Monday Musings...

It might be only May, but, it will feel more like late June or perhaps even July most of this week.
Personally, I'm not that fond of either extreme on the old temperature scale, be it hot OR cold. Gimme Fall and Spring.
You can keep the other two, kapeesh?
Our Hoosierland weather will see us with mostly sunny skies to start out, but clouds rolls in quickly, with a chance of some showers later on today.
Temps will top out in the upper seventies, so I guess we'll all be firing up those A/C units for a spell by week's end.
So, without any further ado, let's get that nice morning beverage parked nearby as we see what all's been going ..
*** First out of the rebel base is our "What the hell happens today, Bob?" feature:
May 4 - 
---Today is BIRD DAY.

Nothing about watching, buying, selling, eating, or shooting them, so I would suppose that's left up to the individual.
I'm probably gonna WATCH some.
---It's also NATIONAL CANDIED ORANGE PEEL DAY.

Can you really EAT those? If they mean those sugar-coated orange jelly SLICES we had as kids, I'm okay with that.
---And, it's NATIONAL RENEWAL DAY.

Again, rather ambiguous, so I'm running with a renewal of the PERSONAL type...(Lord knows we can all use some of that, hmm?) Sure hope it's not a LOGAN'S RUN reference...!
---Lastly, it's STAR WARS DAY.
"May the FOURTH be with you" is the catch-phrase.
First, I'm not into speech impediments, so the whole "force/fourth" thing is wasted on me.

Second, it's not REALLY "Star Wars" Day...that would (more properly) be on the TWENTY-FIFTH of this month, when the first movie premiered back in 1977, so someone out there got their dates screwed up.
Moving on...
***  Been one helluva weekend and I'm glad it's over.
---Friday morning found me witnessing a signal "75" right past our house (that's a police pursuit).

A dark blue-gray Impala came roaring over the side street and barely managed to turn north on our street. A police cruiser followed not 5 seconds later running w/ lights and siren. A second cruiser went straight through the side street (obviously to cut off another route to the fleeing perp).
This call began over on Lafayette Esplanade and Fleming St around 1152 hrs Friday.
Can't provide any other info, as the once free police radio streamings were denied to the general public through digital encryption (thanks, asshats).
---Saturday, Wifey and I headed north to Maplecrest Rd to grocery shop at the Krogers there...to quote Darth Vader: "Impressive...moist impressive".

Nice neighborhoods = nice STORES (and people)

Sure is a BIG store, nice WIDE aisles, with a staff VERY helpful and polite. I mist have heard "Good Morning" at least ten times while there.A refreshing change-of-pace, I must say.

Need better hours

More positives than negatives (that being the deli people there don't know what a THIN SLICE is - must be a regional thing...lol)
But the ancillary reason for shopping THERE was to go to the comic book store across the street for FCBD.
So there we were, waiting outside at 0900 hrs...the time when everything ELSE seems to open it's doors.
Problem - the comic store didn't open until 1030 hrs - and waiting 90 minutes wasn't on our schedule for the day.
So, that meant my free comics was a washout...you get used to such things around THIS city.
---Sunday started out nice, as do most all days around here...UNTIL the mooks, moolies, and morons decide to wake the hell UP. Around 1100 hrs, the boomcars start driving around with vigor, and that doesn't cease until well after midnight.
Thing is, you can never predict WHEN one will come by (unless the asshole is blasting from THREE blocks away) - it's not like living near train tracks, and knowing WHEN the 4:15 will roll through (around 4:15, right, Bob?)

And naturally, not a SINGLE police cruiser in the area to cause any sort of temporary abatement of such noise...how cool is that (he said VERY sarcastically)?
Welcome to the SE warm weather season in the Summit City.
*** Next up, you just KNOW you can't have a NORMAL weekend in Fort Wayne, so what better way to keep all the WEIRD going on, than by having to find a D/B in a trash bin.

Here's the story so far (from WANE):
http://wane.com/2015/05/03/coroner-identifies-gender-race-of-body-found-in-trash-bin/

What an interesting SMELL you discovered...

The gruesome discovery of a dead black woman in a trash bin was made by a neighbor who sent his son to an abandoned house for another bin to put his yard waste in (and yard waste is NOT to be placed in the bins according to the solid waste department, so we have another  moron that doesn't follow the laws).
I would have thought the stench alone would have kept anyone from the bin (except animals)
The abandoned house is located at 2210 Eckart St, nestled in the (beautiful?) SE side of the city ...where else would one have found a dead person after all, hmm? The body was already in a state of "decomp", so there's no way to know how LONG she was there, and the cause of death is still pending.

Welcome to the SE side of Fort Wayne

The house had been boarded up for several months, and the bin was out back of the house.
It surprises me that no one had taken the bin earlier...people LOVE to do that around here..take more bins than they need, rather than call the city to ASK for a lousy bin.
Also, trash pickup for the zip code (same as ours) is THURSDAY...I'm just sayin'.
Looks like the murderers down here might have found an "easy out" for body disposals now...abandoned houses with city trash bins nearby.
That's why I don't put OUR bin out until the morning of pickup...save a lot of hassle (and smell) should someone choose to SHORT-DUMP.
*** Next up, an NYPD officer is in critical condition after being shot in the head.
Here's the story:
http://news.yahoo.com/nypd-officer-shot-head-recovering-suspect-custody-064758928.html

Officer Brian Moore

NYPD Officer Brian Moore is in critical but stable condition after being shot in the head by  Dmetrius Blackwell, ( a known thug to the police there) when Moore and his partner noticed Blackwell adjusting his waistband along a street, and stopped to investigate whether a firearm was present (it obviously was).
The shooter was being held WITHOUT bail, after being arrested around 90 minutes after the shooting.
Blackwell.s court-appointed attorney says his client "emphatically denies" the charges....(don't they all?)
Considering three witnesses picked Blackwell out of a lineup, the case seems cut and dried to me.
A black male targeting a white officer...shoe's on the OTHER foot now.
Wonder when the whites will start RIOTING...and LOOTING.
Oh, wait...THEY won't do THAT...they're more civilized and understand the consequences of their actions much better...right?

((***Editor's Update - 1500 hrs - Momma Fargo told me the bad news - Officer Moore has passed away due to his injuries suffered in the line-of-duty today. Here's the update from the NYT:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/05/nyregion/brian-moore-new-york-police-officer-shot-in-the-head-has-died.html?_r=0
 My prayers go out to the department, his "brothers and sisters" in blue, and his family. ))
Looks like the case for the shooter (Blackwell) just took a bad turn...breaks my effin' heart.
(now THAT'S sarcasm, folks!)
Give him the death penalty, and make him an example of how this murdering bastard failed himself in life..
*** Next up, Marvel's AVENGERS - AGE OF ULTRON stands at #2 in the all-time box office openings at a whopping $187.6 MIL this weekend.
Thing is, that doesn't include SUNDAY'S receipts, as the story broke on SATURDAY.

Here's the lowdown:
http://www.ew.com/article/2015/05/03/box-office-report-age-of-ultron-opening
Wonder how that number will change should they ADD IN yesterday's take?
I say this, because the LAST time I checked (which was yesterday, in fact) SUNDAY was STILL part of the...WEEKEND, right?
Still, if the movie remains at #2, that's nothing to toss a "shield" at, is it?
I wonder how this works out figuring in the dollar adjustment from the past for movies like Gone With The Wind?
I'm sure some website will have such data available soon enough...they always do, don't they?
*** Last back to the slugfest...there were some good stories in this Sunday's J-G (for a change), and one of them really caught my eye, because it's something Wifey and I have to "deal with" every day...only because the city chooses NOT to..
Here's the story link:
http://www.journalgazette.net/news/local/Police-tensions-could-return-6366415

POLICE tensions?
Seriously?
What about the tensions of the populace, which to me, seem like sitting on a powder-keg with a very short fuse.
Many of these morons live to ANNOY others...no sense of respect in their bones.
Just arrogance and ignorance.
Most of the people down here are a bunch of "worst nightmares"...waiting for a place to happen.
And this other story tells the tale many stories rarely if ever do:

http://www.journalgazette.net/news/local/She-s-seen-inside-view-of-blue-line-6407451
I can relate, having come from a police family back in Philly...it's not as elementary a situation as one would think. It's a whole other dynamic with family (and friends).
And there's also this story:
http://www.journalgazette.net/news/local/Activist--Irritation-on-simmer-6399195
From the side of an "activist", this woman is spot on when she speaks about certain things down here.
She lives on McKinnie St, and sees this area "as a mini-Detroit" (well, that doesn't sound good at all)
Sheila Campbell, 54,  has noticed the SAME things I have noticed over the years, and we live less than a half-mile from one another.
Campbell feels day-to-day interactions with police have changed, with fewer officers walking through parks, stopping at local shops for conversation and other actions that let residents feel like they know the police assigned to their areas.
That's EXACTLY it, and the LACK of such aspects as these is certainly NOT any form of "Community-Oriented" Policing.
But, when you don't have a community, what else can you expect?

We don't even get problem-oriented policing...because no one (especially in the black or even Latino communities) want to address the ROOT CAUSE of the problems...the PEOPLE.
Until such time as we see that happen, we can expect more of the same.
Which does not bode well for regular folks.
And...we'd all better keep closer tabs on our trash bins...just in case.

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