Kevin's Watch

When we lived in Denver, our next-door neighbor gave us an ADT yard sign when he left. He'd never had the service, but he said just putting the sign in the yard seemed to be a deterrent.

Can I say one other thing, lorin? Whichever house you install the TV in -- *stay there*. Or take some other measures to make the new place look lived in. I'm betting the thieves saw all the nice stuff moved in, and realized eventually that it was empty. Maybe a friend with an extra car would be willing to park it in your driveway? And you can get timers now that are more sophisticated than in the old days, when you could set a watch by 'em....

Lorin! Was worried about ya.

deer of the dawn wrote:Frustrated with having delegated tasks and people don't do them or don't do them well.

I had some coworkers 'help' me by doing the 75 or so price changes that popped up last weekend. I didn't have time to audit the work on Monday, and on Tuesday a manager pointed out an error (and blamed me, since it's my job to keep all the tags correct). I realized it was one of the ones from the weekend, and did a full audit scan on the changes. They managed to miss 14 out of 75. It took far longer to fix than it would have for me to have just done it myself. (14 errors translates to writing two pages of reports in addition to printing new signs and doing the full scan.) This is (part of why) I can't take any time off.

And Sarge - keep on posting. This place wouldn't be the same without you, and now that Jenn has moved her work commentary to a separate thread, I don't want to be the only one ranting here. (Okay, I know we're not the only ones, but still....)

I will say that the alarm system purchase restored some peace of mind. I know firsthand -- having my home broken into and my stuff rifled through and several thousand of dollars worth of stuff taken -- it is a violation - it damaged my faith in the social contract, and generally left me feeling very angry, with essentially nowhere to put that anger. I took action by purchasing the alarm system, and getting it installed along with the replacement front door that was crowbarred open by the theieves to gain entry, in broad daylight.
Yes, I can tell you in general that the signs act as a deterrent - but they aren't nearly as comforting to me -- and peace-restoring -- as the alarm system has been.

dw

Moats, piranhas, barbed wire, widow-makers and alligators can act as a deterent...

Sorry I missed your scathing post Dukkha!

you wrote:Now imagine it with serious design flaws. Now imagine it with sketchy design documentation. Now imagine it with poorly written requirements. Now imagine it being designed and tested by contractors that know little about your business model, and can't easily learn because your trainers and documentation specialists were let go 10 years ago.

HOLY! Dilbert meets the Twilight Zone!

Sarge! Post away! Contrary to popular belief I have absolutely no problem. *just settle down a little bit in "What are you listening to?" please*

That was pretty darn funny DW. Luci, thanks for making the universe give Lorin a break. My Dad and I got robbed twice when we lived on Cape Cod. After the first time we got an alarm system. They robbed us again a month later and they were pros because they disabled the alarm. The cops said that the thieves like to give you enough time to replace all the equipment with new and then hit you again. HOWEVER, that was twenty years ago and alarm systems are so much more reliable and sophisticated then they were back then and keep in mind that we were out in the sticks so not that many options were available to us. We were able to regain some of the stolen guns since the cops pulled the guy over for an entirely different reason and found them in the trunk of the car but none of the other stuff was ever recovered. They didn't get much out of the guy who had the guns either as he claimed he bought them off some random guy. The most insulting/hurtful part of the loss for my Dad was that they stole his father's samurai sword that had been given to him as a gift of honor when he was stationed in Japan by a man he made friends with. They took the sword itself but left the matching stand and hand made box with the honing tools in it. Anyway, sorry to hear about the extra work, Sorus. That sucks. Hugs to everyone just cuz I feel like it.

I've never been robbed, but I think that (at least for me) the feeling of violation would overwhelm the loss of stuff. Hell, I feel violated over getting my email hacked last week. I don't really have anything of value these days - suppose my computer is worth something, but not as much as the data on it, and even that could be replaced. (I'd like to see the look on someone's face after realizing they'd made off with 800GB of stock footage of dramatic space battles and the other filler I use in my videos.) If, however, they did anything to my cats, they'd better pray the law gets to them before I do.

But I'm just rambling. I don't really have anything of value to add to the alarm system advice - only thing I've used was a DIY thing from Radioshack which I wouldn't recommend.

Hey guys, I just was in a car accident a few hours ago. I am completely untouched. (neither of us had passengers.)

The other vehicle was... a motorcycle. The guy on the motorcycle was alive, conscious, but in pretty bad shape. Mainly... one of his legs was really badly damaged. I'm still having trouble believing this really happened. But then... I bet he's gonna have trouble believing it really happened for weeks or much longer.

Haven't really read much of the other posts here just now, except I'm glad to see lorin's back online!

What the heck happened and are you SURE you are ok? Physically and mentally? Hugs girl!

thanks for the support those who did.

have been robbed a few times - missed johnny nash one time because of it.

glad you are ok linna...

After days of over 39 degree fever and crazy aches, feeling finally well enough to sit at my living room computer. Keeping my fingers crossed that the antibiotics are actually driving the damn infection out of my lungs. Pneumonia, do not want again. :/

Still sounding like a broken exhaust pipe, but at least not coughing out yellow phlegm any more.

Okay, I'm back on now after a couple weeks away. Thanks for all the congrats folks.

So, the reason Sophia was in the NICU after her birth was she wasn't breathing on her own and her glucose levels were very low. After that first night, she was taken off of oxygen and was breathing on her own. However, she was given glucose to stabilize her levels, and stayed there for several days, which was trying to say the least. But she's just fine now, and has already regained her birth weight. I put up a picture of her and her bruddah in the album.

Sorry to hear about all the chaos while I was away, especially you Lorin.

She's beautiful, Cag. I love the name Sophia.

Both of your kids are adorable, Cag. Thank goodness Sophia is doing well now. (I'm partial to the name, as that's the one Esmer gave me, back when he was still here and doing that "what's your Esmer name?" thread. So thanks for naming your kid after me, sorta. )

Linna -- so glad you're okay. I'm sure you did everything you could to avoid the accident.

That's scary, Linna. Glad you're okay.


I don't think I ever got an Esmer name. I did consider naming my newest cat Sophia, mainly based on this song.

So you must carry this light into the darkness
You shall be a star unto the night
You will find hope alive among the hopeless
That is your purpose to this life

Hope your okay Linna. And the other guy, too. They say people don't see motorcycles because they get hardwired to look for cars. Then again, people on motorcycles can be crazy. By all of which I mean, hope your not hanging onto a load of guilt, but it doesn't seem right to just say, I hope it was his fault.

aliantha wrote:Both of your kids are adorable, Cag. Thank goodness Sophia is doing well now. (I'm partial to the name, as that's the one Esmer gave me, back when he was still here and doing that "what's your Esmer name?" thread. So thanks for naming your kid after me, sorta. )

I had forgotten about the I dub thee thread. Still love the names Esmer dubbed on me.

HUGS Linna- car accidents are awful. The last really nasty one I was in was looong ago when my mum was still pregnant with my sister. Mum was stopped at traffic lights and a guy rear ended her. Our car's towbar saved my sister's life
A much more light hearted anecdote: the pedestrian traffic lights here make beepign noises when they change. At an intersection, I heard the beeping noise and went without looking- but it wasn't my crossing that was beeping. Promptly got hit by a campervan going about 5km. Bruised my ass and my diginity.

Sarge, some belated reassurance: your posts amuse and are part of KW's personality for me. Please keep it up.

Good to hear you are getting back on your feet, Lorin.

Cameraman Jenn wrote:What the heck happened and are you SURE you are ok? Physically and mentally? Hugs girl!

Thanks, CJ! Well, I'd pulled out into the intersection to make my left turn. Then light turned yellow, then red, (I'm like 95% sure it got to read, at least) so I started completing my turn to get out of the intersection... and then a guy on a motorcycle drove right into the intersection, and we collided.

Really sure there's no physical damage to me now... my car out-massed his vehicle SO much... as far as mental/emotional; yeah, I'm definitely shaken. But doing really really well, given the circumstances, I think. I slept plenty last night, and I have some really supportive and competent people who've got my back right now.

Well, I should go to bed now... ali, dw, cambo- thanks for your concern. Admittedly, the burden of guilt was my main concern for myself from the moment of impact, but... things seem decent atm on that front. People were coming up to me saying things like, "my wife was a witness. you know it's not your fault, right?" and it did feel good to hear that - but this time it was more like a confirmation of what I already thought & felt. (of course, this might've been a whole different story if he didn't survive! who knows?)

cambo- whew, close call for little sis so long ago. The fact that you clearly have a lot of admiration for her & share a special bond with her makes the fact that she was born safe and sound all the more awesome!

Linna Heartlistener wrote:cambo- whew, close call for little sis so long ago. The fact that you clearly have a lot of admiration for her & share a special bond with her makes the fact that she was born safe and sound all the more awesome!

Yep

Had car problems myself this weekend, broke down and had to get towed, car in for repairs now, gonna be expensive.

Glad everybody as well as can be. Like everything, this too shall pass.

--A