Tuesday Tidbits...

Did we go and land in Ft. Wayne?

If you're not careful, you might freeze your "tidbits" off when you venture outside this morning...it's THAT cold.
Another bout of the arctic chill that would make the north pole seem like a summer getaway...that's what we got in the Midwest as we wake up.
(gotta be warmer there)
And to think we're hearing that global warming is to blame for the severe weather...LMAO!
Sorry, I'm still running with the axial tilt of our planet, because that's FACT.
Our Hoosierland weather for today...EFFIN COLD!

Anyone ELSE care to get OUT of the cold?

Expect partly cloudy skies, a possible light snow shower here and there with temps rising to only around 14 degrees. That's all she wrote, kids.

Now, what say we belly up to the "breakfast bar" and get a huge cup of coffee, tea, or hot chocolate, as we see what's been going on elsewhere?
*** First off of the pack ice is our "What the hell is happening today, Bob?" feature:
JANUARY 16 -
---It's National Fig Newton Day

(that would go well with hot chocolate)
---It's National Nothing Day

(good day to do that...too damn cold to do anything else)
---It's National Religious Freedom Day

(A good day to PRAY for relief from the cold)
---It's National Without a Scalpel Day

(I actively try to avoid those)
*** Next up, and even though it's a FREEZING-ass Tuesday, let's take a look at all the FWPD calls that we should have heard about (because criminals never seem to take a damn day off)...
=======================================

JAN 8 - JAN 14:
SHOTS FIRED ((113)) - and other fun stuff
=======================================  
18F002995 01/08/2018 10:43pm 113 SHOTS FIRED 3000 CLINTON ST S & ESMOND ST
18F003140 01/09/2018 01:12pm 113 SHOTS FIRED 7900 DECATUR RD
18F003319 01/09/2018 09:05pm 113 SHOTS FIRED 4500 BOWSER AVE
18F003349 01/09/2018 10:54pm 113 SHOTS FIRED 600 LILLIAN AVE
18F003359 01/09/2018 11:14pm 113 SHOTS FIRED 700 RIVERSIDE AVE
18F003362 01/09/2018 11:30pm 113 SHOTS FIRED 900 HERMAN ST
18F003403 01/10/2018 03:02am 113 SHOTS FIRED 1900 BROADWAY & TAYLOR ST
18F003404 01/10/2018 03:02am 113 SHOTS FIRED 100 LEITH ST W & HARRISON ST S
18F003813 01/10/2018 11:25pm 113 SHOTS FIRED 600 FIFTH ST
18F003815 01/10/2018 11:31pm 113 SHOTS FIRED E STATE BLVD & PARNELL AVE
18F003823 01/10/2018 11:45pm 113 SHOTS FIRED 1900 RANDALLIA DR
18F003854 01/11/2018 02:32am 113 SHOTS FIRED RANDALLIA DR & LAKE AVE
18F004179 01/11/2018 07:04pm 113 SHOTS FIRED 3600 SCHELE AVE
18F004266 01/12/2018 12:03am 113 SHOTS FIRED 5000 BUELL DR
18F004271 01/12/2018 12:47am 113 SHOTS FIRED 5800 BUNT DR
18F004402 01/12/2018 12:57pm 113 SHOTS FIRED 4800 HATFIELD RD
18F004613 01/12/2018 10:10pm 113 SHOTS FIRED WAYNE TRACE & OXFORD ST
18F004628 01/12/2018 10:52pm 113 SHOTS FIRED 3200 FRUEHAUF DR
18F004661 01/13/2018 12:35am 113 SHOTS FIRED 1200 FAIRFIELD AVE
18F004712 01/13/2018 04:21am 113 SHOTS FIRED 3600 REED ST
18F004982 01/13/2018 10:19pm 113 SHOTS FIRED 1400 ELIZA ST
18F004993 01/13/2018 10:57pm 113 SHOTS FIRED 00 COUNTRY FOREST DR  
18F005059 01/14/2018 02:26am 113 SHOTS FIRED GARDEN ST & W JEFFERSON BLVD
18F005062 01/14/2018 02:57am 113 SHOTS FIRED 5100 STONEHEDGE BLVD  
18F005069 01/14/2018 03:19am 113 SHOTS FIRED MANFORD ST & FRUEHAUF DR
18F005072 01/14/2018 03:33am 113 SHOTS FIRED 4500 MARVIN DR
18F005073 01/14/2018 03:35am 113 SHOTS FIRED 2800 MCCORMICK AVEE 
18F005312 01/14/2018 09:36pm 113 SHOTS FIRED 1800 NELSON ST
=======================================================================
18F002721 01/08/2018 11:38am 23,113 2900 SMITH ST
18F002963 01/08/2018 08:40pm 23,113 200 LEITH ST W
18F003123 01/09/2018 11:53am 23,113 4400 ENCINO DR
18F003151 01/09/2018 01:31pm 23,113 8300 CASTLE PINES PL
18F003306 01/09/2018 08:28pm 23,113 4300 HOLTON AVE
========================================================================
18F004399 01/12/2018 12:43pm 32A DEATH NOTIF 5700 RIVER RUN TRL
========================================================================
18F002809 01/08/2018 03:16pm 53 ARMED ROB 2600 WARSAW ST
18F003538 01/10/2018 11:16am 53 ARMED ROB 00 E MAIN ST
18F004251 01/11/2018 10:53pm 53 ARMED ROB 6400 COVINGTON RD
18F004720 01/13/2018 04:58am 53 ARMED ROB 5500 COVENTRY LN
18F005047 01/14/2018 01:39am 53 ARMED ROB 6000 LIMA RD
18F005192 01/14/2018 03:12pm 53 ARMED ROB 1900 E TILLMAN RD
========================================================================
18F004127 01/11/2018 05:19pm 58 SHOOTING 1400 STOPHLET ST
18F005033 01/14/2018 12:53am 58 SHOOTING 4200 S HANNA ST
18F005035 01/14/2018 12:59am 58 SHOOTING 4500 S MONROE ST
=======================================================================
18F003029 01/09/2018 02:20am 59 CUTTING/STAB 1100 GLASGOW AVE
18F003445 01/10/2018 07:01am 59 CUTTING/STAB 2900 HARRISON ST S
18F004585 01/12/2018 08:46pm 59 CUTTING/STAB 5700 ST JOE RD
=======================================================================
18F003119 01/09/2018 11:22am 61 RAPE 4300 MONROE ST S
=======================================================================
18F003278 01/09/2018 07:05pm 75 PURSUIT 1300 STATE BLVD W & POINSETTE DR
=======================================================================
Plus 20 narcotics calls
=========================
FIREWORKS CALLS - JAN 8 - JAN 14:
NONE AGAIN!!! AMAZING!!
*** Next up, our family room TV developed a "problem" yesterday (out of the clear blue) - the I/R receiver on the set stopped working, which means you have to MANUALLY adjust the volume and ON/OFF.

Looks like this one.

Luckily, the STB (set top box) works, so changing channels is still able to be done by remote.
Gotta love technology, right?
So, it would appear that we might be getting not one, but TWO new TVs soon.

Samsung LED set - the future is coming.

The living room set has brightness and contrast issues (as in the lack of being able to make the picture darker, so it's VERY light and a bit "washed out". Still has GREAT stereo sound, though...heh.

The really old set..dying a slow death.

That set IS over 30 years old, and the family room one was given to us, so neither one owes us anything, but it's just wonderfully inconvenient...isn't it always?
*** Next, and speaking of technology, here's a story that will conjure up images of Big Brother TV show, but rather the classic Orwellian novel:

(and not the stupid-ass
http://www.journalgazette.net/news/20180116/cars-tracking-habits-raise-privacy-concerns

Yes, once ina  while, the Washington (com)Post does a decent article, like how your vehicle is learning more about YOU than maybe you know about yourself. The J-G just used it for "filler", but I find it intriguing.
Imagine the data your car is accumulating as you drive (and where you drive).
I find it scary that cars today have so much MORE data code lines on board than the Space Shuttle used to have...I mean, we're not going about fixing the Hubble telescope in a damn Toyota...are we?
((Though drivers may not realize it, tens of millions of American cars are being monitored, experts say, and the number increases with nearly every new vehicle that is leased or sold.

The result is that carmakers have turned on a powerful spigot of precious personal data, often without owners' knowledge, transforming the automobile from a machine that helps us travel to a sophisticated computer on wheels that offers even more access to our personal habits and behaviors than smartphones do.))
It's like I've said for a while...care have become rolling computers, and you can't get a car today that's "bare bones" basic. That's no longer possible.
They ALL come with bells and whistles to make us "comfortable" (while the carmakers monitor us, and sell the data collected to third parties).

Wonder how long before we start getting SPAM on our infotainment systems?
*** Next up, I'm still in disbelief about that "missile warning" going off in Hawaii.

No, that's not the LUNCH button, moron!

After I heard that story, I said to Wifey that the FIRST thing the state preparedness agency has to do is take a page from the MILITARY handbook...have TWO people making the call for tests and such.

That's like the old ICBM missile sites that required TWO airmen to turn keys to activate the system sequences. Or like the NAVY does with missile subs - TWO people with key-activation.
Yesterday, I heard where in the future, TWO people will be responsible for any warning/testing in Hawaii.

Looks like someone else realized what I knew as well...good for them.
*** Next, time to make a stop over to "Kitten Corner"...

The kids weren't too bad yesterday. In fact, they surprised me for most of the day (there were brief times of craziness). Gallifrey was busy jumping up at the patio door glass to "catch" burds coming to the feeder (scared the nuthatch away). Violet was content to while away the hours being cute...and napping.

He later joined in, as did I after shoveling the sidewalk THRICE (as well as the back steps and the driveway once). We all slept well.
*** Next up, let's check in with "Midnight and Company"...

We broke tradition yesterday and gave our furry twosome WET food on warm plates, considering how cold it was going to get.

And they both ate all of it, along with the dry food.
At last call, they got some soft treats, hand fed by yours truly.

It''s not that much an imposition to sit there and feed them for a couple minutes.
When I went out to shovel for the third (and last) time late yesterday afternoon, Midnight came around at sat there watching me. He follows me wherever I go. He di likewise when I did the driveway.

He sat there watching. Whiskers stays in a shelter (she ain't no dummy there).
Nice to have a supervisor (again). i think he doesn't want to see his meal ticket have a coronary...lol.
*** Last back to the Shackleton Expedition...humankind is a social creature.

Been like that since the model came out.
But as of late, we're becoming MORE "social" than we would like, and it's by DESIGN.
The worst part about it, is that we have little to no say in the matter.
We're being "forced" to become ever social, and not in the ways we're used to being.
We're also not reaping any benefits form such forced behavior, either. Look at social media and all the problems being created as it expands further into peoples' lives.
And just when we thought we might be safe in our vehicles...oops, sorry, you're being monitored there, too.
You could say the same thing with all the "smart" technology being placed in homes these days.
It's ALL meant to "watch" you in some way, shape or form.
Yes, the harder you try to seek solitude from all the nonsense, the more that nonsense follows you around.
Street cameras, drones, and the like might be good for watching criminals, but how far does it reach into the lives of regular people? The way we're going, it seems we've barely scratched the surface of being able to monitor all of us for whatever reason.
Privacy used to be valued. Opinion used to be valued. Knowledge used to be valued.
All those have been co-opted and corrupted along the way, and the end is nowhere in sight.

Our technology might be a savior to many, but when we start praying at that altar, and placing our hope at the feet of those creating it, we're treading down a path that will not lead anyone to heaven...or eternity.
Better to keep technology as our servant...not our master.

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