Monday Musings...

Welcome to the month of March, and all the "madness" that comes along with it.
Now, I KNOW I changed the calendars around the house, but for some strange reason, it STILL feels like February...or January.
Must have been the additional 4 inches of snow we received over the weekend.
That'll do it every time.
The Hoosierland weather today is pretty much like a lot of Mondays we've seen this year - COLD...(damn cold).
Today's high will wind up in the mid-teen range, so don't expect anything to melt (except our optimism that this would all end soon - that Groundhog called this one right about a month ago).
So, I trust you have your morning cup of something HOT...you're going to need some fortification to stave off the chill.
Now, let's see what's been going on and what might possibly be on my mind...
*** First out of the laundry chute today is the fact that we DID get snowplows down our streets yesterday - same day service - that seems to be a first (for a change).

Now THAT's a lot better.

Must have been those that bitched about the lousy service we got on the LAST go-round of snow in our area.
And I have to add that the plows did seem to do a better job than that last time.

What a DUMBASS...!

There was only ONE car parked along the street in our block when the plow came through (dumbass) and the plow went around his car, which is always parked 50 feet from the house he cribs at...suspicious as all hell, if you ask me.
Still, we got plowed BOTH N/S and E/W...and to me, that's a bit on the remarkable side
Makes getting to a MAIN street a bit easier, considering that none of the schools had delays this morning.

And, if you were wondering if this latest bout of snow made an impression on those who have NOT (to date) shoveled off their walks...it didn't.
They're STILL so damn lazy they stink.
(and will never get called on it either)
*** Next up, with all this extreme winter weather, one would have to conclude that CRIME has been going DOWN.

As long as it keeps snowing...it IS.

Well, the homicide rate has dropped off, because even THESE morons don't like shooting one another when it's this cold or snowy outside.
Expect that to change with the weather, for it's one of the best ways to measure criminal activity.
Now, with THAT said, it doesn't take a rocket scientist (or criminal justice major) to figure out that crime has NOT dropped that much across the board.
Homicides alone do not a crime report make.
We STILL have all those OTHER crimes that are happening every single day...it's just that none of THOSE are as "sensational" or news-worthy as the media sources would prefer.

You still have shots being fired most every day (and within 3 miles of our "Fortress"., and all the assorted vandalism, "disturbances", assaults, robberies and burglaries. And naturally, when some idiots get cabin-fever due to the weather, they choose to beat on one another for the hell of it.
Those are called DOMESTICS, and we have those every day.
You watch, when this weather DOES break, the more attention-getting crimes WILL return.
When perps know that they can't be tracked from a crime scene (thanks to footprints in the snow) they'll return.
When roads are cleared off enough to make driving a lot easier, the convenient store and drugstore robbers will return.
And when having a rolling shootout can be made without spinning one's tires on a patch of ice, the gangstas will return...it's only a matter of time.

If it snows ALL year, I'll look REAL good!

So, I don't want to hear a SINGLE solitary word about how this new FWPD chief or this "new" Director of Public Safety have made SUCH a difference in crime.
If anything, we can thank God...or Mother Nature...or even Old Man Winter for this brief respite in the more notorious crimes in our city.
*** Today is the first day of the extended school days for the FWCS...

And we LOVE jerking our knees, too!

There are much better solutions than sticking on an extra HOUR each day until the 12 days were made up...
A letter to the editor (in the J-G) today suggested a FIFTEEN MINUTE EXTENSION to the school day - a lot less noticeable for the kids and educators, and doesn't conflict with any extra-curricular activities or jobs held by students. Any impact on those would be minimal.
Again, practical solutions instead of knee-jerking...that's what we NEED, but never what we get.
*** If you've been hiding in a cave watching the shadows on the back wall, then you haven't been watching the FX channel, because they've been having a superhero-fest this weekend...and I never mind that at all. Sure beats the snot out of watching "bassabawl" any day.

Thing is, FX isn't doing it "right", and here's why...
The movies such as Iron Man, Iron Man 2, The Hulk, Captain America and Thor were made in a particular order and have clues in each movie to allege to a greater "purpose" - that being the creation of the team called the Avengers.
-- In Iron Man, we first meet Nick Fury, director of SHIELD (the "tease" at the end of the movie).
-- In The Incredible Hulk, we see Tony Stark going into a bar and chatting up General Ross about "putting a team together"..
-- In Iron Man 2, Fury speaks about "the situation in the SW region", and the tease, which is never shown, is a crater in the southwest that shows a certain "hammer" at the center of it.
-- In Thor (2011) at the end (which they DO show) we see a "relic" (blue cube aka tesseract) that Fury shows to Dr. Selvig (and we also see Thor's brother Loki, believed dead, but figures into the Avengers movie).
-- In Captain America, the First Avenger (later in 2011) we know where that blue cube originally came from and get a teaser for the Avengers movie.

The gang's all here.

Plus in Thor, we get to see "Hawkeye" for the first time (working for SHIELD), and we know that Agent Romanov (Black Widow) is in Iron Man 2.
The continuity in these movies is very well presented. I just wish FX would include ALL the teasers.

Hell, Green Lantern even has one (Sinestro takes the yellow ring, puts it on, and all comic fan geeks know where that one's going).
It makes watching these movies that much more interesting.
*** Lastly today, the realization of comic heroes is often a mirror to ourselves, and if one were to draw on classic mythology, the same holds true THERE, as well.
Only the names have been changed "to protect the innocent", as it were.
Even movie heroes, such as found in Star Wars bear that out.
I considered my Father a hero, although his "super" power was his ability to put food on the table every day. And Mom's power was to make the house function, and to maintain a family.

While we wonder in awe at the ability of a person to fly without a plane, or have strength beyond the mortal realm, it's all the "little" powers that have a lasting effect, such as one's ability to want to do right or to see a problem through to it's end with a good solution.
In that, I believe we are ALL endowed with powers we often leave untapped, or underutilized.
Making just one good decision each day has powers far reaching into one's future...
We just don't stop to realize it.
But perhaps, while taking in these movies or comics, we see a part of ourselves, and wanting to emulate what these fictional people can accomplish often leads us to keep on trying, rather than giving up.
I know my parents were never ones to give up, and they must have done their job well enough, for I feel the same way.
Let that knowledge be our guide for the day.

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