It's June Already, Huh?
Whew, is it just me, or is this year flying the hell past us at break-neck speed?
Seemed not that long ago, some of us were still shoveling snow off the sidewalks.
Now, I don't care what anyone else says (much), but it HAS to be true what they say about time speeding UP when you get older.
Maybe it's part of the whole can't move as spryly as I used to ( no longer faster than a speeding bullet, but at least not shooting myself WITH that bullet...somewhere in-between), so things "appear" to be faster all around gig...I dunno.
At least that's ANOTHER thing we CAN'T blame on global warming...LOL!
*** Been a helluva year for TORNADIC ACTIVITY...doesn't seem to matter WHERE you live, either.
Now, we can add MASSACHUSETTS to the growing list of states hit by such weather.
Springfield had several touch down, and four people were killed as a result.
To this East coast boy, that seems just SO unimaginable.
And just last week, a tornado touched down in NE Philly!
(you can read it on the SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL GUNFIGHTER blog - link at left)
This is unheard of (to me, anyway).
Maybe, Mother Nature is getting a might PO'ed at all our "infighting" over environmental "protection", when SHE knows she has everything well-in-hand...'ya think? This is HER planet after all...were just "along for the ride", so to speak.
I mean, I've come find that it's always best to NEVER cross a woman when she knows something...especially when she so much as tells you so!
(smart move, Bob)
Elsewhere...
*** Seems Fort Wayne has got another D/B on it's hands, as well as another citizen in the hospital in critical condition.
(( Man found dead in Fort Wayne - Police called to Oliver and Greene Streets
Updated: Thursday, 02 Jun 2011, 5:55 AM EDT
Published : Thursday, 02 Jun 2011, 3:53 AM EDT
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - Fort Wayne police were called to Oliver and Greene Streets on a report of a man down early Thursday morning.
When officers and paramedics arrived around 1:33 a.m., they found an adult man lying near the sidewalk.
Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.
Police didn't give an indication of the type on injuries the man may have had. His name identity and the exact cause and manner of death will be released by the Allen County Coroners Office.
This incident remains under investigation by the Fort Wayne Police Department, Allen County Prosecutors Office, and the Allen County Coroners Office
=================================
Man in critical condition after 'disturbance'
Updated: Thursday, 02 Jun 2011, 6:28 AM EDT
Published : Thursday, 02 Jun 2011, 5:48 AM EDT
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - Fort Wayne police were called to the apartment at 5752 Ullyot Dr. for a reported disturbance early Thursday morning.
When officers arrived, they knocked on the front door, but no one answered. Officers looked through a window and saw a man inside who looked like he may be unconscious.
Officers forced their way into the apartment and determined the man was unresponsive.
When paramedics arrived on the scene they administered medical attention to the victim before taking him to a local hospital in critical condition.
The victim's identity is being withheld until his family has been notified.
This incident remains under investigation by the Fort Wayne Police Department and the Allen County Prosecutors Office. ))
(( EDITOR'S UPDATE - 1235 HR
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - The Fort Wayne Police Department made two arrests in connection to the disturbance call that left a 20-year-old man in critical condition early Thursday morning in the 5700 block of Ullyot Drive.
According to the Fort Wayne Police Department, while responding to the call, officers were told that loud thumping noises were coming from the apartment.
Inside the apartment officers found two other men, one adult and one juvenile.
Both have been arrested on charges of Aggravated Battery.
Anthony Tate, 22, was booked into Allen County Lockup and a juvenile male booked into Allen County Juvenile Center. ))
At least the critical vic was found on the WEST side of town.
The D/B was located (...all together, gang....) on the SOUTHEAST side!
(thank you for your participation)
Officer Johnny Chambers was pretty busy last night and early this AM, that's for sure.
He's usually on *A* shift (and often in my part of the ghettohood), but I guess they couldn't locate another one of the PIOs for the FWPD.
The Oliver and Greene streets location is one of those nice "dead-end" (no pun intended) areas...about a spit & a slide from the railroad tracks nicely north of us, and closer to the police HQ than we are.
Now, I've been in my share of houses over the years...everything from places that had a vintage (and running) 1908 Oldsmobile in the garage (gotta tell you that story some day) to places where people sat on the sofa smoking away on MJ (and me not wanting to get a contact-high)...seen a lot of stuff, that's for sure.
So, I think that gives me a unique perspective on human nature.
And it's one that I don't readily recommend to the faint-of-heart.
You see, when you've worked as many diverse situations as I have, you get to see it all.
It doesn't have to occur just in law-enforcement.
They (usually) get to see the absolute DREGS of humanity...and very often, on a DAILY basis.
Again, not for the faint-of-heart.
*** Now, I said all THAT...to say THIS:
You rarely get awards or commendations for WHO YOU ARE in THIS life.
(next one, perhaps?)
And I've gotten a few frameable tokens and pins along the way, acknowledging my "workmanship".
Sure, you may receive a commendation for the WORK you performed...going that "extra mile", as it were.
You might receive an award of APPRECIATION for "the job" you did.
But how often do we recognize the PERSON themselves?
Citizen awards are about as close as we come in that regard.
We always hear about the exemplary job that was done, but what about the exemplary PERSON?
What makes that individual hands above the rest?
It takes a great MANY things, actually.
-First of all, it does take COURAGE...to be able to do what needs to be done, say what needs to be said, and to stand by YOUR decision to do or say so.
-It also takes PERSISTENCE...the ability to stay WITH something until it's completed, even if everything is coming down around you like a house of cards.
-It takes KNOWLEDGE...that which we LEARN in order to do the right thing in the right way, and for the right reason.
-It also takes WISDOM...the ability to PROPERLY APPLY that knowledge.
And it's from THESE things that each of us finds the WILL...the STRENGTH and the PERSEVERANCE to see us through some pretty nasty crap in life.
All this is nothing new...not some "magic bullet" of humanity that someone came up with overnight.
It's been with humanity since the beginning.
All anyone has to do is "turn the tap" to get it all flowing.
In some occupations, all this is SOP...it's REQUIRED in order to perform the tasks at hand.
But, I would also maintain that such things are part of who WE are...every one of us, and to not avail ourselves on any or ALL of them deprives us of who we CAN be in the long run.
Now, I don't want to get on some long, philosophical tear about this...that's best left to those with a bunch of initials AFTER their names...LOL.
Let's just say that if we didn't realize this before, we can do so TODAY...and make that stick.
What did the Bible say about having FAITH the size of that mustard seed...and moving mountains in the process?
Got no use for a mountain at the moment, truth be told...no place to PUT the dang thing.
But think about having those OTHER things I mentioned above...in like proportions.
What can we become capable of doing or having in THAT case, hmm?
I believe we can change the face of humanity towards good again.
Yeah, that sounds great, but how does it get done?
One-person-at-a-time...that's how.
Best place to start, is with oneself.
*** Lastly today, I want to sincerely THANK all of you for being a part of MY life now.
And I want you all to know that you have a standing invite to our Fortress of Reason ANYtime you're in the area.
(anyone tries to mess with your vehicle while you're here, I'll shoot 'em)
I would consider it an honor to have you as guests, if for but an hour.
All of you are the type of friends I used to have many years ago.
And although all but a very few (of you) I've never even met face-to-face, I feel totally at ease whenever I visit your blogs or answer a comment you posted here.
Those of you I have met can attest that I do not bite, and have had all my "shots"...!
(and I've got a shooting gallery in his basement to prove it...LOL)
So, thanks again, for bringing some much-needed sunshine into an otherwise cloudy day...every day.
I appreciate you all more than you know (well, maybe NOW you know, 'cause I just told you) and it is my sincere wish that even if we never meet in THIS life, we WILL meet in the next one (I'm pulling in ALL my markers for that).
Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay safe out there, America.