Hahaha

Take her a bag of cheetos tomorrow and you can probably get her back down to $2.

I was thinking of something similar,rolling papers or a pipe...

Maybe find out when she takes her "smoke break" and come in just after that.
Get your grafting supplies and act like she forgot that you paid for them already along with that gazillion $ hydro setup...

"Take her a bag of cheetos tomorrow and you can probably get her back down to $2."

*golf clap*

Yeah, hydro store folks can be a strange crowd....
Living in northern California, I've become desensitized I think.
I was born up in Arcata, so when I wear my green "Humboldt" sweatshirt,
I fit in pretty well. It's funny, though, when I buy something like Neem Oil to kill spider mites...
and I tell the shop-keeper that I'm using it on my citrus. I think they automatically
assume that everyone's a weed-grower. I buy huge bags of coarse Perlite and Foliage Pro fertilizer
at the local hydro-shop, and I appreciate the good prices.

Josh

haha.

I'll keep you posted. She says she has tried grafting peppers before, and its an "effing" pain (yes she said effing). Though she doesn't seem *ahem*... all that motivated.

She asked what peppers I grow and I mentioned I have almost 50 varieties now. She says "oh everyone grows that sh**". She continued "I only grow the weird effing Sh**". Which has made me curious. Maybe I'll try and pick up some seeds. Hopefully she remembers I wanted PEPPER seeds, and not something else.

Jsschrstrcks:
You might want to look out your front window right about now. Do you see that black sedan parked across the street with the two guys in it?
Bruce

haha, they are currently busy with their doughnuts... Just kidding, my cousin is a cop - detective actually... I'm half tempted to get him to go down there with me one time...

There is a stand of Australian pines at the end of my property acting as a buffer for the lime dust from my terrible road... it works pretty well so long as it rains once in a while. They also provide a fair amount of privacy. So between that, and having several acres no one can see my house without coming on my property, or that of my neighbors.

Not that I would mind in the least, maybe they'd catch my neighbor to the west in some of his shadiness.

My sister lived here, before I owned the place, and she said they came over and asked her if she could hear the same voices. MY sister was like ... Nope ... The woman said "well maybe its the cocaine, I mean, no I don't do any drugs, because they are bad. But if the voices tell you to come to my house, tell them no!".

That, and another time when they shot fireworks at my house (and hit it), were the only interactions I've ever had with them.

I wasn't pleased. lol

Says..SMOKEMASTER LOL

OMG! and you say the weirdos are at the hydroponics store, sounds like you are surrounded. hmmmm, and how do we know you aren't one of them??? and I thought our neighbors were annoying.

Depending on who (and when) you ask I probably am one haha.

There is a lot of transiency, except that one particular neighbor. There are six houses that share my western border (a canal), at any given moment half are probably un-rented.

My eastern canal bank is overwhelmed with Brazilian Pepper. That stuff is horrible. But it means I don't have to deal with the neighbors over there very much. I'll still likely take it all down when I can.

Try googling Saint Pete Times Hydroponics Store for an interesting story!Where I but my potting supplies...

Thats lovely. Well I don't have anything to worry about. I don't grow anything other than the peppers in my garage. If they feel the need to pull me out of bed in the middle of the night and drag me out in my boxers, so that they can protect the world from spicy food then so be it. I'm sure there would be an attorney willing to take my case if the craziness rises to the level seen in the articles about the and I quote "half baked" operation.

Did they end up visiting you Scoville?

Ha!I don't know,I leave my back gate open!I've had circling helicopters,but not recently that I've seen.

I've been to the hydroponics store that sprung up near me. They have a good collection of stuff, including soil, so I've made purchases....

It is staffed and frequently mainly by youngish men - who are what my kids would call "bros" like in "hey bro.....hows is going" type lingo.

Do these young people share my passion for growing veggies? idk.....

At my local Hydro store, they actually have a pepper plant growing under lights in the shop
as an example. I find that marijuana growers often grow peppers, as well...although the
inverse is not necessarily true for pepper growers.

Josh

Peppers and Marijuana...that combination reminds me of when I worked at my first real job. It was a Mexican fast food joint back in the late 70s. There was a guy (early 20's) who would come in just before closing on every Friday and Saturday night around 1:30am. He was always wasted. He didn't hide the fact either. He tried to sell pot and other drugs to whoever took his order at the drive up. Other than that he was an alright guy. But he would order two hard shell tacos with a ton of the hottest hot sauce we had. He said he couldn't taste them other wise. This was some very HOT sauce...probably not Bhut hot but probably Habanero hot. He said the dope and other drugs killed his taste buds. Would that be the reason for the Pepper/pot connection, I wonder?

Bruce

They have done studies to show that spicy food increases your taste buds sensitivity...

I like the idea of hydroponics... But it clashes with my desire for self sufficiency. Seems like one would need electricity in order to power something like that, whereas I'd prefer a setup where it costs me nothing, and I gain enough vegetables that I could survive off nothing more than my land, and any unfortunate edible animal that wanders through.

A guy needs little more than an arsenal, bomb shelter and pepper garden.
Bruce

hah - Florida is a bad place to build a bomb shelter... Where I live is about 3' above sea level. More likely than a single bomb hitting the middle of nowhere FL, is a high altitude low yield nuclear detonation, or massive coronal mass ejection. Either of which would mean lights out for about a decade.

arsenal and pepper garden... Check! :)

I wonder if super-hots would deter a zombie?? I mean, since we're making plans and all. :-)

Weaponized Bhuts. I am sure you could stuff a bunch of Powdered Bhut inside a 12 ga shotgun shell along with some buckshot. If it don't kill him, it will surely piss him off.
Bruce

Bruce - The military in India already use weaponized Bhut peppes for crowd (and elephant) control.

Zombies should be a walk in the park.:)

Yah, but I dont think they load em in shotgun shells...probably just crowd control. I am talking rip the flesh open with the buck shot and add a dab of Bhut to make sure they know they been hit.

And just how did we get from shopping at a hydro store to shooting zombies with Bhuts?

Back to Hydro peppers now.
Bruce

And just how did we get from shopping at a hydro store to shooting zombies with Bhuts?

Pot, naturally.

Jsschrstrcks, I'll take your case. It seems like an easy win, and I'm all about easy wins :-)

I haven't actually been to the hydro store, but I've ordered stuff online from a few shady places, and my wife always jokes about the cops showing up at our door due to the glow coming from my basement windows and the neighbors watching me haul in shelves and bales of pro-mix.

I actually tried to visit a hydro store looking for pro-mix and some nutes, but found it had gone out of business. I was looking all over for the name on the strip mall directory but couldn't find it. I later realized the hydro store "Green Circle" or something like that was the name of a head shop/hydro store busted by the local police about a year earlier. Now I buy the stuff at the "Grass Pad," - which is actually a reputable nursery. :-)

Jsschrstrcks said: "I'm sure there would be an attorney willing to take my case if the craziness rises to the level seen in the articles about the and I quote "half baked" operation."

haha well I'm glad to know someone is on my side :).

I don't plan on going back there either.

"grass pad" sounds right up there with canaba brand lol...

One of the guys on another forum I frequent was telling me that he experienced a similar situation in Chicago. one of his neighbors called the police and swore that they saw pot growing in the posters house. So the sheriff came out, battered down one door, then a second, hitting his wife in the face in the process causing 25k in hospital bills. As it turned out he was on the up and up - only hot peppers.

The case re the medical bills is still pending in court - but the sheriffs office did pay to replace both doors.

I don't have a fenced yard, and anyone could walk past and peer in my windows o.O, so I really don't think I'll have an issue - that combined with the fact my peppers are all outside at present should eliminate any confusion ^^

but never the less, I do appreciate the offer :)

Yea its funny. There is for sure stuff there you can not get in big box stores but if hydro shops vanished I would still be a gardener. I can get anything I need right at home depot.

Damn, if someone barged into my house like that, I'd defend my property by any and all means.
And then I'd go after the neighbor who made the false report.

It saddens me that we should even have to consider such a thing.

Josh

Yep. provided the story is true as told (every story has two sides), then I would think they will be very successful in a lawsuit. My question is did the guy refuse to answer the door when they knocked or did they simply bust it down. Even on swat raids they knock first. Also, I would think they would do some type of recon to verify the tip. Just sounds a little fishy to me but if it is as told, then that PD is in a world of hurt. Yep, I got a gun next to the bed. But it isn't for defending my pepper operation.
Bruce

So the story goes - they heard a noise, and his wife started for the house door to open it up and see what was going on, and she had just opened the door a crack when they hit the door with their ram (or whatever they use for breaching the door) causing the door to hit the wife in the face, knocking her unconscious.

The police report apparently said that the sheriff reported being able to smell pot from outside of the building, and heard plants being torn inside (destruction of evidence) which is reason enough to breach the door without waiting.

He says its a small town ~500 people (on the outskirts of Chicago), and that the sheriff was running for re-election, and came by and asked the wife if she would let them put a sign in their yard... she called for her husband, and when the sheriff saw him, he reportedly just got back in his car and left.

I'm not fully convinced of the guys story either, but it does have a number of parallels to stories that have been in the newspaper in my area. I think I linked it earlier, or gave the search terms of "largo hydroponics raid". Some of them have been quite successful, the largest bust I've heard about caught a group of criminals with over a hundred pot plants.

A friend of mine trained swat for pinellas and hillsborough counties - which is Tampa, St. Pete, and Clearwater, he recently retired. He tends to be defensive of any police action, but he'd likely know more about the local happenings.

Those kind of tactics are what get people killed. Not just civilians but like Josh said, people who are not doing anything wrong would not expect police to be breaking down their door and might be apt to "defend" themselves.
Bruce

Exactly. There have been a rash of "No Knock" warrants served with terrible outcomes
for both innocent civilians, as well as the invading Law Enforcement. In the middle of
the night, if someone kicks in your door, it is not your responsibility to verify who they
are before shooting back with everything you've got. Assume anyone in your house at
night is an invader...because that's what they are. And just hope that you survive the attack.

Even if you do survive, you may be imprisoned for a long time - even if you are innocent.
There are also several cases where the cops hit the wrong house, and then planted evidence
to justify the "bad shoot."

I'm not anti-Law enforcement, but I resist tyrants and thugs of any stripe.

Josh

http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2012/02/dumb_kid_steels_tomato_plant_b.php

kid thinks tomato plant is pot and steals it...

http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2012/02/dumb_kid_steels_tomato_plant_b.php

kid thinks tomato plant is pot and steals it...

In my state its legal to shoot an intruder in the face, or in the back, in self defense.
But seriously, I can see bad things happening - someone dressed in black, breaks your door down in the middle of the night and comes running into your bedroom... I wouldn't go running into my own parents room in the middle of the night like that - for similar reasons.