if these limits may, at any time, be passed by those intended to be restrained?"
-- Chief Justice John Marshall, Marbury v. Madison, 1803
So Amazingly Amazing, I’d LIke to Steal It
by Hal_10000
One of the few nice things about my job in the last year was that my grant was able to spring for a beautiful 24” flat panel monitor for my primary work computer. For the first time in my career, I could see everything I needed to. I had enough real estate to use multiple windows simultaneously.
This weekend, some enterprising person engaged in a little wealth redistribution and swiped it, along with a ton of other stuff from locked offices (the computer is fine, fortunately). Since I don’t have funds to replace it, the best I can hope for is an old bulky surplus CRT. I feel like I just travelled backward in time, only I didn’t lose any weight.
You guys know I’m more in the Balko School in terms of crime and punishment. But if this guy walked into my office right now, I’d give him a personal trip on the express elevator from my 17th floor office. I can’t even understand the mentality of a thief. When I was a kid, I got away with shoplifting some candy. I was so racked with guilt, I confessed to my mom—who promptly made me go in, confess, and pay for it. I was lucky. These days, the store owners would call the cops anyway.
Just because I despise corrupt prosecutors and brutal cops, doesn’t mean I sympathize with criminals. The reason to watch the watchers is because it so easy to become what you behold. And what the cops and prosecutors behold every day of the year is scum. The scum that has me doing my work remotely on a small cramped laptop monitor and dreading the 800 pound schtumack CRT that is soon to occupy my entire desk and maybe desks in adjacent offices like some vacuum tube era Golden Horde.
The good thing is, when I called me wife about it, I could hear my nine-month old babbling and cooing in the background. So despite my angry blogging, I’m fairly at peace right now.
Update: I just talked to several people and it looks like they will find a way to replace my monitor. So I may be spared the horrors of the CRT. It’s funny how fast you can spoil on technology. I worked behind a big fat CRT for 15 years and was happy. But six months of flatland and I can’t imagine anything else.
Update: Better news yet. Campus police found my monitor. The thieves had stashed it for later retrieval. Right now they’re giving it the CSI treatment, only with real, you know, investigation, not MIchael Bay bullshit. Supposedly, I will have it back later this week.
Comments
don’t worry about it dog. There are far more important things. I do a lot of my work remotely anyway.
Some people just suck. It makes me even more angry when you work somewhere that pays well, and yet you still have greedy bastards that’ll steal. I have a co-worker that had a new digital camera stolen from inside a drawer in his desk in his office… door was open, but still, someone went in and rummaged around his desk until they found it.
We’ve had a few classic theft rings here in the past too (for those really wondering, if you can’t figure out where I work with a few clicks.. you suck). One group (or person, not sure) worked for the PC repair group and would go around and steal RAM from systems and sell it. This was a few years back when RAM was a lot more pricy. Then there was the moron that was re-routing a percentage of systems ordered for the company, basically right off the loading dock as they were delivered, and selling them. He got caught because he left the original copy of his “price list” in the copier once.
Just think, when your heir apparent becomes the new President he will provide a free college education to everyone, thus removing the need for supplement those college bills with theivery.
The reason to watch the watchers is because it so easy to become what you behold. And what the cops and prosecutors behold every day of the year is scum.
I wouldn’t say that too loud since those so easily turned are now doing their job to your benefit (finding out who stole your shit).
Much like those misguided people at Berkeley, they have no use for the military, until they need them.
I wouldn’t say that too loud since those so easily turned are now doing their job to your benefit (finding out who stole your shit). Much like those misguided people at Berkeley, they have no use for the military, until they need them.
The problem with corrupt prosecutors and bad cops isn’t that there are so many of them around—there are very few. Mike Nifong’s are rare. It’s that they are frequently not reigned in and, even worse, put in no-win situations like no-knock raids or positions where they are judged by how many people they put in prison. 90% of the problem is policy, not people.
This isn’t the first time I’ve been robbed or whatever. My personal dealings with police have almost always involved people - even when they are writing me speeding tickets—who are polite, professional and dedicated. You have a good point, though, Rich. I don’t say that often enough. And I should.
This isn’t the first time I’ve been robbed or whatever. My personal dealings with police have almost always involved people - even when they are writing me speeding tickets—who are polite, professional and dedicated.
Had a really great cop come to my house when I was in Comm. College many years back, after my car had been broken into and my stereo and what-not stolen. I asked him questions about the computer systems in the squad cars back then and he showed me some of the basics on it.
Anyway.. should’ve seen his reaction when he came out about a month later.. for another theft/break-in call, on the same car. Yep.. even his first words when he got there were “wasn’t I just here for the same car?” Went about his duties with utmost diligence though. We both laughed about how dumb the thief was though.
BTW, yes.. extremely stupid thief. Not only had they broken into the same car, but I hadn’t had time to fix the busted lock on the passenger side yet and there was still a gaping hole where the stereo once was. I was using a POS bathroom radio for music.. stole it. To make matters worse, this genius thief busted the other lock to get in!
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HI Hal,
Can you post the cost for a new one? I will put up some of the cost if others will. Unfortantely, i dont think my grants can be used for this but that is ok.
david