Red State Hate

If you've been paying any sort of attention you've seen that Mississippi is working on their own Christian Hate Bill - you know what I'm talking about, that if you claim to be a Christian it's okay to hate.  While they say this is because of the Supreme Court decision, let's be honest here.  The Red States have hated a lot of people for a very long time; ever since they lost the Civil War.  Now they don't hate everything.  They loved their Confederate Flag and a lot of them were really pissed when those to the north and west of them starting pointing out it was a Racist Emblem.  Of course, in some places they took the flag down... well, at least they moved them so they weren't so public, which means they didn't really come to terms with their racism, just popped it into a closet.
Now they're passing laws which let them use that old joke "it's a against my religion."  You know the joke I'm talking about?  Where someone would ask you to do something and you'd reply "nah, it's against my religion."  And, while they say it's just a protection for their deeply held Christian beliefs, it really is just a demonstration of hatred.  Don't think they'll stop at the LGBT community, either.  These laws let them target anyone they don't like.

And it's only the red states that hold so much hate, the ones controlled by the GOP.  But then it's a long known fact that the Republicans hate every one who doesn't kiss their ass.  And their prayers for a Republican President are being skewered by Trump, who might end up being the biggest loser they've ever nominated.  And he will get their nomination, other wise there will be rioting in the streets of Cleveland.

What's funny is that they put all this energy into hate and it gets them know where.  As a result, they're going to lose more and more.  Perhaps someone should have told them long ago that hate is a cancer, and it's eating them alive.

Pat McCrory, bad for business

Isn't this bullshit down in North Carolina pretty much of a hoot?  They passed HB2 for 2 reasons:
 1.Those Republicans down there are pissed at the Supreme Court and 2. Pat McCrory, the Republican Governor, is in a very tight race to get himself re-elected.   The last thing those Republicans want is a Democratic Governor, and what better way to help move the campaign in their direction then to rally their base.  And what better way to motivate those voters then to pass a controversial bill that not only takes away the rights of LGBT people, but makes it impossible for them to ever achieve those rights.  Did McCrory understand how big a stink this bill was going to raise?  Of course.  That's the politics, you see.  He wants every registered, socially conservative voter to hit that ballot box.  Does he care that he's trampling over human beings and their rights?  Hell no.  This is all about keeping his ass in the Governor's chair.

Did he totally underestimate the negativity this HB2 would create?  Absolutely.  Yesterday he started falling back on the trite rhetoric the GOP use to consistently imply their victimization.  It's a smear campaign.  Right.  More likely it's the death knell for his campaign.  Do voters really want a Governor who doesn't really care about the number of jobs large corporations bring to his state?  Do they really want to give tax breaks to those same corporations if they slow down their hiring of North Carolinians?  I thought it nearly hilarious when one of those yokels voting for this bill said it would be good for business....   Yeah, some moron actually said that.  Pat McCrory is a bad news governor; bad for the people and bad for business.

The long walk to the Parking Lot

I'd mentioned a while back that we had a Department Supervisor who had some serious attendance issues and that some serious steps were going to be taken.  Well, they were taken yesterday.  The single mother of two children is now unemployed.  And that sounds terrible because you only want to think of the children, and it would be if it were a bolt out of the blue.  However, if someone has repeatedly sat you down and said "you need to be on time," you can't regularly show up 40 minutes late for your shift.  If you're scheduled for 0900 you can't call in at 0845 and say "I read my schedule wrong, I'll be in at 1130."  When management sits you down to coach you once every 2 months on serious attendance issues, you should take those 'write-ups' to heart.  Being a single of mother of two doesn't give you Carte Blanche to make up your own attendance rules; rather it gives you the responsibility to make sure you are following the rules.  And, it's even worse when you frequently use those two children as an excuse for your tardiness.  You know?

Let's be honest here, we would all love to have a job where we can set our own hours and still get paid well.  Believe me, it be great if on some nice sunny, spring morning I decided to call the store and say "hey, it's beautiful out so I've decided to go for a 20 mile ride on my bike, I'll probably be in around 1100."  Well, that ain't going to happen any time soon.  If I did, I too would soon be taking that long walk to the parking lot with a pink slip in my hand.

Banging Away in Cleveland

No one should be surprised to find out that there is a petition circulating, and getting many, many signatures, in an attempt to force The Quicken Loan Arena to allow Republican Delegates to carry their firearms inside... during the convention.  Their policy, however, does not allow this, even though Cleveland is an 'Open Carry' city.  Me?  I think they should set the policy aside for this one event.  Republicans have long been staunch advocates of very liberal gun laws and this is their chance to put their money where their mouth is and prove they are correct.  In fact, I'm waiting for the Republican candidates to jump on board, sign their names, and demand their followers be allowed to enter the arena fully armed.
That'll never happen.  The last thing the GOP wants is for Trumplodites to be seen brandishing weapons as they force delegates to vote for their man.  In fact, having a war break out between the
Trumplodites and Cruzidopes would be the final nail in the Republican coffin.  Which is why I think we should all sign this petition.  What was it my granny used to say?  The proof is in the pudding.

A chum of mine who was in the war with me said he thought this would be a very safe convention.  I countered by saying the odds are it was going to end up worse then the Chicago convention of '68, except this time with guns.  He pondered this for about a minute and then nodded, "yeah" he said, "you're probably right."  Which is why the arena will maintain it's policy.  Keep the rioting outside.  Besides, do you have any idea how much it would cost to dome the stage with bullet proof glass?

For me, Heaven is....

It's Easter and whoopee ding.  By this, I suppose you can tell that I'm not really a big believer.  The organized, monotheistic religions have too many problems.  For centuries they've been more concerned with controlling behavior patterns then providing a guide to live your life.  They tell you what is right and what is wrong.  I find it inexplicable that Christians, who are supposed to be following the New Testament, consistently rummage through the Old Testament to find scriptures to justify their bias, their bigotry, and their hatred.  Before I bought my house I lived in an apartment.  Tom and Jennifer McGarrity lived below me. He was a nice guy.  She was a Virginia girl, born and raised a Southern Baptist - and she could quote verbatim scripture justifying slavery.  Oh, and she was sure she was going to go to heaven.  And she's not alone.  This practice is just as rampant today as has been, for centuries.
I have a problem with people who say all life is sacred.  They fight against birth control, against a woman's choice to have a child or not - every baby is a blessing from God, unless, of course, your a Muslim, or a Jew, or Buddhist, or Hindu - then there's nothing sacred about you.  See, it's about controlling behavior patterns.
Then there's the 'living for eternity" bit.  Why would anybody want eternal life - especially when no one really knows what that eternal life is going to be like?  My Mom thinks Heaven is like a big family reunion.  Personally, I think you'd have to be pretty mindless to sit through an eternal family reunion.  What would you talk about?  Of course, maybe people don't talk in Heaven, maybe they just sit there... happy... not thinking.  My friend Betsy likes to believe that we're all going to end up as shimmering beams of light... shimmering forever.
This may come as a big shock, but I don't need to live forever.  I don't need to be a shimmering beam of light, or listen to my Uncle Bobby telling me stories.  I also know that's frightening for a lot of people, to think that when their consciousness shuts down there is nothing more.  It's because we can't even begin to imagine not thinking.

When I do die, I want to be cremated - it's in my will, and everybody knows this.  They also know I'd like to have some of my ashes shot out in to space - there's a company that does this for a fee.  I want the rest of my ashes to be mixed with those of my dogs and have them scattered along the nature trail we walk in the park.  A long time ago I realized that's where I'm happiest, and so it's a fitting place for me.  I don't need eternity because I'm happy now.

Phony Christians

Here it is, a day after Good Friday (not the non-commercial Black Friday) and a day before Easter, and I thought I'd talk about Christians, or Phony Christians to be exact.  Like the government of North Carolina.  Evidently Pat McCrory, the current Republican governor is in a terribly tight race with Ray Cooper, the Democratic nominee.  So, what better way to throw some red meat to the Republican base then to pass a hate bill they love... oh, and McCrory is a Christian... or at least he claims to be.  Nah, I don't think so.  If he is, well, then that book in the Bible where Jesus talks about the positive aspects of hate, discrimination and segregation didn't make it into my copy.
And then there's Robert (aka Bobby Baby) Bentley, the 73 year old, Sunday School teaching, governor of Alabama, who divorced his wife last year... probably so he continue his somewhat perveted affair with his advisor Rebekah (don't you love that spelling?).  He's now under investigation because evidently Rebekah is the de facto governor.  Oh, and Rebekah actually works for some group called ACE, which means every time he says "Yes, Rebekah," she says, "Okay, now you can pull down your zipper."  And this guy truly believes he's a Christian.  Wrong.  He's worse then a dirty, old man.

In fact, the Republican Party is top-heavy with these... well, let's call them CINO's - you know, Christian in Name Only.  This doesn't mean that they don't go to church regularly.  It doesn't mean they don't believe... they do, but only in their version of the Bible.  They tend to skip the parts about loving your neighbor, and turning the other cheek.  They think they're special.  Like Kim Davis, who sliced and diced the King James version of the Bible to suit her beliefs... and she believes that her butcher job will let her "Live with Jesus."  Wrong.  The fact that these people don't understand that they are a bad mark for Christianity is sad.  They've turned a guide to living your life into a way to dominate others and force compliance.  They are Phony Christians.

Trampling North Carolina

I see where North Carolina has passed some hate law designed to specifically keep transgender individuals out of restrooms entirely, at least that's what those wacky Republicans say.  In reality, they have proven Einstein wrong and transported the state back in time, circa 1956 (or there abouts).  What most people don't understand, however, the real purpose of this law is not to eliminate LGBT rights in the state.  No, that would only be regionalized hate; they want to fry much bigger fish.  You can bet they spent long hours working on the wording to insure some more progressive judge in the state will declare it unconstitutional.  And they would counter, of course, because their real purpose is to take this to the Supreme Court.  Tit for Tat, you know?  The Court said yeah to marriage equality so North Carolina wants a national referendum to take away other rights, which is why the Republicans are saying nay to any Supreme Court nomination Obama puts forth.  Of course, those dumb shits are going to lose.

Because their time machine doesn't really work.  Einstein was right.  Time travel is impossible.  Their presidential candidates went to the Dumb and Dumber school of politics.  Right now two of them are in a pissing match about their wives - and they're doing this publicly.  The only thing missing is one of the Kardashians... oh, wait, Bruce.. no, no, that's wrong, I mean Cait, is joining forces with Ted.  Or maybe he'll end up siding with Trump, since that guy really knows how to treat a woman.

Anyway, this North Carolina law is nothing but horseshit and those North Carolina lawmakers know it.  They're just trying to get a little smack back before they're totally trampled under foot.

the sun sets on inventory

Well, inventory is now over for at least a year.  Final results will be released to the store on 4/21, but preliminaries are very good.  Our shrink should come in under forecast, and, if the numbers end up as good as we're expecting, there will be no inventory next year.  You see, in spite of what some people may think, it's a waste of man hours.  We're not a high theft store.  For example, last year my shrink was .045 of my total inventory, and most of that was the result of damage:  people dropping paint cans, running a forklift into a pallet of caulk, and so on.  This doesn't mean people don't throw 5 gallon buckets of expensive paint into carts and push them past the cashiers and out the door, they do, but not on a regular basis.
Yesterday, my main job was to verify the RGIS counters (we call them Regis).  They were good.  They were fast.  And verification doesn't mean recounting, it means checking to make sure they counted every shelf in the bay.  You don't really think they'd have us count 5 million nuts and bolts for a second time, do you.

And the woman who's about to get terminated?  She spent the entire day worrying because they hadn't called her back to discuss the problems in her department.  And she had a lot of problems.  What saved her from that embarrassment were the 8 of us who spent most of Monday night prepping her department to make it countable.  Will that save her job?  Hell no.  Maybe she understands this, and maybe she doesn't.  I suspect it's the latter.  You can only flirt your way through incompetence for so long, and then it bites you in the ass.

Anyway, I got home yesterday, took a nap, and played some Fallout 4, including some modding, you know, getting Danse out of his power armor, which wasn't as difficult as I thought.  Now all I need to do is make him presentable.

Dealing with Splinters

And so we're moving into day two of hard core inventory prep.  I got some sleep last night, tonight I'll get little.  Not that it's all work and no play - last night there was some humor.  You see I was one of several people measuring molding since it's inventoried by the foot.  And the manager from that department was working with us and she was very gung-ho, even though she's way behind in her prep work, which means every one else is helping her catch up.  She was so serious in her ambition to get things done, saying "I'll stay until 4 in the morning if I need to," myself and two of the other managers helping her catch up just smiled to ourselves.  You see, this manager is going to be terminated.  That's right, fired.  And not just because of her shitty performance.  Nope.  She's been coached many times on her inability to show up on time.  This is a weekly occurrence.  The paperwork is already filed.  They just need to sit her down and hand her the tissues.  This is life.  It's called responsibility.  Sadly, she will not be missed, and that's a shame.
Anyway, while measuring her trim and molding last night, (now doesn't that sound kinky) I managed to get 4 splinters.

Three teeny weenie ones and one that was about not so teeny.  The kitchen manager told me I should be wearing gloves, but I pretty much shrugged off the comment.  You see, there are ways of getting rid of splinters.  Sometimes they work themselves out.  Sometimes you need to use a tweezers to provide a little incentive.  Occasionally you need to use a sharper tool.   Either way, it's not that difficult to remove them.  Like the manager who feels she can set her own schedule.  No matter what type of splinter you're dealing with, they are usually problems that are easily fixed.

My descent into Inventory Hell

That's right, it starts today.  At 3 this afternoon I and all of the other department managers will gather in the lumber department and begin counting wood, which is sold by either the inch... or the foot.  And I'm not talking about the 'fun' kind of wood.  Nope.  I'm talking trim, and molding, and soft woods and hardwoods; I'm talking cherry, and hickory and popular and the always sturdy oak.
Tomorrow I will again start at 3 in the afternoon and spend over 8 hours climbing through the racking of my department searching for that stray tube of caulk, and that errant pint of paint which has managed to tip itself over in order to obscure itself from the eager eyes of the counters.
Then I get 5 hours off to nap before I'm back in the store for an 11 hour shift.  That's it, just 5 hours.  And then Regis takes over, they're the company we hire to do our inventory.  During that time we follow their counters, verifying what they do, making sure they don't count a product twice, or, and this happens a lot, fail to count a product at all.  They will actually finish the counting around noon, but we all have to wait until the final totals are solidified (and even then there will be changes done for the next 2 months).  After that, I can go home.

There is a bright spot on the inventory horizon, however, because we are a high volume / low shrink store, and Wall Street is taking notice.  When yearly sales are over $50 million, and shrink is around $275 thousand, is it necessary to spend around $30 thousand in payroll just to prep for inventory?  Most analysts say 'no.'  So, this will probably be our last actual physical inventory for several years, which is fine and dandy with me.  Once my house is paid for, I'm going to step down from the management position and that means my schedule will be more normal.  Believe me, I can't wait.

10 Cloverfield lane - a homerun

Holy Crap!  I have a day off before inventory... and it just so happens to be a Saturday... and... I'll probably end up cleaning.  Fun stuff, you know?
Anyway, I went to see 10 Cloverfield Lane on Thursday evening.  And I liked it, a lot.  The acting is some of the best I've seen in years.  You like these people... well, most of them, so when things go horrifyingly bad it gnaws at you.  John Goodman is outstanding.  You  know, almost from the minute you see him, he's crazy.  But is it good crazy?  Or bad crazy?  Or just bat shit crazy?  When he talks about an invasion by Russians you think he's a little past the squirrely stage, but Martian invaders?  Right.
When Michelle talks about a visit to a hardware store, you're listening to a confession, not an actress.  When Emmett speaks of his fear of failing after getting a scholarship, you know all about his insecurities.  These are are nicely flawed people.  You like them.  But because 10 Cloverfield Lane is a thriller, and a bit of a horror film, things go wrong and then you feel sorry.  This movie does exactly what it's supposed to do... and succeeds really well, which is why, when the Holy Shit moments begin, you sit back in your seat and say "Holy Shit."

Now I know there are some people out there who are whining about the ending, some say it's silly, some say it doesn't really fit, and I say "look at the title, it's called 10 Cloverfield Lane.  There is a reason Cloverfield is in the title."  For those who are wondering, this isn't really a sequel.  How could it be?  In the original film everybody dies.  However, as I was leaving the theater I said to my friend, "you know, I can see a sequel here, maybe taking place in Houston."

International Paper pays me off

While my employment with xpedx, the distribution subsidiary with International Paper wasn't rocky, to was quite stormy at times.  I was hired by them about 20 years ago into a low level management position.  Six years into my tenure a higher level position was created, and with my experience I was considered a shoe-in by the people who worked for me.  It was a nice position, $16,000 a year increase, nice job description... and they gave the job to a woman who'd been with the company just a little over a year.  And she turned out to be fairly incompetent, so they created a new job:  AP/AR Liaison Manager.  It was considered a later move for me so they moved me into it and I now had her responsibilities.  She would go out to her car at least once a week and cry because she was so overwhelmed.  Eleven months later she handed in her notice, unfortunately her position was no longer needed since I was already doing the job.  Believe me, AP/AR Liaison Manager doesn't do a thing for your resume.
Four years later International Paper decided it would be more fortuitous if xpedx outsourced the majority of its accounting positions to a company out of Krakow, Poland.  And they bought in the Poles so we could train them to do our jobs.  And I had to sit in on conference calls to help them fix their mistakes.  They did give me a nice severance package, which was nice, but the country had just feet first in the 2nd worst financial crisis in our history and nobody was hiring.  And I thought, hey, I'm shit out of luck.  But then things turned around, karma started kicking in.
I got an entry level Human Resources position with the retail giant I work for, based mostly on my years of Payroll Management.  And then 2 years ago I got a nice check in the mail for International Paper.

Evidently they'd been illegally skimming money off of my 401k deductions.  They didn't take the time to fight the lawsuit, just pretty much wrote me a check.

For the first 3 years I'd been employed with IP, I'd been part of a pension plan.  A plan that was no longer offered when the 401k was offered.  Still, I was a participant... for three years.  Last week I received a letter from IP - they're going to do a one time buy out for certain people.  I called a friend of my who also worked for xpedx and he said "take the money and run."  We both think this is the prelude for IP eliminating the plan completely.  So I jumped on board.  

On June 30 they will cut me a check for thousands.. and thousands.. and thousands of dollars, in fact, around $30,000.  You see this is their payoff.  It's part of their karma.  The mistakes that they made are being fixed.

Diversity is an Evolutionary Process

Just a quick note before I head off to work.  Saw this in the NYT this AM and found it interesting.
People turned off the Academy Awards show in really big numbers, mostly because they didn't want to hear Chris Rock make racist jokes.  People need to remember, Diversity is an evolutionary process - revolution fails when you're trying to diversify - human nature prevails and we are not a diverse group by nature no matter how much you would like to believe.
The Supreme Court made Marriage Equality permanent and what happened?  Hundreds and hundreds  and hundreds of Religious Freedom laws started to be written.  Passing a ruling doesn't mean everybody is going to say "oh, okay, I'm going to put down my prejudices."  Diversity is an evolutionary process.  Things will change, but it will take time, and they won't happen in just a couple of years.  There are areas in this country which are very diverse and other areas where the hatred is palpable and, unfortunately, in those areas, those feelings will just have to die off.  Nothing is going to change them.

I did find the article a bit amusing when it broached the subject of Australia and how "Mad Max" took home 6 Oscars.  I thought, maybe we ought to begin discriminating against that country.  Maybe we should tell Cate Blanchett she can never ever be nominated again because, not only is she white, she's Australian.

Now I know there are going to be people out there shouting that we need to recognize minorities.  They need to remember that diversity is an evolutionary process.

Inventory, Kim, Trump & Nancy... and PC version

Well, we're in the middle of inventory season.  I hate it. My schedule is shot to hell.  Lots of very late nights culminating in next Monday & Tuesday, they will be bad.  I'm in the store for 11 hours on Monday and then back in the store 5 hours later for another 11 hours.  So, how pleasant am I going to be?
There was amusement this past week:
Kim Kardashian posted some nude selfies and while a lot of people looked many, many criticized.  And she got mad.  They pretty much called her a slut...  She is totally clueless.  She doesn't understand that she's turned herself into nothing more then a piece of meat, and more like chipped beef rather then sirloin.  She doesn't realize she really is about as interesting as chipped beef on toast.
Trump had to cancel a rally because all of his little Trumplodites were getting way out of hand; they wanted to riot in Chicago.  This is really funny because for years and years and years Republican pundits, while not advocating violence, have been force feeding hatred down the throats of their base.  Every time Breitbart, or Limbaugh, or Coulter, or Ingram, or even that horses's ass Palin opened their mouths they spewed hatred towards anything not not meeting their standards of conservatism.  They've been shitting in their pants for years and now the stink has finally caught up with them.
And Nancy Reagan died.  Oh, well.  I feel bad for her kids, I'm sure they loved her dearly.  Unfortunately her husband was deified by the GOP because of his landslide victory, and they did so without ever analyzing that victory.  They ignored the fact that his approval rating soared to 97% when he survived an assassination attempt.  And they ignored the fact that nothing went wrong during his first term in office.  He didn't really unify the country.  Lots of people voted for the old fart because they liked him and nothing had gone wrong.  His wife, however, relied upon Mediums to set his schedule and flip-flop of stem cell research when her dear Ronnie was diagnosed with Alzheimer's.

And finally, I did buy and PC version of Fallout 4 so I can mod it.  It was actually cheaper then buy then buying the download version by about $30.  I'm going to give my Xbox One version to a guy I work with who's wanted to buy it but hasn't been able to afford it.  I'm never going to use it again.

Setting Danse free

Sometimes we just err in our judgement, I know I do... on occasion.  One of those times was when I decided to buy Fallout 4 for my Xbox One rather then buy the game for PC.  For those who don't know, there is a big difference.  Games look a lot better on PC's because they're written on PC's.  Also, and this is very important, some game studios, like Bethesda, allow you to modify (mod) the content of their games, and for that you need to own a PC version of that game.  For Bethesda, this  approach has been quite beneficial.  In 2012 they put out a game called Skyrim which is still in the top 10 games being played on Steam, mostly because of all the mods that were done.  You want your characters to be soaking up time in a hot tub, sipping wine and snacking on cheese?  Well, that's one of the mods for Skyrim.

In Fallout 4 there is a companion named Danse who will stay in his power armor the whole game... unless you mod him out of it.  After a quest called Mass Fusion he becomes about as useful as a storage shed... unless you mod him into action.  And because Danse is a very popular companion, I suspect Bethesda did this on purpose.  They're sitting back and letting the games modify Danse.  Oh, and if the mod is good enough, they will actually incorporate it into the game or, as in Gary's mod, becomes so important it runs as a stand alone game.

Anyway, since I bought a console version of Fallout 4 rather then a PC, modding is out of the question for me.... for the time being.  Eventually, when the price drops in a couple of months, I'll buy the PC version and set Danse free.  The gif below gives you an idea of what that will be like.

I'll bet you never thought video games could be so... interesting.

Pretzel Conservatives

Those silly Republicans, they wait until their party is this far into the nominating process before their big money decides to invest in a "dump trump" agenda.  What can I say, they've always been cheap until their party manages to get someone in the White House, and then it's spend, spend, spend, like the Palins in Walmart.
Anyway, hardly a day goes by without someone in the media trying to define just who a Turmplodite is: uneducated, white, female, middle-aged.  But none of them are being truthful, if they were you'd hear the words bigot, racist, homophobic... well the list just goes on and on.  Now, I know there are a lot of you asking "how can a conservative be so negative?"  The answer is simple.  Pretzel logic.  And Trump is very good at bringing out these terrible attributes.  He takes a conservative viewpoint on immigration and twists it around by appealing to baser instincts.  He mines religion for hatred.  He likes to give speeches standing on his little 'white is right' soap box while his security roughs up minorities, or protesters.  And he does all of this under the guise of Conservatism.  And Trumplodites fall right in step behind him because he claims to be a Conservative.

I work with a gentleman named Jack who claims to be a conservative.  He also likes Trump... a lot.  If you talk to Jack he will tell you "Trump makes Sense."  Has Jack always been a racist and a bigot?  Most likely.  For him, however, Trump has twisted the logic back in on itself.  He has redefined conservatism.  Thanks to Trump, his little trumplodites think it's just dandy to openly be racists and bigots.  And Conservative big money is now saying "holy shit" we have a problem here.  And they waited too long because for years they've been twisting their logic back in on itself, telling the world they represent every single person in the United States.  "We are America, and Americans are Conservative," is what they have been saying, and actually, they only represent people like Jack, who now thinks it's okay to publicly be a racist and a bigot.

Rent for Free

I went back to work yesterday after a day off.  One of the first things I noticed when I walked into the department was some drop cloths wrapped in shrink wrap sitting on the one counter.  Evidently one of our customers had decided to rent for free.  Rent for free, you ask?  That's when a customer buys a product, uses said product, and then returns the product because it is no longer needed.  Like drop cloths, you know?  And, of course, I'm going to have to reduce the price and take a hit on them because no one wants to buy a used drop cloth at full price.  This customer could have gone to a rental store and rented the drop cloths, but that would have cost money, using them and then returning them is much more cost effective.

In case you're wondering, this happens fairly regularly, and not only with drop cloths.  People use all sorts of things and then return them, I mean, why would they want to clutter up their house with things they're most likely never, ever going to use again?  And, of course, the corporate side of retail is looking at the big picture.  If you treat a customer right, he might spend up to $80,000 in his lifetime at your store - so why dick around with $80 in drop cloths.  They don't think about how much you're enabling bad ethics.  I mean, what are ethics when compared to possibly earning... maybe as much as $80,000 in retail sales?

Anyway, this has been my bitch of the day.  Why buy something when you can rent it for free, use it once and get your money back.

Cait Jenner goes aquatic

Remember back when the news broke about Bruce Jenner?  Everybody jumped on board that bandwagon praising him as he transitioned from Bruce to Cait... well, not everybody.  I didn't.  In fact, I told everybody to take a big breath and wait to see what happens.  Well, so far, in spite of having breast implants and some serious reconstructive surgery, not much.  In fact, when I saw this yesterday in Towleroad I had to laugh.  If Ted Cruz, who Jenner seems to really like, gets elected, Cait wants to be his "Ambassador" to the Transgender people of the United States....  Duhh
Anyway, as I looked at this picture:

I realized she was still in the transition stage.  Look at her cheekbones, and the flattening forehead, and the way her lips seem to be getting... well, larger... and wider... and well, you know what I mean.  I figure Cait's about halfway there, you know?  And, after searching the Internet, I did manage to get a picture of what she's aiming for.  Cait is going aquatic!  Suits her, don't you think?

If you look closely, just below Cait's jawline, you can see the beginning of one of her gills.  This means she's being honest with us when she says she's going to date men.  I'll bet her first is going to be Aqua-man.

Hollywood Karma

This morning, as I was putting the dishes in the dishwasher, I started thinking about Karma.  This was not an isolated incident, I think about it quite a bit.  What goes around, comes around.  Some people think it's just God's intervention.  Me?  I believe it's life fixing mistakes.  And it's everywhere.  Even Hollywood has to deal with Karma.  Here's a good example.
In 2005 a little movie by the name of Brokeback Mountain was released.  People took a big step back because it was a gay love story.  They said it would never succeed.  This little movie went on to earn over 83 million at the box office.  It was nominated for 8 Oscars, winning 3, including one for Ang Lee as Best Director.  It lost the Best Picture Oscar to Crash.  One of those who didn't win was Heath Ledger, who was nominated for Best Actor.  He lost out to Phillip Seymour Hoffman, who won for playing Capote.  What really happened was that Hollywood made a mistake.
In 2008, after completing his scenes for The Dark Knight, Heath Ledger died of an accidental overdose, and his death made big, big news.  His performance was riveting, and, as a result, he was nominated for a 2nd Oscar.  His competition in the Best Supporting Actor category was... Phillip Seymour Hoffman.

Heath Leger was won the award posthumously.  People said Hollywood was fixing it's own mistake.  Actually, the Karma was just beginning.  Hoffman went on to earn 3 more nominations but went home empty handed each time.  In 2014 he, too, died of an accidental drug overdose.  While Ledger's overdose was attributed to accidentally mixing medication, Hoffman's was attributed to heroin.  Not only did Hoffman die of a heroin overdose, he was found with the needle still inserted into his vein.  For those who don't understand... that's some really, really bad Karma.

Karma is not about paying back, or getting even, it's about fixing mistakes.  This is life.  The problem with Hollywood is that it just doesn't learn.

Ripping the mask off the GOP

For years the GOP has tried to sell itself as a concerned, caring party.  They claimed not to be the 'white' party, that they were all inclusive, all races, all colors... all genders.  But then George W. Bush was elected into the Presidency by the merest skin of his electoral teeth and they promptly told the majority of voters, who had voted for Al Gore, "screw you."  And, of course, they gave us the 2nd worst president in America's history.  Still, they tried to sugar coat their hatred for everything not Republican... by saying you were "un-American" if you disagreed with the president about... well, just about everything.  And though they thought their mask was perfect, it was beginning to show the staples holding it together... a lot of staples.
And today, for those who don't know, is Super Tuesday, when massive amounts of delegates are chosen to represent one specific candidate.  This is the day when nominations get set in stone.  This is going to be the day when Donald Trump rips off that ugly mask to show the American people an even uglier face underneath.  Can't you hear all of his Trumplodites kneeling down and chanting "Trump, Trump, Trump."  And believe me, he has no problem ripping off that mask to show just how ugly the Republican party truly is.

And the party has totally devolved into something really... nasty.  Take a look at their party platform.  Their agenda looks like the constitution of a hate group, in fact, I'm quite surprised they haven't been designated as one.  Of course the GOP is crapping in their pants.  That loud banging you hear in the distance?  Those are the bricks flying out of their ass.  Donald Trump has revealed the truth.  They don't mind getting the support of the KKK.  They don't mind beating up members of the press, in fact, they don't mind beating up anybody who disagrees with them.  The mask is being ripped off and revealing that they are the stuff of nightmares.