Humpday Happenings...

Oh, yes boys and girls...ANOTHER day in the "deep freeze".
Anyone care to argue the point of AXIAL TILT regarding our planet now?
Or perhaps someone is (once again) screwing with the HAARP array in Alaska?
Whatever theory you might believe in doesn't change the state of the weather outside today.
It's still frigging cold (but not AS cold as yesterday...big whoop).
Our Hoosierland weather today brings us (you guessed it)...more COLD, with a high (?) of around 15 degrees (well, we're almost halfway to the freezing mark), mostly cloudy skies (hence the "warm up"), with scattered snow showers and light winds keeping that chill factor alive and well for the time being.

So let's go and get that nice hot cup of coffee, tea, or cocoa, as we take a look at what's been going on elsewhere...
*** First off of the hockey rink is the first of this year's WHO SAID THAT? quote for the week:

"The measure of success is not whether you have a tough problem to deal with, but whether it is the same problem you had last year." 
There's a lot of truth in this and I trust many of you have thought about something similar. I know I have.
Some problems will follow us from year to year, and how we manage them will also breed a level of success.
So, WHO said that?
The answer at the top of tomorrow's post.
Meanwhile, back at the War Industries Board...
*** Next, time for our "What the hell happens today, Bob?" feature:
JANUARY 3 -
---It's National Chocolate Covered Cherry Day

(make that rum chocolate and we got us a deal)
---It's National Drinking Straw Day

(preventing dribbles for a very long time)
---It's National Fruitcake Toss Day

(kinda obvious, right?)
*** Next, it didn't take long for our paper to start to arrive "late", and by that I mean that when my coffee is made and on the table, the paper SHOULD BE HERE.

Still say THIS guy would be on time.

(between 0500 hrs and 0530 hrs)
Now that's NOT asking for much, and any REAL paper carrier takes the proper precautions in bad weather to insure a timely delivery. Not the carrier we currently have.
Hell, she doesn't even use the pathway I shovel for her to get to the steps without trudging through the snow.
I think this is a new record for the earliest time in the year we might have to call the newspaper to get our copy.
*** Next up, we've already got more shootings in Fort Wayne (like you thought the local ethnics would BEHAVE themselves for a damn week at least?).

Here's the lowdown:
http://wane.com/2018/01/02/2-shot-seriously-hurt-on-fort-waynes-south-side/
This took place at a house located in the 2900 blk of Gay St around 1330 hrs (SE...where else?).

There police found two males shot.
((As officers responded, two men were found shot in a home several blocks away in the 2400 block of Gay Street.
There, police found two men with gunshot wounds, along with several other men. One man was suffering from a gunshot to the leg, and the other had been shot in the arm, according to a police report.

A maroon Saturn was possibly involved in the shooting. Police wrote in a report that while they were at the home, a red Chevrolet Impala drove up. Inside, officers found weapons on the seat, the report said.
The car was included in the crime scene, the report said.))
More mayhem from our African-American community...same shit, different year, it would seem.
And NONE of these mooks even work! That might prevent some shootings.
Idle minds (and bodies) - devil's playground...'ya think?
*** And speaking of the black community, the two males shot at Hobo's Bar have been ID'ed.

Here's that story verbatim from the J-G:
((Fort Wayne police on Tuesday identified two men who were shot at a bar early Monday.

Boykins

Dashawn Dutreal Jones, 28, and Thristian Michael Boykin, Sr., 25, both of Fort Wayne, were shot at Hobo's Bar and Grill, 2701 W. Jefferson Blvd., at 2:45 a.m., police said.
Jones was in critical condition and Boykin was in fair condition at an area hospital, police said. No arrests have been made, police said.))
Now, if the name Thristian Boykins sounds familiar, check my archive post from 31 May 2013, where Boykins was arrested for a shooting he had committed (had a stolen gun on him) and the court only set bail at $15K. I also included his (then) current RAP SHEET. I said he'd be out in no time, and here he is AGAIN involved in another shooting (as a recipient, this time). Someone needs to TAKE BETTER AIM maybe?
*** Next, anyone who studied history knows about THE DARK AGES.

Well, what if I told you I found a story about a "new" version of that?
Wonder about it no longer. Here you go:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/scientists-warn-we-may-be-creating-a-digital-dark-age/ar-BBHKb6t?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=spartanntp

I had never thought about such long term data storage, but large companies HAVE.
So, I suppose that whatever goes onto the Internet will NOT last "forever"?
I'm sure that will make SOME people (and a LOT of politicians) happier than a pig in shit.
But, I am bothered about the mention that DVDs and CDs don't have the longevity we were told when they first came out.
Here's someone who can ":splain" it better:
https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/cds-truth-cddvd-longevity-mold-rot/
That means cassettes will last a while longer, and vinyl LPs and 45s...well, they'll last MUCH longer than the aforementioned mediums...frigging amazing.

The solution? DNA storage...that should be very interesting. Anyone recall the old "hydrogen bubble storage" theory from the 1970s? I do. What ever happened to that idea?
*** Next up, let's put aside the tech and stop on by "Kitten Corner"...

She's gotta case of the "nods".

The kids chose to take a day off from the badassery and instead calm down...a lot.
Naturally, they got antsy when Wifey got home, but that's becoming typical for some reason.

Someone's gotta watch out front.

Guess they want to spread the wealth (scolding) around? Kids will be kids, and we're smack dab in the middle of those "terrible twos"...lol.
*** Next, time to check in with "Midnight and Company"...

She looks up to me (for food and a hug).

Our fearsome furry twosome were right at the patio door nice and early, in spite of the bitter cold yesterday. They both would shake their paws (no doubt to keep circulation going and avoid frostbite). Neither one missed a feeding, and yes, I did thaw the water dish for them every time I went out to feed them.

I have managed to clear a few spots on the patio, so they don't have to eat with their paws on ice or snow.
Your heart goes out to them, and you wish you could always do more for them.
*** Last back to McMurdo Station in Antarctica (where it's probably warmer)...little has seemed to change since last year (so far).

Only the date changes...every year. We all get older, and still things rarely get honest-to-God better.
Life may become more problematic, more expensive, more time consuming...well, you get the idea.
And still, we're cajoled into believing that we're so MUCH better off than we used to be. Technologically, perhaps.
Not really seeing the evidence on that one, but compared to DECADES past, we have done some remarkable things.
It's just in recent history that we've seemed to have hit a few potholes along the road in life, and I mean that collectively.

We WERE better off before social media, but not better off prior to the Internet and the GOOD aspects of that, such as research, purchasing capabilities and the like.

It's been a REAL double-edged sword in that regard,
And the last thing we need is more tech to keep our minds of the tech that fails us (and society).
We DO need to be better people, and not just people who have better technology at our disposal.
That will be the real challenge for the coming year...and the future.

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