Crime in suburbia

From The Landmark (subscription required):
[Editor's note: There were 9 suspicious items this week.]

Holden

Monday, February 22

12:48 a.m. Suspicious motor vehicle, Main St.
2:02 a.m. Two suspicious vehicles, Main/Shrewsbury Sts.
8:27 a.m. Red light not working, Brattle/Shrewsbury Sts.
9:24 a.m. 911 report of male staggering in Big Y parking lot, Reservoir St.
12:37 p.m. Man staggering on Reservoir St.
3:05 p.m. Vehicle pulled out of business, causing another car to go off the road, Reservoir St.
5:14 p.m. Raccoon acting strangely, Bailey Rd.
6:23 p.m. Caller with concerns about teenage daughter using credit cards without permission
6:58 p.m. Prescription sunglasses found in field

Tuesday, February 23

11:39 a.m. Caller reports driver texting with both hands on I-290; advised to call state police
1:30 p.m. 911 report of raccoon in yard, Shrewsbury St.; ran into woods
7:54 p.m. Car having hard time getting up the hill due to condition of tires, Rte. 31
10:19 p.m. Car stuck, unable to get up Manning St.
10:52 p.m. Caller reports daughter stuck going up hill, Wachusett St.; plows advised

Wednesday, February 24

1:15 a.m. Multiple calls reporting downed wires across roadways and power outages
5:30 a.m. Resident reported putting snow in roadway, Wachusett St.
7:18 a.m. Driver slid off driveway into neighbor’s property, Wyoming Dr.
10:47 a.m. Plow backed into car, Main St.
1:17 p.m. Party reports neighbor plowing snow into road, Mayflower Cir.
3:42 p.m. Officer flagged down for directions
3:55 p.m. Two kids throwing snowballs at cars, Mason Rd.
4:50 p.m. Caller concerned about his daughter’s estranged husband threatening to throw her out of house; advised to call 911
6:29 p.m. Large puddle on Kendall Rd.
6:36 p.m. Two kids hanging out in front of home, Twinbrooke Dr.
7:32 p.m. Suspicious motor vehicle, Causeway St.
8:01 p.m. Vehicle accident; man fell asleep at wheel and hit sign, no injuries

Thursday, February 25

7:39 a.m. Sidewalk not plowed on Main St., kids walking in street
9:12 a.m. Suspicious motor vehicle, Nichols St.
2:13 p.m. Caller received threatening phone call over repair estimate
2:30 p.m. Arrest: --- soliciting for prostitute

5:49 p.m. Loose dog on Shrewsbury St.; owner spoken to
10:41 p.m. Someone rang doorbell, Old Broad St.

Friday, February 26

12:05 a.m. Portions of Princeton St. impassable due to flooding
12:17 a.m. Suspicious female walking on Shrewsbury St.
1:09 a.m. Suspicious person, Main St.
7:07 a.m. Teenage daughter refusing to go to school

12:03 p.m. Loose cow, Bailey Rd.
2:29 p.m. Caller says wires from street to house hanging low
2:46 p.m. Caller needs directions to hotel in Boston
3:58 p.m. Car on side of road, Rte. 68; driver using cell phone
6:02 p.m. Possible neighbor dispute, neighbor flooding yard

8:27 p.m. Suspicious person standing on overpass, Rte. 31

Saturday, February 27

12:00 a.m. Hubbardston PD requests check of residents for vehicle involved in local incident
12:03 a.m. Vehicle driving down street with door open

10:36 a.m. 911, Salisbury St.; child playing with phone

Sunday, February 28

1:26 a.m. Two small televisions on side of Manning St.
1:35 a.m. Door came open while car moving
6:21 a.m. Suspicious motor vehicle, Reservoir St.
10:50 a.m. Someone drove over caller’s and neighbor’s front yards during the night, Holden St.
12:55 p.m. Five males wearing red and black sweatshirts are carrying what look like fake handguns, Nichols St.
7:38 p.m. Two kids with masks in windows of building, Princeton St.

Paxton

Monday, February 22

3:33 a.m. Caller asking for advice about her back pain, Sunset Ln.

Tuesday, February 23

6:09 p.m. Man at station reports being followed by another vehicle, people shining light into his rear view mirror, Pleasant St.
9:32 p.m. Disabled motor vehicle in the middle of Pleasant St./Davidson Rd.
9:35 p.m. Disabled motor vehicle, Pleasant St./Indian Hill Rd.

Wednesday, February 24

1:05 p.m. Assist citizen helping get up, Pleasant St.
3:43 p.m. Caller wants to speak with officer about her daughter, Sunset Ln.
4:41 p.m. 911 hang-up, Sunset Ln.

Thursday, February 25

3:53 p.m. Caller slowed down to avoid hitting a dog, car behind almost rear-ended him, then started tailgating, Pleasant/Maple Sts.
9:36 p.m. 911 hang-up call; found to be person calling about flooded basement, Richards Ave.
10:48 p.m. Caller reports water in basement, Richards Ave.
11:11 p.m. Caller reports water coming through his circuit breaker, Briarcliff Ln.

Friday, February 26

10:42 a.m. Airport van parked in front of home, Cutler Rd.
6:05 p.m. Caller’s golden retriever ran away, Rockland Rd.
7:45 p.m. Advise Leicester PD of icy conditions

Sunday, February 28

4:43 p.m. Two Labradors loose, Nanigian Rd. 10:05

Princeton

Monday, February 22

4:50 p.m. Suspicious white van with one male occupant parked near entrance of Clearings Way, Sterling Rd.
7:27 p.m. Beagle missing from Barre Falls dam spotted in Princeton

Wednesday, February 24

7:19 p.m. Basset hound found in yard, Goodnow Rd. Dog later returned home

Friday, February 26

12:17 a.m. Traffic safety hazard, large amounts of water across roadway, Worcester/Ball Hill Rds.
4:13 a.m. Roads icing up and washouts
4:29 a.m. Calamint Hill Rd. N washed out and hazardous
9:40 a.m. Truck in parking lot since previous snowstorm, Main St.

Sunday, February 28

7:02 p.m. Report of black cat sleeping under picnic table for past month, Calamint Hill Rd. S

Rutland

Monday, February 22

9:38 a.m. Holden PD advises of intoxicated male possibly headed to Rutland, Rte. 122A
1:32 p.m. Loose boxer-type dog wandering in neighborhood, Lizzy Ln.
4:00 p.m. Stray cat has a trap on its paw. Trap removed, cat fled, Hope Way
6:49 p.m. Report that dog that bit a person is on Crawford Rd.
7:45 p.m. Caller says her belongings are being thrown out of house, Bethany Dr.

Tuesday, February 23

10:57 a.m. Lght-colored Labrador by side of road, Rte. 122
2:08 p.m. Police search area of Rutland State Park for dog
4:34 p.m. Caller reports hearing gunshots, Wachusett St.
8:02 p.m. Person wants to speak with an officer, Main St.
8:50 p.m. Transport intoxicated person home, Lewis St.
9:26 p.m. Vehicle doing “doughnuts” in roadway, Maggies Way
10:35 p.m. Two pickup trucks driving slowly up and down Welch Ave., occupants occasionally getting out of vehicle and shining flashlights into the woods, Welch Ave.
10:48 p.m. Motor vehicle accident, Welch Ave.

Wednesday, February 24

5:33 a.m. Keys locked inside truck that is running, Maple Ave.
11:04 a.m. Person wants to [be] fingerprinted, Main St.
11:39 a.m. Person at station to speak with officer, Main St.
7:40 p.m. Large pile of snow blocking car in parking lot, Glenwood Rd

Thursday, February 25

9:07 a.m. Person locked out of home, Haven Hill Rd.

Friday, February 26

6:13 a.m. Barrack Hill Rd. washed out
9:03 a.m. Person locked out of car that is running, Main St.
1:27 p.m. Request for officer regarding theft of heating system, civil issue
4:39 p.m. Person at station to speak with officer, Main St.
5:38 p.m. Person locked keys out of vehicle, Maple Ave.
7:47 p.m. Missing golden retriever, Rockland Rd., Paxton
11:20 p.m. Officer wanted to stand by at Rtes. 56/68. Driver involved in malicious destruction of property

Saturday, February 27

5:42 a.m. Police assist motorist with flat tire, Pleasantdale Rd.
12:45 p.m. Gunshots in state park, Whitehall Rd.
2:37 p.m. Call about a property issue, Orchard Hill Dr.

Sunday, February 28

8:41 a.m. Motor vehicle lockout, Birchwood Rd.
10:55 a.m. Stray dog in neighborhood with history of biting, Sycamore Dr.
7:13 p.m. Staff locked out of building, Miles Rd.

Sterling

Monday, February 22

1:36 p.m. Complaint about loose dog, Griffin Rd.

Tuesday, February 23

11:01 a.m. Person turned in $5 bill found on sidewalk, Main St.
1:51 p.m. Call from bus driver about youth that jumped off the bus at the intersection, Princeton/Wilder Rds.
3:51 p.m. Skunk living under house crawl space, Hilltop Dr. Advised to call Critter Control or Mass Wildlife for advice
6:52 p.m. Assist Light Dept. where lines are arcing, Leominster/Kitchner Rd.

Wednesday, February 24

7:48 a.m. Caller wants officer to speak to son, Fox Run Rd.
6:11 p.m. Two vehicles parked in driveway, Redemption Rock Trl.
9:34 p.m. Dead deer in roadway, Leominster Rd.

Thursday, February 25

9:47 p.m. Catch basin filled, water running down street causing traffic hazard, Beaman Rd.

It didn't really just say that, did it?

More on work and jobs and #li

The flurry of activity on LinkedIn, as folks made a batch of new connections, gave a clue that there was news. Later, the Alliance@IBM/CWA web site started reporting that a IBM was going through a series of layoffs. "Resource action" is the neologism that's used to when they're trying to get you to believe that it's about something more important than the fact that you're losing your job.

via Catch-22

Yesterday, I received a note from a friend who'd said that the Dark Angel of Unemployment had visited her office area, but had spared her.
Stateside IBM job cuts may be the result of a continuing trend to move work to other countries, something that's not new for IBM. The company, from the selection of its name back in the 20s (after an antecedent part of the company in Canada initially adopted the name). Again, that's probably more interesting to those who didn't lose their jobs this week.
Of course, anyone who's working knows that you always need to be prepared to look for a job. Even when you've landed one, it's only a matter of time before you'll want to or have to start looking again. That's why sites such as LinkedIn have become so popular. It's a way to stay connected with people, to find out about new companies, and see what kinds of work people are finding. Some former co-workers tend to seek and find work in the same general areas of business and technology. Others have left all that to start quilting, antique, or arts and crafts businesses. A few try to stay low and hope not to be noticed.

The advantage in these times generally rests with the person offering the job.  For a variety of reasons, such the volume of resumes received, automated systems that you use to apply for a job, or just a lack of courtesy, most people or companies offering jobs don't even acknowledge your application, let alone inform you that you didn't get the job. A few might make some public comment, such as this post on the Greater Grafton site, How not to apply for a job.
There's a lot of things at odds today - job seekers who are intellectually lazy (see Seth Godin's repost of On self determination), hiring managers who forget that they'll likely have to ask someone they fired for a job some day, executives at corporations who send people to the unemployment office by changing a number in a cell in an Excel spreadsheet, a government that tells us that tells us that the unemployment rate stays the same when 36K jobs go away as the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.
If I could make sense of it, I'd probably be rich. 

Late season firewood

We're still some time away from serious mud season, that wicked time when the firmament liquefies and inhales children and small automobiles.

Nonetheless, we have to be cautious. We keep the path to the woodpile clear of snow. As the strengthening March sunshine works on the open ground, the earth softens and is ready to trap an unsuspecting wheelbarrow wheel.
So, we have to make sure that when it's time to refill the wood rack by the back door, we do our hauling when the ground has frozen again. If we can finish by nine in the morning, we'll be ok. We have to fill the wood rack about once a week, so there's latitude in the scheduling. We'll have frozen mornings for at least a couple of months.

Thoughts on the day and time

Lee's post about the date of her mother-in-law’s yahrzeit reminds us that marking the dates of events is less simple than it seems. In Lee's case, the Hebrew calendar sets the start of a day at sunset of the Gregorian day's previous evening. Not only that, but holidays seem to float when viewed from the Gregorian platform, but are fixed within the Hebrew view.
What is it that Einstein said, that time is relative from the perspective of the observer? (See Einstein's Time - by Peter Galison for some more discussion on this.)
Even among the goyim, birth dates can get confusing. The shift from the Julian to Gregorian calendars resulted in changed birth dates for our nation's founders - What's Benjamin Franklin's birthday?.
Russia was still on the Julian Calendar in 1917 when the The two-part Russian Revolution. So, the famous February and October revolutions took place in March and November, respectively, according to the Gregorian calendar.
Many Eastern Christian churches still use the Julian calendars for their holidays, so Christmas typically falls on January 7 (Wikipedia on Christmas).
During the run-up to the Year 2000, people started to wonder if their had been similar millennial panics as the western world neared the year 1000. Several historical articles showed that people in those times were more likely to note the years during the reign of a particular king or some other scheme (The Popular View of the Year 1000).
So, our notions of the passage of time get all bollixed up. One of the standard tests that psychiatrists and psychologists use to measure cognitive ability and, well, how in tune with reality a patient might be is to ask, "Do you know today's date?" On a few occasions, I've digressed on the topic of calendars, the relativity of time, and such, but generally, now, just say, "It's Friday, March 5, 2010." (Assuming that they'd be asking me today.) Doctors and others like the answer that they expect

Oh, and don't get me started on Daylight Saving Time.

You're living too long and costing too much money

The Economist is reporting that, throughout the industrialized world, pension benefits are reaching unsupportable levels because retirement ages haven't kept pace with our improving longevity. In the U.S., our retirements are typically twice as long as those folks retiring 40 years ago.

via Time spent in retirement has sharply increased

Not only that, but we're going to have to look like Larry Bird.

Former Boston Celtics player Larry Bird, center, smiles after receiving an honorary degree from Boston University during graduation proceedings, Sunday, May 17, 2009, in Boston.

via Larry Bird Story Page - USATODAY.com

While you're waiting for flying cars and cures for diseases ...

Innovation keeps moving forward.

Gummi Bear Chandelier Is the Sweetest Light Source Around | Sustainability | Fast Company

via Wiebetech USB Mouse Jiggler Sleep Mode Preventer MJ-1 - Cyberguys.com

via Screw-in coffin


And, in case you really miss your mother ...

via Scented doll with the appearance of an aged person.

How it can end

Every so often, we see obituaries that are something like this: 

Funeral services and burial will be private. There are no calling hours. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to a charity of one’s choice.

Of course,we all have to wonder how it came to be this way, what happen in this person's life, in this family, that it's all so quiet.
I knew a guy whose obit was like this. He was a great pitcher. I could never catch up with his fastball. I don't think I saw him after high school. Fifty years can pass quickly.

Marley Gotcha Day

It was a slow walk around the buildings at the tech labs today. Marley's tail was wagging as if to propel himself forward, but his back legs just aren't moving very fast these days. Good reason, we guess. We celebrate both his 14th birthday and 13th Gotcha Day today. (In leap years, it's on the 29th.) That's high mileage for a dog.
It was a Friday evening in 1997 when we brought him home from the shelter in West Brookfield, a year old and full of what year-old black Labs are supposed to have. Within a short time, though, my mother's Zen calmed him. She could get him to wait for a count of 10 before pouncing on the broccoli stalks that were left over from the evening salad prep.
We've walked a lot with Marley and now he's tired. He's got some kidney problems that require a special diet. Good stuff. It bends the spoon as I dig it out of the can. Still, he's as enthusiastic about it as about the broccoli as about a piece of steak. The one time last year when his appetite dimmed, we got scared, but the doctor was able to correct the problem. His weight is steady at just over 80 pounds.
He gets to rest as much as wants. He's earned it.

Best product description ever.

"It is recommended for those who are faced with some simple, boring little problem that is dire need of compounding."

via TXR | freshmeat.net

Depression and everthing else

This reminds me of the time that Bruce Spingsteen was on the cover of both Time and Newsweek in 1976. This week, though, it's depression, featured in  two major New York magazines.
Head Case — Can psychiatry be a science? by Louis Menard joins New York Times Magazine's piece on Depression’s Upside. In Head Case, Menard reviews two books on the topic of depression —  Gary Greenberg’s "Manufacturing Depression" and Irving Kirsch’s "The Emperor’s New Drugs."
The discussion is in even greater depth than in the NYT article and reaching violently similar conclusions. Antidepressants don't work except in the cases that they do and talk-therapy works best unless it's an evil kind that's just getting you to accept the way things are.
It should be noted that none of the books or articles mentions other therapies that are in use today - ECT or TMS  (See the WebMD article, FDA OKs TMS Depression Device, for a summary of the two approaches.) or Vagus Nerve Stimulation (VNS).
In addition, depression is usually self-limiting, remitting spontaneously in about 50% of the cases. The trouble is that we don't understand well enough which 50% and the stakes for untreated and undertreated depression are very, very high.

via Current Worldwide Suicide Rate

Thinking and depression

One of the latest efforts to make sense of depression is in this week's New York Times Magazine - Depression’s Upside.
The article profiles research by Andy Thomson and Paul Andrews on the vexing question - why does depression exist? Given that the illness/condition affects such a large percentage of the population (about seven percent of the population in a year and, apparently, across cultures), why is this response so common and what is the irritant that's causing it?
Their research shows that depressed patients commonly have a hyperactive left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC). Activity in the VLPFC is also associated with a particular type of deeply analytical thinking.
The depressed mood, then, is not so much a response to thinking sad thoughts, but our response to extended periods of that type of analytical thinking. The article notes, "this deliberate thought process is slow, tiresome and prone to distraction; the prefrontal cortex soon grows exhausted and gives out."
There are plenty of critics of this view, that people with depression are in a deep state of rumination. This is, in part, due to the problems we have in defining and diagnosing depression. The illness/condition is an amalgamation of symptoms present over time (typically two or more weeks). Doctors build a circumstantial case for the diagnosis. They're sometimes able to identify a cause (family crisis, work troubles, long-standing relationship issues) and sometimes they can't identify a triggering event.
"To say that depression can be useful doesn’t mean it’s always going to be useful,” Thomson says. “Sometimes, the symptoms can spiral out of control."
Thomson goes on to ask, "Do these ideas help me treat my patients better?" Based on this research, he's less inclined to prescribe antidepressants, instead setting up frameworks to help patients discover what's triggering this ruminative response.
The idea that many people with depression will respond better to cognitive therapy and less to antidepressants is borne out in other research. A meta-analysis of research into the effectiveness of antidepressants, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association,  (Antidepressant Drug Effects and Depression Severity) showed that effectiveness of antidepressants increased with the severity of depression. Antidepressants for patients with mild-to-moderate depression weren't much better than treatments with placebo. For patients with severe depression, antidepressants were beneficial.
What we're finding, then, is that the easiest, cheapest, and least-effective ways of treating mild-to-moderate depression are found in the prescription of antidepressants.
As we're often reminded - fast, cheap, good: pick two.