Friday Follies...
Nope, we're not foolin'. It IS another weekend.
Didn't it just seem like we were here several HOURS ago?
Must be "just" me.
Yeah, it's gotta be that "age/time" speeding up thing. As we get older, time appears to speed up.
Never wondered about this as a kid playing with our cap guns in that empty field, or playing street hockey until the sun went down, did we?
I miss those days...
But, the world doesn't slow down simply because WE are attempting to break velocity records with OUR lives, does it?
Craig Breedlove...slide it on over.
Yes, it is STILL National Police Week, so in that light:
** A Fort Wayne police officer was in fair condition early today after a crash involving his squad car on the city's south side late Thursday.
The officer was responding to a call on Trentman Avenue about 2315 hrs. when the crash occurred at Pontiac and Winter streets, police spokesman R.J. Sutphin said.
Witnesses said the car's lights and siren were on. The crash occurred when the officer lost control of his squad car.
Investigators were not sure how he lost control or whether another vehicle was involved, Sutphin said.
Investigators will review footage from the squad car's onboard camera. The officer was initially reported to be pinned in the crash, although Sutphin said he wasn't sure whether the officer was just briefly trapped.
At the crash scene, a city police squad car sat mangled on a sidewalk on the south side of Pontiac Street.
The car was heavily damaged on the driver's side.Witnesses said the officer was eastbound on Pontiac when the crash occurred. It was not immediately clear how the crash occurred, Sutphin said.
Now allow me to say this about that.
The other day, police were in an area CLOSE to where that crash happened for a call of "substance on the roadway".
Apparently, a street sweeper busted a hydraulic line and was spewing fluid onto the streets, One officer reported that people were trying to stop at (some) particular intersection, but could not, and were sliding all over. Road crews came and put down some drying agent to remove the fluid.
Now I'm not saying the areas are related, but it's in the general vicinity. Perhaps they missed an area, or perhaps the car had some residue on the tires, coupled with roads that were rain-washed the day before, which can spread oil droplets around. Or it could have been a case where the driver simply lost control. In any event, we hope the officer recovers quickly, and returns to duty.
((Editor's note: I almost forgot... OUR thugs are getting NATIONAL attention.
You remember the chase I blogged about the other day? The one that ended in a Taco Bell parking lot in another city?
Well, Fort Wayne's very own Jermaine Askia Cooper...or as I like to call him - "Burrito Joe"... is all over the internet.
Even MSNBC and the Chicago Tribune is making fun at this perp's shenanighans. But he WAS a drug dealer and a known felon.
I find it nice to know that he is NOW part of the DUMB CRIMINAL "Hall of Shame". ))
It's nice to see happy endings around here for a change!
Meanwhile, back at the (Detroit) ranch...
** Is anyone else bothered that Chrysler decides to sell MORE cars by CLOSING more dealerships?
That makes about AS MUCH SENSE as "saving the economy" by SPENDING MONEY OUT THE DAMN ASS!
Somehow, I can't quite wrap this old brain around such BS...how about you?
My take on spending is NOT simply spend it if you got it, but spend WISELY...when you NEED it.
Then again, I am a product of my PARENTS, and a child of the 50s and 60s.
** So...what is one of the FIRST things a county administration should do during such bad economic times, you ask?
Well, if you're in ALLEN COUNTY, Indiana, you go and VOTE YOURSELVES A RAISE.
Sounds like a plan the Obama government would LOVE...spend it EVEN IF you DON'T have it...way to go, people!
Such is the case in our neck o' the woods. However the council stated that (and you'll love this)...they're planning for the future, and that the economy will turn back around.
Well...DUH!
Someone put out a call to CAPTAIN OBVIOUS on THIS one.
Of course the economy WILL turn back around...it always does, but who can say WHEN? And who is this County Council that they should be SO presumptuous in their "assessment" of the situation. Hell, they can't even correctly ASSESS property values IN their OWN county.
Get me a crash cart...this patient (the county) is going into financial "DE-FIB"!
** I saw a video captured on a store camera in Flint, Michigan (another crime hotspot), showing some rival gang thug bastards engaging in one of their favorite "vocations"...namely SHOOTING at one another. Well, the one guy (looked like he had some sort of subgun...maybe a mini-Uzi) was TRYING to shoot. Aside from the function problem (with the gun AND the perp), the FIRST WRONG thing I noticed, is that he was standing BOLT-UPRIGHT with the gun hand extended, totally exposed - no cover nearby.
WHAT A FRIGGIN' DUMBASS!
One of the FIRST "skills" you acquire in ANY service (where other folks might want to shoot at you, or otherwise cause you some type of harm), is that in ANY "combat situation"...MOVEMENT IS LIFE!!!
If you're NOT moving...well, you're just a damn target for the other guy...and could well be soon NOT be moving in a slightly more PERMANENT manner.
If you can't shoot AND move, you better learn to tuck tail and run the hell away, or find a nice piece of real state to pull over yourself.
But it doesn't end there. The thug keeps messin' with the weapon jam, and tries to clear the piece...to no avail.
Now either he had the SAFETY ON, because no one showed him where the damn safety was (typical numb nut gangsta education), or he got some crap ammo and possibly had a stovepipe jam (which makes a good case for keeping the loading ramp CLEAN)...yeah, gotta love all that "schooling" these thugs got in class. Oh, wait...they don't HAVE any class (thanks, Rodney..we still miss 'ya).
It took an angry CITIZEN (not the store owner) to chase the thugs from the store....(give that person a damn medal...AND a free gun)!
If you don't KNOW your weapon, maybe you shouldn't HAVE one...'ya think?
When I got my (cheapie) *9*, the FIRST thing I did was field strip it...to see how the parts worked and how easy it would be to keep clean. Sorry, that's just the way I am. A clean gun is a happy (and functional) gun...as long as the owner has some common sense to marry with that cleanliness and happiness.
** Lastly, to the citizens of Fort Wayne...the WEED PATROL is already out and about. Neighborhood Code Enforcement has a nice red Cherokee cruising the city in search of weed violations. We had several properties tagged on OUR street alone, which is why I'm going to perform my civic duty and cut OUR lawn (again), even though it's under the "9-inch" limit.
Many houses are empty in our area.
Many others are occupied with people I WISH would vacate the property, and still others have the "lazy-ass-entitlement" syndrome working some serious O/T. They can go out and get some booze...or have a damn BBQ out front (which looks SO damn ghetto), or buy those gay-ass rims for their POS ghetto-sled, but they cannot mow a damn lawn. That's why our area has someone I call "The Lawninator". Some guy in a silver Lincoln travels the area with a lawn mower in his trunk, doing HIS civic duty...(for a price, no doubt), so NCE won't ticket those "poor, destitute" people...freeing THEM up for more drug deals, more booze, and more lawn trash (to go with the public pissing against houses).
Hey, I never said this neighborhood was full of people with sunshine beaming out their asses, did I?
And we never had lollipop trees growing in our damn yards (although the city thinks we DO have money trees whenever they raise another tax..."excuse me, while I go prune a few more FRANKLINS off that low-hanging branch to pay for the welfare frauds").
This neighborhood HAS potential, but I fear it will never again be realized, because, like I said yesterday, the city has not the WILL to make it happen. Given another time, this neighborhood mirrors my grandma's old area back in Philly, and I loved going there as a kid. It was THAT NICE.
Same COULD be said about MY current area.
But until the section 8ers, the gangsta wannabes, the drug dealers, the drug users, the lazy-asses, and those others who sneer at authority, have no self determination, respect for others, or sense of personal integrity are removed...we'll still have the human refuse that we have.
All we can do is our best at keeping those Barbarians from OUR gates, and our families safe.
Enjoy the weekend, everyone.
You deserve it.
Now...go thank a policeman today.
And, as always,
Stay safe out there, America.