Odds And Ends...
Baby, it's COLD outside (at least here in the Midwest).
But not THAT cold where I can't update you on a story I presented here yesterday...
*** That local thief that was walking out of various stores in our county HAS been captured.
(( Media blitz aids arrest in series of shopliftings - Chris Meyers / The Journal Gazette
A Fort Wayne man who police said has stolen electronics, alcohol and other merchandise from a number of area stores was arrested Wednesday.
Clinton Bunch Jr., 46, of the 700 block of Third Street, is a suspect in a recent shoplifting spree in which the variety of items stolen was as wide as that of the stores where they were stolen, the Allen County Sheriff’s Department said.
Recent media coverage was instrumental in his arrest. TV newscasts aired surveillance footage of a man believed to be Bunch walking through a store and loading items into a shopping cart.
"They got all kinds of phone calls," Lt. Steve Stone, sheriff’s department spokesman, said of the detectives working the case.
Police received a tip about Bunch’s location Wednesday morning, and he was later arrested in the trailer park on Washington Center Road.
Stone said Bunch was arrested without incident.
Bunch was wanted on a felony theft warrant from August when the warrants division of the sheriff’s department found him.
He was booked at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Allen County Lockup, where he was being held in lieu of $2,500 bail.
His arrest stems from the most recent theft allegation against him. In August, he was caught pushing a cart full of items out of a Big Lots store and told security he was stealing them so he could buy a bus ticket to see his son, according to Allen Superior Court records.
Police said Bunch is accused of stealing an MP3 player, an electronic recorder, power tools and alcohol during the most recent shoplifting spree.
Bunch would use different cars to get away from the stores and would cover the cars’ license plates with cardboard, police said.
Security alarms sounded at stores during some of the thefts, but investigators said Bunch managed to leave before anyone could confront him.
CVS, Walgreens, Menards, Walmart and grocery and convenience stores across the area are among the retailers where police said merchandise was stolen. ))
Guess that trip to the son's house will just HAVE to wait now, hmm?
And he was wanted since AUGUST...I suppose taking some sort of entry-level part-time job at the stores he wound up robbing wasn't on his radar.
Bad decisions usually wind up leading to good collars.
All it took was a tip to the authorities...another case of one person making that difference (or in this case, perhaps more than one).
At least Mr. Bunch won't have to brave the cold weather and steal things to "sell" for that bus ticket.
Oh, wait...didn't he already have a VEHICLE (actually SEVERAL vehicles...with cardboard over the license)?
Maybe he could have DRIVEN to see his son?
And maybe he could have NOT stolen the merchandise and LIED about it.
And MAY-BE, we could also bring back electro-shock therapy...and lobotomies for some of the more incorrigible criminals among us.
I wonder how much Mr. Bunch is bilking the government for HIS handout check?
On the "up" side, perhaps his SON can come visit HIM now...at least he'll know EXACTLY where Dad's "residing" for a spell, won't he?
And he'll be out of the cold...which reminds me...
*** Ever notice that the older you get the more "sensitive" to the temperatures you become.
On Glenn Beck's radio program, he spoke about wives, and how they are "thermostatically-challenged".
I found it hilarious, because every now and then, we here at the Bobby G. "Bastion of Reason" tend to have differences of opinion when it comes to the ambient temperature within our domicile.
I usually hear Mrs. Bobby G. saying something like "It's cold in here....I'm cold", or even "That room is hot...it's hot in there".
Seems you can't win.
See, we have a post WW2 house with a 40+ year old furnace that has TWO distinct settings:
1) ON
2) OFF
Now, you can switch it from HEAT to COOL, seasonally-speaking, but you're pretty much set with what you got.
I set the thermostat to 74 degrees in winter, which makes the house comfortable, considering I can't control "zones" in the house.
I have room ducts with "dampers" that are either OPEN or CLOSED, and even closing them doesn't modify the air flow most times.
Think of it as like having a screendoor on a submarine...they're THAT effective.
Still, last month's electric bill WAS around $70..not bad at all.
The worst culprit of heat loss is the family room (built around 1970). It has a higher ceiling than the rest of the house, and a nice large area over the ceiling for all that wonderful COLD air to accumulate, even with the blown-in insulation up there.
That room alone is typically 10 degrees COOLER than the rest of the house, including the basement.
In the summer, it's not as bad, because the A/C air remains closer to the floor (it's a density thing).
Now, if you want to hear something REALLY funny...the cost to replace (and upgrade) ALL the (obsolete and somewhat drafty) windows in the house would cost around $20K (and change).
The house was recently "assessed" for not much more (about $35K - down from a high of $76K, thanks to a rising tide of Ghettopoly surrounding us), so WHY would we blow that much money when, IF we sell the house, we would NEVER get compensated for the outlay of that much cash to improve the place?
It becomes a real Catch-22 for us, home-improvement-wise.
We like to deal with the immediate needs, and skip the things we COULD use.
We do need a new roof for the house now, so that's an easy $6K.
But as long as that old furnace runs, we'll be warm ("It's too cold"), and as long as the A/C operates as designed ("It's too hot"), we make out just fine.
*** There was this story also, very pertinent regarding the Christmas season.
This is from WPXI out of Pittsburgh:
http://www.wpxi.com/news/26036419/detail.html
Seems a nativity scene that had resided at the borough building for FIFTY-SEVEN years had to be moved THIS year.
The story is a good read about how a city bowed to the whims of ONE PERSON...
The citizens are really cheesed off about this, too, as can be expected.
Canonsburg, PA is a nice small town, indicative of Bedford Falls.
Here is a related story about the person who orchestrated the move of the nativity scene:
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/complaint-that-removed-pa-nativity-sent-from-33-year-old-supernatural-junkie/
Seems Megan Hartley is into some really WEIRD sh*t!
This is a tad on the "disturbing" side:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2638950/posts
And she gets a Nativity that has stood every year, for 57 years in the same place MOVED...because SHE didn't think it appropriate.
Gimme a break!
But she DID win a "darkest video" award online...
Did that nativity really BOTHER anyone...?
Apparently it bothered ONE person. (who is into vampire lover crap)
It's just like having a school's graduation PRAYER omitted because ONE parent (out of literally HUNDREDS) didn't think it "proper".
What the hell nation are we becoming?
Are we actually WANTING to embrace a socialistic, anarchistic, anti-Judeo-Christian, pro-secular humanistic lifestyle?
I really don't think so, and the last elections pretty much stated so.
Americans, on the whole, WANT to have the values and principles that our founding documents, and the writers of them possessed.
The vast majority of Americans WANT their country the hell BACK.
Many people want to return to a simpler time, but every day, it gets a bit harder to realize.
We are being assaulted daily with world problems that DO affect every one of us...like all those local problems weren't enough, right?
And, we've got all this technology to "entertain" us...get our minds OFF of the problems, so whoever is "in charge" can pull even more wool over our eyes.
Thing is, a LOT of Americans are not falling for that ploy any longer.
Many more ARE paying the hell attention, and many are actively DOING something about it.
One person can ALWAYS make a difference, but we often see how that can be not so good a thing.
Real Americans need to not only know WHAT they do, but also to know the REASON why they do it, and it should be with all other real Americans in mind.
This nation has been a proud beacon that has provided much for so many in years past, and it's time to get that light shining again.
CHRISTMAS is the perfect time of year to make that happen, don'cha think?
Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay safe out there, America.

((16 Shopping days until Christmas))