Guy in trouble for his arcade collection

[RayB]

Check this out.

[AMDman13]

That is totally lame! Some people have nothing better to do, but complain!

[horseboy]

At least they let him keep them. BS, though.

[BobA]

I see that original complaint was of trucks comming and going (hope you dont have a pickup) so it was not about operating the game for profit but of trading or selling the games.  Since he said he would not sell them he was allowed to keep them.   Does that mean if you sell off a game you are running a business?  Very sensitive definition of running a business here.  Sounds like one bitchy neighbour could cause you alot of problems if you colllect video games. 

If you sell an old couch from your family room are you running a furniture store?    Sometimes the gov gets stupid in their enforcement of laws.

[spacies]

What a joke.

His dog probably ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- on their lawn once and now they are at war.

Nice collection though and happy to see them stay.

[Texasmame]

I remember "Evil Exidy" as he's called from my collecting days.  Purchased a game off him once.  He's generally a good guy.  Gotta be some ---That which is odiferous and causeth plants to grow--- with a neighbor like someone said.  Glad he stood up and that TV news proggie helped him out.   

[spacies]

Exidy huh!?

He is one fo the guys in that Warehouse raid vid.

Know we know were he got all his machines!

[Level42]

Land of the free ?

[am_monkee]

i think that neighbor's basket collecting is more offensive

 
 

[johnm160]

Allowed to keep them?


I would tell them where they could go....

[WaRpEd]

I just LOVE the City of Lakeland Code Harrasment.
I do live in this wonderful city most of my life, Lakeland has a lot of nice things going for it except for Cleveland steamer like this which is all to common.
I've been ticketed for a car parked in front yard with a flat tire because this made the vehicle inoperable and derilict in the code harrasssment officers opinion.
I then had to go to Kangaroo Court which is made up Realters and Developers even though there was nothing mechanically wrong with the car and it had a current tag and insurance.
This has happened 3 times in 5 years. The "case" is always dismissed but i still lose time from work for my trouble.
Bob S. (last name withheld)

[SithMaster]

Reminds me of the skill stop slots or the jap pin/slot game fiasco.

Question is how do you get even with the neighbors.

[DrewKaree]

Question is how do you get even with the neighbors.

Running a hose into a basement window well would turn their basement into a non-authorized exercise facility

[Teebor]

^ Now thats a great idea ^

This really is a stupid case, really it is...

You could almost argue that anyone with one or more computers in their house is running a business because the computer could be used as a business machine, and *GASP* what if it was a Dell business machine they owned instead of a Dell home machine.

Six years in prison surely 

[johnm160]

Gotta take the beds out too since they can be business machines.

He might be running a brothel in there.

[saint]

The problem is what defines a business... A lot of folks buy a machine, tinker with it for a while, get tired of it, and sell it to buy another one. I see it more akin to trading baseball cards or some such, but if you turn a profit on it...?

[ChadTower]

Licensing laws define a business, usually.  Most places define an auto dealer, for exampel, as something like "selling x or more cars per year" where the number is only like 3.  It allows you to turn over a pair of family cars but anything more than that and you're running a business in the town's eyes.

I'd bet that cabs would fall into some generic category that makes it hard to define and easily open to challenge if he wanted to spend the legal fees to do so.

[deadkenndys1105]

This is just stupid.  I guess we can't have tables or chairs any more because we might be trying to sell them.

[FrizzleFried]

Damn...I want 75 cabinets...I wonder how many of em came from that crazy ass HUGE warehouse.

[waldo]

THeres a saying that get used frequently in some of the downunder forums, and it seems appropriate here too.....


'Only in America'


I guess if the guy had those 75 games dropped off over a period of a few months the trucks might get annoying to someone trying to knit one pearl one next door.

[DrewKaree]

Licensing laws define a business, usually.  Most places define an auto dealer, for exampel, as something like "selling x or more cars per year" where the number is only like 3.  It allows you to turn over a pair of family cars but anything more than that and you're running a business in the town's eyes.

I'd bet that cabs would fall into some generic category that makes it hard to define and easily open to challenge if he wanted to spend the legal fees to do so.

Exactly.  My state defines that practice at 10 cars per year, and the title has the seller's address on it (by law that section has to be filled out), and beyond 10, there's fines that exceed the cost of the business license.  My guess is car dealers (a "lobbying group") set this up so they wouldn't have so much competition.

I'm guessing this situation is like Saint laid it out, baseball cards, only like every story, there could be more to this.  Texasmame has said he's purchased a game off of him in the past.  What if this guy really IS selling games out of his house, only not at a rate he feels is "excessive"? 

Maybe this is due to a build-up of people getting tired of seeing cars/trucks/whatever roll up, something that's been happening over time, and some jerkoff tore up a neighbor's lawn trying to maneuver their trailer around, and it was the straw that broke the camel's back?

It's becoming uncommon for people to actually want to deal with uncomfortable situations, and this could be some henpecked husband's method of dealing with the situation AND his wife at the same time.  Problem is, once you start the "I'll let someone ELSE handle my problems for me" snowball, it quickly gets out of your control.

[Crowquill]

It's becoming uncommon for people to actually want to deal with uncomfortable situations, and this could be some henpecked husband's method of dealing with the situation AND his wife at the same time.  Problem is, once you start the "I'll let someone ELSE handle my problems for me" snowball, it quickly gets out of your control.

and then it ends up on the evening news. 

Something like this doesn't surprise me. Due to rain on my days off for a couple weeks, my grass got up to about 7" tall. One day the doorbell rings and it's a Sheriff's deputy issuing me a warning that I must take care of it ASAP because there's been a complaint. Neighbors can be a blessing or a curse.

[PoDunkMoFo]

I've been ticketed for a car parked in front yard with a flat tire because this made the vehicle inoperable and derilict in the code harrasssment officers opinion............This has happened 3 times in 5 years.

Now that is funny!  How bout changin' the tire??

[SithMaster]

So how does having tail grass mean they have to send a sheriff over?  If anything it is an eye sore not something to call the police over.  Good neighbors.

People are jerks.

What if he didnt notice until he got the ticket?  Someone could have cut the tires and he could have not needed to drive the car until it became an issue with the town.

[leapinlew]

So I'm the only one huh?

I'm the only one so jealous that I was hoping they would take all his games away and buy them in a police auction? 

Do you think maybe the cops wanted to "bust" him and take all his games away because they wanted something to do down at the station? "We'll let you off this time, but we are confiscating the contraband"

[WaRpEd]

Do you think maybe the cops wanted to "bust" him and take all his games away because they wanted something to do down at the station? "We'll let you off this time, but we are confiscating the contraband"
Lew'
Might be some truth to that.
Po dunk
Now that is funny!  How bout changin' the tire??
I don't use my Elcamino very often. mostly it sits and waits on the day when money time and ambition will let me restore it properly ( it's in well used 1980 condition)
The tire only seems to go flat when they need the fines.
Cheers

[RayB]

Heh. Maybe the guy sets all his games to Attract Mode with Sound on. 75 games, with only a thin garage door to muffle the sound.. HEheh  WAKKA WAKKA WAKKA!!!!!!

[ChadTower]

It's probably neighbors complaining about traffic and noise.  He may also have sold one someone who wasn't happy with it and reported him to get back at him, possibly a town employee or relative of one.  Small side businesses like this usually get overlooked unless they're reported by someone, and even then, they usually still get ignored until a few complaints come in.

It could also have started with something less obvious.  I could see the neighbors noticing traffic and calling the cops to say they suspect he's moving drugs in those cabs... that would get their attention with a quickness, then when he's not moving drugs, they still have to deal with the unlicensed business in order to justify their time.

[HaRuMaN]

Land of the free ?

Whoever told you that is your enemy.

[DrewKaree]

Land of the free ?

Whoever told you that is your enemy.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

[paigeoliver]

Well, honestly I think Jon Exidy DOES sell a lot of machines. He does have 823 posts in the rec.games.video.arcade.marketplace newsgroup in just 3 years. Probably 10 percent of those are whole machines. That isn't even considering his high feedback ebay account, or any deals that happened outside of either one of those places.

With that said I went through like 40 games in an apartment in like 2 years. 

[Santo8742]

The IRS will longer consider a business a business if it loses money 3 out of 5 years, at which point it becomes a hobby in the eyes of the IRS. But even then you're suppose to claim capital gains tax on something if you sell it for more than you paid for it minus money spent to fix it up. Just another federal viewpoint on what constitutes a business.

[SithMaster]

yeah the feds are smart.

[ChadTower]

The IRS will longer consider a business a business if it loses money 3 out of 5 years, at which point it becomes a hobby in the eyes of the IRS. But even then you're suppose to claim capital gains tax on something if you sell it for more than you paid for it minus money spent to fix it up. Just another federal viewpoint on what constitutes a business.

That doesn't sound like something you can apply across the board.  I've worked for 100 people companies with $100mill in assets that lost money 3 of 5 years.

[johnm160]

The IRS will longer consider a business a business if it loses money 3 out of 5 years, at which point it becomes a hobby in the eyes of the IRS. But even then you're suppose to claim capital gains tax on something if you sell it for more than you paid for it minus money spent to fix it up. Just another federal viewpoint on what constitutes a business.

That doesn't sound like something you can apply across the board.  I've worked for 100 people companies with $100mill in assets that lost money 3 of 5 years.

Now that sounds like an expensive hobby 

[RayB]

I think maybe he has it a little confused... Probably meant to say if it HAS NO REVENUE or CASH FLOW for 3 out of 5 years.  A company making no profits can still have a cash flow in the millions, with expenditures that put them in the red. The IRS would still be interested, whereas a company with 0 cash flow is pretty much "not operational".

[Kaytrim]

Something like this doesn't surprise me. Due to rain on my days off for a couple weeks, my grass got up to about 7" tall. One day the doorbell rings and it's a Sheriff's deputy issuing me a warning that I must take care of it ASAP because there's been a complaint. Neighbors can be a blessing or a curse.

I had some friends and family over for the Super Bowl.  My mother parked close to the mailbox.  She normally wants to leave earlier then the rest if my guests.  Our neighbor called us to have the car moved so the mailman could deliver.  I looked at the car while on the phone with the pest.  There was plenty of room for the mailman to stop in front of the mailbox and I told her so and hung up.  A little while later an officer was knocking on our door with a complaint from guess who.

Some people are never satisfied.

TTFN 
Kaytrim

[ChadTower]

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds

But parked cars?  Eff that, no mail for you.

My mailman actually tries to tell us that union rules prevent him from getting out of his little jeep to deliver the mail.  Our neighbor has lived in this town for nearly 80 years and tells me "don't listen to that guy, I have known him since the 1930s.  He was lazy then and he's lazy now."

 

[saint]

For me to claim expenses related to writing the book on my taxes, I was told that I had to show a profit (not cash flow, but an actual profit) for 3 out of 5 years (or some x out of y combo). The important point was to take it off on taxes it actually had to be profitable at some point. Don't know if that relates or not . . .

I think maybe he has it a little confused... Probably meant to say if it HAS NO REVENUE or CASH FLOW for 3 out of 5 years.  A company making no profits can still have a cash flow in the millions, with expenditures that put them in the red. The IRS would still be interested, whereas a company with 0 cash flow is pretty much "not operational".

[shardian]

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds

But parked cars?  Eff that, no mail for you.

My mailman actually tries to tell us that union rules prevent him from getting out of his little jeep to deliver the mail.  Our neighbor has lived in this town for nearly 80 years and tells me "don't listen to that guy, I have known him since the 1930s.  He was lazy then and he's lazy now."

 

If he is on a motor route, then that is true. Ridiculously retarded, but true nonetheless. Now if he was a walking mailman and pulled this, then ya, he would be lying.