Monday Musings...
I think we're about done with most of the rain...for the time being.
I am thankful we haven't suffered the fate of those further south.
And, I am REALLY thankful that yesterday was one of our more QUIET days...in a LONG time.
But, that was no thanks to our local constabulary...oh, no.
It was good old MOTHER NATURE that made yesterday's respite from the overwhelming annoyance of the boomcar din possible.
Seems SHE'S way better at "enforcing the noise ordinance" than the FWPD command staff.
And to that end, I am very grateful.
Now...on to...the rest of the story (as Paul Harvey would say)...
*** You would think that the simple task of backing out of one's garage in the morning with no traffic coming or going would be easy enough, right?
WRONG, especially if you live where we do, and have two "teens" (read assholes-in-training) that for no good reason, did NOT like the way you backed out and came close to them (more than THREE FEET).
The black girl must be on the rag, because she mouthed off as the Missus drove away. I was in the garage and saw and heard the whole thing...
Actually, there was nothing to see, really...a typical backout like every other morning, but because the girl with the mighty mouth is BLACK and the Missus is (still) WHITE, there just had to be a B-on-W "confrontation" (of sorts).
THIS is exactly what I mean when I mention the level and frequency of "reverse" racism.
And my wife has been driving LONG enough to know not to back INTO children, (no matter how much they might deserve it) or pretty much anything else.
But the difficulty arises when these kids decide to take their damn time walking past the property (they will always slow down...JUST for you), and make an otherwise easy task that much more difficult.
Last time I checked, YOU get out of the way of the CAR...the car does NOT get out of YOUR way (in the street).
Now, if they're driving on a cross-street, and you're waiting to cross, they WILL slow down, making YOU wait, BUT...if you're crossing a street they're driving on, they WILL in fact speed the hell up towards you. And these are the same people that will effectively find a way to BLOCK a street with themselves or cars, making you wait, slow down, or find another route around them.
Funny, how the police are never around to see all that (usually another DAILY occurrence) as well.
So, I figure if these kids want to act like "adults" and cuss like adults for no reason, I can accommodate them.
And I let loose with some of MY choice verbiage.
I don't want this to be a daily routine, as I WILL escalate this by a factor of TEN (the kids won't like that one bit, but they started it. I'll just finish it.)
*** And yes, tomorrow is Jury Duty Day (oh, frigging joy).
I am armed with all I need to wash me effectively out of the pool.
The 13th Amendment for one (indentured servitude with "slave wages" for the day), the coercion and "conscription" under penalty of law to "perform a civic DUTY" (sounds like the military DRAFT to me), and the last time I checked, things like this should come under the "consent of the people", rather than compelling them by a summons for something like this.
It doesn't seem to be about THE PEOPLE (and that includes the victims and the perps), but rather the COURTS and the LAWYERS.
They take away MY right to be left alone, and MY right to not be compelled, coerced, or "indentured" for any length of time, and tell me HOW I need to dress, so that *I* may sit in judgment (isn't that GOD'S job?) of someone whose rights ARE being protected by the judicial system...somehow, that doesn't track all that well to me.
Tomorrow, they will find out that I'm not one of the "sheeple" in this nation, and that I CAN learn, and DO know things maybe they don't want me to know.
Another thing that cracks me up...if you DO NOT SHOW, they (judiciary) can hold YOU "in contempt of court".
I thought you had to be PRESENT to be IN CONTEMPT?
The motion is always presented while participants are IN the courtrooms...
If I'm not physically IN the damn courtroom, how the hell can I be held in contempt of it?
I'm just saying...
You CAN be tried "in absencia", but I've never heard of being held in contempt "in absencia".
That's just plain ridiculous.
But that IS the way the "system" works these days.
And I shall have MY day and MY say about it.
The only thing that can go "wrong", is if they cancel my jury sub-panel...then all this is for nothing (or at least the NEXT time they come a calling).
That would be MY luck...LOL.
*** I'm really bugged about the Army Corps of Engineers' call to "flood" several THOUSAND people out of their homes along the Mississippi to keep a few cities from flooding out several thousand homes farther south...
"WTF?"
I know, that sounds pretty damn dumb to me...like robbing Peter to pay Paul here.
Over 3,000 ACRES are being flooded to relieve flooding elsewhere...don't seem justifiable to me.
Hell, NOLA still hasn't recovered YET from Katrina, so what's the big deal?
Those several thousand newly-displaced people up-river suddenly have NO damn say, and have to loose their homes...just not right.
If this were Denmark, I'd say something smells a bit rotten.
*** Next up, is it any surprise that housing these days SUCKS-ON-ICE?
And that's just the REGULAR market.
I've told you how our property has tanked in value...and all thanks to Section 8 takeovers and deadbeat landlords that wouldn't know what the hell a BACKGROUND CHECK was if it up and bit 'em in the damn ass.
But now, we see another wonderful reason why urban blight abounds, and how also, it's making it's way into the suburbs...
Here's the link to the story, and this is a REALLY GOOD READ:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20110516/NEWS03/305169913
Now, I can't imagine that HUD would "take the money and run"...could YOU?
We're talking HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS of (your) dollars...gone with the wind, apparently.
Blind folks can see this crap coming like the rising Mississippi...!
So, these HUD "improvements" to housing are leaving even MORE areas of our nation's cities abandoned to the fates.
And that will force more good folks to move way, and open the door for still more expanding urban squalor.
Gotta LOVE progress, don'cha?
Welcome to MY part of town, people...because it's the exact same way it began...and our city did nothing but ALLOW it to occur.
Way I see it, you have two choices:
1) Bug out and hope this crap doesn't follow you (which it will anyway)
2) Stay and make a damn stand for YOUR property and investment.
Remember, it's STILL your life, your house, and your money...not theirs!
*** Lastly today, when you stop and look at all these stories above, they do seem to have a common link.
I always say that every problem that comes down life's path is due to PEOPLE.
It's people that make or break your life...my life, and everyone else's.
How we deal with all of these people becomes an overriding factor to the extent that we might even deny ourselves of the ability to enjoy that life we've been given. I know I'm guilty of that at times.
But, it's just as important to remember that many people, if allowed free reign, will seek only to walk all over your life...because that's what they do best.
We, as caretakers of this planet, and of ourselves, have to be ever-vigilant to see such people whenever they all but force themselves into our lives.
Me, I like to shy away from as many of these people as possible, and if that paints me as a bit of an isolationist, well, that's works for now.
With interpersonal contact comes risk...just the way that cookie crumbles.
And sometimes, you win, other times you lose.
It's that all-important aspect to our humanity that can help us through such times, good or bad.
And that's WISDOM.
Now, you can have all the book-learning there is, but if you can't figure out how to APPLY it to everyday life, it's just a bunch of facts and figures.
You have to LEARN...teach yourself, practice personal discipline when it comes to dealing with people...or not dealing with them.
We must educate ourselves when it comes to being discreet.
Because discretion is the better part of valor (as the saying goes).
Sure, we can help our fellow man...that's a large part of who we all are, but we have to temper our help with our ability to still be able to (first) help OURSELVES. Then, we're better able to get things done with others.
That is the kind of mindset that brings people together...a like-mindedness to first help yourself so that you can then help another.
And you take that one person at a time.
My time is important to me, as is yours to you.
Today is always a good day to make the most of it, too.
It's all part of the human condition.
Have yourselves a great week, go watch the shuttle Endeavour launch, and enjoy the break from the rain (gardening, here we come).
Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay safe out there, America.