Humpday Happenings...

Welcome to MY favorite month...AUGUST...and it's not because I love the hot weather.
I love BIRTHDAYS (as in MINE in about 3 weeks), but let's make clear that it's a PROVISIONAL love.
I detest the RISING numbers every year (and so does the FIRE DEPARTMENT when Wifey puts the candles on the cake), but I like the cake...and whatever presents find their way to my doorstep...and the cake...LOL.
With that said, let's get busy with the Wednesday edition that happens to be packed tighter than an Olympic swimmer's SPEEDO, and if you leave now, I won't let you see my wife floss her teeth...
*** We begin today with the military quote of the week, also known as WHO SAID THAT?
In keeping with the theme of London, and the Olympics, I'm sure you'll be able to figure out this one:
"If we win, nobody will care. If we lose, there will be nobody to care."
So...WHO said that?
The answer at the top of tomorrow's post.
Meanwhile, back at the Stadium...there's THIS:
*** We've had not ONE...not TWO, but THREE shootings in the past several days (two within the past 24 hours alone) here in Fort Wayne, with ALL BUT ONE of them occurring on the...(...all together, gang...)...SOUTHEAST SIDE of the city (big surprise THERE, hmm?)

*** First up, there was a shooting over at 1844 Broadway, where one man was found by police in serious condition with a gunshot wound.
He was transported to hospital and was down-graded to critical.
Here's the link:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20120801/LOCAL07/308019929/0/SEARCH
Police have no suspects and no witnesses to the shooting.
But wait, there's more... (What? You thought OTHERWISE?)
*** Here's a case where a black man was lying in wait for a specific vehicle to drive by (in an alley near Pontiac St) before he opened up on it, injuring two men in the tan SUV.

We used to call that...an AMBUSH!

And here is the story link:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20120801/LOCAL07/308019931/1002/LOCAL
The shooter, one Breon Lamar Scott, of the 3200 block of River Forest Drive is now a "guest" of the Allen County lockup, proudly wearing ORANGE (and flip-flops). He is being held in lieu of $25,000 bond.
Court docs make NO mention of a motive...(you think THESE animals NEED motive? Hell no, they do what they want).
At least someone knew who the perp was...for a change.
*** Late LAST night, there was another shooting that happened at the VILLA CAPRI APARTMENTS...and we JUST had a shooting there LAST week (see 25 July post here) that I spoke about exactly a week ago.

Here's the story link:
http://www.wane.com/dpp/news/crime/one-person-shot-on-citys-south-side
Sure glad I don't live at Villa Capri...cripes, you need LVL III body armor to come and go there it would seem!
The victim had been shot BEFORE as a 16-year old several years prior.
He was transported to hospital in serious condition.
This case is still under investigation with NO suspects and NO witnesses or description of the shooter.
Hold on, though...we're STILL not done yet...
*** FWPD SWAT was dispatched to the SE side on Serenity Drive for a hostage situation.

Seems we had one armed man with "a woman, two teens and a toddler" (typical government-sponsored and dysfunctional family unit) involved.
Here's the story link:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20120801/LOCAL07/308019930/1002/LOCAL

I heard this go out on the radio when someone called for "The V-150"...that's the name for the armored car the FWPD has in it's inventory.

At that point yesterday morning, I figured something "big" was up...correct again.

Dernail I. Brown, age 20, was the "person of interest" in this scenario...and he doesn't have any priors other than receiving stolen property and a burglary charge. A warrant was being served at the Centennial Towne Homes (government housing project...let's call it for what it IS, folks) in the 7900 block of Serenity Drive, because of a probation violation, and that's when things got "interesting".

Initially the woman said she would NOT come out, which precipitated a potential hostage situation.
The standoff lasted until 1200 hours, when the woman, teens and toddler were allowed to leave. Brown then surrendered to police and was taken into custody.
Nice job, people...no one got hurt, the bad guy gets the "cuff N stuff", and everyone goes the hell home in one piece.
If you go to this link, you'll see the PIO (Off. Raquel Foster) talking to the media, while the "lookie-looz" prance around and mouth off behind her...typical behavior for the overweight and underworked "totally-government-sponsored" among us.
http://www.wane.com/dpp/news/crime/hostage-situation-at-centennial-towne-homes
At least in THIS case, your TAX DOLLARS meant something when they rolled up the SWAT team.
*** Next up...more Olympic GOLD...

Michael Phelps is now officially the "greatest Olympian" on record with his winning his 19th medal (over the last 3 Olympics).

The Woman's gymnastic team for the USA has ALSO won gold, and that was great to see these kids beam with pride.

The equestrian show-jumping event was great to watch, as was the ROWING events and the CANOEING events...

That man-made "white water" course the Brits built was AMAZING, and it was cool to watch the Olympians attempt to play "beat the clock" in their kayaks (using a REAL canoe would be suicidal, imho)!
Cripes, that water was MOVING...reminded me of the damn COLORADO RIVER at some points!
There are folks who are finding the Olympics a tad boring, but I suppose it depends on your POV.

The sculling events (rowing) were also great to view, as I remember along the Schuylkill River in Philly, we had "boat house row" where the colleges had THEIR rowing teams and sculls housed...and they would row along the river damn near every weekend.
On the down side, some of the water polo, all of the basketball, and part of the volleyball don't do anything for me...I admit that, but everything else is something I'm not privy to, and find it enjoyable enough. I mean, I see people do things I could never think of doing even when I was that young...it's astounding.
*** Lastly...today is:
Chik-fil-A APPRECIATION DAY...!!!

And I think it's only proper to stop by and indulge yourself, should you find yourself close enough to one of their restaurants.
As I said yesterday, it's about the QUALITY of food and service that SHOULD determine the viability of most ANY joint that sells food.
You get a bunch of kids with no ambition or work ethic that consistently screw up BASIC orders, and people WILL tend to notice.

As a result, word gets around, and business will suffer.

Conversely, you have a good crew that goes the distance to perform their jobs well and makes the dining experience a good one for the customers...well, people WILL notice THAT, too...

Thing is, whenever there is a BAD experience, that person will tell TEN people, while a GOOD experience will only be told to FIVE...it's a retail/service maxim of sorts, and it happens to be TRUE.

I think every one of us is also in a similar situation when it comes to "business and customers".

If we take a page from DICKENS, we note that Jacob Marley said: "Mankind WAS my business."

I feel we all are in the "business" of LIFE itself, and any "customers" can be represented by family members, friends, relatives, or even total strangers we meet daily.
Do we, as "people in business" (living our lives) provide a QUALITY service to others?
Are we managing our "business" in a manner that will provide DIVIDENDS, or do we consistently operate in a budget-deficit?
I think if we've paid attention in life so far, gleaned knowledge and wisdom from those who brought us up, as well as mentors and the life experiences we've accumulated, we're doing okay as far as our own "business" is going...just like Chik-fil-A (well, perhaps not AS tasty...LOL)

And I feel we can all keep this business of life running much better than we realize...it only takes effort on our part.

Be well, make a difference to someone, and...

Stay SAFE out there, America.

((PS: And congratulations to RUSH LIMBAUGH for the debut of his FIRST radio show on THIS date in 1988 - Kudos...You ROCK, sir! ))