Last Man

This afternoon, I have a funeral to attend, a milestone of sorts. A sad one: the last of my father's siblings passed away last week, a younger brother.

Even as it happens, it's difficult to imagine, the last one gone -- there were ten children in his generation; three I never knew, who died young, but the others I can remember as well as if they were right here. They're not; memory is all that's left. The house they grew up in is a vacant lot. Last time I was by, the little commercial building their father had built still stood, as do most of their nearby houses, the homes I remember from my childhood; but there's no one I know in any of them. It was a little neighborhood of relatives all within walking distance for a short, sparkling while, but Time's arrow flies inexorably onward and all we are left with is what we can carry in our minds.

Update: Yes, it was wrenching. In keeping with recent custom, there were plenty of photos of the deceased, many of them with my late father standing right next to him.

As the service neared conclusion, a fellow slipped in behind me, whispered, "There will be a little breeze," and opened the window. This was not a mystery for long, as the preacher informed us there would be "military honors." I'd seen the honor guard outside when I arrived (late; work had me on the phone). Rifle salute, followed by taps, right there in a parking lot along the main highway through an Indianapolis bedroom community -- I do love this state.

My (little -- 6' 5" is little, right?) brother looks more like Dad every time I see him; he doesn't have the thick, jet-black hair but he has sure got the bone structure. And that's a good thing. His son resembles him, which is even better. We come and go -- genes linger.

EarHarmonicaWorm

It's earwormed me, so why not share? Finnish Harmonica Ragtime: Sväng!
It's all Mike Flynn's fault.

Gun In Your Car? Knifed In The Back

Looks like Indiana House Dems are tryin' to weasel out of the guns-locked-in-your-car bill; in their heart 0f hearts, they want you defenseless going to and from work. Some chick gets killed by a stalker, I guess that's just funny as all hell.

Link goes to Caleb; Caleb's gotta linked list of Dems with high NRA ratings and suggests y'give a call, drop an e-mail, maybe send 'em a candygram:

DEAR REP DONKEY COMMA WHAT IN THE WIDE WIDE WORLD OF SPORTS ARE YOU TRYIN' TO PULL BY GANKING A BILL THAT DID NOTHING BUT GOOD COMMA ESPECIALLY AFTER IT ALREADY PASSED BOTH HOUSES QUESTION MARK STOP I MEAN IT: STOP THAT SLEIGHT-OF-HAND RIGHT NOW STOP

It might not work but at least it'd get their attention.

Bayh-Bayh, Evan

He said it. He truely did; in re partisanship and gridl(hurrah!)lock in Washinton, the pixieish outgoing Senator huffed, "It's testosterone poisoning; it's not our fault."

Yes, Evan says (male) biology is destiny and he appears to believe masculinity is regrettable. Did he pick up the wrong prescription?

That's it; I'm officially proposing repeal of the 19th Amendment. Increasingly, it is obvious that you poor boys aren't strong enough to stand up for yourselves when us wimmenfolk can vote.

Guns In Parks: Tabled

Faced with what they believe is a hard decision, the City-County Council's Parks & Recreation Committee blinked: the motion to make it legal for permit-holders to carry their guns in city parks has been tabled.

The Usual Concerned-Citizen Quotes have been dredged up by the media, even as they tapdance around the fact that Indianapolis city parks can be dangerous and that criminals are not deterred from carrying and using weapons by a sign quoting a city ordinance; nor do they mention that (just as in National and Indiana State Parks), it's still illegal to shoot (other than in self-defense); you still own every bullet and everything it touches. Nope, what we get are quotes from nitwits who say, "If I saw a gun on someone's hip and they weren't in a police uniform, I'd be scared." --I'm sure IMPD's detectives thank you, ma'am and I do wonder how you behave when you see a citizen open-carrying outside of city parks? Shriek and scurry?

It's been legal to carry your weapon in Indiana State parks since 2006; note that bloodbaths have not ensued.

The more I think about it, the more I wonder; y'see, city parks are, generally, in the city and a large proportion of park visitors are African-American. Could it be our esteemed Mayor and Council are frettin' 'cos there might be black folks with guns in the parks? Hellooo? If a citizen passes the background check, that pink card that says License To Carry Handgun is the only color the City need notice.

Our Legislators

The boys and girls we pack off to the state capitols: many of them mean well, or at least want to be perceived that way. Sometimes it goes wrong -- even when I agree with their vote.

Take, for instance, State Rep. Charlie Brown's statewide smoking ban; he's out to send it back to the State Senate, 'cos he doesn't know enough history to understand Prohibition. Nor does he read the newspaper carefully enough to see how well The War On (some) Drugs is doing. And him from Gary, IN, too; you'd think he'd look up from his pressing duties from time to time.... But never mind.

One of the other Reps got up to 'splain why he wasn't gonna vote for it: "I cannot support this measure. I can't support telling the men and women who died for this country that they can't allow smoking at their VFW hall even if they want to."

Yep, you heard it: he's concerned about dead people not being allowed to smoke. Brave dead people; folks who have earned our respect...but, um, not really (ohplease$DEITYnosmokingzombies) smokers.

Talk slower, Mr. Representative; talk slower and consider making notes beforehand. kthxbai.

Gun In Parks

[CUE overly-dramatic fanfare: da-da-daaa!] Indy [Red] Star soiling its drawers again; plus, Not Understanding The Process.

Yes, the Star's panicking itself again over an ordinance that would allow persons with a License To Carry Handgun to do so in city parks without risking a fine. (And that's all it is, a fine. What's your life worth? At least a thousand bucks?)

Our timid former-Marine Mayor has pinky-sworn he'll veto such an awful, awful thing if it comes to his desk -- heavens forfend an honest citizen should be able to defend him or herself from attacks in the parks; Mayor Ballard would much rather see me raped and strangled on the Monon trail than carrying an icky-poo ol' gun. Makes me wanna throw up. I used to like the guy, too. He must seriously want to be a one-term Mayor.

But let's ask the Experts about armed self-defense: David Mason, of Hoosiers Concerned About Gun Violence* tells us, "There's no crisis in our community that requires people to be carrying guns in parks." Oh, really? David's another guy who thinks it's a lot more moral for you to get whacked in the face with a 2x4, beaten and robbed by "underprivileged youths" than have even a slight chance to say "NO" and back it up. You first, pal.

The best line, though, goes to Republican Councilwoman Susie Day, who airily tells us of this ordinance, "You can't just say, 'Here's a proposal.'" Funny, I thought that was how the City-County Council was supposed to function...

This ordinance was proposed by Councilman Ed Coleman, the only Libertarian on the Council; I do believe a lot of the office-holder reaction is more about wanting to show him who's boss than any concern for the issues. Certainly all sides are willing to throw you under the bus without a chance to defend yourself, and would happily add Ed.

The measure comes up for a hearing tonight at the City-County building. A public hearing. Better speak up!
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* Because "Hoosier Bedwetters" was already taken.

It's Still Snowing

Hmpf. Hmpf. Also, I need a new coat; I have finally worn out my Gander Mountain fake-sheepskin-lined denim ranch jacket. Will we ever see nice weather again?

This And That

...I was ready to take down the "Snowventures" banner, 'cos the snow has been melting...until this morning, when the melting stopped and we picked up another inch of the stuff.

...If you have noticed I was posting a little less recently, it may be because I have been working more; after five eight-hour days of removing dead wires from the computer floor at The Skunk Works on my part, and several helpers adding at least 40 more hours of effort, it is, you guessed it, barely started. It's the Alice's Restaurant theory: the boys figured they were not gonna have to pull out any unused wiring for a long, long time. Guess what? Time's up! In related news, I am the cause of much resentful muttering. Awww, too bad.

And on that note (laaaaaaaaa!), I must depart.

Unlettered Morons

...They're in my televison; today, one of them -- on a national network! -- remarked to a weatherforecaster, "Kurt Vonnegut wrote The Man Without A Country, but you're 'the man without a cold front,' ha ha ha..."

Um, no. Most people with what passes for an education will recognize The Man Without A Country as a short story by Edward Everett Hale; some may recall Vonnegut's A Man Without A Country, the author's last book to be published while he was alive and of which one critic wrote, "Unfortunately, whereas Vonnegut’s insights about humor, humanism, aging, and art are touchingly tender, his political ideas tend to fall flat and sound immature. Indeed, while Vonnegut devotes many pages to criticizing George W. Bush as President, he adds next to nothing to our collective perception of the current political milieu in the United States." Ouch.

Guess which one Mr. Network Guy was most likely to have seen laying 'pon a coffee-table, no doubt as bona fides of the proper sort of Bush-loathing, and would have thought of as something surely familiar to all the proper sort of people? Geez, d00d, let it go, willya? --Or at least get the title right.

And A Gracious Good Morning To You, Too

Much quieter this ayem, as Tam's off for a breakfast meeting; our paths will cross when she arrives back home as I rush out, hopefully on schedule.

I woke up to two cats, mine, sitting outside my bedroom door. They'd been fed, but were apparently irked at not receiving their proper morning ration of people. Though they both prefer to sleep on my desk (in the space once occupied by the boiler and pistons of a CRT monitor -- wasn't that how they worked?) , neither one can make the leap even with a step at the half-way level, so returning them to their perch requires human intervention. The usual first-shift cat-lifter having departed early, they were pretty insistent I get up and get on the job!

Refurnanced!

And on E-Z terms, too! ...Okay, my furnace guys are not the cheapest in town -- or the most expensive, either -- what they are is honest.* They know what they're doing and they don't pad their time: the igniter was dead, a $75.00 part. Tech cleaned the burners and checked the furnace over, too; that plus the new part took a half-hour...and we have heat! (Butler M-K. They're good guys). Looking at their website, I should'a got a service plan: a flat fee for a year's service, includes parts and would have been less for just this call. Don't know about you, but I average one furnace repair per Winter.

The house actually stayed decently warm (above 50) for over 12 hours with no furnace. 'Way, waaaaay back when I first moved in, the Data Viking helped me with a huge attic (Tam's room) insulation project; what was up there was old and falling down. We put up nice, new stuff plus a vapor barrier. It has definitely helped.
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* Butler M-K has always dealt square, even at my old place, where I'd lose heat when dead birds would clog the draft inducer, a miserable and often smelly problem to fix; they charged nothing but the time and carried the avian carcass(es) to the outside trash, thank you. Compare this to the outfit Roseholme Cottage's previous owner used, who billed him over $100 for a fifteen-minute visit to "replace" a raggedly old permanent filter...and did not touch the filter; same funky thing with holes in it was still there when I moved in. Moral of the story? A) Always check and B) honesty wins.