Humpday Happenings...

Welcome to the middle of the rolling week
And, it sure feels a lot WARMER outside.
But, it is snowing a bit, and that will make the AM commute a bit on the "busy" side.
Please take the appropriate precautions.
Amazing how much better it is when we don't have a minus Fahrenheit wind-chill going on.
Still, we're not out of the woods yet, although we will see a (very) gradual warm-up as the week nears it's inevitable end. Should be into the upper 30s by Sunday.
Our Hoosierland weather today will see us with a high of around 22 degrees, and this snow will be ending by late morning, so no worries on the commute home later this afternoon.
Skies will be mostly cloudy and that damnable wind-chill will barely figure into things.
Now, let's all get ourselves a nice warm drink poured as we see what's been going on elsewhere...
*** First off of the tarmac is our WHO SAID THAT? quote of the week:
"Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of law under God is acknowledged."
Imagine that. Who could have dreamed that GOD should figure so well and prominently when it comes to freedom. So, WHO said that?
The answer at the top of tomorrow's post.
Meanwhile, back at the Screen Actors Guild...
*** Next up is our "What the hell happens today, Bob?" feature:
January 20 -
---Today is NATIONAL BUTTERCRUNCH DAY

(Guess it''s okay to work on some butterfinger bites)
---And, it's NATIONAL DISC JOCKEY DAY

(do any of them ever REALLY spin any discs THESE days?)
*** Next up, After Wifey left for school/work, I was presented with what i fondly call a "project" -  The upstairs powder room sink had OVERFLOWED onto the carpet, soaking it.

Definitely NOT cool.

Luckily the downstairs seemed to be spared any of the mess,
Seems the DRAIN had frozen overnight, so I had to:
a) empty the sink and start dumping hot salt water into it
b) get that rug dry ASAP
Dug out a box fan and newspapers for the carpet, and that took the better part of the day to get relatively dry. I'll be doing more of that today.
And, around 1330 hrs yesterday, the drain FINALLY decided to thaw enough to let water back down it, and THAT is working again.
In between this, I had TWO robocalls.
One was wanting me to take a damn survey for which I would receive 2 tickets for a vacation in the Bahamas...((yeah, right)).

The other call was a live body from a PAC out in Portland, Oregon called Put Vets First.
Now, I know nothing about this organization, so I told the person we're on the NO-CALL list and that I ALREADY give to the Wounded Warrior Project, to which he apologized and said we would be taken off the calling list. We shall see.
Add to this, the mail was LATE (after 2 PM), I had to juggle watching for them (I had outgoing mail) and using the hair dryer on the drain pipe upstairs. Tell, 'ya...helluva workout. Slept like the dead.
*** Next, I had an extra surprise when watching TV last night (**note to self: pays to double-check the channel listings).

I mentioned the "Cap" special yesterday (which was pretty damn good, BTW) and Agent Carter (also a good storyline), but what I did not realize until I flipped the channel was that the CW had a half-hour run-up show about the new series LEGENDS OF TOMORROW.

That was on from 9:00 to 9:30. After that, there was another half-hour show on the upcoming DC's Batman v Superman - Dawn of Justice movie.

It features Wonder Woman, and is the DC comics equivalent to marvel's Avengers.
Looks to be pretty good, too.
A great time to be a comic book and superhero fan, that's for sure.
*** Next, remember yesterday when I said we had an unusual number of rapes over the past week?

Well, there was ONE potential one that did NOT occur, and here's the story:
http://wane.com/2016/01/19/teen-avoids-abduction-shares-story-to-keep-kids-safe/
While the story says this was a possible ABDUCTION, we all know the REAL reason that a female teen would be taken off by a stranger in a car.
The perverts out there HAVE to get their sexual "fix and kicks", don't they?

Shadari Gardner fends off abductor.

This attempt was foiled by this teen, who resisted the abductor (a male black, naturally in this part of town).
Police came to her house, assured her that things were okay and are following up on the description she gave to police about the man and his vehicle.
*** Next, if you think we're NOT having any shootings going on, here's proof to the contrary:
http://wane.com/2016/01/19/one-person-in-serious-condition-after-shooting-on-citys-northeast-side/

What is known is that the shooting took place in the 4600 block of Evard Rd around 2215 hrs.
And by the looks of the shell casing in the story video, it would seem like a long gun round.
(5.56 mm maybe?).
Police answered a call of shots fired and found one man suffering 3 gunshot wounds.
He was taken to hospital in serious condition. At least ten shell casings were seen, and bullet holes were in the driver side door of a pickup in the driveway. At least it's on the NORTH-east side for a change.
*** Next up, our "king" of Ft. Wayne (Mayor Henry), is going to meet the demi-god in D.C.  between now and Friday.

Still good to be king.

Here's the story (brief as it is, thank God):
January 19, 2016 -
 --Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry will attend the 84th Winter Meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. The event will be held Wednesday-Friday in Washington, D.C.
Topics of discussion will include the economy, jobs, housing, community development, public safety, parks, and transportation. 
“This is a tremendous opportunity to interact with leaders from across the country and share best practices and ideas for moving our respective communities forward in the right direction,” said Mayor Henry. 
The U.S. Conference of Mayors is a non-partisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more. 
Primary roles of the organization:
*Promote the development of effective national urban/suburban policy
*Strengthen federal-city relationships
*Ensure that federal policy meets urban needs
*Provide mayors with leadership and management tools
*Create a forum in which mayors can share ideas and information
The Winter Meeting will also include a visit to the White House for a meeting with President Obama.
======================================
Whoop-de-frigging-do, your highness.
*** And while Nero fiddles, Rome burns?

Brand new BAE building - Ft. Wayne

Well, this story doesn't bode well for employment in and around Ft. Wayne:
http://www.journalgazette.net/news/local/Union-seeks-ways-to-ease-loss-of-100-jobs-at-BAE-11020599
To think it wasn't THAT long ago when THIS took place:
http://www.21alive.com/news/local/BAE-Systems-unveils-new-Fort-Wayne-plant-Monday--329848811.html

Funny how the "suits" never get laid off.

Yeah, these guys are sneaky-ass bastards.
Go build a NEW facility and then lay people off. Makes perfect sens.
Sounds a lot like other contractors I've known about in the past (like Raytheon).
*** Last back to the hangar...what do we look for in people these days. especially when it comes to those who are in some level of authority over us?

Well, we sure don't look for traits we USED to see, at least that's what I'm noticing.
Many are looking for the superficial, rather than the substantive, and that's not doing any of us any good.
We seem to summarily dismiss anyone who is not "with it", whatever "it" happens to be at any given time.
The current list of GOP presidential candidates bears that much out.
People look at who can win what passes for a debate vis-a-vis who can make the most taunts, score points for being more blustering, and the like.

What about the REAL ISSUES, and not all these "talking points"? What happens to those?
They tend to get lost in the melee of malicious maligning of one another, and we see the same thing in our everyday lives. Guess we can owe much to the whole "lottery-mentality" which precipitates much of the "lawsuit-mentality" as well, right? We like to win, face it, That is what America has done a pretty good job at since it was born out of conflict when we broke away from tyrannical rule of our English "overlords".
We allow ourselves to be cajoled into complacency thanks to a plethora of venues solely designed to keep our eyes OFF of what it really going on behind us.
Sad thing is, we're never looking over our shoulders to SEE what it going on behind our backs, thanks in no small part to all the things thrust in our faces to keep our attention diverted from something we used to call TRUTH.
Dr. King often mentioned that "content of character" within individuals, and that people should be judged for that, rather than anything else.

So WE are chided to look for that in people, but do we even entertain the notion of doing so with people we want running our nation? Oh, how I wish we would. So many of our problems might be lessened if we could perform that small function.
But, as long as we seek the bread and circuses instead of working at seeking the truth, such potential for humanity might well be wasted on the trivial.
I say we give that content of character another go round. We should look for THAT in people, rather than frivolous and faddish behaviors. I believe that path would take us a lot farther than the road we currently find ourselves upon.

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