Tales From The SOUTH Side...
Today, I want to take a stroll down that "wonderful" street (which curiously, doesn't happen to be MINE, unfortunately) where BAD things (always seem to) happen to GOOD people.
I'm sure most ALL of us have spent some time THERE, usually NOT of our own volition.
It's one of "those" places you never REALLY want to go, but somehow, for some unknown reason, and even in spite of GPS technology, which should provide a level of avoidance of such areas, you invariably DO wind up there...now and again.
It's like that proverbial "bad penny" that keeps coming back.
Welcome to LIFE - 101.
Yesterday, as Wifey was heading to work (school), she was driving through some neighborhoods farther north of us.
As she winded one curved street, there was a LOUD bang, and her first impression was that someone had shot at the car.
Well, you DO get used to such things living in OUR ghettohood.
But, she was safe...no one was shooting.
The car, on the other hand, had suffered a glancing blow...to the right-hand side mirror.
Apparently, some dumbass in the THAT neighborhood (oh, yes, stupidity knows NO boundaries...and will live in ANY area of ANY city) placed their city-provided 96 gallon trash bin IN THE DAMN STREET, instead of ON THE CURB STRIP (where it's SUPPOSED to be).
So guess what "jumped out" and whacked Wifey's mirror?
Yep, the handle OF that bin was a "perfect match" (height-wise) to where the mirror on a 1996 Chevy Caprice is located.
The mirror HOUSING was unaffected (designed to fold back against the car), but the backing plate for the glass was hanging off, and the glass itself was cracked really bad.
Now, IF the bin had been placed PROPERLY by that house (because the snow has melted to the point where streets are VERY clear again), we'd STILL have that mirror in perfect working order.
But, thanks to people that couldn't give a rat's ass as to where the bin GOES on trash day, we might be out close to $300 (power mirrors are a bitch to replace, trust me - I broke it before while slowly backing OUT of the garage).
I remember telling Matt Gratz (head of Solid Waste Department) about this problem...several times.
In OUR ghettohood, bins are placed any damn place the morons want to place them, and NEVER a citation.
Well, WE are the exception to the rule...'ya see, WE can obviously READ (the brochure that came with the bin) and know WHERE to place them on trash day, as well as WHERE to store it after the trash been picked up.
In other words, WE are the "outcasts" here, because we do things RIGHT.
I never did like that whole "pack-mentality" gig anyway...why follow when it leads off a cliff, right?
Traditionally, we're SUPPOSED to have "alley" pickup, and there are a FEW blocks where that's NOT possible (dunno why).
We even had a city vehicle PLOW the alleys (as was mentioned on TV) so the trash trucks could get through...nice touch.
In OUR specific alley, we have some "gypsy" plow that piles the snow against the alley entrance across the damn street.
And yes, I did pass that along to our quadrant chief in the FWPD, hoping she can get to the bottom of as to WHY "our" alley is always plowed long before the city comes by.
I mentioned this the other week...it's like someone NEEDS our alley clear (must be those DRUG HOUSES down the block) so THEY can have two-way traffic flowing normally. That's funny, I could have SWORN ('cause I DO know all the words) that the sign at the alley entrance says NO THRU TRAFFIC...!?!
Anyway, I managed to get the mirror "remounted" to some degree. Can't do anything about the cracked glass (Placed clear packing tape over it to keep the pieces in one spot), but at last the power function works.
The mirror WILL still tilt and rotate...just not as well as before. The glass and backing place flop around a tad, but it's serviceable (until Wifey gets it back in the shop). As a repair, I'd rate it a 6.5 on a ten scale (for me), considering I was winging it, and didn't have the replacement parts at hand. (who usually DOES?)
I'd call it a damn fine "butch" job...my former compatriots in the working world would have been PROUD!
Problem solved...for the time being.
When I asked Wifey which way she was going to school TODAY, I didn't quite hear the answer I was looking for.
Since she cut through a neighborhood, I was hoping she go back to taking the MAIN streets.
But, she told me "the same way"...
(rolls eyes)
I guess a lot of people prefer to not learn much from the past.
I said to her: "What if the trash bins were still in the street?"
(no reply)
"What if another can decides to jump out and BITE YOUR CAR AGAIN?"
(no reply)
I added: 'It's called learning from others mistakes FOR...A...REASON."
(still no reply)
Yeah, I can also go from ZERO to ADAMANT in about 1.3 seconds!
Hopefully, the whole "once bitten, twice shy" seed was planted in fertile soil this morning.
As I say, I only like to make mistakes ONCE. That way the repetition factor never enters into it.
But that still doesn't excuse the idiots that have NO idea how to follow city guidelines...with something as BASIC as a f$cking TRASH BIN!
THAT'S how you create a SLUM area..don't bother to make EVERYONE follow the rules.
As for people like US...we don't need any "guidance"...we're self-policing, as far as that goes.
We grew up, paid attention and learned the difference between doing what's RIGHT...and doing NOTHING (or as little as frigging possible).
Wifey had no idea that the bin would be IN the street...can't fault her at all there.
I know, if it had happened to ME, the people at THAT house would have a trash bin coming through their front window...as a "reminder".
Cripes, the people across our street can't even figure out the whole location thing for the bins either.
Otherwise, WE wouldn't have so much trouble trying to exit OUR damn driveway. (thanks to them)
I told Wifey this morning: "Knock the damn bins over if you can't get out...back the hell over them...wise THEM up for a change".
Sometimes, people HAVE to be taught a lesson.
And I can be a pretty decent "teacher", when the need arises.
Thing is...you might not want to be one of my "pupils"...LOL!
*** And that brings me to the rest of Wifey's day (yesterday).
The "children of the corn" were in attendance in her classes...the spawn of Satan ALL showed up.
She had one jerk running around the room giving out M&Ms to everyone and he wouldn't sit the hell down. (a black student, obviously with a lack of social graces and behavioral difficulties...AND a failing student - big surprise...wonder WHY that could be?)
Wifey can't lay hands on him, so she called the office.
The BLATANT disrespect shown to our educators is almost beyond comprehension these days.
Now, back in MY day, a teacher could size up a kid's family life simply be the way he or she acted IN CLASS.
Well, that much certainly hasn't changed.
But today, teachers are relatively hog-tied when it comes to real intervention to halt such behavior in the classroom.
Back in MY day, the teacher would grab you by the scruff of your neck and haul your ass down to the office...no debate, no questions.
Thankfully, that NEVER happened to me...see, I was there to LEARN, and not be a "Future F$ckup of America".
Today, it's more like a "rite of passage" to be tossed out of school...a lot.
"Y'all ain NOBODY less you git yo ass froan outta few times...no whutahmsayin?"
And everyone is SO damn concerned about TEACHER evaluations????
(oh, yes, that is surely a "WTF?" moment)
I'd say that what's being taught by the schools THESE days (and not be the individual educators) is HOW to game the system to be an upstanding welfare recipient. There's not enough discipline or personal accountability charged to a lot of students to warrant any other conclusion.
And that's a direct result of the "family" life...if you can even call it that.
Teachers are there to TEACH (a subject).
They're NOT police officers.
They're NOT surrogate parents.
They're NOT social workers.
They're NOT psychiatrists.
They're NOT behavioral therapists.
They're NOT babysitters.
Got it?
Good.
Personally, I'm for arming the teachers with TRANQUILIZER guns...loaded with enough "Special K" to drop a Clydesdale, but that's just "me".
They are there to TEACH your child...to help them through the learning experience, and to open their mind to the possibilities of what having an education means in the world today. It's but a few baby steps into a much larger realm.
And the hardest thing these educators have to overcome is all the APATHY and the SOCIAL pressures (both at home and on the streets) encountered BY these kids as soon as their feet get outside that school.
It's one side of the whole educational triangle.
The other two are PARENTS, and the STUDENT (themselves).
You can't learn properly without ALL three sides working in unison, holding that damn triangle together.
But we can always delve further into the educational process another day...
So, 'nuff said about that...for now.
Here's hoping nothing BAD comes your way today, and that life sees you ready for any challenge. Watch out for roaming trash bins - don't let them jump out at YOUR car.
Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay safe out there, America.

Humpday Happenings...
The late Art Linkletter once had a show on the earlier days of television called: Kids Say the Darnedest Things (later Bill Cosby revived it for a time), and my folks and I always laughed at the the wonderful innocence the children displayed when they did say something cute or funny.
To hear the way kids believe something and how they came to know something is unique.
It's also how we all LEARN things.
Beliefs we once held are overturned when we are exposed to the facts.
And facts produce KNOWLEDGE...and, as we all have heard time and again:
KNOWLEDGE IS POWER ("Scientia est Potentia" for you Latin scholars out there).
Moreover, HOW we apply this knowledge leads to something called WISDOM.
And, if you want to know the relationship of knowledge and wisdom, grab a copy of the Bible and check out Proverbs (for a start).
Immanuel Kant once said that:
"Science is organized knowledge; WISDOM is organized life".
*** Now, with that in mind, you can imagine my astonishment when I heard our very own President basically make the following "claim":
"Oil is the energy of the PAST".
(can YOU say Whiskey-Tango-Foxtrot???)
He all; but said it word for word during a press conference yesterday.
(*ahem*)
To say I was more than a tad "flabbergasted" is an understatement!
And it takes a LOT to flabbergast me THESE days, trust me.
I know TWO men who are rolling in their graves at THIS very moment:
Samuel Martin Kier
Edwin Drake
Both were Pennsylvania men, both credited with being the first ones to drill for CRUDE OIL...AND then refine it for lamps (kerosene) in the entire USofA!
Now, Mr. Obama DID go to to HARVARD, right?
I guess the standards of upper level education HAVE "slipped" since I went to school...and the proof IS obvious.
I say that because an "educated" and erudite person would ALREADY KNOW that OIL is an energy source of the PRESENT, as well as the FUTURE.
Let's find out WHY, shall we?
Well, we DO have electric cars now...but since they run on electricity that comes from FOSSIL FUEL plants, they're not "totally" electric, are they?
And just HOW MUCH PLASTIC goes into those cars?
Gee, I recall that PLASTICS are a direct result of the PETROCHEMICAL industries.
Funny how that works out.
And what about the TIRES on that electric car?
The synthetic rubber is composed of components coming directly from OIL and it's many refining processes.
All the LUBRICANTS that manage to keep all the parts sliding off of one another in those electric cars are PETROLEUM-BASED, too...who knew?
Let's not also forget that all the HIGHWAYS those electric cars will travel have OIL somewhere in the mix (of tar used to pave them).
The synthetic FABRICS covering the INTERIORS of those electric cars...yepper, ALSO oil-based.
Well, that just wants to make me rest a spell before my head explodes...and have a bottle of soda.
Oh, wait...the BOTTLE is PLASTIC, too...another oil-based product!
I'd best run back home on those shoes with synthetic soles that have OIL as a component in THEM!
And when I get home, I can walk across my carpet (which is made from used plastic bottles, hence PETROLEUM PRODUCTS)!
See...there's just No getting away from a myriad uses that come from OIL these days...and that applies to our FUTURE as well as our PRESENT.
We will ALWAYS need oil in some capacity...for something.
It is the energy source of NOW and the foreseeable future...until or unless something BETTER and CHEAPER comes the hell along.
(anybody got any ideas along those lines?)
Now, I certainly didn't go to Harvard, and after hearing Obama make that claim, I don't think I'd WANT to go there...even on a full, 4 year paid scholarship!
As gaffs go, he beat out Biden hands down!
That's why it's ALWAYS better to GET YOUR FACTS, and get them STRAIGHT...FIRST, before you open that pie hole and blurt them out.
I would love to have been a fly on the wall of ANY petroleum company's walls yesterday when our President MADE that remark...LOL
You could probably FEEL the executives blood drain from their faces over that one.
Makes a real good case though when you think about our "fearless leader" being OUT OF TOUCH with what's really going on.
Maybe, next time out in the Presidential LIMO, he might want to inquire as to HOW MUCH OIL goes into making that vehicle ROLL.
Just a thought.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch...
*** I've chronicled the misadventures of the "locals" around here since this blog began. And I like to focus on those "problem" houses on the block or in the area..the ones the FWPD, or Neighborhood Code Enforcement, or Child Protective Services SHOULD be closing down, but don't seem to.
Well, once again, right down the street at our (current) #1 problem house come the FWFD and the TRAA...for the second time in as many months.
Now, this is the SAME house that has all the loud-ass traffic coming by from mid-morning to early morning the following day, kids playing IN THE STREET, the "lovers" swapping spit all over the street, drug use, staggering "parent" syndrome, toddlers that pee on utility poles during the day...in other words...these people are 20 miles of BAD ROAD...period.
Lord only knows HOW MANY people are actually LIVING in that place (which would probably be yet ANOTHER violation of city resident code), but you CAN rest assured they are living there on YOUR tax dollars. No one works there (unless you count all the males coming to "visit" the females inside and you can make your own determination what goes one there...I have mine), so you can conclude they're on the dole from the almighty "gub'ment".
(at least the house isn't one of those 12,000 VACANT ones...yeah, right)
So, imagine seeing someone taken from the place each month on a gurney.
I tried to hear on the radio what the person's name was, but (naturally) this was ONE call that TRAA (ambulance medic unit) decided not to put on the air...
Go figure.
I would love to run some records checks on these people IF I knew someone's name.
Wouldn't even surprise me of a LOT of the males that "stop by" have active warrants.
The police apparently don't monitor this house, even after repeated suggestions they have vice/narcotics do so, including pictures taken showing suspicious behavior (like walking down the street smoking a joint).
Well, at least it's good to know that "if" the FWPD can't properly surveil a problem (read drug) house...I sure as hell (still) can.
And I'm available if anyone from the department wants to stop on by and interview me for a position...like THAT would ever happen...LMAO!
*** In today's paper, a story that I found mildly amusing, and not in the way you might think.
It has to deal with potholes. (we ALL have to deal with those, don't we?)
Here's the link to the article:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20110216/LOCAL16/302169982
The story talks about (basically) the ANATOMY of a pothole.
That's what I found funny.
Anyone with a few synapses firing KNOWS what causes a pothole.
And they also know what happens when you hit one the "wrong" way....
(visit to the repair shop, or at least a new rim or tire)
The combination of freeze/thaw, road salt and water provides the recipe to cause small cracks to widen and so on and so forth...yada, yada,.yada...
Got it.
Knew that for DECADES...nice to know some things don't change, right?
*** You can't turn on the news today without hearing that FOOD PRICES have risen TWENTY-NINE PERCENT.
The "fingers" of the world point to WHEAT, CORN, and OIL (big surprise on that LAST one...the energy of the past) as the chief "culprits".
Looks like that "old" energy is still the PRESENT energy for our food sources (and the future's).
Again...who knew?
(short answer - we ALL did)
And what an impact rising costs will play on this nation's economic structure...what with a spiralling deficit and lack of revenue.
Makes 'ya wonder WHAT would happen if all these so-called budget cuts in our government were directed at the RIGHT agencies(instead of earmarks which don't add to a whole helluva lot)...like medicare, medicaid and welfare (the BIG three).
I speak to the amount of (as yet undiscovered) FRAUD perpetrated against the taxpayers here.
Might want to make some people get off their duffs and get cracking at some REAL occupation.
Might even make people a bit more RESPONSIBLE.
Or, it might cause nationwide rioting, looting, arson, and assorted breakouts of martial law.
There is that faction within our society that really would LOVE to see that happen.
Fortunately (for the good guys), I'm NOT one of them.
But I do know how such people conduct themselves when they're not constantly given their "fix" of government entitlements.
Be nice to find a way to wean such people off of this insidious (and costly) "drug" that permeates our nation.
We need some form of "alternative" to get people off of this addiction.
Because being addicted to ANYTHING (even being lazy and stupid) is NEVER a good thing...for anyone (especially those suffering from that addiction).
Basic principles...basic solutions...and basic values...that's what we need today.
Settling for less isn't really an option at this point. Not for THIS nation.
Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay safe out there, America.

As The Snow Keeps Melting...
Gee, kinda sounds like the name of some SOAP OPERA, doesn't it?
Well, be that as it may, the piles of rapidly graying snow ARE melting away, and with it, lots of water everywhere.
And all that water will turn to ice nightly, providing driving enjoyment beyond your wildest dreams (read nightmares).
But that's not all...
In MY part of the ghettohood, whenever the snow starts to clear, the litterbugs come the hell back out!
I suppose it's partially due to ALL that frigid weather we had that kept the windows of those loud-ass-mobiles UP, and now that's it's a tad warmer, down come the windows, and out goes the trash that's been piling up inside the interiors of those cars (ask ANY LEO about the interior of a suspect or stopped vehicle in the "badlands"...it's a rolling trash bin).
And what BETTER place to remove all that crap from their cars than on our very own CITY STREETS.
Sure, another ordinance that's rarely enforced fits the bill down here.
Add THAT to the NOISE and the PARKING ordinances that also rarely go enforced, and you have all you need to blight up an area real well.
Now here I thought Chief Rusty wanted MORE citations...what WAS I thinking anyway?
Oh, that's right...you have to have officers PATROLLING IN THE AREA (first) in order to have them WRITE CITATIONS.
Well, since there's plenty for them to do like chasing the radio, the point becomes a bit MOOT, does it not?
Let's not dwell, though...we've got other stuff to check out.
*** Four of the eight FWPD officers in that 2005 police-action shooting of a barricaded individual have been dismissed from any charges.
Here's the link to the story:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20110215/LOCAL03/302159992
Now, you have to understand that "if" a person really WANTS to follow through with a suicide attempt, they will very likely succeed, in spite of what police negotiations or family members are trying to do to stop the event from occurring.
Much of this case rests on the whole "excessive force" aspect.
How much force is considered "excessive", and who can properly make that determination?
Let's face it, if you don't take your stack and storm the place in the hope of startling the person who's barricaded, you haven't done your job as member of the SWAT team. You can negotiate until the cows come home, and when hours pass by with no appreciable resolution of the situation in sight, your alternatives as the response team become VERY limited.
You storm the place, you might be considered taking "excessive actions" by some.
You sit back and keep trying the negotiating gig, and you can be accusing of NOT DOING ENOUGH.
Like "you're damned if you DO and damned if you DON'T" kinda thing.
Depends on how OTHERS (usually civilians) perceive the situation, and NOT the actions taken by the response team(s).
According to what was presented to the media sources, I believe the FWPD team did everything they could in the time allotted to avert any disaster on scene.
But Rudy Escobedo was a person with mental issues including suicide, was high on cocaine, and was armed with a pistol, vacillating between wanting help and wanting to check out (of life). The chances of a "happy ending" all around were slim to say the least. But that's just my observations and feelings on the matter.
We'll stay with this story until it's conclusion, so stay tuned for updates.
*** (( Woman 9th victim in apartment holdups - The Journal Gazette
A woman robbed Saturday as she got out of her car at Canterbury Green Apartments became the ninth victim in a string of holdups at apartment complexes on the north side.
Fort Wayne police responded at 9:53 p.m. Saturday to 2706 Northgate Blvd. where a woman told police a man came up behind her and said, "Don’t move, I have a gun to your son’s head," according to a police report. The woman’s young child was in a car seat in the back of the vehicle.
The thief took the woman’s wedding ring and wallet and fled in a dark-colored, four-door sedan, according to the report. The vehicle had metallic or sparkly flakes in the paint and darkly tinted windows, the woman told police.
She told police the robber was a black or dark-skinned Hispanic man, was wearing a dark "bubble coat," brown boots and had a very deep and "raspy" voice.
Although the description of the robber and method of the heist were similar to eight other recent holdups at apartment complexes on the city’s north side, officer Raquel Foster, Fort Wayne police spokeswoman, said detectives don’t know for sure whether Saturday’s crime was committed by the same man.
Last week, a man at Woodbridge Apartments was pistol-whipped during an attempted armed robbery.
Since late December, there have been nine holdups at apartment complexes on the north side, mostly near Clinton Street and St. Joe Center Road.
Police said the gunman had a similar description in each of the previous eight robberies.
He has been described as a thin black man wearing a black baseball cap, black jacket and black pants. ))
Will someone please find this guy and shoot his sorry ass?
I'm getting real tired of normal, hard-working people being the prey in this "game" by this street thug and whoever is helping him.
He's gonna wind up doing something real dumb (and potentially deadly) if he's not caught. That's the way these people operate.
They can go from ZERO to STUPID in the blink of an eye, trust me.
*** Fort Wayne has vacant homes...a LOT of vacant homes.
We currently have close to 12,000 VACANT homes...that's a whole lot of EMPTY lying about.
Here's the link to the story:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20110213/LOCAL/302139932
I'm proud to say we have TWO houses directly adjacent to us that ARE vacant...and personally, I LIKE it that way.
At one time, we were almost surrounded by vacant houses, and it was a lot better than having them OCCUPIED, I can tell you.
Now, with so many houses that are empty, comes the usual crap, such as scrappers stealing COPPER from those houses, break-ins for other reasons like having a more comfortable place to smoke your crack rocks, or pursue sexual "purchases"...whatever floats your boat.
I've already caught more than a few people trying to get INTO such houses when they were just "between renters".
Much of the problem lies with the landlords, or whatever else you wish to call those that "technically" own the properties.
While there ARE those that follow the rules and are good landlords, many of them are EXACTLY like the tenants they dump into these houses - they just don't give a damn.
They perform a minimal amount of repairs, mostly on the facade (certain people gravitate to "shiny" stuff), and the required steam-clean of whatever they call CARPETS in the house, and then bring in a new crapload of human refuse to start this process over again.
Eventually, this "process" takes it's toll upon the structure, and it become uninhabitable.
This can occur because some people LIKE to punch out walls or break windows with heavy objects (like each other's skulls).
Some become vacant due to a death...or a foreclosure on the mortgage holder. Hey, sh*t happens, right?
It's what BECOMES of the recently vacant houses that should be of concern.
I know for a fact that Fort Wayne has around 400 houses on the "wrecking ball" list.
You just can't put people into them...not even the lazy-assed flotsam that passes for renters.
The FWHA doesn't like that.
They would MUCH rather have houses that are nice, or preferably BRAND NEW, and that's why we constantly see this "push" for new LOW-INCOME housing.
But, let's define this "low-income" thing... LOW income does not mean NO income...or ILLEGAL income (such as "street-pharmaceutical" sales or prostitution).
But to many in our city's growing set of "cogs", it means JUST THAT.
And that is why we have neighborhoods going down the crapper faster than one can flush.
The article says: "...Even worse, vacant homes lower the value of the houses around them, deepening a cycle that can spiral a neighborhood into financial ruin."
Gee...'Ya think?
Cripes, we've seen this FIRST-HAND!
Helluva study for some sociology, economics, or anthropology major with a thesis or two waiting to be written!
I could give them more than a few pages on neighborhood DECLINE...EASILY!
My take on these vacant houses would be to raze those that need razing...bring those up to code that need it, and refurbish the rest. Lots cheaper.
But we don't just stop there...
We then get WORKING PEOPLE who know HOW to manage a household, and who can TAKE SOME PRIDE in what they have and move THEM in these houses, instead of plunking down the latest group of indigent and transient vermin from whatever other city didn't want them (or still wants them...usually on criminal charges).
And please make sure these people know that ENGLISH is the language of THIS COUNTRY...FIRST!
Hold these tenants OR home buyers accountable for the properties as well as the landlords (where applicable).
Don't waste the taxpayer's money by wanting to build brand new "low-income" housing in other parts of the city that have NO need for such things.
(And yes, Heather Presley-Cowan, I AM talking to YOU. She's the Deputy Director of Economic Development for Housing - Geezus , that TITLE is longer than the attention spans of ALL the "people" she puts in housing down here)
One has to admit we have a housing problem...about as much as we have a gun-control problem (which we do not, BTW).
We do have a PEOPLE problem...always have and always will, so long as we constantly try to level the playing field.
Some folks succeed by hard work...and diligence...and by applying themselves to the job-at-hand.
Conversely, some folks fail because they do nothing at all. To place those "do-nothings" on the same level of as those who bust their asses is morally, ethically, and Constitutionally WRONG...period.
We reward GOOD "behavior", and not the bad.
We teach those that exhibit bad behavior, so that they may learn, and display good behavior.
It's the SAME way you train up a child...only with ADULTS (and it takes longer).
What is needed is a return to a more CIVIL time...not some "new" idea that wastes time, money and other resources and does nothing (as so many programs have already done). The NEW paradigm should be an old one..one that worked.
We have to provide an equal OPPORTUNITY to everyone...not provide an equal "lifestyle".
Like I said...some will succeed...some will fail.
And it's not the responsibility of everyone else to take those failures and call them successes.
You succeed or fail based on YOUR OWN merits...YOUR OWN character...YOUR OWN motivation.
But that's the way humankind has operated for AGES.
Everyone has to hold up their own part of that log...makes it easier in the long run to share the load.
And all Americans have shared so much for so long to help so many.
It's not right to be forced or coerced into doing for those unwilling to do for themselves.
Therein lies the lesson for today.
Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay safe out there, America.

Monday Musings...
What a difference a week makes.
Just LAST week, we were damn near knee-deep in snow, and the city (here) was looking at a near standstill scenario.
This week, it's a whole other story.
We had TWO days of temps ABOVE freezing, and we get to see the street surfaces once again.
The bad news is that we also get to see (and feel) all the POTHOLES underneath this mess.
Fort Wayne city officials "say" that when called in, potholes will be fixed within FOUR (count 'em 4) HOURS!
We might just put that to the test sometime soon.
In a way I'm kinda glad to see all this snow dissipate.
All that shoveling, worrying about Wifey being safe on the roads with all the idiots who DON'T know how to drive in this stuff.
having schoolkids walk in the middle of the street through the snow and slush.
Now, they just walk down the middle of the streets with NO snow or slush to contend with.
Some things (or people) NEVER seem to change.
I know our patio is looking more like a patio now, an less like the slit trenches on the ice planet HOTH!
But, through all of this (and more) time and life marches on...
*** We now have our 4th HOMICIDE of the year in Fort Wayne.
(and a black guy didn't do it...I'm amazed)
Here's the skinny on what went down:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20110213/LOCAL07/302139931
And here's the perp...(nice mugshot).
This still places us ahead of LAST year, and Lord knows we've plenty of year left.
I found it odd that the person reporting the dead man in a garage went about TWO MILES to pound on a (random) door to alert someone about the body.
I mean it's not as though other houses NEARBY the garage where the man was found were not available to report the crime.
And leave it to a person who is probably one of several in the ENTIRE city who DOES NOT have a cell phone (you can include me in that group...don't have one yet and not breaking down any doors to get one).
How the man died was obvious (BFT - blunt force trauma), but the way it was reported was odd. Still, it WAS reported and you have to give that citizen credit for doing that these days.
*** I have to correct an error in observation I've made several times during the recent snowfall.
I had stated that the locals living around us are so lazy they stink, and that they don't do a single damn thing to make the area better.
I may have to take that back...they DO manage to do ONE thing...
GET THEIR VEHICLES WASHED OFF.
I have never seen as many consistently CLEAN vehicles as I have during the snowstorm and it's aftermath...!
It's like they have nothing to do BUT clean their vehicles.
Our cars area garaged, and even I can't clean Wifey's car off ALL the time.
I mean, after you clean the car off, there is STILL salt and water on the roads, so it'll just get filthy AGAIN...and again.
Hey, maybe a CLEAN car makes the stereo LOUDER...yeah, that must be it.
I much prefer to wait until most of this crap is off the streets before I clean Wifey's car.
Besides, we don't get government "subsides" to fund those twice-daily trips to the car wash, as others obviously do.
*** Saw a couple good shows on PBS yesterday (yeah, they slip up once in a while and provide DECENT entertainment and historically ACCURATE programming).
The first show was on Herbert Hoover entitled LANDSLIDE.
Here was a President that won the election BY a landslide, and was defeated after his first term (also) by a landslide.
He was a man who embraced something called AMERICAN INDIVIDUALISM.
You can still order a pamphlet written BY Hoover himself in 1922 (for $5) here:
http://www.hooverassociation.org/hoover/american_individualism.php
Little did he know after taking office HOW MUCH crap would hit the fan (which was a relatively NEW contrivance in those days).
He couldn't take ONE step after the Wall St. crash of 1929 without stepping in a big pile of poo (up to his knees)!
You feel bad for the guy...trying to do the right thing, and having all these EXTERNAL problems preventing it.
Here's the WIKI on our 31st president:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_Hoover
He was the right man...just at a very wrong time.
And when you dig a little deeper, you discover things that I never knew, nor is ever taught in today's American History class.
--The other show was about a school in Bordentown, NJ (I know that area - been through it a few times - very nice).
This was an ALL BLACK school that promoted ETHICS, INTEGRITY and CIVILITY among its students (whatta novel idea THESE days).
It was originally known as the Ironsides Normal School, befre it was designated as the New Jersey Manual Training and Industiral School for Colored Youth.
Here's the WIKI on it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bordentown_School
It was also referred to as the "Tuskegee of the North".
I found it fascinating that noted people as W.E.B. DuBois AND Booker T. Washington supported this noble venture.
Du Bois promoted the intellectual aspect, while Washington fostered a more PRACTICAL curriculum.
Lecturers at the school included Albert Einstein and Paul Robeson.
It was operated year-round, had it's OWN farm and was relatively self-sufficient.
This was not a case of being segregated, but rather separated...a big difference (one being forced, the other chosen).
And during it's time of operation...it WORKED (and damn well).
Students came away from there a lot better prepared for life with the SKILLS required to become leaders and not government "wards".
If you get a chance, watch the show called: A Place Out of Time - The Bordentown School (2009).
Sad to say, the school shut it's doors in June of 1955, and was, for a brief time used as a facility for the developmentally-disabled.
Since 2000, it has been a site used by the NJ Dept. of Corrections for juvenile offenders.
Such an undeserved fate for so wonderful a concept and practice.
*** Lastly, today is Valentine's Day.
Now, there was a time, LONG ago, when I wore my heart plainly on my sleeve, and was a huge "romantic".
These days, it's all I can do keep from letting emotions get the best of me.
I still hear some song, or watch a movie, and some dialogue or tune will invoke those "old days"...days when romanticism was looked upon in ways that we don't readily see today.
Maybe I've become more STOIC these days, than anything else.
That's not to say I'm lacking passion. I'm still passionate about a GREAT many things.
But, I also believe that you need to temper everything in your life.
Ben Franklin said: "Everything in moderation - nothing in excess".
Sounds like a plan.
At least by following THAT advice, the number of "runaway trains" in one's life is greatly minimized.
And God knows we've plenty of THOSE trains on the tracks of life as it is.
Most of them seem to be in EXPRESS mode, stopping for nothing or no one.
Many come from places we've never been, heading to destinations as yet undetermined.
We just need to get ourselves a timetable and figure out WHICH train might be the right one for us.
Depends on where WE are going, doesn't it?
It also depends on where we just came from, too.
Valentine's Day is a day that we "demonstrate" our love to someone.
I think that should go without saying the other 364, but I guess I'm still (down deep) a romantic.
I believe that even if we don't have that "someone", we can at least demonstrate it to OURSELVES.
Face it, you send the MOST time with "you" as it is, right? Being able to give yourself that occasional indulgence by acknowledging WHO you are is but one way to keep that love going.
If you can't love yourself, it's pretty damn hard to love anyone else.
So maybe today...you can indulge yourself...let YOU know that YOU care about...YOU.
You ARE the best YOU there is in the whole world, after all.
No one else can come close.
Have yourselves a great week.
Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay safe out there, America.