Monday Musings...

Welcome to the final week in the month of October, and we all know what THAT means.
But, since "that" pertains to week's end, let's not cross that bridge before we get to it.
We've plenty of "rip-roaring" activity  to START this week here in the Heartland.
Our Hoosierland weather continues it's more SEASONAL slant, with mostly sunny skies, mild breezes and a high today into the lower sixties.
And yes, those leaves continue to fall, so take those foliage pictures while you can.
In the meantime, let's get our morning beverages poured as we see what's been going on in general and bugging me in particular...
*** First out of the ammo box is our '"What the hell happens today, Bob?" feature:
October 26 -
---Today is the NATIONAL DAY OF THE DEPLOYED.

Unlike the day of the UNemployed (most all the "locals")

---It's also NATIONAL MULE DAY

Not to be confused with NAT'L JACKASS DAY.

---And, it's NATIONAL PUMPKIN DAY

Right before Halloween - how clever.

---It's also NATIONAL MINCEMEAT DAY

Don't knock it until you tried it.

*** Next up, you already know about the THREE homicides I mentioned in Friday's post.
That brought our total to 26 for the year in Fort Wayne.

Now, it appears that my prediction of TWENTY-FIVE has been surpassed.
---This is from the J-G and comes from the coroner's office..
Here's that story link:
http://www.journalgazette.net/news/local/police-fire/Coroner--3-shooting-deaths-ruled-homicides-9511606
Now, in case you think you've heard that ONE name of Larry Washington Jr before, you must be a regular reader of this blog.
Check out my archive posts from 27 February this year for one story about a home invasion involving this (repeat) criminal, as well as his rap sheet.
And also, there was another story about Mr. Washington's exploits in THIS story from 2014:
http://wane.com/2014/01/10/footprints-in-snow-lead-to-arrest/

He be DEAD!

This was the Vito's Pizza delivery man (armed) robbery where this dumbass left footprints in the snow. Police tracked the prints in the 5300 block of Winter street. Police found a stolen car parked in the 4700 block of Reed St, and police found sets of footprints from the vehicle to a house, where police asked to search the residence. Washington was found there, and it was determined he did not live there.
 Police found a bag of food from Vito's Pizza Shop.
Police made a tread-pattern match to the robbery scene.
Washington was awaiting a court date for another crime when he was shot to death.
His brother, Brandon was the victim found dead at the house in the 5100 block of Plaae Drive last week.
A woman found dead with Larry Washington was a South Side student, Anastasia LaShawn Butler, age 16. (maybe she should have chose her friends a bit more carefully...'ya think?)

Butler-Washington homicide scene

Police believe these shootings to be "targeted" violence, and not a RANDOM act.
It could JUST as easily have included collateral damage if it was a rolling gunfight, instead of a residential shooting or a "stand-alone" double shooting in a parked vehicle..
---Also, police are STILL looking for the gunman that shot into a house in the 4800 block of Lillie St. last Tuesday, and maybe the FWPD already HAS the perp...in the morgue.

Larry...wuz dat YOU?

Just want to toss this out there - the Lillie shooter was a tall black male with dreadlocks...Larry Washington was also tall with dreadlocks and was still alive last Tuesday night.
Might wanna look into that, people...if for no other reason than to eliminate one suspect (who has since been eliminated himself).
*** And we may have HOMICIDE NUMBER 27, because this story hit the news:
http://www.journalgazette.net/news/local/police-fire/Police-investigate-shooting-death-on-Barr-Street-9555364

A woman was found shot to death in a vehicle located in an alley on the 300 block of Esmoind St (near Barr) around 2330 hrs last night.
Police had initially responded to a "shots fired" call in the 3000 block of S. Lafayette St.
The report states the woman was there to pick up a relative and that she was seen talking to a man jest before gunshots were heard.
And, I'll bet we're far from finished for THIS year...you wait and see.
*** Next up, this is the week we, on the city's lovely (?) SOUTH side get our first leaf pickup.

Nice, neat piles on the CURB-STRIP.

So, Wifey and I were out early after breakfast yesterday to do what responsible citizens are expected to do - get the leaves raked and blown to the proper areas FOR the pickup.

That's the way to do it RIGHT.

We did the front AND the side of the property (comes with having a corner house), and I think we did okay.

Damn, that's ORANGE!

By the looks of our trees, we're nowhere near close to being done with falling leaves, either.

I just hope we DO get a second pickup, unlike years past where we got one run throughout the area, and it as a SUCK job at that.
We do tend to get crap service most of the time, except for NCE and Solid Waste.
After Wifey and I were done, two other people in the ghettohood came out to clear their leaves...coulda started a trend?
That's US...trend-setters on the SE side...nah, it's really called being NORMAL (or pretty damn close to it...lol)
*** Next up, if the people who make The Walking Dead want to cheese me off, they might have found a way in last night's episode.

It "looked" like Glenn (a character introduced in the second episode, who helps Rick get out of the city) was killed by the zombies.

Glenn gone? Say it ain't so.

Now, I'd LIKE to think I'm a bit of an optimist when it  comes to the zombie-apocalypse, but WHY THE HELL kill of off such a damn good character?
No one has said anything pro or con regarding the character's demise.
I'd hate to think that one of the "core survivors" bought the farm in such a manner.
If NO ONE is meant to live through this, then cripes, kill them ALL off and be done with it, so we have some finality and closure.
We've seen shows where damn near everyone survives, where one person survives and where no one survives, but don't keep all of us hanging by the skin of our teeth here...that's not fair and not nice.
Maybe that's why I don't like series that continue in a manner like LOST (and why I stopped watching that show after a brief time).
The series FRINGE was different, as was BABYLON 5.
Call me old-fashioned, but I hate seeing main characters killed off...for ANY reason.
*** Last back to the command post....There comes a certain comfort from the familiar, and we all embrace that.

We come to like certain aspects of repetition, and welcome that which we have come to regard as being "there for us".
Doesn't always work out as planned though...people pass and time moves onward.
Usually, it's a parent or loved one, but it can also mean a good friend or beloved pet, or even a close co-worker that leaves us..
Life doesn't always operate under OUR control.
Since each life is different from ours, we have to amend how WE go through life based on not just our OWN life, but that of everyone (and everything) else that impacts our lives.
One thing that stinks about getting older is losing people in our life, and believe me, I've lost my share.

Parents and relatives are at the top of that list, but farther down, it's all those faces we became "close" to over the years...celebrities from past times (like Maureen O'Hara, who passed over the weekend at age 95), or notable people in history, authors, musicians...you get the idea.
We always like to think THEY will always be with us.
Life (and time itself) has other plans.
On the flip side of that, we have people in this world whose end cannot come soon enough for any of us.
It's hard to let someone "go", as it were, especially when it comes to whatever bond, or you made with that person.
Hell, it's often difficult to let go of an old pair of shoes (just when they get comfortable and well-broken in) or a car, or even a house you lived in for all those years.
Tomes such as these are not the best times in our lives, that's for sure.
But it IS a fact of life, and one with which we have to come to terms with if any of us are to move forward.
The best we can do is cope with such instances as best we can, and that also becomes a testament as to how MUCH of an impact those who left us have left behind. Honoring them in this way doesn't make us forget, but it does make us better people for having let their souls touch ours,

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