Drive-Bys

When you laugh in the face of the Fates...

Diner suffers cardiac arrest while eating a Triple Bypass Burger in restaurant called the Heart Attack Grill

... the one named Karma can be the biggest bitch of all.
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So that's why I re-read my faves over and over again:

The first time people read - or watch - through, they are focused on events and stories.

The second time through, the repeated experience reignites the emotions caused by the book or film, and allows people to savour those emotions at leisure.

George R.R. Martin, Nancy Atherton, Jacqueline Carey, Karen Miller, Gary Jennings, Janet Evanovich (books 1-10, anyway), and many, many more are all old and dear friends of mine.
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Today's Chicago Tribune advocates discussing problems with your neighbors before calling in the police: 

Calling the cops almost has become a default solution, one that's not especially productive.

"No one likes having the police called on them," said Will Reimers, a neighborhood contact officer with the Boise (Idaho) Police Department. "Oftentimes that makes things worse, when suddenly police show up and start talking to you. People resent that. So it's not the best first step."

What is the best first step? Try talking to each other.

"It seems today that talking to your neighbors is something that has fallen out of fashion," Reimers said. "It's just not done as much anymore. But it's an old technique that should be resurrected."

Which all sounds good until you realize that today's Daily Mail illustrates the flip side of that solution:

Franklin Santana, 47, allegedly went to his neighbour's home in the Tacony region of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to complain about his dogs.

The neighbour, Tyrirk Harris, 27, was licensed to carry a gun and had it in a holster as the two talked on the front porch on Tuesday, police said.

‘I (saw) them arguing, then from there a little scuffle,’ neighbour Miguel Rivera told the Philadelphia Daily News. ‘Then I heard the shots.’

Mr Santana was found dead outside the Torresdale Avenue home after confronting Harris about the mess constantly left by his dogs, police said.

I'd say you really need to pick your battles -- and you might want to let the police handle the ones that involve an armed and angry neighbor after all.