Monday Musings...

It's the start of a brand new week, an hopefully, we're all off and running (these days, I prefer a brisk walking pace).
And speaking of brisk, it sure feels that way outside this morning, with conditions seeming more like MARCH than May. A FROST advisory? Really?
Well, I did put our (as of yet "unplanted") plants in the garage last night, just in case.
Our Hoosierland weather for today will see us with sunny skies. slight breezes, and temps reaching up to around the 62 degree mark (don't worry, we have rain on the way for tonight into tomorrow). Keep that light jacket handy today.
So what say we get ourselves a comforting morning drink poured, as we set out and see what's going on elsewhere?
*** First off of the rooftops is our "What the hell happens today, Bob?" feature:
May 16 -
---Today is NATIONAL BIOGRAPHER'S DAY

(that could be every one of us, if you stop and think about it)
---It's also NATIONAL COQUILLES SAINT JACQUES DAY

(And you thought this was about a PERSON)
---It's NATIONAL LOVE A TREE DAY

(shouldn't that be closer to ARBOR day?)
---It's NATIONAL PIERCING DAY

(An industry that turns people into freaks)
---And, it's NATIONAL SEA MONKEY DAY

(remember the ads in comic books for those? They're a species of brine shrimp.)
---Oh, and for all you blogging purists, it's the birthday of Chris Martin (Tilting At Windmills).

When he's not helping to save major cities.

So stop by his blog (link at left) and see what he found that happened on this day, aside from 54 years ago...
((is my check in the mail?))
*** Next up, another case of that "special kind of stupid" strikes a southeast side apartment complex.(well, at least no one got shot)
Here's the story link:
http://wane.com/2016/05/15/apartment-fire-sends-one-person-to-the-hospital/

This took place around 0400 hrs in the 7900 block of Decatur Rd.
This is The Arbors of Southtown Square complex.
Apparently, an apartment fire broke, out, and 39 people had to be evacuated from the apartment building.
The fire was said to have broken out in a KITCHEN. One person was injured.
Okay, now WHO is up cooking at 4 AM, anyway? DUMBASSES, that's who.
Probably living at the apartment under reduced housing costs, no doubt.
And will most likely wind up in a HOUSE in the future (so they can burn THAT down). Morons.

Brought to YOU by those from HUD.

A shame they can't query people to see if they're responsible enough to operate appliances without tossing a couple dozen people outside in the cold because of THEIR carelessness.
That would avoid a CRAPLOAD of problems with such people most anywhere.
*** Next, a related story that I find somewhat ironic. Here's the link:
http://wane.com/2016/05/16/new-firefighters-start-monday/

Yep, got a bunch of new "smoke-eaters" starting their first shift today in Fort Wayne.
Seventeen firefighters (15 men and 2 women) are going to find out what residents are like is certain areas of town soon enough.

The latest class to graduate (88th class) will help bring the city's number of firefighters up to FOUR people per fire truck through ALL shifts (no, we were NOT there as of last week).
I wish them luck and hope they remain safe.
*** Next up, a Sunday article in the J-G about the whole "free school food" program.

Here's the link:
http://www.journalgazette.net/opinion/editorials/Taking-food-from-schools-in-need-12979520

Now, no one is "taking" food out of the mouths of kids...that's sounds deplorable.
This is just a move to provide OVERSIGHT and ACCOUNTABILITY - something this system sorely needs.
FWCS spokesperson (for life) Krista Stockman sees this as awful. Hey, when you have 70% of kids participating in free food and only 30% paying for it, that does stack the deck against you, right?
This whole free meals for ALL students is just not right (imho).
Granted there are some (and by that I mean a vast minority of them) who MIGHT require such amenities, but NOT all the kids. For God's sake, when did our schools become PARENTS and HOUSEHOLDS for all the kids?

Not AS "free" as many like to think.

I say the parents need to show some responsibility here, like, maybe get off the government gravy-train and get a damn job. Stop sucking off the teats of the taxpayers? Try making a bowl of cereal for all the kids you had, because you couldn't say no to all the baby-daddys that came along, and never bothered to avail yourself of the free birth control the government ALSO hands out? All of the above?
It's a good read and a good policy, unless we LIKE wasting money AND food.
*** Next up. Wifey and I had a decent weekend (don't get that many around OUR part of the ghettohood, do we, mister mayor?).

After groceryshopping (and refueling the Wifeymobile, we stopped (again) at Broadview Nursery along Winchester Rd for MORE plants.
We're calling THIS batch "phase-2.5"...LOL.
But, we DID get another butterfly bush AND some really cool coleus (called flame-throwers - they're the ones in the front).
As to when we get them planted...well, hopefully soon, and when this cold snap stops.
Sunday, I made us a nice roast beef (with carrots, potatoes and mushrooms IN with the roast.
Came out great and that means leftover and sandwiches for a few days.
Also, it was nice to NOT hear the kids thumping that basketball across the street for a whole day (the cold and rain helped...thank you, Lord).

Roaming ALL over the streets (with traffic)

But the kids came back out yesterday (damn), and took to our street, roaming about, slowing traffic and being a general nuisance. Whatever happened to going to someone ELSE'S house to play?
These kids must have come from a complex, where all the parking lots are used for play. Now, it's our street, and I don't think it will abate until some kid gets hit with a car.
I repeat - "What quality-of-life"?
*** On the up side, it looks like we have a new "friend" visiting our patio.
He's a small squirrel, very gray, and we've decided to call him "Squirt",

I hope Patches doesn't get too territorial. like he did last week, when he chased an interloper out of the patio area and up a tree. There is enough eats for everyone, trust me.
Thing is, I have to get used to THEIR "schedule", because so far, they don't all come around at the same time.

"I LOVE what you've done to the eatery, Bob."

Patches likes to come around TWICE a day (or three), and the times he comes by tend to be rather regular.
You have to take care of your "charges" after all, right?
*** Last back to the basement...there are those of us humans who, as we get older, are developing a greater affinity for the smaller and often ignored of God's creatures, rather than those of our own species. After I read the paper, I need not wonder why.

That's not to mean we've divorced ourselves from our fellow man...let's just say we like to keep MOST of them at arm's length, and that's fine by me.
People like myself just find the company of our critters a damn sight more serene than what passes for humanity around OUR part of the city.

"Bashful" gets LESS than bashful some days, too.

The squirrels, butterflies and assorted birds don't ASK for anything (except for Patches - he stands up by the patio door and all but knocks, or will eat from the BIRD feeder as an attempt to get my attention  for me to come out and feed him...lol), and they provide us with free enjoyment.
When you take a walk through a wooded area, the same thing applies.
Now, I don't want to sound like a tree-hugging nature lover, but nature DOES have it appeal.
Just to go out in the early morning and hear birds calling is something that city people like me would never get to enjoy first-hand, and to think that more people just cannot be bothered is, of itself bothersome.
The capacity we ALL have to enjoy things like this have always been within us, but the people who just can't (or won't) take any time to appreciate that, takes away FROM their humanity.

We all spend time in God's creation, if for no other reason than the fact that "we've nowhere else to go", so perhaps it's time to start acknowledging such things, grow to appreciate them and in that, allow ourselves the opportunity to become more than we were the day before. It's a simple premise, and it does work.
Sometimes, it even works wonders.

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