Crime in suburbia

From The Landmark (subscription required):
[Editor's note: There were 7 suspicious items this week. There were 5 lockouts, including one perpetrated by a dog.]

Holden

Monday -- November 14

12:34 p.m. Suspicious parties on foot, Broad St.
1:13 a.m. Suspicious vehicle, dragging front end, Main St. Driver says it is from a February accident
7:33 a.m. Party requesting officer regarding ongoing dispute with neighbor, Main St.
9:37 a.m. Female reports to post office personnel that a male is lying on the post office lawn, “groping,” Princeton St.
10:08 a.m. Caller reports canvas bag in front of Honey Farms, Main St. Turns out to be child’s toy
11:00 a.m. Caller reporting confused elderly gentleman asking for directions, Holden St.
11:28 a.m. Walk-in reports receiving a check for $1,000 more than asking price for a vehicle being sold on Craig’s list. Advised that it is a scam.
5:23 p.m. Motor vehicle lock-out, Holden Pizza, Main St.
8:19 p.m. Man with question regarding his wife buying a fake Northface jacket

Tuesday -- November 15

12:51 a.m. Shrewsbury St. Dunkin’ Donuts drive-through window is open. Notified owner, who declined walk through
4:23 a.m. Private investigator in lobby to drop off information. Will be in Appletree Ln., Harrington Dr. area all day
9:58 a.m. Mom’s Club into station for a tour
11:08 a.m. Party in lobby to report that on Sunday, she saw a 10-year-old operating her father’s construction equipment, Bullard St.
2:09 p.m. Party at station to gather information on private citizen, asked to see logs dating back two years
4:37 p.m. Water/sewer supervisor is putting out a Code Red alert for Jefferson, regarding water flushing this week.
8:26 p.m. Suspicious motor vehicle in parking lot, Sunnyside Ford

Wednesday -- November 16

8:53 a.m. Caller checking on private investigator parked outside his house, Harrington Dr.
9:08 a.m. Caller reports bobcat in her yard 30 minutes ago, Canterbury Ln.
10:03 a.m. Call from Boston Medical Examiner’s Office regarding bones found at Vicksburg Cir. Information relayed to state police
12:14 p.m. Holden Water worker reports finding several foil wrappers he thinks may have been used for cocaine near the sewer station. Requesting officer.
1:38 p.m. Caller found black Lab with license tags
6:16 p.m. Cub Scout troop touring station
11:07 p.m. Two white vans and red pickup truck at Fallon Clinic, Shrewsbury St.

Thursday -- November 17

11:49 a.m. Dog that looks as if it has been hit by a car walking down Newell Rd.
2:01 p.m. Loose dog, Forest Dr.
5:51 p.m. Walk-in advising of neighbor dispute. Would like officer present when he speaks with neighbor.
5:56 p.m. Motor vehicle accident, car vs. deer, Wachusett St.

Friday -- November 18

8:59 a.m. Man says his wife threw a rock at his vehicle during an argument, Main St.
5:15 p.m. Motor vehicle accident, car vs. deer, Main/Millbrook Sts.
5:18 p.m. Complaints of youths in roadway, General Hobbs Rd.
6:03 p.m. Caller reports jewelry stolen from her residence, John Alden Rd. Called back, found rings under some paperwork

Paxton

Monday -- November 14

7:50 a.m. Caller requesting assistance with vehicle lockout, Maple St.
12:35 p.m. Police assist person locked out of vehicle, Pleasant St.

Princeton

Monday -- November 14

9:18 a.m. Driver reports hitting large white Labrador-type dog on Gregory Hill Rd. Dog is heading up Mountain Rd. Owner picked up dog
7:30 p.m. Report of person jumping off motorcycle and running into woods, leaving bike on street, Thompson Rd.

Tuesday -- November 15

12:19 a.m. Police assist motorist with flat tire, Rte. 140 N

Thursday -- November 16

8:20 a.m. Caller reports her recycling bin has been taken the last two weeks when she puts out her trash, Worcester Rd.

Rutland

Monday -- November 14

4:55 a.m. 911 call for two suspicious people walking toward Birchwood Rd. and Inwood Rd.
11:13 a.m. Caller reports strange pickup truck came up driveway, has happened before, Campbell St.
12:38 p.m. Caller requests officer to Maple Ave. to view tape
5:03 p.m. Vehicle hit deer, Barre Paxton Rd. Deer ran into woods, vehicle has minor damage

Wednesday -- November 16

11:16 a.m. Caller requesting log entry for suspicious call she received from someone claiming to be from car insurance company. Male caller yelled, Turkey Hill Rd.
12:25 p.m. Suspicious vehicle with three young males stopped in front of house, threw something into Dumpster, Wildbrook Dr.
1:36 p.m. Business owner reports someone put mattresses in his Dumpster, Main St.
7:12 p.m. Suspicious truck parked at vacant residence, Maple Ave. Found to be septic contractor

Thursday -- November 17

11:00 a.m. Female locked herself out of vehicle, Glenwood Rd.
1:18 p.m. Caller reports her dog locked her out of her vehicle, Barre Paxton Rd.

Sterling

Monday -- November 14

8:30 a.m. Follow-up on missing person, Princeton Rd. Party no longer resides there
4:23 p.m. Caller reports theft of cord of wood from property, Worcester Rd.

Tuesday -- November 15

8:07 p.m. Motorist reports hitting deer, Metropolitan Rd.

Wednesday -- November 16

8:02 a.m. Report of animal on house, Hilltop Dr.
10:14 p.m. Caller reports unoccupied vehicle with lights on, Leominster Rd.

Thursday -- November 17

12:10 a.m. Two people walking down Muddy Pond and Boutelle Rds.

Don't touch the future. It might break.

Recently, while waiting my turn for a haircut, the customer before me got to talking the plan to give iPads to kids in school. "What happens when they drop it?" she remarked. They're always dropping things and losing things. You know how irresponsible our kids are.

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Dept. of Tunes - The late teens

Those last teenage years start with a scream. Alice Cooper's I'm Eighteen grabbed that age with broad, crashing chords and trails off with a haunting organ solo. I don't know what eighteen-year-old girls felt or feel, but suspect that the milestone is all testosterone-driven. It's something about breaking free.

Breaking free.

Just like Wile E. Coyote running off a cliff.

And then you realize that you're 20. You can't be where you were, on Sugar Mountain, and you aren't where you're going to be.

You're in mid-air.

Yikes.

This week in job search

I took a test as a part of a job application. It was a writing test. The company provides a badly-written, three-page procedural document. I had to rewrite it so that it a) made sense and b) was an example of good technical writing.

It was a good test. The piece was laden with passive voices, bloated phrasings (lots of utilize), and a couple of incomprehensible tables. I eliminated the tables because they added no value.



The procedure resembled dance instructions for an octopus with hiccups. It probably could have been better rendered as a flowchart, but I was limited to words. I think that I got right, but I won't know for a few days.

Twenty-five years ago, I had to take a short test as a part of an interview for a software development job. I was a self-taught programmer. I solved the problem, but not elegantly or efficiently. I took another position before learning if I'd done well enough to get the job. That company didn't make it out of the 80s. The other company didn't make it out of the 90s.

I'd learned of this recent opportunity through an email. I sent a resume, but most of the vetting took place on my LinkedIn profile. Gone are the days of resumes printed on high-quality, off-white paper. Because each job has its own particular requirements, I need to keep several versions of my resume. To keep things in sync, I use Microsoft Word's master document feature to assemble pieces that emphasize one aspect or another of my background.

I'd prefer to keep everything in LinkedIn, but companies have recruitment software that generally require a file of some sort. It would be an interesting project to have a company's recruitment software use the LinkedIn API to fetch information from a person's public profile. I'll look around to see if anyone's done it. I have plenty of important things to do and so am always eager to be distracted from them.

Using LinkedIn when you already have a job

I received this piece of marketing email today.

It's a reminder that we should have someone else proofread our mass mailings.