Sorry, I need to vent. I took a trip to Santa Cruz in early November and my MTB got stolen within 15 minutes of arriving (cut it right off the back of my bike rack on my car - learned my lesson about cable locks). I filed a police report and lo and behold I got a call from the Santa Cruz police department today - they got a hit on the serial number at a Pawn Shop and it's a match! Bike located! Woohoo!!
Not.
Unfortunately, I barely feel like celebrating, the pawnshop who took the bike in gave the person who brought in my stolen bike money (as a loan) and in order for me to get my bike back I have to pay off the loan they gave the person. What. The. Fuck.
How is this a good system? I get the pawnshop is also a victim here (and maybe even the person who brought in the bike, they could have bought it from the person who stole it) but why the hell did they give someone money before they verified the bike wasn't stolen? Why do I have to pay the price and why is the thief ultimately rewarded in the end?
It's a bunch of bullshit. I hate pawn shops.
Edit: thanks everyone for the comments and feedback. I'm glad everyone sees it as unjust as I do. I really wish I lived closer to the pawnshop because I'd just go there and work it out. Unfortunately, I'm +1,000 miles away from where the bike eventually ended up.
After doing some research and talking to some experts, it appears that the pawnshop is within its right to hold the property until the loan is paid off in California because I cannot prove that the person who pawned it stole the bike (yes, yes, I know, it's ridiculous). The bike was NOT sold, someone took a loan out against it.
For those curious: https://codes.findlaw.com/ca/business-and-professions-code/bpc-sect-21647.html
Relevant blurb: (2) That the law neither requires nor prohibits payment of a fee or any other condition in return for the surrender of the property, except that when the person who reported the property lost, stolen, or embezzled does not choose to participate in the prosecution of an identified alleged thief, the person shall pay the licensed pawnbroker or secondhand dealer the “out-of-pocket” expenses paid in the acquisition of the property in return for the surrender of the property.
My chess set was incomplete.
Are they all broken? Or is this a good way to get cheap, used tools?
"I'd like your expert opinion on this guitar, how much do you think it's worth?" asks the old man.
The pawn broker looks it up and down. "Well, I can tell right now that there's a little warping in the neck, the lacquer is faded and there's scratches and dents all over it. It's an old, well-played guitar but I don't think it's worth any more than twenty bucks."
The old man reaches his hand out and says, "Okay, if that's what you think it's worth.. you have a deal!"
"Great!" replies the pawn broker, shaking his hand.
"Here's twenty bucks," says the old man. "I'll buy it right now!"
The broker stops, and suddenly looks confused. "Wait.... buy?" he asks.
"Yes!" smiles the old man as he flips the guitar over, "This one has a sticker price of $150, but now that I have your honest opinion I think twenty bucks is a great deal!"
Last night, I watched the movie, Pawn Shop Chronicles. What an awesome movie! It really astounded me that this film was so poorly received (12% on RT?!! WTF??!!) and was put straight to VOD-destroying its chances of any success. The reviews claim it to be a Pulp Fiction ripoff, but I highly disagree. The only similarity it had to Pulp Fiction is that it's an ensemble movie. I really can't figure out why the critics hated it so much. The story was engaging, the acting was great, and the cast was awesome (Paul Walker, Brendan Fraser, Matt Dillon, and Elijah frickin' Wood). The depth and humor of the film reminded me of a Coen brothers film more than Tarantino. How did this not get any attention? I'll even go as far as to say as this is the best film of the year so far, hands down. I don't know why this film is so unknown, but I could see it attaining cult movie status in the next few years. Anyone else agree with me about Pawn Shop Chronicles or am I just crazy and have terrible taste in movies?
How I'd fix it:
- Show Raw Dog seeing "Elvis" and "The Army of Naked Zombie Women" onscreen, instead of just having him talk about them later
We see Raw Dog seeing Elvis. We think "what the fuck". Raw Dog thinks he's flipping because of the drugs. Then he sees the newspiece about the Elvis impersonator coming to town. "Oh, so that's it", Raw Dog thinks. "Oh, he's not on drugs after all", we think. Then he sees the Army of Naked Zombie Women, and all of that is broken. Then, in the third segment, we find that the Army of Naked Zombie Women is also real after all.
- The black-clad cowboy is The Devil
I get the joke about the black-clad cowboy. Is he a local good samaritan? Is he a born-again Christian walking the Earth and doing good in the most rural Americana way possible? Is he God? It's a pity though, that he doesn't appear after the first segment.
Meawhile, The Devil is only in the second and third segments. The funny thing is that in his short scene in the second segment, he looks like a pastor trying to attract people to his church. It is not until the third segment that we get the reveal that he is The Devil and he is actually looking to buy souls from people down on their luck.
The solution: Make them the same character. When we find that he is The Devil later, we also realize that his intention was to make the guy kill his friends all along, and that the guy traded his soul for that gun without realizing it.
- Johnny is the giant black truck driver
Instead of wasting that reveal on a cheap joke about a dwarf driving a massive truck and having a bad temper, let's make Johnny come to pick Theresa and the zombie women at the fair in that very same truck.
And as he helps Theresa get in the front seat (and the zombie women get in the back on their own), he looks to the fair and nods to The Devil, who nods back. With that alone you realize that:
- Johnny's long success as a criminal (and life in general, just look at his property) is because he made a deal with The Devil years ago.
- Striking a deal with The Devil involves pushing other people to misery from then on. It's not Johnny only who is condemning Theresa to be a farm animal sex slave, it's also Ricky the Elvis impersonator.
- The cook's uncle is the meth cook
The cook's uncle only appears in segment 2. He is the guy who got the ring from Johnny to the cook, and he never appears again. By making him the meth cook
... keep reading on reddit ➡I just finished watching this and I've gotta say, I loved it. The first story was the funniest in the entire movie, hands down. Paul Walker's acting in it was great. The second act with Matt Dillon took a real serious turn, quick. The third was pretty funny with Brendan Fraser. Overall, it was a pretty good film and I'm not sure why it got such bad reviews.
As the title says, what’s your best find? Bought my first guitar a Yamaha SJ180 nearly 15 years ago in a pawn shop, still consider that was one of my best purchases.
Has anyone seen this? I saw a commercial yesterday, looks kinda fun. Looked up some reviews and they are completely polarized. People either love it or hate it. I've seen it compared to pulp fiction (albeit a crappy rip off of pulp fiction). I'm gonna be at best buy tomorrow, wondering if I should pick it up. Anyone have any thoughts?
"Authorities have ruled the tragic death of 23-year-old Abigail Wright a suicide, as a distinct lack of skid marks near the crash site indicate there was no attempt to step on the brakes."
