Humpday Happenings...
There are those times when I am witness to a remarkable achievement of humanity.
Now, it could have been the moon landing, or watching news footage of the building of Hoover dam, or maybe a late-breaking story showing a firefighter coming out of a burning structure cradling a small child in his arms.
It can be the sheer compassion of our species that can truly set ourselves apart from all the rest.
And no better evidence of this can be found than in the rescue efforts of the Chilean miners.
As you read this, they are being hoisted from their 2000 foot-deep tomb, ALIVE, and one at a time, via a "capsule" designed to ferry the miners to the surface.
I have to hand it to human ingenuity...no better testament can be said.
To live in such times is the stuff of legend...
And to be a witness to history is a marvelous gift that we all should embrace.
I use this as a preamble to the rest of our lives that might seen all the more "tame" in comparison.
Maybe we're not ALL destined for such greatness, and maybe we wind up doing some really mundane things.
Just yesterday, I went looking for a pen, because the one I had been using was rapidly running out of ink.
How mundane can THAT be, hmm?
Anyway, I scour the house looking for a pen...especially one that WRITES.
Oh, sure, I found a LOT of pens, but they were useless...totally useless and taking up space.
So I spent the better part of a couple hours going through and "testing" every single pen we had here...
I heated the point to get the ink flowing (an old trick), or I rolled the tube over the refill to "move" the ink to the point.
A few wound up giving in to my efforts...the majority gave up the ghost.
But I now have ONLY pens that work around our house.
Yeah, a lot of times, it's the small things we often ignore, and it's the small things that always come back to bite us in the ass - It's just Murphy's Law.
But I use that as an example of what "we" consider BORING stuff...until we NEED a damn pen to write with.
We tend to assume that we'll ALWAYS have everything we need, and don't ever have to check about in case we might be wrong in that assumption.
Well, we really DO need to check from time to time...
Now, with that being said, let's press onward making sure to check the small things along our way, shall we?
*** I was listening to the radio (aside from the scanner) yesterday (talk radio - Glenn Beck show), and there was a caller that was a retired police officer who mentioned about having to take RANDOM DRUG tests during his time in service.
That's a good policy to have, even if it's inconvenient. It does separate the wheat from the chaff, and heads off any potential problems in the department.
Now the topic was one of entitlements and government spending for wasteful programs, as well as the impending "meltdown" of Social Security.
So I was more than curious as to WHY drug testing was being brought into the mix.
Then...another moment of CLARITY.
The officer mentioned that ONE way to hold those "on the dole" accountable would be to perform RANDOM DRUG TESTING on those receiving government "assistance"...BRILLIANT IDEA!
That would wash out almost ALL of MY "neighbors" from the get-go!
(oh, yes, they DO use drugs, and quite regularly...while they're also getting "free money" from YOUR wallet)
I think that is an idea whose time HAS truly come.
And I also think it should EXTEND to every single government-sponsored "give-away" program.
If you're gonna be on the dole and let the government OWN your life, the LEAST you can do is be "drug-free", right?
If it's good enough a thing for law-enforcement (or most any civil servant) it's should ALSO be good enough for the welfare-brigade.
God, I love that idea.
*** And speaking of those on the dole...
The "neighbors" down the street have had an unusual amount of "activity" at their hovel.
Now, I want to press all those LEOs out there (past OR present) and pick your brains a bit...(don't worry, it's perfectly painless). I want YOUR take on this.


If YOU saw a LOT of traffic coming and going from a house most of the day, and a lot of those (newer) vehicles were worth say, a LOT more than the house they were stopping at, and that house (which has toddlers inside) also had people you've seen smoking dope living there, along with young women stopping by, dressed in 5 inch heels and micro-mini skirts, wearing very dubious attire, what would you conclude from all that, hmm?
Well, THIS is just a sampling of what YOUR tax dollars are buying...I just wanted you all to know that.
Feel free to comment on what YOU think it is, because I have a sneaking suspicion we might be on the SAME page, as far as conclusions go.
I mean, we are talking about police administrators that DO have trouble stopping such (simple) things as NOISE, or SPEEDING even after they've been provided with as much information as can be had by an "average citizen".
(or are they just sitting on that intel and not sending it along to VICE/NARCOTICS?)
We certainly ain't bustin' on the "grunts in the trenches", are we?
I'm just sayin'...
*** An update to the hanging man story:
(( Hanging death declared suicide - Holly Abrams and Chris Meyers The Journal Gazette
A man found hanging from a tree Monday near the Rivergreenway committed suicide, the Allen County Coroner's Office said Tuesday.
Police were called just before 2:30 p.m. Monday to a bridge overlooking the Maumee River in the 1100 block of Coliseum Boulevard South. The body was found about a mile east of the Coliseum Boulevard bridge, south of the Rivergreenway.
The body, found by a group of students on a canoeing trip, was hanging from a tree, according to police dispatch logs.
An autopsy ruled the person died of asphyxia due to hanging, and the death was declared a suicide. The man's identity has not been established, the coroner's office said. ))
*** And (sigh) yet ANOTHER shooting on the SE side...
(( Victim critically hurt in South Anthony shooting - Journal Gazette
Police are investigating a shooting in a southeast-side restaurant parking lot that left a man in critical condition late Tuesday night.
Officers were called at 11:14 p.m. to Ya Boy Fish & Chicken, 4304 S. Anthony Blvd., after dispatchers received multiple reports that a man in a van had been shot, according to a statement from Fort Wayne police.
When police arrived at the scene just south of McKinnie Avenue, they found a 30-year-old man in a silver Ford van suffering from apparent gunshot wounds, the report said. Medics took the victim to a hospital in serious condition, but he was later downgraded to critical.
Witnesses told police that several males had approached the van to talk to the victim, according to the report.
The witnesses then heard several gunshots and saw several men run toward the southwest, the report said.
Police have made no arrests in the shooting. Fort Wayne police and the Allen County prosecutor and coroner offices are investigating the shooting.
The area near South Anthony and McKinnie has been plagued by violence in recent years. A gas station at the same intersection has been the scene of at least half a dozen shootings since 2006. ))
Wow...McKinnie and South Anthony.,..I JUST mentioned this area in YESTERDAY'S post (how PROPHETIC, and shame on you for not reading it...lol).
And the shooter fled on foot to the SW...that would mean they were running towards MY part of the ghettohood...
Well, there ARE plenty of places to "get lost" down here...said that for YEARS, and still, the city does nothing to decrease the overgrown foliage, or board up or raze houses that need it. Councilman John Shoaff said it best last night at the Council meeting when he mentioned that when (FWPD Captain) Tom Bandor was in charge of Neighborhood Code Enforcement, he was a "lot more proactive" when dealing with issues like this, and I tend to agree.
Be nice if councilmen Pape and Hines were as "concerned" with THEIR part of town as well.
If you're wondering ABOUT Ya Boy's "eatery", here's a review from 2008:





http://www.foodinthefort.com/2008/04/19/friday-night-fish-fry-at-ya-boy-the-way-the-good-lord-intended/
It's a rather humorous read, too.
But I digress...
*** This story about the "honeybee shooter" I talked about last Humpday took an interesting turn.
Here's the link:
http://www.wane.com/dpps/news/national/midwest/officer-cleared-in-shootings-in-illinois-indiana-nt10-jgr_3610733
Seems the police officer arrested has been released...because he was NOT the shooter. Talk about jumping the gun (no pun intended).
Someone in Indiana might have jerked their knee a little too quickly, don'cha think?
And to think, we're only at the middle of the week.
Like the songs goes...Some days are DIAMONDS...some days are STONE.
I think we're looking at something in-between...an AMETHYST kinda day.
Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay safe out there, America.