Who would steal a Pride flag? And, why? I suppose some people steal things just because they can, or because they need something they can’t afford, or because they want something removed from sight. The last of these is probably the reason my Pride flag was stolen on Sunday night. Edmonton is quite supportive of […]
Yesterday someone with my garage remote was accused of stealing packages from the mailroom in my condo building in San Jose. To say I was shocked and horrified is to understate my feelings when I got the email from the property management company. The email was quite terse and, I thought, unnecessarily accusatory. Here is […]
Everywhere we go in any city in the western world, we are being video-recorded. In stores, outside banks, at intersections, and anywhere near a doorbell camera or security camera. We have become so used to it that we don’t even think about it any more. Yesterday, though, I was given a reason to think about […]
I had a long telephone conversation with a police officer yesterday. I didn’t call him, he called me. No, I was not in trouble but he did want more information about a report I had submitted online. We have had periodic problems with people who roam the streets and alleys at night looking for things […]
Now that many of us are staying home to limit the spread of COVID-19 we have more time to be aware of the comings and goings in our neighbourhoods. In fact, because so few people are out and about, the people who do walk or cycle by our houses are more apparent than they would […]
Today I was returning some clothes that I had ordered online but which turned out to be too small. Outside the nearest Post Office, parking is severely restricted because the city is prioritizing cycling. So, the only place to stop and jump out to pop something into the mailbox is big enough for just two […]
This is the story of how a bracelet goes missing and a hairdresser gives good advice. How It All Started The morning that I was due to leave London and return to Canada, a bomber in Manchester killed twenty-three people and injured one hundred and sixteen others. It was horrific. I turned on my sister’s television […]
The mailroom at my condo was broken into last month for the third time. I decided that I no longer trusted my mail to its crowbar-compliant aluminum, and I opened a Post Office box downtown instead. I arranged for my mail to be forwarded there for three months, during which time I hoped the condo […]
Imagine you are fifteen years old. You have been keeping a journal for as long as you can remember. It is one of those journals with a hard cover and a lock on it; nobody else is meant to read it. In that journal, you have written about your frustrations with your parents, the friend […]
Someone recently stole the miscellany from the glove box of my car — even the car’s manual. Who steals a manual? Everyone knows you can download them from the internet. I’m guessing that whoever it was just took everything, regardless, and then threw most of it away. The other things they stole included various cords that […]
Some people steal the knobs off appliances. They could be knobs from stoves, washers, or dryers; the knob-stealers don’t care. Discovering this odd human trait has been a revelation to me, not unlike finding out that some people are seven feet tall, or albino. It’s really odd and inexplicable. This strange proclivity for knob-stealing revealed […]
Snowbird of Paradise 