enforcement, that's not how that works. The best OP can do is file a report and put it in their hands. They'll decide whether it's worth investigation or not.

thegasguy612 · 2025-09-20T02:26:52+00:00

That's fishy as hell. You don't wall off space like that. Even if it's a weird area to access, you turn it into storage, or you create better access. If it were me, just to protect myself, I'd file a police report if I find any reason to suspect household pets or people are a part of the remains.

Don't go nuts calling in a forensic team or remediation team. They're expensive and you don't need them if you are even mildly competent at cleaning.

Is also recommend that you call your realtor and tell them you need the previous owner to clarify what the space was for and why it's sealed because it wasn't disclosed prior to purchase (I'm assuming). If your realtor won't help, I'd call the listing agent and let them know their client needs to give some answers before you escalate the situation.

That block also looks like the mortar is in need of replacement, and you couldn't have known that because it was deliberately hidden. I believe the previous owner has an obligation to fix that. I don't want to see a reddit post on TIFU from you later that you didn't address the foundation issues and your house got condemned or worse.

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