Monday Musings...

Let's play in Bob's leaf piles, Odie.

Welcome to the last week of October, and it will feel a bit more like late June, if the forecast has anything to say about it.
Our Hoosierland weather will be wonderfully MILD today, with temps reaching into the MID-70s...!
Rain moves in later tonight into early tomorrow, but for today, we're going to have mostly sunny skies to begin with, giving way to clouds in the afternoon.And there you have it.,..enjoy.
And now, why don't you get your morning cup of fortitude (as I already have mine), and together we'll see what "the rest of the story" is all about...
*** First out of the gunny sack is our "What the hell happens to day, Bob?" feature, and we're going to include the weekend "events", so you can see what we all missed.
October 25 -

Many of us attempt it EVERY day

Saturday was MAKE A DIFFERENCE DAY, but I need not tell any of you that...you read this blog, and know how I end every post, so you're ahead of the game there.
It was also PUNK FOR A DAY DAY...sorry, not into that...never was, never will be.

Missed that, but...Made my OWN instead.

And, it was WORLD PASTA DAY, and I have to admit we did this YESTERDAY instead...better late than never, hmm?
October 26 - 
Sunday was MOTHER-IN-LAW DAY...perhaps THAT was why many husbands were parked in front of the TV...LOL.
It was also NATIONAL MINCEMEAT DAY...

Mmmmmm...

My Mom used to make some killer mincemeat pie...damn near as good as pecan pie, but not as good as her Dutch apple cake.
That brings us to TODAY.
October 27 - 
Today is NATIONAL TELL A STORY DAY, but it's only in the U.K. and Scotland.
And, it's NAVY DAY, but I'm not sure if they mean we WEAR something NAVY blue or nautical...OR it;s a salute to the men in women in those bright dress-white "crackerjacks", sailing the seven seas, making the world a safer place.

Ahoy and avast, matey!.

(( Editor's note - Momma Fargo reminded me that today is also...National AMERICAN Beer Day, so have a cold one, if that's what you prefer, okay? Nothing but Sam Adams for me. ))
Meanwhile, back on the flight deck...
*** Had a decent weekend...for a change (no one managed to louse it the hell up), so that meant that Wifey and I took lawn implements in hand and got the leaves blown and raked to the curbs around the "Fortress".

Not a bad job...for the time being.

Unfortunately, mother nature was not finished dropping them where we just cleaned...it's a work-in-progress.
(And, aren't we all?)

Sure doesn't look like the ghetto.

Anyway, my motivation carried over into yesterday, when I mowed the back yard for the last time THIS year (he said hopefully).
Our former dirt-pile has turned into a rather nicely-carpeted patch of grass, and you can tell it's NEW grass, because it's a slightly lighter shade of green than the established lawn.

It's getting there.

That should change by nest Spring.
And our feathered friends presented a nice "show" to boot.

Ah, my little chickadee...

Now, since I heard that the city as "ahead" of schedule picking up the leaves, and began the central part last week, that "should" mean they might begin down HERE by late THIS week, so that became much of the reason to get a jump of this, rather than wait until later.

We're ready...and waiting for pickup.

One reason is that we might not even get a 2nd pickup (that has happened in the past), so better to be safe than sorry, right?
Moving on...
*** Since there was little to no REAL crime around the city, there's little to talk about, but  I will say this - there are many that point to a DROP in crime over the last few years...
And that has to be taken in it's PROPER context.
When you say "drop", this refers to an OVERALL drop across the nation...like taking the averages of what goes down.
So, "overall", crime has gone "down", but in certain sections, cities or areas in America, it on the RISE...there is the factor that evens things out, because other places see significant drops...remember...averages, folks.

But even though some areas see drops in crime, there is something no one seems to add into the mix, and this plays right into the recent shootings (Sacramento officers shot and the school shooting in Washington state), hatchet-attack (rookie NYPD officer), and other assorted attacks against citizens...
The SEVERITY of the VIOLENCE of the crime has to be considered.
Think about it...
Would you prefer more crimes that are LESS violent, or fewer crimes that are MORE violent?
Personally, I prefer neither, and we have the resources to already deal with it, if they're allowed to do their job properly.
We are told we have less crime (however truthful that can be), and yet, the level of violence of the fewer crimes is enough to keep us glued to the news every day.
Where once we had people bear on one another (and we still do ...it's called YouTube fodder), we now have more gun-play or the use of a bladed weapon.
Cyber-bullying has taken the place of "name-calling" in the school yard during recess, and as a result of this, MORE kids are taking their own lives...hardly a "decrease" in that crime, right?

Thugs are MORE brazen than ever before resorting to killing people over trivial things, rather than even attempting to talk things out. Instead of "just" breaking into a house to burglarize it, residents suffer "home-invasions" ( a term that as never used a couple decades ago) , and the main difference in these crimes is that the resident is AT HOME AND NOT USUALLY ASLEEP.
That certainly speaks to the brazenness of criminals.
Rather tna break into a vehicle, car-jackings are on the rise.
So, you can see that crime, although slightly abated (overall), has a higher level of violence attached to it.
*** Next up, a tale from just last evening that spells out exactly what I just said.

Here's the story link:
http://www.21alive.com/news/local/Man-Robs-East-State-Tasty-Pizza-At-Gunpoint-280475072.html
The TASTY PIZZA place on E. State Blvd was targeted by a black male Sunday evening around 1807 hrs.
The male wore a hoodie and displayed a handgun.
A K-9 unit from the FWPD tracked the scent to an alley in the 2900 block of Lynn Ave, but the suspect could be located.
And, it was technology (being used in a positive way) that alerted the owners, who were grocery hopping at the time of the robbery. They checked the surveillance cameras and saw the robbery going on.
That's when they rushed back to their business.

When we're NOT being robbed.

The owners provided a good ID of the suspect (hint: check the SE quadrant), and the odd thing, is that this pizza shop has never been robbed before.
(we no longer have a Tasty Pizza on the SE side, thanks to numerous robberies (by black males), one of which resulted in a murder of one employee around Christmas a few years back - that case has yet to be solved).
Looks like crime is moving where I said it would...up the EAST side into the NE quadrant (as well as to the SW).
And what is being done to STOP it...or slow it down?
Remember, this was an ARMED robbery...higher (potential) level of VIOLENCE.
*** Last back to the station house ...
Here's a clear case of "if it's not ONE thing...it's another"...Indiana residents are being "urged" to place signs in their houses that state "Food Allergy Safe" regarding the upcoming  Halloween...
WTH is up with this?

Ouch, that's hurts!

Don't parents sort the kids' candies any longer?
Sure there are some kids that have, say...peanut allergies...just toss the offensive candy,. or give it to someone that DOESN'T have the allergy...simple as that.
-- Add to this, a new "study" (another one?) that states that drinking SODA (as little as 20 oz. a day) can age people more than even CIGGIES...(horrors)...!
(doesn't include DIET soda...in which the fake sweetener can give people cancer)
Well, I smoke AND drink soda, and for being over 60 years old, I have to admit I look better than some many years younger...must be the lack of "street pharms" in MY system, I guess.
Not saying I'm the "picture of health", but I'm doing all right (so far).
If all of us followed EVERY single rule, guideline or mandate from the "powers on high", we'd be eating crap that tastes like wet cardboard and die of culinary BOREDOM...!
Then again, if more MODERATION were practiced, many of the problems we suffer would be alleviated.
Plus, we really need the government to stop butting so much into our lives...period.
And we need to educate those less informed how to become better informed.
To me, it doesn't get ANY easier than that, and we ALL make out better in the end, right?
The logic behind that seems irrefutable...as well it should.

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