That was a week
Feb. 10th, 2018 01:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
livWell, the first week after I resolved to post at least once a week was pretty awful. I have a miserable cold, and work is full of bureaucratic and interpersonal annoyances. Worst of all, my bike got nicked from the bike racks outside work. I have already whined about this on Twitter and FB but I would like some more sympathy from my DW crowd.
It could have been a lot worse, really; I was not stranded, but in the middle of town within a long-ish walk or a not too bad bus ride of home. And my lovelyjack came and picked me up and comforted me, and has been giving me lifts to work for the last few days. And it was really nice being able to get support from all my friends who live in my pocket. I realized I was expecting people to be annoyed with me for being upset over losing a mere object, because I used to get in trouble for being overly attached to toys when I was a child, but actually people were really lovely.
Somebody on Twitter (thank you, if you also read here) pointed out that a bike can feel like part of you, so it's not surprising I was upset. And I think that's it, the bike is not just a relatively expensive object, it's my massively increased confidence and mobility range in the two years since I got it.
I have spoken to the vendor who sold it to me in the first place, and he says that model isn't made any more, but he reckons he can source me a discontinued version within the next week. So basically my only loss will be money, plus a week and a half of mild inconvenience.
I reported the theft to the police, having very little expectation that they'd do anything other than record me a crime number. And indeed, they say they can't review CCTV since I left the bike alone for more than three hours. I think if it happens again I will simply tell them the most recent three hour window of whatever period I left a bike for, because I think it's more likely the thief struck after dark than during daylight anyway, and I might as well get them to look through the camera footage for the maximum period they're willing to offer just in case the theft took place in that window.
A few days after the bike was taken, I found the remains of the lock on the ground. They hadn't cut the chain or picked the lock, they'd separated the lock part from the chain part. So that makes me feel better that I didn't leave the bike unlocked. And I think I won't get that style of lock again; I bought it because my D-lock had seized up, and the shop didn't have any D-locks in stock, and I wasn't sure about a cable lock but it's apparently a fancy one where the cable is resistant to cutting or bolt cutters. But it turns out that the weakness is that the lock can be separated from the chain. So I won't buy one like that again.
Anyway, that was really sucky. But on the plus side I got to spend more time with my partners' children than usual this week. I'm somewhat glad I'm not a real parent, not because the kids have been anything other than entirely lovely, but because I only have about six hours a day worth of being 'on' with this cold, so I am quite grateful for a few days where that's all that's required of me.
It could have been a lot worse, really; I was not stranded, but in the middle of town within a long-ish walk or a not too bad bus ride of home. And my lovely
jack came and picked me up and comforted me, and has been giving me lifts to work for the last few days. And it was really nice being able to get support from all my friends who live in my pocket. I realized I was expecting people to be annoyed with me for being upset over losing a mere object, because I used to get in trouble for being overly attached to toys when I was a child, but actually people were really lovely. Somebody on Twitter (thank you, if you also read here) pointed out that a bike can feel like part of you, so it's not surprising I was upset. And I think that's it, the bike is not just a relatively expensive object, it's my massively increased confidence and mobility range in the two years since I got it.
I have spoken to the vendor who sold it to me in the first place, and he says that model isn't made any more, but he reckons he can source me a discontinued version within the next week. So basically my only loss will be money, plus a week and a half of mild inconvenience.
I reported the theft to the police, having very little expectation that they'd do anything other than record me a crime number. And indeed, they say they can't review CCTV since I left the bike alone for more than three hours. I think if it happens again I will simply tell them the most recent three hour window of whatever period I left a bike for, because I think it's more likely the thief struck after dark than during daylight anyway, and I might as well get them to look through the camera footage for the maximum period they're willing to offer just in case the theft took place in that window.
A few days after the bike was taken, I found the remains of the lock on the ground. They hadn't cut the chain or picked the lock, they'd separated the lock part from the chain part. So that makes me feel better that I didn't leave the bike unlocked. And I think I won't get that style of lock again; I bought it because my D-lock had seized up, and the shop didn't have any D-locks in stock, and I wasn't sure about a cable lock but it's apparently a fancy one where the cable is resistant to cutting or bolt cutters. But it turns out that the weakness is that the lock can be separated from the chain. So I won't buy one like that again.
Anyway, that was really sucky. But on the plus side I got to spend more time with my partners' children than usual this week. I'm somewhat glad I'm not a real parent, not because the kids have been anything other than entirely lovely, but because I only have about six hours a day worth of being 'on' with this cold, so I am quite grateful for a few days where that's all that's required of me.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-02-10 02:07 pm (UTC)That sounds really
upsetting
frustrating
inconvenient
annoying. :(
(no subject)
Date: 2018-02-10 03:19 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2018-02-10 03:35 pm (UTC)3 hours is a bit ridiculous. My bike routinely gets left for 8-9 hours at a time locked up outside my work, being as those are my normal working hours. (And I don't think we have cctv on it, but at least it's locked to a rack, and inside the staff-parking compound. Which can be easily climbed into if you don't have a staff card, but still probably deters the casual passing thief.)
Can I also grrr about your getting into trouble for being "overly attached to toys" as a child - that's what children DO. If my children lose / break a toy I wouldn't be telling them off for being too materialistic or whatever, I'd be trying to comfort them. Just as your bike isn't just an object but a means of increasing your freedom and mobility and confidence, a toy isn't just an object but a focus for games and imagination and affection.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-02-10 08:22 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2018-02-10 08:52 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2018-02-10 09:45 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2018-02-10 11:01 pm (UTC)I can totally relate
Date: 2018-02-11 01:53 am (UTC)Dependable mobility devices become part of our body image, extensions of self.
I'm sorry you'll have to break in a new saddle!
(no subject)
Date: 2018-02-11 07:46 am (UTC)Relationship with toys
Date: 2018-02-11 05:46 pm (UTC)Southernwood
PS. My voice recognition software transcribed the phrase above as "overly attached to Tories."
Bicycle locks
Date: 2018-02-11 05:54 pm (UTC)Southernwood
(no subject)
Date: 2018-02-11 11:00 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2018-02-11 11:21 pm (UTC)2"
Date: 2018-02-12 11:31 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2018-02-15 12:54 pm (UTC)