Monday Musings...

Well, here we all are again...another week staring us in the face.
I plan to stare back...a lot.
(that's what cynics do...lol)
At least we got our share of leaves down over last week...just in time for our 2nd pickup down here.
Our Hoosierland weather for today will have us with a little early morning fog (can't be that bad, I can unfortunately still see the the houses of what passes for neighbors)), followed by mostly sunny skies and temps reaching into the mid-60s. The rain comes tomorrow (doesn't it always?)
I've already got my coffee poured, so you get something as well while we see what's been going on since last we met here...
*** First out of the back yard is our "What the hell happens today, Bob?" feature:
November 7 -
---Today is National Bittersweet Chocolate with Almonds Day.
(life's bittersweet enough...now I need chocolate to remind me?)
---It's also Job Action Day (which means NO Action for too many people infesting our part of town)

---It's Color The World Orange Day (why? Everyone getting arrested and being issued jumpsuits?)
---And, it's National Canine Lymphoma Awareness Day 

(I'm well too aware of this, as well)
*** Next up, yes, the leaf collection is once again slated for our area THIS week (still too early if you ask me, and no one will).

But, I acted the "good soldier" and with Wifey's help, did my part.
Got much of the fallen laves gathered and set along the curb-strip out front and along what is supposed to be a berm on the side street.

The area mooks always rake them INTO the street. And then people wonder WHY sewers back the hell up...morons.

We bother to do things right...because it's expected AND because it's the right thing to do. Pretty simple.
*** Next up, we simply cannot seem to get through weekends in Fort Wayne without SOME shooting of people going on, especially on the SOUTH side.

Here's the latest (again):
http://wane.com/2016/11/06/shots-fired-at-party-several-people-hurt/
Now, I have never attended any "party" that wound up like THIS one (which seems to be typical down here).
This took place around 0145 hrs early Sunday morning at a "vacant" building located in the 400 block of W. Paulding Rd (near Fairfield). The place looks to be the yellow "Mattress Man" building near the Shell station and down the street from  B&H Firearms.
One of the party "organizers" knows the owner of the building.
The owner of the building had granted permission for this party, which obviously escalated into gun play, as affairs with such blacks tend to do these days.
Two people were hospitalized in serious condition and several others were hurt in the rush to get out of the way.
This is what takes place in vacant, abandoned or otherwise unused buildings down here...and no one in the FWPD or any other city department knows about this?
That's kind of amazing, don'cha think?
I say the party organizers AND the building owner should be held culpable on this one.
And, let's close the damn place down while you're at it. Another such "party" might cause a death.
*** Next, and speaking of not knowing what REALLY goes on, there was this little nugget I happened to come across. 

(appropriately enough on the BACK page of the "opinion" section in Sunday's paper):
http://www.journalgazette.net/opinion/columns/Can-t-spell-future-without--you--16074919

I will say that King Henry DOES have a decent set of blinders, and he wears them very well. How else could you explain ALL this downtown - riverfront planning and "improvement" which will (over this ten year plan) add up to around SIX HUNDRED MILLION BUCKS (expect even THAT cost to rise higher...it always does).
If the article didn't show how unconcerned this mayor is over an entire section of his city that's going to hell, it might actually have been a mildly amusing column. It's all about HIS legacy, screw the costs (and the citizens paying taxes to cover those costs). This is typical democrat BS from the get-go.
MY favorite thing was to play "Find the Hackneyed Phrase", which I did near the end of the piece. That good old "quality-of-life" rhetoric he always spews is enough to curdle the creamer in my damn coffee.
We have so LITTLE of that down here, and we lose a bit more every damn year. Another high homicide count this year...how's that Q-of-L working out for residents on the south side these days, hmm?
And what the f*ck good is some ritzy-shitzy downtown and riverfront doing "US", when we don't even have proper retail or are able to walk the street after dark down here, hmm? Whatta friggin idiot!
Still, I can always count on our "king" to raise my blood pressure and make my eyes bleed.
*** Next up, I happened to notice that a red LED was lit on our battery backup box for the Fios stuff we have (in the basement) from Verizon.

That means we should replace the lead-acid 12V battery in the box. No biggie...we call and have it taken care of (as part of our service plan) at no cost, right? WRONG!
Seems that Verizon NO LONGER provides free batteries to it's customers.
W--T--F  ???
That's news to me.
So, I started digging around for replacement batteries (I can change them easy enough - used to work with T-COMMS when at Circuit City), and I come across THIS article which was quite revelatory in nature:
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2013/12/verizon-to-eliminate-free-backup-batteries-for-new-residential-phone-customers/index.htm
Okay, so this goes all the way back to 2013, and WE were never told a damn thing about this "policy change"?

They get it...even in Jersey!

That alone just dashed any confidence I had with Verizon - can't even be up front with it's customers.
AT&T still provides free backup batteries.
Now, the BIG contention is that without a battery backup for these Fios system, you WILL lose phone service at the house (cells not affected, thank God).
That would affect your ability to DIAL 9-1-1 should the need arise during a POWER OUTAGE.

Yep, that's US.

The FCC says you have to be able to have 9-1-1 capabilities under any condition, even an outage, but they do NOT mandate how the service provider is to manage that...whatta crock of shit.
This was ALL part of that "other" BIG PUSH to wean us off of traditional phone service (copper wire which carries it's OWN electrical supply separate from power to your house). It's JUST like taking free TV transmissions in the airwaves away from us.
It's ALL about control with these people...they control you and make a ton of bucks doing it, because YOU are left with no other option available. How wonderful is THAT?

Can't toss 'em in the trash? You WATCH me!

The good news is that I found a replacement battery. Walmart has them, and for less than $15 bucks. Guess we'll have to do this gig every 3 years from now on (unless Verizon changes it's policy back...not gonna hold my breath on it, though).
*** Next, anyone here on Blogger noticed a huge SPIKE in page views back on 28 October?

I sure did. For some odd reason, I had over a THOUSAND page views. Why, I have no clue, but most of the entry pages were from this "domain2008" dot com location.
Who the hell they are...got no idea.
Kinda creepy, ain't it? Then again, what isn't these days, right?
*** Next, and sorry to be a downer this morning, but yes, I am still missing our cats deeply. However, I think I can now assign a NAME to the way I feel these days.
I mentioned that "phantom limb" situation that amputees suffer last week.

I am calling the feelings I'm having as "Phantom Feline Syndrome" - like you feel you still have a cat around even when you know they're not there in reality.
I have missed Penelope since she passed 3 years ago...that never changed.
I keep looking for Rassie to come around the corner, or to have him jump up on me and lay down on my chest or by my feet at night. And I keep hoping to see Hobo outside when I place food (that other critters seem to like as much).
I know I'm not the first, and I won't be the last to have this, either.
*** Last back to the front yard...they say time heals all wounds.

I'd like to politely debate that...some day.
This is just me, but I don't honestly believe that any amount of time sufficiently heals ALL our wounds, because there are those times when such injuries to our lives leaves very deep wounds.
And, as anyone who suffers such a thing will know, there are ALWAYS scars left behind.
Personally, I view them as cracks in our heart. Eventually, like anything as delicate as the human heart, metaphorically-speaking, like some fine porcelain - we're not speaking about the physiology, but rather the emotive state, as mentioned in volumes of literature and poetry, we will develop so many cracks that it will "break".
You can try to mask the cracks as best you can, but they are always there.
That's pretty much where I'm at anymore.
Sure, there may come a time when it affects me less than it does now, but it's not today...nor next week.

Getting older and dealing with the losses time after time, year after year never gets any easier.
If anything, it's all cumulative, just like the knowledge and wisdom we acquire.
Yet, all those things can do is help us understand how we feel, and not "get over it", as many would say.
As long as we remember those gone from us, they will never really be "gone", but it's a double-edged sword here. It always will cut both ways, if we're not careful.
We also never forget those good times, because that crack left from the loss is always there until enough becomes enough, and you feel your heart break.
Then, you hit the auto-pilot and live day to day, You do what's required of you. You go through the motions,
Not the best way to live, just the only way...for the time being.
It works well enough, under the circumstances.

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