I used to leave my laptop and backpack and books on the table at my public library in East Setauket, LI for extended periods of time - bathroom breaks, even going out for lunch - as I was very attached to this one particular spot to work at in the library. I wouldn't leave my stuff unattended for a minute at the public library in Astoria, Queens where I am now.
Can I bitch that I hate the impression that my real name plus real school name gives? I know that's obnoxiously vague but I hate having a nametag that presents me as a bright-eyed daft southern lady.
A friend in Singapore informs me that it's common practice to leave your phone on your seat in a bar while you're up, so that other people know it's taken.
This is not the case in London.
Why did my parents give me this name. The are not southern.
The only place I've ever had something stolen was in a gym. Someone lifted my phone out of the bag while I was right there, while I was towelling my head, I think. In hotel rooms, I'd happily leave my laptop out if there wasn't space in the room safe. It's not worth a huge amount, it's insured, and the data is all on 'the cloud' anyway. I do always put cash/cards/wallet, and my camera(s) [if they fit] in the room safe.
In a bar or restaurant, or on the train, I'd leave my back on the chair if I was just nipping for a piss, but I'd take my phone/wallet with me.
"Heebie-geebie Heebie U" doesn't sound particularly southern. OK, maybe southern Burma.
Bag on the chair. I don't have a detachable spine.
My brother and his girlfriend recently had a bunch of valuables (cameras, ipods, etc.) stolen from a hotel room when they went downstairs for breakfast. Of course, they were in Uganda at the time, so your mileage may vary.
I, at the very least, lock things in the room safe. it's only a minimal guarantee of protection, but in the same vein as using 3 locks on my bike makes it likely that a thief will simply pursue an easier nearby target, it seems like a no brainer.
ANd my gym recently had a rash of locker room thefts. So not sure that's so safe either.
My mom taught me the same thing. If I took any nice jewelry on a trip (which I usually wouldn't, because I find jewelry slightly stressful in general) and I wasn't wearing it, I'd at least pack it up into my bag when I left the room. That's more to keep it from getting accidentally knocked onto the floor or swept aside than it is to keep it from being stolen.
4: I have wondered that too. Does it flow well with your brothers' names?
I just keep the goodies out of plain sight if I'm in the developed world. I figure there's no need to put anyone in the way of temptation even if they are basically honest. In the third world I watch my shit like a hawk because I know the fugacity of even relatively inexpensive goodies is high.
Do most hotel rooms here have safes? I almost never notice them.
Hotel safes are good. When I had my wallet pickpocketed in Paris, I was glad that I had removed a spare credit card and left it in the safe. I am always happy when the safe is big enough to hold my laptop. Often they are that big.
11: nope, they have conventional names.
My charitable interpretation is that my mom was being artsy/creative. My uncharitable interpretation is that the main manifestation of my family's self-hating-Jew/assimilationist streak gets passed down mother-daughter, and my mom and I are both the only daughters born to our mothers.
13: OK, so hotel safes = good protection against heebie stealing your stuff.
2: I assume being in a place Boston led you to a heightened sense of awareness on the issue.
You need a safe with an outlet so your laptop can charge.
17: it's true that I get more reactions outside Texas. But I need everyone to know that I'm not Texan! Where it counts.
2. For some reason I read that as the impression from a search online. I think that it was the "plus". I now understand the error I made.
But I searched and it looked fine. The image search (maybe there was a picture of you in a hoop skirt?) was slightly amusing. Great cover on your diss.
'American by birth, Texan by choice, Southern by the grace of God'
I've seen that on a bumper sticker.
Nowhere, really. I can leave them at an airport to go throw something in the trash, but I maintain a line of sight. If want to save my seat while in the bathroom, I take my valuables and leave my jacket and other things like books if I have them. (Several months ago I saw a laptop-bag snatch-and-run at a local coffee shop - and that was right in front of the owner, not while unattended.)
21: If nullificationism is anything to go by, Montana is now more Southern than Florida.
Heebie should change her name to "Buggered". That would change people's first impression.
I think what would bother me with having a laptop stolen is more being without it for the remainder of my trip than the loss of data or whatever. After all, the important documents are also on a USB stick that's... in the same bag as my laptop. Huh. Maybe I should rethink this. (Mostly also in Dropbox, though.)
You say you're not from Texas
Man as if we couldn't tell
You think you pull your boots on right
And display your ass so well
25:
And Paula Broadwell's computer. And now the FBI I guess.
I have left a cheap laptop in a motel room where I was staying for an extended period of time (because it would have been too much hassle taking it with me every day) and had no problems but in general I try not to leave valuables unattended.
I've had two laptops stolen from apartments I was renting. Once in Paris, while I was in the shower (they came in through the window), and once while my partner and I were, um, busy in the bedroom. I was really pissed that they took my cigarettes, too. I would have been a lot less angry had they left me one.
On the other hand, I've never had anything stolen elsewhere.
The only item I'm paranoid about in this regard is my passport when I'm traveling abroad. Losing it would probably not be quite as catastrophic as I imagine, but I still have a "never let it out of my sight" policy.
30 now made me realize, with a mild sense of panic, that I'm not quite sure where my passport is right now. Surely somewhere in my hotel room.
My grandfather declared me a " US citizen by birth, Southerner by the grace of God" under a Confederate flag. It didn't take.
29
I would find people stealing stuff from an apartment while I was there really disturbing. Perhaps this is less common in the US where it would be a good way to get yourself shot.
Passport copy, spare credit card and xerox of other cards, front and back, flash drive with data essential for the next week all go in the safe.
Most precious of all are my innate generosity and kindness. I never ever let other people evem look at either of those.
33: I've heard plenty of stories of people having stuff stolen from their occupied apartments here in the USA. Never happened to me though.
When we moved into our current place, in what most people consider a rough neighborhood, I went to the Home Despot with my sister for an hour or so, and came home to find that I had left the front door wide open. Nobody had stolen anything (100% sure, as my liquor collection was all out in plain view.) The only thing I've had stolen here was a $5 garage sale Weber grill from my yard last winter. I kinda figured it would be, but I didn't feel like dragging it down to the basement.
All that said, in coffee shops, libraries, etc. I always bring all my stuff with me when getting up. There's no percentage in leaving it around to get swiped.
I was at my library carrel deep in the deserted stacks in early 2008, when I heard copious swearing from 5 or so carrels away. This was right after the MacBook Air came out, and apparently some dumbass had left his Air just sitting at his carrel unattended. Dude was running all around the stacks screaming for a decent amount of time.
33: It was pretty disturbing. I slept with a hammer next to the bed for at least a month after the second time, which qualifies as disturbed, I think. And also stupid.
Last year someone stole Jane's stroller off our porch while we were in the house. We were pissed, not least because it meant that transporting her places got a lot more difficult for the next few days after that.
I've been asked very nicely a few times by philosophers if I'm Mormon.
I have left my computer and books at cafes while I wander off to the bathroom or nearby taquerias or just go outside to {t,m}ake a phone call, generally saying, before I do so, "would you keep an eye on this?" to a neighbor.
Now my laptop is b0rked, so I guess I won't do that anymore.
Passport, half of the credit cards, USD$300 in the safe or with the desk. The rest of the plastic and a copy of my passport in a money belt. Cash in my wallet, and my phone never leaves my person.
I leave my laptop and sometimes my purse unattended at coffee shops in my small town if I go to the bathroom, but I don't think I would in Austin or anywhere unfamiliar.
Wow, I'm so much less careful than many of you. I'm sure at some point this is going to be a problem, but for now laziness wins.
I've never left my laptop unattended anywhere.
(Punchline) I've never owned a laptop.
The only time I can remember anything having been stolen from me was when somebody busted into the back door of my ground floor apartment and took my very cool watch and lots of change. They didn't bother with my tv or computer which is an accurate indication of their value.
I have recently left my car unlocked for several hours while parked on a major street in downtown Montreal - entirely by accident, obviously - and was shocked when nothing happened.
It's interesting, I think, the way that bad things not happening can point out how easily reasonable precautions turn into "everywhere is crawling with people just waiting for me to drop my guard so they can steal my stuff".
People here think I'm paranoid for locking the door to my house when I'm out for the whole day. I'm getting used to doing things like leaving my office door open when I'm not there, etc. One of my students told me her bike was stolen one day, and she was really pissed, but two days later it showed up outside her building with the gear shift fixed and a note saying "SORRY."
When I interviewed at heebie u, one woman conversationally mentioned that she'd had her purse stolen when she left her door wide open and left for a while, and I thought she was an idiot. Now, though, I see why she was so flabbergasted. I wouldn't do that, but most people would.
I never leave both my toothbrush and my camera in the hotel room, for obvious reasons.
We once accidentlaly left the front door of our home unlocked during a two week vacation. No one opened it.
I lock my laptop to my desk when I'm away from it for more than twenty minutes or so. I'm not enormously worried about it (the key to the computer luck is just sitting in an unlocked drawer), but there are a fair number of randoms who come through here and it keeps somebody from just grabbing it.
It's also taking some adjusting to being able to walk anywhere at any time of night with no people around. In NYC, I walked everywhere at all times of night, but felt scared when there was only like one visible person on the block. In my last place of residence (50K people) muggings happened at all hours, but I didn't feel comfortable walking home after midnight by myself--I'd certainly be harassed and followed, though I never got actually mugged. Here, though, I asked a friend how late was safe and he kept repeating, no you don't get it--it's always, always safe, all the time. By myself? By yourself.
Somebody walked right past me out of our office carrying out one of our laptops. This was when I lived in the not-so-deep South. I thought it was fishy, but not fishy enough to try to stop some guy until I'd checked that a laptop was missing. The police got him, because he wasn't very subtle about hiding the laptop while getting away. Anyway, the women who worked there always carried their purses or locked them in a drawer. After the first couple go missing, you realize that there were people actively wandering the halls looking to steal anything not watched.
If coffee shops had some system to actively guard against theft, I would drink more coffee. Having to decide whether to leave my stuff unguarded or to pack it up and cary it to the bathroom causes me to drink less coffee. Also, I feel strange carrying my laptop into the bathroom. I know what I would think if I saw someone doing this--even if I had just done the same thing.
I got my wallet stolen at a Y in Nashville, because I left it in an unlocked locker. Then I wrote a story about it.
I've lost my keys innumerable times. Never had any hardware stolen successfully though.
I had everything with a cord attached stolen from my car once. This consisted of my GPS, phone charger, and a bunch of random useless cords. I had left the car unlocked and someone just went through all the compartments (including one I was unaware of, whose door was left open) and took those things. Nothing else.
Always take the laptop into the bathroom too.
I never travel with my wedding ring, but really that's 50% worry that it would be stolen and 50% worry that I would forget it on the bedside table in the hotel room. I've frequently left my laptop in the hotel room and never had trouble.
The thing I worry about is leaving my $10,000 birding lens in the rental car when I go out to dinner, but I'm assuming that most people wouldn't know it's value. Plus, it's so freaking heavy that they might change their mind about stealing it. The whole setup easily weighs 35 pounds.
And now that I'm in my room, let me say that this upscale Boston big conference hotel doesn't have safes in the room.
I never travel with my wedding ring...
Frank Gifford was the same way.
63 also to 61 if 61 is British slang.
55: That's the most amazing feeling - walking around (safe) at night by myself (a woman).
Of course, I'd still get comments from people saying it was super unsafe and I'd be sorry, so I know I'd be blamed if 'something' happened, but it was so great to be alone walking at night. I'm jealous of guys for getting to do that with much less thought.
(Purse (including make-up and credit cards) stolen from behind the bar when I waitressed. Laptop stolen from backpack in locked car trunk in Vancouver where the police blamed me for not protecting it properly. Money belt stolen from my mother in hotel room in Atlanta after she accidentally forgot it under her pillow (where, of course, she had put it for safety))
At a coffee shop? You make eye contact with some sitting nearby, ask politely if they'd watch your stuff for a sec, and leave your laptop to go to the bathroom.
I had that home break-in, but we were gone for the week.
I always just ask someone to watch my laptop for me. To do otherwise feels self-important. I don't have any national secrets or anything, just a bunch of legal crap and semi-autobiographical writings.
66 is what I'd do if I were in Austin or another city.
Or what Megan said with her good sense. 100% exactly right.
Years ago, somebody broke into my garage. They pulled the radio out of my car, but left it, wires still attached at the back, hanging halfway out of the console. It is possible they were interrupted and ran, but since they took two cases of soda with them, I think it is more likely that they realized just how shitty the radio was and decided to leave it.
61: I suspect that my husband will never be ready to have kids so I needed a hobby as a backup plan.
the Home Despot
"Special offer! 30% off Nursultan Nazarbayev! Idi Amin IN STOCK NOW! Novelty George W. Bush with every Manuel Noreiga sold!"
Someone stole two bikes out of my garage. I'm pretty sure it was Beefo Meaty.
generally saying, before I do so, "would you keep an eye on this?" to a neighbor
I know someone who (rather stupidly) did this with his backpack. When he came back from the men's room, the stranger had absconded with the backpack.
When I was working in Africa, you couldn't let anything out of your sight at the office, even for a moment. At night, desktops were completely clean, because to leave even a stapler or coffee cup on your desk was to have it stolen. In my hotel, by contrast, I cavalierly left laptop, cell phone, sometimes even my wallet lying around in the room. The staff were all (1) devoted Christians; and (2) so thankful to have a decent job that they didn't dare risk it. Also, I think they were subjected to routine frisking on the way out the door at the end of their shift.
71: It sounds like things are more defined in your head than when you did an ATM on this topic a while ago?
A friend in Singapore informs me that it's common practice to leave your phone on your seat in a bar while you're up, so that other people know it's taken.
The UAE is similar. When people go to the mall food court, they leave cell phones, keys, even wallets to stake a claim to a table while they go order.
76: In Pittsburgh, people tend to leave their money at the bar. I've also seen cell phones, but the money thing is the one that I still haven't acclimated to. They'll put a twenty at the bar and the bartender will take each drink, individually, out of the bill. They'll leave the money even when they've gotten up for whatever reason.
I guess the social norm against theft is enforced by the community at those bars -- if you tried to take something, everyone would kick your ass. Everywhere should work that way.
It's a bit like pool tables in some British pubs. There'll be money down on the table to mark your place in the queue to play. Taking someone else's money, or skipping your turn, would be highly deprecated.
79: Unless pool is really expensive, you're probably talking smaller sums.
I've seen 79 in Texas and elsewhere, but marking your spot with $1 in quarters is pretty different from leaving a $20 all night on the bar.
There could easily be 10 quid or more lined up on the table. Not much less than a twenty US.
I would guess thievery is least common where the community takes it personally. And they should. It's an affront.
82: Right, but each person is only in for a pound.
In for a pound, in for easily 10 quid or more, as the saying goes.
I'm not so concerned with the neighbor running off with my stuff. I trust her not to steal my stuff, but what if someone runs in off the street, grabs my laptop, and flees. What will this stranger sitting next to me actually do to resolve the theft? Will she chase the thief across the street, through traffic, parkour up the side of building, and tackle him before handing him over to the police with a witty retort? Because this is what I would do. This is the minimal amount of effort that I would be comfortable with but may be an unreasonable expectation from someone whose name I don't know.
but each person is only in for a pound.
try lifting the pot and see how many you get.
And it's all in change, which is presumably annoying to walk off with.
What will this stranger sitting next to me actually do to resolve the theft?
Give that thief the SEVERE stink-eye.
78: Yes, feel the hatred...give in to the anarchy!
Will she chase the thief across the street, through traffic, parkour up the side of building, and tackle him before handing him over to the police with a witty retort?
I'd like to think so. And that's partly why nefarious people don't try shit like that. I get the sense that the American bar or cafe used to be even more a place where you would get chased and thrashed appropriately for stealing things, but it's the people who have chipped away at that sense of community who most often complain about its loss.
We recently had a portable CD player stolen from our unlocked car while it was sitting in our driveway. The neighbors' car was broken into also, but they got their window smashed.
generally saying, before I do so, "would you keep an eye on this?" to a neighbor
When my sister and I were very small, tow-headed little angels, my parents would get asked to watch things for people ridiculously often, so often that it became a running joke.
but it's the people who have chipped away at that sense of community who most often complain about its loss.
Because they have the most heightened sense of its absence. Other people still have rosy imaginations intact and don't think about it very often.
Other people still have rosy imaginations intact and don't think about it very often.
When they do they get very angry even at the mere possibility of it and stop to remember how much coffee they've already had at 10 a.m.
Why are you in Boston at a fancy hotel? To steal things????
I have no fear whatsoever of my laptop getting stolen from a hotel room. I mean, wouldn't hotel maid laptop thief have like 10,000 laptops to choose from? Every business dude is leaving a laptop out these days. Plus, most hotels have key cards and can easily check who came in and who came out a room at any time so it's unlikely that laptop thief hotel maid has much of an escape plan, and the resale value of a hot laptop just isn't that high.
I guess if I had any super valuable jewelry I'd put it in the hotel safe.
I don't often work in coffee shops but when I have the asking the neighbor to watch the laptop thing has always seemed to work just fine. You'd have to be a pretty fucking desperate junkie to wander into a reasonably busy coffee shop and just grab an unattended laptop when you don't know if the owner is around, how big the owner is, etc.
That Pittsburgh bar thing is weird; I remember seeing it there, but don't remember seeing it anywhere else. Maybe it's just a local norm in action.
It is possible the Pittsburgh this is actually because local community was weaker. That is, if your bartender expects to be paid after each drink, it may be that he expects a "drink and dash."
I haven't stayed in many hotels, but I'm pretty sure ones with safes in the room are in the minority. Most have advertised a central "hotel safe" in the office, but I've never made use of it. Most of my hotel staying recently has been just passing through on long drives, so I'm just there one night anyway.
I think the pay after each drink thing is pretty standard. It's the leaving (relatively large amounts of) cash on the table as opposed to putting it back in your wallet after each round that's more unusual.
It is possible the Pittsburgh this is actually because local community was weaker.
weakness is a definite possibility.
Most thieves are shy, retiring creatures - the last time someone tried to steal something from me was when someone took the light off my bike without realising I was standing 20m away. I pursued him and said firmly "OK, now give me the light back" and he did.
||
Judging from past comments, this should be useful for many members of the commentariat.
(H/T Sully)
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102: this has not been my experience, but I'll grant that my sample may be skewed and not representative of the theives one encounters in coffee shops midafternoon.
After the DC earthquake last year, I was stuck walking around with my laptop and no case or anything to carry it in for about 6 hours because I couldn't get back into the library of congress to get my bag. I did take it to the bathroom at a sandwich place. I don't know if I'd have asked someone to watch it, but no one was around.
Okay, so, to everybody who insisted that we haddahaddahadda vote for Obomney this month, how many of you are spending today calling and emailing and writing the White House and your Senators and Congresspeople about this "grand bargain"/"bitter pill" horseshit they're trying to sneak past in the post-election doldrums? If there was even a scintilla of a reason for me to vote Democratic, then there is surely a Scylla of a reason for you to pull out all the stops to keep the Prexy and his conservative technocrat friends from fucking us over this week.
106: Ok, fair is fair. What substantive points should we make in the correspondences that we might send?
106: scintilla / Scylla -- nice!
So, did you vote Democratic? The answer will determine whether I "pull out all the stops" to prevent a "grand bargain".
(just kidding! I already did my version of pulling out all the stops! I signed an online petition!)
The only possessions I put much value in aren't actually worth much in the marketplace, as I have learned. But if anyone tried to steal them, or I even suspected it, I would probably find a way to shame that person publicly, in as painful a way as I could.
I'm used to the ask-someone-to-watch-your-laptop-at-a-cafe thing, but I recently had an experience that went way beyond this: being apparently expected, without even being asked, to watch over somebody's fixie outside a grocery story.
It was very weird. My mother was visiting, and was inside buying flowers; I was talking on the phone. A exemplary specimen of the hipster genus rolls up on his fixie, sees me standing next to the bike stand, gives me an intent look, sets his bike up next to me, and walks in the store. And then he takes forever! My mother's finished shopping, I'm done with my phone call, we have places to go, but I feel like I need to wait for this asshole to come back, because FFS an unlocked bike is about the most grab-and-go thing imaginable.
And then he comes back, and--nothing. Not even a nod or whatever. My mother loudly says, "YOU'RE WELCOME!" as we walk away.
I dunno. Maybe he wasn't an asshole, just someone who had no problem with leaving his nice fixie unlocked for five minutes in a super-busy area. But I'm leaning towards "asshole".
109: Don't worry, text! There's not anybody cruel enough to steal your blankie.
107/108: I did indeed vote a straight Democratic ticket, and "No" on both of the amendment questions, of course.
Substantive points? There's a lot of them to make, I don't know if I can summarize as well as the people who make electoral politics their metier.
1. There's already enough money in the SS trust fund to last for some time, no need to "fix" it.
2. Social Security would be fine for the foreseeable future if we removed the income cap.
3. We've seen 3 decades of piecemeal austerity measures coupled with tax breaks for the well-off, and our economy has paid the price. More austerity puts us on the path to what Spain or Greece are facing right now.
Et cetera, et cetera.
It's paranoia on my part, but my only possession that I worry about being stolen is my pit bull.
112: Hey, you can do a pretty good impression of a process liberal!
There's not anybody cruel enough to steal your blankie.
Good. There just better really not be.
Also, I'd point out that my representation includes: a gay man on the City Council, a lesbian and a black man at the State Capitol, and a black man who's also a Muslim in the US House. All of them very progressive Democrats. We're doing our part in my ward*, I don't know what the rest of you guys' problem is.
*Which is a pretty poor and disenfranchised one, it has to be said. Most of my neighbors have no more reason to vote than a very pure anarchist. They're getting the short end of the stick no matter who's in office.
114: Well, hardly surprising since I have to pass as one to remain employed.
I'm not even posting this kind of thing on my FB today, lest it ruffle too many feathers.
A exemplary specimen of the hipster genus rolls up on his fixie, sees me standing next to the bike stand, gives me an intent look, sets his bike up next to me, and walks in the store.
You totally should have walked away. He didn't even ask you to watch it!
how many of you are spending today calling and emailing and writing the White House and your Senators and Congresspeople about this "grand bargain"/"bitter pill" horseshit they're trying to sneak past in the post-election doldrums?
Citation? What's going on right now besides pundits talking about what should happen? I agree what you describe is a big risk in the next year, but most of the stuff I've read today and yesterday is about what the Democrats might accept wrt tax-cut extensions.
He should have walked away with the bike. The "intent look" could be interpreted as "I'm giving this to you."
I think most people here just don't have that impulse, Moby.
I leave stuff in hotel rooms all the time, including visible cash if I've emptied out my pockets and then not thought about it when I left the room. There's never been a penny missing -- definitely not worth the temptation, I think.
Because of this, I make sure to leave the tip somewhere very prominent and on an otherwise empty surface.
121, 122: Actually, I totally had that impulse. It would have been a huge upgrade over my current bike. Alas, I'm too noble. Plus, my mother was right there; I'm hardly going to engage in theft with her watching.
I used to lock my laptop to something in the room with a cable lock. These days I travel with a work laptop instead and make it their problem (though I don't usually leave it in the room very much).
It would've been awkard to ride off with mama trapnel on the handlebars, hipster in pursuit.
124: If it had been a tandem bike, that would have been different, but I agree that leaving her there to explain would have been a bit much.
Hyde Park has a pretty spiffy Frank Lloyd Wright house.
131: Just sitting there and it hasn't even been stolen yet?
I leave my laptop and bag at the table at coffee shops; whether I ask someone to watch it depends on the which one I'm at. I'm too trusting in general, but nothing bad has ever happened.
This summer, M/tch missed an opportunity to prank* J/o/h/n H/o/d/g/m/a/n. We were visiting a friend who works at an exceptionally great bookstore at which JH hangs out and he asked M/tch to watch his stuff. Alas, M/tch acted like a responsible adult.
*By "prank" I mean "throw his laptop out the window into the Sawmill River to see what he would tweet about it."
129: I can't imagine putting my mother in that position, or having to explain, as a parent, that my grown son was a thief.
Not so relevant to this thread, really.
Oh hey, I got here right on time.
No, he isn't.
If he's so great, why did he build a house with steps from the living room to a stream without adding a suspended a toilet seat over the stream?
Actually, he probably is in popular culture, but I suspect he remains underappreciated in the actual profession. I was kind of shocked in the early 90s to have professors actually pointing me towards Mies and Corbu as fruitful models. I'm pretty pro-modernism, but there's a pretty straight line from LeCorbusier to everything that's worst about modernism, and I'm not sure what is supposed to be redeeming.
FLW had his flaws, obviously, but nothing about his theories/concepts/aesthetic actually requires being an ass to your clients or designing leaky roofs.
PS - I realize that 138 was surely not intended to evoke all this.
141.3: Actually my first thought when I saw 138 was that Moby is trolling JRoth.
Fallingwater was one of the greatest works of architecture I have seen personally (can't judge architecture from a photo).
It was nice enough if you're into that kind of thing.
Actually, if you leave your wife around, Frank Lloyd Wright will steal her.
And my wife really likes Fallingwater.
144, 145: That's a low ceiling to clear.
Or laptops from tables in coffee shops.
Fallingwater is on the list of works of art that I immediately wanted to steal and keep for myself. Robie House, the one in Hyde Park, never appealed to me the same way.
Fallingwater seems like a hideous pain to live in, but is on nice land. I haven't visited Kentuck Knob yet, but my wife recommends it over Fallingwater.
Fallingwater is great, but at least 50% of the great is just the lot.
I haven't been to Kentuck Knob yet either. I'm willing to go the extra mile to see, but not an extra six miles.
Theft:
Shortly before I graduated college, someone came into my apartment (a room in an old mansion) while I was in BOGF's apt. down the hall and stole most of my CDs, as many as he could fit in my $200 leather satchel. The apt. door was unlocked because there were rarely strangers in the building.
When I was in Rio, I went to Copacabana and wanted to swim, but I was kind of stumped, since I had nowhere to stash my meager possessions (I was alone and it was a weekday, so nobody much around). In the end I used the top secret shoe safe method, and nobody took anything.
Somebody once Spidermanned into my and BOGF's 2nd floor apt., using a table knife to smash the window and enter. Not much of value was taken (a crappy pseudo-laptop, maybe a VCR?). Guy was eventually caught - total crackhead thief.
AB had a bike stolen from the hall right outside my apt. - it was locked to a wood spindle, which the thief broke. It was the 2nd floor, so it was kind of weird that someone would come in and do that - the exterior door locked.
I once caught someone breaking into my MIL's car out front. Because she's a hoarder, the poor guy was sifting through garbage (literally) in search of anything of value, when the cops arrived.
The first few years we lived here, we had some tools and such stolen off the porch, but as time has gone on, we've grown more slack, and nothing ever happens. AB used to hide her laptop in a closet when we'd leave town, but I'm not sure if she does that anymore.
The upshot is that, despite various bad experiences, I'm not especially paranoid. In hotel rooms I sometimes think I should be paranoid, but with the kids and all, it's too much effort. I might put the laptop in a bag, just so it's not mega-tempting, but that's the very most I'll do.
Kentuck Knob is great because it shows off what IMO is so great about FLW: the domestic scale was utterly natural for him. Fallingwater is show-offy (NTTAWWT), but his smaller post-Prairie houses (mostly Usonian, but not only those) are cozy yet amazing.
Maybe I'll drive out over Christmas.
I prefer Lloyd Wright, who came up with this bad boy. The renovations were kind of screwed up recently but it's totally the best evil villain house ever.
Also it belonged to a (possible) actual evil villain, the prime suspect in the Black Dahlia murder lived there, and there's a claim that the torture and murder took place inside the house.
160: Oh, all the stories about that dude are craaazy. His kids hate him for sure.
160: Have we ever discussed all that Hodel business here? 'Cause the Black Dahlia part was pretty compelling, but when he subsequently accused his late father of ALSO being the Zodiac, I started to question his credibility.
wanted to swim, but I was kind of stumped, since I had nowhere to stash my meager possessions . . .
I kept going out a little further and each time, I would think of my money being stolen and I was less afraid of sharks. It just sort of happened naturally. I realized I was out a little further and a little further until al of a sudden I was out further than I had ever been in any ocean, in any world, anywhere.
...
I said, "Penny, listen, I had a Perfect Moment but I have no words for it. But I can tell you about my new theory of Displacement of Anxiety. You see, if you ever want to do something Penny, and you're afraid to it and you lack the courage, just take a big pile of money and leave it somewhere where it can be stolen. Then you'll be able to do what has to be done. Just concentrate on your money."
She said, "Spalding, Spalding, you're a strange bloke. You know what? You think too much. What are you doing testing your fears at forty-two years old? Didn't you do it as a lad?"
By Bayesian inference, we know that somebody who has been inconclusively accused of murder is more likely to be inconclusively accused of murder again.
163: Interestingly enough, that might have been the closest I've ever come to being drowned. I wasn't intentionally doing anything unsafe, but the undertow was quite serious, and I ended up spat up a couple hundred yards down the beach from where I'd entered.
I really didn't enjoy my time in Rio, in large part because at the time (early '96), its reputation was absolutely awful for safety - that basically any American (and god knows I could have passed for nothing else) had enough money to be worth mugging, and that virtually no neighborhoods were immune. It may have been overblown, but I know that Exxon (my dad's employer) would only permit its employees to stay in one hotel in the entire city, because none of the others were deemed safe enough. Actually, my dad had been going for some 15 years at that point, and he had witnessed the decline.
By contrast, Brasilia is pretty amazing. Presumably in the "nice place to visit" category, but whatever.
Oh, and the other factor is that I had first gone to Buenos Aires, which is a beautiful city, and really enjoyed my time walking around there. So Rio certainly suffered by contrast.
I was in Rio around that time and it was wonderful and I never felt unsafe. However, I spent the entire time in the company of a significant number of native Brasilians. I would probably have felt differently if I'd been there by myself, or only with other Americans.
Rio actually probably stands out as the most wonderful place I've ever been.
What about your wife's nether regions?
You're being asked to make a dildo from your least useful kidney.
Oh yeah, I meant to mention that I was almost entirely solo (I was tagging along on my dad's business trip, and it was all work days) and not only did/do I not speak Portuguese, but I also didn't/don't speak Spanish - my ability to communicate was close to zero. The notion that, literally someone could walk up behind me, say, "I'm going to mug you, you stupid fuck," and I'd never know, was disconcerting.
I've told the story of my day in Brasilia, right? The lovely Brasiliana* who made eyes at me on the bus from the airport and then spent the day with me wandering the city? Serious lifetime highlight.
The relevant part was, after an hour or so, we were in some giant mall at the center of the city, and I found a bookstore so I could use a dictionary to try to communicate some. I had a tiny bit of Spanish from 7 years in Miami (plus a French/Latinate grasp of Romance languages), and so I'd haltingly compile some vaguely-comprehensible sentence in semi-Portuguese, and she'd reply with a full speed sentence. Having been on the other side, I kind of appreciate the cliche of the slow- and loud-speaking American. In the ~6 hours we were together, she never said a single word in English - not even Yes, No, or OK. It was still amazing, but I didn't exactly feel that I was being met halfway.
*oh yeah, one of my other complaints: for my personal preferences, the women of Rio were much, much, much less attractive than the women of BA (who are world historically beautiful IMO). I basically didn't see any women who caught my eye the whole time I was in Rio. OTOH, the giant concrete cathedral is pretty impressive.
176 is either one comma short or heavy. Not sure which.
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Tonight's dinner conversation: an Israeli physicist explains to me why the current attack on Gaza is "long overdue" and "was already absolutely necessary some years ago".
Arrrrrrrg. Can't we all just get along?
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If you press them, Israelis will usually explain to you how the Arabs understand only force and this particular use of force will finally make them understand that they need to behave. I guess Arabs only understand force but are extremely slow on the uptake.
OK, lest this become the dreaded Israel/Palestine thread -- here is a great FAQ from the Seattle PD on new marijuana laws .
Just imagine how slow they'd be to understand constructive engagement!
Oh, I didn't speak a word of Portugese, either (although, again, I spent most of my time in the company of people who could translate for me). I did, however, spend a full afternoon attempting to talk to a woman who didn't speak a work of English, with me saying things in English and her responding with things in Portugese, and both of us sort of doing our best to gesture through what we were saying like we were playing a game of charades, all while surely misunderstanding 90% of what we thought was being communicated. Then we had sex in her hammock.
183: If only the Israelis could go to some other country, and lie around on the beach, with some really killer bud, maybe they wouldn't be so aggressive. Oh, wait, they already do that in Goa, don't they? Well, maybe we could collectively fund a scholarship to send Palestinians to Goa to hang out on the beach and get stoned. Y'all would be up for that, right?
I'll tie two of these threads together: A few years ago, while staying at Le Meridien in Minneapolis, I went out for the day and accidentally left a bag of weed sitting out in the room. I realized it while I was out, and spent an hour freaking out while heading back to the room - would the cops be waiting for me? Would I be evicted? Instead, when I got back, the housekeeping staff had cleaned the room, made the bed, folded my shirts, neatly rolled the baggie up without taking anything out, and put it under my newly-folded shirts. Sometimes it pays to stay at nice hotels. (Especially on someone else's dime.)
"The White House on Thursday threw its full support behind Israel's military response to a barrage of rockets fired by the Islamist Palestinian movement Hamas that rules the Gaza Strip. Deputy National Security Adviser for Strategic Communications Ben Rhodes said it would be "up to the Israeli government" whether to follow up punishing airstrikes with a ground assault."
Then we had sex in her hammock.
Mine asked me back to her place, using a very sweet gesture to indicate her meaning, but I was too damn scared - STD and/or personal harm. I wasn't so worried about the latter (she went to a secretarial school, which made her seem pretty harmless), but the former scared the crap out of me (I was heading home to BOGF in about 5 days).
123: Do you guys tip for hotel room cleaning/service? Under all circumstances, only if you're staying for multiple days?
I've been amazed as my wife has revealed the extent to which she understands tipping is expected. Like the full price of her expensive haircut/color again in tip (at least during the holidays). Plus mailmen and lots of other people I've never noticed being tipped.
I don't want to alarm you, but if she tips the mailman, it's a safe bet they're having sex.
On my drive in to work, I counted the marijuana dispensaries. There were 13 of them. And 2 bars.
OMG, am I supposed to tip my dealer at the holidays?
Weve had the hotel maid tipping discussion before. Consensus was between $5-10 per night IIRC.
100% tip in a haircut seems weird. 20-25% seems right.
194: I think the 100% was just for the 'during the holidays' haircut, with 20-25% being more common throughout the year.
182: If you want to have some fun, do a search for "only understand force" (including quotes). Then start restricting it by removing the most common results--e.g. try the search: "only understand force" -Zionists -Arabs -Americans. Not only are humans stupid and evil, we have a tendency to think everybody else is more stupid and more evil.
194: Completely in agreement on the amounts for both. But tipping for maid service is always a little weird since you provide the tip before the service is performed, and whatever intuition you might have about their quality is built upon the work of not-necessarily-the-same maid so it's a complete crap shoot. But still, it's indecent and asinine not to.
And the third result I got was downright depressing... "children only understand force".
Sure, but you don't have to apply that much.
197: Well, no, it's not. And I posted that before I saw the posts about Brazilian hammock sex, so it looks even worse by comparison.
As of 2005, here's a comprehensive list of people who only understand force. I think the list has grown since then.
Then why did you tell me it would be fun?!
202: The list has grown a bit since then. (Based on Google, it now also includes the British, "illegals", various racial minorities, and GCSE students.) Must be a virus going around.
203: I'm stupid and evil. And you only understand fun.
About the only thing I've had stolen in the last 25 years that wasn't in my car at the time was a ladder. The kids had it at the very close-by (100 yards) park to pick either cherries or mulberries. I'm not sure if they were either bringing a load back or just taking a break but as they were walking back a friend yelled, "Hey, that guy just jacked your ladder!" And sure enough a workman's pickup with equipment and other ladders was driving off with our ladder. They apparently gave brief, comical chase but he got away. I do wonder if the thief was normally law-abiding but unable to overcome the cosmic coincidence of coming across an unattended ladder in an unlikely place just as he was happening by with the vehicular means to abscond with it. (Although the park is not situated in a way that one would generally drive by it.)
Theres a lot of construction equipment/tools theft. When I was doing renovation on the house (not living there) there was a break in and tools were stolen; cops said that's almost all of their burglary/theft calls.
207: Yes, actually I'm a bit paranoid about that at the moment since I have two different groups of workmen doing work on the house, both with a lot of equipment. Especially the ones spread out in my not-very-secure garage.
144
Fallingwater was one of the greatest works of architecture I have seen personally (can't judge architecture from a photo).
As long as you don't care about minor details like structural integrity.
every hotel in SE asia has a room safe, so I use them for my passports and cash and credit cards and jewelry and camera if it's not needed, but the computer won't always fit. (every hotel I've stayed in in the US for the last...10 years has had a room safe as well.) I mostly figure people aren't going to rip me off and it's fine. sometimes I screw up and leave all kinds of whatnot around and that's been fine too. I actually travel with jewelry which may seem stupid but what do you have the stuff for but to wear, ever, right? carrying an iphone 5 is just like lugging a petite gold bar around everywhere you go in a 3rd world country, and constantly taking it out to show everyone you have it. a gold necklace is not more insulting or tempting or anything.
I do love the perfect physical freedom of narnia and I think this is underrated as a civic value. people do leave their wallet and keys on the seat at the hawker centre sometimes so you know someone has taken that chair. I remember walking back from the children's hospital to my house in the wee hours with the headphones on, walking underneath the highway overpass where it smells faintly of damp and piss (our mandarins not being superhumans after all), and thinking: I feel safe. no guy is waiting under here to jack me out of the $12 I'm carrying. fuck yeah.
202: also Oxford academics, being Tories.
written on George I's donation of the Bishop of Ely's Library to Cambridge University:
The King to Oxford sent a troop of horse,
For Tories own no argument but force:
With equal skill to Cambridge books he sent,
For Whigs admit no force but argument.
The King, observing with judicious eyes
The state of both his universities,
To Oxford sent a troop of horse, and why?
That learned body wanted loyalty;
To Cambridge books, as very well discerning
How much that loyal body wanted learning.
I do love the perfect physical freedom of narnia and I think this is underrated as a civic value.
I remember being startled at how safe everyone clearly felt in Tokyo in, oh, 1998? and coming back to the States and thinking "failed state and we don't know it yet". Overdramatic, unless we collapse under the cost of our cars-and-Usonia infrastructure. Hey! Tie-in to the walking thread!