Bullets Over Lindbergh Way

ON TUESDAY AT around 3:00 a.m., while you were likely asleep and I was at work, somebody shot up my apartment building.

I learned of this through a note left at my door by apartment management, and I thought it was very nice of them to do that, considering I would never have known about it otherwise (I rarely speak to my neighbors and I don't pay attention to local news), and that notes like this are often an incentive for tenants to move away.  After I got home from work this morning, I took Emmy out with me to investigate.

(Click to embiggen)

I counted four bullet holes in the stucco facade; a couple were dangerously close to going through windows.  Thankfully, no one inside was hurt.  Sadly, the perpetrators will almost certainly never be caught.

It appears this is a random drive-by, perhaps the act of gang members just looking to add to their reputation as f***ing worthless scumbag a**holes who are a pox on the human race.  They did it for fun, with total disregard for human life and safety, and in full confidence that they would get away with it.

I've made no secret of my disgust for the city I now willingly call my home, but this sort of thing really is symptomatic of the way this town is laid out.  On one side of Lindbergh way, you have my place: 

Granted, the photo is edited to look nicer, but it's a fairly accurate representation.

It's a very nice apartment where I pay a lot of money to live in a relatively small space.  It's a great place to live; pet-friendly, close to shopping and lots of restaurants, walking distance from the MARTA train line, etc.  Most of the apartments around here are very nice, too.  I investigated almost all of them before settling on this particular property.  It's in Buckhead, one of Atlanta's better areas and I believe they do some of that "Housewives" show somewhere around here.  Sir Elton John supposedly owns a condo down the road a bit.

The entire area is great, except for the area directly across the street from my apartment building:

The wrong side of the tracks

For some reason, tucked in and surrounded entirely by upscale apartments, shopping, etc. is a pocket of squalor.  Section-8 type housing; mostly Mexican immigrants and welfare moms.  Trash everywhere.  Broken windows covered with cardboard.  I didn't pay it much notice when I first moved here; now I won't even walk Emmy across the street any more.  (I'll write much more on this in a future post.)

I raise this point because it is a typical set-up in Atlanta; literally one block away from some of the city's finest homes and neighborhoods, you will find urban decay and "ghetto" housing.  Does it have anything to do with my apartment building getting shot up?  Possibly, at least in that it is inviting to the kind of low-lifes who perpetrate these sorts of crimes, perhaps thinking they are getting back at The Man and the White Folks who have nicer things than they do.

I don't want to move to another part of town or a different city in spite of this.  Parking is excellent; the staff are great; and most importantly, I'm very close to work, either by driving or walking to the train.  Also, the property manager and sales reps are all extremely hot and probably single.


STORIES I WORKED ON TODAY
Hey, smokers!  It turns out we can totally use your filthy, dirty lungs for lung transplants.  But probably not if you die of lung cancer, I guess?

So, you know that Whole Catch Wild Alaskan Sockeye Salmon you bought at Whole Foods for like $15 a pound?  It's totally got listeria in it.  (Maybe.)


READ THIS
I think (and hope) that both religious people and non-believers alike will be equally disappointed to learn that about one in four Americans believe God actively determines which teams win and lose in sports events. 

In Colorado, some parents are angry to learn that a student club is reciting the Pledge of Allegiance at their meetings.  (WHAT!  WHY?)  They're doing it in Arabic and 
Spanish for their Multicultural Club.  (OH!  WELL OKAY)

Need another reason to hate cats?  They are f***ing MASS MURDERERS and they are KILLING ALL THE BIRDS


IMAGE OF THE DAY

Scottsdale Police Department

Actor Jason London looks Dazed and Confused after getting in a bar fight and taking a dump in a cop car.


WEDNESDAY WORDS

Erin Vey / Scribner

If you have a dog, I highly recommend this terrific book by a leading dog behaviorial scientist.  I learned a LOT about how Emmy thinks, why she does what she does, and how I can make and keep her happy!