on second thought...

"ongoing dispute" doesn't retain the same value when you see the local police department wrestling somebody into custody a few doors down.

Don't know what's going on, but I figure hanging around too much trying to figure it out isn't a battle worth fighting at this moment. Taking an order of magnitude more cigarette breaks to get a glimpse here or there, but feeling guilty being a rubbernecker. Seems mostly civil right now...

EDIT: additionally: on the most recent trip outside, a senior officer stopped to talk to me. Asked if I'd heard or seen anything, and I said "Well, other than the basic concern of a half dozen officers hanging about tonight, no, nothing that I could think of." He then said something about domestic disturbance and young love and then drove off. Two units still here and a handful of officers still talking with the people I assume were involved.

What is this?

I was born in 1977, lived in a house my parents built for a few months. Jobs changed, and I lived in Austin, TX for a few years in a place my parents bought. 1980, jobs changed and we moved to Colorado Springs, where we lived for a bit in a place my parents bought. Parents split, house sold, lived for a while in a house that was rented. Situation changed, moved to a house my mother bought in '87. Things changed, move to California to live with my father in '92. Hit the age of majority in 95 and rented a room for several years in a house rented with others. Hit an apartment complex at the beginning of '99. Another in mid-2002. Landed in my current apartment a couple months ago.

So, context aside, here's my query:

I've seen more furniture, seen more neighbors carting off bags of stuff to the dumpster, etc. in the last couple weeks than any other time in my life. When you try to take out the regular trash every week and find the dumpsters full of furniture, is that just a quirk of the locality, or is it an indicator about how fucked-up the economy is getting?

Maybe I should get my cat one of these....

http://view.break.com/293055 - Watch more free videos

(found via BoingBoing)

Navel gazing and other maritime observation.

So, yesterday was my birthday. Some of my friends took to trying to address birthday greetings in as many places online as they could (I'm taking notes of the ones they missed for future reference.)


Boo Already led that charge, and apparently also found a picture of me from my youth. It appears to be circa 8th grade. I was a weird looking kid.

Viscous Platypus offered "Pants on a Stick", with the explicit instructions to watch for splinters. Curious.


The girl made me a cake out of meatloaf and mashed potatoes (with a layer of bacon in the middle) Delicious, and I'll be eating a lot of meatloaf this week.

Otherwise, aside from picking a fight with a librarian, further proving my inability to fly a kite, and receiving somewhat disjoint instructions on how to jump out of a window into a dumpster (thank you, Awed Job), it was a pretty relaxing day.

Quote of the day.

"Viral marketing connects people with nothing to say to people with nothing to do. Ideally, in an abattoir or a deep, tar-filled ravine."

-Merlin Mann (via Twitter)

Ongoing Dispute #10: The end all edition.

One last time.

• Three cars were involved in a crash, and one car was on fire, 5:45pm


• Bees made a hive inside a water meter and started to swarm, 9:27am


• A tree was knocked over, and a car bumper was attached to it, 5:56am


• An alleged drunken driver hit a parked car, then walked across the street and punched out a mirror of another car, 12:48am


• A man who appeared to be intoxicated fell off a skateboard and bled, 10:12pm


• A car and a bicycle collided, and the driver and the bicyclist were seen arguing, 12:40pm


• An employee at the kite store on the pier reported the theft of a unique kite and then saw it being flown between Towers 3 and 5, 12:01pm


• People were seen running and screaming after someone may have arrived at a party with a gun, 12:24am


• Five male juveniles were setting off M-80s and firecrackers in a clubhouse area. The caller said the boys were "rude." 7:25pm


• A man in a four-door vehicle crashed through a fence and into a swimming pool. A caller said the man got out of the vehicle, which was sinking, and he appeared to be drunk. The man was arrested on suspicion of DUI, 4:12pm


• A caller said a man who was walking a small bulldog had kicked the dog five times and threw it against a wall, 1:13pm


• A woman said the 7-year-old boy she was babysitting had run away. She said the boy did the same thing a week ago. An officer noted the woman seemed more upset that he left again than concerned. The boy was found and the babysitter said she was quitting, 12:09pm


• A caller said one male and three female teen "skinheads" were playing "vulgar music" on an mp3 player inside a business, 10:36am


• Bees made a hive on the base of a light post, 7:40am


• A male hotel guest said his 58-year-old girlfriend hit him with an iron and he was bleeding. The woman called and said she picked up the iron because the man was strangling her, 4:27am


• Someone was using a "very loud leaf blower." 2:28am


• A black Mercedes Benz struck a child, 6:45pm


• A caller said two drunken female teens were fighting because one was trying to keep the other from driving and had taken her keys. During the fight, one girl's bikini was ripped off, 4:18pm


• A caller said a small blue car was "going about 2 miles per hour" in the center lane, impeding traffic. An officer stopped the driver and noted her license was suspended, 11:17am


• A man said a credit card company called him and notified him of fraudulent activity on a credit card. He said he left the card and other property under a floor mat in his car. When he went to check for them, he noticed his 1996 Saturn SL1 had been stolen, 9:04am


• A drunken man in his 30s was humping the ground on the beach near Tower 4, 4:58pm


• A caller said a neighbor had been throwing cat feces over a common fence and into the caller's pool, 3:18pm


• A caller said a 15-year-old girl wearing "a small outfit with heavy makeup" appeared to be prostituting herself near the street corner. An officer contacted the girl, who said she had just eaten at Chipotle and was walking to her boyfriend's house, 1:37pm


• A caller said a man took a picture of her license plate and then leaned into her window and began yelling at her, accusing her of stalking him and threatening to hurt her. Officers contacted the man and forced him to delete the photo from his cell phone, 9:53am


• A tan medium-sized dog without tags wandered into a store, 5:45am


• A woman was screaming from her second-story apartment, "Don't strangle me," and "Somebody help me." 10:47pm


• There was a huge swarm of bees on a light pole. The swarm was as big as a basketball, 7:19pm


• A caller said when he returned from vacation, two $800 guitars and a $700 amplifier were missing. The person who was watching his house took them to a pawn shop, 5:43pm


• Someone stole the caller's dog out of her back yard, 3:41pm


• A caller was crying hysterically and said someone was going to come over and bash in her head. The police called the suspect who promised to talk their problems out next time instead of leaving "nasty" messages, 8:39am


• A caller said they received a threatening e-mail that said their life was going to end unless they called a specific number and said a password, 7:38am


• A man who was washing a garbage can said a man in a white pickup truck tried to run him over. The victim said the man in the truck cursed at him and said it was not a good time to be making so much noise, 12:33am

So what have we learned? Shit happens.

By popular request, I won't end OD entirely, but just the scheduled updates. Save it for when I see something really good or have nothing better to post.

(and again, as always, source: OC Register

Ongoing Dispute #9

Penultimate week. Big grand finale next week, unless there isn't. Let's get on with this.

• A man allegedly hit a woman with a weed whacker, 5:52pm


• A digital camera and two pairs of sunglasses were taken from a car, but a putter and an Army jacket were left inside, 5:37pm


• A transient entered a business and ate complimentary hot dogs, 4:54pm


• A woman said her daughter's arm was caught in a grocery cart, 12:53pm


• A business employee said a laptop was stolen from the business. The caller said he did some research and thought he had figured out another employee had stolen it. When the caller confronted the suspect, the suspect denied involvement and then quit, 4:27pm


• A female caller told a Hyatt employee "bombs would go off" if a wedding being held at the hotel was not stopped. The suspect said "14 people in jackets" were going to "blow the place up." 9:48am (note: logged as "Vandalism")


• A group of transients had "set up camp" in some brush, 7:06am


• A 12-year-old boy wearing only one shoe came to a resident's house and asked to use a phone. The resident refused but requested that police check on the boy, 6:30pm


• Lifeguards requested police assistance with crowd control. A man was in full arrest after suffering a heart attack. The subject was transported to a hospital and later died, 1:50pm


• A caller said two pit bulls were off leash and ran up to his son and growled, 9:36am


• Police responded to a burglary alarm on a pet store. An officer noticed a bird had gotten loose and noted the bird may have set off the alarm, 7:45am


• A resident said a man was in a neighbor's back yard and had broken into the neighbor's residence. The suspect fled on a stolen bicycle and police discovered there were two burglary victims. Officers arrested a man after a search, 3:52am


• A caller heard a car slam on its breaks and then hit something. Another caller saw the crash and said a silver Toyota Camry struck a pole and then left. Officers followed a trail of fluid to a nearby residence and located the car, 1:45am


• A caller said a bobcat was in her back yard, 9:35pm


• A man with a hammer was fighting with a woman with a small bat, 9:13pm


• A caller said two women in their 40s were sitting on a bench in front of a video rental store, groping each other. He said he felt it was inappropriate for his children to have to witness the display, 5:21pm


• A woman attempted to cash a counterfeit check for $3,000. When a bank teller asked for identification, the woman left, 1:57pm


• Two males and a female with a Yorkshire terrier were drinking from a bottle of Smirnoff, 1:20pm


• A caller said two males were selling drugs in a parking structure and an older man in a cowboy hat was "supervising" them. Officers searched the two subjects and were unable to find any contraband. The "supervisor" was a transient known as a "cowboy." 12:10pm


• A caller said a large picture frame with nine or more pictures of a "pornographic nature" was sitting on a median, surrounded by broken glass. The caller said she instructed her son to travel a different route to avoid seeing the offensive material, 11:22am (note, filed as "Found Property")


• A caller said two teenage girls were taking off their tank tops and two male teenagers were urinating on walls, 7:00pm


• A caller said a man wearing a "generic police uniform" baring fake-looking badges not specifying a city was inside a store. Officers contacted the man and determined he was a V.A. Hospital police captain, 6:05pm


• A caller said a passenger in a Scion was holding a gun to the driver's head. Officers stopped the vehicle and determined the two were "playing with a replica revolver." 5:32pm


• A caller said a man hit a woman in the face and knocked off her glasses, 4:37pm


• A man said his two female roommates had locked him out of the bathroom. Officers responded and the door was unlocked. The man called later and said they re-locked the door and kicked him in the leg. He said the women were "evil." 6:32am


• A caller said a man was taking pictures of young girls. Officers contacted the man and determined the pictures were taken of the man's wife and surfers, 4:42pm


• A nail went into a child's foot on a playground at Central Park, 1:49pm


• A caller said he saw a man trying to break into his work vehicle with a slim jim. The caller confronted the man, who claimed the vehicle belonged to his girlfriend and then fled. He was later arrested, 9:26am


• An intoxicated U.S. Marine said his friends beat him up in a parking lot and zip-tied him while he was waiting for his girlfriend to pick him up. Officers responded to talk to the man and said he was "uncooperative." 12:07am

What have we learned? Oh, probably nothing. At least nature is bringing in the bobcats to fill the coyote gap.

(oh yeah, in case you hadn't noticed a pattern, the source is the OC Register)