Secondhand Melancholy [S. Worthen

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I'm having a perfectly reasonable day, but plenty of other people aren't. The elderly relatives of two of my friends died today. Another friend is having a really terrible day, thanks to grad school applications. And my department was broken into, again, and many of the professors are now computerless, frustrated, and angry. Last time, in the summer, the robbers used a crowbar, and the locks were replaced with more complex, secure ones. This time, they used bolt cutters.

I hope that all your days only improve from here, and the rest of your weeks are, under the circumstances, pleasantly kind to you.

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There are 8 comments on this entry. (Reply.)

i'm sorry you're on the fringe of other people's ill winds.

that's scary about the break-ins. the school of music here has been plagued since september, but while not so violent as what your department has suffered, it's quite frustrating because it's the school's own fault and the university administration is dragging its heels to do anything about it. (a master set of keys to the school of music was stolen in september; the music administration knew about it but didn't do anything or tell anyone about it for several weeks, until a rash of thefts and break-ins began and someone's $20,000 violin was stolen, as well as a janitor injured after stumbling on the culprit, who has yet to be caught. the music libray was just hit two weeks ago, and the IU police apparently couldn't care less. the school's on a plan to change all the locks, but it will cost over a million to do so, so they're going very very slowly-- and in the meantime, the thefts continue.)

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They just hit our department this time - they also hit the third floor of the building next door, all those offices, and the college president's office. There were a number of stupidities about the event, however: the college security found the break-ins, but failed to alert campus police, who stumbled across it later this morning on their own and aren't happy about not having been alerted. Also, our chair and our executive officer had requested to be called at home any time of day or night if this kind of thing ever happened again, and they weren't informed. Fortunately there was nothing so valuable as $20,000 violins lying around to take, and the computers are covered by insurance. Alas, the information on the computers is another matter.

My own ill winds of the day were minor and just confusing: I showed up at what I'm deeply convinced was the right time and place for a meeting with five other people and no one else showed. I'm hoping I'm just not on the right mailing list or something. It was a somewhat unnerving.

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um, is crime like that common at U of T?

I mean, Manchester was one thing (where they would steal your books if you turned around) but... gah.

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No, it's not at all common. My department is particularly easy to hit due to it being in a large building which is open most of the day and evening and hidden away on the infrequented third floor. It's been hit twice that I know of, ever, both times in the last year. Toronto - and the U of T in general - are very safe places as a general rule. I feel far safer here than in London or any other really large city I've spent time in.

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Wow...it's just one thing after another, some days, isn't it. We have trouble with thievery at UBC, but mostly in the library, where people are concentrating on other things and not thinking of their personal safety issues.

Isn't it weird to be doing well when those around you are not? It's like being an island.

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On the bright side, at least I am doing well!

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dude, there was a break in? when? how come i never heard about it? was this the same occasion on which our resident philosophy prof got his wallet stolen, or was that another incidence of theft?

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It happened sometime on Sunday night.

It could well be the same occasion - I don't actually know though, but I know his office was one of the worst-pillaged ones, and his computer was stolen (at least two profs only had their keyboards stolen, which is inconvenient, but ultimately not a big deal).

I happened to be around at the right moment. Last summer when we had 2 breakins in a row, there were emails sent around about locking up, being secure, the usual sorts of things. This time around, there was nothing any of us non-professional-security types could have done to avoid it.

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Secondhand Melancholy

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October