Monday Musings...
As well-traveled as I believe myself to be, considering the places and stuff I've witnessed in over five decades, there is always a LOT more "out there" that I WANT to see, as well as things I DON'T want to see.
And beautiful as this nation is, as well as a WHOLE LOT more of the entire world, there is always the OTHER side of that coin...the NASTY sh*t!
Used to be times when that nasty sh*t was something you READ about in the papers, or saw on TV "somewhere else".
Today, it seems that you don't have to look FOR IT all that much...it LOOKS FOR YOU.
It KNOWS...where you live...LOL.
You watch in disbelief as once nice cities have descended into the 7th layer of hell, and show NO sign of halting their decline.
Maybe this is something you think of whenever you recall your "old neighborhood".
Or maybe it describes nicely, the current state of YOUR neighborhood...like mine.
So, for the next few posts, I want to relate a few things that occurred JUST this past weekend, and if it seems like some "Tales From the South Side", give yourself a gold star and go to the head of the class.
I couldn't get all this into ONE single post.
No way!
Now, whenever I had the misfortunes of having a vehicular "breakdown" (which has been rare, I might add), it was never really an issue which tended to STRAND me (and certainly not for long), and I suppose that all comes down to one, simple rule:
KEEP THE VEHICLE MAINTAINED!
Dad always said that "If you take care of your vehicle, it will take care of you"...and he was SO right.
Philly was a city that had stronger requirements when it came to vehicles - we had yearly INSPECTIONS...(pass or fail) in order to renew your registration.
Not so, here in the "heartland".
Anything goes (and breaks)...and usually does.
THAT is why people can drive about for YEARS with inoperable license plate bulbs and NEVER get pulled over...no big deal.
You try that for JUST a week in say, Columbus, OH, and you WILL get ticketed, and that $1.50 bulb might cost you $150.00 instead!. They tend to be REAL tight on enforcement of the "small sh*t" there...(so it doesn't become the big sh*t later).
And that brings me to today's tale of curbside automotive repair.
Early Saturday morning, I peer out the drapes and I see this car parked in the street alongside our property.


I went outside with my pistol and flashlight (to get the tag number), and approached the car from the rear. NO problem - the car was unoccupied.
I noticed the right front wheel on this Saturn was OFF the spindle, and with FWD, I knew this beast wasn't going ANYWHERE soon.
I've had such a thing happen when I was in a car with my buddy.
He had a wheel bearing seize up on his '58 Chevy, and that sheered off the lug stems, allowing the wheel to run itself off of the spindle...not the best thing to occur when you're doing 40 MPH along Delaware Ave.
When it happened, we heard a thump and the car "bounced" on the front end. I then said to my buddy: "Hank, I think that's our right front WHEEL passing us." To which he answered: "Hang on, this is going to be interesting."
He held the wheel straight until the car was under 20 MPH (longest 15 seconds in history - remember, we had NO brakes on the right front, so he downshifted to slow us), then the car rested on the front axle and we ground to a halt near an intersection (at the curb no less...nice park job).
Hank and I got out, looked at where the wheel USED to be, and started gathering up the parts that trailed behind the car.
But where was the damn WHEEL & TIRE?
It was MIA for the moment.
I walked a block over to a warehouse, and in the loading bay the workers were eating lunch, so I asked them:
"Yo, this is gonna sound weird, but did anyone see a tire on a wheel roll by here?"
One man said: "See, I TOLD you someone would come for it...there it is, in the corner."
Sure enough, the missing tire had been FOUND.
After placing the tire in the back seat, Hank called his uncle to come tow the car to the repair shop, and we both took the EL train home.
Helluva day...and it was barely past NOON.
The car was rolling again the next day, but we got it off the street ASAP.
Meanwhile, back in Indiana...time: the present -
I called the FWPD about THIS car, but never did see an officer arrive on scene, even after I gave dispatch a tag number, description, etc.
Seems when I made a FOLLOWUP call several HOURS later, dispatch said an officer was NEVER SENT...(WTF?)
Dispatch palmed it off to PARKING CONTROL.
(which doesn't work on weekends, so the car would sit until after Monday - sorry, NOT acceptable for the tax dollars being shelled out)
If a car is IN THE DAMN STREET, you get a freaking HOOK out and REMOVE IT...period.
Let the owner worry about his dumbass move of NOT having it towed and let HIM pay the frigging bill.
Well, seems the "owner" came by with some "help" to get the car fixed.
Now, when you have a MORON that wants his POS fixed, how many MORE morons are required to GET it fixed?
Let's say THREE...one to turn the wrench, and TWO to stand around and BS...almost sounds like a CITY ROAD CREW...LOL
(AAA? What's THAT? Hint: It's NOT the Anaheim Athletic Association, nimrod!)
The missing lug stems had to be replaced, and then everyone FINALLY managed to find their way AWAY from the house, after 4+ hours...end of story, right?


Nah, you know me better than that.

There's (always) more.
City CODE (Fort Wayne city ordinances § 72.03, § 72.23 {B}, § 72.24, § 72.99) says that you're NOT ALLOWED to perform VEHICLE REPAIRS on a CITY STREET, but ohmigosh, lookit that!
Here is someone WORKING ON A VEHICLE...on a CITY STREET.
Where ARE the police, anyway?
No one bothered to drive past a while AFTER rolling up to the vehicle the first time?
That, to me, says NOT ENOUGH PATROLS in the area, otherwise, someone would have been read the ordinance via WORD OF MOUTH from an officer.
But that IS dependent upon whether or not the officer actually KNOWS the city ordinance in the first place, isn't it?
Sadly, some of them DO NOT, but don't tell THEM that...they don't like to be QUOTED THE LAW (because they think they already know it and you're just a wise-ass).
The GOOD news is that some officers DO know the law, and DO make the right call. (Sadly, not enough of THESE officers become command staff level.)
But you can be sure that many just DO NOT...I guess knowing the law (and ordinances) isn't that BIG a job requirement what with all the affirmative action and "diplomacy" these days going on in the department, and on the street.
Do I have a chip on my shoulder with the local PD?
Nah...not really, but the BRASS needs to screw THEIR heads on straight and start doing REAL POLICING.
The grunts NEED to know the law better than the citizens do, because if they don't, the citizens will run the show, instead of the police.
(with the lawyers smiling all the way to the bank)
And although we don't live IN a police state, you REALLY want to have the police knowing MORE about the law than most anyone else.
I mean, that's one reason WHY they put the shield on?
...to UPHOLD THE LAW.
Can't uphold what you don't know, right?
Or can you?
The least any officer can do when presented with the law from a decent, sober citizen is NOT to immediately think the guy's a troublemaker...
Hell, I know the law to protect MYSELF...AND those walking that thin blue line.
If you, as a representative of law-enforcement have questions regarding ANY law or ordinance, your nose should be stuck in some book UNTIL you get the answer you're looking for. And maybe, street duty isn't the best choice for you until you bone up ON those laws.
DO what I do...LOOK STUFF UP!
I also think it becomes presumptuous of dispatch to "interpret" MY call as anything OTHER than what I stated over the phone.
I know the "routine".
I know HOW to say things to expedite the call-in process.
I know WHAT information is required to assist any responding officer.
In other words, I'm one of the BEST set of (covert) eyes and ears this part of town has WITHOUT having a squad car, radio and shield to back me up!
And I do this because of my CONCERN for safety, and that "Quality-of-Life" we're SUPPOSED to have down here, yet have NOT achieved no matter what is said to have been done otherwise...
I get NO compensation, NO paycheck, NO salary, and NO awards or kudos for what I do.
And I don't expect any.
What I DO expect is nothing short of a lot more bang for the taxpayer buck down here (no pun intended - we have enough "bangs" to go around), and if that means someone in the FWPD command pays a LOT more attention to what I say and the information I provide (gratis), then ACTS upon the information...all the better.
In an area where almost everyone the police pulls over has some lies waiting to roll off their primate tongues, it SHOULD be a godsend to have someone willing to do the hard things...the right things, AND for the right reasons.
One would THINK, anyway.
Tomorrow, we move from the realm of (curbside) car repair into the world of (near) sex in the city...South Side Style.
Until then:
Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay safe out there, America