Monday Musings...

Here we are...rounding the final turn of the month of July...and it has certainly been feeling like it...all that damn muggy weather.
Guess that's what happens when the state you live in is right between TWO of the Great Lakes...AND the dew point is in the upper 60s.
Today's Hoosierland weather will have us enjoying (?) mostly sunny skies with temps reaching around 86 degrees.
(keep the A/C cranked on)
And yes, it IS a good day to get out EARLY and mow the lawn.
The grass isn't as damp as it has been of late.
(already done that here)
Our next bout of rain occurs this Wednesday, and that is supposed to cool things down a bit (not that much), but a little is better than nothing.
(well, I could argue that one ad nauseum)
So, with that taken care of, go get yourselves that morning drink poured and let's all steel ourselves to what the day may have in store for us...
*** First out of the duffle bag is our "What the hell happens today, Bob?" feature:
July 27 -
---Today is TAKE YOUR PANTS FOR A WALK DAY.
(question - don't we ALWAYS?)

Told 'ya that looks kinda "awkward".

I mean if you want to hitch your drawers up to a LEASH and then take them for a scrape around the block, no one's gonna stop you (although you probably WILL get some long stares).
---And, it's NATIONAL SCOTCH DAY (the alcoholic beverage, NOT the person...sorry)

Lemme get my Royal Dragoon Guards LP and do this RIGHT.

Well, I'll drink to THAT, laddie! Make mine Chivas Regal.
(he said in a decent highland brogue)
Moving on...
*** Wifey took a drive down to Vincennes to visit her Dad on his birthday (which is this week, so it's bachelor-time for the cat and myself)), and while the drive down was wonderfully uneventful, when she got into Vincennes, she found out that the trip would become QUITE "eventful".

Seems her Dad was rushed to hospital (in a lot of pain) JUST as she got there, and then she followed the ambulance and wound up spending the whole DAY there.
Docs managed to ease the pain (when in doubt, use morphine), and were trying to determine what the problem was (diagnoses always seem to take LONGER than the damn cure).

Good Samaritan Hospital - Vincennes, IN

He's off the morphine and onto more conventional pain-killers.
Anyway, she called me last evening and said she was spending the night at the hospital...so much for birthday gaiety.
Suffice it to say, I'm concerned as well, mainly about Wifey's well-being...then again, I take after my mother and always attempt to turn worrying into some sort of "art-form".
Her uncle Jeff summed it up well - This is the part of retiring that stinks (something to that effect).
I told Wifey that "when it rains, it pours" these days, and I wasn't JUST referring to the weather.
She's due back Wednesday, so hopefully, all will go well and her Dad will recover soon.
*** Next up, a good article by Bob Aldridge (local range instructor) regarding recent events and stories about gun violence, gun control, and those who have trouble defining both
Here's the story link:
http://www.journalgazette.net/opinion/columns/Facing-down-the-maniacs-7867915
Why is it that all of us responsible gun owners (and shooters) FULLY understand the ramifications of such bad behavior (and misleading stories about guns), and others could not even BUY a clue if they were given the money and told where to purchase said clue?
Homicides are DOWN...but I will also add that shootings are rising, especially in major cities.
(poor marksmanship keeps the homicides from spiking...that's a quasi-blessing)
And none of that can be tracked back to anyone other than the criminal element...that's a fact.
Yet time and again, we're assaulted by those wanting MORE gun laws, while Aldridge cites that we ALREADY have 20,000 laws on the books...THEY just need to be enforced, that's all.
Aldridge says our governor was correct to permit military personnel the "right to carry" at recruiting centers.

Those areas clearly LABELLED "Gun-Free Zones" paints a huge target (no pun intended) on those IN such areas, allowing mentally unstable or criminals the opportunity to create mayhem (which has been the case).
*** Next up, someone at the J-G has a severe "lack of direction".

Can I add an "OOPS" to the banner logo?

Now, I don't want to step on the domain of the Fort Wayne Media Maven (good blog - link at left) but I read an article in the HOME section of the Sunday paper, and something made me want to fact-check it.
Here's the story link:
http://www.journalgazette.net/features/home-garden/Lease-purchases-face-hurdles-7826129

This is in the 2500 bock of Hanna St..

The story is about this plan to allow people to "lease-purchase" a new home...and for close to HALF the median price.
We call that low-income housing, people.
And, as stated here before, it's coming to a neighborhood NEAR you.
Well, the story said as much...sorta-kinda.
They mentioned the HOPEWELL POINTE addition in WAYNEDALE
Well, if you look at Google Maps, THEY list Hopewell Pointe as being near Wayne Trace and Paulding Rd. (SE side ghettoesque setting), while the actual address for the housing addition is REALLY off of Bluffton Rd...that's a helluva WALK...don'cha think?

New addition is just SW of the land "site".

Now, you can look at the maps for yourselves, but I thought this to be a major ERROR in reporting, as the two areas are in DIFFERENT quadrants altogether. The address of Community Drive (they say Lane - another error) is down the road from Miami Middle School...not close at all are they?
So, perhaps the J-G might want to take their reporters to some remedial GEOGRAPHY class...or at least, acquaint them with MAP software.
If you're going to report stories IN your city, best to learn ABOUT the city, right?
*** Last back to the barracks...There are some days where you just "want to start over"...and for different reasons...

We ALL could use this once in a while.

There are those days that are SO great, that a do-over would be the only way to recoup  the losses for all those rotten days that came long.
Then, there are THOSE days where a chance to begin again would be a godsend, because you cannot imagine anything sucking worse than that day, with the possible exception of ANOTHER day just like it...lol.
We are supposed to look to each day as a gift...some gifts happen to be smaller and not as expensive as others...we all know about that.
And some gifts are given with a wrongful purpose or intent, while others are freely given with no thought of compensation.
Yeah, life is a lot like THAT, isn't it?
Well, it's MEANT to be, if we are ever to learn anything from all the time we're allotted on this planet.

If every day were fantastic, how the hell would you ever know what was bad, or how to grow as an individual from such an experience?
And thankfully, not every day blows chunks, either, because then we would never come to know what a GOOD day was...just days that suck less than others.
That allows us to appreciate what we are given.
Some folks get that...others...not so much.
And there lies another problem with our society - a lack of understanding.
With understanding comes so much more that life has to offer...
We always say that ignorance is the root cause of EVIL...
Doesn't take an "Einstein" to see that understanding (therefore) has to be the root cause of GOOD, doesn't it? Thought so..

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