Evening

2 work days left until a 3-day weekend.

An 80 year old man shoots and kills a home-invasion intrusion suspect in Chicago.

There is nothing here about this guy - the invader had a weapon, I would have no problem shooting the invader, either.

There is nothing alarming about this. Kudos to the man that shot the invader. Ex-military, I would guess he intentionally shot to kill - this invader would have undoubtedly held a grudge and come back for - more.

No, the alarming thing here is as follows:

"No charges have been filed against the homeowner, but Chicago currently has a statute outlawing the possession of handguns. Its legality is currently being decided by the U.S. Supreme Court."

How can any government entity in the U.S. have a statute or law that outlaws handguns? I have NOT seen this in ANY news outlet. QUITE the surprise. It's no wonder it's gone to the U.S. Supreme Court. The implications of the decision of the Court are tremendous. If the Supreme Court rules in favor of Chicago, then there goes the guns - to normal, law-abiding citizens, anyway.

The man killing the intruder? This is a normal response to someone coming into your home with unknown intentions but - making the potential intentions obvious with a gun in hand.

The statute outlawing handguns? Outrageous. Unbelievable. I want to hear more about this. I'm dumbfounded that the news media - on either side of the issue - isn't all over this. It's a granted that s*** would never happen in AZ. We just passed a law making it legal to carry a gun WITHOUT any kind of permit. There is NO good outcome to making it illegal to own guns, the criminals will always have access to them and they can get as much as they want, when they want it.

"A high-profile Chicago attorney has already stepped forward offering to represent the man pro bono if he faces charges for possessing a weapon.

"Self-defense isn't just a right, it's a duty," said attorney Joel Brodsky. "If this man is prosecuted for saving his own life it's not just a travesty, it's justice turned inside out."
Amen, brother.

Phase 4 of pond waterfall construction. Sidewalls are definitely warranted for the idea of having a small pool at the top. I poured the foundations for the block on each side a while ago. Tomorrow, I can lay the block and I can also put the first large rock into place - cemented into place I should say.

Getting the water flowing into the waterfall? Hope to have all of these phases done within the week. Getting the walls covered up? Who knows. Not a priority, I want the thing working for now. I will wait until I get another trip up northeast. If/when I go, I will STUFF that sidebox full of rocks. I do NOT want to "buy" rocks. I will empty that sidebox out of all of it's "stuff" before I leave on that trip - if it ever comes - and make sure I can get a LOT of rocks in there.

In reality, the trunk of my car is HUGE. If I wanted to, I could stuff at least 18 8X8X16 wall blocks in there.

Whatever. There is an inside salesman at work whose recurrent, daily, recalicitrant ugliness finally got to me. Call him for info concerning the account I am pulling an order, loading it onto the truck and deliveriing it? UGLY. He is USUALLY in a VERY sour mood. This morning was no different. In fact, it was aggregious. NO need to go into all of it. After a year plus of this crap, I gave it back to him this afternoon when he called me - which is also a frequent occurence, asking me to do something for him.

He is not a team player. His attitude is he doesn't care if it gets done or not. I'm assuming this attitude comes because his uncle is also the general manager. I do not know the general manager, however, to be a person that tolerates this kind of shitty attitude. I am DEFINITELY tired of it. He answers the phone in such a sour tone, you wonder HOW this guy has lasted as long as he has in the position he has occupied. He is ALWAYS in a BAD MOOD. It reverberates in his voice, just answering the phone it enough. You have just irritated him by calling him. You have inconvenienced him. This man definitely has problems outside of work and is bringing this problems with him TO work.

Uhh, get off of that subject - his response to my simple question this morning set me off after listening to this nonsense for quite a long time now.


Well, I stopped at Home Depot on the way home from work, bought a few more wall blocks and some more cement, poured 2 footers when I got home, and that was that. Tomorrow I will lay the block and probably be able to cement the first large rock into place on the waterfall.

I aquired a much larger, pre-formed pond at a very cheap price. Like almost nothing. My rather large goldfish will like that pond much better. I will not have a waterfall - for now - on that pond - until I figure out how I am going to incorporate it with everything else. The smaller ponds will be plant ponds with small fish only. And, of course, a waterfall with a small pool at the top.

I am not installing the larger pond until I have the waterfall finished. The only caveat to that is if the trailer guy wants to do it - but he is still in pain, still taking pain medication, I'm assuming he's pretty much out of hard, physical labor until a later, unknown date.

Anyway, that's it for now.

I'm done with this and I bid you well.

G'nite.

ben