And I ran, I ran so far away

... well, it wasn't really so far away, only .8 of a mile, and it was more of a jog than a run, and my legs actually survived.  They're a little achy now, but I suppose that's to be expected.  I learned a couple of things, too:  music is important, I decided to listen to the Fallout 4 soundtrack... it wasn't until about 13 minutes into it, when you start killing things, that there's enough percussion to set a pace which isn't good; Treadmill 9 is the one I prefer; the guy with the mustache looks good in a tan towel.
And isn't it nice to see that another ring has opened up in the Trumpalooza Circus, Mike Flynn wants immunity.  Remember when this guy was leading chants to "lock her up?"  This is worse than the heights of hypocrisy.  And you know the only reason the Idiot in the White House fired him was because one of his advisers told him to, which I find tremendously funny.  My feeling is that this Idiot is going to make Nixon look like a alter boy.  I wonder if Mikey realizes that if this were Russia he'd have been poisoned a long time ago by some rare radioactive isotope?  In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if he's not only asking for immunity, but for round the clock protection for himself and his family.

My brother is trying to get some people together for a white water rafting trip... in July.  I didn't tell him, but that in July you'll most likely be floating on tubes rather than shooting rapids.  We don't really have decent rapids in this state, so the intensity of the rapids is totally dependent upon the spring runoff, and, of course, this past winter we didn't have a lot of snow, except for one storm.  I told him I'd do a day trip.  He'd like to turn this into a three day extravaganza, ain't going to happen with me.

Emma, Brexit, and Runner's delight

After saying that Emma Watson gave the weakest performance in Beauty and the Beast, I thought that perhaps I should see if she's done anything, other than the Harry Potter movies which was anywhere close to being successful.   Nope.  Figures.
I saw that Idiot Theresa May initiated the UK's exit from the EU.  I find it interesting that during the voting the majority who approved of this mistake tended to be middle and lower class citizens, many blaming immigrants, saying they were stealing jobs.  Sound familiar?  In case you're stumped, think Mexicans.  This is interesting because and article in The Guardian makes it pretty clear that Brexit will not stop this influx.  That's funny.  I'd read earlier that a number of the financial institutions now locate in the UK will move to the continent taking jobs with them.  Oops.  The sad thing is that both there, and here in the US, there are a number of people who believe that these nationalistic tendencies are going to pave the way for better wages.  Wrong.  There will always be a lower class gripping and complaining about money.  Nothing is going to change that.  It's simple economics.  Wages go up, so prices go up.  Prices are never going to go down because the prices you pay, are somebody else's wages.  This is how it goes.  No one is going to skip their yearly raise just so your prices stay the same.  Yet all these people believe that both the Idiot in the White House and Brexit are going to make this happen.
On the really bright side, I'm probably go for a run at Planet Fitness tomorrow in the AM.

On the Monday after joining, I decided to use one of their treadmills.  Well, I hadn't been on a treadmill in almost 16 years, and I didn't know how wobbly I would be - remember, my lower three vertebrae are fused because of the arthritis.  However, one of their associates, a very nice ginger man with a beard patiently showed me how it works - quite similar to the Eliptical I have here at home.  I had no problem putting in 30 minutes at 3 miles per hour, so tomorrow morning I'm going to give it shot.  That's right... I'm going to run.  

Dan Stevens, Belle of the Ball

So, I went to see "Beauty and the Beast" last evening.  Over all I thought it was good, some of it being very, very good, while some of it being, well, simply okay.  Most of the 'okay' dealt mostly with the casting.  One of those whom I was expecting to find terribly miscast was Luke Evans as Gaston... and I'll admit he did a good job, except for his interactions with Belle, who seemed to find it easier to shrug off his advances rather than find affront with them.  Kevin Kline was fine, except, again, in his scenes with Belle: she too often seemed more the dutiful daughter rather than the loving daughter.  Dan Stevens was very good as the beast who softens and discovers that he has a heart. the transformation scene at the end, however, ripped the curtains off of this fantasy and reality set in.   Dan Stevens is prettier than Emma Watson.  In fact, her reaction to seeing him as a handsome human is... shall we say muted.  Where the audience should have gotten a "holy shit, this guy is beautiful" moment, Emma gave us a smile.

That's right, casting Emma Watson as Belle was a mistake.  Not that she doesn't have moments, but mostly it's those around her, with whom she's interacting, that have the moments.  When the beast takes Belle into his massive library, you're expecting an "Oh, My God" reaction... nope, not here, in fact she acts dumbstruck rather than awestruck.  Her singing is fine, but whereas the Beast discovers he has a heart, hers is, I suspect Emma was thinking more about the buckos going into her bank account rather than earn them by giving us a believable performance.

There were a couple of other minor issues I had, one with costuming.  I have no idea who made the decision to put Dan Stevens in baby blue at the end, but it was a mistake.  He comes across as too foppish.  And the gay scene all those Crazy Christian Moms were complaining about... which one?  There are a number of them, and they're not quietly hidden away.

So, there you are.  In the end the Beast wins his way into our hearts while the start of the movie seems to prefer playing her part as though she's a stand-in.  That's right, Dan is the Belle of this Ball.

First the legs and now the Abs... and other stuff.

So, I went to see my Mom today, as I do every Wednesday.  I suspect she doesn't have a lot of friends at Graysonview; her personality overrides friendship since her 2 defining characteristics are:  1) she is always right and has no problem telling you you're wrong; 2) above all else, you need to feel sorry for her and therefore cater to her.  Among 95 other seniors, many of whom share these same traits, she tends to keep to herself.  She also suffers from dementia which means that most of her memories are a mish-mash, and time is constantly warping back and forth.  None of this bothers me too much.  There is not a strong bond between she and myself, nor is there much of a connection between her and my brother and sister.  This is how it goes.
Anyway, I was expecting my legs to be sore after spending 30 minutes on the treadmill yesterday, and, they aren't, which is nice.  I did pull out an Ab Workout book which was practically my Bible in my younger days.

I guess the Idiot in the White House when on some sort of Twitter tirade, no surprise there, blaming conservatives for his recent defeat.  Now isn't that just like a Republican?  Evidently even Dick Cheney the Russkie thing is... well, pretty bad, quite possibly and act of war.  And, of course the GOP really wants this to be gone... well, sorry buddies, it ain't going to happen.

And this just in, Gallup says the Idiot's approval rating is still on the decline.   You know, you would think that simple, common sense would tell the GOP there's a stench emanating from the White House.  Duh, no one ever accused them of having commons sense.  They are a failed party with a failed president... how low will they go?  Who knows?  Just hold you noses and keep back, when this baby goes it's going to be one really, huge, I mean really huge, explosion of shit.

Planet Fitness, Eggroll in a Bowl, & the Stock Market

Well, today is Monday, my 2nd day off in a roe.  Big Seig is standing on the bed barking out the window... he does that sometimes because he likes to bark.  He also barks when he's outside, in fact he will walk around barking at nothing in particular.
Anyway, yesterday was busy.  I started up my membership at Planet Fitness.  They just opened a new one in what was my old Giant Supermarket.  It's close. .8 miles.  As Timmy (that's right, attendant's name is Timmy) took me on a tour I noticed how the layout was very similar to the one on the Carlisle Pike with the only difference being that their locker rooms were along the back wall rather than the side wall.  There were also, as is to be expected from a newly opened gym, a lot of fatties there.  I'm not being derogatory here, just stating a fact, and the sad truth is that in 2 - 3 weeks they will stop showing up.  Too much work, you know?
Yesterday I also made Eggroll in a Bowl - which is pretty much the eggroll filling without the wrapper so it isn't deep fried.  However, instead of pulling out my Yang Can Cook Book, I looked on line....   Weird.  Who ever would have thought that so many very white, non-Asian women could come up with so many variations of the same Chinese recipe?  I mean it's just cabbage, carrots, ginger and garlic doused with a little soy sauce, yet there's a Paleo version, and a low carb version, and a high energy version, and satisfying version... and they're all pretty much all the same.

This is what mine looked like

And as I was checking out Bloomberg this AM, I saw that stock markets around the world a taking a hit thanks to the GOP's failed Health Care Disaster.  An interesting point is that here in the US that big, big rally was fueled not by savvy investors at all; rather it was caused by what they call Mom and Pop investors, mostly Trump supporters who know absolutely nothing about the Stock Market but believed that Idiot's message.  So they will be the ones taking the hit.  Tough Shit.

You will notice, too, that I totally ignored the fact that Conservative News Sites are crapping all over themselves because... Conservatives just failed in a very public, huge, huge way.  In fact their failure was huge it's probably going to smack the hell out of the Stock Market.

Sunday Chores

Today is Sunday, supposedly a day of rest, but not for me.  This is my first of 3 days off - that's right, I was scheduled for a mini-vacation... right.  Think I'm going to spend the next couple of days playing video games?  Not quite.  I have chores to do... well, some of them are more than chores.  This doesn't mean I'm only going to soil my dainty fingers doing housework, nope, not in the least.  I've been slowly scraping the paint off of my kitchen walls - it's very, very old, and, as the Idiot in the White House might say if he knew anything about painting, a very huge project.  So, that's on the docket for today, and maybe tomorrow.
And speaking of the Idiot in the White House, there was an interesting article in the NYT this AM questioning whether he was going to embrace the crazies of the American Caucus the way they want, or move towards the center, maybe even work with the Democrats.... (that's right, some fool actually wrote that).  The idea is that with the crazies he's never going to get enough votes to pass anything, however by re-positioning himself to the center might get some of his agenda through both the House and the Senate.  To be honest, I started chortling after the first paragraph.  Right, like the Idiot in the White House is going to disenfranchise himself from every thing he loves, abandon his ego and his sycophant advisers.  Anyway, it was a funny article.
In the mean time, it's time for me to use the vacuum to suck the dirt out of the living room rug.

This is not me, both of my vacuums are canisters

And then later this afternoon I'll sit down and play video games, Mass Effect Andromeda, and, of course, I'm playing as a hottie again.

Anti-Hero of the Hour - American Freedom Caucus

So, Trumpcare failed.  I was expecting there to be a Twitter overload around 3 AM, and there wasn't...  Cynical me says they new the ultimate outcome on Thursday and delayed the actual announcement until Friday to keep the stock market from going into a death spiral.  And the reason there was no Twitter Storm?  The Idiot in the White House did what he's always done in the face of losing battle:  he walked away.  That's right, in his mind he filed it under legislative bankruptcy and it has joined the other bankruptcies of his past, in a dirty closet.  And the Anti-Heroes of the hour were not some fine, upstanding congressmen who realized what a disaster this legislation was, rather a group of self-centered, ultra conservatives were the ones who gave the Idiot a one finger salute.  You see the legislation, as it stood, didn't go far enough.  People... human beings with pre-existing conditions were still going to be covered, and prenatal care, among other things.  These conservatives hate that their tax money is going to be spent for these things.  You see, the American Freedom Caucus is really, really greedy.  If you think Golum had a thing for the Ring, you should try and get between members of the American Freedom Caucus and their money.
In fact, this group has become the Achilles tendon of the the GOP, they will hobble every piece of legislation that doesn't kiss their greedy, social conservative asses.  That's right, these are the people who totally hate Planned Parenthood among a litany of other things.  They are uncontrollable.

And if the Idiot in the White House wants to push any legislation through Congress, he's going to need to bend to their will... or else get remove them from power.  In fact, if the GOP had any intelligence (which doesn't seem likely) they should have already started working with possible candidates who are less... strident in their political beliefs.  Of course we know that ain't going to ever happen.  The Republicans are too desperate for their votes in order to stay in power.

So, for right now, the American Freedom Caucus members are Anti-heroes.  Isn't it nice to know that they might actually be good for something?

The Ultimatum

For those who don't know, the Idiot in the White House has issued an Ultimatum, sign the shitty legislation which most people will call Trumpcare, or else it's a dead subject.  I find this almost hysterical.  The "Do Nothing" party is being told to do something.  The problems with this are multi-fold.  For some the bill doesn't go far enough, some know think it goes to far, others realize that if they cave now they will lose all credibility as a governing body. And, I suspect, most of them know the end result of passing this legislation will allow the Idiot in the White House  to say that "he" ended Obamacare.  In fact, that is the only reason he's given his Ultimatum.  He doesn't care about the American People, about Health Care, about insurance and insurance coverage.  All he's interested in is feeding his ego.  The "Do Nothing" party created this monster with their years of hate mongering and now he's sticking them with their only little knives.
This is a minority party that consistently proves it should never be in a leadership position, have leadership responsibilities simply because they have no idea how to hold themselves accountable.

They like to call themselves the party of Lincoln, but honest Abe would never shit on the American People the way this "Do Nothing" party does.  This party has declared war on main stream America, attacking anything and everything and anyone who objects, who wants to clarify and make these haters more transparent.  And the Idiot in the White House has given this bunch of greedy hucksters an Ultimatum; he wants to be Hukster in Chief.  So, will they cave, or will the stand their ground?  This is the GOP failing in a very, very public way.  Good for them.  Let them eat turd cakes for a while.

So, will his head explode?

He being the Idiot in the White House.  You see, sometime today the House of Representatives is going to vote on the legislation that will repeal and replace the ACA.  They're doing it today because the Idiot made a campaign pledge to his Trumplodite hoards.  Just about everybody, including some of those voting, has pretty much said this bill is a legislative cluster f**kover for the American people.  Of course, the Idiot in the White House doesn't care about the American People.  He doesn't care about their opinions, or what they want, or what they feel they need.  Neither do a lot of Republicans.  The idea that some of their tax money might be helping someone pay for health care makes their blood boil.  We're talking about THEIR tax money, those cheap sacks of shit.
Unfortunately for some, their own political careers are at stake.  Constituents over and over again, all over the country, have been telling their representatives how much they hate this legislation.  The question of the hour is, will they listen to those whom they are supposed to represent, or to the Idiot in the White House, who really only wants to boast that he killed the ACA?  They also know how much he lies.
Many of those voting today were behind the Dump Trump campaign that failed.  Well, here's their chance.  Give him what he wants and probably kill their own political careers, or make his head explode.

Actually, I suspect, the better question might be:  are they going to be spineless and cave, or discover that they have actually grown a pair over night? 

And don't forget that dandy Randy Paul, who's trying to bolster his own conservative cred by cheering on the 'nay sayers.'  

In the end, it wouldn't surprise me if this kettle of worms gets pushed to one of the back burners where with the other GOP pots of shit where it can simmer for years.

My nuts

Yesterday we had our inventory.  I had to sacrifice my wonderful schedule in order to be at the store bright and early.  I was one of 4 assigned to do administrative tasks - Interim SKU's.  I got to go out after the counters had done their jobs and just verify that the SKU's they had counted were the actual ones in the boxes, and bays, and bins.  Sounds fun, right?  Wrong.  You see we can spend hours decontaminating a bay (yes we call it that), making sure everything is where it's supposed to be, and a customer and and shoot that organization to hell with just a stroll down the aisle.  They pick things up, they set things down, rarely from where they picked them up.  And the counters pick up the top item in the box, or bin and scan that to do their count, and if they scan the wrong item?  Well, that was my job, verifying SKU's.
Most of the reports were small, two pages, maybe three, except for one that was really thick.  Twenty-one pages thick.  And, of course, the other 3 people checking SKU's were avoiding that report so I took it.  You guessed it, I ended up with nuts and bolts;  three entire bays of nuts and bolts, mostly nuts.  Oh, yeah, there were a couple of lock washers thrown into the mix, but over all I spent a good deal of time playing with what I started calling "my nuts."  You see, every bolt can have at least 3 nuts, and I'm not including the shiny stainless steel nuts because they hang around with their own bolts.
This meant I had to spend a lot of time down on my knees because for some odd reason, we merchandise our nuts low to the ground, which of course put a strain on my back and neck.  This is how it goes sometimes.
Yesterday's only saving grace was coming home to the dogs... and finding my copy of Andromeda waiting for me in my mail box.  While it loaded into my X-box Slim, I took a nap - it's a big, big game.

Anyway, this will be my last working inventory, the only reason I had to do reports was because they foolishly scheduled a couple of managers to go to a school.  Next year that shouldn't be a problem.  

Crazy Christian Mom boycott fails

This is what happens when a minority mind set is only popular among a minority; when a majority mind set rolls their eyes and says "Get over it."  What am I talking about?  "Beauty and the Beast" broke Box Office records this past weekend.  The terribly funny thing about this is that these people don't understand their failure.  I learned this when a bunch of Crazy Conservatives decided to boycott the Oscars.  An old Navy friend of mine said he was going to boycott this past February's ceremony.  When I asked if he ever watched them, he said "no."  So I explained that unless the boycott has an effect, it's useless, a failure, a waste of time.  And he said, "no it isn't, I'm part of a boycott."  Those Crazy Christian Moms are part of the same mentality.  Succeeding isn't important, just as long as your are a part of the protest.
Now, I firmly believe in standing up for you principles, making sure your voice is loud and clear in regards to your beliefs.  However, these protests by these varied Crazy Christian groups consistently fail to change anything.  No one is jumping on their band wagon, in fact, no one is really paying too much attention to their parade... except for they, themselves.  And they pat themselves on the back, congratulating themselves for standing up for their narrow definition of virtue.  They do not understand America, and the world is passing them by, not that they care.  They prefer to stumble around in their maze of illusion rather than glimpse a glimmer of truth.

Hard hearted people they are.  A group who will end up dying off because their hammer their beliefs into a solid, steel door used to lock out real compassion.  They will never understand, but will still congratulate themselves for their faulty attempt.  Change is beyond their comprehension.  Does the majority really care?  Nope.

"I'm having my nails done at 9"

When I managed the paint department, most of the customers I dealt with were nice, some were assholes.  The same is true as a Specialist, though these assholes tend to be more pretentious.  Take the couple I sold carpet to yesterday.  She is an RN, I know this because RN is part of her email address.  He appears to be some sort of businessman.  He had his hair in a brush cut and dyed a pale blonde in order to hide the gray (with highlights of Trump orange, if you know what I mean).  I didn't really sell them carpet as much as he decided to "do this."
As part of the process of setting up the measure, I needed to gather certain information about their house: the room, approximate size, current flooring, subfloor, year the house was built, are there condo rules?  That sort of info.  Every time I asked a question he gave me one of those "you should already know this information" looks, definitely trying to make sure I knew just how low I was in this whole process. And, of course, they were both pretentious as hell.  When they were choosing the date for the measure, she had to check her calendar... she actually said about one particular date "well, I'm having my nails done at 9, but that only takes an hour so I should be home."  And the date was 2 weeks out.

When it came to paying for the measure, she asked if we had the chip reader and then, after I told her yes, inserted her card in upside down.  This lead to a private conversation between the two of them.  I say private because I was totally excluded.  And it was really weird.  I mean really.  It was almost as if I had suddenly disappeared off of the face of the planet.  I did say something... and I was totally ignored.  

They were so caught in their own specialness nothing else really mattered.  People like this make America bad.  Unless they know you from the Country Club, you're an inferior. They're going to spend over $2000 to carpet their family room.  I don't mind taking their money.  Early in the conversation, when I was telling them about our free install, I said that their total purchase needed to be over $699.  His comment to me was, "it will be much more than that."  Impress me?  Not in the least.

Trump's Awkward Meetings

He seems to have a lot of them, especially with World Leaders.  Remember Abe, and the handshake from hell?  And yesterday there was the meeting with Merkel where she asked him if he wanted to shake hands he all he did was glower at the floor.

Do you notice how she looks the part of a World Leader, comfortable in the presence of a fool, and he looks the part of a petulant child who's got a scolding, so uncomfortable sitting so close to a... well, World Leader.  Not only a World Leader, a woman who's had multiple meetings with his idol, Vlad Putin.  Makes you wonder if perhaps she told him in private that Putin thinks he's a putz.  Or maybe she said something like 'Du bist ein Dickhead.'

Anyway, it was just one more in a series of awkward meetings, which will most likely continue on a regular basis.

And Tillerson, a man who's as much of a bubble head as the Idiot in Chief, made some sort of veiled threat regarding a preemptive attack on North Korea.  He, himself, seems to have had his own awkward meetings with Leaders in both Japan and South Korea, spending barely an hour with each before scooting over to China.  In private I wouldn't be surprised if the Chinese ask him if it's true that Trump really pays to watch hookers pee... or maybe they'll just show him the video.

Or maybe that's what Merkel brought up.  Maybe she told him that Vlad is showing it to all the World Leaders.  Perhaps she even told him a golden shower joke.

Expect more of these awkward meetings because he is the joke of the world, free or otherwise.

St Patty's, wiretapping, and corned beef

Well, it's St. Patty's Day.  My friend Patty was actually born on this day XX years ago.  Is she going to drink any green beer to celebrate?  Probably not.
Remember the Russian woman to whom I sold carpet?  Evidently she's made allegations stating that the "installer" behaved inappropriately.   We suspect this is her attempt to get free carpet.  Interestingly enough, the "installer" called while on the job and complained that she was making him feel uncomfortable with her comments.  And she told me she was only there for a brief period because she had to leave for a doctor's appointment.  We are all getting bad vibes from her.  I suspect she might be a friend of Trump... well, maybe not, just a loser trying to get free carpet.
Anyway, I see the Idiot in Chief has now changed his story, and that he'd heard about the wiretapping on Fox News and read about it in the New York Times... and the GOP is not backing him up.  Of course the guy who wrote the article that set his orange hair ablaze in the first place claims the sources are impeachable.  Which means they're now saying the New York Times is reliable.  These guys need to get their shit in one sock.
And, of course, the Idiot's new budget wants to torch everything Conservatives hate... everything.  The stupid thing is never going to be passed.  DOA.  What surprised me about the cuts was how much Conservatives truly hate society.  They do.  They don't care about health care.  They don't care about things that hold America together, that make a America American.  They are a very two dimensional party, no depth what so ever.
Still, today is St. Patty's day.  And I made a corned beef brisket.

I like corned beef.  I make mine in a crock pot, no boiling here.  I don't like boiled meats,  I don't do a lot of spices either, just an onion and a dash of vinegar.  Oh, and I cut off most of the fat and feed it to the dogs.  They get to celebrate too!

Snow, Weis, & Andromeda

Here in Harrisburg we got between 18" and 20" of snow which will, because we're zooming into spring, be gone shortly.  Today the temp is supposed to go up to 36 (F) and tomorrow hit the mid 40's with drizzling rain.  Tammy, the UPS driver who lives across the street, let me use her snow blower.  Because the snow was so deep and wet, however, ended up being more work than simply shoveling it; the wheels spun uselessly and you had to keep lifting it up and pulling it back in order to get traction.  Call it a lesson learned in futility.  Call me odd, but I don't mind shoveling snow.  I'm in shape.  I tell people it's free cardio and they look at me strangely.
I sent an email complaint to the Corporate Offices of our new Weis Market - their point system doesn't work for me.  You only get gas points if your purchase total is $50 or greater.  That only happens when I buy the big bags of dog food.  Because I eat a lot fresh fruits and vegetables which don't have a long shelf life, I usually shop twice a week.  And I'm not alone.  A lot of seniors use a trip to the grocery store to get out of the house, my Mom did that, and they never spend $50.  Or, if you stop off on your way home from work to buy dinner... no points are earned.  So, I sent them a complaint.  If there's something you don't like, complain, silence gets you nothing.

And next Tuesday, Mass Effect Andromeda will be arriving in my mail box.  I had originally request off but, as luck would have it, that's our inventory day.  However, instead of working my standard shift, I'm scheduled 7 - 4 so I can run reports, which means I won't be able to pop it into my X-Box Slim until around 4:30... but that's okay.  I'm off on Wednesday.  Ain't life grand!

It's... Here

The snow is here.  And it's deep.  And still snowing.  The wind is blowing it into deep drifts.  And, of course, the dogs love it.  This might give you a bit of an idea.  They go out, and then they go come, and they go out, and then they come in.  Tried to upload a video, don't know if it will work or not.  Guess will find out.  If it works, Big Seig is, of course, the bigger Boxer.  Last August he weighed in at 108, but was still growing.  Compared to him, Lily's 56 pounds is tiny.

I saw where Breitbart posted something negative about Paul Ryan.  Remember when I talked about a bloodbath?  Well, you might want to put on a rain coat and grab your umbrella.  His Trumplodite hoards may have voted the Idiot in Chief into office, but Steve Bannon's the wanna be dictator.  With his ugly soul, I suspect his ruthlessness will become more and more apparent as time goes by, and more and more True Americans will turn on this party and this rat.  He's a loser who's been riding a wave of hatred right into the rocks.  Tough shit.

Anyway, I'm off today.  Earlier I baked some drop biscuits - I suspect I'm going to be burning up a shit load of calories later when I dig out.  That's fine.

Here... it... comes.

So, I guess we're now supposed to get about 12" of snow.  I'm off, so it doesn't bother me.  I suspect a lot of other people will be taking advantage of it and taking a day off.  This is how it goes.
Anyway,  I went to my new Weis this morning.  The aisles are wide, the fresh produce is arranged well and amply supplied, however I wasn't impressed with their frozen food section.  Their prices are comparable with the Giant across the road, with some being higher and some being lower.  There is much wider variety, however, of just about everything.  Giant doesn't give you as much of a selection.  I have to learn where everything is for right now.
And I saw that the Idiot in Chief has muttered something about being open to suggestions in regarding health care... people are pointing out he talks about health care, not insurance.  This whole thing is rather funny.  In fact there is so much funny going on.  Like the fact that those who are going to be hurt most by the repeal of the ACA are Trumplodites.  Of course, if you were to ask them who their primary care physician is the vast majority would look at you quizzically,  and then mutter something like "we go the the Emergency Room when we get sick."

And, of course, those boneheads in the White House have taken a cue from the Idiot himself and are making all sorts of rash promises.  No doubt this is because empty promises are enough to satisfy the Trumplodite hoards.  

Oh, and supposedly, according to John McCain, more shoes are going to drop regarding the Russkie influence.  Those crazy Conservatives, how like them to hate the Democrats so much they'd climb in bed with Putin lover.  

Anyway, off to work.

Let it snow

So, I understand there's a Nor'easter moving up the Atlantic Coast... actually the storm is about 100 or so miles off the Atlantic seaboard, and we're supposed to get some snow... maybe.  Nobody knows how much.  Mass confusion reigns at the National Weather Service... and Accu-weather is hyping this storm's potentials.  Right now they're forecasting 6 - 10 inches from Monday evening thru Wednesday afternoon, which is about 1" - 1.5" every six hours.  That's right, this 'even' is going to be spread out over 36 hours.  People are talking about it because of the potential.  We pulled all of our snowblowers from the overhead - a sale is a sale.  I'm off Tuesday and Wednesday so this is pretty much a moot point.
In fact my only concern is Tuesday evening, I'm supposed to go to the movies - either "Logan" or "Kong Skull Island."

I've never been an X-Men fan and don't really know if I'm that interested in seeing the end of one Wolverine franchise mutate into a new Wolverine franchise.  The Kong movie, on the other hand stars Tom Hiddleston and he wears tight shirts.  John, over at Going Gently, seemed to be a bit distracted by Brie's tits, which might mean Tom isn't sporting as much of a bulge as I'm anticipating...  

Let's look at some fails

Before I head off to work, I thought I list a few failures that are happening, both in politics and in the land of carpet specialty.
Probably the biggest Fail approaching rapidly is that of Trumpcare.  DOA.  Those Tea Party Conservatives, the ones the GOP spoon fed to get their votes, are never, ever going to vote for any sort of health care package.  Let's be honest hear, when it comes to spending money, Conservatives are cheaper than hell.
Then there's the coming Budget of the Idiot in Chief.  DOA.  For the reason listed above.
And how about the Russian Connections?  A doesn't go by when there isn't some new revelation, some new dirt.  I'm beginning to wonder if there wasn't single soul, just one individual, on the Trump Team who wasn't chatting with the Ruskies.  Nope.  Nada.  No one.  Holy Shit, it now seems as though they were involved with Guccifer himself.

And speaking of Russians, I sold some carpet to a Russian woman who is going through a divorce.  She chose a really, really cheap carpet and really, really cheap padding because she's selling the house and wants to get as much as she can while at the same time spending as little as possible.  She called the Flooring Department last evening.  The installers didn't put new carpet in the upstairs hallway.  So, I pulled out her handy dandy plan and told her she had said she didn't want that area carpeted.  Evidently now it looks shitty.  She actually said to me, "well, you would think you would take care of people who make mistakes."  Well, we are going to take care of her.  We'll get that area carpeted... but she's going to have to pay extra because now the installer is going to have to make a 2nd trip.  Total fail going on there.  Oh, and I forgot to mention that 2 of the 3 times I've talked to her I'm pretty sure she was hitting the potato wine.

Anyway, I'm off to work.  Have fun!

It's a snowy day here in Central Pa, melting on the roads but not on the grass.  Went to Giant earlier, may have been my last time... I had coupons.  Will probably hit the gas station at least one more time, I have .10 a gallon of gas.
Last night was interesting, to say the least.  One of my fellow associates told me that she's pregnant - she already has 3 so this will be her 4th... with 3 different fathers.  She told one of the paint associates she let herself get pregnant because her current 'boyfriend' wants to father a child.  Stupid woman, or maybe she's smart.  She's already getting  support for her other 3, and, most likely down the road she'll be getting support for this one.  She owns her home, a little ranch house, the result of a former marriage settlement.  So, maybe she has a future working part-time.
The jobs report for the last month is in and it looks good (don't you hate when that happens).  However, the replacement for Obamacare is... well, not going so well.  There is legislation, but remember, these are Republicans.  They had a chance to work with a Obama on health care and refused, said they were going to provide their own legislation and totally failed.  So I'm sure the Idiot in the White house will used the Job Report to try and cover up the bloodbath.  And I'm serious about that... the bloodbath.

I also had a chance to watch the first episode of Feud, you know, the thing about Bette and Joan.  I actually liked it, from Joan's plastic seat covers to Bette's constant smoking.  I've always been a Bette fan, more so than Joan, who was a movie star who desperately wanted to be seen as an actress.  Bette was an actress, through and through.  That spotlight at the end, on Bette in her Baby Jane makeup?  That whole scene said it all.

Rockets

So, yesterday was International Women's Day.  I was surprised because I was expecting to see this as a day of protest and it wasn't, rather I saw a celebration of women and their accomplishments on their difficult path to equality.  More power to them since they still have a difficult journey ahead of them, especially with the pussy grabber in the White House.
I went to visit my Mom yesterday and one of the first things she told me was that she was going to need a new television, her just wasn't working right.  She has a Samsung (not a smart one) and it's 2 years old, if it's even that.  Picking up the remote, I turned it on and got nothing... tried changing a channel and got a brief picture, but then it disappeared.  Batteries, I thought.  Opening up the back I looked at the batteries.  They were Rockets.  Really.  I kid you not.  Evidently they're manufactured in Australia, and are probably the same batteries that came with the remote.  My brother and sister are taking her to K-Mart today (she loves K-Mart), so I sent him a text telling him they needed to pick up new batteries.  Setting the remote down, I moved the conversation on to her mail, checking to see if she'd gotten any (she gets a lot of 'beg' letters from obscure charities which she tells me to pay, and which I always throw away).  Suddenly, a message appeared on her television: "You are not set up to record this channel."  I suspect she must have pressed the "record" button by accident, and when the channel didn't change pressed another, and another, and another, until the television was lost in confusion.  It worked perfectly from then on.

The new Weis store opens today.  I might stop off tomorrow morning, very early since it's going to be crazy busy.  I have a coupon for $5 off a $25 purchase, which is more than the cost of a big bag of dog food.  I've already applied for my Bonus Card on line, I can use my phone number until it arrives.  Can't wait.

GOP health care is DOA

We have this Idiot in the White House because he has always managed to wag his crooked, little finger at the very things that incited his base:  Hillary, Obamacare, Mexicans.  He was the outsider who was going to make America great again, which actually meant he was going to remake America the way their hate dictated.  And he has always used his enemies to the full extent of their 'hate' potential.  They saw great value in his cheap words.  In fact, he hid his political stupidity behind these attacks. their served purpose to camouflage the fact that he was in way over his head.  Until now.
The Idiot in Chief has signed off on the new, American Affordable Care Act, not because he knows anything about it.  Nope, he promised his Trumplodite followers a health care act in 100 days and damn if he isn't going to give them one.  However, there's a problem... from the Right.  Not that the Left likes the plan, they don't, but the Right hates it.  In fact, many of them are not even going to consider this important legislation, rendering it Dead On Arrival.  The Idiot in the White House, being the political incompetent that he is, will do the only thing that's given him success:  he will attack.  Listen closely and you can already hear him fuming, "but I'm the president!  If I tell them to get behind it, they damn well better get behind it!"  And, of course, he's going to come face to face with a chorus of angry conservatives shrieking "Shut Up Stupid!"

His supporters will turn virulent, damning those elected officials they put into office because they're not backing the Idiot in the White House.

And you ain't seen nothin' yet.  Just wait until they get a gander at his budget.  The shit is going to fly so high you'll be able to see it in Kansas City.  The main reason the GOP is known as the party of "no" is that they've never been able to agree on health care, ever, nor have they been able to agree on immigration, ever.  In fact, shallowly enough, the only thing they have ever been able to agree on is their hate for everything non Republican.  If they can't hate it, they're lost.

We fought the Civil War to free the immigrants & other stuff

And, of course, Ben Carson has now revealed the truth about the Civil War, we freed the immigrants in order for them to find wealth and prosperity.  While everybody was being distracted by Carson, the Republicans rolled out their replacement for the Affordable Care Act.  Now we know why he's in DT's cabinet: he's there to serve as Dr. Distracto, super dumb ass.  Nah, that's not why he's in the cabinet.  He's there because DT wanted a non-threatening, Crazy Christian Black Guy who would appeal to the Evangelicals., being Dr. Distracto is only his part-time gig.
I am off work today, and it's going to be, for the most part, one of those throw-a-ways.  Some bike time this afternoon, a nap or two with the dogs, and a little Gears of War 4.
First thing this AM I was at the Optometrist's office, the pressure in my eyes is good so the drops are working.  He gave me a 90 day prescription, which can be refilled 3 times, so I'm pretty much good for the year.  The nice thing about the script is that I can hand it over to the VA and pay a lot less. - $24 rather than $60.

I stopped by my local Giant Supermarket on the way home and the parking lot was very, very empty.  The new Weis Market opens tomorrow, and might actually spell the end of the Giant.  Because Weis Markets had already owned the land, the New Giant was built on the wrong side of the road.  In PA we have right turn on red lights, and the new Weis is on the right side.  Given a choice, would you rather sit at the red light to turn left into Giant, or scoot right into Weis?  The old Giant building has been split in half, one has been converted into a Planet Fitness, which I will be joining shortly since I don't own a treadmill.  This is how life is.

Null and Voiding Trump

Now, wasn't this past week fun?  Be honest.  I mean, there was a March 4 Trump which was attended by thousands.... that's right thousands... but not in one city.  Trumplodite support couldn't manage thousands in just one city, but they did manage to turn out 40 or 50 here and there.  The Huffington Post had a dose of reality with their report that "Tens of supporters showed up."   To put this into some perspective, GOP Townhalls have been drawing crowds of up to 1000.  Now isn't that 'slap you knee' funny?
And then, of course, there were the Tweets about the wiretapping.  Evidently the Idiot in Chief read something in Breitbart about Obama wiretapping Trump Tower, and Breitbart sourced this article to a "crazy to the right" radio talk show host and published it without any sort of vetting, or verification because it made their blood boil.  And, of course, this article pushed the Idiot in Chief even farther from the path of reality, which is something people really need to pay attention to, this innate ability of his to fixate on the absurd.  Which, of course, brings up the question of his mental competency.  This is a 70 year old fool who relies on ass-kissers to define his reality.  This is about as close to hysterical as you can get.

And here's something else to ponder.  If DT is mentally unbalanced, and either removes himself, or is removed by others from his position, what does that do to all of the Executive Orders and the legislation he has signed.  Does his mental illness null and void everything?  These are things we need to think about since rarely a day passes without another small revelation about his instability.  And what does it say about the GOP, this fact that they don't care how crazy he is, just as long as he gives them what they want.  This is all going to play out very badly for both the Idiot and the Republicans.  And that's exceedingly funny.

Looks like a sperm to me

It's Sunday morning and, as I prepared to jump on the Elliptical for a robust 30 minutes of aerobic exercise, I realized there was a floater swimming across my field of vision, and it looked like a sperm.  It looked a lot like this, except it was black on a light background.

Had I been Franklin Graham I probably would have plucked out my eye, being so afraid such a sight might make me Gay.  (Too late)  And as for those Million Crazy Christian Moms?  Well, we all know they only have sex in the dark, and then only to make a baby, so they wouldn't know a sperm from an amoeba.  

Anyway, it is Sunday, and it being 35 minutes later, I've just completed my cardio.  And since I'm on my way to remaking my body, thanks to a fixed schedule, I've started tracking everything.  To do this I'm using a Garmin Fenix 3 HR (pronounced phoenix). 

I can wear this baby to bed if I want to track my sleep levels... I don't.  I did turn on the notifications app, which lets me keep my phone in my pocket while at work.  Some customers really hate to see associates checking their phone.  In fact, this just does about everything I ever needed in an HR monitor.  The only App that really is pretty useless to me is the Golf App.  Give me a break!  Who do they think I am, Trump at Mar Lago every weekend?

Disney's not so shocking shocker...

In case you've been living under a rock, word screamed across social media about the shocking truth in Beauty and the Beast.  (Take a deep breath... now).  Le Fou is gay.  (Have you started breathing yet?)  (Do you need me to call the EMT's?)
Now, I don't know about you, but I heard that and I... well, I had to scratch my head.  Didn't anybody see the original animated film?  Or, God forbid, even listen to the lyrics?  Evidently not.  Twenty-Five years ago, when I sat in the audience watching his scenes, I thought his sexuality was inherently apparent.  I must have been wrong... no, of course I wasn't.  You can't tell there isn't one Evangelical parent out there who wouldn't have shit a brick if they'd heard their little boy saying "gee, I want to grow up to be like Le Fou."  So, be prepared, because a lot of them are going to start stamping their tiny feet in anger.  A Million Crazy Christian Moms, will probably mount some sort of Crazy Christian boycott, which, like most of their boycotts will fail.

In the end, this movie is going to make a killing at the box office.  Josh Gad will probably be nominated of an Oscar for Supporting Actor.  And as for all of those faux complainers and whiners out there?  Their narrow world will get a little narrower, their base shrink just a little more, and they will fail.  This is how life is.

Metal Clip Rage

Well, even though I'm no longer in management, I still have to deal with irate customers.  Last night I dealt with a couple who needed some tile moved.  First of all, She lied, saying she'd been trying to get assistance for 10 minutes.  Anytime people throw out a time it's almost always a lie - the '10 minutes' is supposed to make you feel guilty, it doesn't.  I wish people would learn this.  And then he said "I was thinking of going to Lowe's," and I ignored him.  There are stupid people who say this to be threatening.... give me a break!  Then they highlighted their stupidity when she laid the tiles out in a pattern of four on the floor and he said "those gray patterns don't repeat"....  I said nothing.  I didn't point out that they were looking at cheap, standard gray tiles and there would be no pattern.
And then there was the man who flew into a metal clip rage.  He wanted to buy clips to hold a mirror to a wall, and he wanted them to be metal.  He had just come from Hardware, where he'd been told that the type of clips he wanted were only sold in mirror hanging kits.  That is not what he wanted to hear.  In Decor we only carry fancy, plastic clips, noting as utilitarian as metal.  He waved his phone at me yelling "here, I'll show you what I want."

When I told him this yelled, "I don't want goddamn plastic."  So... he ran back over to Hardware and grabbed the kit, came back to Decor and, shaking it at me, yelled "I don't want the kit, I just want to buy the clips!" and threw it at me and stormed out of the store.  Now, to be honest, I could have torn open that $12 kit, given him the 4 clips and taken the hit if he'd have been even some what pleasant.  But the moment I showed him the clips carried in my department, he started yelling.  The truth is that he well have been able to buy what he wanted at our competition, or at Walmart, or KMart, or Target, or Khol's.  Instead of doing the smart thing, he chose to fly into his little metal clip rage and create a minor scene in which he looks bad.  This is how life is.

Dunces abound

You know, sometimes I just sit here and shake my head at all the stupidity there is in the world.  Like the dunce and a half who screwed up the Best Picture Oscar, one of them is only half a dunce because she didn't race across the stage and rip that wrong envelope from Warren Beatty's hands.  The full dunce is not going to be terminated.... right.  In a few months he will quietly hand in his resignation.  This is how it works.  He gave CwP a black eye.  Privately he's been notified, even though they may deny it, to start packing up his desk.
And then there are all of the dunces in the DT White House, from Kellyanne, who sat like 13 year old white trash on a White House sofa to the Idiot in Chief, who pretty much gave a campaign speech the other night in a soft... quiet voice.  They're all wearing stupid caps today, really big stupid caps, because the news broke that our racist AG was having meetings with the Russians.  A lot of stupid Republicans are lining up to grab their caps, too.  They would like us to be a nation of dunces.  Maybe if someone sits down with DT and puts it to him in terms in might understand, like those used in a Beauty Pageant, he might understand.  He needs to be told that right now we are the Number One Super Power in the World.  However, Vlad desperately wants Russia to wear that crown, and for that to happen we need to lose the contest.  In fact, Vlad doesn't even want us to be either the First or Second runner up.  In fact, if Vlad had his way, we be disqualified; he doesn't even want us in the building.

However, that's not going to happen.  No one is going to have that conversation with the Idiot in Chief, and even if they did it wouldn't do any good.  You see the Idiot in Chief's dunce cap is really, really huge, in fact it's so huge it hangs down over his eyes and ears.  This is why he's the Idiot in Chief.

Send it back to its hole

So, the Idiot in the White House gave a speech to Congress last night.  I understand the Republicans were besides themselves with glee.  The Democrats treated him the way the Republicans treated Obama.  And Dt said something to the effect of "it's time to put away our trivial fights," and his supporters glowered at the Democrats.  They're so stupid.  Anyone who's paid any attention what so ever to the GOP knew he was talking to his own party.  Unifying the Crazy Conservatives, the Fiscal Conservatives, and the Social Conservatives behind any one plan has always proved to be an insurmountable problem, even though they control both the House and Senate.  Remember W?  He tried the immigration thing and failed miserably.  You see Fiscal Conservatives know how many billions those illegals add to the economy every year.  And you know the Social Conservatives are saying to themselves, "you know, if we could convert them we could grow our base!"
And while the Idiot in the White House was talking, I was playing Gears of War 4, a chapter called Send it Back to Its Hole (and you thought I was talking about DT).  Truth be told, they are both monsters, but one shoots out fiery torpedoes from its chest, the other just stinks to high heaven.

The Monster from the game

If you look closely, you can see a bit of a resemblance. 

Anyway, the GOP is never going to get its act together.  I read that Lindsey Graham (another horse's ass) has already said that DT's budget is DOA because of the $$$.  Which will make the Idiot in the White House look like... well, an idiot.

And, since I like to play games in which I look hot as hell, I thought you might like to see what I look like in Gears of War 4.

Now is that steaming or what?