Caution: Thin ice

I’m moving slow this morning. I haven’t done much other than read my morning news. It was quite the night last night. I’ll write about that on my Happy At Home site though.

The story I wanted to talk about today involves ice. It’s been really warm here. As a matter of fact it’s already 62 degrees outside and it’s only 8:30 a.m. I almost forgot it was still wintertime in many places.

In Oak Harbor Ohio it’s definitely still winter. Lake Erie is frozen over in many places. People go out on that ice and fish. I personally think those people are a little crazy but whatever makes you happy.

Apparently there was a crack in the ice that fishermen had built a sort of bridge out of wooden pallets to cross. The ice shifted; the pallets fell into the water. There were a total of 135 people now trapped on the ice. Several people panicked trying to find a way back to shore, two of which fell into the freezing water. One of those men died from a heart attack after he had been pulled out of the water. 134 people were rescued.

I repeat, I think those people are a little crazy. But I guess the fishermen agree with me. One of them was quoted as saying “I thought we could get away with it for today. When you’re crazy for fishin’ I guess, and the fish are biting, I just couldn’t resist it.” Yep, crazy.

On another note the rare 1937 Bugatti that I told you about went to auction in Paris yesterday. It did indeed bring in a fortune like they thought it would. The Type 57S Atalante sold for $4.4 million. Now that’s a good day!

And the winner is...

Some of my favorite news stories involve people that aren’t all together there. You know what I mean, they’re a few crackers short of a box, their elevator doesn’t go all the way to the top floor, they’re not the sharpest tool in the shed.

These criminals tickle me. Not that I like the fact that they are criminals. I don’t like criminals. But I do think the stories written about them are too funny and in most cases they get caught because of their less than genius actions.

I like to give them awards. They are ‘boobie awards’ in my mind. These people do things or say things that 99.9% of the general population believes to be unintelligent.

Usually I’m the only one that is aware this award was given. I don’t normally talk about them. They are silent awards. Just for me. I assume most people agree with me and that makes it unnecessary to announce them.

But this week I just couldn’t keep the winner to myself. I found this particular criminal SO unbelievably deserving of the award that I felt the need to announce it. So without further ado, the winner of this weeks ‘boobie award’ goes to…

Feliks Goldshtein of Highland Heights, Ohio

Feliks decided to rob a bank. He prepared himself by donning a ski mask and grabbing his toy gun. He then went into the crowded bank and patiently waited in line amongst the other bank customers for his turn while wearing the mask. When he reached the teller she told him to remove the mask, he said no and showed her his toy gun. He took some money and left only to be caught a few minutes later thus securing his place as my ‘boobie award‘ recipient of the week.

As an added note, Feliks also wins my prize for the weirdest original spelling of their name. I think he even beat Meyghan.

It could have been SO much worse

When my daughter was in her infant and toddler years, her father and I lived basically in the middle of nowhere. We were surrounded by woods and a wonky, practically straight down hill that had a twisting road cut through the middle of it. There was a lot of wildlife. You could watch whole groups of animals cross that road if you were quiet and sat in just the right spot. There were bears, wolves, even a panther that stayed on top of that hill and screamed like a murder victim in the middle of the night. I thought they were beautiful creatures but I’m no fool, they were dangerous too.

So we kept guns. I loathe guns. I grew up with military parents and was made to learn how to shoot. Our father would take us out to our Uncle Alfred’s ranch and set up targets and we’d all take a turn. If we didn’t do well, we’d take three or four turns. Perfection was a big thing in my family growing up. But I learned and I can handle a gun if it’s required of me.

There were many weeks that I sat alone in that log cabin with a young baby as my only company. I had to protect her as much as I had to protect myself. So the guns were there. Luckily I never had to shoot anything although one time I did fire it into the air because a brown bear was on the hill directly next to the house. I could see it out the kitchen window! And I really didn’t want it to get comfortable there.

I don’t consider myself anti-gun even though I hate them. I believe there are times that a gun is the only answer. And I don’t consider myself pro-gun either. I’d rather not have one in my house and do not have one now that I live somewhere that all the animals are either in peoples houses or behind cages in the zoo.

I saw in the news where a four year old in Ohio shot his 18 year old babysitter because he stepped on his foot. The fact that he shot someone out of anger at four years old is a whole different story but for him to be able to get to a gun and actually shoot someone is shocking. Why wasn’t it locked up? We always kept the guns in a gun cabinet behind bulletproof glass (yes, I know) and two locks with the keys being kept in different very out of reach places. I just can’t imagine leaving open access to a weapon that causes death to any child of any age but especially with a four year old in the house.

They said in the story that no charges were being filed against the four year old. Well duh is all I can think of to say. At least in the video they suggested that the parents may be charged with something. Negligence maybe? I would think so. I know I’m not perfect, far from it actually. But I also know not to leave a gun sitting around LOADED just waiting for the accident that’s sure to follow. I’m glad the babysitter is ok and I hope these parents have learned a valuable lesson.