Happy Valentine's Day...

Today is the day we acknowledge that "significant other" in our lives, or show some love to family members and/or friends.
Even pets are not immune.
It's one of the busiest retail days of the year, what with chocolates, flowers, and sundry other related gifts flying off store shelves.
Here's the WIKI for this day:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentine's_Day

So, we can send a tip o' the hat to the late, great Geoffrey Chaucer for today's celebration...and that tried and true method of "courtly love"
(not to be confused with Courtney Love...thank God)
Sure sounds better than embracing martyrology when Saint Valentine was awaiting his EXECUTION in a jail cell and signed a letter to his jailer's daughter (who legend says he had healed) "from your Valentine" as a farewell to her.
Love...something we can't live with sometimes, or live without the REST of the time.
And there are so many facets to THIS particular life's gem.
If we're fortunate enough in our lives, we get to experience more than a few of them.
Enjoy the day as we see what else is going on, because the weather will be a replay of yesterday with temps reaching into the FORTIES.
(glad I stashed that snowball in the freezer...in case of emergency)
Might see some snow showers tonight as we drop back into the (not-so-roaring) twenties.
*** First up, the answer to yesterday's Motto Of The Week:
"You don't lead people by hitting them over the head. That's assault, not leadership."

This is attributed to none other than (former 5-star general and 2 term President) Dwight David Eisenhower, and here's his WIKI (again):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwight_eisenhower
Makes you long for the days when we had a man of HIS stature in the White house...doesn't it?
And he WAS a great LEADER both in military AND civilian life...never a "boss".
Got a lot of people in D.C. that could LEARN from such a man.
Meanwhile, back at the Capitol...
*** Heard some really funny stuff when it came to the SOTU address the other night.
The first one was from Bill O'Reilly's Factor show, who (one person) likened the speech to something as close to a political "reality show" as you can get.

They called it: "Dancing With The Hypocrites"
The other one was on Rush Limbaugh's EIB radio show.
Rush has someone call in on the off-air line (a friend), and stated that "Having the the president say we can spend our way to prosperity, is like saying you can fornicate your way to virginity."
I thought that was...priceless!

*** Chris Dorner is still believed to be the dead guy in that burned out cabin in CA.

Still waiting for the forensics, but the cause of the cabin fire was stated as being the gas grenades (called "burners") tossed in to get him to come out.

They are a bit on the pyrotechnic side, and if combustible materials are nearby, the grenade will ignite them.

Given the cabin was WOOD and about 85 years old, that's a lot of DRY timber there.
And, a little closer to home...there's this.

*** We are never at a loss down here on the...(...all together, gang)... SOUTHEAST SIDE when it comes to STUPID PEOPLE.

And that's why WE live here...not because WE'RE part of this clusterf$ck, but because SOMEONE has to let you all in on WHAT goes on and WHY it's allowed to persist year after year.

Consider it my way of providing to you (gratis) a "public service", by pointing out the foibles, the idiocy, the apathy, and the rampant disregard for such novelties as civility, respect, morality, decency, and so on.

I like to tell the lovely Mrs. Bobby G. that we're here to keep the average IQ in the entire area UP enough so that everyone else doesn't think this is a neighborhood of idiots (IQ of 0-25), imbeciles (IQ of 26-50) or morons (IQ of 51-70)...yeah, it helps to have studied psychology in another life...lol.
Take the two of US away from here, and it's a "Race for the Bottom" (to paraphrase the vernacular of the educational system).
Well, most of the other folks around here COULD easily be considered "bottom-feeders" anyway.
Case in point...a neighbor that has to do things on his own...like TRYING to down parts of a dead tree on his property.

An extension ladder, some rope, a chainsaw and a truck bumper were used to do something requiring a cherry picker and a person that KNOWS what the hell they're doing, but seeing as this IS the ghettohood...well, you get the idea.

Anyway, he does manage to NOT yank the bumper off the truck and DOES down a few HUGE trunks (into the street) where he cut them down and stacked them along the CURB STRIP...instead of hauling them AWAY (where they can be ground up for mulch)...

We DO have such places on the EAST side of town.

And, wouldn't you know it...one of our "sumdudes" comes along and takes a couple chunks of tree away...just a couple.

The rest is still there, almost a week later.

Yes, it's time for a call into NCE...this is a damn eyesore.

Then, there's the morons that ALWAYS park the WRONG WAY along the street...against traffic (a violation of city ordinance), but neither the FWPD or parking control ever seem to (want to) catch them or cite them.
At least the trash bins that WERE left outside along the street by another neighbor are NOW being taken inside their yard. (thanks to my emails into the Solid Waste Dept.)

And naturally, we have the BOOM CARS...thousands of them passing by our place EVERY...SINGLE...YEAR. Like THIS almost daily asshole.

Now, with ALL that going on, you'd "think" that the FWPD would be making money hand-over-fist, being able to start another recruit class and get around to filling those 21 VACANCIES on the force...

ROFLMAO...nah, no such luck, people.
Officers might make 500 or so citations for noise violations per year...(avg - past year stats), but that's a FAR cry from those THOUSANDS I hear (and feel shaking the house), so what the hell's the story anyway?

Well, when your officers are too busy answering hundreds of 911 BUTT-DIALS, that kinda puts a damper on doing some REAL police work like catching REAL violators...doesn't it?

Hell, I laser the boomers, spotlight them and once in a while, toss a snowball or shoot BBs at them...and still they come, for they KNOW the police won't do anything, and that FWPD protocol doesn't permit good investigative work like setting up a "noise checkpoint" in some alley...waiting for the perps to thump by...like OTHER cities have done, and with GREAT success.

It's called "easy money" Chief...you just have to know WHERE to look and have the cajones to make it happen.
I know I run the risk of being shot at by these assholes, but they'd best make THEIR first shot count, because they won't get a second one.
Like I say...never at a loss for something to do down here.

*** Last up today, I got Wifey a nice Valentine's day gift...a nice big Hello Kitty plush...and a heart-shaped box of chocolates.

Hey, it's what she wanted when she saw it.

And she took my hint and got me the DVD of SKYFALL.

Now, if only I could get her to a shooting range,...her being a teacher and all...would do her good.

Well, if she worked for another school system nearby, she COULD become armed (in class).

But I digress...
I was never one to ask for anything for Valentine's Day...it was always the GIVING gig for me.
And back in "the day", I would always give one of those over-sized cards to whoever I was dating at the time...too big to send in the mail.
Those buggers used to cost me $2.75...nowadays, the same damn things are like $8 freaking bucks (or MORE)!

Cripes, talk about highway robbery!
Some say to "give 'till it hurts", and throughout life, it has hurt now and then, and one song says love even "stinks" (J. Geils band) but in love, like damn near everything else in life, we LEARN from experience, and there are times when learning can be painful.
But that old saying "Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all" makes a LOT of sense.
I know, such Victorian traditions seem to have little place in today's world.
In many ways, I am damn glad I'm not a teenager growing up in days like these.

And yet, the romantic in me still thinks there IS a place for such niceties.
It used to make us better people when we acted with a greater sense of moral purpose, and held more civil tongues in our mouths; When RESPECT was the order of the day, and not some trite reference to a great man named King.
When we held ourselves and those we dared to love in better esteem than we do today...that was a better time.
When we used to TALK things out, instead of resorting to deadly force to get our point across....much better times.

They used to sing that LOVE made the world go 'round, and in times past, it sure used to seem that way in many cases.

Today, I haven't a clue as to what makes the world go 'round, and I don't think I want to find out.

What I DO know, is that as long as I have breath in me, I'll still embrace that which I was taught and what I have come to believe.
And if that runs counter to society today, perhaps it's not ME who's at fault...
Perhaps society needs to take a good long look AT ITSELF...and then remember back to how things once were when we held in higher regard those things that made us all better people.

Valentine's Day might help us to recall such times with fondness.

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

Stay SAFE out there, America.