Friday, September 29, 2006

Grass Valley Police Blotter vol. XIX

At 1:48 p.m., a caller from the 500 block of Whiting Street reported a juvenile male was swinging nunchucks at other juveniles. The boy was gone by the time police arrived.

[But the legend survives to this day.]

At 6:04 p.m., a caller from Highway 174 reported a man was sleeping near the top of an overpass. Three juveniles appeared to be headed toward him, two with sticks and one with a video camera. Police made contact with the juveniles, and the sleeping man was gone by the time police arrived.

[Has anybody check YouTube for the video?]

At 5:39 a.m., a man called to report a taxi driver was yelling obscenities at him earlier in the day at Memorial Park. The caller has a restraining order against the driver's girlfriend. The man said he would get a restraining order against the driver. Police made contact with the driver, advised him to stop, and the driver was agreeable.

[It is nice to see people being reasonable about their aggressions.]

At 6:18 p.m., a caller from the 10000 block of Castaway Court requested deputy contact regarding the theft of marijuana plants yesterday. Deputies took a report.

[More on a theme. You could use this to draw the connection between drugs and crime I suppose.]

At 6:38 p.m., a caller from the 16000 block of Angelina Way reported a person kept entering his residence and taking his books to drive him crazy

[Theft with intent to disturb a state of mind? Isn't that a special circumstances crime? Had the caller tried locking the door?]

At 9:48 p.m., a caller from the 17000 block of Anona Court reported a woman was out of control, breaking windows while two children slept. The caller also said the woman hit him in the face with a trash can. Deputies arrested the 31-year-old woman for spousal abuse and damaging a telephone line.

[Breaking Windows While Two Children Slept? Didn't Maya Angelou write that? Trash-can-in-the-face-fu and damaging a telephone line in the bargain!]

At 8:47 a.m., a caller from the 13000 block of Idaho-Maryland Road reported a mailbox was blown up.

[Now this is what I want on video.]

At 8:25 p.m., a caller from a gas station/mini mart on Hughes Road reported a smelly device had been detonated near the gas pumps. Police made contact and all was OK.

[A smelly device! Olfactory Al Qeda is on the move! But, in the end, all was OK! Smell Threat Alert: Yellow]

At 9:06 p.m., a reckless driver in a white Mercedes failed to stop when a police officer turned on the lights and sirens on his patrol car. Local law enforcement was advised.

[Wasn't law enforcement involved in the first place?]

At 9:39 p.m., a man reported his wallet was stolen from his vehicle. His wallet was found at a liquor store on the 200 block of Colfax Avenue. All of the wallet's contents were intact and it was returned to him.

[But he wasn't arrested for being drunk in public. That would be my choice for punch line.]

At 7:53 p.m., a man called from the 18000 block of Mustang Valley Place to report 20-25 goats were loose on his property. He didn't know whose goats they were but they were tagged. Animal Control was notified and the caller would keep them contained until the morning.

[Loose goats! You just have to live in the right (wrong?) location for this to happen.]

At 8:22 p.m., a woman called from the 17000 block of Brewer Road reported people were going across her property to get to her neighbor's medicinal marijuana garden. She said it happened a few times a week. People have also been coming across Wolf Creek to sneak onto her neighbor's property. Her neighbor said the people were all wearing camouflage.

[Marijuana is tearing the community apart! Or at least screwing up this woman's lawn.]

At 3:54 p.m., a caller from the 200 block of Clay Street reported fraudulent use of a credit card. A motorhome was purchased on e-Bay. No money had been lost yet.

[A motorhome? I want to know how the person or persons planned to get away with this.]

At 5:42 p.m., a caller from Commercial Street reported a man was laying across the sidewalk and refusing to move for several people, after being asked many times. Police checked the area and were unable to locate the man.

[I picture this guy protesting something very important too... yet he was probably just drunk.]

At 8:54 p.m., a caller from the 100 block of Grove Street reported her ex-boyfriend called her 96 times today.

[The caller was advised of the restraining order process.]

At 8:26 p.m., a caller from a hospital reported a man with dreadlocks and dark clothing was acting strange, doing karate moves and had no reason for being on hospital property. A security guard advised the man was there on hospital business.

[Not every hospital has Patch Adams at their disposal.]

At 1:32 p.m., a caller from Highway 174 reported an unknown item wrapped in a blue towel in a black bag had a foul odor. A deputy determined it was a fish.

[A fish! A smelly device! We have a theme going! Smell Threat Alert: Orange]

At 1:38 p.m., a caller from the 13000 block of Spenceville Road reported the theft of a horse by an ex-employee of a ranch. Deputies took a report for grand theft.

[Is there any money to be made in horse thievery these days?]

At 10:34 p.m., a 911 caller from the 10000 block of Carrington Lane could be heard crying and a man was heard talking in the background. Deputies responded and arrested a 39-year-old man for spousal abuse, making threats and damaging a telephone line.

[Not amusing, but included just because I now feel compelled to list all items that include the crime of "damaging a telephone line or equipment."]

At 11:55 a.m., a woman called from the 10000 block of Spenceville Road to report threatening phone calls. She said someone from an online pharmacy was trying to kill her.
[Drugs are ever the bane of our society! Still, the idea that someone from an online pharmacy is trying to kill you is pretty good as far as delusions go.]

At 9:07 a.m., a caller from the 100 block of Nevada City Highway reported a man was at a school earlier and tore up a newspaper and requested a copy of a yearbook so he could identify students who had harassed him.

[And the crime being reported is? Infringing the rights of a free press? Damaging a newspaper?]

At 9:42 a.m., a caller from the 300 block of Mill Street reported a possible car burglary by a man with a mustache wearing a hat. Police made contact and there was no crime. The man was helping someone with a vehicle.

[We remain ever vigilant in Grass Valley!]

Source: The Union (http://www.theunion.com/)

Monday, September 25, 2006

Grass Valley Police Blotter vol. XVIII

At 9:31 p.m., a caller from the 200 block of Quartz street requested extra patrol for an ongoing problem with someone stealing the light bulb that illuminates her driveway.

[I would look for the person into whose home the light undoubtedly shines.]

At 4:11 p.m., a mail carrier reported that a homeowner from the 12000 block of Manion Canyon was hostile to her while she was delivering her route and that she felt threatened.

[That is always wise, threatening the mail carrier. That is a federal crime.]

At 9:12 p.m., a caller from the 18000 block of Shelter Court reported that a neighbor who appeared to be intoxicated or under the influence of methamphetamine had been hit on the head with a shovel and needed medical attention.

[I cannot decide if the neighbor is too attentive or not attentive enough.]

At 2:39 p.m. a caller from Lakeshore North reported that while she was running on the road, two men driving a golf cart approached her and when they passed, one of them reached out and grabbed her buttocks and hip area. The caller said that soon after the attack, the golf cart was pulled over by Lake of the Pines security, possibly for running a stop sign.

[In the immortal words of Mojo Nixon, "Golfcart on a rampage!"]

At 5:47 p.m., a caller from Safeway reported people playing loud music from their truck. The caller said they opened a beer can and drove toward Highway 20.

[Stay on message. DUI, that is the topic to get police attention, loud music is not.]

At 9:07 p.m., tennis players at Memorial Park said a green truck had circled the tennis courts several times, making them afraid.

[In my mind, I hear that music from "Jaws" as the truck slowly circles the tennis courts.]

At 3:18 p.m., a man called to file a complaint against someone he believed was slandering him and filing false reports against him. He was citing Penal Code sections.

[Do you know the penal code in this state? We're missing "the man was advised of the civil litigation process" as a closer.]

At 8:32 a.m., a caller on the 12000 block of Rough and Ready Highway said a woman was calling threatening his wife and also telling him she was going to burn down his home. He said the woman had previously blown up his van and tried to kill his wife.

[And yet this woman roams free.]

At 9:29 p.m., a person came to the Grass Valley police station to report that an automobile dealer who was supposed to advertise his vehicle for sale had actually sold the vehicle without his consent or without his sign off on the title. A report was taken for the vehicle.

[My guess is that he was unhappy with the price the dealer got or the commission the dealer took. After all, advertising it for sale is a prime indicator that he wanted to sell the vehicle.]

At 11:20 a.m., a caller from the 10000 block of Wolf Road said she went into her attic the day before and had found suspicious items.

[Suspicious items! In her attic! Only just the day before!]

A 3:40 p.m. caller from the 11600 block of Ragan Way heard a person yelling profanities loudly and saying "The Taliban will come and get you," at no one in particular.

[Grass Valley, a hotbed of Islamic radicalism!]

A 10:08 p.m. caller from Lake of the Pines said someone was putting plastic bottles filled with ammonia and another substance around the area and causing explosions. Several have been found in the area in recent weeks.

[Maybe the Taliban is trying to get somebody]

A 10:15 a.m. caller from the 10900 block of Castaway Court said someone stole his medical marijuana plants out of his greenhouse.

A 10:27 a.m. caller from the 11800 block of Mooney Flat Road reported someone stole his medical marijuana plants overnight. The caller said two people were now walking around his property in camouflage clothing probably back to pick up the plants they had stashed somewhere.

[I am sure there is some lesson to be drawn from this crime spree.]

A 5:39 p.m. caller from the 300 block of Alexander Street involved in an out-of-control fight cut herself with a knife and was transported to Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital for treatment.

[My only question is, what is the police definition of an "out-of-control fight?" Does that term apply to the fight in general or to the mental state of the participants?]

At 12:17 a.m. a caller from a Brunswick Basin fast food restaurant reported a young man walked in wearing only boxer shorts.

[The sign clearly said, "No shoes, no shirt, no service."]

Source: The Union (http://www.theunion.com/)

Silly Movie Titles

This morning on NetFlix I finally found a nonsensical movie title to compete with "NeverEnding Story 2."

"Final Destination 3"

In my mind it is subtitled either "Are We There Yet?" or "Make Up Your Damn Mind Already!"

Friday, September 22, 2006

Unintended Timer Usage

I live in south San Jose and work on the far side of the airport, so I end up going through downtown quite a bit since, for speed of travel, it is often an attractive alternative to highway 87.

I have noticed over the last year that the city has installed new Walk/Dont Walk signs at the intersections. These new signs have a count down timer so that pedestrians know how much time they have before the light is going to change. Presumably the idea is that, if there isn't enough time to get across the street, pedestrians will stop and not try to cross the street.

As far as I can tell, the average pedestrian in downtown believes that 2-3 seconds is more than enough time to stroll across five lanes of traffic and won't hesitate to step out into the street. So much for progress. (And don't give me that "pedestrians have the right of way" crap. Unless you are holding a white cane, you have to obey the traffic signal.)

The timers are useful for drivers however. As soon as the timer hits zero, the light turns yellow. And, since the numbers are nice and big, you can see them from a block away easily. Well, *I* can see them from a block away.

So what we have downtown is a nice indicator for drivers on how hard they should push it to try to get through a given intersection. You know exactly how long until that yellow light is going show. If you are half a block away with three cars in front of you and the time is down to 3 seconds, you know you might as well ease off the gas and relax; you're not going anywhere. On the other hand, if you see double digits and the way is clear, you know you are going to get through.

So the city improved the flow of traffic downtown, just not in the way they intended I'd bet.

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Email Theater of the Absurd

I have a team in India that reports to me. Since they are twelve and a half hours ahead of me here in San Jose, email is of primary importance for communicating with them. However, when we were acquired we were moved to a new corporate email server. Since that time messages from my team in India have been getting caught in our spam filter.

The spam filter deserves a mention. By default it sends an email to you every time it flags an incoming message as spam. How this is better than no spam filter escapes me. You can set it to notify you less frequently, either once a day or once a week. I changed my settings to once a day.

Still, notification isn't my problem. Email from my team being flagged as spam is the problem, and it happens to about 75% of the messages they send to me.

So I sent am email to IT Help with my issue. A day later I received the notification that a ticket had been opened with a tracking number and an email from an IT staffer asking for the email addresses of the people who have been intercepted. I sent my response with the addresses right away. Some hours later I received a notification that the incident with my tracking number had changed status. I checked the incident on the internal IT web site and it was marked as "resolved" with the resolution listed as "transferred to the email admin."

Resolved means "somebody else's problem" in this context.

The next day I got a new notification that another ticket had been opened, presumably by the email admin.

The day after that I got an email from the email admin. He wanted to know the details of how these messages from the addresses I provided ended up in my spam manager account. No, really, that is what he asked.

Sarcastic replies bubble up in me like water from an artesian well, revolving around key points like, "don't you run the email server and the spam manager?" and "shouldn't you be telling me that?"

It seems that internal email, such as from the addresses I provided, do not go through the spam manager so we have a big "does not compute" issue going on here.

Anyway, I know enough about Outlook to grab the full email header information. I sent that along as part of my reply. I will see what happens.

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Grass Valley Police Blotter vol. XVII

At 3:26 p.m., a caller from the 500 block of Factory Street reported a person in front of the house was playing political messages on a loud speaker, drowning out neighborhood televisions and radios.

[Because, of course, that is the way to get people to come to your political point of view, drown out their televisions and radios. I think this is traditionally done via paid political ads, but maybe this is some sort of grass roots campaign.]

At 5:51 p.m., a woman reported she was assaulted by her neighbor when she tried to talk about them screaming at her daughter.

[More fun in neighbor relations. I feel sorry for the daughter.]

At 8:47 a.m., a man called from the 400 block of South Auburn Street to report vandalism to a mailbox in the past few weeks by juveniles with a baseball bat. The juveniles were hanging out by the mailbox again and he asked them to leave, but they didn't.

[You're just not saying it right. Again, with feeling, "Hey! You kids get off my lawn!"

At 3:20 p.m., a caller from the 11000 block of Ridge Road reported he was threatened by a man while he was trying to pick up his son at high school. The man was swinging a hammer at him in the parking lot, saying he owed him $5,000. The caller was not sure of the man's name. Police took a report.

[Crazy man threatening people in the school parking lot? Take a report.]

At 4:15 p.m., a man called from the 14000 block of Highway 174 to report finding a syringe in his driveway. He placed it under a blue bucket on his way out of the house and requested that the sheriff's office retrieve it for destruction.

[Too busy to deal with the syringe himself, but time enough to call the sheriff's department in the car.]

At 10:50 a.m., a caller from the Grass Valley area reported eight boys were cutting school. They were in a white Jeep, Toyota truck and a red Camero.

[The patriot in me hopes that the truck was blue.]

At 1:06 p.m., police arrested a 36-year-old man on Brooks Road for possession of a hypodermic needle/syringe.

[And a blue bucket perhaps?]

At 3:45 p.m., a caller from the 14000 block of Echo Ridge Drive reported the phone lines at his residence were cut.

[And we know damaging telephone equipment is a crime! Still, I think a call to the phone company would get better results in the long term.]

At 6:09 p.m., a woman called from a fast food restaurant/gas station on the 16000 block of Penn Valley Drive to report the manager threw a piece of ice at her eye. The caller wanted to file a report for assault. Deputies did not take a report. No crime was committed.

[I would like to know what really happened here. No doubt an irate customer issue.]

At 6:18 p.m., a woman called from the 13000 block of Golden Star Road to report her son found a syringe in their front yard. A deputy gave the syringe to hospital staff for disposal.

[The IV drug-using population is out in force this week!]

At 9:39 a.m., a woman called to file a report of assault. She said she was assaulted by the manager of a business on the 16000 block of Penn Valley Drive yesterday when the manager threw a piece of ice at her. A deputy made contact with the woman and advised her of the civil court process.

[Oh good, she is still mad and now she might sue.]

A 10:28 p.m. caller from Ragan Way reported loud music behind their house. The caller asked to be anonymous because the subject playing the music has anger issues.

[I always picture the police saying, "Yeah, your neighbor, the guy over there in the blue house, he says you're being too loud."]

At 9 p.m., a person reported a man in a white Ford Mustang convertible who was standing up naked while the car traveled south on South Auburn Street. A dispatcher advised patrol.

[Well, you have to give the guy credit for having balls... since they are right out there for anybody to verify.]

At 3:31 p.m., a woman from the 16000 block of Marion Way reported a 3-foot-long iguana sitting in a tree in her backyard. Nevada County Animal Control was unable to respond, and she lost sight of the reptile.

[Jubjub breaks free, runs amok in Grass Valley.]

At 6:59 a.m., a man from the 300 block of Long Street reported another man came into his house and yelled at him to get out. The caller followed this person down the street and watched him attempt to disturb other residences, than ran around a nearby convenience store carrying a beer. Police advised the man not to return or face charges of trespassing.

[And as good a reason as any to keep your front door locked: It keeps crazy people from wandering in off the street.]

Source: The Union (http://www.theunion.com/)

Monday, September 18, 2006

Show Me Yer Booty!

September 19th is International Talk Like a Pirate Day.

This post is linked to my chosen attire for the day... well, this along with my usual pants, shoes, and what not.

So Avast!

Friday, September 15, 2006

Grass Valley Police Blotter vol. XVI

At 11:06 p.m., a caller from the 300 block of Main Street reported the neighbor was playing drums.

[I think that is only a misdemeanor, as opposed to playing the accordion, which is a felony. And if you refer to it as a squeeze box, you may face a "special circumstances" sentencing.]

At 3:55 p.m., a caller from North School Street reported a woman was screaming for help. Police made contact with three juveniles who were on a trampoline.

[I am sure this only looks like a non-sequitur.]

At 4:49 a.m., a caller from the 1000 block of East Main Street reported a woman was under a vehicle, disturbing the peace. The caller was holding the woman until police arrived. Police arrested the 22-year-old woman for being drunk in public.

[Disturbing the peace from under a vehicle is a serious undertaking. As a kid, a guy on my street died stuck under a vehicle. Nobody heard him shout.]

At 3:55 a.m., a woman called from the 11000 block of Bedrock Drive to report people were on her roof and in her husband's shop. One was wearing a plaid shirt and the other was a small child wearing a bear suit. Deputies made contact. What the woman saw was possibly the result of her medication.

[On Halloween they would have believed her. Still, I wonder what formed that particular image for her.]

At 6:12 a.m., a caller from the 13000 block of Torrey Pines Drive reported a golf cart was stolen and was found in the water. Security guards chased the thieves but were unable to apprehend them. The caller did not want to pursue charges.

[Lesson here: Lock up your golf cart.]

At 7:07 a.m., a woman called from the 12000 block of Loma Rica Drive to report she was locked inside a gate. She and her husband were at a wedding reception at the property next door, and the gates were locked before they could exit the property. She had no idea who to call. She said she would try to locate an owner or a caretaker.

[At 7am? I have to guess that they were passed out. Hell of a reception though!]

At 4:50 p.m., a caller from the 11000 block of Thorncroft Way reported a fire was started by three juvenile boys who threw an incendiary object into bushes to start the blaze. A deputy determined the fire was actually started by a contractor. The caller was very intoxicated and confrontational.

[I love the character "The Drunk & Belligerent Good Samaritan."]

At 9:19 p.m., a caller from Hughes Road reported two men wearing jeans and no shirts went behind a convenience store and were acting suspiciously.

[As we have read in the past here, shirtlessness itself is grounds for suspicion!]

At 10:25 p.m., a caller from Nevada City Highway reported three juveniles walking east on Nevada City Highway may have been in a fight with a group in a small, dark-colored vehicle. Police made contact with a large group that was playing a game; group members were the same people behind the convenience store.

[My only question is how did two shirtless men become a large group? Well, that and what game were they playing?]

At 1:36 p.m., a man called from the 110000 block of Lower Circle Drive to report he was assaulted at his residence during his garage sale. A buyer who was not happy with his purchase punched the caller in the face. Extra patrol was assigned to the area.

[In case this was the beginning of an outbreak of garage sale beatings?]

At 8:15 p.m., a woman called from the 11000 block of Rachel Lane and reported her boyfriend had been very depressed and making comments that he wanted to kill himself and burn the house down if she leaves him. The woman called back again, wanting the sheriff's office to check on the welfare of her parrot, because the man had threatened the parrot's life, as well.

[hmmmmmm...]

At 9:10 p.m., a man called from the 20000 block of Pleasant Valley Road to report a man who was running from the sheriff's office came into his house, said not to call the police, then went into his garage. Deputies made contact and there was no person in the residence. The caller had been drinking and he did not remember calling.

[Drink! Without it this blog would not exist!]

Source: The Union (http://www.theunion.com/)

The Company Move - Side Track 1

There have been a lot of ripples caused by our ever impending move. At least one was to our benefit.

Back in February when we were planning for the Sun building, when it was thought that everybody would be sitting in a 7x9 office, accommodating people and their belongings was a concern. (It is again, now that we are all going into 6x8 half height cubes, but that is another story.) We gave serious thought on how to cut down on wasted space.

One thing that came up was monitors. All of us in engineering had 20-21" CRT monitors sitting on our desks. Some people had two or three. They take up a large amount of real estate on your desk, and nobody's desk was going to get any bigger. There was also some concern about the amount of heat generated by a big CRT in a 7x9 office.

As part of the plan to get us into smaller work areas, we asked for an LCD monitor for everybody in engineering. As it turns out, at HQ, a new standard LCD monitor had just been designated, the Dell 2001FP, a 20" 1600x1200 native resolution monitor.

A pallet of these monitors arrived in late February. All of engineering got one. There are still empty 2001FP boxes sitting around like it was Christmas last week.

These are nice monitors. They are nicer still if you have a video card that supports DV-I output. The company was not going to pay for that, but a couple of people, including myself, had spare video cards at home with the necessary output.

So for the last seven months or so we have benefited from the move in at least one way. Well, most of us have. One engineer said that 1600x1200 isn't enough resolution and he stuck with his 21" CRT running at a very tight resolution indeed. He wears glasses and sits very close to his monitor and I do not wonder why.

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Grass Valley Police Blotter vol. XV

At 8:07 a.m., a caller from Sierra Foothill High School reported a student was assaulted by another student. Police arrested a juvenile and the juvenile was booked into Juvenile Hall.

[I include this only to recognize the achievement of using the word "juvenile" three times in a sentence. Still, the could have gone for four if they had added "for his juvenile behavior" to the end. A missed opportunity.]

At 1:21 p.m., a caller from Highway 49 and Cerrito Road reported a man was stomping his feet, flipping people off and walking into the highway. Police transported the man to his home. He was having a psychotic episode.

[In San Francisco they wouldn't even give this guy the time of day.]

At 8:28 p.m., several people called from Squirrell Creek Road to report hearing shots in the area and people yelling loudly. Deputies made contact and there seemed to be fireworks in the area.

[There "seemed" to be fireworks in the area. They also felt a disturbance in the force.]

At 8:31 p.m., a caller from Lode Line Way reported loud noises. Deputies admonished people for having illegal fireworks,

[Good thing somebody was on the ball, but did the deputies confiscate the fireworks?]

At 11:30 p.m., a man called from Auburn Road to report his neighbor was walking up and down the street howling like a coyote. He said this happens almost every night.

[Another chapter in the annals of neighbor relations.]

At 11:02 a.m., a caller from Scopar Road reported a person was shooting and five or six shots were heard. Deputies made contact with a man and determined he was shooting in a safe manner.

[Rural living. As long as you are being safe, blaze away as you like!]

At 4:44 p.m., dispatchers notified local law enforcement to be on the lookout for a 64-year-old man driving a white Ford Thunderbird. The man called a friend while he was driving from Bakersfield to Placer County area and he said he was going to go on a killing spree and then kill himself. It was unknown if he had any weapons.

[I will be watching the front page to see if this goes anywhere.]

At 11:59 p.m., a caller from the 11000 block of Myrna Drive reported smelling a very strong odor of drugs coming from the area. It was a very pungent, strong odor. Deputies checked the area. The scent was caused by a skunk.

[What drug did the caller thing he was smelling. I need a skunk/drug smell joke here.]

At 10:41 p.m., a caller from Mill Street at Neal Street reported a bicycle went through the front window of a business and a person was bleeding and injured.

[I just have to say , "Ouch!"]

At 12:59 a.m., police arrested the 41-year-old man who went through the window on his bike earlier. He was arrested on Badger Street at South Auburn Street for being drunk in public.

[He went through the window then fled the scene, remaining at large for over three drunken hours.]

At 12:18 a.m., a woman from the 200 block of Brock Road called 911 to report a pet had stolen an item. She advised she was not involved in any illegal pet adoption scheme. Police found the woman was under the influence of alcohol and medication.

[It always pays to point out to the police unlawful schemes in which you have no involvement. That does not look suspicious at all.]

At 9:49 a.m., a caller reported a woman was slumped over the steering wheel of a red Subaru at South Ponderosa Way. An ambulance responded. The woman was fine. She just wanted to be alone.

[I've been there.]

Source: The Union (http://www.theunion.com/)

Friday, September 08, 2006

Grass Valley Police Blotter vol. XIV

At 2:19 p.m., a woman called to say she wanted to press charges for extortion, kidnapping and harassment. She said there were "multiple events" occurring between Depot Street and Packard Street. Police took an informational report.

[It could happen, I suppose, but I tend to think that "delusions" were on the list of "events."]

At 9:28 p.m., a caller reported a Jeep and a truck were stuck in the river at Secret Town. Placer County deputies were unable to locate the people.

[Because, of course, the town is a secret.]

At 5:17 p.m., a caller from the 200 block of Manor Drive reported a man was sitting on the grass looking at cars. Police were unable to locate the man.

[Nor did they care I imagine.]

At 6:54 p.m., a caller from the 300 block of Carol Drive reported speeding vehicles. The caller asked them to slow down. A car full of juveniles did 'donuts' in front of the caller's house.

[Insult/Injury ratio: moderate]

At 3:11 p.m., a caller from Nevada County reported a person was en route from New Mexico possibly in a stolen car with a trunkload of automatic weapons. A deputy took a report.

[Watch the paper for updates on this story!]

At 3 p.m., a man from the 100 block of West Berryhill Drive reported his girlfriend had called saying she had thrown all his stuff outside and taken all his money.

[I suppose it was nice that she called him and told him.]

At 8:03 p.m., a man reported his wallet and checkbook had been stolen from a vehicle on Mill Street. When police tried to follow up, the man's roommate said the man was heavily medicated and asleep and would not wake him up.

[The police are thwarted again.]

At 8:39 p.m., a woman from a business on West McKnight Way reported she had set the alarm and closed the business with the wrong keys. An officer helped her back inside.

[This is one where you just expect a follow up entry about how the woman then burglarized the place.]

At 11:37 a.m., a woman called to report she received a text message from someone in Sweden threatening her and her family. The caller also reported the incident to the Swedish police.

[Damn Swedes!]

At 3:33 p.m., a man called from the 11000 block of Lakeshore North to report his friend's neighbor was trying to run him over. His friend was in a dispute with the woman and she had been getting more and more violent. The woman was backing into her garage when she spotted the caller and then sped toward him.

[Some times it is not worth getting to know your neighbors.]

At 7:12 p.m., a caller from the 12000 block of Lowhills Road reported an injured deer was stuck in a waterfall, then freed itself and wandered into the woods.

[A happy ending!]

At 8 p.m., a caller from the 900 block of West Main Street reported a teen boy came to her door and wanted to talk about peace, love and a nonviolent community. The caller did not let the boy in but was concerned he was going door-to-door.

[We cannot let this loose talk of peace, love, and nonviolence spread!]

Source: The Union (http://www.theunion.com/)

Thursday, September 07, 2006

The Company Move - Part 5

We have not heard anything about the move for a while. One can look out the window of our build and into the build we have been told we are moving into and see that nothing is going on. No work is being done.

still, we have been spending time picking out cube furniture. Or at least the people who will be sitting in cubes have been participating in that process. There were several different types of chairs to consider and the color and texture of the cube walls and how much desk space people need in cubes.

Managers have picked out or have otherwise been assigned their offices on the big chart that shows how the new building will look when we move in.

We have become used to the idea of the new building. The offices promised to everybody in the last building choice have been mostly forgotten and people are becoming involved with the issues involving the building in our complex.

And then last week an announcement comes out of HQ. They have acquired another company. This company is only a few miles from our location.

The first question in my mind: How will this affect the move?

Details begin to crawl in over the following week. HQ wants all of us in the same building. The new company is small, but not so small that we can all fit in the space allowed by the building behind us. The new company has their own building in a nice location and lots of space because they used to be a much bigger company until they fell on hard times.

They also have tiny cubes with half height walls. This tidbit has not yet made the rounds as it came from a scouting report made by one of the managers. And the cube material is all pretty much new and there is a ton of it, so we won't be tossing it out to buy new cube walls. We cannot afford to toss it out anyway as this will complicate things with our current landlord which is going to cost us.

And then the question comes around from Sanders, the director of facilities, "How can we get you guys moved into this new building by the end of the month?"

I keep thinking this story is almost over, then some new twist occurs.

Let the wailing begin.

100 Most Powerful Women

Forbes has a slide show of its picks for the 100 most powerful women in the world.

#1 is Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany and #2 is Condoleezza Rice. That lines up about right I suppose. Then we get into some women in business.

Frankly, however, if I were #17 (Michelle Bachelet, President of Chile) or #20 (Helen Clark, Prime Minister of New Zealand) I might be a little miffed to fall that far behind Brenda Barnes who runs Sara Lee and who clocks in at #9 on the list.

The woman who runs a company known for frozen desserts is more powerful that the leaders of Chile and New Zealand.

And I would be pissed if I were Hillary, as she falls in at #18.

But that might just be my male competitiveness.

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Misunderstood Headline of the Day

I saw this in Yahoo! news,

"Six Armed People Holed Up in Arizona School"

and my first thought was, "Whoa, people with six arms!"

In my head, the world is a much more interesting place most days.

Heather Has Two IT Departments

As companies grow departments get created, break off, and get divided up. At our company, we have ended up with two IT departments. The simple dividing line is, one department handles the network and one handles things plugged into the network. There is some overlap in this when it comes to things like the mail server, but they divide it up somehow.

There is, effectively, a third IT department dealing with a company wide project and several micro IT departments, but these two are the official owners of all that is IT. These two groups set IT policy and rules that we try to evade.

I suspect that there is a low intensity conflict between the two groups. If you ask one department about something for which the other department is responsible, and despite the seeming clarity of the delineation between the two this is surprisingly easy to do, you might hear back from them that the area in question is not theirs. Or they might just read your email and deleted it. They will never forward it to the right person in the other department.

This animosity has worked out for at least one person in our building. We have two IT people here. Both IT departments at HQ seem to agree that we only require a single individual here to cover our IT needs. However, the two IT people here each report to one of the two IT departments and neither department seems to want their person to be the one let go.

So we continue to get decent IT service here as neither of the people on our site act as though they belong to either IT group, they just do what needs to get done.