April 26, 2005
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This week's photo_challenge is hosted by nevragn , the subject is: Let's go junkin'
That's me behind my what used to be my desk, but is now pushed into service as My Personal Junkyard. It's a multi-layered, seismically unstable platform of miscellany, including such items as magazines, bottles (this week: mineral water and Pennypacker Sour Mash whiskey), nuts and bolts, small and not-so-small tools, computer kit, empty packaging, DVDs, and a Disneyland Indiana Jones Fedora. The big red object on the right is the Junk Generator. It's one of the many projects that stand between me and my precious Xanga time...
On a more serious note, those of you who thought The Netherlands was all about windmills, wooden shoes and tulips and lots of comfort and security: it's not true. At least not as far as the security department is concerned. Crime and violent incidents are as common over here as in any other West-European country. And my job with the prosecution service secures me a royal view on all that's wrong with this nation.
In January, a mother living in a town less than 7 miles from here, killed her two young children before jumping in front of a train. And yesterday, the details of another such horror were released to the press. Three weeks ago, a man from the same town, killed his wife and two children, and then reported them missing. To add insult to injury, all of the children involved in these killings, went to the same elementary school. It will be the second time this year, these schoolchildren will have to bid a couple of their murdered schoolmates farewell. I don't see how they can possibly be expected to feel safe as they grow up.
And last week, a police officer in a place near Amsterdam, used his service pistol to kill his wife and their three young boys, before pulling the trigger on himself. Is it something in the air??!!! I don't consider myself particularly squeamish, but when files like these pile up on my desk within a few months, I really wish I had another job.
Comments (27)
That's really sad. I have stopped watching the news myself. I don't want to know about the negative, I just want to do what I can to make things positive!
That is rough. I do not envy your job in the slightest.
Suicide is one thing - although it is something I haven't had to understand within my own life... a permanent solution to a temporary problem. And then there are those people who kill their families/loved ones before doing themselves in. To me, it's a selfish and cowardly act - to presume that your family should die with you. And cruel, in the most heartbreaking sense of the word.
It seems to happen in streaks, in clusters... like, yes, something fills the air and there are those who just can't refrain. There was a woman here, in MN, who threw her twin toddler boys off a bridge and then was about to throw herself in as well when a crowd of people tackled her. A man jumped off the bridge, to go after the babies... and could onyl save one of them. That woman was an immigrant (which is neither here nor there in terms of who is susceptible to this stuff) who was suffering from postpartum depression (and poverty, and a scary life in a new and foreign country) ... and had no idea that help was out there for her, and for her boys. Stuff like this, breaks my heart
I couldn't do your job - even tho I think I might like to contribute in that way - I think I would grow entirely too cynical... and fearful.
I don't understand anyone wanting to kill themselves. But if they are going to, why do they automatically think their families want to join them. That is horrible and you must be a strong person to deal with that day in and day out. It is all totally baffling to me. And to think what the other children who went to school with the children who died must think. I agree, it must be a pretty scary world for them and they must wonder if their own parents will do that to them. What a nightmare. Hope things don't continue with that trend.
I'm lovin your desk, now I don't feel so about about mine. lol Have a good week.
Wow, that sounds like the news from the US for the last few years. It makes me so sad when mothers kill their children, I wish I could ask them what the hell they think they are doing.
I don't think I could do your job, I used to work in a crisis group home for people with mental illness and it always made me feel better to know that they were at least alive and whatever they had tried didn't work.
I love you desk though, it looks so fun! If it was my desk I would look at it like a new adventure everyday because I would be finding things I thought I had lost.
I used to work in Juvenile Probations many years ago and there are some stories that still haunt me. I do not believe I will ever understand the nature of man.
I love the use of the fisheye(?) lense for this picture. Revealing, yet distorting at the same time. Where is Renee's desk?? I have come to the conclusion that computers generate junk all on their own with their tangle of cords and piles of assessories. I don't think it is possible to keep a computer area neat.
Wow... I'm just drooling here at the sight of so many books...
Yeah, those things happen everywhere...sadly
... but I don't know why but I feel quite insecure here in Spain at night if I go alone and I didn't feel that when I was in the NL. I guess I wasn't long enough there to realize, or see the problems there...you know ignorance makes you live happier (or not ...
)... Oh wait...now that I can remember...when I was at Duivendrecht station at 11: 15 pm I didn't feel very comfortable either... *shrugs*
Yes, stuff like that happens all over the world, sadly. (((hug))) I am sorry your job is getting to you lately.
As far as Shrub coming to visit - wouldn't that just be the best thing ever, if he were to be arrested on war crimes charges? I know and you know that there is no question that Shrub most definitely IS a war criminal. Unfortunately, it is unlikely he will be arrested, let alone prosecuted, for his criminal actions.
*sigh*
Thanks for the well-wishes. I've definitely been enjoying my showers. *grin*
Yep, we had a blizzard this weekend. Today it is 50 degrees and all melting.
I saw today on the Fox news homepage at work that they just found the bodies of 2 toddlers that went missing the other day in FL. The mother's story is that she went into another room for a minute, came back and they were gone. It sounds fishy to me. It would be hard enough for someone to kidnap one toddler in a home, let alone 2 while the mother was there. People are sick.
After being a part of the foster care system I can tell you a few horror stories too. The worst being the fact that kids taken from problem homes are being put in substandard foster homes where some are being treated even worse than in the biological homes and some are even dying because of it. SICK!!! and part of that is the fault of the system itsself that doesn't have the personnel to do the job of screening foster families and the personnel to keep close check on the children in care. Some literally get "lost" and the agencies have no clue where even the youngest children are.
The sickos that kill their spouses and children just so "no one else can have them" deserve everything they get if they live. God is the only one that can judge what they get after death if they kill themselves along with their families.
I have such a non combative marriage that I can't imagine having to live with someone who is abusive and combative in a marriage. About the only thing hubby and I ever have problems with relate to money and in our case, that shouldn't be an issue. Think it relates to how we were raised. He has such a security issue even at this age when he has no need for one.
Glad to see you are still "with us". I would hate to lose touch with someone who is "such a huge fan of the female mind"!
We have been known to have snow in MO in April but that is very rare and it is usually gone quickly. We didn't get snow but it is cold and feels colder since it was so warm and because it is so damp.
WE ARE FINALLY HAVING SOME RAIN!!! Hope it lasts all night no harder than it is coming down.
Such tragedies! Sadly, no one place on this earth is immune. I am very touched by the fact that even though you do work in prosecution service, you have not become jaded or hardened to what occurs all too frequently. It is a person with integrity, such as yourself, that will fight for the justice that has so sadly been taken from the innocents. You must be a very, very strong person. Your convictions must be very pure. It takes a special person with a lot of resolve to continue the fight, day after day. Yes, it is sad that the children must not feel safe in view of such incidents. Even more tragic still when it is a parent that brings them to that end. Take heart, my friend. There are those of us who do not have the inner strength to make such a mark, but applaud and admire you for working to eradicate such atrocities.
As for your picture? Looks very comfortable to me...Tons of books, a computer, and a place to just relax. Looks a lot like my husband's "nest" (as I affectionately call it). Have a great day!
i guess we are not safe anywhere! violence is a common occurrence around here (central California) and we live in a "nice" area-can't imagine being up close to it-our friend works for the justice dept., crime lab division so he sees a lot more then he tells us-but he does tell us some. I am happy not getting any closer than my CSI!
now i will go hunt down my weekly photo challenge-not that it is hard in my home but what to put is the question! hey-maybe my teenagers room!LOL!
Wow! You got books! Sad all the killing all over!
Hi, Wil! Just when I think my own problems are going to overwhelm me, I realize I haven't become suicidal or homicidal, so things really could be worse. A few years ago, a kid in the city we were living in at the time, killed his mom and then went to school and killed six or seven of his classmates. It really hits home when it happens in your own city. I am very naive, though. For most of our life, we haven't even bothered to lock the doors at night. It's a false feeling of security.
Your office looks pretty neat, compared to mine. I try to keep it halfway neat, but the whole family equates the eBay room, as it is called, with the junk room.
I'm writing this on my little notebook computer, which is very lightweight and compact. The only problem is that the keyboard is smaller than usual, and I make too many mistakes that I have to correct. Hope things are going well for you...
Sad Sad sad.
nice junk though....
love and light t
Quit aggravating your wife. lol I love the Sound of Music!
RYC: No apologies necessary then! My hubby does the same to me when he feels the need to assert his ego! LOL...It must be the 'little boy' in the two of you, that will likely NEVER go away!
I love your site! I was unaware that Rene's hubby had his own site! Very nice... I love your slogan "Harrassing the world since 1961." LOL.. Although your job must be very rewarding, it also seems like you are exposed to a lot of sadness and sickness of the world..... I really admire people like you who somehow can still serve the world doing what you do despite all of the sadness/darkness you deal with....... Take care and hang in there!:) Please visit me again!
How folks view distances traveled depends on their perspective. Even I get overwhelmed at the size of some states. Texas is so big most people take two days to travel through it. The same with California if your driving the coast. The neat thing with the size of these boundaries is what it encompases. From mountains to deserts. The major part Wyoming is considered a high plains grass lands which is a nice way to say desrts that grow grass as tough as sticks. Most people only see the land the main interstate runs through and never see the valleys and natural springs. I traditionally take my kids camping every summer. Depending on their ages determines the type of trip I make. The older ones pack in to wilderness areas and the younger to designated sites. This summer I have a goal to find a specific lake located so far in most locals don't hike it. we'll have to cross snow pack in July to reach it but local word is there are trout near three feet long in it. I've blogged before about another lake I have taken the kids to. They love to swim in it, though I can't see why, it is all snow melt. Wyoming is the least populated state in the union and it isn't uncommon to go to designated camp sites and be the only ones there for a whole week.
Ok, you can play them, but just don't tell cybernene I said so. lmao
Finding Neverland is the story, based on facts, of how Peter Pan was written. Good movie, just not what I expected. The kids were not excited about it. You might enjoy it. I liked the story.
I wish I could afford a nice camera and the time to take a photography class. I never thought I would enjoy it as much as I have.
Hope there are no more copycats out there. That would be awful.
Have a great day!
At the request of your wife, I would like to let you know that there are many other soundtracks that I believe you may find just as enjoyable as the Sound Of Music! Try Breakfast at Tiffiny's!
Ahhhaaaa - with such lovely news liek that piling up on your work desk I can see why in the space of your home you are enjoying something soothing and lite over and over again.
It is amazing to me the horros of todays world and why people think that becuase they themselves are mentally sick or not enjoying life that it gives them the right to remove that possibility for their children and spouses.
Thinking of you with calming peacful vibes.
HUGS
Your junk rocks but the news report makes me wanna run away screaming.
Thanks for your nice well wishes on my exams!! Much appreciated!
Just stopped by to say have a nice day!
ROFL! Not nearly as bad as MY desk!
I agree with the conspiracy theory where boys are concerned. And he does seem to have a goulish fascination with the disgusting aspects of human anatomy! Must be another boy thing. lol.
Your comment a while ago about JP was right on target as well. One of the most frustrating things about the job was how very young they were and how little I could really do to improve their lives. It was very sad and futile. I played a lot of raquetball during that time.
The toyzone!
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