An Unimportant Conversation

Today I have the early shift, opening the store.  After today I will only have one more left.
Yesterday was busy - it was my day off, of course.  At 0720 I had the old ticker checked out since I'm planning on getting back on the bike much more regularly, and I'm not as young as I use to be.  Went to see my Mom... much confusion there, as far as I know I have no other relatives who have suffered with dementia.  My sister thinks that sometimes she fakes it just a little bit to get attention.
And the Idiot in the White House signed another executive order... and blamed all of the protests on Delta airlines.  I have no idea how someone so damn stupid could win the presidency.  The sad thing is that this is only going to get worse, not better.  I had been praying to all of the gods in the Universe that he not be as crazy as we all feared.  It seems all they've been able to do is shrug their shoulders in despair.  Perhaps it's their way of saying you can't perfect stupidity any better than DT.
And, of course, 2 days ago, back on Sunday, I had to deal with a customer who was running neck and neck with DT in the stupid department.
I was discussing credit goals with one of my cashiers when a woman, looking very churchy in her royal blue cloth coat, walked up to me and said "I need some help with a key problem since you're having an unimportant conversation."    ...I'll let that sink in a while... that's right, she actually said, that I was having an unimportant conversation.  Before I could respond she walked over to the key kiosk where she picked up an inexpensive lock and explained that "I need you to change this lock so it will fit this key I have."  Now while we did have one associate on the clock who could do what she asked, I was not that associate.  She's about to get hit by Karma... can you feel it coming?
I smiled at her very nicely and said, "the associate who does that is at lunch right now, if you want, he can rekey that lock and give you a call when he's finished."

Of course, she didn't like that answer.  In fact, she hated that answer.  She hated it so much she threw the lock at the kiosk and furiously shouted "that does it!" before storming out of the building.  Thinking back, I'm sure my response must have made her feel very... unimportant (karma).

Donny's Dictatorship

So, are we ready for DT to try and set up a dictatorship?  Of course, they're trying to make this whole thing sound rational and, I'm sure, to his Trumplodite hoards, everything makes perfect sense.  But not to the rest of the country.  There were protests all over the place yesterday in regard to his most recent ban.  And they will continue.  And the GOP doesn't seem to be objecting... much.  But then why should they, for a long time they've been praying to get such a person in the White House: a 'take control' sort of guy, who has no problems stepping on civil rights, or the constitution for that matter.  And they have absolutely no idea what they are doing, or how bad both the world and a vast majority of Americans think they are.  To paraphrase DT, he and his administration are bad, bad people.
And why is he in power?  Because complacent voters thought for sure Hillary had it wrapped up.  Well, she didn't.  Because they thought their vote was unimportant, because they thought she was the sure thing, America's racists crawled out from under their rocks and voted in droves.
I suspect things are going to get very bad.  I wouldn't be surprised if at sometime he doesn't attempt to suspend elections to maintain his power.  In the end, he will, no doubt take up exile in Russia.  Everybody needs to tell Donny to shut up!
On the brighter side, I've once again set up the CompuGymMusic Room.  This is what a friend of mine called my work out room back when I was working out on a regular basis.  This is what it looks like:

Yesterday I did free weights, and today some time on the bike.  Things are looking good, at least here.  The rest of the USA is on its way to hell.

Boarding the Left bound train

Well, it's Saturday, and it's my 2nd day off in a row.  That's right, back to back days off, such a rarity for me.
I had breakfast with my brother yesterday and he told me that he's seriously considering becoming an Independent, after a life long dedication to the GOP.  I suspect some of that has to do with his children.  He has 6, by the way.  One has no interest in politics, one has become a devout Libertarian, and one remains a dedicated Republican.  The other 3 have moved to the left, some of them to the far left, 180 degrees is how he described them to me.  I find this all very interesting.
And, of course, the GOP is beginning to grapple with their problem:  they have a lunatic president who desperately wants to be liked.  He wants to be The Most Popular President of All Time.  However, a majority voted against him and, in fact, if people were given the chance to vote again tomorrow, he'd lose.  He'd be crushed.  As time goes on, as his approval rating fails to rise, and as more and more people take a stand against him, his positions will begin to move to the left.  If he digs in and, as the GOP likes to say, hunkers down, he'll end up tieing 'W' for worst president of all time.  The only way for him to be popular is for him to change his stances.  My money says the ego will win out.  I've already read that the repeal of Obamacare is going to stall, probably for two years.  The excuse is to let it fall apart.  However, in 2 years it's very likely we will have a more Democratic Congress, one much less vocally hostile.
I also put on my artys fartsy hat yesterday and made a lamp... or, maybe you'd want to call it a decoration with some lighting.
Anyway, I had this cut glass punch bowl, and another aquarium stand, and some marble tiles, and I made this:

It looks really sharp when the room is darker.  Nifty, huh?

And on the even brighter side, I've only got 6 more days of dealing with Jane and her sagging parts.

Jane's Road Rage

Well, I got to work yesterday and everybody was buzzing about Jane.  Remember Jane?  The 77 year old woman who'd had the vaginal surgery?  Evidently on her way to work, she cut in front of another driver without using her turn signal... and he got angry.  Now, I have to honest with you, Jane has vision problems.  There's something wrong with her retinas.  In fact, she has an Ophthalmologist appointment scheduled for next Tuesday.
Anyway, the driver whom she'd cut off first passed her, and then pulled in front of her and slowed down.  So Jane, being the nasty, old bitch she is, cut in front of him a second time.   And he followed her into the store parking lot, and got out of his car carrying a base ball bat.

Now I can tell you that the list of people who would have swung that bat is very, very long.  In fact, let me be so bold as to say there are people who would pay 50 cents to get in line to swing that bat.  But his guy didn't.  Nope.  He pulled out his phone and called the police.  So Jane called him fucking asshole, and walked into the building.  Now, I don't think the police showed up since they never came into the building.  And if you're thinking Jane might have learned something from this incident, she didn't.  She bragged about it.  In her mind she won the fight.  She doesn't understand that someday, someone is going to swing that bat.

No Bad News Trump

So here it is Thursday and I work a mid-shift.  I only have 2 more early mornings left, next Tuesday and Wednesday.  I can't wait for these bad shifts to be over.
I guess that the Idiot in the White House sign more Executive Orders yesterday...  something all Trumplodites love, however the cracks are beginning to appear.  That's right there is dissension  among the ranks.  The opinion at a retreat in Philly is that DT needs to get in sync with the GOP.  Can you hear me laughing?  Don't these yo yo's realize his Trumplodite followers see them as a big part of the Swamp he's supposed to be draining?  Who did they think they were voting for?  A DT version of Howdy Doody?  Of course they did.  When they went into their voting booth those people saw one thing "Republican."  They voted straight party.  No doubt a number of them believed the House and Senate would be able to control their candidate... well, that ain't gonna happen.
And, of course, DT is starting an investigation in the massive voter fraud that kept him  from winning the popular vote, even though everybody except 'his team'  knows that's a lie.  This 70 year old fool doesn't like it when people say he's wrong.  He doesn't like it when people think he's dumb.  He hates it when people think he's wrong.  In fact, to my mind at least, he seems to be a lot Evilene from "The Wiz."  You know?  He don't want no bad news, even though he, himself is...  bad news.

Ah, well, right now, whether you want to believe it not, we're in a bit of waiting game as all of our Dorothy's gather.  There's going to many, many buckets of water thrown at DT and, in the end, I do not doubt, he will be exiled to Russia where Putin will put him to work cleaning toilets.

The turbulence has started

Remember when I said it's going to be a bumpy flight?  Well, the turbulence has started, mostly with stupid shit, like crowd size.  But then you have to remember that DT is all about size.  The bigger the better.  And now there's the bit about the illegal voters.  He can not correlate facts.  In his mind, if he's won the presidency then logically he had to have the most popular votes (being popular is essential), and if he didn't, well than it had to have been illegals.
And it's going to get worse.
I can't even begin to imagine what things must be like behind backstage, and I'm purposely using the word backstage, because every time DT gets in front of the camera he's putting on a performance.  Like an actor with little talent, however, he only has 2 or three faces:  the grimace, the growl, and the guffaw.  Is it any wonder Kellyanne wore her circus outfit to the inauguration?  I mean, I wonder how many rings are going on simultaneously behind the closed doors.  And we haven't even got a glimpse of the side shows yet.

Today, from what I've read, the idiot is going to issue some sort of Executive Order about The Wall.  He likes grandiose schemes.  Size, remember?  The big wall?  The wall Mexico was supposed to pay for?  The Wall which is going to add to our national debt?  The Wall which is taxpayer funded?  But that's okay.  His fans are happy.  Until taxes have to be raised.  Then we'll hear a different story.

Kellyanne and La La Land

Two more weeks of shitty schedules and then reality begins to set in once again.

I listened to some of the sound bits from K Conway yesterday.  To think she actually said that Spicer had relied on ALTERNATIVE FACTS  in discussing the disparity of attendees at DT's inauguration in regard to Obama's was... interesting.  I mean, most of us knew they were lying sacks of shit before the election, yesterday she came right out and said it.  That may be the only honest thing we ever get from this administration.  Oh, and it looks like she's hung her circus outfit.  I didn't know Barnum and Bailey was having a close out sale.

Oh, and Oscar nominations are out tomorrow - and, of course, I have an opening shift.  The word is La La Land might get as many as 14.  I hope the opening numbers a best song nomination, I'd like to see it done live.

Now wouldn't that be just dandy!

Faux News Falls into The Outer Limits

So, I had the closing shift yesterday which meant I had to miss most of the coverage for the Women's Marches that were held worldwide; only during my break did I manage to catch a couple of clips on my phone.  The reaction of 2 of the Trumplodites I work with was... expected, one (remember Bobo?) rolled his eyes and shook his head, the other said "I hate protesters," and proceeded to enlighten me as to what he, as a true conservative, thinks about protests and liberals.
Then, this morning, as I was scanning through the LA Times, I came across this article about Faux News.  I can't say that I was surprised by this.  Remember, Faux News is owned by Rupert Murdoch, who wants to be a major player in politics, and who is also a friend of DT, and who no doubt sees the election of DT as his Golden Path into American Politics.  In other words, DT has Faux News in his pocket.  When he drops his drawers, Faux News will let viewers know they should get ready to pucker.  All other news outlets are false.  They are phony.  They are bad.  DT and Rupert Murdoch want you to watch Faux News... 24 hours a day.  And DT wants Faux News to become the State Run Media, a thing most dictators control.  That's right, Faux News is going to take us all to The Outer Limits.

For the next 4 years they will attempt to control the Vertical, they will try and manipulate the Horizontal, they will turn the Volume up on what DT likes, and down on what makes him look bad.  Faux News will unscrupulously influence the picture you see....  This doesn't mean they're going to change, they're just going to get worse.  They will try and take a very unpopular president with an extremely low approval rating and deify him in order to keep his Trumplodite followers loyal.  They will fail.  Their ratings will slowly decline as this beast begins to rut his way across the country.

The Sound, and, oh yeah, our 45th

So, I was off yesterday and, of course, it rained nearly all day.
Oh, and I have a cold.  The sniffles started on Thursday, yesterday was runny nose and cough day.  This morning I went out and bought some Mucinex.  Since I don't get sick that often, I have no over the counter meds in my house.  Now I do.
Yesterday was also the day DT was sworn into office.  There were some serious protests, though I don't know why they had to attack the McDonald's, that didn't make anybody's point.  Sadly, there were no flaming bags of shit thrown at his car.  That would have been wonderful.
And I didn't listen to his inaugural address, though I read through the putrid thing later.  George Will, from the Washington Post thought it was bad as well; rehashed campaign rhetoric and nothing more.  And then there was the bit where he channeled Bane from "The Dark Knight Rises,"  DT plagiarizing a Super Villain, now ain't that sweet.  A number of websites were again calling him "Don the Con," which I do feel is very appropriate.  You see, it's only a matter of time.  He say's he's going to strengthen our military, but... well... what would Vlad think of that?  America with a very strong military?  Nyet.
Any way, to help make the the achey, sneezy, runny nose day seem not so bad, I went shopping of Amazon and ended up buy a sound bar for my TV.

Because I'm an Amazon Prime member it's arriving tomorrow, and guess what?  I'm off work again.  Ain't that just dandy?  It's a Klispch, just in case you're wondering, and supposed to be, according to all of the reviews I read, rather good.

Infamy

Brace for impact.

Brace for impact.

That's right, DT gets inaugurated this afternoon.  The world is going to change.  People will be watching their TV's and their monitors... to see how much disruption takes place.  Republicans are jumping up and down and shouting out their hosannas, totally missing the fact that DT is not a Republican.  He has said he's going to build a wall between the US and Mexico... no wall, a fence maybe, and more border patrols...  But then he's made many, many promises over the years that he's either altered or just broken... and then there's this.  All of DT's threats of an import tariff may amount to nothing more than hot air, but then then that's what you expect from a gas bag.
Repealing the ACA is turning into a joke.  Most Republicans hate it because they believe it creates a burdensome tax, and also because the GOP refers to it as Obamacare... and they hate Obama.  However, the Governors of the 31 states which have enacted the ACA, well, kind of like it and realize how bad it would be if the law were to be repealed.  This is funny because a major part of the Republican hate mantra has been "kill it, kill it, kill it."  Looks like they may have screwed the American people really bad, but then they've been doing that for a long, long time.

In the past, if a business venture went south on DT he would write it off and claim the loss on his personal income tax.  Being President is not running a business but neither he, nor his Trumplodite supporters understand that, there are just too many variables.  This means he will shut things down that aren't working in his favor.  Americans will be hurt.  The Republican Party will be hurt.  This 70 year old man is going to do some serious damage.  He will initiate trade wars and prices will go up, and people will bitch and complain.

Be prepared.  This will be a day of infamy.

Donald Trump - Dopamine Junkie

Well, the good news is that I start my new, fixed schedule on February 6 - the shift is 10:30 - 7, and I can not wait!
The bad news is that we have a president elect who's a dopamine junkie.  Notice that I don't use the acronym.  Every time I hear PEOTUS I think of some really, really bad sexually transmitted disease... admit it, doesn't it sound really, really scary?  He has PEOTUS.
Anyway, DT has really, really low approval ratings, which might be equal, or actually worse than having PEOTUS.  One of the reasons for these ratings is his inability to stop texting, most Americans hate it.  Unfortunately for most Americans, he's not going to stop.  This is the result of his addiction to dopamine.  You can't actually be addicted to dopamine, but can become addicted to the action which initiates this neurotransmitter's response.  The response to a text can trigger this response, or a Tweet, and it's not the Tweet itself, but rather the response.  And for DT, the zanier, more incoherent, outlandish the Tweet, the more responses he gets and they kick in his AK47 neural transmitter gun.  That's right, he's a dopamine junkie.  The louder the response from the crowd, the better he feels.

Sadly, this means he will never lose his phone.  For DT, that would be like a heroin addict going 'cold turkey.'  As long as people respond, he will Tweet.  The only way to stop him is to take away his phone, and that will never happen.  We can only pray that someone, somewhere finds away to stop him, otherwise he will Tweet us all to death.

Send in the Drones

Well, it's Monday, and it's a holiday, Martin Luther King Day, and, of course, I'm working.  This week's schedule is shitty.  I'm a mid today, open the store tomorrow, a mid on Wednesday and then open the store again on Thursday.  I'm off on Friday, and no, I'm not making the 80 minuted drive down to Washington to throw flaming bags of shit at DT's motorcade.  Inauguration Day will be, I suspect, a day that lives in infamy.  If what I've seen on the Internet is true, at least 393 protest permits have been issued by the city which equates to a lot of angry people.  I have no idea how many people have signed up for DisruptJ20 but even if there was a count I sure it would be radically off.  There are going to be so many protesters there.
And last evening, while I was playing Skyrim, I started to wonder if there was some anonymous group out there who might be planning to Send in the Drones.  I mean, they would really be disruptive, you know?  Buzzing the crowds, those in the stands, maybe even DT himself.  Wouldn't that make a great television shot, DT ducking to get out of the way of a remote controlled drone.  The main goal is to disrupt the entire event, to make DT look as bad as possible, to embarrass him.  He is such a load.

These drones don't have to be big, either.  Can't you just visualize armed Trumplodites pulling out their loaded weapons and firing blindly at these quickly moving targets?  Chaos would erupt.  This is what happens when a loser manages to squeak in to the presidency through the back door.  The Republicans did it once before and learned absolutely nothing.  But then for them it's not about governing, or serving the American People, nope, it's about a minority group dictating to a majority.  All of this planned disruption is about putting them in their place.  They are basically caretakers until we can get another good Democrat into the White House, and they need to understand this.   The majority is speaking.  

Pussy Hat Brigade

Well, it's Sunday, and, supposedly a day of rest... and I've got lots of things to do around the house.  My schedule for the next 3 weeks is pretty crappy.  I can not wait until I get my fixed shift.
As I was reading the news this morning I came across this article on Pussy hats.  This coming weekend, many, many women are going to be in Washington DC to protest the inauguration of DT.  And, I suspect, a lot of them are going to be wearing Pussy Hats.  If you'd like to knit one, the pattern is here.  Wouldn't that be so neat?  Seeing a sea of pussy hats walking down Pennsylvania Avenue.  Disrupt.  Disrupt.  Disrupt.

I think it's rather amazing that in regards to the vast population of the United States, a minority of them ruin the lives of the majority.  And evidently that majority is moving.  Twenty Seven groups have applied for permits to demonstrate on Friday.  You can bet that there are more, they just haven't applied.  They will be coming from many, many states.  Some will be wearing their pussy hats on Friday, some will not.  Will the riot police be called out?  Possible.  Trumplodites hate everyone and everything that does not worship their master, and about 900,000 are expected to show up... of course, that figure may be inflated.  A friend of mine said that he wouldn't be surprised if they actually move the "swearing in" ceremony inside, where it's safe.  I also wouldn't be surprised if DT finds his Twitter account overwhelmed, maybe even knock it off line.  If you really want to piss off this asshole, blow up his Twitter account.

In the meantime I'm waiting to see the Pussy Hat Brigade.

The Specialist

So, yesterday was busy.  I had the day off and filled with all sorts of fun stuff, starting off with a visit to my Orthopedic Specialist at 0730.  Arthritis, you know, but just a check up, no problems.  It is odd when he says the word "degenerative' though.  That means some day everything is going to fall apart.
And then I went to my local Giant grocery shopping.  And after that I drove across Shady Hill Road to interview at my soon to be local Weis Market.  I had applied to be a fish monger but they have other ideas.  The HR Specialist did a little oohing and ahhing when I told him I managed 29 cashiers in the winter but that the number increased to 44 during the spring and summer
While I was bragging about myself, my phone started vibrating with an incoming call.  It was my Store Manager calling to tell me how much money I'd lose when I step down from my management position.  Better than I thought.  I'll get a fixed shift, either 9 - 6 or 10 - 7, both would work well for me.  So, sitting in the parking lot of my soon to be local Weis Market, I said yes.  This means I probably won't take the job at Weis if they make an offer.  And financially my "take home" pay is not going to change.  Right now I have a high percentage going to my 401K, so all I needed to do was drop that deduction by 12%.  And what am I going to be?  A Specialist.

That's right.  I'm going to specialize in flooring... and blinds... and tile.  This means I'm also going to have to learn to drive a forklift.... be afraid.... be very, very much afraid.

Anyway, I had a long conversation with my friend Betsy last evening about the approaching Trumpageddon.  She doesn't understand that starting next Friday things are going to being unraveling for the GOP, or that DT is surrounding himself with people will very shortly be at each other's throats.  You know?  Like Kushner and Bannon, the almost orthodox Jew and the Anti-Semite.  Lot's of harmony there.  

Well, I'm off to work.  Need to study up on my hard woods.

Trump's Golden Showers are just beginning

No, I did not check out #goldenshower... I don't have a Twitter account.  But isn't this whole thing hysterical?  I mean think about it.  We may have a president elect who's paid prostitutes to watch them pee... and supposedly there are videos.  There's an hypothesis out there implying the Russians are behind this controversial dossier that an British ex-spy has put together in order to further destabilize the American government.  That wouldn't surprise me.  Vox has an interesting take on DT's long history of almost amorous attraction to Russia, so those allegations might be true.  And he has married Slovakian models twice, the last of which might have had a bit of a private practice on the side, if you read the gossip papers.  And he does like the color yellow, or yellow orange (too much milk in the diet?).  As if things weren't Karma-lizing for Team T, Fox News defended CNN.  This is not good for DT, nor is it good for the GOP.  Of course, perhaps there's another theory we should consider, that the Republicans are actually behind this Golden Shower business.  Remember, they tried to Dump Trump and failed, and they'd rather have Pence in the White House.  What better way to piss DT out of the picture?

You bet they are!

Honestly, DT's approval rating is one of the lowest ever recorded for an incoming president, which me this can only be bad news.  And it will get worse.  He's not only a dirty old man, he's clueless.  The Republicans will accomplish little of their agenda.  In fact, I do not doubt there are already many in the party truly wishing that Hillary had won.

Trump's bad Karma

Well, it looks like the Honeymoon is over.  Many News organizations (except for Fox) are beginning to cite this new Quinnipac Poll in regard to failed President Elect's popularity.  Some are calling his serious drop in ratings 'buyer's remorse.'  Me?  This is how Karma works.  Karma is not only about revenge, though many believe so, it is more concerned with fixing mistakes.  If your Karma is bad and you survive, you will become a much better person.  And Karma is a 2 sided blade:  Hillary had to lose in order for Trump to win, and Trump's Karma is so bad.  His bad Karma has encompassed and overwhelmed the bad Karma of the Republican Party and these mistakes need to be fixed.
He fooled a lot of people with his phoniness, but he's been phony for years and nobody cared.  Many though he was entertaining, a Reality TV Star infused with almost total irrelevance... and now he's our President Elect.  Now, in the morning when people are looking at themselves in the mirror while they brush their teeth, they're going to pause and mutter "oh, shit."  This is their Karma.  Our Karma will make us stronger.  Trump's Karma will...  well, get out the clown face.

He should know things are going south when his nomination for Attorney General says Trump's comments in a 2005 tape amount to 'sexual assault.'  Ooops.  And other news, whether fake or real,  which says that the Russians have enough dirt on him to blackmail him in to doing what ever they want?  Believe me, that's not even the cherry on top of the sundae.  His ratings are in a leaking submarine heading into a dive.

Will we survive as Americans?  Of course, we have broad shoulders, we have strong backs, we are not as stupid as Donald Trump.  Will he survive his Karma?  Nope.  When he won the election his Trump Train veered into a long, long tunnel... that's blocked by a landslide.  Things are only going to get darker for him.  This is his bad Karma.

Fasting?

Well, I'm going to have blood drawn to day at work.  Yeah, it's one of those evils that comes with my job, especially if I want that old discount on my insurance.  This means they want me to fast... for 9 hours... and drink plenty of water.....  Right.  I began going to the VA for my health care about a month ago.  They're very good.  They're cheap.  The only reason I didn't dump my work insurance is because I have a specialist or two I feel comfortable with and didn't want to change.  Dr Wabnick, from the VA, is working to get my cholesterol down, and my blood pressure.  This is how it goes.

Anyway, I'm not fasting.  I ate breakfast.  Also coffee with whole milk.  As I said, the only reason I'm going through with this is for the discount, which will knock over $600 off of my insurance payments this year.  And, of course, when they ask me if I've been fasting I'll lie.  I'll say "yeah, stick me with your little needle."  The things we do to save a buck.

Revolution is a Liberal Concept

I went to see "Rogue One" last night and was... surprised.  Where as the original "Star Wars," Episode 4 as it is now called, was a Space Western, "Rogue One" is a Space War movie and is, without a doubt, the darkest chapter in the "Star Wars" saga.  The first 6 films were kid friendly with cutsie aliens, and though this latest chapter has aliens they are not cutsie.  "Rogue One" is a movie about revolutionaries, and their revolution, as are all, is bloody.  There are no adorable aliens designed by the marketing department here.  And it is good.  Instead we have freedom fighters who will assassinate if need be, who will sabotage, who will strike at anything and everything they believe to be evil... ie The Empire.  There is no neat and clean Millennium Falcon in this movie, or space slugs, or cafe scenes in this movie.

And as I was driving home afterwards I started thinking about Revolution and those who create it, and those who join up, and those who fight against it.  Even though many, many conservatives would like to put their label on our Founding Fathers, those men were anything but conservative.  Revolution is a liberal concept.  During our revolutionary war, the true conservatives were the Tories and the Loyalists, who did not want change, who wanted to remain steadfast in their loyalty to the throne.  If you don't believe me just look at our constitution.  "All men" is all inclusive, liberal and even today, revolutionary.
"Rogue One" is a revolutionary film which is far from happy.  Characters you care about die.  They sacrifice their lives for a cause which they believe is true.  This a movie about fighting back.  Millions of people in America have gone to see it and for many, I suppose, a bit of an awakening.  "La La Land" may have won a shit load of awards at the Golden Globes, but "Rogue One" may end up being the most influential film of 2016.

Sunday Funday??

Well, not quite.  I get to open the store at 0700 so I'm getting ready to jump into the shower - how's that for too much info?
The day will be slow.  Winter time is always very slow for home improvement stores in this neck of the woods (for those who don't know, that's an idiom).  I am going to go see "Rogue One" this evening.  I don't mind going to the movies when they are at near capacity, for some films that's great, however a movie like this which draws massive amounts of kids?   Nah, I'll wait until they've all seen it and then go.
I was wondering if DT is going to have a motorcade from his inauguration to the viewing booth for the parade... I know they've lined up at least one marching band.  If you remember way back, to when W. Bush was inaugurated, there were problems: protesters along the route with signs, people throwing eggs at his limo.  I'm sure someone has mentioned to DT he's going to get the same treatment... well, let's be honest, it'll probably be worse.  If he does choose to take the motorcade. I do hope they take his phone.  I mean, can you imagine the Tweets?  "Bad people throwing eggs.  Bad, Bad People.  Terrible people.  No respect.  Terrible.  Very Bad.  Very Very Bad.  People throwing very bad stuff at my car.  Horrible.  Simply Horrible."

Honestly, it might be rather amusing.

When size matters

So, I bought a new mattress for my futon - this one is 8" thick as opposed to 6" and has inner coil springs.  Size matters.  At one time I had an expensive sofa in the living, unfortunately one, or both of the dogs, couldn't tell the difference between the sofa and a super, duper stuffed dog toy.  Now I have a futon with disposable mattresses.  The last one wasn't damaged that badly, but I really wanted something that was thicker... bigger, if you know what I mean.  And with this one, I also bought a cover, something durable, with a pattern.  In a few years, when the dogs settle down more, I will once again get myself an actual sofa, till then the futon will have to do.

On the entertainment side of things, I watched a bit of NBC's "Emerald City," last night, in fact I made it through the entire first hour before the commercials got to me.  The writing is okay, though I cringed when Toto got his name.  The cast is, for the most part, decent, including some guy by the name of Oliver Jackson-Cohen who evidently doesn't have a brain, but does that matter when you're 6'3"?

However, as I said, the writing is... well, let's say uninspired and dumbed down, and, of course, there were all of those damn commercials.  I don't understand the mentality of people who will patently watch something which has been chopped to shit by advertising. but then.  These are, no doubt, the same idiots who voted for DT. 

Bobo's Fantasy World

I read that Brexit is running into some problems.  I saw on Bloomberg that the Pound has dropped 16% in value.  I feel bad for those who voted against it.  In the UK, as here in the US, puddleheads carried the day.  This just goes to prove that Dumbfuckistan stretches way beyond the American boarders.  What's really sad is that these Trumplodites (here in America) are totally clueless.  They don't chose to educate themselves.  They actually believe America is in a sad state, that the economy is horrendous.  It isn't.
On a daily basis, I have to deal with several Trumplodite cashiers.  One, whom I shall call Bobo, believes that on January 20th "heads are going to roll."  That's right, Bobo said that.  He also said that on January 20th "we're all going to start making money again."  For the record, Bobo is 65, his wife is retired.  By career, he is a Physical Therapist whose full time position with Pinnacle Health went part-time about 2 years ago (that's why he got a job as a part-time cashier).  Bobo believes everything DT says.  Bobo thinks that on January 20th his full time job is going to come back.  Bobo is a fool.

Bobo is angry because Pinnacle Health made a business decision that effected him personally.  The fact that he makes money from a private physical therapist practice doesn't play into his thinking.  He wants his job back.  And DT said that as president he's going to bring jobs back.  DT lied, and Bobo believed his lies.  Reality is going to be very difficult for Bobo.  He most likely will never really understand just how foolish he has been, that he'd been suckered into this fantasy world by a man who's an expert at schmoozing fools.

The tip of the iceberg

I've been laid off from a job twice in my life, more than most people.  The first time was when Woolworth went through bankruptcy.  I was told how hard the decision was to terminate the jobs for myself and 136 other people.  The decision was made because of bad management.  When International Paper moved my job to Poland I was told daily that it was a hard decision, that it was a business decision, there was nothing personal in it.  And now millions of idiots have voted to put a businessman in the White House.  And not just any businessman, one who has declared bankruptcy 4 times because of bad business decisions.
The Truth is that DT has made the hard decisions.  He's been responsible for the business decisions which insure the products his companies sell are made overseas.  Not once did he say "nah, screw the  profit, let's make it in America."  If he owned Carrier?  Those jobs would have stayed in Mexico.  And now he says he's going to bring jobs back?  I have no doubt he will, shitty jobs which get paid minimum wage.  Of course, in a number of states the minimum wage has gone up... you can bet he's going to work hard to roll that back.  Look who he wants to put in charge of labor, Andy Puzder, who's not to hot on minimum wage in general, who has said that immigrants work harder than Americans.

DT has made what business likes to call "hard decisions."  They favor those two words because of the difficulty implied, as though they understand the hardship they are putting people through; losing one's wages, one's healthcare, one's means of survival.  Give me a break.  What all of those Trumplodites who voted for DT fail to realize that in the end, the only person important to DT is DT.  You can bet he's going to continue to make the "hard decisions."  The fact that he's delusional is going to become more and more apparent.  If you thought the clown parade was bad, well, DT is just the tip of the iceberg.

The cost of making Money

So, yesterday we weren't as busy as Corporate thought we were going to be... this was to be expected; not all Americans see a holiday as a day to put themselves deeper into debt.  Corporations don't understand.  They expect continued growth, in fact their yearly budgets reflect a slowly, continually rising effect to consumers.
Here's an example:  2016 just ended and a tradition has evolved in which just about everybody and their brother does a "Memoriam" tribute.  For the entertainment industry, nothing tops the one done by the Oscars.  People like to watch them.  One of the worst was on NBC News.  I thought I'd watch that one and was surprised to find out I'd have to sit through a 30 second commercial.  Wrong.  I didn't watch it.  I find it sad somebody at NBC, which is owned by Comcast, decided they were going to make a buck over dead celebrities.  Somebody in that organization actually calculated how much revenue they were going to make by forcing people to watch that 30 second commercial.  When that person passes, I believe that before the funeral services begin those mourners should have to sit through a 30 second commercial for Handy Wrap, or perhaps Crest toothpaste.
Costs are continually rising, you know, they need to make money.

My Mom is in Greenfield on Graysonview, a Senior Living facility.  Right after Thanksgiving I received a letter from them saying I needed to sit down with the administrator and go through her 80 page contract before December 12.  While I was sitting there, initialing and dating every one of those 80 pages, I asked if her rate was going to go up and he said "no."  Last week I received a letter from their corporate headquarters which stated that, per the contract I had just signed, all they needed to do was give me a month notice before raising her rate... and of course her rate was going up.  This was all calculated in advance.  This was also why I had to sit down with the administrator and initial and date a new contract.  And, of course, he didn't point out that little 4 sentence paragraph about the "month notice."  She has the money in the bank so while I was irritated, I wasn't royally pissed off.  What pissed me off was the fact that they wanted me to sign an agreement to the increase and mail it back to their corporate headquarters... they even included a self-addressed envelope.  However there was no postage on the envelope.  And that's what pissed me off.  They were too cheap to even put a damn stamp on the envelope.

Anyway, I didn't mail the envelope back to them.  I dropped it off at my Mom's facility and told them they could mail it to corporate.  They weren't happy about that, no doubt be cause they would have to pay the postage.  Costs are going up constantly, bit by bit, percentage point by percentage point and all too often the only thing they reflect is a profit increase.  It's not about the quality of the service, it's about making the money.

Working New Year's Day

That's right, I get to work today.  This is because there are idiots out there who have nothing better to do with their lives than go shopping at a home improvement store on a Holiday.  Oh, yeah, they'll be there, though not in force.  There are no special sales today.  I can't repeat that often enough.  However, this is something a number of knuckleheads will fail to realize until they are in the store.  The sales are over.  Today is the day people are supposed to begin saving for next Christmas.  I'm not saying nothing is going to be on sale, we always have something on sale, that special deal which keeps repeating over and over again ever few weeks.

They do bring in food for those who are scheduled to work.  Sometimes it's... pizza.  Now, how's that for a holiday meal.  In the past they've also brought in... Subs.  Tasty.  Sometimes they get them from Subway.

Anyway, as you can tell, I'm really, really excited.

Oh, and for those who missed it, DT tweeted out his New Year's message yesterday.  He directed it at his "many enemies."  He is totally clueless, no doubt the result of too much hair dye and spray on tan.  As with most crazy people, he will only get worse, especially when he realizes how many enemies he truly does have.