Tuesday Tidbits...
Yes, it's another nice late-summer morning outside - great day to poke around in the garden...or call in "sick"...LOL.
The Hoosierland weather today will be fair with temps again reaching into the mid-upper 80s. Didn't see any fog about, and the sunrise is quite spectacular. No sign of precip, either.
All in all, looks to be a very nice day...until someone comes along and louses it the hell up!
(and we might see some of that "lousing" further down in the post)
*** Now, with that behind us, let's venture forth into our homage to THIS month, otherwise known as:
Bobby G's This Day in AUGUST History.
August 20 - 
1858 - Charles Darwin FIRST publishes his theory of evolution through natural selection alongside Alfred Russel Wallace's SAME theory.
1866 - President Andrew Johnson officially declares the Civil War over.
1882 - Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture debuts in Moscow.

1938 - Lou Gehrig hits his 23rd career GRAND SLAM - a record that STILL stands (no steroids THERE, folks)
1962 - The NS Savannah, the world's FIRST nuclear-powered civilian ship, embarks on it's maiden voyage.

Notable birthdays:
Don King (b-1931)
Ron Paul (b-1935)
Connie Chung (b-1946)
Robert Plant (b-1948) of Led Zeppelin

Mohammed Morsi (b-1951) of recent Egypt infamy
And, just in case you WERE wondering...

YES...today IS...WORLD MOSQUITO DAY, so get out and buy a can of repellent and avoid any diseases.
Meanwhile back at the "Fortress"...
*** We got the estimate for the new roof...just a wee bit shy of $7K, and considering all the "extras" I wasn't even thinking about, like replacing the roof vents and flashing and the dumpster for the tear-off refuse, that's a damn decent price...right in the ballpark of other places.

This will be OUR place in a couple weeks!

I'm just hoping that when the roofers place the dumpster in our driveway, it doesn't become a magnet for the "shirt-dumpers in the area, because they LOVE to drop sh*t off any damn place they want to,...must be a "cultural thang".
It's bad enough picking up the assorted bottles, cans, and wrappers form all the crap dropped from the primate hands of the local morons, but I sure as hell don;t wan to see a bedroom set, large-screen TV or a sofa in "our" dumpster, and I will mention that to the men when they come to do the job.
They will also reuse the existing GUTTERS, so I get me a chance to clean them ALL the hell out. And they will be reattaching the gutter GUARDS we have (glad I bought extras, too for the ones that are broken).
Yeah, it looks to be a good fit for us, not that it will IMPROVE the area...the only way THAT will happen is to remove ALL the refuse, both inorganic AND organic, whether it walks ot not.
Moving on...
*** Yepper, we're back to those overnight shootings down on the...(...altogether, gang)...)...SOUTHEAST SIDE.

Here's the lowdown on the latest one that left on person in serious condition at a local hospital:
http://www.wane.com/news/crime/man-in-serious-condition-after-shooting-on-spatz-ave
Police were dispatched to the 4300 block of Spatz St early this morning around 0100 hrs for a signal 113 (shots fired).
Coincidentally, around the SAME time, a man was being dropped off at hospital suffering from (you guessed it)...gunshot wounds.
Guess these people don't like bothering the AMBULANCE companies.

FWPD confirms that the man was inside the red SUV that was found run up against a guy-wire at al alley near Spatz.
Several bullet holes were found on the SUV, and police retrieved several shell casings near the vehicle.
While police were at the Spatz scene, they also heard about TEN gunshots a few blocks away, and ran in the direction of the shots, but found no one.
Fisteen minutes after THAT, officers heard ANOTHER round of gunfire roughly 5 blocks SOUTH of Spatz and McKinnie, but when officers drove through the area, they were unable to find anyone ('ya think?).
Face it, these PUNKS know a sh*tload MORE about the area then ANY officer than only spends between 8-10 hrs a day chasing the radio through that area.

With less time to enact ACTIVE PATROLS, officers cannot possibly know ALL the places these thugs can dash in and out of to evade the po-po.
BUT, if they DID cruise all the alleys as well as the streets, checking out houses and whatnot, they would get a much clearer picture of what they have to deal with, geographically-speaking.
You HAVE to "know the territory", and thereby come to "know" the people in that territory...THAT is good policing.
Otherwise, you're chasing specters in the middle of the damn night..every night.
*** That was one helluva fire in the east-central area yesterday, and here's the story:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20130820/LOCAL07/308209985

It seems that every couple years or so, Fort Wayne has some HUGE fire...now to me that's a LOT of "Jewish-Lightning", or it COULD be some serial arsonist that has yet to be caught, which would explain a LOT of the "vacant-house" fires we see on the SE side.
One possibility might be a "one-pot" that went sideways, starting the fire in some storage area where a person might have been squatting.
It will most interesting to see what fire investigators determine to be the actual cause.
*** Lastly today, it's becoming such a screwed-up world, and sadly, none of are totally immune to the crap that seems to come at us from every direction on too regular a basis.
Some days, you wish for a halt in all the mess, just so you can catch a breath.
(many of us learn to breathe FAST for a reason...lol)

Too much affects us all these days, thanks to technology and a 24/7 news cycle.
And it gets harder to snatch a few brief moments of personal reverie, and that's not to say we're being selfish.
We just need a break from the maelstrom of mindless insanity assaulting us...that's all.
There is much to be said for solace...when you can find it.
And it becomes out job to do so...daily.
That old worn-out expression "stop and smell the roses" never had a greater meaning than it does today.
We should take more time to be aware of the small things in life, because they DO have a cumulative effect, be they good or bad.
But, it's the good, small things that need a few minutes of OUR attention...just so we can maintain our sanity and retain our focus.
Life isn't meant to be easy, but that doesn't mean we can't enjoy parts of it when we need to, right?

Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay SAFE out there, America.