Monday Musings...

Welcome to another fun-filled, action-packed week...or not.
If you like rain (and what Midwesterner doesn't?) we'll have some of the wet stuff coming down by this afternoon as temps top out in the upper 40s.
Rain will continue into tomorrow (as April showers tend to do).
I can personally state that I have had my FILL with rain, and the run-off that accompanies it, and we'll be getting more into Wifey and my "excellent adventure" in just a wee bit, but before we do that, we've some other news that's been going on...
*** First out of the floodgates today is Allen County's SECOND HOMICIDE - the first inside city limits.
(didn't think we'd make it, huh?)

Well, the WEATHER is getting better, and we ALL know what that means...
And, naturally, this happened in the...(...all together, people...)...SOUTHEAST SIDE.
Here's the "4-1-1":
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20140406/LOCAL07/304069940/1002/LOCAL
Darrell King, 45, is the latest member of the city's deadpool for 2014, and the cause of death was ruled asphyxiation (probably a crushed windpipe).
This occurred in the 2000 block of Gladstone Drive, off of S. Anthony around 1715 hrs back on 5 April.
When police arrived on scene, they found an unresponsive man and he was taken to hospital in critical condition.
He died a short time later.
A fight had broken out between King and another man before police showed up.
(you DO have to go through a MENU now when calling the FWPD, as opposed to getting a dispatch person immediately...things take longer)
Although police had detained one man, no charges have been filed yet. Gang activity has not been suspected in this case which remains under (you guessed it)...investigation.
*** Meanwhile, back (still) on the SOUTHEAST SIDE, we have a fire in an abandoned school, which I told Wifey last evening was more like ARSON than anything else, and it appears I called that one.

Here's the story link:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20140407/LOCAL07/304079946/1002/LOCAL
Yep, an "act of arson" is to blame for a fire that damaged the former White's School of the Arts yesterday afternoon.
FWFD was called to the scene, located in the 2300 block of E. Maple Grove Ave. around 1523 hrs.
No injures were reported.
Heavy smoke and flames were observed coming from the front office area when the fire department rolled up.
The building sustained heavy fire damage and moderate smoke and water damage.

(seems like a write-off to me)
Looks like our serial arsonist is back on the job, because if you recall some of the fires from LAST year, they happened in and around the same area of the SE. But I still would not rule out insurance fraud for the arson. I heard the school was going through rough times, and had closed due to monetary concerns.
*** Mickey Rooney has passed away at the age of 93.

While many remember him as Andy Hardy, there are those of us who recall some of his more DRAMATIC roles.
Rooney was born Joseph Yule, Jr. way back on 23 September, 1920.
And here is his WIKI:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mickey_Rooney
Rooney was also one of the breed of actors that made the transition from big screen to TV...rather easily with his character acting.
There was not one show on TV in the 50s and 60s where you DIDN'T see him pop up.
But, to me, some of his best roles were on the big screen with such movies as Boys Town, The Bridges at Toko-Ri, Baby Face Nelson, Requiem for a Heavyweight, and the Bold and the Brave, but his comic talents were never wasted with such hits as It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. How to stuff a Wild Bikini, and others.
He was also very active on the stage as well as for doing voice-overs for many, MANY projects.
One might suppose he is the last of his kind in many ways. He will be missed by a LOT of people.
*** And now, to...."The REST of the story"...
As we left our intrepid flood victims, "we" were having the basement pumped out and also had Korte dispatched a second time to confirm that OUR drain was not the problem.

Wifey and I marked off the total distance to the sewer, located under the alley directly behind our garage, and the distance came to about 75 feet. We staked off every 25 feet, and the third stake was right at our gate on the alley.
When Korte came, we still had an inch of water all over, and the water heater was not in any danger of flooding, but we STILL could not flush the toilets.
Mike snaked out PAST the 75 foot mark to over EIGHTY FEET, and THAT is when I heard a "thunk" from the drain stack. Mike said "hear that?"

THIS puppy means business!

THAT was us breaking through INTO the city sewer...a sewer the city claimed they came out and checked, removing only a small portion of gravel.
Mike and I checked the access cover outside, and someone DID open it, as we could tell it had been moved, but it took an over-extension from OUR end to clear THEIR end.
And when Mike broke through, the water swirled in the drain like a whirlpool...it drained the remainder of the water in less than 5 minutes.
At last, indoor plumbing once again...LOL.

Hopefully, we'll NEVER have OUTDOOR "plumbing"again...

The old ad hoc latrines could finally be put aside, for a LONG time to come.
Mike explained that this can be common whenever you have a COMBINED sewer and run-off line, which happened to be the case with ONLY OUR TWO IMMEDIATE BLOCKS in this part of town. Everyone ELSE around this area seems to have SEPARATE drainage and sewer, and some even have a THIRD line FOR the run-off (overflow).

Makes you wonder WHY our 2 block area has gotten ignored?
Well, when it comes to those in City hall, IGNORANCE is still BLISS, right?

Now, since Wifey and I mopped and squeegeed all the rest of the water out and have had 2 box fans running non-stop since Saturday, we have a nice DRY basement...for the most part...AGAIN.

Nice and dry...

The rugs are drying well, and we even placed some outside to dry, which they did.
We didn't lose much THIS time around, and fortunately, most of my late Mom's stuff hardly got a drop on it...talk about "divine intervention" there.
I don't believe we'll have any mold either (didn't last time), as the house is traditionally LOW in humidity, and we're drying things out fast.  But, I will go around with a spray bottle of a water/bleach mix...just in case.

Looking good...

The cardboard boxes that things were stored in got the worst of it, and drying THEM out is a chore, but I need to toss them, and if they're dry, I can re-tape them and fill them with other items and boxes we're tossing...like those Russian dolls that fit inside one another.
*** Now, if you think that was the END of the troubles we encountered...LMAO...think AGAIN.
On the way to grocery Saturday, Wifey was finishing her smoke, and wanted to roll up the window on her side of the wifeymobile, and the window decided to roll up COCKEYED. In fact, it wouldn't roll up AT ALL, but it would go down. It was off the track as well.

It WAS just like THIS guy's window...

When we got to the store's parking lot, the window was down, and I was not going shopping with an OPEN vehicle...NO way (I'm from Philly, remember?)
And, since I had something similar happen to ME ages ago, I'd give this one a shot.
Had to jimmy the window up and down, but finally got it up high enough, where I could activate the switch (that's why I HATE power windows) and after getting my thumb caught and scraped, got he window back ALL THE WAY UP...I then hit the LOCKOUT button on the driver's side (allows ONLY the driver window to activate), so there's no problem for the time being.
Getting the regulator fixed will cost a couple hundred (manual crank windows are cheaper to fix), but we can hold out I suppose until school quits.
Thankfully Wifey had ME (the Red-Green of our "Fortress") along to get the window back up and closed. And that was a chore...on top of the other chores we had in the basement.
*** Last back to the garage today,  We already spent $300 for the Wifeymobile (O2 sensor, oil change and lube plus rear brake job), and we're staring at several hundred for the basement, and yet another couple hundred for the window (might get the mirror fixed as well), but considering all the RECALLS for newer cars, at least we KNOW what our problems are, and don't have to wait until something like a faulty ignition switch kills someone to figure that out.

Call it being prepared...or better yet, being AWARE of what goes on.
I would say that if you're a homeowner and something doesn't seem right someplace, get it checked out. A moderate cost up front could save you a huge cost later on, and we can never predict WHEN such things happen.
Also, with your car, the SAME thing applies. Follow the maintenance schedule, and if something feels weird, or sounds odd, have it checked out. Better to spend some bucks NOW, instead of spending a lot MORE bucks later one...that's the key.
And, if some money seems wasted, it isn't. At least you know what will NOT crap out on you, right?

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