Happy New Year

So, we're going into the New Year.  Yippee Skippy.  I'm not excited since 2017 will be the start of the Trumpest.  I work with a Trumplodite who actually said he couldn't wait until January 20.  "That's when we're all going to start making money," he said.  I just looked at him.  I couldn't think of a response which didn't include the words "dumb shit," or "asshole."  He will learn.  As will DT, who is so damn stupid.  DT actually believes Putin is going to view him as an equal.  He doesn't.  DT will faun over Putin, not even coming close to understanding he is putting America in jeopardy.  Putin doesn't want to conquer us, he just wants to destabilize us, weaken us, turn us into a 3rd world nation.  Putin wants Russia to be Number One and DT doesn't care, as long as the two of them are buddies.
Tonight I will go to bed at my normal time, around 10:00 PM.  I work tomorrow.  Yes, there are those who shop on New Year's Day.  Some believe there are going to be special sales... there are not going to be special sales.  The store is only going to be open 10 hours.  New Year's Day pizza will be brought in for those associates working.  Wow.  Some of them will be hungover.  Not me.  Every now and then I'll have a couple of glasses of wine, though never when I work the next day.

Looking forward, I do suspect we will only have to wait a few weeks before DT starts pointing his finger at his billionaire friends while shrieking "you're fired!"  Remember W's inauguration?  Protests?  American's egging his limousine as he drove past?  This one will be worse.  Happy New Year DT.  He will be the source of a Twitter Tsunami:  "Horrible, Terrible, No Respect, BAD, BAD, BAD."  And you can bet no one in his entourage is going to tap him on his shoulder and say "remember your birther attacks?  You're total lack of respect for a sitting President?"  I wonder if he will even comprehend that this will only be the beginning.  Happy New Year DT.

For everybody else out there, grab the handle bars and peddle fast, the best thing we can do is to continue Riding On.  Happy New Year, friends!

Cholesterol Hell

So, yesterday I was off work and at 0720 I was at the VA clinic in Camp Hill to have blood work done... and the results are in already.  They just called.  My total cholesterol is at 240.  That's at the tip of being considered bad.  I've always been borderline, mainly because I don't eat low fat.  Or, if I do, I only eat low fat rarely.  This means I drink whole milk, which has a lot of flavor, not 2% which has 98% less flavor.  There are people out there who will say that it tastes the same.  They are wrong.
Four years ago I could eat a gallon of ice cream a week without much of a problem - I have good genes.  What changed?  Well, I did get older, no stopping that, but more importantly, my scheduled changed.  I stepped out of the HR position and moved to the sales floor.  Where as back then I rode bicycle, lifted weights, and all sorts of good exercise stuff, now I do so rarely.  Back then my schedule was fixed, almost every weekend off.  Now is fully flex - on the scheduled which was just published, Monday I'm in at 0900, Tuesday I'm there at 0500, Wednesday I'm in at 0900, Thursday I'm in at 0500, and Saturday I close the store.  And the following week it's going to be different.  Try getting an exercise routine going with a schedule like that.

I'd originally set February as the date I was going to step out of management... I think I start the talks on Monday.  Of course, till everything is said and done, March might actually be the month I step down.   I can't wait.

La La Land

So, I went to see La La Land last night.  On a Tuesday night... the theater was filled.  Everybody wants to see this movie, this original musical, this almost forgotten genre.  I liked it... a lot.  The feel is both Retro and Modern.  Colors jump out at you.  The opening number brought a tear to my eye - this is what movie musicals were in their golden era.  Gosling and Watson are both very, very good.  When they are happy, you are happy.  When things get tough the ache filters through the audience, a soft hand on your shoulder that makes you sigh.  Reality peeks through the fantasy with a sly wink.  This movie is about its two stars, but also about Hollywood, about La La Land with its successes and failures.

How good is La La Land?  When the movie was over, there was applause from the audience.  When I heard that I knew I was not the only one touched.

Donald Chia fail

It's early morning, around 0330, and I'm getting ready to go to work.  Yippy!
Anyway, one of my Head Cashiers showed me this.  His grandson got it for him for Christmas.  He said "the kid's 4 and doesn't know who Trump is," he said, as he pulled out his phone.  And, of course, I was astounded.  And then I wondered if perhaps DT had purchased Chia... makes sense, doesn't it?
If you want one of these babies, check out Walmart, or Target, or even Amazon. Holy Crap, can you imagine UPS delivering one them right to your front door!

On the plus side, if you let it grow long enough I suppose you won't have to look at the face.

And on the even funnier side, imagine finding this all wrapped up under your tree?  I mean, how low will American Capitalism stoop to make a buck?

Jason Miller is a horse's ass

While at work today I discovered the error of my ways.
Jason Miller is not leaving DT because of scruples, or morals, quite the opposite.
Evidently Jason's been banging away!

Baby Daddy?

I should have figured.

Thanks Anne Marie and Bob!

Jason Miller

Just a couple of notes before I head off to handle all of the day after Christmas Returns - and there will be tons, returning that chain saw which is either too big or too small (just like sweaters), or the compact driver because they just happened to get 2 others....
Anyway, I thought it amusing one of the individuals named as part of DT's Communication Team is stepping down already.  Jason Miller.  I mean, hey, he just got the job, didn't he?  In case you're wondering, he's the one who tried to put out the fire a week or so ago when DT said something stupid about the Arms Race being a good thing.  And of course it probably would be for certain people: nuclear weapon makers.  Then, just before Christmas, Mr. Miller said he was leaving DT's team to "spend more time with his family....."
Now, I don't know about you, but "spending more time with the family" was always code for "you're fired."  It's a prettified way of saying the same thing.

So there's a good possibility Jason got canned... Or maybe he got smart.  Maybe the nuclear bit gave him an idea just who horribly difficult working with DT is going to be, constantly turning the turds that fall out of his mouth into something more palatable... like rice cakes.

Matching Beavers

Well, it's Christmas morning here in Central PA and Santa is still in the building.  He's laid out all of the new toys for Seig and Lily and shortly will begin removing the tags.  As you can see, most of his elves work at Kong - no problem, he wants to make sure all of his doggy toys are durable with as little stuffing as possible.  This year 2 of the toys come with extra squeakers - now isn't that smart!

Santa is in the building

They were all excited when I put on their new collars, fluorescent yellow with reflective stitching, but it was their matching beavers which seems to have been the greatest bit of all.

Matching beavers

Anyway, I was talking to Ved, one of my cashiers / paint associates, and I asked him if they celebrated Christmas in India.  He said, "of course, we don't do it for the religious thing, but we all get presents."  I suspect this might be the true meaning of Christmas, a time of giving, of spreading joy and happiness, of lending a hand and, maybe a stronger set of shoulders, a holiday that is evolving to be all inclusive for all races and all religions.  Ain't that neat!  You all have a Merry Christmas!

Drat, one of the beavers has already lost her squeaker!

Birthday Boy

Today is Big Seig's birthday.  He's 2 years old.  Back in August he weighed in at between 108 and 112 - if you know what it's like to try and get a bouncy dog on a scale at the Vet's.  I suspect he probably weighs in now at around 115 pounds, which is very big for a Boxer.  If Big Seig wants, he can rearrange things on the kitchen counter, like pull the toaster front, or slide the coffee maker either left or right.  He's a Christmas Puppy.
As with Lillian D'Aubert, his birthday is celebrated with a little cake and vanilla ice cream - no chocolate even though I know he'd love some.

Big Seig's little cake

He does tend to bark, sometimes for no apparent reason.  That's fine.  If I were an intruder I would not want to meet up with Big Seig.

Big Seig

Tomorrow is Christmas, that's when he'll get his presents.  Does he know the difference between today and tomorrow?  Absolutely not.  He has a great life!  Spoiled a bit, but that's okay.

Jane gets titylating

Well, we had our Holiday / Christmas Party last Sunday - I did go, for a bit, didn't stay long as the dogs had been by themselves in the house for over 11 hours.  Jane was there, of course.  In case you've forgotten, she's 77.  She'd invited one of the young guys who work for Solar City, kid around 24 or 25 years old.  He cancelled, said he'd gotten sick (wonder why).  This mean she was running solo.
Jane was dressed to the nines, shimmery, silver sequined shawl over a spaghetti strap dress, at least this is how her attire was explained to me since I only saw her briefly.  Anyway, Jane did dance with Glenda, another Solar City sales associate.  Upon returning to her table she complained about how hot she was feeling, all that dancing, you know?  So she decided to take off the shiny shawl, pulling it up and over her head.  To the horror of those at her table, her spaghetti strap dress had fallen while shew as dancing (at least that's what they're telling themselves) so the top was now below her boob line.  That's right.  Visualize it.  Think about it.  The 7 other associates at her table got doubled dosed, shot right between their eyes, with a pair of 77 year old tits.

Anyway, Jane's not happy with me at all.  Yesterday I found her at her register, waiting on a customer, while at the same time addressing Christmas cards to store associates, and she had an employee listing that included ID numbers and personal phone numbers... laying right out on the counter.  So, I took it from her and pissed her off.

As I was getting ready to leave for the day, one of my head cashiers said "looks like you're not going to get a Christmas card from Jane."  And then I laughed, and then he laughed.  Can it get any better than this?

He's down by the bow

You don't have to look far to find out how most American's feel about DT, in fact, his low approval approval ratings no doubt are giving him that sinking feeling.  Now, I'm sure his transition team is saying things like "don't worry, this will get better," and "just keep slugging away, we'll hit the top."  Right.  And his bizarre doctor gave a very... odd interview.  Every time he see things like this he want to take a big step backward.  Cori, who works at the paint desk and who's brother is a Trumplodite, says the word going around is that DT is terrified of being assassinated, which may be why his appearances are so short and infrequent.  Didn't anybody tell him that goes with the job in a big time way?
I talk about Karma a lot, the fixing of mistakes, well, for DT this is Karma. A man who needs to have his ego stroked regularly steps into a position where half of the country already hates him.  No stroking going on there.  Winning the presidency was the worst thing that could happen to him.  Big chunks are about to be gouged out of his ego.  Good for him.  I do not doubt that he will go down in history as the "do nothing president," because everything he does that is unpopular with the public will be another sliver out of soul.
And the Republican Party?  They're all on the same boat.  All of their little, pet projects like rewriting the rules of Social Security, slashing Medicare, even gutting Obamacare?  They will fail the minute public approval starts to go south.  They now have a president who needs to be petted, and who wants to go down in the history books as being good, and being popular.  They would have been in a far better position had Hillary won, now they're going to be pretty much shackled by public opinion.  They have a Star who wants to sparkle, not piss people off.

And as for DT?  This is his Karma.  He now has to deal with the fact that not everybody likes him.  People really do hate him.  There are now people out there who now pray daily that something terrible happens to him, that he dies.  They chant "He's not my president!"  And he no doubt daily prays that history doesn't prove him to be the worst president in American History.  He is down by the bow and it ain't going to get any better.

Yes

A long time ago, back when I was in Navy "A" school studying to be a Radarman, I was sitting in a friend's room one day when a song came on the radio.  Much longer than your usual songs, I liked the guitar and the lyric and... well, I was impressed.  I asked what it was and he said "oh, that's Roundabout by Yes.  That Christmas, when I was home on leave, my Dad took me out shopping for a gift my brother could give me.  We walked into a Wee Three Records, and the first album I saw seemed to jump out and grab me for the simplicity of it's jacket.  My Dad bought it and my brother, not knowing who the group was, gave me one of my best Christmas gifts ever... a little thing called

I still own that album, with its green, paper inner sleeve with the song lyrics.

The first time I saw Yes in concert was at the San Diego Sports Arena on their Tales from Topographic Oceans Tour.  There was a warm-up act, whom I don't remember.  After they finished playing the stage crewed moved some things around.  And then something odd happened.  Music began to play.  Not any music.  Classical music.  Stravinsky's Firebird Suite.  As the music got louder and and louder, the lights began to dim and people got very, very quiet, and then the lights seemed to explode as Jon Anderson stepped to the front of the stage singing:

I've seen all good people turn their heads each day
So satisfied I'm on my way
I've seen all good people turn their heads each day
So satisfied I'm on my way

Yesterday I saw that Yes is going to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017 and it almost brought tears to my eyes.  I've seen them numerous times in concert and think they are most deserving.  They are spectacular in concert. They are great.  They are... Yes.

Christmas Movie Season Failure

Well, the Christmas movie season is upon us and once again I'm dumbfounded by studios who seem to think this is the best time of the year, other than summer, to release big budget films because they simply don't understand that a movie like "Rogue One" is going to totally dominate the box office.  This happens every year and nobody seems to learn.  Last year Disney dropped "Into the Woods," a Disneyfied version of a Broadway show in which practically anybody with lines dies by the end, thinking it would be great family entertainment.  Wrong.
This year we've got "Passengers," a Sci-fi, rom/com, thriller with bad reviews from Sony / Columbia.  Didn't anyone at that studio get the memo stating that the Sci-fi and thriller bases were already covered by "Rogue One?"  And we've got "Assassin's Creed," another movie which is getting bad reviews, also in the competition, being released by Fox.  I suspect that studio thought that kids will be home from school, and kids are gamers and that will make it a sure thing.  They evidently didn't get the memo detailing how the average age of a gamer, in the United States, is 38 years of age.  We are adults, with full time jobs.  We are not in Junior High, or High School.  "Rouge One" was out of the gate a whole week before you... who do you think's going to win the race?
And theaters don't help one bit.  At my local Carmike Cinema, "Rogue One" has 15 shows per day.  That's right, 15.  "Passengers" and "Assassin's Creed" have 5 each, as does "Manchester by the Sea," a little movie which is expected to dominate Award season.

"Assassin's Creed" had an original release date for back in November, a slot that would have been better, when it wouldn't have had needed to go head to head with "Rogue One."  And "Passengers?"  I'd have released that baby in February, when it's cold and dark, and the pretty faces of Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence would have been flickering candles and we all could have been moths.

And you'll notice I didn't even mention "La La Land."

If you go yo an evening feature, the cost of the ticket, and the snacks (popcorn and soda for me) are going to run you at least $20.  What studio moron doesn't understand that when a monster blockbuster gets released, like "Rogue One" it's going to beat you over your box office head with a shit stick.  This means plan accordingly.

The Christmas Gift

We had our store holiday party last evening. And I went, for a bit.  I'm not a big party person, not because I don't enjoy having a good time, rather I really hate when some horse's ass, who I have nothing to do with... ever, decides to connect with me and make me a best friend.  So, the party started at 7, however I had to close the store and didn't get there until 7:45 and discovered that the seat which had been saved for me was occupied... by a department manager I shall call Cate.  When told she was in my seat she evidently said, "Oh, we can make room for him," which meant a table set for a comfortable 8 was now a crowded 9.  Why didn't Cate do the nice thing and move?  That was something she wouldn't even consider.  You see, nobody likes her.  I describe her as a "fountain of bitterness and hate."  She constantly derides her associates.  She is always complaining about everybody and everything, and always starts by asking "Don't you agree?" or "Don't you think?"  Like "Don't you think Bob in paint spends way too much time in the break room?  I mean, don't you agree he is just a waste of payroll and they should get rid of him, don't you think so?"  My friend Patty says she is one miserable human being.  And Cate likes to share the misery.  While plowing her way through an over-filled plate of food last evening Cate suddenly paused, and then claimed she'd found a hair.

And nobody really reacted.  My friend Patty, who was sitting to her left, quietly said "you should say something," but that was it, nothing more.  Rosemary, who was sitting to Cate's right, did the same thing.  Those were the only 2 people at a crowded table of 9 who even acknowledged her complaint.  Me?  I thought, this was her reward for ruining the seating.  Karma, you know?  And I couldn't help but smile just the littlest bit knowing she'd received a fitting Christmas Gift.

A Country of Thieves

So, we had crappy weather here in Central PA yesterday; a little freezing rain, a little snow, and a little sleet, just enough to make the roads really slick, not treacherous, but icy enough to require caution while driving.  This being said, business was slow in the store.  The cashiers were kept busy but I didn't have to worry about juggling customers to keep lines short.
Later afternoon I went down to check on our Pro-Cashiers and found one of the standing by the exit, the other, with a hardware associate, was standing outside.  "What's going on?" I asked.  I was told that "some guy just walked out with 2 Milwaukee tools tucked under his arm."  This happens, but usually when we're busy.  Neither clerk had a customer, so I suspect they were busy bullshitting and suspect the Tool Thief took advantage of that.  They're smart, you know, these thieves.  And one of the clerks is back from college for the holidays and is... well, to put it nicely, is full of himself... he likes an audience.  I didn't tell him that Asset Protection will probably watch his performance on the security tape.

This guy's stealing something from Sears

Anyway, what this tool thief is most likely going to do is return those stolen tools to another one of our stores and get store credit.  What does he do with the store credit?  Use it to buy a more necessary tool?  No way.  He'll sell it.  A lot of times they sell them on Ebay.  Discounted, of course.  And people buy them.  Don't believe me?  Go to Ebay and search any large retailer's name.  This is what you get when you do a search Lowes.  And do people care that what they're buying is credit for stolen merchandise?  Hell no.  It almost makes you think we've turned into a country of thieves.

The Truth about the Bony Penis

You know I read a lot of stuff, some of which might rot my mind if I take it too seriously.  This morning, sitting here with my coffee, I chanced upon an article about the baculum.  This is the bone a lot of mammalian males have in their penis.  Humans don't have one, even though some men seem to think they do.  Here's the article, and it's based on research headed by someone named Brindle who doesn't have her doctorate, but seems to be aiming her thesis at penis bones.  She believes that as we became more monogamous there was no longer a need for a penis bone, and so it devolved.  Personally, I think the article reads more like a subtle article favoring one man, one woman marriage rather than about sexual behavior; men don't have a bony penis because they no longer try to bone anything and everything that walks in front of them.  Evidently she has never heard Trump's pussy tape.  Or, perhaps, she just isn't identifying strong enough from the male perspective.  And then there's this article which does tend to question the hypothesis, that monogamy might have less to do with this disappearance, that the baculum has disappeared in human males because there's no longer a need to tickle eggs into the uterus.

For some reason, I found this a rather interesting subject and so perused quite a number of articles, most of which were written by women, and I wondered why so many would find this topic so consuming.  I know there are a number of men who would rather have something of more permanence, of course that would be the ruination of certain drug companies.  I do believe there are already implantable devices on the market.  Perhaps they should take a clue from the Eskimos who already know how to decorate a baculum.

My, doesn't this look like something a Republican would want.

Portrait of Trump

So I had breakfast with my brother this AM.  When I told him I was moving funds from my 401K to more safer investments he looked rather blank, so I explained to him that I was worried about the stock market.  Right now that baby is bubbling like a champagne bottle that's been shaken (by DT) and, I suspect, maybe after his inauguration, the cork is going to pop.  My brother doesn't understand.  He thinks climbing almost 100 points everyday is normal.  He thinks DT is having a positive influence on Wall Street.  I don't.  I'm too old to have my 401K drop like a rock.  I'm playing it safe.
And this whole Russian thing is very funny.  You see DT doesn't understand politics.  The idea that Putin might see him a a dolt, a very rich reality star who believes saying "you're fired" puts the two of them on the same playing field, and he's wrong (of course).  DT doesn't understand world domination.  To him the idea that a foreign government, which has been our enemy much longer than our friend, might want to set him up to knock us down is ridiculous.  DT doesn't realize he's had to file for bankruptcy 4 times because of his own bad decisions.  The truth that DT is a bad man, a very, very bad man who will make us suffer for his own stupidity.  Will he make it through 4 years?  I doubt it.
Anyway, I went to visit my 83 year old Mom today.  She signed herself up for a painting class.  Once a week she goes and and paints a picture.  Spiders.  She's been painting spiders about as well as any 83 year old woman with slight dementia.  This is her portrait of Putin.

He has 12 legs.  If you look closely you can see she's written "not again."  I don't ask.  I took a picture of this one because she likes the blue background.  There are others.  All spiders.  Not all of them have 12 legs, some have 8, some have 6, and one has 10.  Or maybe it's not Putin, maybe it's Trump.  I mean, every time he turns around there's going to be a finger pointing.  Makes more sense, doesn't it?  Trump saying "not again."

Collar this

So, I went to the doctor yesterday and she changed my BP meds - to Lisinopril... and I've noticed a difference already.  No more headachey feelings.  There still seems to be something cooking in the mid-regions but I'm sure that too shall pass.
And, like just about everybody else out there, I watched that video of DT and K West; phony publicity which went beyond the point of being bizarre.  Didn't it look like DT had his devilish black contacts in?  His glances were all calculated to make sure he was blocked right for as many cameras as possible.  And then West did this little puppet thing.  The whole thing looked wrong, and totally purposeless.  I suspect this will be a pattern which will become all too common.
And I have no doubt DT picked Rick Perry for Energy because he's from Texas, oil country, black gold, Texas T... oh, wait, that's part of the theme song from The Beverly Hillbillies and that can't be right.   There must be some reason he chose Perry.  Perhaps K. West told him it was a good choice.
And finally, all the Christmas toys I got for the dogs have arrived, including these:

New collars.  They get a new, different color collar every year.  This year they're reflective yellow.  Sharp, huh?  Big Seig's in on the left, his fits extra large dogs, with necks up to 27 inches.  Lily's is on the right, her's is for more petite dogs, those whose neck circumference only goes up to 22 inches.   And no, I don't wrap their presents.  

Calling Off

So, I'm going to call off sick today.  This is a rarity.  Normally I take personal days because I want to do something personal, not because I'm sick.  Sad to say, I think I am, and not the whiny, baby man kind of sick where I want to be pampered.  My Mom was nurse, of sorts, and so we were never allowed to get sick.
Right now I'm sitting here with a thermometer in my mouth.  That's right, I don't have one of the new, electronic ones.  Mine is old, you need to shake the mercury down, you know, that shiny, silver poison before you stick it into under your tongue.  Even though I know how to read it, I'm not expecting to find a fever - I'm one of those people whose temperature rarely goes above 98 degrees.

Anyway, I have a doctor's appointment for Thursday - my blood pressure is slowly going up with age, so I'll call and see if I can get that changed to sometime today.  This is such a pain in the ass, believe me.

Feather in his Cap

These Republicans do make me laugh.  For years they've been shrieking how they're going to repeal Obamacare.  Now that they managed to get some Russkie Puppet in the White House it turns that they don't have a plan.  You see all they ever really wanted to do was repeal it.  They don't give a rat's ass about the approximately 20 million people on Obamacare.  Why would they?  Most of those people are poor.  Anyway, I saw this in Forbes.  Can you see them spinning in the wind.  It's sort of like they're throwing shit at a fan, you know?   It's all coming back at them.  What else is new ab out the dunderheads.
And it should come as no surprise DT doesn't believe his pal Vlad had anything to do with the 2016 election.  In his mind, Vlad is a strong leader.  Why would a strong leader of a country which has been one of our major enemies for decades do anything to interfere with American Democracy?Perhaps because Vlad knows how easily DT can be manipulated.  He will invited DT to a Russian State Dinner and DT will be all agog, a flutter.  He will change his tuxedo 4 or 5 times because he can't decide which one to wear.  This is how DT's head works.

You see, every time a strong leader pays him a compliment his feels he's is going stronger.  Of course, he's never going to be strong enough to stop producing The Apprentice (if that's the name of his reality show).  In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if DT is secretly hoping to have Vlad as one of his guest stars.  My, now wouldn't that be a feather in his cap.

Split days off suck

This is my day off.  Notice I'm being singular not plural.  Last Tuesday was also my day off.  I have split days off this week because I needed to attend a meeting.  I'm not wild about meetings.  I really hate split days off.  I like to have 2 sequential days off.  They don't need to be Saturday and Sunday.  Tuesday and Wednesday would be nice.  Having off a Wednesday and Thursday would be just as nice.  I never get off on Monday unless I put in a request.  Monday's are meeting days.  We go over numbers, figures, profitability.  We do reports, provide answers and solve problems on Mondays.
When I have consecutive days off I always spend the first doing all of the housework, that leaves me one full day to do what ever I want.  Sometimes I sleep, sometimes I visit with friends, sometimes I take the dogs for a walk (they love the park).  Split days screw that up totally.  I end up doing housework on both days, which means there is less time for anything else.

And while some may thing they're getting two Fridays, I know better than that.

On the brighter side I'm enjoying the Republican Karma.  Obama might have had to deal with the Birthers, but DT will be facing all of those angry people who think he's a Russkie Proxy.  What an idiot.  And, of course, all of those Trumplodites will hating the fact that they just might have put a Commie in the White House.  Stupid is as Stupid does.

The Cluster

Cluster bombs are terrible things.  They destroy over a wide, wide area.  Sitting here watching the DT cabinet form is a lot like watching the assembly of a cluster bomb.  You've got Sessions from Alabama who's a white racist hate bomb.  There's Betsy DeVos who's an Idiot hate bomb (I've read her agenda will be dead on arrival).  And what about Tom Price who's planning on blowing up healthcare?  Don't forget Ben Carson (who's no doubt planning on Pyramids in Kansas for grain storage).  We have Scott Pruitt (who really seems to like scorched earth policies).  We've got Mnuchin and Ross....  I believe they made most of their money on the great recession, bleeding the debt of others for all it was worth.  All of these people, a lot of whom are billionaires, don't have an inkling of what makes the average man tick.  Yet millions of average men and women voted for the DT because he told them what they wanted to hear.  They have yet to comprehend we are watching a cluster bomb being assembled.  And when the explosions start a lot of people are going to be hurt.

But that's okay with conservatives because DT is a Republican...  Those voters don't seem to understand that their party wants to blowup Social Security, that they want to dynamite Medicare.  There are a lot of people who voted for DT because they believe the Republican House and Senate can control him... Wait a minute... I'm laughing too hard at that joke.

Of course I might be wrong, you see.  There may be no cataclysmic explosion destroying millions of lives.  Nope.  What we may actually be watching is one of your good, old fashioned, cluster fucks.  In fact, I wouldn't be too surprised if behind the scenes they already got out their little knives and are beginning to stick and jab.  You see, there are many types of clusters, and you can bet that DT will be Tweeting every gory detail.

Oh, and by the way, I understand they're having problems getting entertainment for the Inauguration.  I don't know why they just don't get Scott Baio to do impressions.

Beautiful

Yesterday, as I was walking through the greenhouse after opening up for the garden cashiers, I saw some pink flowers over where they don't belong.  The area is listed for tropicals but is mostly cacti.  Being the inquisitive sort, I had to investigate.  These were normal flowering plants, I could tell that, and there were a multitude of small, pink buds and flowers.  To my surprise, they were Jade Plants.  You know?  Little fat leaves.  I had no idea they ever flowered.  But these two were in full bloom.

So I went to our plant guy and told him how amazing this is, to have jade plants blooming.  And he said, with a broad smile, "Yes, aren't they just beautiful."

Yes they are.

A tale of 2 Johns... and this

I have 2 Johns working for me, one older and retired and a bit of a curmudgeon, the other younger, a school teacher who needs to always be petted.  This past weekend we chose our Cashier of the Month and the award went to the older John.  He pissed and moaned, but was obviously tickled pink.  One of the things we do for the Cashier of the Month is have everybody sign and apron, at the end of the month it goes to the Cashier.  So I take the apron to John the Younger and he says "I don't sign aprons," and, of course, my response was "well, you're not a very good team player, are you?"  And I got the glare of death.  Like I said, young John likes to be petted, he likes to be the center of attention, he drops names to impress people.  He ended up signing the apron, but I suspect he's now shifting into death spiral mode in regard to his job as a cashier.  He's just not special enough.
Anyway, on our Prez elect, I saw this thing called Trumplethinskin which couldn't be more apropos.

I mean, there are so many holy crap moments, from Pizzagate (Flynn Junior is another asshole at large) to reading that DeVos education agenda is dead on arrival, to the Secretary of State selection fiasco, and all of it show off our new Prez-elect's incompetence.  Accountability is not something he is very good at.

Young and sleekly stylish

Don't think I've ever posted any pictures of me from my Navy days and, well, since we're heading into the holidays thought this might be a nice time to do so.  This is me and my Grandmother.  I was fresh home from boot camp at Great Lakes and was preparing to head off to 'A' School.

Don't we all wish we could stay young, sleek and stylish?  By the way, this is the original Lily Daubert.  The one I named Lillian D'Aubert after.

The Returns Theif

Yesterday there was an incident at the Returns Desk.  First of all, you have to know that the clerks there were very busy.  In this day and age, everybody returns things.  Every day.  Constantly.  Little things and big things.  Nobody wants to pay for something they're not going to use.
Yesterday a customer brought back a large tool box.  He had loaded it on a flatbed cart to make it easier to move.  And he said to the Returns Clerk, "I bought this, and then my wife saw the same thing at Costco for a lower price, so she bought that one and I'm returning this one since I don't need two."  He handed her his receipt, she scanned it, and the box sitting on the flat bed, and he went on his merry way.
However, there was a problem.  The tool box he was returning was large, very large, so large, in fact, it was in 2 boxes, not one.  And it was expensive, over $700.  And he only returned the top, much smaller half.  Of course the Returns Clerk didn't know there were 2 boxes.  Nothing on the packaging says there are 2 boxes.  He kept the much larger, lower half, the one with all of the drawers, and the casters to roll it around.  The Clerk should have questions the $ amount to begin with, that's a lot of money to spend for a tool box that's only 18" high and 4 feet long.  When I asked her about it she said, "but he had a little boy with him."  My response?  "So, crooks are crooks, kids are great decoys."

Anyway, this thief, with a kid, kept the bottom half which he will probably sell for about $200.  Did he know what he was doing?  Of course.  If she had called him on it he probably would have claimed to not know there were 2 boxes, and that he'd have to go home and get the bottom half, and leave with the top half.... and go to another store and try the same trick.  Just think, that kid's going to grow up to be just like him.

Fluffing Donald

An old Navy buddy of mine was all ecstatic about Trump's Carrier deal...  "all of those jobs he save!"  When I pointed out that all of the details hadn't been made public he replied, "But you take that $7 million tax break and divide it by all those people keeping their jobs."  He ignored the fact that even that horse's ass Sarah Palin said Trump was starting to waltz down the path of Capital Cronyism.  All he could see were the jobs... nothing else.  I evidently went to far when I said that this was a clear cut case of fluffing and nothing more. There was no response.  But, this is the truth.  This whole episode was designed to make Donald look good for the camera, nothing more.  This is nothing more than political porn.
Get read, there's going to be a lot of it.  He is ready for his close-up, Mr. DeMille.  Prepare for the propaganda.  His ego will need to be stroked and teased daily; gently cupped and caressed for public consumption.  And the more things fall apart, and believe me, that will start shortly, the more theatrical these events will become.

To be quite honest, I would not be surprised if he and his team don't come up with a Reality Show called Mr. President in order for his loyal Trumplodites to hear him say things like "you are bad," and "I am good," and "I am making American great."  Things you will never hear him say are "your Carrier air conditioner is going up in price," or "we will now be heating all of our Federal buildings with Carrier furnaces."  But that's okay, isn't it?  At least he'll be looking good.

New drugs

So, yesterday was busy for me but then it was a day off work and I'm not one to slack around, though sometimes I would really love to.  First thing, at 0720 was my Ophthalmologist appointment.  The Travatan Z drops work, my eye pressure is down, now ain't that great?  Well, maybe not.  You see my insurance says they're too expensive, oh, and if you're wondering, I have Anthem Blue Cross.  They also want to know why a less expensive drop wasn't tried first, and I can understand that.  If they ask, I'll tell them why.  Originally I was going to get a different test / sample drop, however, when the assistant opened the storage drawer none were to be found.  All gone.  So instead I was given the more expensive Travatan Z.  My friend Patty, who works in insurance says this is an "old trick," running out of older, less expensive drugs in order to prescribe newer drugs which, while being more effective, are also more expensive.  How expensive are these drops?  $165 for a 2.5 ml bottle.  That's smaller than my thumb, and I have teeny, weenie hands.

Anyway, while the Ophthalmologist and the insurance company battle it out, I called the Veteran's Administration.  Veteran's Insurance.  They're a little slow sometimes, but they're the way to go if you want a new drug.  $8 a month copay, that's it.  I'm so lucky to have this 2nd option.  Most people would end up getting screwed over.