Out for Delivery - Health Care Fail

So, my new Garmin scale is out for delivery, it should be sitting on my porch when I get home from work this evening - then I'll have to set it up and climb aboard.

LOCATION	DATE	LOCAL TIME	ACTIVITY
Harrisburg, PA, United States	06/29/2017	3:36 A.M.	Out For Delivery
	06/29/2017	1:06 A.M.	Arrival Scan
Louisville, KY, United States	06/28/2017	2:29 P.M.	Departure Scan
Charleston, TN, United States	06/27/2017	11:46 P.M.	Origin Scan
United States	06/27/2017	11:55 P.M. (ET)	Order Processed: Ready for UPS

Something else that's most likely not going to be 'out for delivery' is the GOP Health Care turd that some aging white guys put together hoping that a lot of other white guys would vote it into existence.  Wrong.  And, if you spend a little time thinking about how terrible this piece of legislature truly is, you will realize that it was destined to become a failure.  Oh, wait, now they're talking about reaching "across the aisle."  Duh.  The real problem with this Conservative piece of garbage is that it's not meant to fix anything, the motivation behind it is purely political on so many levels.  Take McTuttle:  His constituents see him as being a damn good Conservative.  They see him as doing what he said he would... it's those goddamn moderates and centrists of the party that are screwing up his agenda, which is exactly what McTuttle wants, that and to be re-elected.  He can be as conservative as they want because he knows this horseshit will never make it to the Idiot's desk.  

Republicans have been playing this game for a long time, this political variation of bait and switch, and they all do it.  They pander to their base with proposed tax cuts that know will never, ever happen, and it's always... somebody else's fault.  They come up with a Healthcare plan that would force their constituents to eat shit sandwiches if it was ever passed because McTuttle, and Toomey from PA. and Rand Paul, and the rest of their ilk know it will die.  This means their constituents will never have to deal with the conservative hell.  This is how Republican politics works.

Weighing in on the GOP, boobs and all

So, I ordered a Garmin Scale yesterday which should be arriving tomorrow.  As for my Worthings' scale?  I'll probably give that away.  My biggest issue with that scale was the reliance on percentages for recording things like fat weight, water weight and muscle weight on the app.  Example:  you  have a great cardio and sweat like a pig (something I tend to do) and then you weigh yourself.  On the scale you're going to get the weight for all 3 in pounds however the app converts lbs to  % so at that point in time you water % can be lower but that's going to make either your muscle or your fat % higher.  If you're trying to build muscle and reduce fat, the only relatively clear picture you're going to get of your muscle weight is when you weigh yourself which makes the app useless.   I guess the Worthings (Nokia) scale and their app are fine if you're not really serious.

And I saw that McTurtle pulled his health disaster before letting it come to a failing vote.  Well, that was to be expected.  Brookings has a really good take on just how ugly that piece of legislature is... was.  And when those idiots come back in early in late July they're going to have to start working on the budget, which they booted way back when they didn't have enough votes to pass the wretched thing.  And if you think the Idiot in the White House and his boobs had problems with health care, wait until they try to start dancing through that field of land mines.  Can't you hear the Idiot now?  "Paul... Paul, walk over that way, see if you blow off one of your career legs... oh, and take off your shirt, if everyone's looking at your chest they might not notice you're missing one of your fiscal feet."  Just wait and see if this country doesn't run out of money.

The GOP needs more Happy Chemicals

No cardio this AM, just strength training at Planet Fitness; no hoodie guys either, just the regulars, one of whom is a man with a mustache who doesn't seem to have any formal routine, just random equipment and free weights which doesn't really help you to accomplish anything.
I am going to hand off my Worthing's scale to a friend and get a Garmin.  This morning I weighed myself, went downstairs to start the coffee, and when I got back upstairs nothing had been updated, so I weighed myself again... and gained half a pound in 5 minutes.  Now, there is always going to be a variation in weight, but one half pound?  And if it can't at least be somewhat consistent, then what's it doing to the rest of my information.
And, of course, the Senate is still putzing around with their version of the ACA repeal.  Isn't it a hoot how conservatives, when they're not in control of the House and Senate, brandish their fists shouting, "we're gong to change this!  we're going to give you tax breaks!" and then, when they get control do nothing?  That's because their constituents might not like the end results.  Spineless is what these GOP voices are, nothing more.  They need to do what they promise and then deal with the end results.  If they get voted out of office?  Well, then they'll know just how wrong they were.  This doesn't mean that their crazy base isn't going to vote for them, but the majority of voters?  You see, that's where they constantly screw up.  They need to put up or shut up.  The odds of this repeal legislation passing are slim, and then it's got to move back to the House where the crazies there will kill it.  This is why conservatives are so phony.  This is why the Republicans are the 'do-nothing' party.'
Tomorrow morning I'm on the Eliptical again which means those little endorphins are going to smashing into my little gray cells again.

Perhaps if we could get some of those Crazy Conservatives on the treadmill, at a high rate of speed, for an hour or so, they might be able to pull their collective heads out of their ass and not be so damn hateful.  Actually, we know that will never happen.  In fact, I'm surprised they haven't cherry picked something out of the Bible to deride exercise, and use that to outlaw the Happy Chemicals.

 

A day like any other?

Well, today is Monday and it's my first day of work this week, but then I have tomorrow off, and then I get to work for another 3 days, and then another day off.  This is how life is in Retail.  It's worse if you're in management, I know.  They have some overnights coming up, all of them, for overhead bay maintenance - that's when you get on an Order Picker or Electric Ladder and lift yourself up into the overhead to see what's hiding up there.  I no longer have to do that, which makes me soooo happy.
The Supreme Court is to let loose with some rulings today, which should be interesting.
Oh, and the Health Care debate is going to be heating up.  In a sad sort of way I'm hoping that the GOP gets the votes and passes this hate festival.  You know that when the Koch brothers say it doesn't go far enough when it comes to dismantling medicaid millions upon millions of people are going to be hurt.  Maybe when Conservatives have to start spending their own hard earned dollars in order to keep Granny in the nursing home they will learn.  Of course, the Do Nothing Party will most likely keep doing what they don't do best and do nothing.
I did another 48 minutes of cardio this AM - interesting how, when you're speeding along and your heart beating about about 95% max, odd things seem to pop into your head... well, they pop into mine at least.  Like this morning I started thinking about religion and wondered what if Jesus was not whom everybody thinks he was, I mean in the Jewish faith he's a wise man, maybe a prophet, and I think the same thing holds true in the Muslim faith.  But what if he was actually more like the embodiment of Brahman?   Of course my endorphins were pinging in and out of my little gray cells like little rockets at the time, still this might be one of those imponderables.

Maybe it's a good thing I only do cardio every other day.

The Numbering of Days

So, my Sunday morning workout at Planet Fitness went well.  Sunday mornings are fairly empty, especially at 6:30 AM.. even more so if you're there just for the weights.  I don't know why it is some people think Sunday mornings are a good day to sleep in... I never get to sleep in, dogs, you know.  Big dogs that jump around on the bed at 5 in the morning because their little bladders are full.
There's not a lot of news on Sunday morning either.  Mostly what's posted are the leftovers from Saturday.  Even the Idiot in the White House seems to think that Sunday morning is a good time to lay down his phone for at least a half hour or so.
Of course the Idiot's plan to repeal the ACA and replace it with Trumpcare is... for lack of a better word, failing.  At last count there were at least 5 Republican Senators who were going to vote nay, and even if they do manage to get something passed, then it's got to go back to the House for approval.  Or, as I understand it, they work in tandem, some sort of joint session.  Either way, this thing is going to tank just like everything else the GOP works on, in fact for them it seems as though failure is the only option.
Let's be honest here, if the Idiot weren't signing Executive Orders on a regular basis, this administration would be accomplishing far less than I do with my morning bowel movement.
Evidently one of my flooring associates had a death in the family, his sister-in-law died and he told somebody, nobody really knows just who, that he was going to be taking bereavement leave (3 days).  Of course nothing was put into the system and his first day he was listed as a 'no call, no show,' and when they called him to find out what was going on, he was... where ever... and explained the situation.  Without knowing he was going to be off, we were very short handed.  He was a kitchen designer with a problem until 2 weeks ago.  His problem was that he was designing kitchens that weren't selling, which is why he's now in Flooring.  He's not happy.  I think his days are numbered.

Chew on this

So, yesterday was my day off and, for the most part, it rained: showers and thunderstorms; which means a lot of what I had planned to to outside just did not get done.
I went to visit my Mom and while we were talking about my nephew and his girlfriend (they're having a baby) she said, "oh, but they're so young, but then I was young when I had David, and he turned out all right," at which point I said "Mom, I'm David," and she looked at me and said "oh."  My sister and I laughed about it later, at least I know she thinks I turned out all right.
And I had my teeth cleaned yesterday, unfortunately by Dr. Marinak, he's old, and fat, and retired, and die hard Republican who loves the Idiot in the White House.  Dr. Marinak is also an Idiot, and that' is only the 2nd time in the 12 years I've been going there that he's actually checked my teeth, usually it's Dr. Glossnar who's very good and, wisely enough, non-political.  To show you how much of an Idiot Dr. Marinak is, he asked "so, how much Home Depot stock do you have in your portfolio, it's doing really well?"  Responding that I didn't have any Home Depot stock in my 'portfolio' he burst out with "why not, I have it in mine."  See what I mean, Idiot.
And I also heard the news from Carrier yesterday, you know, the furnace and air conditioning company the Idiot bragged about?  Remember?  Keeping jobs in the USA?  Well, the layoffs there are starting on July 20.  That's right, Carrier is not keeping jobs and hiring for new jobs, they're laying off workers and sending jobs to Mexico where the minimum wage is $3.99 an hour. Boy, I'll bet you're glad that you don't work for Carrier, or Ford, or GM, since they all seem to be preparing to lay off workers.

Oh, and in case you didn't know, the Senate has released their Health Care plan.  They're cutting a lot, and (surprise, surprise) also giving a tax cut to the wealthy.  Oh, and it's not like they really believe in 'trickle down economics,' the tax cuts are more of a 'I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine' campaign funding issue.  You know?  If you give a rich guy a tax break the odds are quite high he's going to contribute quite a bit to your re-election campaign.  He wants to keep you in office, and in return, you're going to have to give him another tax break.  I'm sure Dr. Marinak is a very good example.  He's not satisfied with having Home Depot stock in his portfolio, he wants his taxes to be as Republican low as possible.  It is his money, you know.  He should be able to decide how his taxes are spent.  People should be able to use his tax dollars in order to get decent health care.

Outnumbering the Idiots

Here is an interesting article in Brookings regarding these past few elections.  I was pretty much aware that Democrats outnumber Republicans.  My take is that if more Democrats hadn't believed the polls that Hillary was going to win, and had gone out and voted, we wouldn't have the Idiot in the White House.  More racists and haters went out to vote for their Supreme Idiot while a lot of levelheaded, humans paid the price of an assumption.  Even if you think your candidate is a sure shot, go out and vote.  And if you're one of those fools who stayed home because you didn't like either candidate?  Well, look at what's sitting in the Oval Office.
On this side customer service Hell, about a month ago I sold 3 expense roller blinds to a contractor (think $990 plus tax).  While I was on vacation, he returned them, saying that I had ordered the wrong color.  I checked yesterday and... you guessed it, Bali shipped the correct color, a light gray.  Did this contractor re-order them in a darker gray?  That's what you would think he'd do, right?  I mean, we've had customers where the wrong color has been shipped, or the color doesn't work for them, and they always re-order... but not this contractor.  He took his credit.  Was the color off that much?  Most likely not.  What probably happened was that his client looked at the blinds and said "You spent almost $1000 on these!"
The Hoodie Guys were not at the gym this morning, so maybe they don't have a regular workout schedule.  You know, just show up every now and then hoping to, maybe impress people.  And the best App for the gym seems to be something called Gym Timer which costs either $6 or $8, and it's a recurring charge.  Oh, and you have to use PayPal.  I don't use PayPal.  I sent the designers an email telling them this, adding that I only use my Amex or my Visa for Internet purchases.  Their response was that "we're looking into adding other forms of payment."  Translation:  Not in the near future, which means I'm not going to buy it.

Halfway through the Overture

Well, the 99 cent eliptical app works - I did 47 minutes this AM burning off 513 calories.  Wonderful.
Regarding yesterday's election - in retail we say that a win is a win, no matter how small - and Karen Handel won by 9702 votes, or about 3.7%.  Checking out a number of election maps this morning, I saw that those districts giving her the win are those which are dyed deep red, and always have been.  Except for one lone district towards the southeast, they are all located in the north and northwest corners, what I like to think of as hill country.
There were a number of problems with this run-off election, with perhaps the biggest being the amount of media pressure those voters were put under.  There is no better way to make voters dig in their heals then to pin them down with thumbscrews, oh, and spend $50 million dollars.  Those 2 things alone kept this election from being fair.  Anyone who thought that the Idiot's supporters, especially ones so steeped in scarlet, were suddenly going to throw their hands up in the air wailing "mea culpa, mea culpa," should have dosed themselves with a little common sense.  In spite of all of the smoke swirling around this administration, the Idiot's supporters are going to need to get a little toasted before they start to see the light of day.  They flames are going to need to be right at their toes before they realize that their house is on fire.  Don't worry, this will happen.

Until something goes wrong in a big way, his supporters are going to cling to their fantasy.  Even though most of us looking at this administration see corruption, they don't.  Way back when W was in the White House, we had 9/11 and his approval rating wen through the roof, it didn't take long, however, for it to start to fall.  The Idiot's approval rating is already low, believe me, it will drop.  Patience is a virtue.  Sit back and wait, we're not even halfway through the Overture.

Hoodies and Brookings

So, I went to the gym early this morning.  I've been looking for an app for my Fenex 3 HR that will let me track my routine and so far... nada.  Sure, some of them try and come off as masterpieces of workout software, but mostly they're just timers: you press a button to start the set and then press the same button to stop the set.  You can get pretty much the same thing for your phone, but when I'm at the gym my phone is in my car.  I hate carrying shit around in my hands, let alone keying in data between each set of hammer curls.  What a pain in the ass.
The hoodie guys were there this AM.  There's usually a different group there everyday.  Today there were 4 of them with their hoodies up: 4 of them, all regulars, 3 looking fit and 1 whom I shall say was... irregular.  They stay together, taking turns on the equipment, not talking, just standing there in their hoodies.  There's one who occasionally pulls his hoodie back but doesn't look around when it does so, just stands there momentarily, as though he's giving you a few seconds to admire the view.
Brookings had an interesting article yesterday regarding the life span of middle aged whites in certain areas of the country.  They are not handling globalization well at all, the end result being they are dying off from alcoholism, drug addiction, obesity, and just terribly bad health.  What was particularly striking was that, even though this was not brought up, those counties and states where these issues are really bad supported the Idiot in the White House.  Not that I should have been too surprised when I looked at the maps and saw this was happening almost exclusively in Idiotland.  While some people may disagree with me, I say that this is an outstanding example of how evolution works.  Survival of the fittest, those least likely to adapt will die off.  They get old, they get fat, they lose their teeth, and blame someone else for their misfortune.  They applaud when the Idiot talks about an apprentice program without understanding the first step is up to them - they have no idea what initiative is, let alone using it as a springboard to a better life.  They like to point fingers.

Tomorrow I'm back at the cardio.  I did get a new app for that... 99 cents, which may be all it's worth.  I'll find out won't I?

Bend over Buddy

So, here it is Monday, and after working for one day I have another day off, not that I wasn't at the store.  I had breakfast with my brother at Denny's, which is only about 500 yards from the store, so I dropped in to pick up some air filters for the furnace (Central Air), a red pot for one of my many Aloe  Plants, as well as a rose bush which has since been planted along side the house.
My brother is both a devout Christian and a Republican who voted for the Idiot in the White House.  There is a lot he doesn't understand.  Education is difficult.  I started off with a simple axiom, one every individual having an interest in politics needs to remember:

A popular  president can move the country's political needle towards either the Liberal Left or the Conservative Right.  An unpopular president will always move it in the opposite direction.

This is something politicians totally fail to grasp, especially Conservative Politicians.  Getting a president into the Oval Office through the Electoral College doesn't give a party Carte Blanche to begin forcing a Conservative Agenda on the Nation.  If they want to get a majority of the country behind their politics, they're agenda, they need to improve their Approval Rating.  You can not force a Centrist, or an Independent voter to become Conservative.  When the Democrats are in the White House  their language is geared towards a wide variety of groups, the Republicans always gear their language to a smaller, more narrow minded base.  Where the Democrats ask "what can we do for you?" Republicans say "Shut up, we're in charge."  At least that's the first thing they usually say.  The second command out of their mouths is "Bend over Buddy."  They are only concerned with making their base happy, and no one else.
Will people like my brother ever see things differently?  Most likely not, that would entail re-evaluating his belief system.  He would need to question his very concept of the truth. Ironically enough, my brother has 6 children, Noah's the only Conservative, Nick is non-political, Adam's a Libertarian, Natilie, Gordon, and Jessica, and their respective spouses, are all Liberals.  His family is a great example of my axiom.  This is life.

Trumps little world

For some odd reason I thought that today we were supposed to hit a high temp in the low to mid 80's and turned off the Central A/C before I went to the gym; that way I could leave the back door open and the dogs could run around in the back yard.  Wrong.  I got back around 7, checked my phone for messages and to sync with the Garmin Connect and saw that the temp was already up at 77 F and was aiming to hit 90.  The back door got shut real fast and the A/C turned back on real fast.
And if you think the fun and games at the White House have been screw of extraordinaire you might want to fasten your seat belts.  We may end up with a Cluster Fuck of Catastrophic proportions... for the GOP.  Everything seems to be hinging on whether the Idiot fires Rosenstein.  Either way the investigation is going to continue, canning the Deputy Attorney General will only exacerbate the situation in a most explosive way.  You see, the Idiot is a small minded man incapable of seeing the much, much larger picture.  In his world his hands are massive, in the real world, they're not.  In his world he thinks great thoughts, in the real world, his blustery verbosity fails to camouflage a total lack of comprehension.  In the Idiot's world gathering sycophants around a table and having them laud him with praises is laudable, in the real world?  Simply laughable.  He's going to try and fire everybody who doesn't kiss his ass because in his world that's his privilege.  This is why the Idiot doesn't know the difference between himself and a dictator, and why he believes dictators are strong leaders:  In his mind they are CEO's.  Which is why this whole Russia thing is going to cut off his nads.  In his little world he would have no problem with using another CEO to further his own ambitions, or another company.  I have no doubt that when he was told the Ruskies could help him win the presidency he said, "we ain't started yet?" because in his little mind there was nothing wrong with that which is also why everybody associated with his administration is now hiring lawyers.  In the end we're going to find out that just about everybody involved with his campaign new what was going on... except for Kelley Conway, most likely because no one felt they needed to tell the bimbo in the room what was really going on.

Foolhardiness

So, this is the last day, the 5th day of my 5 days off, a mini-vacation so to speak.  In August I will have 9 days off... in a row.
Yesterday, while I was doing my 30 minutes on the Eliptical, I spent some time thinking about Otto Warmbier.  I feel really bad for that young man.  I feel terrible for his parents, knowing that this is all they have left of their son.  And this whole thing is the result of foolhardiness and bad decisions.  Back when he was first arrested by North Korea I thought he'd been part of a school trip - that was actually not the case, he was traveling alone in Northern China.  While there, he saw an advertisement by a company called "Young Pioneer Tours" for the trip your parents don't want you to take.  He signed up for the tour which was a terrible mistake, a really, really bad decision on his part.  Now I don't know about you, but everything I know about North Korea shrieks loudly, "stay away."  I can't think of one, singly good reason why anyone in their right mind would want to go there.  While in Pyongyang, Otto was arrested.  The North Koreans claim he committed a "crime against the state" by stealing a sign, his parents say he was framed.  Would a young man, foolish enough to take a trip to North Korea, attempt to steal a sign?  Possibly.  Or would the North Koreans try and frame such a young man?  That's also quite possible.  Let's be honest here, Otto would have been a great propaganda tool for the North Koreans.  Their foreign prisoners show up on video feeds on what seems to be a fairly regular basis, and those prisoners are always claiming their treatment is good, and the North Koreans aren't that bad.
The North Koreans say Otto's condition is the result of botulism and sleeping pills.  I did some research: you can die from botulism poisoning.

You can also die from an overdose of sleeping pills.
In his current state he is no longer an asset to the North Koreans, they are cold hearted monsters after all, which is why, I suspect he was sent home.  So, what happened to Otto?  We will never, ever know.  We all make foolish decisions in our lives.  We all have those moments when we look back and say to ourselves "woah, that was stupid."  Foolhardiness should never have such a terrible cost.

Where There's Smoke

So this is my 4th day off out of 5 in a row.  I was going to take Big Seig along with me to Home Depot to pick out a replacement shrub for the front yard but didn't because they were calling for rain - good thing, Home Depot didn't have what I was looking for, so I went to Lowe's, they didn't have what I was looking for either.  Shit.  I'm zeroing in on buy a smoke bush, which is actually more like a small tree, and nobody seems to be carrying them locally.

I may have to order it from some place online.  

Also, I guess the Idiot in the White House has Tweeted infor regarding the investigation into his firing of Comey,.. which is funny, because I guess this is just one of many investigations that are now Ongoing, which is rather humorous, to say the least.

Just because there happens to be so much smoke, well, that doesn't mean they're going to find anything burning.  Seeing that Mike Pence has also now chosen to hire a private counsel, one that has connections to both the Iran Contra investigation, as well as the Watergate investigation, isn't exactly the kind of declaration of innocence you would expect from our Crazy Christian VP, is it?  Of course, maybe he's just covering all of his bases.  Just in case, you know, he may actually be a little bit on the guilty side.  That would be funny, too.  Conservative corruption is not new.  Smoking guns seem to always turn up, in fact there seems to be another Deep Throat around every corner.

I also get a good laugh at the Administration's expense on their complaints about leakers.  Maybe someone should tell these morons that this problem wouldn't exist if they didn't have anything worth leaking.

Blood on the Ax

So, I have a blister on my left hand, right below the middle finger, the result of digging out a 20 year old lilac bush from the corner of my front yard.  In the 5 days I have off, that was one of my main goals.  And like all things blistery, I suspected I was growing one as I hacked away at the roots with my 20 lb, heavy duty pick.  When I looked down and saw there was blood on the ax, I knew I'd be reaching for the band-aids and Neosporin shortly.
And in case your wondering, the blood on my ax was much more real than that on the ax Newt Gingrich sought to grind yesterday.  Every member of Congress was bending over backwards except for this horse's ass who blamed the Democrats, on Fox News, a right wing propaganda channel that  no longer claims to be fair and balanced. Yesterday, when there was serious bipartisan concern, numb nut Newt started spitting out turds, no doubt to get himself some attention.  What a loser.  And this morning, as I glanced through the comments by some of my Navy buddies who are lost in the school of conservative foolhardiness, I could see that he was not alone.  They all have their little axes to grind.

And, of course, there was so much brouhaha going on about the shooting, many failed to notice that the Washington Post noted that evidently there is an ongoing investigation of the Idiot in the White House.  Of course, it's the big news today.  Obstruction of Justice.  Happy Birthday Idiot.  And, as you might expect, he started chopping away on Twitter.
Anyway, I think that tomorrow morning Big Seig and I will head over to Home Depot and pick out something to plant where the lilac bush once grew - something that's not going to grow too big, or too wide, like maybe a shrub.

Failure of Megyn Kelly & Tax Cuts

So, I see Megyn Kelly has an interview coming up on Father's Day... ho, ho, ho, and lots of people are upset because her subject is none other than Alex Jones, performance artist and conspiracy theorist extraordinaire.  I don't see why they're upset, I mean, no one ever said she was astute, or smart, or intelligent.  Her interview with Putin was panned by everybody except, perhaps, the Idiot in the White House, because the questions she asked were mousy, intending to reveal absolutely nothing.  She gave him a stage on which he got to show America that he wasn't at all a dictator who had corrupted the Russian Constitution in order to stay in power for 17 years.  There were no questions about opposition party candidates disappearing, or being jailed, or even assassinated.  In fact, I was surprised she didn't try and get him to say, "don't worry, be happy," in English for a 2nd time.
And now she's going to do the same thing with Alex Jones.  While people don't expect her to eviscerate him, they would like to see him bleed a little truth... and that's never going to happen.  He's going to survive unscathed because no pointed questions will be asked.  She's not going to try and pin him down or pry open his phoniness.  That's not her game.  If you watch, you're going to see a cookies and milk interview and nothing more.  You see, for Megyn Kelly the truth isn't in the details, it never has been.  For her, truth comes in the size of her paycheck.
And then there was this interesting article about the failure of Tax Cuts.  One of the major planks of Conservative philosophy is that tax breaks grow the economy.  Trickle down, you know?  Except they never work... ever.  Companies and people don't reinvest, they bank the breaks and cuts and call it profit.  A large percentage goes into bonuses because it's considered revenue.  Of course, don't tell a conservative that, they'll call you a liar.  Conservatives love their tax cuts, of course, they also like Megyn Kelly, most likely for the same reason that Roger Ailes liked her.

Origins and Idiocies

Okay, so here it is Tuesday, my first legal day off in a 5 day stretch, and it's hot outside.  Some have been saying we've been having a heat wave, but they're wrong, this is nothing but a warm spell - a heat wave is when the temperature is in the mid to upper 90's (F) and runs for 7 or more days.  Tomorrow the temperature is going to be lower and I can get at the yard work which needs to be done.
The big news yesterday was at E3.  UbiSoft announced "Assassin's Creed - Origins."  The setting is ancient Egypt - think pristine pyramids, date palms for days, and hungry crocodiles. And, of course, I did put a pre-order in, which means I'm going to have to take off on 10-27-17.

A bit of irony from yesterday was that Dave, a friend from my Navy Days sent out an email about 15 minutes after I did my post announcing that the USS Constellation, which was decommissioned a while back, has been almost completely dismantled for scrap iron.  Recycled.  Everything ends up getting recycled - that's why we have history. 

And yesterday, the Idiot in the White House gathered his cabinet around him and said  "Never has there been a president, with few exceptions - case of FDR, he had a major depression to handle - who has passed more legislation and who has done more things than what we've done."  Yeah, that's right.  He said that.  My Mom has Vascular Dementia and she's not nearly as delusional as he is.  Perhaps the time has come to prepare for the GOP wake because this Idiot has staked it through the heart.

In the Navy

Well, I'm sitting here waiting for my phone to arrive - it wasn't supposed to be here until Wednesday but then yesterday afternoon I got an email telling me it had been upgraded to "3 day shipping," so I called work and told them I'd be late.  However, if I wait too long, I'm going to call off completely.  I've got the time on the books.
A few years ago, because I was in the Navy, on an air craft carrier (USS Constellation), and in Vietnam, I joined something on Facebook called The Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club.  This is where other sailors with the same history as I post pics from those days long gone by.  This morning one my 'shipmates' posted a pic looking out into the hanger bay towards the aft end of the ship and I thought I'd post it here since most people have absolutely no idea just how big an air craft carrier is (so huge it would make the Idiot's head spin).

That's right, there's a van parked in the hanger bay - it was used by the Shore Patrol when we were in Subic Bay.  And, of course, you can see planes there because that's where the Airdales performed maintenance.  On the left hand side, about half way back, you can see a fire wall.  A long, long time ago, I lost a hard contact lens just forward of that fire wall, never to be found again.

And this is what it looked like when they were taking aircraft from the hanger bay up to the flight deck.  The above picture is from the USS Ticonderoga, which was rather small compared to the USS Constellation, which was the largest, non-nuclear air craft carrier ever built.

This is my ship pulling into San Diego after a 10 month tour of WestPac.

Now ain't that grand!  Can you see me up on the flight deck in my dress whites waving?

New phone

So, I'm getting a new phone.  Nine months ago I was also in the market for a new phone, looking for a replacement for my aging S4.  Back then I looked at a lot of reviews for many different makes, a minor adventure in pointlessness; no matter who was publishing the review, it was most likely written by a fanboy (or girl).  There is no neutrality.  The negatives are always minor since no one wants to actually dissuade from avoiding one specific phone.  I ended up choosing an LG which turned out to not be a very good fit, which is why, 9 moths later, I'm getting a new phone.  One my biggest complaints was not being able to adjust the screen sensitivity.  You have no idea how many apps I accidentally turned on while putting the phone back into my pocket.  Talk about draining your battery fast.
And in case anybody is wondering, iphones don't even enter the picture.  I have never been what I call and 'applehead,' an individual infatuated with Apple.  Now, I don't discriminate, in fact I have several friends who are 'appleheads.'  Brandon, for example, talks to Siri all of the time.  He's always asking his phone questions, mostly, I think, because the first time Siri answered back he experienced some sort of mini-rapture.  Another example is the HR woman in my store who switched from an iphone to a Galaxy for... oh, 4 days, and then went back to an iphone.  When I asked her why she said, "oh, it was just too complicated."
Anyway, I ordered an S8 - it should be here on Wednesday.  Orchid Gray.  You see, I like things that are complicated, well, that's not exactly true, I don't find Samsung phones complicated.
Also, certain other phones weren't even in consideration.  Anything related to, or using Microsoft was out of the picture; not android compatible.

Well, I'm off today and I've got a ton of outside chores to get done before the temps creak in the low 90's.  

Fall Out Boy / another Trumpcapade

I spent 33 minutes on the elliptical this morning with Fall Out Boy - it was a bit crowded, but fun.  Back in 2006 Fall Out Boy looked like this:

Now they look like this:

Needless to say, their music has gone from Pop / Indie to Alternative - this is called maturing.  They have a new album coming out in September - "Maniac" and I'm sure it will be great.

On the 'funny side of life,' I saw that the Idiot in the White House has volunteered to testify before the Senate and be '100%' honest.  Get Out!  Do you have any idea how funny this would be?  I mean, be serious.  This butter head couldn't tell the truth if his political career depended on it.. oh, it would.  Picture it, peppered with hard balls from the Left and lobbed slow pitches from the Right.  Can you even imagine him being put on the spot, and staying seated, not walking out?  Not in the least.  The things that would come out of his mouth.  That would be so great.  Of course, it's all bluster just to keep the Trumplodite hoards in check, he knows it will never happen.

We can only hope!

Trump & May, losers in arms

So, something funny happened yesterday in the UK - Theresa May and her Conservative Cronies' plans to cement their power ran into a bit of a sledge hammer.  The voting public not only humiliated her, they proved that her approach to Brexit was anything but satisfactory.  I'd like to say she is the female counterpoint to our Idiot in the White House, but I don't know if she's quite that... stupid.  What is it about Conservatives that keeps them from comprehending they need to deal with a majority of the people?  We had James Comey testify yesterday, and even though only the public bit was televised, he made the Idiot in the White House look bad.  And no Republican stood to defend him.  Remember, the general viewing audience got to see a portion of his testimony.  We didn't get to see the real juicy bits, which is probably why no one stood up to defend the Idiot.  They all know now.  As for Theresa May?  Well, she's going to have to bend over and kiss somebody on the ass in order to form a coalition government, which means her party is not going to be calling the shots.
As for the Idiot in the White House?  His supporters are still staying loyal to him, to a certain degree, but as time moves on, they will continue to drift away, once again become silent.  In fact the latest Quinnipac Poll has his approval rating down around 34%... and that was prior to yesterday's smack back by Comey.  I'm sure that future polls will be even lower.  The GOP isn't running scared yet, but they don't seem inclined to put their wagons in a defensive circle around the Idiot.  This is life when you're a loser.

Trump does the LImbo

A long, long time ago, when the Idiot in the White House was still a young man, a dance craze called "The Limbo Rock" swept across the country.  Who would have known way back then that Chubby Checker was singing prophecy in regards to every presidents administration.   You see, there's this stick out there called "Approval Ratings"  and every president needs to dance under it.  That's right, they do "The Limbo Rock."  In the past 50 years or so, for Democratic Presidents that bar has gotten a little low, but there's never been much doubt of their dancing under it.   However, the Idiot's ratings keep going down, down, down, which means his bar keeps getting lower, and lower, and lower, and he's an old, fat guy, so I suspect he's about as low as he can go.  He may think he's dancing around reality by Tweeting his lies and deceitfully pandering to his supporters, but that's nothing more than a smoke screen.  And the same truth goes for the Republican Party, their bar is also going lower, and lower and lower.  Another truth is that when they fall they're going to blame someone else, they always do.  GOP loyalists will say it was the guys holding the bar, you know, they are the ones to blame.  It's their fault.  Of course, we know the truth.

And with Comey's testimony today, well, I suspect that bar is going to get quite a bit lower.  Won't be long now before the Idiot starts sacrificing people, forcing them to dance under the bar of justice.  Like any good Republican he'll be pointing fingers saying "It's his fault!" or "It's her fault!"  Standard behavior for the Idiot in the White House.

Back to Chris Pine

Well, it's wet Wednesday here in Central PA - cold and rainy, so damp I turned the heat back on, we're only supposed to get up in the mid 60's F both today and tomorrow.
I had off yesterday after working 4 days and the morning was busy.  I'm a morning person so I try and get as much as possible done before noon - at that point I begin to go into my relaxed state, pondering the imponderables, thinking how nice it would be to have a part-time gig on "American Gods," and laughing at the Idiot in the White House.
I did go see "Wonder Woman" last night, really like it.  Chris Pine and Gal Gadot  have a nice chemistry.  There's humor as they get to know each other which juxtaposes very nicely against the seriously dramatic backdrop of World War 1, the War to End All Wars.  The Cruelty of Man and his Gods takes center stage and the message of their love / hate relationship is not always happy.  I will admit I did find a bit of seeing Chris Pine....

actually, quite a bit of Chris Pine.
And, of course, the cluster fuck surrounding the Idiot in the White House just keeps getting messier and messier.  How about that bigot, homophobic Sessions offering to resign?  And that NSA leaker who provided concrete documentation on Russian hacking in regard to last year's election.  Talk about clarification, now, not only does the NSA know how deep Putin's fingers were into the presidential vote, so does the rest of free thinking America.  Notice that I say 'free thinking.'  That's because still quite a few of the Idiot's supporters are still mesmerized by the Idiot's bullshit.  All the while the Republican held House and Senate are working diligently to crystallize some demonstrable hatred for the majority of America; they know their days are numbered.
Enough of this, let's get back to Chris Pine.  Did you know he has this pool scene...

ISIS Failure and Trump's deep state of...

There was a massive turnout for the Ariane Grande concert in remembrance and for the benefit of the Manchester victims and survivors, and I doubt if it got much airplay in those crazy Muslim countries that love their extremism.  Let's be honest here, those 50,000 people said "fuck you. terrorists."  I think that's pretty much the definition of failure.  Sure there is that momentary moment of shock, but than the masses come together and say "fuck you, terrorists."  And just the other day they foisted something on London Bridge and there was that 'holy crap' moment, but 3 terrorists died and since then 12 have been arrested, with more arrests to come.  I'll bet that's not going to make one of their crazy recruitment videos, now is it?  In fact, the only place these crazies seem to be a success is in the Middle East and Africa - very where else they are the poster children for failure.
There was also an interesting article in The Hill this AM about the Deep State - does it exist or is it a fabrication of the Far Right?  Personally, I suspect that there might have always been a bit of a Deep State in existence and most, I again suspect, it worked in conjunction with the White House, not as a separate entity.  Now, however, we have an Idiot in the White House who doesn't like the Intelligence Community, mostly because they realize he's an Idiot, and also because they don't tell him what he wants to hear, oh, and of course, they realize that Russia is not our friend.  Nor has he been on friendly terms with the Joint Chiefs of Staff - and I'd be willing to be those 2 groups are talking to each other.  And I'd also be willing to be that there's a constant stream of piss on Steve Bannon. a loser who no doubt thought that his whispers in the Idiot's ear would reshape the country into is vision.

They are not behind this asshole

Or it could be that the Deep State is nothing more than that cesspool of stupidity in which the Idiot is constantly finding himself - and that's a deep state of shit.

Dog toys / Trump the Pimp

Well of course it's Sunday and I have to work, something I do almost every Sunday.. except next Sunday, a day I'm scheduled off.  Not that it matters to me.  Religion is not a priority in my life.  My dogs are, though, and they got new toys yesterday - I ordered them from Amazon which is much cheaper than buying them from one of your chain Pet Stores.  They got 4, two for each dog, not that it matters to them.  Each one's most favorite toy happens to be the one in the other dog's mouth.  If Big Seig has the purple, squeaking squirrel, then Lily thinks that's her bestest toy in the world and needs to have it, and if Lily has the lime green squeaky worm, well.. you guessed it, that's the one Big Seig wants.  Last night when I went to bed the dogs were all ready there, with the moose, the squirrel, the worm and the purple / pink octopus with the rattling tendrils.  Lucky me.  Of course I didn't know about the worm and the squirrel at first because Big Seig was laying on them.  He did that so Lily couldn't get them.
Something terrible happened in London yesterday.  I feel really sorry for those people.  They're dealing with a very small group of individuals who totally fail to realize that the terror they believe they are creating is in reality building on the racial hatred for a larger group of people.  Every time they commit one these heinous crimes, the anger towards them grows.  This is how it works.
I feel sorry for us in this country because the Idiot in the White House is going to use every one of these incidents to pimp his hatred.  In fact, I don't know if you've noticed, but the Idiot pimps a lot of shit.  Remember back, right after the election, when he was pimping all those "jobs" he was saving?  Remember Ford?  How he saved 500 jobs from going to Mexico?  Well, now, Ford is starting to lay-off workers because they're not selling enough cars - he ain't pimping that news, is he?  He also pimps a lot of fake news, bits and pieces of bullshit his supporters swallow like candy.  I guess he's got 3 of his rallies scheduled to pimp his bullshit.
This is how it goes.

Don't Worry, Be Happy?

This country will be in deep shit if we even remotely believe that "The Vlad" was being serious when he uttered those words (in English, no less) yesterday.  He likes the Idiot - every dictator needs their lackey fool.  And you know there were Idiot supporters who heard him and nudged themselves jovially in the ribs and grinned, saying "Hey, that Vlad guy?  He ain't so bad."  Right.  They know nothing about Russia, or how The Vlad has managed to get that countries constitution changed in order to stay  in power (a legalized dictator) for 17 years.  They don't know how that country has been in a recession for over 17 years and "The Vlad" as done nothing to help the situation, or that people who oppose him tend to disappear or die.  "He's a nice guy," they say.  They think he wants to be friends, best buddies, our BFF.  And they are so damn stupid.
Right now the US is the most powerful nation on the planet, something which makes The Vlad sweat with jealousy.  His envy is almost palpable, and if given the chance, The Idiot in the White House will play into his hands, be his eager tool, he wants to emulate his idol, no matter what the costs.

I didn't read everything The Vlad said yesterday at a 3 hour forum, but the excerpts I did read were tainted with subterfuge intended to guide some Americans into a guilt trip; we are the culprits.  A high school student could have hacked the DNC.  It was American hackers trying to make Russia look bad.  Obama may have made decisions without getting all relevant data. Trump is wiser.  Holy Shit!  Very subtly, The Vlad tried to reinforce the idea the that We Are The Problem.
No.  We are not the problem.  We are the solution to the problem.  We are a Democracy dealing with the temporary flatulence of The Idiot in the White House, and as such, he too will pass much to the dismay of The Vlad.  I do not doubt that at some point Americans will toss his very words back into his face:  Don't Worry, Be Happy!

Of Idiots and Dictators

So, I didn't write anything yesterday because it was one of those days, starting at 0531 when my Mom called me from Manor Car to tell me I needed to get her out of there.  She has vascular dementia and it ranges from mild to moderate and it was not on the mild side yesterday morning.  Physically, she's fine so they're sending he back to Graysonview today.
And, of course, the Idiot in the White House pulled the U.S. out of the the Paris Climate Agreement - if that was a surprise to anyone, well they need to re-evaluate their perception of the Idiot.  He is now, and has never been a Team Player.  The Idiot wants to be in charge.. of everything.  Hence trade agreements are out because he believes he is shrewder and wiser and more capable of negotiating than anyone else.  He believes his deals are the best.. even though historically, with what?  Three bankruptcies, he's been pretty much a failure.  But then he's always seen bankruptcy as a 'wise choice' when it comes to reneging on contracts which makes him pretty much of a failure.  And, of course, after yesterday, most of the world is looking at him thinking "what a fucking idiot."  Everybody except Vladimir Putin, who complimented the Idiot.
The Idiot in the White house doesn't understand that Putin is running his own "make Russia great again" campaign, and for that to happen we need to be taken out of the number one spot.  That's right, we need to be moved down the ladder to at least 3rd place, maybe 4, behind India.  In fact, Putin wants us to be knocked out of the competition completely, he wants America to be a fourth rate country, a big, lumbering buffoon of a nation, toothless and declawed and harmless.  Bloomberg had an interesting article this AM where the Dictator in the Kremlin almost came right out and admitted Russian hackers were working hard to get the Idiot elected; it's to his advantage we have a fool leading our country into disarray.  This whole game is to make Russia Great Again.  Amusingly enough, the Dictator has done little to help the Russian economy, evidently they've been in recession for almost 20 years - of course, he's gotten wealthy and that's all that counts.
As for the Idiot in the White House?  I would not be too surprised if his adventure in politics doesn't come to an abrupt ending shortly.  The Russia thing, you know?  Not that he personally, actively incited Russian involvement, more than likely the Idiot became aware of it and chose to take advantage of it the same way, say.. a bad businessman might try and take advantage of a hostile takeover, of course that would make the Idiot a crook as well.. and.. let's be honest, most of us have known that for some time.  His days are numbered and he doesn't understand at all because he sees himself as a CEO and immune.  He may be angered that a majority of Americans can't stand him, some even hate him, but remains unfazed because the idea that they might soon remove him from office doesn't even register in his consciousness; employees don't fire their CEO.  This Idiot doesn't know the difference between a President and a Dictator and so has sealed his own fate.