Thoughts For Thursday...

We're nearly at week's end, and considering it was a "short" week, that's never a bad thing.
The rain we were supposed to get yesterday never materialized, but the nice temperatures did a good job of adding some relief.
I wonder how long it will be until we are griping about the COLD weather, hmm?
Our Hoosierland weather today will see us with mostly sunny skies, with temps reaching into the upper 70s.
And. for the next several days, it will be more on the moderate side as far as heat goes...a lot more comfortable.
So, let's greet the day with a smile as we all get our morning drinks and take some time to see what has been going on.
*** First off of the memo pile is the answer to yesterday's WHO SAID THAT? quote:
"Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking."

This is attributed to our old (and deceased for quite some time) buddy, Marcus Aurelius (26 April 161 - 17 March 180 A.D.), and he was the last of the five GOOD Roman emperors.
His rule was from 161-180 A.D., and is considered one fo\\pf the most important Stoic philosophers.
Here is his WIKI:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Aurelius
Now, much of the WIKI is about the family and his "adoption" into the seat of power of the Roman Empire, and sort of reads like a soap opera...you know how much those Romans LOVED intrigue.
He was dubbed "The Philosopher King", and that title stuck long after his death.
The sad part is that the legacy of Aurelius is tragic in nature. While he was a beloved ruler and fair when it came to laws and jurisprudence, his "stoic philosophy" which is about self-restraint, duty, and respect for others, was abjectly abandoned by the imperial line he anointed upon his death.
His dealings with Christians was to be dealt with on LOCAL levels, and there is debate on whether such persecutions increased during his reign.
His most noted writing is a book titled "Meditations", written in Greek (as a source for his own guidance and self-improvement).
It's interesting to note that the only complete surviving copy of the manuscript is located in the VATICAN library.
It's not a bad read, if you can get past all the "social-politics". One might have to conclude that it was the start of a new era for Roman rulers.
*** Next up, is our "What the hell happens today, Bob?" feature:
September 10 -
---Today is NATIONAL SWAP IDEAS DAY

(swap them with WHO and for WHAT reason, exactly?)
---It's also NATIONAL TV DINNER DAY.

(My, how far we've come since the old Swanson, foil-tray varieties that tasted better than a lot of the newer brands).
*** Next,  Remember when I said (yesterday) that because trash would be a day LATE this week (Labor Day, you know), the "locals" would put THEIR bins out a day EARLY?

Just can't teach SOME people.

There 'ya go...in spite of notifying ALL of us through the media that trash would run a day LATE...these idiots NEVER get the message.
(but they always know when a party or drugs arrive in town, don't they?)
Being right about these people NEVER gets old.
*** Next, an update to a dollar store robbery (23 August) where the FWPD shot one of the perps.

Here's the story link:
http://www.journalgazette.net/news/local/police-fire/Criminal-charges-for-2-in-robbery-of-dollar-store-8698984
The story says the two men face CRIMINAL charges...gee,'ya think?
And the gun used in the robbery was...A BB PISTOL...LOL!
(they left it in a bag inside the store when trying to flee).

Gant/Johnson - LOSERS!

I'd bet a fairly-trained eye could have spotted the difference, but no one trains employees as to weapon identification, because they most likely will be robbed at some point while working for the dollar store chain, right?
A bag containing cigarettes and about $1700 was also recovered (bet the ciggies were NEWPORTS).
The condition of the perp that was shot was not available, and the other craphead in still in jail with a $40K bail set.
Good riddance to bad rubbish I say.
*** Next, THIS is one of those stories that, if you're not following the BUSINESS section of the paper, you will blow right past it.
Here's the link:
http://www.journalgazette.net/business/Survey--Income-inequality-to-remain-8693099
Imagine that - Survey - Income Inequality To Remain, says the headline...

ROFLMAO...yeah, AND?
C'mon now...this is something that should be another NON-issue in America.
There will ALWAYS be an "income-gap" when it comes to wages, and with good reason - yoiu cannot have everyone making the SAME amount of money for every job out there...them's the facts.
Some jobs PAY more because they REQUIRE more from those hired...simple as that, folks.
And that's why we call bottom-rug jobs "ENTRY-LEVEL"...you WORK your way UP the ladder.
Slapping all this "higher minimum wage" bullshit is just THAT - BULLSHIT.
All this will do is make employers lay people off, or worse, jack up the price of whatever they produce, and yes, that especially applies to the service industries like fast food.
Any pay INCREASES will come if a company is profitable...another "given" in the business world.
There are also MERIT raises and raises based on "time in" a company (I think they still might do that). It's a way of allowing an employer to recognize the WORTH and VALUE of their workforce.
But to arbitrarily state we have a wage GAP, is just plain DUMB.
There will always be wage gaps...the MORE you know, the MORE you make (at least that's the way it should pan out).
You don't walk into a place and start at a wage EQUAL (or surpassing) someone who's been there ten years...right?
That's a slap in the face of the person who has been there that ten years before you.
People have to be willing to EARN their way in life, and not sit back and have it handed to them because it's "only fair".
Fair is what YOU make it...and the quicker that is learned, the better off everyone is.
*** Last back to the stable...People can be very complex creatures (like life itself), and Lord knows we live in very complex times.

It seems we can never catch a break when it comes to simplifying things, and certainly there is no practical way to "simplify" people...lol.
(Oh, if that were only true, we could solve the world's problems in an afternoon...and still have time for Happy Hour).
Most times, the complexities of people are exacerbated by their own selves...THEY make things harder without any outside influence. Prisons are full of such people.
Why people devote so much time to pursue that which is inherently WRONG is a question for the ages.
Some may argue that poverty is to blame...others say it's racial or religious, or gender-based.
All this aside, are we not ALL the same, as a species?
And, as a species that have the SAME equal and God-given rights, should we not ALL be on "the same page" societally-speaking?
Apparently NOT, and mostly because some people will always choose the path most trodden.
While thinking such a trek is EASIER, they are in fact deluding themselves.
It LOOKS easier, but then again, there are never any warning signs around a Burmese tiger trap, right?

The harder path is more desirable, because it challenges us, and THAT alone makes us a better person.
With no challenges, we stagnate...we devolve, and the results are all too obvious.
But, when the reverse is employed, we grow, we evolve, and we become more than we were the previous day. That is something you can take to the bank, isn't it?

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