Not buying the Ford

Well, it's time for me to get a new car... not because my CR-V is shot, nope, not at all.  What I tend to do is lease a car and if I like it, buy at the end of the lease.  I did this first back in '98 with a Saturn, the first year they came out with what they called a 'luxury sedan.'  I really liked that car, and kept it until 2010.  That was a bad year for Saturns.  GM, which had purchased Saturn a while back, needed to be bailed out by the US Government.  And, of course, after they'd bought Saturn they'd started to put GM parts into it which meant if it need repairs, parts were going to be a problem.  So, I traded it in on a Honda Insight, which I leased.  There was a difference this time, however.  I hated the car.  Oh, sure, it test drove well and the mileage was good, but I didn't like sitting with my ass 15 inches over the road.  So, when that lease was over I switched to the CR-V.  This car is the most popular compact SUV in the country.  And mine is fully loaded.  I have no problem hauling around 2 full sized Boxers.  Except, I hate.  There's a lot of road noise (something that had been brought up in the reviews I'd read).  I don't like the fact that the interior is black, it shows every bit of dog drool.  And after 3 years, I don't find the ride all that comfortable.
So, I'm looking for a new car.  Possibly this one:

That's right, it's a 2017 Subaru.  This is what the interior looks like:

which is fine with me.

I also checked out a Nissan (which is actually owned by Renault) and that car too was very nice.  In fact, right now the decision lies somewhere between the Subaru and the Nissan.  I did drive another CR-V, same problems, and, of course, the salesman said "I don't work on commission so all prices are set," which isn't true.

Ford was another dealership I checked out because both the Edge and the Escape get decent reviews.  Unfortunately the salesman was a fat, lazy turd of a man.  He said,"I can order what ever you want in a 2017, do you want to take one for a drive?"  I said "yes," and waited while he slowly lumbered back into the dealership for the keys.  And then waited as he slowly lumbered back to where I was in the parking lot.  A horn sounded as he pressed the fob and he turned towards the sound and groaned, "oh, we can't take that one, it's still in its shipping packaging,  I have the keys for a 2016 in my pocket, if you want, you can take one of those for a drive.  It's the same thing."  Idiot.  I did take one for a drive, and while riding in the car with me he tried to create chit-chat by asking where I worked.  When I told him, he said, "oh, you should know me.  I just bought 13 gallons of paint there to paint the inside of my house."  So, I asked him which paint since we sell several brands and he replied, "oh, indoor paint."  Super Idiot.  I'm not buying the Ford.

Ab Fab Fail

Well, the trailer for the Ab Fab movie dropped yesterday and, of course, it sent some people into a swoon.  Not me.  Way back when the show was airing I had friends who thought it was hysterical.  Not me.  Not that I didn't watch a couple of episodes, maybe 2 or 3, thinking that I might too find the humor in two drunks.  Couldn't find it.  That's right, I was not part of the niche audience who fell in love with Edina and Patsy.  And now they've made a movie.  Who cares?  Not me.
A lot of people watched it.  One of the things I found most interesting were all the comments about the number of cameos...  So, are they trying to sell a movie, or the cameos in the movie?  And if it's the cameos that are so important, well, how unimportant is the movie?  Or better yet, how bad is it?  I'm suspecting it will make a lot of money the first weekend it's released and then rather quickly die off.  But then it's the first weekend's box office that's important, isn't it?  If it makes $20 million when it opens... well, probably everybody is more then a little richer.

Who cares?

There were some comments from people who said they couldn't wait to see it.  But there were also other comments, those from people like me.  Someone on Towleroad queried "is this supposed to be funny?" which totally echoed my sentiments.  Not that there aren't people out there who will think it's the greatest, and will probably go so far as to buy it for their video library.  Not me.

Just call him Rafael, also Fallout 4 mods

I'm off... actually, I took some vacation time and... of course, I got a text this AM asking if I wanted to go in and work, and... of course, I said I was busy.  It's not that I'm not loyal, I just need some time off, in fact I haven't had more then two days off since September.
This morning I was checking out all of the primary election results in Pennsylvania and had a good laugh.  You see, I looked at both the Democrat and the Republican tickets.  When I looked at the Republican results I saw that Trump really won big time in PA, but then I see this other candidate named Rafael.  Rafael?  Who the hell is that?  I didn't know there was a Rafael running for president... and then I saw his last name:  Cruz.  What a joke. he doesn't use his given name.  No way is he going to be known as Rafael.  Nope, he's Ted (short for Edward).  Of course, his father's name is also Rafael so maybe they thought two of them might confuse people.  Or it could be that he thinks Rafael sounds too Latino for politics, especially Republican politics.  This guy is not only a phony, he's a joke.

They're here...

And finally, and even more funner then finding out Ted is really Rafael, Fallout 4 mods are here.  What are mods?  Bethesda is one of those rare game studios which release tools for fans to actually modify the game.  In Skyrim, for example, one of the mods put hot-tubs in all of the Inns.  Some of mods available for Fallout 4 let you turn all of the players into hot guys, or hot chicks.  There's one that turns the map you look at into a Google Earth image of Boston.  You can change the music if you want.  Imagine listening to an opera by Verde as you blow up super-mutants, or chop the heads off of feral ghouls.  Neat, huh?  Right now the mods are only available for those playing the PC version.  Ain't life great?

Primary Day in PA

It's Primary day here in Pennsylvania.  We have a lot of delegates to offer and the selection process for some is... well, a bit odd.  You see we vote for some of them.  That's right.  But not all of them. And it tells you right on the ballot to which candidate they are committed.  This is a bit odd, you know?  I mean you can vote for one candidate and then vote for delegates who are supporting a different candidate.  And our primary is closed.  You need to be registered either Democrat or Republican and you can't vote for the other party.  So, if you're a Democrat who's mutated into a Trumplodite, you would have needed to change your party affiliation in order to vote for Donald.

This entitles me to publicly voice my opinions

I asked the guy who keyed up my voting machine if the polls had been busy and, surprisingly, he said "yes."  And as he said this, a Trumplodite walked in.  How do I know the guy was a Trumplodite?  Well, he was over weight and stretching out to the max a T-shirt that read 'Guns-R-Us.  He also said he'd "never voted before."  Oh, and he asked "How does this thing work?"  I suspect the idea of using a touch-screen to vote pretty much brought him into the 21st Century, at least momentarily.  Of course, I might be wrong.  He might actually have been  Kasich supporter who just dresses like a slob and wears politically incorrect T-shirts.... nah, it was a Trumplodite.

The dollars and cents of politics

I had a hearty chuckle yesterday when I saw something about one of the Koch brothers said that under certain circumstances he might be able to support Hillary Clinton, I think it was Chuckie, but don't hold me on that.  Of course, many are believing his comments were made to tweek Donald Trump since he's not in the least bit dependent upon their secret financing.  Me?  I don't think so.  I think some brave soul smacked them right between their dollar bill eyes with the reality stick.  You see, they've been helping to fund the campaigns of those (Republican) candidates they felt easiest to control, and while they've had some success with local elections, presidentially speaking, they've been flushed down the toilet.  Remember Scotty Walker from up north?  He was a fav of theirs.  So was Ted Cruz.  That's right, Teddie's a bit beholding to the Koch brothers.  Of course, Ted can't possibly win in a general election.  In fact, there's a whole laundry list of Republicans who are... indebted.  Translation?  The Koch brothers are one of the reasons the GOP is on the verge of going down the shitter, not that they'd ever understand this.  Not that they'd ever really support Hillary since she'd probably find some way to raise their taxes.

So, why would Chuck even bring up Hillary?  Damage Control.  You see if they can get all of the Libertarian followers, the one's who would normally vote Republican, to go Democrat for this election cycle  Hillary might actually win by a landslide.  At that point they could go knock, knock, knocking on her door and say, "hey, remember that landslide you won by?  We helped."  The Kochs have realized that this year, the GOP is going to tank and when that ship goes down they want to make damn sure their on one of the lifeboats.  To them it's just the dollars and cents of politics.

Monitor this!

I know there are those out there who are going to read this and say 'meh,' but I purchased a new monitor.  It's about time.  Not that the old HP 2311x stopped working.  Nope, however the upstairs PC has a very nice Nvidia 760 Gforce video card with G-Sync and the monitor wasn't made to handle the graphics.  Sure, there was no problem but it was kind of like using a flip phone for surfing the Internet - it can be done... sort of.  Now I have a monitor that is pretty amazing, and, even though I consider it expensive, it's still considered an entry level gaming monitor.  Oh, yeah, top of the line models run into the thousands of dollars - I'm not that rich.

And yes, it's big... a 27 incher which is measured diagonally, and no matter what they say, remember, bigger is better.  It's an Acer XB270HU abprz Black 27" 144Hz 2560 x 1440 Widescreen LED Backlight LCD G-SYNC Gaming Monitor.  

Anyway, a funny thing was after I set it up I snapped a picture and posted it on Facebook.

And I got comments about the glow in the dark stars on my desk.  So, I'll repeat my comment:  I not only have glow in the dark stars on my desk, I also have the nine planets which make up our solar system, as well as the Enterprise scooting past the rings of Saturn.  Oh, and pic of the Eiffel Tower I use as wallpaper?  I took that.  Neat, huh?

Trump hits Harrisburg

Well, Donald Trump was in Harrisburg last evening for a rally.  That's right, he was about 2.5 miles away speaking at what we here in the mid-state call the Farm Show Arena.  Yesterday morning I had breakfast with my brother and he was a little concerned.  His son and daughter in law had sent him a text asking if he wanted to join them in protesting.  We all know sometimes protesters don't fair too well at Trump rallies.  I told them he ought to go, and if he didn't he should at least tell them to have fun.  You know, it's not just everyday you get to protest an idiot like Trump.

And this morning I was reading some of the comments by those Trumplodites in attendance, and, of course, they loved him.  However, there were some complaining about his security.  It seems as though they didn't let individuals carry their firearms inside, and that upset some of those who feel naked with out a loaded weapon.  In fact, one went so far as to wonder where the NRA was and that organization wasn't fixing this atrocity. 

Anyway, they only arrested one protester, and it wasn't either my nephew or his wife.  Evidently local law enforcement knows just how much distance they need to keep between those who know Trump is an asshole, and those who can't wait for him to bend over so they can pucker up.

And their heads will explode

I got a text from my brother this morning which read:  "Hillary and Trump will be the nominees.  Hillary will be the next president since there's no way he can win the General Election."  I sent him back a smiley face, not so much because I was happy, but more so in that I agreed with him.  We now know who the nominees for the 2016 Presidential race will because we already know that if Trump isn't on the GOP ticket there will be riots in Cleveland.

A riot is a very ugly thing, und I think it's about time we had one!

And, of course, with Hillary running the Republican pundits who've been pissing on the Clinton name for years will go into a feeding frenzy.  Trump will run the dirtiest campaign in history, which is probably a good reason for her to be the candidate - her minions will shove it right back in his face.  Remember Cuba Gooding, Jr and "show me the money?"  You're going to hear over and over and over again "show us your taxes!"  We will get to watch Rush Limbaugh collapse with apoplexy, and Ann Coulter's peroxide roots incinerate.  Breitbart will initiate a chain reaction, neurally transmitted, self-detonating, Molotov cocktail of such hatred their eyes will turn into laser beams as all of their heads explode.

Well, maybe not laser beams, but let's be honest here, the GOP has been inbreeding their hatred for the name Clinton for so long their own self-immolation is pretty much a far gone conclusion.  And in the end all that will remain will be the ashes of a party that lost its way, and gave into the dark side.

Today's the day

It was supposed to have been repaved yesterday, but it seems as though, for some odd reason, they couldn't get it done so it's happening today.  I realized this around 0710, by which time they had already prepped by spraying liquid tar up and down Cumberland Road.  I sent a text to the store telling them I'd be late, and also one to the scheduler so she could find lunch coverage for my one associate... and she gave me a ration of shit and said I should have planned for this.  I replied by saying it was planned for yesterday and that she just needs to "deal with it."  No response, but then I didn't expect one.  She doesn't like to be told what to do.  She thinks she's special.  She isn't.  Anyway, I should be able to drive on it in about 2 - 3 hours and will head over to the store then.

That's Big Seig in the lower left hand corner

Today's the day New York also holds its primary election and both Clinton and Trump are expected to win.  And, of course, the GOP doesn't understand that as a party it's going to need to pull its head out of its ass and deal with reality for once.  Trump has pretty much predicted riots in Cleveland if he doesn't get the nomination and the Republicans just don't understand how bad that's going to make them look as a party.  They never learned the important lesson of the Gore / Bush election.  They went strictly by the rules back then, overriding the popular vote in favor of the Electoral College in order to get one of their own in the White House.  And, of course, they gave us the 2nd worst president in the history of the United States.  But then they never will learn, will they?

On the Street where I live

They're going to be resurfacing it today, so no cars are allowed to park on it.  My neighbors asked when I was going to work so they could use my driveway and were disappointed when I told them I wasn't scheduled until 0930.  I also told them that if, when I'm supposed to leave, the road crew has me blocked in I'll just stay home.  It's supposed to be a beautiful day and I have a shit load of yard work to do.

It will be really nice.  They put in new sewer lines about a year and a half ago and road's been lumpy and jouncy every since.

Tickets go on sale for Paul McCartney today, so if I'm home I may buy a couple.  I'm not really sold on going, though.  It's a stadium show and I don't really like stadium shows.  We'll see.  Most likely I'll be at work.  If that's the case I may check out what's left when I get home this evening.

Small minds of the GOP

For years the GOP has been compared to a 3 legged stool because the only way it can function as a political party is by making sure each leg takes up its share of the balancing act.  That stool is wobbly as hell right now.  You see for years the Economic / Fiscal Conservatives were happy just as long as they kept getting tax breaks and loop holes; they didn't care if the part kowtowed to the Social Conservatives just as long as they could keep putting money in the bank.  And the Social Conservatives thought they were the elite consciousness of the party, even though they like to label Liberals as elitists.  And the Foreign Policy Conservatives were happy because they like us to be the World's Police Force, they love to be important.
But then something terrible happened.  They managed to get George W. Bush elected and things started to go to shit; 9/11 proved they weren't keeping the nation safe and sound, and they lied about weapons of mass destruction.  Oh, and the GOP spent money like it was going out of style.  They were also the party in charge when the country suffered the 2nd worst economic disaster in history (and, of course, they blamed Clinton.)  The stool was wobbling back and forth so hard it was a wonder it kept standing.

And so the GOP turned towards the only leg they seemed to have left to stand on, the Social Conservatives.  Almost immediately they started claiming they were under attack.  Their flawed line of reasoning being that if you're not doing what they want you to do, then you must be attacking them.  Suddenly, they saying there was a war against Christianity.  However, instead of steadying the stool, they only added more to the wobble.

Now, all three legs are trying to beat the shit out of each other.  The Social Conservatives are promoting their hate by creating laws that discriminate and the Fiscal Conservatives are saying Hell No, we need to make money and your stupid rules are hurting us.  The Foreign Policy Conservatives have stabbed themselves so many times with Benghazi, and email charges, and more blame against Clinton, they're barely standing.  Small minds do terrible things.

If Donald Trump is right, come July, this whole thing is going to be torched.  Ah, well, that's life.

Open this

I had off yesterday and, since it was nice, spent much of the day working on what I call "my patio."  Actually, it's what used to be my back yard, and still is, however now most of the grass is gone thanks to the dogs.  So, I'm buying pavers and eliminating the dirt, which they bring into the house by the bucket.  Originally I was going to fill in with marble chips, but changed my mind.  I'm going to plant grass between all them.  I think that will be a nice contrast.
Anyway, yesterday wasn't all work, there was some amusement.  My neighbor, Chris, who owns Nathan's Bar and Grill, had spent the day before (Thursday) installing a garage door opener.  Yesterday, he realized he couldn't find the fob. Feeling sure that he'd left it in the garage, he needed to break in since he couldn't open the door.  Originally there were windows in the building which had been covered over a number of years ago.  His idea was to rip off the siding and climb in through the window, which he did.  And, as I suspected, the fob was not inside.

Patio sans grass

Of course, he had to put back the siding.  Honestly, you would never realize he had ripped so much of it off of the wall.  I'm not that talented.  I can lay down pavers and plant grass seed.  I don't have a garage.  I don't have to worry about losing the fob.  I will never have to look at a locked garage door and ask myself "okay, how do I open this?"

McCrory starts to dive

Just a quick note before I go to work.

When North Carolina governor Pat McCrory signed Hate Bill 2 I'm sure all of he, as well as all of his Republican cronies thought it was the answer to their prayers.  He was in the middle of a very close re-election campaign and this was going to be the perfect way to rally the troops.  You know?  That invisible silent majority they keep dreaming of?  However, that's not what happened.  In reality they were standing too close to the fan when they threw the shit and now they're splattered with stink.

And his numbers are going down.  Except, that is, among the Republican base, a group of people who just happen to like eating shit.  And then this idiot issued an Executive Order in an attempt to stem the flow of voters; that's probably not going to help his campaign.  In fact, it may piss off his crazy base and they may stay home from the polls.  I suspect things are only going to get worse for this guy.  Of course, maybe what he wants more then anything else in the world, is to go to a Jimmy Buffett concert.

Flip Flops, Margaritas and Greed

I think it's interesting to see how artists are dealing with North Carolina's Hate Bill 2.  Springsteen has cancelled a concert and refunded those fans who had bought tickets.  Joel McHale does his Durham show but slams the North Carolina government and donates the proceeds to an LGBT organization.  Jimmy Buffett issued a statement... but he's playing for the fans.  No comment has been made from his team as to whether he'll donate the proceeds from his 2 North Carolina concerts as McHale did, but I wouldn't count on it.  You see Jimmy Buffett is one of the wealthiest artists in America and he got that way because he's a shrewd businessman.  He is a great example of the successful American Capitalist, and he didn't get that way by turning over his Box Office to support the LGBT community.  Of course, he's also endorsed Donald Trump, which gives you an idea just where his head is at these days.

Now, I'm not saying Buffett should cancel his shows, but a little philanthropic gesture would demonstrate both his understanding of how serious this issue is, and how important it is that we get every possible voice standing up to hate.  Of course, it's all about the fans, you know?  And they'll get their concert, and his bank account will grow just a teeny weeny bit more, and, of course, he'll talk up Donald Trump.  Just think, all those Parrotheads will show up in their sandals, and T-shirts, and straw hats, and they'll sing and dance and learn how we really need to build a wall between the US and Mexico.

The Porcine Project

As I expected, the results of the one day paint sale did more to illuminate the weather issues then they did add monies into my Total Sales Plan.  Having almost 3 inches of snow on Saturday didn't help.  Nor did the fact that the signage did not clearly illustrate that only the most expensive paints and stains were on sale; increased markdowns at the registers were a result.  As a whole, sales in both the district and the region were disappointing.  Someone in corporate needs to understand that Spring in Atlanta hits a lot earlier then spring in Pennsylvania, or New York, or Vermont.  I mean, what knuckle-head would buy a patio set which is going to need to stay boxed up for at least another month?
On a lighter note, a customer showed up early last evening with an interesting item to be color-matched, where we tint the paint to match the color of a certain, specific object.  And what did he bring us?  A pig.

Of course it wasn't a real pig.  Nope, this was target pig used at an archery course.  The customer had repaired a big hole and needed to paint over the patch.  He also said his next project was going to be a White Tailed Deer.  That would be interesting.  Anyway, it took my associate about 15 minutes to get the color just right, and while she did that I fixed him up with a white paint pen to take care of the spots.  He was very satisfied.  Ahhh, paint, the final frontier... sometimes.

The Karma of Dennis Hastert

I saw that there are now 4 men who claim to have been molested by Dennis Hastert back when he was a teacher / coach.  There may be more, not everybody is going to jump on the 'kick Hastert' bandwagon, some who've buried it in the past and don't want to think about it or deal with it will remain silent.  It doesn't really make much difference because the information that's being revealed paint this 'evangelical Christian' as a real scumbag.  The bit about the recliner is truly perverse, you know?  Sitting it up so he could watch all those naked boys showering?  All their genitalia going flippity flop?  And, of course, being a true evangelical Christian, he has no doubt consistently prayed for forgiveness, while at the same time writing checks to pay one of his victims off.  Of course he should have realized the moment he started moving his money from account to account that his Karma was starting to kick in; that his mistakes were going to be fixed in a very public way.

Purportedly, since his trespasses have been made public, he's suffered through a blood infection and a minor stroke, both of which severely limit the amount of time he is out in public.  His name, which he thought to make honorable, is not hyphenated with terms like 'sexual predator,' 'child molester,' and 'deviate.'  The lives of his sons, Ethan and Joshua have been effected because people will say "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree."  Did he know what he was doing back then?  Was there any real consideration for the boys?  Or was he just gratifying his own sexual wants?  One suspects it's the latter.  Either way, his Karma is really, really bad.  It's going to be bad for his sons, because they, like those boys way back when, have been Hastertized.

April Snow & Elton John

Well, today is not only my big paint sale (!), I also have off, so I'm not going to be there for the 'not so record breaking' sales.  This doesn't mean they're not going to sell, paint, they are - it's a damn good sale, however this morning when I let the dogs out at 0530 it was snowing.  We ended up with about 3 inches of the heavy white stuff, an even though it's melting faster then the Wicked Witch of the West in a hot tub, this is just not painting weather.  My plans for this dreary day are to do a couple of loads of laundry and play Fallout 4.

April snowers bring May flowers

Yesterday I ordered my tickets to see Elton John when he comes to Hershey in September (yes, I live about 12 miles from chocolate land), and that was rather... interesting.  My brother wanted to go along, but since he and his family are getting back from vacation on 9/23 he asked if we could go on 9/27 when Elton is up in Allentown.  Everything was fine, until it came to trying to get the tickets.  PP & L Arena (in Allentown) is a 'partner' with Ticketmaster - which means it isn't really Ticketmaster, and their website kept locking up, or I'd get a message saying "no tickets available," and that ever popular "website is not responding," and when I did finally get through the only available tickets were behind the stage and running around $209 each.  "To hell with this shit," I said, and popped back to Ticketmaster where I got seats on the Floor, in Row 19 and paid a lot less then $209 each.  Oh, and my brother isn't going, but that's life, isn't it?

Here's another snowy picture I took from my front porch.  Can you see the green leaves?

Doris shines!

I went to see "Hello, My Name is Doris," last night, mostly because of the reviews Sally Field has been getting.  She deserves the raves.  I like to say it's the money shots that actually make the movie, and she has four in which she's going for the gold.  She plays a sixty-something spinster who develops a crush on a thirty-something art director who transfers into her New York office from the LA office.  Notice how I say crush?  There's a difference between falling in love and having a crush on someone.  A crush tends to radicalize your behavior, takes you into that realm where the illogical becomes norm, where the extraordinary becomes possible.  Max Greenfield, who plays John Fremont, the handsome man who steals her eye, is there for two reasons:  to look pretty, and for Sally to play off of, and the two of them do that very well.  They mesh in an odd way which works, and as a result there are perfect moments when the age difference disappears.

The script is not the best, however, and there are a lot of minor characters who are amusing, and interesting, and unfortunately, for the most part unimportant.  Had more time been spent on Doris and John, this film would have gone from being good to being great.  There should have been more scenes like the restaurant scene, and the one in which they walk side by side as he's pushing his bicycle.

I will say I was surprised by how often the LGBT community gets a mention.  There's a gay man in her office who talks about marriage equality and takes a date he met on Grindr to a Thanksgiving dinner.  Sally has a conversation with a teacher who only teaches LGBT students.  She also joins a Lesbian knitting group on a rooftop.  In fact, for a while I suspected her love interest would end up coming out.  This didn't happen, in case you're wonder.

Honestly, it would not surprise me to see Sally Field getting mentioned a lot during award season, since it's that sort of money shot performance.  Doris is a nice person.  You like her, you really do like her, and as a result Doris shines.

Big Seig and Lilly weigh in on the ridiculous

Well, here it is Wednesday and I'm supposed to be at work however I'm not because my schedule was changed.  Someone decided that I needed to close the store today in order to insure that all of the "Spring Black Friday" signage was set.  What that actually did was give me 24 hours off between shifts, which isn't bad.  Of course, it's cold outside - daily temperatures are only supposed to warm into the mid-forties.  On Saturday, which is supposed to be the biggest day of this event, and the day of my paint sale, they're forecasting cold with snow and rain showers all day.
Anyway, I cooked up a couple of bones for the dogs (Big Seig and Lilly) so their quietly gnawing away.

Lilly's on the left and weighs in at a petite 56 lbs, Big Seig (there's a reason he's called that) will be 16 months old on the 24th and tops the scale at a hefty 110 lbs (big for a Boxer).  They could care less about what's going on outside.  When I ask them what they think about the idiots down in Mississippi they look quite confused, as if to say "what in hell is Missisppi."  And when I explain that it has the highest drop out rate, and the highest poverty level, they turn away and look for their bones.  And mentioning Tennessee legislating to have the Bible made the official state book doesn't even get me a sideways glance.  Big Seig and Lilly know what's important and what's bitterly ridiculous.

Spring has sprung

Up at 0330 so I can got to work and help set up Spring Black Friday.  Yippee Skippy!

Someone needs to tell Alabama's governor Bentley that God doesn't forgive him - even phone adultery is a mortal sin.

Oh, and Texas got a smack back - those silly Republicans... thinking they can change the law so only registered Republican white voters can rule the state.

Oh, and the temperature outside is a brisk 29 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Taking the hit on Spring Black Friday

Remember Black Friday?  The day after Thanksgiving?  That one day which is supposed to let retailers reach the pinnacle of their sales?  That one financial holiday which is slowly losing it's luster?  Well, the giant home improvement retailer I work for decided several years ago we should have a Spring Black Friday.  Really, it's just another sale, but they thought if there were some correlation between this sale and the one in November, we could drive sales even higher.  However, they always fail to take into consideration Spring is a transitional season, especially here in the Mid-Atlantic, Northern Tier states.
If you've paid any attention to the weather lately, you'll notice that our part of the country is still getting spring snows.  This sale, when they want you to go out and buy all your gardening supplies for the spring, your lawn furniture, and your brand new grills starts Thursday.  Wednesday night the temperatures are supposed to drop into the mid-twenties, well below freezing.  Saturday, when they've chosen to have a one day paints sale, the temperature is only supposed reach the mid-forties.
And, of course, they increase our sales plan because the weather should not effect your sales.

This Spring Black Friday also means I've got a crappy schedule.  Like Friday I have to stay until midnight making sure the department looks great for Saturday for the paint sale which, it just so happens, is unadvertised.  And the paint sale is very, very good.  But unless you're in the store, you're not going to know about it - we don't even have signage.  The marketing idea is to have people show up for 11 days straight to see what the big sale item is for that particular day....

Anyway, people who get paid a lot more then I do make these decisions.  I'm just here to take the hit if I don't make plan.

Beyonce: stretching with spandex?

I'm not a big Beyonce fan mostly because I don't listen to pop radio.  I know who she is, but what she does is relatively unimportant to me since, in the long run, everything she does is going to be inconsequential.  That almost changed the other day when, glancing over an article, I saw her name mentioned with something called Ivy Park.  I first I thought of amusement parks, rides, you know?  So I Googled it and the first hit I got was Ivy Park Apartments.

This is in Atlanta, Georgia

Putting your brand on real estate... now, that's ingenious.  Beyonce was moving away from the superficial and creating something of substance.  Now I will have to say I wasn't too impressed with the kitchens.

That's faux wood flooring

Let's be honest here.  That laminate flooring is crap.  And those door pulls on the cabinets?  Not for me.  Give me a good, old fashioned knob to grab onto.

Of course, this whole vision was totally shattered by my next click.  Holy Shit, she's not building apartments, she putting out another line of 'athletic / leisure wear.'  She gambling, and we all know she's right, that there are a number of women (and some men) who'd just love to have her name on their ass.  Unless you exercise regularly, you need to avoid spandex in any shape or form, no matter who's name is on it, because it's going to amplify every ripple and every drooping sag.

I'll wager that maybe... 1 out of every 200 people who buy Ivy Park (wear) will be able to do something like this:

I have one of these things in my basement, it holds up the duct work

How many aides do you think it took to get her into that cage?  There's a video, too (no link) in which she talks about running....  That's not a runner's ass.  Believe me, I know what a runner's ass looks like, and she does not have a runner ass.

Anyway, she'll still make money and for her that's all that's important.  Five years from now this line of clothing will no longer be around.  This is how life is.  I feel sorry for the people who are going to waste their money on it just because they want a celebrity name on their ass.

Disney's War

I saw this yesterday on the NBC news page and got a laugh.  Evidently some crazy in Texas has accused Disney of declaring war on Christianity.  Oh, and it isn't just Disney, this wacko lists a whole slew of companies because they stood up to the hate bill in Georgia.  Some crazy named Saenz, who's president of something called Texas Values.  I checked out the home page and the comments are all negative, especially in regard to what he calls "freedom."
Anyway, I got to thinking this was exactly the same thing that happened 2,000 years ago when Christianity was growing out of its underground religion status.  Back then the gods were really old, having been around for what?  About 3,000 years.  I'm sure the priests of Zeus said the very same thing, "there's a war against the gods!"  And they persecuted Christians; threw them into arenas to be slaughtered by gladiators because they represented a change to the status quo.  Society was changing.  Society is always going to change, there's no stopping it.  Religions come and go.  They stick around for as long as they are able to adapt.  If they can't evolve with every thing else, they slowly disappear.  Me?  I've always had a fondness for the gods, especially Mercury.

Dashing, isn't he?  Wouldn't you like him to chase you down the street?  I actually touched him once on one of my walks through the Louvre.  

Anyway, will groups like Texas Values, and idiots like Saenz ever understand Disney is not at war with them?  Of course not.  Their beliefs are too rigid.  Their is no room in their faith for adaptability.

Inevitably they will die off.  It's called evolution.