[Ti] Phil's 2002 Moron Of The Year Award

[David DelMonte]

Made my Day. Hope you don't mind - I forwarded it to the people at News  
of the Weird. So as not to steal,  I included the header information  
with your email address... :)

David


On Friday, December 20, 2002, at 11:28 AM, Phillip McGree wrote:

> We've all heard of the Darwin Awards, which recognises people that  
> have done really stupid things and died in the process.  I don't know  
> of an equivalent for dumb thieves, but the bloke who has the starring  
> role in the following story deserves a life membership if such an  
> "organisation" exists.
>
> I had a spare few minutes today, so was looking through the Quokka, a  
> classified newspaper here in Perth.  In the Wanted section was a  
> person looking for some iMac software, so being a Mac dealer I gave  
> him a call.
>
> He brings the iMac over about 6pm so that it could be left here  
> overnight for me to re-install all the system software from some  
> original iMac CDs that I have here.  Being the curious nosy bugger  
> that I am, I was asking him how long he's had it, etc, etc, etc.
>
> "It was a gift."  Thus, alarm bell number one starts doing a really  
> funky sort of a dance.
>
> He then sees a USB keyboard on one of my desks here and comments that  
> he paid $100 for one last week because he didn't get a keyboard with  
> the iMac.
>
> Got the iMac as a gift, but without a keyboard, eh?  Thus, alarm bell  
> number two starts ringing.  Other alarm bells start revving their  
> engines.
>
> Whilst conversing with Mr Moron, I quietly load up (on my PowerBook  
> laptop) Apple's web site for checking serial numbers.  Voila, the  
> bright red letters "STOLEN" turn up.  I close the screen immediately  
> so that Mr Moron doesn't see this.
>
> Bugger alarm bell number three, the whole bloody alarm bell population  
> is going nuts, whilst I try to prevent from breaking out laughing.
>
> The subject of digital cameras then came up, so I showed off my  
> beloved Canon G2 digital camera.  Took some demo pics and showed him  
> the quality.  Of course, one of these photos was of Mr Moron in my  
> front yard, thus having evidence that he was here.  Mr Moron's IQ  
> level starts plummeting dangerously towards the single digit mark.
>
> All the applications have been deleted from the iMac, so I put Outlook  
> Express on there and open it.  Lo and behold, email appears.  Sifting  
> through email found the actual owner's name, home address and phone  
> number.  I recovered another stolen iMac in June last year the same  
> way (that particular idiot was convicted in court in March this year).  
>  One must appreciate how thieves manage to trash all the applications,  
> but never think about the Preferences and other stuff.
>
> A quick phone call to Mr Victim has us both VERY amused (giggling like  
> idiots, actually).  His house was burgled and ransacked a month ago.
>
> He is a university student, and uninsured.  Bummer, why couldn't it be  
> some ultra rich person with valuable data, who would then give me a  
> new Ferrari and KTM as a reward?????
>
> Mr Victim will be picking up his iMac soon, and we will discuss how  
> we'll present this lovely tale to the constabulary.  With Christmas a  
> few days away, I suspect that Mr Moron isn't going to be having the  
> best weekend of his life.  If police follow their usual pattern of  
> house searches, they'll get Mr Moron out of bed nice and bright and  
> early (ie so he's too tired to destroy or hide anything).  The bloke I  
> got busted last year had 14 police search his house because they had  
> another major search to do nearby the same morning, so they did his  
> house as a warm up!
>
> Moral(s) of the story:
> If your Mac gets knocked off, make sure it's on Apple's database
> Bring stolen Macs to me, I could do with the laugh
> Make sure your computer equipment is properly insured
> Record your serial numbers!
>
>
> Still Laughing,
> Phil
> Thinking he needs to get some "Go ahead, make my day" t-shirts made up.
>
>
> .
> --  
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 
> -----------------------------------
> Sent from the Apple PowerBook G4 of:
> Phillip McGree                                     	Web:  
> 	http://www.phil.net.au
> Perth, Western Australia			http://chat.iinet.net.au
> Mobile Phone: 0418 922 500		Email:  	phil at phil.net.au
> Macs for sale - new and secondhand		http://mac.iinet.net.au
>
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