Tuesday Tidbits...

Okay, so we didn't get AS much rain as we were led to believe. I am getting used to that.
Last night kinda made up for that, and today looks to be more of the same. And, tomorrow looks to be still more of that particular same.
Our Hoosierland weather today will bring us cloudy skies, light winds (more than a breeze), and a high of around 53 degrees, which will be LOWER than the temperatures are right now. We may even get to see the sun peek out briefly.
So, let's leave our troubles behind for a spell, and get ourselves that refreshing morning drink, while we take a look at what else might be on my mind (and happening elsewhere), hmm?
*** First off of the pancake stack is our "What the hell happens today, Bob?" feature:
APRIL 4 -
---It's Jeep 4X4 Day

(not ready for the apocalypse JUST yet)
---It's National Chicken Cordon Bleu Day

(chicken, cheese, ham...gotta love that)
---It's National Hug A Newsperson Day

( I can think of several in town)
---It's National School Librarian Day

(how does this work during SPRING BREAK?)
---It's National Walk Around Things Day

(easier than trying to walk THROUGH things, like buildings, that's for sure)
---It's National Equal Pay Day

(funny, I know of some women who make a crapload MORE money than most men)
---It's SAAM Day of Action

(pertains to the awareness of sexual assault)
*** Next up...it's Tuesday, and you all know what that means...

Time to take a look at all the police calls the media didn't feel the need to let us in on, because they were too busy telling us that president Trump DID something, like wipe his nose, and how that might be grounds for impeachment...
SHOTS FIRED ((113)) / ARMED ROBBERY((53)) CALLS - 03/27 - 04/02
((23,113 - vandalism by gunfire))
=======================================
MAR 27 - 
17F036554 03/27/2017 04:56pm 113 SHOTS FIRED 500 MCKINNIE AVE
17F036627 03/27/2017 07:39pm 113 SHOTS FIRED 2600 HOEVELWOOD DR  
17F036698 03/27/2017 10:35pm 113 SHOTS FIRED 2600 DREXEL AVE
17F036421 03/27/2017 11:38am 53 ARMED ROB 1000 COLISEUM BLVD N
17F036659 03/27/2017 08:55pm 58 SHOOTING 900 PEMBERTON DR
MAR 28 -
17F036724 03/28/2017 12:31am 113 SHOTS FIRED 4800 OLIVER ST
17F037061 03/28/2017 10:02pm 113 SHOTS FIRED 3100 WAKASHAN PL
17F036823 03/28/2017 10:37am 23,113 6400 STATE BLVD E
17F037065 03/28/2017 10:05pm 53 ARMED ROB 1700 APPLE GLEN BLVD
17F036882 03/28/2017 01:59pm 58 SHOOTING 4800 WINTER ST
MAR 29 -
17F037145 03/29/2017 03:54am 113 SHOTS FIRED 1500 RUDISILL BLVD E
17F037147 03/29/2017 04:09am 113 SHOTS FIRED 4500 AVONDALE DR
17F037535 03/29/2017 10:05pm 113 SHOTS FIRED 4100 LILLIE ST
17F037554 03/29/2017 11:27pm 113 SHOTS FIRED 3800 SMITH ST & RUDISILL BLVD E
17F037556 03/29/2017 11:43pm 53 ARMED ROB 2000 BROADWAY
MAR 30 -
17F037582 03/30/2017 02:27am 113 SHOTS FIRED 6200 INNOVATION BLVD
17F037836 03/30/2017 05:18pm 113 SHOTS FIRED 3900 PETTIT AVE E
17F037589 03/30/2017 03:00am 53 ARMED ROB 4200 CLINTON ST N
17F037683 03/30/2017 10:48am 53 ARMED ROB 4100 HESSEN CASSEL RD
MAR 31 -
((NO shots fired))
((No armed robberies))
---LOTS of traffic accidents (everyone leaving for Spring Break?)
APR 01 -
17F038470 04/01/2017 12:49am 113 SHOTS FIRED 4500 STANDISH DR
17F038832 04/01/2017 08:59pm 113 SHOTS FIRED 1000 BAXTER ST & SMITH ST
17F038864 04/01/2017 10:05pm 113 SHOTS FIRED 2900 ALEXANDER ST & COLERICK ST
17F038523 04/01/2017 03:23am 58 SHOOTING 2700 MANFORD ST
APR 02 -
17F038913 04/02/2017 12:14am 113 SHOTS FIRED 2600 DODGE AVE
17F038918 04/02/2017 12:26am 113 SHOTS FIRED 2600 DODGE AVE
17F038998 04/02/2017 05:10am 113 SHOTS FIRED 4400 AVONDALE DR
17F039353 04/02/2017 11:45pm 113 SHOTS FIRED 4000 WEISSER PARK AVE
17F038977 04/02/2017 03:14am 23,113                 4000 WARSAW ST
17F039075 04/02/2017 11:37am 53 ARMED ROB 3700 WASHINGTON BLVD 
17F039283 04/02/2017 08:35pm 53 ARMED ROB 500 LAVINA ST
===========================
FIREWORKS CALLS 03/27 - 04/02
NONE...AGAIN???
===========================
*** Next up, I DID manage to renew my registration online yesterday at the Indiana BMV,

Not that bad a chore, but since websites seem to get hacked on a monthly basis these days, it does make you wonder.
I also got a reply from them regarding my email to them.
The "reason" they gave me as to why We couldn't renew BY (snail) mail is that damn WHEEL TAX.
That's right...they told me we have to fill in the MUNICIPALITY in which we live.
((...rolls eyes..)) Seriously?

Sounds about right to me.

I would have thought that our ZIP CODE and CITY on our prior registration would be sufficient a source to glean for that information.
I mean you DO have to notify them of an address CHANGE, but we didn't change a damn thing (except our opinion of the BMV, but that was really recently...lol).

Looks about right to me.

THEY can't make any determination based on zip code, address or city?
WTH is wrong with them (aside from selective laziness)?
And, I suppose that getting the new Wifeymobile took them for a loop as well, because I could NOT renew her registration online, so she's got to drive to the local branch and take care of it THERE.
Heaven forbid the BMV plans for people to change vehicles within a registration year (we swapped the tags easily enough and got the insurance taken care of right away).
Bureaucracy...smells like technology to me.
*** Next up, a man finds his sentence for causing 3 deaths. Here's the link:
http://www.journalgazette.net/20170404/driver-gets-38-years-for-3-deaths
((Deangelo R. Evans learned his sentence Monday after pleading guilty Sept. 20 to eight charges including three counts each of reckless homicide and operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated causing death. He was 26 at the time of the crash.))
ONLY 38 years?
THREE dead people and he gets THIS light a sentence?
WTH is wrong with the judicial system?
This means he's back out in around 19 years?
*** Next , just to even things out, another man gets his sentence. Here's that link:
http://www.journalgazette.net/20170404/beating-stabbing-gets-man-40-years
((Toriano Kurtz, 37, attacked his girlfriend in their apartment in the 1200 block of Fairfield Avenue about 9 p.m. on Oct. 28, 2016, claiming she said something that hurt his feelings, court documents said. He beat her in the face, then stabbed her in the back five times, breaking the blade off inside of her, then attacked the dog because it was barking, the documents said.))
Talk about a raging animal.
So, this perp does all that and HE gets two years MORE than the previous piece of crap that KILLED 3 people?
Somehow, the word "justice" appears to be eerily absent, don'cha think?
*** Next up, time to see "What on God's green earth did Bob buy on ebay NOW?"
---Okay, so last Friday, the live-action Ghost In The Shell movie opened, and I must say, it's gonna be worth getting the DVD when it comes out later this year (you know it will).

But, how many know the story behind this movie?
Well, it's based on the original manga (publications) and later the anime movie (that came out back in 1995). In Japanese animation value, it was (imho) better than Akira (1988).

There were two "sequels" to the anime flick: "Stand Alone Complex" 

(that had a great CGI opening sequence).
A couple years after that came "SAC - 2nd Gig" (multi-part episodes with recurring story lines).

ALL of them were excellent, and were once shown on Cartoon Network's TOONAMI on Saturday nights (when it used to be GOOD), so I wondered if I could get the first anime movie.
Got one, and for under $5...like new condition. Surprised the hell outta me.
---Also managed to find a Doctor Who 50th anniversary (10th doctor) sonic screwdriver from the special: "The Day of the Doctor".

Now, this is pretty much the SAME as the original 9th and 10th Doctor sonic, but, it's a different color (as was the one in the episode just mentioned). They just remolded it, repackaged it, and pretty much resold it.
I got this for about $10, which is WAY below the asking prices (Amazon-$13 plus shipping, seen it as high as $30+). My price was close to HALF original retail price, but it has been around for 4 years (already?). If you can find it cheaper, GET ONE!
Still in the original packaging. I opened it very carefully, so as not to damage the package itself, just to test the sounds (all accounted for).  I'm getting good at this.
*** Next, time to drop by and see what's shaking at "Kitten Corner"...

Well, I tried to get the kids to watch Hallmark Channel's "Meow Madness" last night...wasn't so successful.

Great time for grooming.

This was the kitten version of the NCAA tourney (which is about AS close to watching anything associated with b'ball except maybe the Globetrotters)...kinda cute, too.
I got them to watch the other kittens for a very brief time, before they lost interest.

Wake me when it's bedtime.

Then, as usual, it was nap time once again...before going to bed.

Have to nap before we go to bed.

Such a life, isn't it?
*** Last out of the syrup bottle...there used to be a time, not that long ago, when we didn't allow our technologies to "get away" from us.
No matter what new devices we had in place, there was ALWAYS a "Plan-B" to fall back on.
When I worked for Circuit City, there would come those times when (for whatever reason, which were more than a few) the technology failed. Power outages, computer crashes...whatever. So, HOW do you sell anything when you have no computer to enter the transaction, hmm?
Simple...you go back to using HAND-WRITTEN transaction receipts, which we did. They could always be entered into the system when it became available later.

That's the way things worked...and quite well, I might add.
Today, our reliance upon any and all tech to solve every problem is getting out of hand.
And the tech is actually outpacing US, or our ability to properly adapt to it's ever-changing face, right?
It reminds me of a Spec-Ops saying: "For every way IN, you need three ways OUT".

If you have a method that works, by all means hang onto it. Sure, you can add all the electronic bells and whistles you want to speed things along, but when something goes wrong (as it inevitably will), you STILL need a "fallback" solution, and good old paper and pen (and yes, even snail-mail) still works wonders...even in the technological age in which we live.
It may not be AS fast, but it is often more accurate and less prone to problems.
Reason demands we always have solutions, as long as we are willing to define our problems.

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