Ok, on further investigation, he managed to break into my spare room. He slashed up my bike seat, stole my MacBook, slashed a poster, destroyed a 3D Printer I got as a gift, and destroyed a resin 3D printer I also got as a gift. I'm going to call the police, but I want to wait for the locksmith to come let me into my spare room first because that's where I kept most of my valuables
The program leader has just left. I have 4 hours until the evening person will get here while I'll be on my own
Although my deadbolt was still locked and I can't see a way it could've been relocked if it was unlocked, I swear I'm missing things in my main room too. My echo dot, hard drive, and powerboard all aren't where I remember leaving them within my room. I can't actually find them at all. I specifically didn't take them because I didn't need to (and in the case of my hard drive, I forgot to take it with me). Also, an old phone I had lying in a drawer is a lot more smashed than it was before, and was also on the floor.
I'm hesitant to straight up say this is his doing and amend my police report because I sometimes forget that I've moved things around, but I can't find those things anywhere, even in drawers, not that I really had any reason to move them at all. Also, nothing on this room is slashed up, which seems to be his trademark
I'm honestly terrified now though, and it's not even dark yet. I'm once again keeping a knife very close and planning to hide in my room until backup arrives at 9. I don't know whether it's better to stay hidden and keep my curtain closed, or sit at my desk and open the curtain so I can sort of see out (although I'm sitting not much higher in the window so I couldn't see much).
Also, he has an illegal motorbike, so I know he has a way to get here on his own if he wanted to. Of course that means every motorbike I hear makes me jump. I could also walk down to the bus stop and then spend the night at a 24 hour shop or something. But the worker won't be here til 9, and the bus finishes before then, so I can't really just leave until the worker gets here, unless I walk home which seems worse.
Update on the situation:
A lovely bloke from my orgs after hours came to check if I was alright. We had a good chat, and I used the confidence I gained from it to check all the rooms to make sure the windows are all locked. I noticed his window in his room was opened about half way, which is concerning because I don't remember noticing it when I had a peak before. But of course I might just not have paid enough attention. Also locked his other spare bedroom and the spare LT bedroom windows. Now if he did come back, he won't be able to get in. He could try the windows on my side of the house, but they're a few metres off the ground and would definitely make noise trying to get into.
The worker will be here in an hour, so I've almost made it to safety. I'll give him a mini handover and explain the situation to him and sight ID before letting him in. Unless he just uses his key (there's a lockbox with a front door key which he'll have a code to).
Thanks for all the advice and well wishes everyone, I do really appreciate it. I'll probably be on edge for a week or two, but after that I should hopefully start to relax and settle back in. The overnight workers will stay for the foreseeable future, although I do have the power to say I don't want them anymore if I wish.
I don't think I need to fear for my safety, I think this kid is more the type to threaten and intimidate but not necessarily assault or actually go through with anything. But he seems to think I'm personally responsible for ruining his whole life, and seems to be kind of unstable so I'm still going to take full safety precautions.
I pay more tax than I need to, so I'll get a nice refund whenever they finish processing it (probably in a couple of weeks). I'm definitely going to buy some of those alarms you stick on doors with command strips that set off the alarms, and I've also talked with the program leader about organising to have some security cameras installed. I offered to manage their installation personally, to both save on costs and for a cool project to do (in case you lot haven't noticed, I am a bit of a computer nerd).
I also haven't had anything critical stolen or damaged, which is good. Nothing I can't live without. I don't have high hopes he'll be arrested or charged, but even if he doesn't, I'm covered under my orgs insurance, so they'll be replacing/fixing everything that's been lost or stolen.
(Although on a bad note, I realised about 4 other things have gone missing, all mostly low value things from my main room. I think this happened last week when they had to fix my lock for an unrelated reason, I think somebody left my room unsupervised and he took the opportunity to nick a few things that were in sight. Nothing super valuable, just my diffuser, a powerboard, an echo dot, and some cheap earbuds).
Police report submitted. I received a "notice to the victim" and she said that somebody will call me within 48 hours and I should avoid contaminating the area in case crime scene services decide to attend. Spooky. I'm going to see if I can convince my org to submit a property damage report for the broken walls, doors, and locks, but I doubt they will (they don't like pressing charges as a general rule of thumb, I've seen kids damage 3x3m sections of wall, kick doors in, and try to torch houses and they still don't call police.
I'm impressed with the police assistance line, the people I spoke to were very nice and understanding. I don't have a very high impression of police, generally (although I don't hate them). But every time I've called the PAL they've always been respectful and polite. Such a good service.
Tinyest can now clap to the parts of "if your happy and you know it" which is pretty awesome. He's also waving "Hello" after being able to wave bye bye for a while now. He does both at random though, and occasionally wants a high 5 or clap in between a waves. Still, progress. Scrubs was right, it really is like having a dog that slowly learns to talk.
Was just reminded that at my previous job, the 33f supervisor and the 40m appointment setter called each other "work husband/wife". She has a long-term boyfriend, and he is married to his husband...
I've given myself the ick again. I hate those terms. Like, we don't have to reduce every male/female friendship into "wife/husband", just with the "work" qualifier.
Men and women can be friends at the workplace, and it is entirely appropriate to call each other "friends". My hot take is that "work husband/wife" is gross and inappropriate.
Today's the day I finally get to go home. I've been away for just about 3 weeks. Unfortunately though I won't be able to get into my room. The other kid blames me for him being kicked out, so he tried to pick my lock or something. Whatever he did, he fucked it up and I've been told it no longer unlocks. Apparently there's a locksmith coming sometime between 9am and 5pm tomorrow to fix it, but until then I guess I'll just be chilling in the lounge room.
I'm also a bit worried honestly, because he seems like the type to hold grudges. I don't know what I'm going to be walking back into, and what state of disrepair the house is going to be in. Also, I'll be alone for the foreseeable future and, well, he knows where I live. He's been abusive towards me a few times (although not directly at me, just at other people who've passed it onto me) over the last few weeks, too. Probably pessimistic and over the top, but I'm kind of expecting a brick to come through the window tomorrow night. Hoping for the best, but bracing for the worst, I guess
Today has been a day of rumination about the breakup and me telling myself I'm not good enough because he didn't think I was good enough (logically I know this is silly). As a result, I've really just made myself feel shitty. Using this as an accountability post to get off my butt and head to the shops to buy food for the meal prep I was meant to do, like yesterday.
I've been taking the dog outside on a retractable lead. I encourage him to do pee-pees but he's shy even though I know he's a dirty little boy.
So I put some newspaper down in the kitchen and explained nicely that in times of an emergency could he please use the facilities provided and NOT on my fucking carpet. 🤞
Good news: nothing from my main room is missing. My main room has a deadbolt, so he couldn't get in. My spare room isn't so lucky, it isn't a deadbolt, so he was able to get a screwdriver into the lock and push it open. For my main room though, he drilled a screw inside the lock hole and went mental kicking the door, but it didn't work. Honestly impressed. Our front door isn't a deadbolt though, which is a bit nerve wracking. I now know how easy it is to push the type of lock on my spare room open
Bad news: my MacBook isn't in my main room which means it has definitely been stolen. I actually grabbed it before but then decided I wouldn't need it so it wasn't worth carrying. I thought I left it on my bed, but I actually left it on my desk, so it's gone.
I'm really pissed about the poster. It was a nice canvas poster thing that I got as a Christmas present with the Tokyo train map on it. Completely slashed. Right through the middle. End to end. It's not irreplaceable, but it had sentimentality. The MacBook is almost a decade old, missing screws, has shitty battery life, and has deep gouges marks in the top from when another kid at a previous place got shitty at me and scratched it up.
I asked about the threats he made over the phone to someone else, but apparently that was a misphrasing on their part. He didn't threaten me, he was just abusive towards me. That makes me feel ever so slightly better about it, but
The house isn't as fucked as I was expecting. It looks like he tried to break into all of the rooms, but only succeeded in breaking into one of them (not mine). My lock is well and truly fucked though, I think he tried to take a crowbar to the doors and a knife to my lock. He had an illegal motorbike, and there's deep gouges in our back lawn so I think he was doing loops around the yard or something. He didn't kill my plants though, so that's a bonus I guess.
He did use my toilet and bathroom which I'm quite uncomfortable about. It doesn't look like he nicked anything, but he went through 5 or 6 rolls of my toilet paper, my toilet reeks, and I'm worried he's fucked with my body wash or something. Unfortunately although my bathroom does lock, it only has one of those locks that can be unlocked from the outside with a butter knife.
I'm still really worried about him coming back to the house and either smashing stuff up, or trying to break in and steal or break things. I'm going to be home alone for about 2 months, and I'm not super thrilled about the situation.
Edit: my cereal box has a fist shaped dent and he's nicked almost all of my spices. Who the fuck punches a box of cereal wtaf
I have decided to make a homemade pizza for dinner as a treat. Got a night out booked with some friends next weekend to celebrate. So tonight it's be hassled by the cat as usual, and video games.
I may also be looking at a new guitar I've been thirsting over the last few months. But we'll see...
Still hasn't quite sunk in. But there's definitely a weight off my shoulders. I almost fell asleep right after the meeting lol
Off work sick. Sinus blerg
The countown is on for my de-toothing. About an hour to go. Hopefully it will be fairly straightforward, but those back molars can be a bit stubborn - and last time I had a tooth in poor condition removed it splintered in to lots of pieces and was an absolute mess to get out.
I have given myself permission to sook about it for at least tonight and tomorrow. I may also decide to aquire icecream, although with the current temperatures may just decide to increase my custard intake.
I don my Oodie like an Elvin cloak and I am ready for the world.
What happened to the rain? Seems like it mostly fell while we were all asleep.
I had some Spirited Away-esque dreams where there were all these fantastical characters and a huge restaurant with many inner workings and lowly staff being turned into turtles and retro computers for being slow or seeing the wrong thing. It was kind of heart-breaking, really...
Dammit! Shoe leaked, now I’m going to squelch all day.
I looooove hard rubbish days. We had one here in Thornbury just recently. My haul this year included a really nice persian carpet approx 2 metres by 1.5 metres. Someone threw it out because they'd just replaced it with 'something that suits the decor'. It's in perfect condition - just a little grubby. No stains, no pet smells. It's going off to the rug washer tomorrow for a thorough tubbing. Cost will be approx $150 for a really nice rug that suits me just fine. You couldn't buy a nice wool persian carpet for that.
I also scarfed some very nice wire trellis that will fit the fence around my back courtyard too. Come springtime I will install this and plant a grape vine on it. My nice italian next door neighbour has given me a potted shoot from his grapevine that his family brought over when they came to Australia - which makes the most amazing grappa so I am anxious to give this a go when the vine is fruiting. Lovely big reddish green grapes that are so so sweeeet.
Woke up, very ready for breakfast and the kitchen sink isn't draining. Guess one of the housemates clogged it last night. Woooooooooooooooooo coffee for breakfast
Recently frustrated with one of them. They're usually all good. I've tried to complain about one issue and got brushed off. Might need to be more assertive.
I take back everything I said about the rain because lo, the moisture hath intensified. Needed to postpone one site visit to tomorrow. Absolutely horrible commute on the way back (even with it being school holidays). I think next Wednesday is a definite WFH day again. It's such a shit route.
Today's been yuck enough that I just want to delete my brain and reset it for tomorrow. I suppose this is why people drink
Title
I know how to play the recorder
And some chords on a keyboard
I know the names of the notes in order
But I'm not a singer-songwriterI'm just a poet with a beat
The drums in my head repeat
"I'll never be famous
I'd rather be anonymous"I know a bit about music theory
The nostalgia notes from history
The range of Celine and Whitney
Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So-La-TiI'm just a poet with a beat
The drums in my head repeat
"I'll never be famous
I'd rather be anonymous"I won't assume I'd reach great heights
If I put in effort building a fanbase
Words sound right in the dead of night
But the sunrise knows they're a wasteCan’t sleep.
Repair rambles
I can’t seem to find a matching yarn for the jumper repair (to be fair the colour, texture and thinness are very specific). I looked to see if there were any embroidery flosses that kind of tone but there were only bundles that didn’t have great matches. So I may either try eBay for a single skein or do a temporary job with doubled thread just to hold the hole together and stop it unraveling larger. This is kind of a favourite jumper.
😭
“Sam: I wonder if we'll ever be put into songs or tales. Frodo: [turns around] What? Sam: I wonder if people will ever say, 'Let's hear about Frodo and the Ring.' And they'll say 'Yes, that's one of my favorite stories. Frodo was really courageous, wasn't he, Dad?' 'Yes, my boy, the most famousest of hobbits. And that's saying a lot.' Frodo: [continue walking] You've left out one of the chief characters - Samwise the Brave. I want to hear more about Sam. [stops and turns to Sam] Frodo: Frodo wouldn't have got far without Sam. Sam: Now Mr. Frodo, you shouldn't make fun; I was being serious. Frodo: So was I. [they continue to walk] Sam: Samwise the Brave...”
Oooooooo a dome that can fit two spires? Yes please!
The space elevator and the mohole are so dang exxy, my Martians will have to wait for those. I hope to set up some rare metal exports very soon, I only have $12b left 💀
