Monday Musings...

Welcome to the week before Memorial Day and the unofficial/official kickoff to the "summer" season.
And, we're starting out with a wonderfully MUGGY day.

"Friday-Face"

The REST of our Hoosierland weather will see us with partly to mostly cloudy skies and temps reaching into the MID-EIGHTIES (gonna feel a might "oppressive" outside later today).
And don't count out the chance of a pop-up shower here and there.
After that, temps will drop and we'll see highs into the upper 50s and low 60s for a few days - great time to play lawn and gardening catch-up.
By NEXT weekend, we'll be back into the mid to upper 70s once again (and probably remain there for a while.
So, let's get our morning cup of bliss parked next to us, as we see what else has been going on...
*** First out of the haystack is our "What the hell happens today, Bob?" feature:
May 18 -
---Today is INTERNATIONAL MUSEUM DAY.

Good time to be in air-conditioning while taking a look at some neat old and dead stuff.
---It's also NO DIRTY DISHES DAY.

NEVER see this at our place...EVER!

No problem at our house...got a really good dishwasher...at the end of MY WRISTS!
As for the "locals"...they never USE the kitchen (except to start fires at 3AM), so no dishes for them, just fast food paper and Styrofoam....lazy-asses!
---And, it's VISIT YOUR RELATIVES DAY.
In South Philly, that's  a walk down the street or around the corner...lol.

Oh, they're not MY relatives

For me, that would mean a trip to numerous cemeteries in a couple states...I'll pass, thanks.
I mean not PASS pass, as in passing away...just...well, never-mind. You got the idea.
*** Next up, regarding that AMTRAK derailment in Philly last week...some details got investigators looking into other possibilities.
Here's the story up to now:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/05/17/ntsb-fbi-meeting-monday-to-discuss-amtrak-derailment-causes/

That definitely left a mark...

This is interesting, because the FBI was on scene the night the derailment happened.
It would appear that an object struck the windscreen of the locomotive, and two other trains reported similar occurrences earlier in the evening.
Investigators don't know if the train was struck or shot at right now, but by the look of the shatter-pattern on the windshield, it had to have been a small caliber round, if a firearm was used (did not see any penetration of the glass)...OR, as I've been thinking, someone might have tossed something from one of the overhead passes onto the train.
Idiots have done this before with highway overpasses around the country.

And, there ARE about ELEVEN overpasses from the Broad St station to the Frankford Junction, some of them through neighborhood of dubious repute.
Wouldn't take much for some local punk to drop a brick or rock off of one of them.
One other possibility might be plausible...a chunk of concrete could have broken free of the overpass bridge and struck the train.
But, the commonality of two other trains being struck makes that highly unlikely.
It will be interesting to see the follow up on this (and I hope inspectors take time to check ALL of those eleven overpasses as well).
*** Next up, Our King (Henry) will allow his subjects to visit him tonight with another one of his "mayor's Night In" proceedings.

No Harry Baals in THAT office

You can register for a 10 minute block to talk with him (like that's gonna do any good).
Only TEN freaking minutes (???)...brother, I could chat him up for an HOUR and barely scratch the surface of what goes on down here.
*** Next, rival biker gangs in Texas call a summit to put aside their violence...and wind up shooting one another.

Yeah, Sarge...the word CLUSTERF*CK  DOES come to mind.

Here's the story link:
http://www.kwtx.com/home/headlines/Waco-Shooting-Near-Twin-Peaks-In-Waco-304043711.html
Oh, the irony of this is priceless.
Nobody ever said such people are Rhodes Scholars, right?
When all was said and done, NINE biker gang members were dead, with another 18 injured.
It wasn't just gun-play, either. Many were stabbed and beat with chains.
Curiously enough, not ONE innocent bystander was injured in this melee.
(guess THESE mooks CAN shoot better)

"First one to get up gets shot..again."

And this took place at a restaurant in Waco ( a town known for other loons). It started in a bathroom of the eatery and escalated outward.
Luckily the police got wind of this biker "summit", and already had resources in place when the fracas began.
Kudos to the local and state police for getting this contained.
Now, any bets as to how many mothers we'll see there crying about "their baby done been shot"?
Moving on...
*** Next up, Wifey and I stopped by Do-It-Best from our grocery trip and ran up a little more "financial carnage" with the purchase of even MORE plants for around the garden and house.

Yep...we got MORE!

That was Saturday...on Sunday, I was out nice and EARLY to cut the side lawn(again, thanks to the rain we had the prior two weeks.
Later, Wifey got busy with planting stuff...lots of stuff.

First clematis bloom...

We STILL have more to plant...we need a bigger yard...or more pots for planting.
And to think...we haven't EVEN hit MENARDS or WAL-MART yet...lol!
Oh, that's just gonna be fun...
But at least we got our hummingbird feeders out (already?)...yeah, we both saw hummingbirds in the immediate area, and one came by the "scope us out" yesterday afternoon.
Hopefully, he'll tell his friends...and they'll tell THEIR friends...and so on...

Clover-THE most photographed rabbit in Fort Wayne

We also had ourselves a little treat...not one, but TWO bunnies in the yard.

Might call him "Junior"...or "Speedy".

Actually, Clover was on the patio eating, and this other, smaller bunny almost came there as well, but stayed on the lawn...and frolicked.
The little guy was hopping all over the place...loving it.
So, now we know who will come a'calling around our "Fortress" in the future.
Not bad at all.
Now, if I could find some way to keep the two stray cats the hell out that try and "crash our party"...
Don't want to see a dead anything in our yard, and certainly not at the paws of some feral critter that should have never been turned out to begin with.
Might have to call Animal Control to see what they can do.
*** Last back to the parapets...yes, there are times when it doesn't seem like we live in a part of this city that has been allowed to become blighted over the last decade or three.

I enjoy your place...

And, it's to those times, you try to go out of your way to enjoy things  as best you can.
Sadly, the spiteful morons that live for the moment, with no real future in their lives to speak of, always find some way to detract from the wonder that can be found as close as one's back yard.

Okay, so it ain't Yosemite, but it's PAID FOR!

We don't have a vista to admire, like a mountain range or a rolling river, nor do we have a verdant scene of woodland tranquility.
We have what we have...what God has given us, and we enjoy that.
We don't go out of OUR way to inflict our life on others (although in many cases, that wouldn't hurt them one damn bit), and all we ask in kind is a similar situation...sorry, too much to ask for the low-information crowd around here.
I have thought of trying to "class up" the neighborhood, and I could do that easily enough JUST by tossing my empty GUINNESS bottles on various lawns...LOL.
I can hear the locals now...
("daaaamn, dat ole whiteman pay 8 buck foa sikpack...dat boy gots money!")
You get tired of picking up Bud Light bottles and cans all the damn time...to these idiots, that's  premium swill.
To me, it's cat piss...sorry for those of you that like it.
But, you can see this is not an issue that can never be solved...
It only takes PEOPLE to find something called MOTIVATION, in order to make the area nice again.
And then THEY can have the same things to enjoy as we do...and for free
(well, except for those trips to stores for all the ANNUALS...lol)

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