Monday Musings...

Rainy Day...Monday...must be a song there.

And we're off once again...new week, new month, and much of the same old "stuff" contained therein, hmm? Well, maybe it won't be AS bad as all that.
The weather had been behaving itself ...until today. Not a bad weekend (for most people).
Things WILL change today, and if you like rain, you'll be well catered to this week. I can't think of a better way to kick off Spring Break here (he said with a devious laugh).
It's something when you pray for rain, JUST so the unsupervised little neighborhood hellions can't roam about and be where they're not supposed to...lol

It's also DRIER on the inside.

Our Hoosierland weather for today is mostly cloudy with rain starting early on and continuing into tonight. Rain may be heavy at times, so dress accordingly, and drive with caution. The high will be amenable to us, rising to around 64 degrees.
Looks like we did have some showers left over from last month...over the next several days, in fact.
Now, let's get this show started with a cup of whatever floats your boat, and take a look at what has been going on elsewhere...
*** First out of the seed packets is our "What the hell happens today, Bob?" feature:
APRIL 3 -
---It's National Chocolate Mousse Day

(they had me at chocolate)
---It's National Find a Rainbow Day

(is this a gay pride version of "Where's Waldo"?)
---It's National Tweed Day

(I'd bet much of America doesn't know what tweed even is anymore)
It's also World Party Day, but seriously, who gives a crap?

And besides, don't people party ENOUGH for the damnedest reasons anyway these days...and for what? When you live to party, you miss what life is REALLY about (but that's another post for another day).
*** Next up, where to begin...let's see...

I know...let's talk about Indiana's BMV.
Every year since Wifey and I had tags on our cars, we USED to get the snail-mail for registration of our vehicles.
Not a problem - fill the form out, send in a check and presto...done deal, right?
Not any longer, it seems.
In the never-ending search to be "more convenient" and to expedite the process, we got a little card that instructs us to EITHER visit our local BMV branch OR go to the website to renew our registrations.

((...WTF???...))
The card also states: "Individuals and companies receiving this notification are UNABLE (my emphasis) to renew by phone or mail." WTH is going on?
So, Saturday, I log onto the BMV site and try to renew my registration, and guess what?
THE WEBSITE IS DOWN FOR MAINTENANCE UNTIL MONDAY AT 8 AM!!!
Now, I might a tad slow on the "uptake" here, but HOW the hell is THIS method any better...or convenient. or is expediting my vehicle registration? If anything, it's dragging this all the hell out.

I get this "paperless" BS they're shoving down my throat, but seriously, they need to keep the TRIED and TRUE methods of this process as it pertains to we "purists" who can still write and read beyond our educational level (and who are not surgically-attached some form of the Internet). More bureaucracy...more red tape...more bullshit doesn't make any job EASIER, people. I DID manage to send them an email (nasty-gram) to let them know of my "displeasure". We'll see if I can get this deal done today without a hassle.
*** Next up, and to back up a bit, the Saturday trip to the Kroger on Bluffton Rd went well...
And then, we hit checkout and Brad (the bagger) told us they didn't have PAPER (bags) this week...AGAIN!
Okay, now if you add this with the BMV clusterf*ck...you probably know that my "pissed-off-ometer" was close to pegging the scale. So, when we got home, I sent THEM a nasty-gram suggesting they contact the store manager and get them to OVERSTOCK paper bags, so they don't run short.
I know what it's like to stock things...did it for Circuit City (parts mgr) and I can tell you it's JUST like having a firearm - "Better to HAVE it and not need it, than NEED it and not have it." Rarely were we "out" of a needed part, and I could always get on within 24 hours. Some things you tend to be very good at, like James Garner in The Great Escape...lol.
Anyway, here's hoping that situation gets resolved by this week's end.
*** Next, they has some decent articles in the paper Sunday. This particular one jumped out and attracted my attention, because it's only a couple blocks away from our "Fortress":
http://www.journalgazette.net/20170402/neighborhood-gets-face-lift

The Mt. Vernon Park area is bordered by Pettit and Paulding (north-south), Hanna and S. Anthony (east-wet), and it's been the target of of a rehab project being done NOT by the city in any way, shape, or form, but by VOLUNTEERS.
Credit a local pastor, Javier Mondragon (who himself had been a former gang member down in Mexico) for the prayers and impetus that has allowed these volunteers, many in their late 60s to come by and renovate the houses there that have fallen on bad times.
((The recession of 2008 particularly crippled Mount Vernon Park. People lost jobs and couldn't keep up with their mortgages or rent. As families moved elsewhere, crime moved in, and Mondragon watched his neighborhood crumble around him.))
Aside from the year mentioned (which didn't affect us for some reason), does any of THAT sound a bit familiar?
Same thing in OUR neighborhood, only our journey to the 7th layer of Hades began a few years after we moved here (not long after 2000), and has been slipping ever since, with the proliferation of rentals rather than houses owned by those living in them.

This story provides, if nothing else, HOPE, because in all honesty, that's about all most of us who have lived here for decades have left.

And while that area undergoes this makeover, there was a police call back on 31 March, around 1438 hrs for an ASSAULT along the 900 block of Fairfax...right down the street from the church mentioned in the story.
Like most any neighborhood that seeks change back to a safer, more productive time...it's gonna take a while to get there.
*** Next, time to swing by "Kitten Corner"...
The kids had their moments over the weekend, both good and, well...not so good.

Love that piece of rope

They're still too damn cute to call bad.

Look ma...I'm DANCIN'!

Wifey managed to get a shot of Gallifrey and Violet at dinnertime.
Sometimes, they get so close I have trouble getting the food...lol.

But, after all is said and done, it's time to quiet down and take things easier.
*** Last back to the flower pots...the railing against our president never seems to end.

STFD and STFU...give him a chance.

If it's not the blatant bloviating by the leftards, it's something a little more subdued, like what's mentioned in this story:
http://www.journalgazette.net/20170403/movie-theaters-showing-message

Now, who would have guessed that these 190 "artsy-fartsy" theaters would take it upon themselves to "warn" us about Donald Trump, by showing George Orwell's vision of a possible future, the 1984 adaptation of his novel 1984, starring John Hurt and Richard Burton...certainly not I (he said sarcastically).
Personally, I liked the novel, liked the movie, but don't like the manner in which it's being used this time around.
No one pulled this stunt after Obummer was in the White House (heaven forbid).
These liberals have decided that "they know best" when it comes to politics. Whatta crock!

((About 190 art-house theaters including Cinema Center have banded together to show the 1984 big-screen adaptation of George Orwell's dystopian masterpiece as a pointed comment on the presidency of Donald Trump, whose “alternative facts” administration has already sent “1984” back up the bestseller lists.))
Does the phrase "bad judgment" come to mind?
Maybe they should (also) air that favorite of Woodrow Wilson (a major libtard) "The Birth of a Nation"? ("Lightning in a bottle" time, anyone?)

Maybe these theaters should show some Hitler speeches, too, or maybe how Stalin rose to power and subjugated his people? Too far back to recall? Then how about Mao and his slaughter of FORTY-FIVE MILLION of his OWN people (Great Leap Forward time)??
How about "Papa Doc", or Hugo Chavez documentaries? And let's not leave out Castro and Guevara.

Just pick your poison, people.

And don't forget the Middle East camel-jockeys.
Sorry, at $9 a seat, and in an environment that is clearly biased against anything this president is trying to do to help this country, I'd much rather stay at home, look out my window, and see how WELL all those liberal programs have contributed to the downfall of once nice neighborhoods...like OURS.
It's cheaper for sure, I can make my own popcorn, and I don't have to be disturbed by those morons inside the movie house yelling and acting like the fools we know them to be.
Such fools I can keep OUTSIDE, where their raucous behavior and bestial noise has been allowed to dwell, much to the disdain of the rest of us normal folk.
Not the best way to live these days...just the only one (for the time being).
You people keep YOUR dystopia...I'll keep believing in this country...and her people to do the right thing.

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