It's One Of "THOSE" Days...
Well, it WOULD be more in tune "if" it were TOMORROW (Friday the 13th), but since I'm not one for "conventionality" (in it's purest form), I guess we'll JUST have to settle for THURSDAY instead.
Funny thing is, it started out like a "normal" day, or as normal as one can have in THIS part of Fort Wayne.
Get my coffee...check.
Got the wife's lunch made and packed...check!
Fed the cats...check!
Go to start the wife's car...???
Um...go to start the wife's car... ???!
Nothing.
Turn the key...nothing!
Well, the interior lights went out.
And still...abso-f$cking-lutely nothing!!! (I'm cussin' by now)
Battery's normal - got about 12 volts THERE.
Still...nothing but a whole LOTTA nothing. (even MORE cussin')
Okay, time for PLAN B.
1) Call the repair shop...they can take us first thing...fine.
2) Call a hook to snatch the wife's car...they can get here in 15 minutes...marvelous!
3) Call Hertz to rent a car for a couple days (got a feeling this problem is gonna be electrical in nature, like the ignition switch, and costly)...they can have a car right away..fantastic!
4) Drive the missus to the airport to pick up her rental...no problem. The reliable 26 year-old Firebird didn't let us down...STUPENDOUS!
And this ALL happened between 0700-0830 hrs.
Wow...how can I EVER hope to top THIS???
Try as I may, I don't think I can...or will even try to do so. I've had more than enough "fun" for THIS morning. It's like the frigging ICE STORM that never ends.
Well, that's when our personal economic stimulus package to so many local vendors began.
And with smokes tickling $40.00 a bloody CARTON (and going nowhere but UP by 1 April) if I "have" to quit, I want the "Prez" to know there's gonna be one REALLY pissed-off, middle-aged Dutch-Scotsman down here! So much for helping the government-subsidized TOBACCO industry, eh?
Anyway, around the rest of the city...
--The FWPD underwent a recent audit, and it shows that the department has not released confiscated weapons and vehicles to the Sheriff's Department (as they should be doing).
Uh oh, that can't be good, can it?
Seems doing this is a bit on the ILLEGAL side.
The audit was of the V/N bureau (vice/narcotics) from 2007-2008. Several problems were discovered, including improper disposition of seized assets.
Now if the FWPD is USING the assets for U/C work..fine. I have no problem with that, but if something ELSE is being done, then it NEEDS to be looked into. According to the audit, the department destroys weapons as per court order, divvies any money with the Allen County Prosecutor (kickbacks, Karen?), and sells off any remaining miscellaneous items on the www.propertyroom.com website.
At least that's what is SUPPOSED to be done.
Since the city has a population OVER 250K, the assets are to go to the Sheriff's Department (for disposition).
Therefore, the FWPD is in violation of Indiana code.
While Sheriff Fries brought this to the attention of the FWPD before, the city legal department did not "agree" with the interpretation of the law...(how convenient).
The FWPD should have been handing over weapons since the Aboite annexation, but has not.
Kelley Wrecker was also named in the audit, regarding the city contract it has with them.
The company does not charge officers who picked up vehicles, it DID charge residents when picking up vehicles.
Now that seems fine with me, because that's pretty much the way the PPA (parking authority in Philly) works.
The uncertainty arises when records show the vehicles were USED by the FWPD. If the cars are used by the FWPD (for undercover work, for example), then the residents should not be paying anything.
TO remedy the problem, the city had the cars moved from the Kelley holding lot to Indiana Auto Auction facilities, where they will be stored with NO time limit, and will keep officers from having to transfer vehicles to the auction house and possibly pay an additional fee (if the vehicle is inoperable).
The audit also showed that employees were paying SALES TAX on purchases, when the city is EXEMPT from such taxes.
It was also found that paper work involving drug tips was not properly filed or stored and cash was not properly counted before being taken to the bank. (That explains why drug houses are still in certain areas...the paper work got "lost"?)
This is a nice can of worms that the audit opened...that's for sure.
Managers for the FWPD agreed with the findings, and will comply with the recommended solutions.
(Well, Sell my clothes, I'm goin' to heaven!)
This is not going to bode well for ANY morale problems the department might be having, but it WILL be calling onto the carpet those who further up the chain of command, have been lax with procedure and protocol.
The last thing this city needs is to have the Sheriff's Department and the FWPD at each other's throat.
Lord knows we can't even get a unified *911* dispatch area off the ground.
Let's hope this situation can be resolved in a more amicable manner.
So...
As my wife drives into the sunrise in her freshly-rented Chevy AVEO (LMAO...sorry, can't help it...it's a pregnant rollerskate for God's sake,) to teach the hungry minds of this nation, I'll be waiting by the phone to see what financial "damage" we'll incur THIS week, as we "help our economy"...
Stay safe out there, America.