Humpday Happenings...
It's a fine day for mowing the lawn (early), so I'll be outside, making our "Fortress of Reason" look more UNLIKE the rest of the houses on the block. The temps are in the upper 50s, and that means I won't be breaking a sweat getting it done.
It amazes me how some will wait until noon time to mow...like they enjoy he heat (they sure hide that well).
And I do so enjoy getting out BEFORE the locals fall off the mattress on their floor...produces a feeling of accomplishment (to me).
So you'll forgive me if this posts a bit later than usual today...I'm outside following the rules of the road when it comes to MAINTAINING one's PROPERTY (sorry Neighborhood Code Enforcement...better stop at all the OTHER houses that don't mow the grass...only smoke it. Go bother them).
The city will get NO money from us in that regard...heh, heh, heh.
((And, BLOGGER will only, for some strange reason allow ONE picture AT A TIME to be uploaded, so this will take a bit to get done.))
Also, today is the FIRST day of the "5 days before and after the 4th of July", which here in Fort Wayne means it's NOW perfectly FINE to set off fireworks (and annoy others nearby).
That's weird, because that's BEEN going on in our part of the ghettohood for the past THREE WEEKS...
And it's not been abated in any way, shape, or form, thanks to the diligence of the FWPD.
Now, I'm NOT going to smack around the boys & girls in blue, because finding such disturbances is ONE problem...actually DOING something about it is quite the other.
Most times, a roll up to those setting off the fireworks and TELLING them the specific dates and times usually serves the purpose of stopping it cold.
But this is much like that "second chance syndrome" this city seems to suffer from (and in a terminal way).
All too often, people are given about 27 second chances, and to me, that's about 26 TOO MANY!
I really DO like fireworks...used to go see them as a kid all the time...when they were done BY PROFESSIONALS.
But these back-street "pyrotechnicians" are the type that can't find their ass with BOTH hands (and that's on a good day).
They're either chronically drunk, high (or both), and that's just those posing as "adults".
Their kids are just as bad, but usually not as high OR drunk...just obnoxious.
Yet, we do have to display "empathy" for such people, as they are all part of the poverty this nation suffers from...
(and I'm the POPE...not too shabby for a shouting Methodist)
Every year Wifey and I wonder WHERE the hell these morons get ALL the damn money to front these daily (and larger nightly) displays of aerial bombardment? The cost of such "ordnance" is definitely in the HUNDREDS of DOLLARS, that's for sure.
I know...I've priced them at stores around the area...they ain't cheap, folks!
When a person sets off an aerial a half block away, and it winds up shaking YOUR house when it detonates...THAT is one helluva explosion.
Now, imagine "if" it were set off a lot CLOSER (like being tossed AT your house).
Don't think I haven't thought about that happening...these f$cking idiots will try anything to get under your skin.
Just last evening, we not only had another moron park ACROSS OUR DRIVEWAY, but one of the "friends" (a felon that lives at the other end of our block named Matt Fuller) was driving his POS late 70's t-top Camaro up and down the street, revving the engine EVERY time he passed OUR house...showing off to his friends.
Of course, such people HAVE been mentioned monthly to our dear quadrant Captain for YEARS...and yet they still remain to bother us (and any other decent person...however few we still are around here).
I did actually hear one call come over the radio last evening (during *B* shift) where a person was complaining about LOUD fireworks being set off near their house. And the CP told dispatch they were irate with the police AND the people setting off the fireworks, and that if THEY (the police) didn't do anything...HE was going to "take care of it"...!
God, I LOVE this person...sounds just like me...LOL.
Never did hear any followups on the resolution of that call...would have loved to find out HOW it ended.
It's like I keep saying...what the hell ever happened to CIVILITY...and MORALITY...and ETHICAL BEHAVIOR anyway?
When did they all (along with a few more positive aspects of the human condition) suddenly take an extended vacation to Cabo?
And WHY have we allowed this to occur?
Didn't we all used to be made of better stuff?
Were we not once a people that prided themselves in being a lot more RESPONSIBLE when it came to policing OURSELVES?
Were our children once supervised when at play, and with restrictions placed upon them as to curfew, politeness and manners in general?
I'm sorry, but I can only take so much anarchistic behavior in society, and I think you might feel likewise.
We're fast becoming a nation wrought with chaos in most of all our major cities...and it's spreading further.
Now, I don't wanna be no "Denny Downer" here, but just pick up a damn newspaper or flip onto a news channel, and you can see it.
Kids "taking over" a school board meeting, flash mobs of teens running rampant, looting stores and assaulting others, assorted robberies, shootings, rapes, and pillaging by the carload...and to what end?
Like I said...we used to be made of a lot BETTER stuff as a nation, AND as individuals.
And I think as we approach the birthday of our country this July 4th, that we take a little time and wonder about our future.
(Because sooner or later, we're gonna find ourselves hip-deep at that place)
Our future generation is running WILD IN THE STREETS (to coin the title of the late 60's movie), and we'd best find some way to manage it, or otherwise control it, before we see cities turn into testimonial pyres to stupidity.
It's as though our evolution has made a u-turn (and an illegal one at that) and we're DEVOLVING into a more primitive culture, bent on whatever suits one's fancy. That will never bode well for America. And we should never allow that to occur.
It's all these smaller things that are all building up into one huge problem...and like you all know, I'm going to say it always comes down to THE PEOPLE.
We can accuse technology of aiding and abetting such behavior in our midst, but it does come down to being a RESPONSIBLE PERSON...
Being an individual that can MANAGE THEMSELVES first and foremost.
And when you get a handle on that self-management gig, THEN, you can better achieve management to your children, passing on the values that MEAN something, instead of all the bad traits that have been developed and honed over the years.
I admit that on any given day around here, I really WANT to go out and shoot the crap out of a LOT of these bastards that feel they can thumb their noses at authority, break any damn law they want, bilk the government for free money, buy drugs from money gotten from burglaries and robberies, and the like...
But I practice self-control and believe me, it's NOT easy with these local-yokels.
(they really must have a death-wish)
We are by nature a violent species, and we're mostly known for being the one species that ACTIVELY preys UPON IT'S OWN KIND...by CHOICE.
But...we have that one advantage that is supposed to raise us above all the others on the planet...and that is INTELLIGENCE.
The ability to RATIONALIZE; to understand that there can always be alternatives to ANY given situation or problems.
That SHOULD be the "leg-up" we all need, but as evidenced by the news. such is not always the case.
Can we truly get ourselves back on the right road again?
Yes, but it DOES take a few things to get it in gear.
It takes a WILLINGNESS to want to do it.
It takes STEADFASTNESS to stay the course, no matter what.
It takes PRACTICE, because we might not get it right the FIRST time.
And it takes the knowledge that in doing so, we not only make things better for ourselves, but for a great many others.
That's how America gets things done...one person at a time.
If enough persons decide to follow such prescripts, then changes can be made.
Funny thing, all of the above can be accomplished without religious intervention, and if you notice, I didn't mention GOD in the mix, but considering that such aspects of human behavior and evolution are NOT without their basis in Biblical laws and dictates, I thought you'd all figure that one out soon enough (if you already didn't know it).
Mankind has always operated within the principles set down in SOME religion. EVERY major religion has a lot of the SAME "laws" when it pertains to people. Not stealing, not killing, honoring your parents, etc. All of that (and more) precedes the rest of any true religion and it's teachings.
So there you have it...lots to ponder today, not the least of which is the brevity of fireworks.
You set them off, they go "boom", and that's that...all too brief.
Life however tends to be a tad GREATER (and a lot better) both in length and scope.
And it's to THAT end we need to be focusing our attention...the "big picture" as it were, and not just for the immediate and minuscule.
Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay safe out there, America.