They're back...

 
This must be the 15th subpoena I receive. Some of you will remember that a burglary took place in the neighbourhood back in May 2013, a month after we moved in here and that a few of the guys were hiding in the backyard, so I had to call 911.
 
Despite being able to give only a very generic description of the suspect 5 minutes after the events, I've been harassed with subpoenas ever since. This one is for July - it'll be over 38 months since the incident...
 
Every time it's the same story - they never need me but they keep me on stand-by until the very last minute.
 
38 months without managing to close the case of a repeated offender caught red-handed. The word efficient comes to mind. Not.
 
Next time I see someone in the backyard, I go after them with the crossbow and kick their asses off my lawn myself. That'll save me some trouble.
 
I'm starting to understand why people don't want to get involved.

sharke
I recently got called before a grand jury to give evidence in an assault case - a guy across the street from me smashed a chair over another guy's head and then stomped on him repeatedly until he was paralyzed from the neck down. When I was in the DA's office before giving evidence, she showed me crystal clear video footage of the assault captured from a very close (and excellent quality) security camera, in color, showing the whole thing from start to finish with very clear images of the perp who even looked directly at the camera at times. You would think this would be enough for a conviction but no, apparently not. I find this unbelievable.

And now I have to wait and see whether I'll be called as a witness in the actual trial, thing is though the guys involved are from that "snitches get stitches" culture so it's putting me at risk and I don't really want to do it. At the time I talked to the cops I was a little shocked by the whole thing and didn't really think it through, now I just think I should have kept my mouth shut. Why would they put me at risk as a witness (and they know this to be the case) when the video is the best witness they could ever have? You're right, getting involved is just not worth it sometimes.

Pretty incredible. I felt the same about those guys who are involved - I want nothing to do with them. Plus, not only can't I identify them, but I did not see them commit any crime, other than trespassing. All the rest is circumstantial. For all I know, they could have been a couple of guys hiding after they'd broken a window while playing basketball... I can't put them at the scene of any crime, nor can I confirm that the guy I am called to testify against is one of the guys who was in my backyard.
 
I was involved as a witness once back in Quebec, an incident that took place in a bus, between the driver and a passenger. When the police came and asked who saw anything, I raised my hand. Then I looked around me. Even if I was in a pretty poor spot to have seen anything, I was the only passenger who'd seen anything. Quite miraculous - two people yelling and coming to hands in front of the bus and nobody looked in that direction, not even the lady who was sitting right next to the bus door, a couple of feet from the driver.
 
Nevertheless, technically, I do feel like I have to do my part as a citizen - and I believe I did when I called the cops, and talked with them afterwards. But when you do your part, you kind of expect that somebody will pick it up from there and do their part instead of just milking it.

So, let's see if I have this correct.  In Dave's case the law stopped too soon, in Rain's they don't know when to stop.  Wonderful.

Awe!

Awwww...  How in the heck do you keep track of them all??!  I'm guessing you're into double-digits with animals by now, ya? 

Rain

sharke
Oh man if that collar was just a little bit darker shade of red....

It'll be changed - this one is the one they put on her at Animal Foundation.
 
 

 
I was thinking more along the lines of if the collar was the same shade of red as the carpet she's on then it would look like her head was detached from her body.....

ampfixer
As a kid we had a Dachshund. Worst dog ever. It seemed to only focus on trashing the house and crapping everywhere. We even had a special training book titled "The Obstinate Oblong". It seems they are notorious little ****s. To bad they're so darn cute and cuddly.

This one is a rescue. 7 years old. The lady from the shelter really screwed us - but then, my wife was so stuck on adopting him that the lady's job was easy. The only thing she told us that was true was that he was crate trained.
 
As for the rest, when we brought him to the vet, they had to extract 11 teeth (the lady had told us that his teeth might need a bit of cleaning...) He barks for no reason, he marks every chance he gets. And he's basically that temperamental, needy little lap dog - the exact opposite of the dogs I typically like. It's my wife's dog, really, always in her lap... Not that he doesn't like me or doesn't want me to play with him, but he's mommy's dog. 
 
 
 
 

sharke
Another breed I would tend to avoid is Boston Terriers - troublemakers, the lot of them!

Maybe, but I'm still considering getting a couple someday.  I REALLY miss my little buddy (now my ex-roommate's dog)...
 
 

You know sharke, that gives them something in common with several people that post in the forums.