Thoughts For Thursday...

Still kinda damp outside this morning...remnants of leftover showers from last night.
And, we've a touch of early fog outside, sure to make driving on wet leaves even more "fun", right? We are due for this to go away (unlike most of what passes for my "neighbors") and we'll be left to dry out.
Our Hoosierland weather will see us with mostly cloudy skies today, which will clear up (the sun always shines at 30,000 ft, though), temps reaching to around the 52 degree mark, and that's about all she wrote.
So, let's get that morning drink poured as we see what else is going on...
*** First out of the linen closet is the answer to yesterday's WHO SAID THAT? quote:
“As anyone who has ever been around a cat for any length of time well knows cats have enormous patience with the limitations of the human kind.” 

This was spoken by none other than Cleveland Amory (September 2, 1917 – October 14, 1998) who was an American author, reporter and commentator and animal rights activist.
Here is his WIKI:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleveland_Amory
He was born into an affluent and notable Boston family, and went to Harvard.
He became the youngest writer for the Saturday Evening Post in 1938 after graduating Harvard.
Having traveled to Spain in 1945, and seeing a bullfight, he was on the road to being a voice for animal rights.
I remember him as the TV critic for the (original, and rather compact)  TV Guide,
He was also senior contributing editor for Parade magazine (when it was actually a real magazine) from 1980 to 1998. It was during tbis time he wrote the non-fiction bestseller The Cat Who Came For Christmas, based on Polar Bear, a white cat he rescued from the streets in Manhattan back in 1977.
Sequels included The Cat and the Curmudgeon (1990), and The Best Cat Ever (1993).

It's a good read for being shorter than usual, and shows the influence he had on his fellow man, as well as the animals that filled his life.
*** Next up, let's see "What the hell happens today, Bob?"
OCTOBER 27 -
---Today is National American Beer Day.

(find me a domestic that doesn't suck these days, and I'll try it)
---And, it's Navy Day

(kicking ass on the world's oceans since 1775)
*** Next up, we are rapidly closing in on the RECORD in Fort Wayne when it comes to HOMICIDES.

We just got #44 last night. Here's the story:
http://www.journalgazette.net/news/local/police-fire/1-dead--1-hurt-in-shootings-15983103

And, we tossed in another shooting, just for the hell of it.
The fatality happened around 1845 hrs last evening in the 700 block of Eckhart St. Police eventually found a man in Weisser Park, suffering from gunshot wounds. He was taken to hospital basically D.O.A..
The other shooting took place around 2000 hrs in the parking lot of the Rodeway Inn, 2920 Goshen Road.
That person was downgraded to critical after being taken to hospital.
And, just to get last night finished in "style",  there's this story:
http://wane.com/2016/10/27/lengthy-police-pursuit-ends-with-wanted-felon-in-custody/

A lengthy police pursuit took place around 2230 hrs at Trier Rd and Maplecrest and ended 20 minutes later when the suspect’s pickup truck spun out and crashed through a fence at Holy Cross Lutheran School at the corner of Crescent Avenue and Saint Joe River Drive.

A "wanted felon" was taken into custody by the gang unit.
*** Next, it's good to know that of the many "gaps" we have in society (some of which one can fly a Boeing 777 through) these days, we'll have one that will be sticking around for a while.

Here's the story:
http://www.journalgazette.net/business/Report--Pay-gap-to-last-170-years-15971361
Yeah, the PAY gap...gonna be with us for another 170 years (???) - no reason to wonder why, right?
There DOES need to be balance between men AND women of equal education and skills, that's a no-brainer, but look at the proper context of the issue.

Go thank a socialist for any domino-effect that arises elsewhere. Oh, and don't forget how UNAFFORDABLE the ACA (Obummercare) has become and affects pay scales...and will continue to do so.
*** Next up, I had to smile at Frank Gray's column in today's paper:
http://www.journalgazette.net/news/local/frank-gray/Some-troubles-just-run-out-of-gas-15971661
Both Wifey and I know what having a "mature" set of wheels can feel like (and cost).
While I have kept my "senior" Firebird from 1983, Wifey chose to upgrade from her 1996 Caprice into the 2015 era with her Impala.
Funny, when Frank saw the CHK ENG light, he did what I did...checked the engine, and "it was still there"...lol.
Sometimes problems with cars go away as easily as they come about. Sometimes, a dead battery can reset the onboard computer and shut off that light, too. Same goes when the alternator dries out. Drive long enough, and you not only get a "feel" for what you car DOES, but also what it's NOT supposed to do.
*** Next, having no cats around our home makes things seem so damn empty.

We were never at a loss for all the unconditional affection when we had both Rass and Penny.
(and they train you well in no time...heh)
When Penny passed, I still had Rassie to be my companion. He was exemplary in the three years that followed

And, when Rassie left, I had Hobo as a new-found and friendly surrogate.
Now, with none of them around, I have to admit to being more than a bit "lost".
You can't help but to keep looking around for them...and finding nothing.
For example, whenever I would go down to the basement, I would eventually approach the stairs to come back up, I'd see our cats waiting for me on the steps near the top, as if I had been off on some far-flung journey to a distant land.

Sure feel that way.

Some say that a catless house is a house with no soul. I wouldn't go THAT far, but it sure lacks a helluva lot of whatever it was we once had.
Perhaps you can say that without a pet, a home does becomes more like a house instead.
*** Last back to the medicine cabinet...being an animal person in an animal-less house is difficult.

One of the best things about a pet, is that they NEVER spend any time mucking about with smartphones.
They are more social than our fellow man, and prove it to us daily.
Humans place conditions on every aspect of their interactive and social lives it seems, while our pets would have none of that. They provide the companionship we wish we could have with a lot more people, and they ask little in return.
In some ways, they are like children before they reach that "age of accountability" and succumb to all those crazy foibles that manage to take away the innocence they possessed AS children.
Our pets never bother with such things, lucky for them (and us).
Who they are when they're young becomes who they are when they grow up and mature...pretty simple, really.

Maybe that's why our pets leave such an impression on us when they depart from us.
Sure, we feel anguish and sorrow when a person we cared about or loved leaves us, but that's expected of us because of our humanity.
I can't recall a time in my life when our family did NOT have at least one pet, and I believe that it has allowed me to better understand humans...by interacting with our family pets as I lived with them.
I do know it sure had many advantages that I carry with me to this day.
May we all be as fortunate to be as blessed with our pets.

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