...And The Rains Came Down...
Yeah, imagine waking up and finding something WET falling from the sky.
Been a few days since we got a decent soaking, and now, here in the "heartland" of America, we're enjoying just that.
It was getting to the point where the soil was pulling away from the concrete borders out back.
So, a little rain is welcome, especially if it means the "locals" will be kept relatively AT BAY.
*** Now, you have to understand a few things about living in the "ghettohood" when it comes to rain...
1) The locals don't like rain...it affects their BOOMCARS (bad for speakers) in that, they CAN'T thump at 140 Db with the windows DOWN to annoy you.
(awww...poor babies - breaks my freaking heart...BWAHAHAHAHHahahaha)
2) They can't hang out at YOUR corner, because they will get their new pair of bling-assed, baggy-saggy SOUTHPOLE jeans wet.
3) All drug deals will be "car-to-car" with some sprinting involved.
4) Litter will be kept IN the POS-mobile until it stops raining, and then will be deposited upon whatever lawn the vehicle is next to as it drives by.
5) People will STILL walk in the middle of the street, making driving in the rain even MORE problematic for "we lucky few...we Band of Normals".
6) The morning paper will NOT arrive, because the person delivering it either overslept, didn't get his Smirnoff yet, or can't find a trashbag "poncho" to wear to keep himself dry (oh yeah, ghettohood newspaper carriers are NOT the typical sort)
But, aside from all this, the garden gets a much-needed drink, and YOU get some much-needed solace...for a while.
As do my REAL friends of the four-footed or winged variety that frequent our daily "buffet".
Which reminds me...ever get a fortune cookie that misses the mark by a country mile?
I got one such cookie the other day...left over from my b'day dinner the other week.
I crack it open and it says (ahem):
"You will always be surrounded by true friends."
So, I stopped and looked around me...
I saw our two cats, a hummingbird at the feeder, a rabbit, a squirrel, and assorted other birds...that's IT.
(To borrow from Momma Fargo)
(*blink*-*blink*)
Okay, TRUE friends, huh?
Yeah, I'm good with that.
The NEXT fortune cookie was a bit more "interesting"...
"You will be called for a position of high honor and responsibility".
(whoa)
Really?
REALLY?
You gotta be sh*ttin' me, right?
Cripes, aside from you faithful followers HERE, and my immediate family (what's left of it anyway), hardly ANYONE knows I frigging EXIST.
(that's NOT really a BAD thing...being a "ghost")
I can't even get the police to acknowledge the chronic LOITERING problem at the corner (that only seems to occur when school is in session...), or get them to investigate the DRUG HOUSES in the ghettohood, or all those loud-mobiles, or people driving while intoxicated...yeah, the list gets longer each week, it seems.
*** That brings me to something about the loitering issue I have missed...until last night.
I was laboring under the premise that these kids were hanging out, milling about in the street and intersection, playing "slap and tickle" for several HOURS every night due to an overabundance of raging hormones.
And although that "could" be part of it (even *I* was a teenager...once), there may be a more important "reason" this takes place...
They could be LOOKOUTS for the friendly, neighborhood DRUG HOUSE down the block.
I MUST be getting old...I should have caught this straight away.
One of them (the girl) ALWAYS has a cell phone on her, and after calling the FWPD to move them from the corner one day last week, I noticed that right AFTER the call went out...they moved on...such CLAIRVOYANCE these days, hmm?
Or...is it something ELSE?
(a networking of these people watching the area)
It came to me last night in one of those "moments of clarity" things.
I know for a fact that from MY house, I have a commanding view along all FOUR directions from the intersection.
(I firmly believe that's WHY these people would LOVE to see us move out...so THEY could have this place and it's field of vision)
And these kids hang right AT the intersection, and the boy watches constantly up and down the streets, as well at every single car that passes, sometimes signing (their version of "waving") at a specific vehicle.
All this just makes so damn much sense now.
I mean, I KNOW that people AT that house down the block DO USE drugs...seen a male toking on blunts several times, and a female there staggered down our damn street the other week, with a toddler walking aimlessly in the street as well. (helluva role model parent, don'cha think?)
Well, it might have taken me longer to realize, but I think I have a much better grasp of the entire situation...NOW.
I WOULD like to see the police take this thing a LOT more seriously, because if things like this loitering go UNCHECKED, we wind up with situations up north in Phil Marx's neighborhood (where the thugs eventually OWN the damn corner and the block), and I don't even want to go there.
I would prefer to be a lot more PROACTIVE, than winding up becoming more REACTIVE.
I also like to hit what I aim at, so these people are "on notice". They've been "served", as it were.
And as long as I am on MY property, gonna be real hard to argue the point against ME, should things ever escalate.
(which, by all standards, they SHOULD NOT)
*** I also heard on the news that last year, we had FEWER ILLEGALS coming INTO this country...
(well, spank me rosy)
Maybe it's because the vast majority of them have ALREADY made it into America...'ya think?
Back during the year I was born (1952) there were approximately 300,000 illegals that came into America.
Do the math....if we ONLY had the same amount cross over in the past 58 years...that's a FEW MORE than this 12 million number we keep hearing about, right? Someone in the government needs a remedial MATH class....(big surprise THERE, huh?)
Guess that should make Mexico a lot more empty now...not really.
That nation is full of it's OWN number of "illegals" from even farther south.
Trickle UP illegality, I guess.
Amazing.
*** Finally today...since we have all the crap out of the way, I'll bet you're wondering about this "model-building gig" I've been getting back into.
(Not really, Bob, but we have the feeling you're gonna tell us anyway)


Right you are...
I finished that RAF Mosquito night fighter...finally.
Airfix sent along a brand new set of decals and it is finished.
They are still a fantastic company to do business with and didn't even charge me for the new decal sheet. Astounding!
I can't say enough about them, and I've been building their kits since I was in grade school!
I also made a tank model (M24 Chaffee, a late WW2 vehicle that also served into Korea and even Vietnam).
This was a kit I had since the 1980s, and decided to build. It comes with a mini-diorama as a base, so I went a little further and added some "houses" from our porcelain/resin micro-collection (Yeah, I love architecture, especially castles, even though we only have 4 buildings).
Didn't turn out too bad, but I know NOW why I never really went in for making THESE particular scale kits...
The parts are way too damn small !!!
Geezus, had to use a tweezers to hold the parts.
And God help you if you lose something...you ain't gonna find it.
People often wonder why others (like me) even bother to build these kits...
I think there's a very good reason.
-We want to be reminded of ALL the people that BUILT the real things.
-We want to acknowledge those that manned them and fought in them...and even died in them.
-We want to remember the sacrifice of those willing to climb into these machines, and take on the enemy...all to preserve something we like to call FREEDOM.
Okay, make that SEVERAL reasons.
And I think they're ALL good ones, don't you?
Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay safe out there, America.