07 August 2007

A Lesson In Contrasts...
There is little doubt that our world is filled with situations so diametrically opposed to one another that most days, we just shake our heads and wonder WTH is going on, and why we have to be privy to this.
One the one hand, you have the depravities of humankind in every shade and hue imaginable, while on the other hand, you have the beauty of nature and it's near infinite ways of making the worst day seem somehow better.
Now I'm not going to launch into some tree-hugging session about the environment, nor am I ready to start a tirade over the seemingly endless methods that people have ways of inflicting themselves upon others, with the predictable results. This is just my take on some recent activities...that's all.

As those of you who frequent this blog already know, my neighborhood basically SUCKS...plain and simple. No beating around the bush on that one. To be more accurate, though, I should say that the PEOPLE in my neighborhood suck. Because, if it were not for the people around us, this place would be damn tolerable, bordering on becoming a nice place to live.

Take for example the one bold-as-brass asshole living in the next block up....comes outside in his "wife-beater" undershirt, baggy pants belted about his lower thighs, plaid underwear showing like some baboon's bright red ass during mating season with a joint in his hand. It must have been some "good shit", as he was coughing to beat the band.

So there he walked...to the corner, and then back to his house, again and again, looking back and forth the whole time he was toking and coughing. Not one police car around, either. And he got to smoke the whole thing without being interrupted. This type of occurrence happens all too often around here, and no matter HOW many anonymous "tips" you send to Crimestoppers (I must be the reason they've had SO many more tips this year...all my online submissions), I don't see people like THIS being shut down. They're like the proverbial "bad penny", mucking up the machinery of society.

But that's at one end of the spectrum.

At the OTHER end is being able to look out back at the hummingbird feeder as not one, but TWO of these marvelous creations comes for "breakfast", while doing their little flirtatious aerial maneuvers about the garden.
To use a hackneyed word: AWESOME!
Having only seen hummingbirds at the ZOO back in Philly (or in library books), I was amazed at the first time I saw them HERE in the "wild" as it were...and I'm almost 55 years old, so you know that there's not much that amazes me at MY age...LOL! My wife and I had purchased a feeder 2 years ago, in the hope we could lure a hummingbird to OUR yard (we had seen them in a neighbor's yard). And to our amazement, we began to have these guys stop by. It was like "If you hang it...they will come"...sort of a "GARDEN of Dreams".

Now the differences between that blunt-smoking pothead and this little hummingbird are as far apart is East is from West, right? Here's this minuscule bird, flapping his wings 30+ times a SECOND, getting ready to migrate to frigging MEXICO...and he (or she) is in MY yard...right here...right now. That just blows me away...almost as much as watching the Swallowtail and Monarch butterflies flutter about our flowers.
It's peaceful to watch them to say the least. But there's always that thought that people like "saggy-drawers potboy" live within a stone's throw of this minute piece of reverie we've managed to obtain lurking in the back of your mind.

This actually makes a good case for becoming xenophobic.....the wildlife is much "tamer" than the general populace..at least in MY area. it's like the old bumper sticker: "The more people I meet, the more I like my dog (or cat)". The person who thought that up MUST have been from Fort Wayne, INDIANA...!

So...although the moments of being quasi "one with nature" are all too fleeting, it still IS nice to be able to just sit and watch these creatures go about their daily business. Sure beats the hell out of watching the OTHER (two-legged) creatures go about THEIR business.

Damn shame these idiots around here can't appreciate what our Maker has for them to enjoy every day. Then again, when you can't see past you next "rock" or joint, or 40oz, what can you expect?
But there is one thing I won't do for these "people" around here...show THEM pity.
They don't even deserve that.

I'd much rather spend time and energy giving the lesser creatures of this good Earth that which THEY need instead...

The return on THAT investment is much more satisfying...to ALL concerned.

06 August 2007

Monday Musings...
Fort Wayne was fortunate enough to receive some much needed RAIN this weekend, and in my neighborhood, that means some peace and quiet (for a change), as the boomcar drivers refrain from thumping when it's wet out. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the best (or worst) that life has to offer as we sallie forth into another week of tedium, banality, and angst (and those are the GOOD points...LOL)!

Food Prices On The Rise:
Nope, you NEVER heard that HERE....oh wait, you DID hear that HERE....and quite often when I spoke about ethanol and rising fuel costs over the past year. No big surprise then right? My wife even noticed that our grocery bill has risen while the amount we bring home has remained relatively static.
Four paper bags full is about $10-$15 MORE than it was in say 3-4 months ago. And we're barely out of the gate on this one. Thanks to the lack of rain hurting crops, prices for the yields FROM those crops is going up (good for farmers, bad for us). Now unless you know someone with a "Victory Garden", or have started one yourself, it's S.O.L. time for a lot of us. And we know that getting foods to market costs more, so that increase is passed along to (you guessed it)...US. Let's just hope that all the foods we're IMPORTING (the sheer quantity of which would ASTOUND you) make it through customs without a hitch, and that some country we get bananas from doesn't decide to get pissed at the USA for some dumbass reason, right?

Drugs In Fort Wayne:
You gottem my friend....with a capital *D*, and that rhymes with *P* and that stands for PUTZ (that would be the morons that distribute as well as use this crap). Sunday's paper (Metro section) had an article on more drug busts (which translates to higher drug traffic). We're actually breaking records in that regard.
How dubious a distinction for the city.
Police say the increase in busts is because there are more drugs coming into the city ('ya think?) The FWPD says there is no indication that the number of drug seizures will be declining (not when they're allowed to deal in our neighborhood at will anyway).

Sheriff Fries has the right idea as to the drug busts: "If we can attack the drug problem, we can attack other crimes". Now that's what I'm talking about...a real domino effect. Problem is...back in the 80s, turf wars were a direct result of drugs in the city, and now, there's PLENTY of "customers" to go around (I would safely wager that about 80% of those living on just MY block can be nailed for using, if not distributing...hair follicle testing, anyone?). It's not so much the drugs that the narcotics division fights against as the get-rich-quick idea. Everyone wants to be a "Scarface", and although I think Al Pacino is a damn fine actor, I MUCH more enjoyed his performance in SERPICO ("All I wanted to be was an honest cop") to Scarface ("Say hello to my little friend")! That would explain all the ghettosleds with chromalusion paint jobs and killer stereos around here...wouldn't it?

Glynn Hines (councilman-6th district) says that "We as citizens have to get involved".

Sorry Glynn, WAY ahead of you...been trying to get houses closed and perps busted for YEARS (with limited success). I would say that over the years, people HAVE become "involved", and not in the good way. I've seen increased drug USE in my area, and with the transient nature of rental property dwellers, this becomes a MAJOR issue in this campaign against drugs. Yet, it's rarely addressed to the degree that I feel it should be, otherwise I wouldn't be seeing what I have been seeing the past 4-5 years, namely more drug houses and more usage. But it's not limited to renters. We have home OWNERS that have fallen off the "wagon", and are back to smoking dope. Sadly, it takes YEARS to have these people caught, when all it would take would be some good, healthy surveillance (then the police could see what I see).

Screw Disneyworld...I'm Going To MARS...
Well, I'm not "actually" going there, but my NAME is going there. The Phoenix lander blasted off to the red planet Saturday with a disc onboard (CD/DVD...wonder if it's full or widescreen version?), carrying about 100,000 names of people from earth (sadly, that leaves a LOT of you out of the loop...it was a first-come, first served thing). And yours truly is ONE of them. So in some manner, part of me IS headed to a rendezvous with our closest planetary "neighbor" in the solar system. Must be nice this time of year...all that lack of oxygen!

((note to self...bring along some virtual long underwear))

The spacecraft will attempt to land near the polar cap to study the soil and ice for signs of organic compounds which could be indicators of conditions favorable for life, either now or once upon a time. This will be a powered landing, and not one of those multi-balloon, bouncing all over the place kind of landings.

The date for landing is 25 May, 2008, (if all goes well...a BIG *IF* that is) followed by three months of scooping samples of the soil and ice. Beats looking for clumps in the litterpan, eh? One (small) thing bothering me though (the *IF* factor)....in 15 attempts to land on Mars, only 5 have been successful. Be a shame to have to "cut my vacation" short...don'cha think? Still, in some distant part of our future, it'll be nice to have someone find that disc, fire it up and see our names (ohmygod....my great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather really KNEW this guy).

So enjoy the Amazonian humidity outside today (better yet...stay inside with the A/C on and a cold one nearby).

03 August 2007

Tales From The South Side...

It's the end of the week, and I think it's time again for some of the MOST unbelievable things that nearly everyone else in Fort Wayne finds hard to understand...that's why SOMEONE has to relate them to the rest of you "normals" out there (that would be ME).

And if I had a video camera, I could YouTube this stuff for your amusement, because frankly speaking, there are those that simply can't (or won't) comprehend what goes on down here (that would be the curiously ABSENT City Council members, and the all but INVISIBLE area advocate who are too busy making sure we have a damn fine DOWNTOWN).

True Story:
Wednesday was trash (prep) day, and like any "normal" citizen, I put MY can out where IT belongs...after 12 noon, out along our alley (otherwise know down here as our auxiliary street system). And before Serv-All comes to pick it up on Thursday, I notice that MY can has suddenly (and for no other reason) MULTIPLIED into THREE cans! (Yeah, that's what I thought too). I'll have you know that my trashbin is NOT that kind of bin!
Seems the (add your own expletive here) "neighbors" didn't like THEIR side of the alley ..the trashy side as much as OUR side...the well-kept side. These are the SAME neighbors who recently enjoyed a week-long BLOCK PARTY when their 11 year old girl died in a car crash up the block. SO you KNOW what type of "animals" we're dealing with here, right? SO I go out AGAIN, and move THEIR cans to THEIR side of the alley, and loudly proclaim: "and I BETTER NOT have to come outside AGAIN, or there WILL be hell to pay". When the trash WAS picked up, the people moved only ONE of the two cans back alongside their house.
Sorry, but I already HAVE a trash bin, and don't need another (morons).

True Story:
A house down the block was recently placed on the "for sale" list, which means the guy who used to live there and work for GM before he became the neighborhood "burnout" (and was alleged to sell guns for drugs as well as grow pot IN said house) has moved to another place....good riddance to bad white trash, right? Well, almost.
First off, you have to understand what kind of person he is....his hair is long, greasy, and down the middle of his back (hey Einstein...the hippie movement hasn't been in vogue since the early 70s...it went went WEST to Frisco...move THERE wit the rest of the damn pot-headed tree-huggers), and he kind of looks a bit "Manson-esque", if you catch my drift. I didn't see a swastika carved into his forehead...(yet). He always had HUGE bonfires (we're talking pep-rally sized) well within 15 feet of the house (an NCE violation). And he was always wasted. Obviously, HE didn't listen to Dean Wormer (fat, drunk and stupid is not way to go through life, son). He certainly isn't fat..he's got more of that "meth-skinny" look about him, with no ass to hold those pants the hell up. Maybe that's why he prefers bib farmer overalls...LOL!
Anyway, he's outta here, and the house is being basically "renovated"...I mean GUTTED (it had standing water in the basement, the plumbing sucked and was basically a hell-hole before this guy moved out, as was told to me by a person who had been in that house)...so take a guess as to where ALL that crap wound up?
Nope...guess again.
RRRRIIIIGGGHHTTT. It wound up OUT FRONT, ALONG THE DAMN CURB. Can you say "slum-district" or "eye-sore"? I knew that you could. The men clearing the place out don't know OUR city code all that much. So, after I send an email to the proper city department, a Serv-All truck comes along yesterday, solely for the purpose of cleaning this damn blight up...congrats to Waste Management for...well, managing this waste with speed and alacrity. I can hardly wait to see the indigent, transient trash that winds up moving into that house. So far, we're 0 for 6 on the "trying to get a better neighbor" list. Not a good sign, is it?

True Story:
Yesterday, my wife was looking out our door (easy to do from the sofa in the family room), and she notices a young boy picking at the bark on our tree alongside the house. She went out and asked him what he was doing, to which he replied "nothing". She said that he should not be on our property (there is a sign still posted reading NO TRESPASSING). The boy went around the corner and up the block. With ALL the damn trees around here, it makes you wonder WTF made "OUR" particular tree so damn fascinating to this young boy, that he would ignore all the other multitude of trees in the whole area and fixate just on ours.
I mean, it's not like this is the "money tree" the city thinks we pluck all those FRANKLINS off of to pay our taxes now, is it? By the way, I neglected to mention that this boy was NOT white.
Well, this makes a nice statement about supervising your kids, knowing where the hell they're at, and maybe wondering if it would frigging KILL you people to get your welfare asses out and BUY them a frigging TOY once in a while, instead of blowing the wad on booze and drugs, so they don't wind up playing with a stranger's damn TREE several blocks away from their house...doesn't it?

Time and again I see this type of "behavior"....people who for some damn reason feel the need to randomly encroach on YOUR property, claiming it as part and parcel to "their" territory. I look at it like a "hostile annexation" of sorts.
Their motto is: What's yours is MINE, and what's mine is MY OWN".
Their "flag" is whatever bedsheets they hang in their windows as "drapes".
Their vehicle of choice is whatever is the NOISIEST (to annoy you).
Their children are taught to howl like hyenas before they're 4 years old.
Their fashion sense is nothing less than "thuggie/ho-chic".
Well I will say one thing...living here is a real double-edged sword. On the one hand, you have these deplorable people with absolutely no regard or respect for whatever YOU own, while on the other hand, it is somewhat amusing to watch their behavior, as it's SO far removed from what is normal (gives monkey island at the Childrens' Zoo some real competition...thank the maker they haven't got to flinging their feces...yet).
Maybe I should start tossing some peanuts...'ya think?

And that's exactly WHY I will continue to convey stories such as these (and much, much more) from our neighborhood...stories that make YOU glad you're NOT living here.
After all, some one's got to tell it, right?

Do have a safe weekend.

02 August 2007

Sunrise...Sunset....

Now before you go thinking this is a revival of Fiddler On The Roof...think again.

Life on (or in) the SOUTH side of Fort Wayne becomes a study of extremes after a time.

As others mill about their hectic or otherwise interesting daily routines, we down here (who still maintain a modicum of sanity and still recall what it means to act like a human being) ascribe to THREE simple rules, which you already may be aware of:

1) Get up.
2) Survive.
3) Go to bed.
(and we repeat as necessary)

Now while many would view this as being banal, those dwindling numbers of "us" believe we've found a nice balance to our lives. Well, it DOES work.

Whenever those of you who are lucky enough to live in areas that don't suffer from the problems we deal with daily down here step out your front doors...stop, pause for a minute or two to look around, take a deep breath and know that there ARE some people who struggle with the most common aspects of life, simply because the Barbarians are at their gates every waking moment.
But it could be worse for us...it could be Gary, Indiana...or Detroit...or even Indy.

Funny thing is, we CHOSE to live where we do.

What we DID NOT have the luxury of choosing is how the CITY ignored this part of town for SO long, allowing all those wonderful aspects of ghetto living to pervade our lives.
We didn't choose to have our neighborhoods become rental slums.
We didn't choose to live near people who have little regard for anything or anyone.
We didn't choose to let crime move in down the block.
We didn't choose to be fearful of taking a walk outside our homes.
We didn't choose to see businesses leave in droves.
We didn't choose to be denied sleep thanks to uncaring morons.
We didn't choose to be intimidated on a daily basis.

The city chose these things FOR US long before we knew what they were doing.

I know this sounds like I'm on the old SOAPBOX with this, but whenever we drive somewhere ELSE to shop...or eat...or whatever else we have to do (because we don't have the resources down HERE to do it), we find it amazing that this city can be so wonderfully polarized, meaning that we have just as much garbage at one end of the scale as we have niceties at the other. Now that's not to say that we should spread some of the crap around to nicer areas, making THEM worse, but rather get the city's ass in gear to turn back around the areas that have seen nothing but neglect for over a decade, making THESE areas BETTER.

I'm also a firm believer that ONE MAN CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE (or one woman for that matter), but there DOES come a time when the old "energy level" hits that nasty *E*, like your car's fuel gauge, only we can't just dash over to a Marathon or BP and tank back up. One person cannot affect this kind of change alone, nor should they.

I would like to think that there ARE others around my part of Fort Wayne that feel as I do, and want to affect positive change. Trouble is...I'm just not seeing (or hearing) them. And no one is banging down MY door to offer assistance.
I liken this to being in a combat zone 24/7 without relief...without reinforcements. And this "tour of duty" is seemingly endless. After a time, it does begin to weigh on a person, and I'm certainly no "Superman" when it comes to being immune to that (wish to hell I was some days...lol).

The worst part to all of this is not necessarily the constant vigilance on my part (remember those Barbarians...and that gate?), nor is it the fact that whenever we do go somewhere else, I'm always hopeful (make that very concerned) that our house will be RIGHT where we left it, and INTACT...not burned to the ground by some arsonist, or burglarized by a druggie up the street. Days blur into weeks, and those weeks into months, and the months into years. Suddenly you find you've been banging your head against "the wall" for TEN years (or more) to TRY and make things livable for raising a family, and getting on with what life is left to you. People ask why you do it (the head-banging -wall-thing), and you reply "I can't help it...It feels so good when I stop".

The worse part is that very FEW people actually do anything to change this situation. There is little (if any) ACCOUNTABILITY, so do whatever the hell you want to anyone else for as long as you wish. We (the city) might get around to dealing with it (and you)...eventually (we're too busy making a damn nice DOWNTOWN). And forget having any PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY...that's for normal people. They apparently LIKE the status quo...don't touch a damn thing...change nothing. Sorry, but NORMAL people don't act that way, nor do they "settle" for less when more can be achieved.

So if this blog (from time to time...or maybe every other day) takes a jab here and a poke there at the city, you've got to realize that I've got a major BEEF with the manner in which THIS part of town has been (and is still being) treated. Some might say I've got a chip on my shoulder...nah...more like a bloody REDWOOD!

Hey, at least that's ONE thing I never have to hear people say to me...

("Where's the Beef?")
I got yer beef...right HERE!

And if there is ONE thing I can take from all of this...it's the fact that I had great parents, relatives and friends who encouraged and nurtured my sense of humor.

That has gone a LONG way to keep me from becoming schizophrenic over the years.

So I'm STILL doing OK in that regard...

(and so am I).

01 August 2007

Hump-Day Happenings...

We're half-way through the week....and we need to take a cue from our buddy here.

So pour yourself another cup o' java, and get ready for this week's installment of "those" stories gleaned from the media, presented for your approval...(or not).

Item - Atlanta QB gets support from NAACP:
Oh give me a break! His "friend" just rolled on him, turning state's evidence, so what's the big deal? It's the time-tested "celeb" immunity gig all over again. I don't know about YOU, but I get sick and tired of THESE people of notoriety getting a free pass.
Any other regular person would have the book (or three) tossed at them...period.
And puh-lease don't give me the song-and-dance about his being BLACK. At least PETA (for once) is on the right side with this.

Item - Britney and K-Fed are finally DIVORCED:
And we (like) really give a $hit anymore about EITHER of them?

Item - Dow Jones Drops / Gas Prices Rise:
Oh no, we couldn't see THAT one coming...could we?

Item - More Woes In Gary:
Residents of the Miller section along Lake Michigan want to try and UN-annex themselves from the city, due to rising crime and high taxes (wow, what a NOVEL idea...you guys in Aboite following this?). So far, 51% of the people in that section signed a petition for disannexation. Remonstrance hearings are forthcoming. This should prove quite interesting.
Also in Gary, a man was shot to death by police because the officer thought the man was reaching for a gun, when he was hiking up his "saggy-baggys", as he was running from a burglary he had just committed. Hey, an officer doesn't know WHAT might go down, so those wanting to charge the officer with some sort of trumped-up willful murder should just build a damn bridge and get over it. It does make the case for dressing appropriately, though...doesn't it?
Remember, if you LOOK like a slob (or thug), that's how people will SEE you.

Item - Tax Relief...They Say It's Coming:
Yeah, so is JESUS CHRIST!

Item - 160 NEW Jobs Coming To Area:
Three companies in NE Indiana are expanding, and that means more jobs. Yeah, those 160 jobs will go SO damn far to alleviate all the THOUSANDS displaced every year for the past 10 years, won't it?
Well, it IS a start. We need a lot more than just these jobs to get this state "off the dole".

Item - G.I. Deaths in Iraq at 8 Month Low:
Finally, they put this story in the news. It basically glossed-over in lieu of latest casualty figures, until yesterday. Gee, I guess that recent TROOP SURGE must be WOR-KING...'ya think?

There 'ya are...plenty to discuss at the water cooler now. And for those of you that NEVER stop by and read (so you won't see this anyway), here's HALF a "peace sign" for you (that would be a middle-finger salute for you uninitiated).
Those of you that DO stop by...thanks for coming!
And those that are bold (that would refer to being COOL) enough to POST here, may God bless the ground you WALK on...LOL!

Have a nice day, and remember, coffee has been shown to now prevent skin cancer...
(and blue food makes you live forever...that's why we can't FIND any...blueberries don't count...they're purple..LOL).