The first of December ...

We are well on our way to a repaired home.

You may remember that the hurricane knocked down a tree that knocked down our chimney that broke the ceiling where Sandra sat. The chimney is fixed. A new roof is on. The ceiling will be replaced early next week.

We are, for the time being, nomads in our own home. The living room furniture is scattered to other rooms. We're quite ok, though.

A thin layer of fresh snow may delay some additional repairs on another part of the roof that are planned for today. More snow and ice is in the forecast for the overnight and then a warm-up.

Happy 99th Birthday, Huck.

And, for people of a certain age, here's that song that's in your head today.

Crime in suburbia

From The Landmark (subscription required):
[Editor's note: there were 16 suspicious items this week.]

Holden

Thursday -- November 15

2:24 p.m. Request for officer at high school, unknown issue, Main St.
3:25 p.m. Assist person locked out of vehicle, Main St.
5:14 p.m. Person ticketed for parking in handicapped space unhappy. Claims not to have been in handicapped space. Advised of appeal procedure, Reservoir St.
7:24 p.m. Check on people in field house. All set, winterizing facility, Main St.

Friday -- November 16

12:17 p.m. Complaint of loud music, Princeton St.
3:01 p.m. Multiple occupants of car arguing in parking lot, Reservoir St.
11:47 p.m. Suspicious vehicle, Reservoir St.

Saturday -- November 17

10:05 a.m. Caller found black Lab with leash, Reservoir St.
12:17 p.m. Stray dog in yard, Reservoir St.
12:36 p.m. Crew at vacant house blowing leaves and debris into neighbors’ yard, Lexington Cir.
1:25 p.m. Neighbors hanging around building, Princeton St.

Sunday -- November 18

1:40 a.m. Someone rang doorbell and took off,Salisbury St.
2:17 a.m.. Caller wants to speak to officer about previous call, Salisbury St.

Monday -- November 19

8:32 a.m. Dead animal in Shrewsbury St.
1:06 p.m. Car seat installation, Main St.
4:22 p.m. Vehicle parked beside Rte. 68
6:14 p.m. Suspicious male soliciting door-to-door, Gail Dr.
7:55 p.m. Suspicious vehicle, Colorado Dr./Arizona Ave.

Tuesday -- November 20

7:29 a.m. Vehicle struck deer, Bullard St.
9:36 p.m. Suspicious vehicle. Belongs to individuals involved in Asian long-horned beetle study, Salisbury St.

Wednesday -- November 21

2:04 a.m. Suspicious vehicle, Salisbury St.
7:34 a.m. Assist with car seat installation, Main St.
8:05 a.m. Refrigerator in or near Chapel St./Ottoson Way
12:03 p.m. Suspicious pickup truck traveling up and down Wilde Willow Dr.
2:29 p.m. Suspicious person knocking on doors, Vicksburg Cir. and Ft. Sumter Dr.

Thursday -- November 22

6:39 p.m. Report of male running and jumping in Fairhill Rd.
9:04 p.m. Assist person looking for family member’s vehicle, Main St.

Friday -- November 23

9:30 a.m. Suspicious vehicle, South Rd.
1:10 p.m. Police out with person who reported an unleashed dog on Bullard St. that came after her dog
7:15 p.m. Suspicious vehicles in lot on Princeton St.
7:33 p.m. Caller reports upset carpenter,Shrewsbury St.

Saturday -- November 24

9:39 a.m. Caller requests officer while carpenter removes his tools from her residence, Shrewsbury St.
1:44 p.m. Officer on drug investigation, Shrewsbury St.
4:56 p.m. Suspicious vehicle, Harris St.

Sunday -- November 25

11:21 a.m. Vehicle lockout, parking lot, Main St.
11:57 a.m. Check on three youths in parking lot, Main St.
12:57 p.m. Vehicle parked in driveway, Mixter Rd.

Paxton

Saturday -- November 17

6:19 p.m. High school teacher reports a party will take place tonight with underage kids, Howard St.
10:14 p.m. Several cars parked across the street from vacant house, Howard St. Holden PD notified. Assist Holden PD at large party

Sunday -- November 18

1:54 a.m. Caller’s neighbor setting off fireworks, Pleasant St.

Tuesday -- November 20

2:10 p.m. Caller wants to speak with officer about dead skunk on her property, William Allen Dr.

Princeton

Tuesday -- November 20

7:00 p.m. Suspicious vehicle, Hickory Dr.

Wednesday -- November 21

7:26 a.m. Two llamas in Brooks Station Rd. road near church
4:49 p.m. Assist person locked out of vehicle, child inside, Westminster Rd.
7:44 p.m. Suspicious male with flashlight on property on Rte. 140 N. Found to be a solicitor

Thursday -- November 22

8:26 a.m. Officer removes large rock from Sterling Rd.
9:19 a.m. Loose gray dog in Sterling Rd.
1:21 p.m. Police find mailbox in Willson Rd. Returned to owner

Saturday -- November 24

11:19 a.m. Caller received two letters from someone offering to buy her home, Beaman Rd.

Sunday -- November 25

6:19 p.m. Suspicious truck parked on Lovers Lane since Friday
8:55 p.m. Car struck deer, Rte. 140 N

Rutland

Tuesday -- November 20

4:23 p.m. School requesting officer, child got on wrong bus and was dropped off without a parent present, Maple Ave.
7:20 p.m. Officer removes dog from residence, Stevens Way

Wednesday -- November 21

3:22 p.m. Car parked at Rail Trail is sticking out in Pommogussett Rd.

Thursday -- November 22

9:52 a.m. Suspicious male soliciting for gas at gas station, Barre Paxton Rd.

Friday -- November 23

12:42 a.m. Suspicious vehicle parked in lot, Main St.
10:33 a.m. Stray coon hound at residence on E. County Rd. Dog reunited with owner
6:37 p.m. Black bear on porch and wandering through yard, Pleasantdale Rd.

Saturday -- November 24

9:15 a.m. Person wants to turn in old ammunition, Charnock Hill Rd.
2:54 p.m. Caller reports loose horse in road by Rutland State Park

Sterling

Monday -- November 19

6:03 a.m. ATVs in the road. Riders stated a tree was down across the trail, had to cut into the roadway, N Row Rd./Heywood Rd. Advised to stay off the road
3:57 p.m. People walking out of woods and changing direction when cars approach, Greenland/Reed Rds.

Thursday -- November 22

12:48 a.m. Loud noises from apartment for three hours, Patriots Way
4:13 p.m. Elderly female walking in Leominster Rd.

Sunday -- November 25

12:15 a.m. Barking dog complaint, Princeton Rd.
9:55 a.m. Beagle chasing coyote in back yard, Beaman Rd.
3:11 p.m. Suspicious vehicle driving in circles, Kilburn Rd.
6:27 p.m. Missing Rhodesian Ridgeback dog, Clinton Rd.

Walking as a health hazard

I had my annual physical. Nothing much to report. I'm in pretty good shape for the shape I'm in.

We live about a quarter-mile from the doctor's office, a nice walk on a cool morning. On the way, a neighbor drives past quickly. She's talking on the phone and  drinking a cup of coffee. She waves a friendly greeting.

When I get to the office, I mention to my doctor that one of my riskiest habits is walking to doctor's office.

When you need a disk drive on a Saturday ...

One of the family desktop computers developed a problem. The disk drive was failing. After tinkering with various disk repair utilities, I determined that we needed to replace the drive.

We were coming in to the Thanksgiving holiday week, with only two days of school, so I didn't hurry to order one online. I figured I could find one at a local store, install it, and set it up over the long weekend.

When you go to Staples, you discover that the disk drive product boxes on the shelves not only do not contain disk drives, but do not even represent disk drives elsewhere in the store. The message on the box says,  Please ask an associate for assistance. I asked. I learned that they don't keep drives in stock. They could order one if I'd like.

After a Thanksgiving dinner that couldn't be beat and another day around the house, I thought I could pick up a drive at Best Buy and perform the aforementioned transplant.

Almost.

A kind, blue-shirted sales associate pointed out several drives of varying price and capacity. I picked out one and proceeded to the checkout counter. Best Buy in the Greendale Mall in Worcester has an entrance/exit to the mall. We figured that we'd make our purchase and walk around a bit. The checkout was staffed by another blue-shirted associate who told us that we couldn't check out at that checkout station, that we had to go to the front of the store, the side away from the mall entrance.

Fine.

I brought the drive to the checkout. A loud, blue-shirted employee told us that we could use Register 8. The nice blue-shirted cashier took the drive and brought to another desk to remove the do-not-steal tag on the box. She brought the box back, scanned it, and waited for me to pay the $170 or so. I said that was not the price I was expecting, that the sticker on the shelf said $70. I wanted to go back to the shelf, check the price, and, if needed, pick up one that was truly the price I wanted.  The nice blue-shirted cashier told me to wait.  She told the loud blue-shirted employee who called loudly to unseen person to check the price. At this point, three people were trying to figure out if the scanner was incorrect.

There was a good chance that I'd picked up the wrong box. I was fine with that. I wasn't fine with having to wait while they checked their inventory-scanner system. I left.

By the way, the tools on Hiren's BootCD are very good. I was able to clean up the disk enough to muscle out the User directory tree. I have a disk on order from Amazon (next day shipping), but may be able to get a used one from a local repair guy.

This is the part that the retailers don't get. Online shopping isn't about price-matching. It's about having the product I need and letting me buy it easily. A 10-year-old running a lemonade stand knows this. Staples and Best Buy, it seems, don't.