Monday Musings...

Welcome to another full week here on planet Earth...such as it may be.
And, hopefully, it will be a better week than the past week's END..at least for me, anyway.
Let's just say that if it were 15 years ago, it would have been a marvelously mundane weekend, but,. through no fault of MY own, it was not.
More about that in a minute, but first, let's sneak a peek at our Hoosierland weather...
Going to be very nice with a high somewhere in the upper SEVENTIES, and it's cool enough outside to take a light jacket or sweater...and, by the looks of last night's HARVEST MOON, we've no clouds to speak of, so bring on the sunshine.
Now, with that behind us, let's move on to all the other "stuff" that's been piling up like manure in a stable.
So go grab a cup of morning fortitude and let's get this show on the road...
*** By the way, and as a public service to my fellows Americans, over the weekend we had the following "celebratory" days:
--September 6 - It was National Coffee Ice Cream Day...AND National Read-a-Book Day.
--Septemver 7 - It was National Salami Day (no hiding them, guys) AND National Grandparents' Day (sorry, fresh outta them for me)

He's a GOOOooood boy.

--And today is...(drum roll, please)...NATIONAL HUG YOUR HOUND DAY (Scrappy will no doubt love this day...lol)
What, we can't have a CAT hug day??? Sheesh!
Well, that's better than "hug your rabid raccoon that hangs out in your yard after dark day", isn't it?
*** First out of the corral today is our TENTH HOMICIDE of the uear (slackers!).
Here's the story link:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20140907/LOCAL07/309079941/1043/LOCAL07

Yep, the woman  who was shot while IN her house (from outside) died over the weekend.
(don't have to worry about walking down the street to get shot, do we?)
All I want to know is when will Menards start selling KEVLAR INSULATION (with a decent "R" factor) for the house?
Looks like more than a few houses down here could USE it...I know WE could...hell, if it were financially-practical, I'd opt for 1/4 inch thick STEEL insulation WITH the kevlar...lol.
(( Editor's Update - 1130 hrs. - The victim has been ID'ed as one Glynis A. Harris, age 54. Death was ruled as a gunshot wound to the chest. ))
*** And then, there's THIS story about a jailed felon that thought it nice to toss a cup of crap mixed with soap at a corrections officer:

Thought apes flung poo?

Here's the link:
http://wane.com/2014/09/05/inmate-throws-cup-of-poop-soap-at-officers/
Talk about a THREE-time fecal-philiac LOSER...cripes!
Like I said in my comment at WANE...we USED to have TWO places for people like this...
We called them ASYLUMS...and CEMETERIES...either one will work well enough.
Moving on...
*** In lieu of this most recent shooting that happened to end with a homicide, here's a little "featurette" I like to call:
"See how many shooting calls there REALLY were last week."
Here's the *4-1-1*:

SHOOTING-RELATED CALLS - 9/1/14 - 9-6-14
September 1
14F115663 00:18:59 113 SHOTS FIRED 2800 WESTBROOK DR & GROVE ST
14F115710 03:09:37 113 SHOTS FIRED 3800 SMITH ST
14F115719 04:01:51 113 SHOTS FIRED 900 COTTAGE AVE
14F115950 17:40:49 113 SHOTS FIRED 3900 OLD MILL RD
14F116016 20:01:31 113 SHOTS FIRED 900 DREXEL AVE
14F116028 20:27:33 113 SHOTS FIRED 6400 FAIRFIELD AVE
14F116118 23:56:38 113 SHOTS FIRED 4400 WARSAW ST & CONGRESS AVE
14F115692 01:54:00 62 PARTY ARMED 600 ARCHER AVE
14F115699 02:27:58 62 PARTY ARMED 200 COLISEUM BLVD E
14F116093 22:46:00 62 PARTY ARMED 2400 COLISEUM BLVD N
September 2
14F116126 00:22:54 113 SHOTS FIRED 4900 TRACE DR
14F116538 21:26:45 113 SHOTS FIRED 1600 WALLACE ST E & CREIGHTON AVE
14F116234 10:28:18 58 SHOOTING 1300 MELROSE AVE
14F116154 02:50:32 62 PARTY ARMED 2700 HARRISON ST S
September 3
14F116870 16:04:52 58 SHOOTING 1400 LEWIS ST E
14F116890 16:50:09 58 SHOOTING 2200 RANDALLIA DR
September 4
14F117102 01:25:08 113 SHOTS FIRED 1300 GREENE ST
14F117343 16:19:10 58 SHOOTING 2800 DREXEL AVE
September 5
14F117563 02:37:54 113 SHOTS FIRED 4200 HANNA ST S & MCKINNIE AVE
14F117990 23:02:35 113 SHOTS FIRED 700 PUTNAM ST & ANDREW ST
14F117961 21:40:59 58 SHOOTING 4400 LILLIE ST
September 6
14F118248 14:41:00 113 SHOTS FIRED 1300 FOURTH ST W
14F118418 21:55:54 113 SHOTS FIRED 600 WALNUT ST
14F118438 22:31:18 113 SHOTS FIRED 1000 COLISEUM BLVD N
14F118467 23:32:14 113 SHOTS FIRED 3300 ADIRONDACK DR
There, not "exactly" what they report in the media...IS IT?
*** Like I said at the top, it didn't start OUT to be a bad weekend, and it didn't really END badly...it's just that all the crap in the MIDDLE was something akin to a royal clusterf&ck!

Might as well have THIS signage up.

Let's start with (very) early Saturday morning...:0400 hrs, when both Wifey and I were rudely awakened by the PAPER CARRIER and his "boom-minvan".
He sat there long enough for me to get up, get my spotlight and "light him up", to which he yelled something belligerent (hard to hear precise words over the din of the crap music blaring), but, he took off...
And that was just the beginning...(back to "sleep")...
About a half hour later, some Latino yahoo (with a boom-pickup) is blaring across the street, so I go out back and yell for him to shut it off. I hear more murmuring and then a Latino  voice says "sorry, man...didn't mean to disrespect you"...and you could just tell that the "sincerity" just was not there all that much (being drunk has that effect on mooks like these).
Anyway...back to bed a THIRD time, and within an hour, a THIRD idiot is booming...same place. This time I light HIM up with my spotlight when he leaves, and he backs up (already had my 9 mm handy).
This is around 0530 hrs.
While he's sitting alongside our place thumping, I call the FWPD (you're gonna love this), and after I get through the damn "menu", I get a young woman who sounds not all that concerned as I TRY to explain what's going on.

And, as is always the case, the phone call takes so much time that the perp was (now) driving away, so I mention the direction of travel to dispatch.
Not one word was mentioned about sending out an officer to investigate OR to stop by my house (they usually ask that every time), and I tell her I'm aware of the SLOW response time for a NOISE call, but I try to come at it from an INTIMIDATION aspect...or an ACOUSTIC ASSAULT.
By this time, I totally lost the girl in dispatch, and she's telling me that on the weekend,  the police are busier.

(no sh*t Sherlock).
She DID advise me not to attempt to handle it myself, and I told her "Dear, if I handle it,. police will NOT be the first ones needed here."
((...crickets...))
She then said that if they come back, to call the police again.
I said "Then we're back to SQUARE ONE again, right?"
((...crickets...))
Like I said, it was a relatively pointless call, and really did not instill ANY sense of concern (on their part) or safety (on mine).
If I had to rate "customer service" for them from ONE (best) to TEN (worst), then a good, solid EIGHT is in order!
Thankfully, "Mr Spignorance" (Bob's slang lexicon for ethnics) did not return, and I stayed up until it was time to go to the grocery. Wifey at least got a bit more shuteye.
The rest of Saturday went without incident, but that led to Sunday.
I went out early to mow the lawn, and was ALMOST finished when the mower blade hit the UNCAPPED WATER ACCESS PIPE out front, making an horrendous CLANK.
Then the mower ran funny after that...sounded different and shook like a dog crapping bones.

My little law-mowing "hot-rod".

Seems the BLADE got bent, and that was a problem.
Well, I finished the front (less than a couple minutes to do that), and took the mower to see what I could do.
The cooling fan for the mower motor was cracked as well, but that wasn't a worry...already had a NEW fan to place on there after this season.

Always have a spare!

But the blade was out of whack enough, and bending it back would be trial and error.
Fortunately, I kept the OLD blade from our previous electric mower...and the size was the same - 18 inches, which fit okay, and if it spun with the cutting edges facing the right way, all would be fine.
It did, and I ordered a new replacement blade on eBay at a price lower than ANY store...OR Amazon, so there.
End of Bob's repair shop?
Not yet...
There is a "dust cover" on the mini-camcorder that is also an access slot for an SD card. The rubber cover wore out and broke, so what to do about THAT?
I have 3 other "former" cameras that have failed over time, and they STILL have good covers. Time to switch things out, which I did, and now the current camera is almost new again.
See, it pays to "hoard" some things...at least for spare parts.
Now, about the paper situation.

Wifey called into the J-G Saturday and bitched a fit (rightly so), and was told the area manager would get back to her. He called Sunday and explained THAT situation.
Seems we were not the ONLY people who complained about "Mr. Moron" and his early morning musical adventures, and his last day on the job was SUNDAY...imagine that.
So, that turd's gone and we'll get another newbie carrier (for me the "break in"...lol).
Next, there was a good article in the PERSPECTIVE section of the Sunday J-G, and here's the link for that one:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20140907/EDIT10/309079985/1021/EDIT
It was ALMOST a VERY good read, but near the end, the author retreated into a more liberal stance with crime stats and studies.
Overall, it is a good read, but it came SO close to being so much better, when it comes to relations between minorities and the police.

That BLUE LINE seems thinner on SOME days.

Sorry, but I happen to have an affinity for the guys and galls in uniform...it's mainly the TOP-DOGS that put that bad taste in a lot of peoples' mouths, because THEY (unfortunately) set precedent and procedure with little regard (when enacting policy based on "heat" from other factions) for those "in the trenches"..
We don't have the kind of leaders we USED to have, and we SHOULD.

None of THIS, please.

You don't promote someone into a high-level position because of ethnicity, rather than actual experience on the streets...that's just social lip-service to those already in power at City Hall.
Yeah, we can BS about "diversity" 'till the damn cows come home, but that's not going to change the way the minorities VIEW that thin blue line, is it?
I told you about animosity against police that starts from little on up with ethnic communities, and it doesn't even matter what race the OFFICER is...they're still going to be treated with contempt and disrespect.
But all this is something best left to another post on another day (if we haven't talked enough about it as it is).
*** Last back to the barn...people can say what they want to about today;s world and how much better it is than times past.
In some specific respects I would agree...
TODAY is FAR better than say...the plague-ridden MIDDLE AGES, and infinitely better than the days of mass slavery found in the Egyptian and Roman empires.
But "today" is not as good as most other recent times.
Sure, we have ALL this tech...that can all be rendered about as useful as a damn doorstop by a SINGLE EMP.
And there are other factions on the planet hell bent on the destruction of the CIVILIZED WORLD, so how is THAT any "better"?
We have methods of surveillance today that would make our grandparents shudder where they stand, were they alive.
We've got governmental intrusion is so many MORE facets of our lives, than when we were young, it's not funny at all.
And where once we had a LOT more civility, we've got cyber-bullying, and people willing to gun another down for the slightest thing, which makes it ever worse than the gun-slinging days of the Old West, for God's sake. No one wants to discuss...or debate...or even argue properly any longer.
And it's then when we begin to lose contact with our fellow man in the manner we USED to have it, the only way to "expand" one's horizon is INWARDLY, and that's not really as good a thing as we would want for society.
Humans are SOCIAL creatures...always have been and always will be, and to deny OURSELVES of that right to be that way, sends us all down a very long and dark road.
Let's hope we can dissuade ourselves and others from such a venture, that can only end badly for us all.
I think we can, and I refuse to follow others down the wrong path, simply because it's EASIER, or because everyone else is doing it.
We are ALL individuals..time to reclaim that title.

Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay SAFE out there, America.