Republican Extinction

Well, here it is, the first day of my weekend and... I was up at 0500.  One load of laundry's already in the dryer and the rest of my 'fun' day is planned out in detail.
I saw where the White Supremacist Peroxide Pin-Up Girl, Ann Coulter, tweeted some sort of hate allusion to Houston's electing a lesbian mayor and Hurricane Harvey.  I would not be surprised if she ends up bald and covered with weeping scabies when her Karma hits, that's right, she's probably going to be infested with mites.  Yo, Ann, happy scratching.
And surprise, surprise, Joel Osteen is blaming social media for all of the anger coming his way - what a gutless, spineless sack of shit he is.
Oh, and the price for filling up your gas tank is going to go up - between .15 - .25 cents a gallon because of... Harvey.
Interestingly enough, only 34 % of Americans approve of the Idiot Jerk's pardon of that old, racist Arpaio.... which is, in case you didn't already know, the total number of registered Republicans in the good, old United States.  These people will never understand that they are not Sanforized, and we, the people, need to vote and shrink them into extinction, just like the dinosaurs.  A racist voice is only good when it's silenced.
For those living outside Retail World... Halloween has arrived.  Ours showed up early yesterday morning.  Bones.  Lots of bones.  Skeletal remains.

That's right, we have an 8 foot T-Rex!  Can you picture him prowling through the shrubberies of your front yard... at night, you know, getting ready to pounce through your Arborvitae.  We have a horse, too.

And Raptor hatchlings.

Looking up

Well, today's my 8th day in a row.  Tomorrow I have off.  I was supposed to have breakfast with my brother and sister tomorrow but she cancelled.  I called her this AM and she said, "today's my 6th day at work and I need to sleep in," so I reminded her about my schedule and tagged on "oh, and I just got back from the gym."  I have never really understood the 'sleeping in' bit.  I wake up and then I get up.  I read news, do chores, type this blog, and almost always do some form of exercise, either cardio of strength training.
I see the Idiot Jerk was in Texas yesterday, skirting the disaster that is known as Houston, looking over the damage in Corpus Christi and Austin instead.  He's also merchandising the white cap he was wearing.  $40 bucks a pop.  This Idiot will try and merchandise anything.  In fact, I'm surprised he hasn't tried to sell bottles of that spray tan he paint's himself with, of course than his loyal fans would stick out in a crowd.  Of course then they'd cry discrimination because of the color of their skin.
I see Joel Osteen has opened up the doors of his church... finally... and more than a little late.  He is, for all intents and purposes, "a day late and a dollar short."  And evidently he's arguing that the doors had never been closed, but only because he's now in the running for "loser of the year."
And Anne Marie was surmising that I had chicken legs and so I tried to take picture... only problem was that it made my thighs look like rolling thunder.  So, instead I took a picture of the ceiling in my training room.

That's right, I decoupaged it.  The round starburst thing consists of pictures from 3 International Male catalogs.  Nifty, huh.  This is what I see when I do my crunches.

Karma smacks Joel Osteen & the Texas Legislators

So, I'm skimming through headlines this AM and I see one regarding that horse's ass Ted Cruz.  He's now saying he was totally for disaster relief for the victims of Hurricane Sandy, but... he still voted against it.  Even though this moron is putting some spin on it, the truth is that not only did we have a Democrat in the White House, he happened to be black.  In fact, it wasn't only Ted Cruz who shit in his pants on that vote, so did every one of the Legislators from Texas.  For those of you who don't know, this is called Karma.  He claims there was too much 'pork.'  If you don't think those hateful Conservatives will attempt to pop as much 'pork' into disaster relief for Harvey, you don't know Conservatives.  I can see the Idiot Jerk in the White House trying to tack on funding for his 'wall.'
And how about that Christianist horse's ass Joel Osteen and his non-denominational Lakewood Church?  The key words here are 'non-denominational.'  That means he has no accountability.  He and his believers are their own entity.  And evidently, a Higher Order wasn't speaking to Joel, who totally ignored weather forecasting that Harvey was going to create floods of Biblical proportions, cancelled Sunday Services and... get this... kept the doors of his church closed.  Oh, and in case you didn't know, his Lakewood Church is in what used to be called The Compaq Center, the arena where the Houston Rockets used to play... where that team won 2 NBA Championships.  Yeah, you read that right, he kept the doors to an arena closed!

Now they're saying that even though his phony house of worship is high and dry, the flood waters are too deep to get to it, making it inaccessible.  Am I the only one who sees a parable here?  About the empty house on the hill and a sea of slowly drowning humanity surrounding it?
And finally, my hat goes off to Anne Marie of Philly who has 18" biceps!  That makes them almost as big as my thighs!  You Go Girl!

The Baby in all of us

I feel really sorry for those people down in and around Houston, which has always been one of Texas' most liberal cities.  The rain is horrendous, and unfortunately the flooding is only the beginning of their nightmare.  The region is temperate, it has a warm climate, and when you have condo walls, and town-home walls, and single residence homes walls filled with water, and it's dark, you're going to get mold.  It will grow everywhere:  in closets, in drawers, in furniture.  Many will simply not return to their homes.  They are losing everything.
So, as I've talked about before, I go to the gym... a lot.  I also do a lot of cardio.  Exercise is healthy.  However, that is not enough because I'm getting older by the day, but then aren't we all.  One of the things I'm concerned about is my muscle mass - we members of the 'aging adult's club' lose it pretty damn fast.  Use it or lose it is true, but sometimes you need to do more than just use it, you just might need to supplement it with... protein.  As we age we tend to need to consume more protein if we want to keep our muscles where they're at.   If we want to gain muscle... well, we need to eat even more protein.  Mike Matthews has an interesting take on the process.  He has some really good articles, especially in regard to protein absorption.  I've taken his advice in regards to my protein intake because, to be perfectly honest, when I get to 95 years old, I don't want to look like a big, old baby.
You do know that if you live long enough, there's a big baby in all of us.
Of course that doesn't mean we need to act like one... and you know who I'm talking about, that whining sack of shit in the White House.  Let's be honest here, the Idiot Jerk gives babies a bad name.

I understand they want him to fly down to Texas, you know, to put in an appearance, as if he really cares.  We know he doesn't.   Well, he's probably a little concerned about the refineries, but that's probably about as far as his concern goes.  They don't know where he's actually going to go, and as of this AM his plans were still "tentative."  This means he may end up in Dallas when the rain stops there.  And we know what he's going to do, hold a little rally for his supporters.  That is what he does, isn't it?  Bend over so his adoring base can kiss his ass?

Masking and Unmasking - the sticky truth

So evidently there was a fight last evening... I didn't watch it, a lot of people did, though after being roped in by the PR - you know?  The fight of the century (which was really just a way to make money) that wasn't really the fight of the century.  Not my cup of tea.
There was an interesting opinion in the LA Times this AM about "Evangelicals being more devoted to Trump than the Bible," and, of course, the bitter, evangelical knives came out.  To these crazies 'faith' and 'power' are the same.  They now have the Idiot Jerk in the White House who has almost rabid contempt for any and all to don't kiss his ass, something the evangelicals (especially the white ones) seem to have no problem doing.  This is all about controlling America and the Idiot Jerk has no problem giving them everything they want.  They want Transgender individuals banned from the military and he bends over, and in return they proclaim him a miracle from God.  Horseshit.  And this crap has been going on for a long, long time.  Remember bat shit crazy Michelle Bachmann shrieking "these are attacks on Christianity" every time a minority managed to get some sort of fair legislation passed, or had some court equalize rights?  Humanity is not the concern of these individuals, human rights have no value because they see equality as an attack on their beliefs.  In case you didn't know it, these people believe themselves to be far superior to anybody else.
Anyway, the fact that these crazies have aligned themselves with the Idiot Jerk in the White House has begun to rip the masks of their faces, and they don't understand that they are going to lose this fight.  Universal Consciousness is not on their side.  This is how life is.

On a lighter note, yesterday I had the pleasure of waiting on a bearded Slovakian man who spoke very little English with his purchase of some blinds.  What he'd done, since he didn't have a tape measure, was to take masking tape (about 15 feet) and double it back, sticky side to sticky side, and use that to find the dimensions he needed, marking on the tape with a pencil the exact width.  Not only was he cute, but I found the idea of using masking tape cute as well.  You improvise.  You take advantage of what's at hand.  He came back twice for blinds and I spent, oh probably about 20 minutes with him, and not only were those minutes fun, I found them rather rewarding.

The Ending of Days

So, yesterday I had an older customer come in and purchase carpet.  He and his wife had been in earlier to set up the measure, at that time, while they were sitting there, he told me that he had stopped smoking 2 years ago and wished he'd done so much earlier.  He'd waited to do so until he'd been diagnosed with emphysema before quitting.  Yesterday, after paying for his carpet, he asked when he could expect it to be installed and I told him about 2 - 3 weeks.  He's hoping to have it installed before he has to go into the hospital for a 'procedure.'  A recent X-ray had shown him to have 3 spots on his lung, one of which was 8 centimeters wide.  That's big.  I know what they're doing, he and his wife, they're preparing for the end, making sure that the house is updated while he's still alive so she won't have to deal with those issues after he's gone.
There are a lot of people down in Texas who are also going through their ending of days:  some will not survey this hurricane, some will lose everything by having their lives swept away, jobs will be lost, homes destroyed.  Tony Perkins from the Family Research Council is on the record as saying he believes that God has power over the elements and uses them for his own purpose, like chastisement, and punishment.  Tony Perkins is an asshole.  I mean, what has Texas done, besides keep their white racists in power and sponsoring hateful acts of legislation, that would require the punishment of its entire population?  Humans are humans.  Some are dumb shits like Tony Perkins and others are Idiot Jerks like the one who corrupting the White House.  You don't punish everybody for losers like these.  Of course, the Idiot Jerk does have a lot of support down in Texas, which means... maybe.... nah, I can't believe that any decent divinity would punish so many innocents just to give a little devise retribution on the guilty.

How is this for Stupid?

So, it's Friday.  A lot of people post all kinds of stuff on Facebook to celebrate the end of their work week...  but not for me, mine does end until next Wednesday.  This... is the hell of working in retail.  At least I'm no longer in management and now have a fixed shift.  One of these days I might even get a fixed schedule... now, wouldn't that be nice.
I see Harvey is supposed to hit Texas sometime today.  I have no idea why a 6' 3" pooka rabbit would want to attack Texas, perhaps because he's a Liberal Bunny?  Or maybe it's just a little Karma heading towards those 'crazy in the head' Long Horns.  I did see that it's been 15 years since the last hurricane hit Texas.  That would have been when 'W' was in the White House.  Maybe there's some connection between Republican Presidents and hurricanes hitting that crazy state.
After my cardio this AM I whipped up some egg bites; egg white, garlic, hot pepper with a tad of cheddar for a tasty, protein snack.

I figure they have about 40 calories each, which is equivalent to going up and down the stairs 2 or 3 times, not that I worry that much about calories (holy shit, I can't believe I just wrote that!).
And I did read something funny about the Idiot Jerk this AM:  Why does he have to threaten a government shut-down if Mexico is going to pay for the wall?  Just think about that?  In the beginning it was those "very, very bad hombres" who were going to pay for the wall, and then, after the Idiot Jerk managed to get himself elected it was "well, we might have to pay for it, but those very, very bad hombres," were going to reimburse us, and then we got to read the transcript of his call the with Mexican President, in which the Idiot Jerk whined.  Now, you don't hear about those "very, very bad hombres."  He wants your tax dollars to pay for a crappy wall that only he and his fan bases believe we need.  How's that for stupid?

Enunciate this

Well, it's Thursday.  Today is my 2nd day of 8 days in a row.  Yippy Skippy.
Evidently the Idiot Jerk in the White House gave another speech yesterday... and people are saying it was quite different from his rally speech on Tuesday; am I the only one who wonders that perhaps he might be Bipolar?  That's kind of putting it mildly of course, isn't it?  I mean, doesn't Bipolar sound a lot like a DQ sundae?  "I'll take a Hot Fudge Bipolar with nuts and whip creme... skip the cherry."  The sad truth is that if, perhaps, he is Bipolar, you can bet that's just a small sample of all of his mental illnesses.  Some say he should be tested for dementia... personally, I think they ought to check his system for drugs.  Wouldn't surprise me one bit if he's popping pills regularly:  to stay awake, to go to sleep, to watch Fox News without vomiting.  In fact, I'd almost put money on it that he's been self-diagnosing for years, and I'm sure that if he answered privately about his meds he'd say "I take 2 pinks, 3 blues, a yellow capsule, a green capsule, and 8 little purple ones for the indigestion I get from eating meatloaf."
Yesterday was also an interesting day at work.  The Paint Department got a new product and they called me over to show it to me.

Of course they were having a big hoot over this new caulk, but then their pronunciation was a little bit different, sounding a lot like 'ock' rather than 'aulk.'  Isn't it amazing what a simple vowel can do?

So, would you hit this?

So, while the Idiot Jerk in the White House was creating more turmoil in Phoenix last evening, I went to the movies to see  "The Hitman's Bodyguard."  I got to see a comedy, action, buddy movie while the Idiot Jerk was reading edited transcripts of his Charlottesville Tweets in order to look less racist, and, of course this was to an audience that was mostly white.
The movie was really funny, unlike the asshole in Phoenix.  It is a buddy movie, and for buddy movies to work the two stars need to have chemistry... and Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson do have chemistry... and it is good, very, very good.  The action scenes?  They're okay, sometimes a bit long.  There's one in Amsterdam involving a speed boat, a motorcycle, Interpol Agents in cars, Evil Russians in cars, and it goes on a bit too long.  But the scenes between Reynolds and Jackson?  These two characters fit each other like puzzle pieces.  They are The Odd Couple with guns, and vulgarities, with humor that sometimes catches you by surprise as it slips into slapstick (getting off the roof of the Interpol safe house, for one).  Strange though it sounds, their verbal of abuse of each other gives this movie it's heart, and it's not a bad one.

As for Phoenix?  The Idiot Jerk spewed out more lies, outlined his racist beliefs towards Latinos, said that he would build his wall even if he had to shut down the government...  Someone should tell this walking, talking turd that one of the main goals of a president is to grow his base, not continually isolated from the rest of the country, which is what he seems to get his most pleasure from doing.  Rather, his main goal seems to be more about creating as much hoopla around himself, which is why he is the Idiot Jerk in the White House.

The Mechanics of furniture and politics

So, I ordered another pair of the Baleaf running shorts, even though I don't run.. much, but rather use them on the elliptical and at the gym for strength training; they're red, one of my favorite colors.
Only one of the 3 Caballeros was at PF this AM and he was meticulous about detailing exercise he did; I don't have the patience to do that, besides I remember my routines.  Sometimes I have to switch things around because someone else is using the equipment.
For those who missed it, like me, there was an eclipse yesterday.  I've started prepping the living room for new furniture (that's right, I've bought new furniture) and I saw my neighbor Anthony and his girlfriend out front with their glasses.  I thought it was still a little too bright out and so decided to wait...  except it didn't get any darker.  Evidently there's going to be another total eclipse in 2024 that's going to track south to north through the heartland... maybe I'll hit that one.
Evidently the Idiot Jerk told the nation that we, as a whole, were going to be staying in Afghanistan longer than he would like (broken campaign promise, there) but didn't detail and increase in troops.  I guess he thinks that what we don't know can't hurt us... much.  This means he's listening to the same voices who told 'W' that the 2nd Iraq war would be over in a few months.  Remember that?  It's going to be over soon - well, that was pure bullshit.  But then Republicans have always been delusional about how savvy they were with the military.  They do the same thing with the economy, totally forgetting that every time one of their morons leaves the White House the economy is either in a major recession or depression.  I 'W' had a doozy, didn't he?  Stupid they are.
As for the furniture, I went with Nuvo - the Celena Collection - fabric not leather.  I have a leather Morris Chair which I love, but that's about as far as I want to go.  Sweaty skin sticks to leather - hate that, and the sound it makes when you stand up as you peal away your skin.  This is what the sofa looks like, kind of...  the arms are square.

My sofa is going to be burgundy

The chair is Camel.  Shockingly enough, they're power recliners as well as being a sofa and a chair.  I'd always swore that I'd never buy a recliner since you need to have them sitting back from the wall, however these hug the wall.  Don't ask me how they work, I'm not mechanically inclined.

Liberty U Fail

So, today starts my weekend... wonderful.  In case you didn't know, we're supposed to have an eclipse of the Sun today, not total where I live, just about 75%, and weather wise we're supposed to have thunderstorms this afternoon.  This means we might have a thunder and lightning eclipse.  Yippee.
This evening the Idiot Jerk in the White House is going to spit turds at America.  Rumor has it that he's going to announce that he's sending more troops to Afghanistan... which means he's listening to the same clowns 'W' listened to, you know?  The one's who said the war in Iraq would be over in a couple of weeks?  Of course, these kids are only going to be going there for a brief bit, to help train the Afghanistan army... wait a minute, haven't we heard that before?  Isn't that what the Republicans said about Vietnam?  Dumb Shits.
And, of course, that stain of a human, Jerry Fallwell Jr took a dump in his pants this past week as the attempted to support the Idiot Jerk in the White House.  His stands, however, don't seem to be sitting well with the current student body, and a number of graduates, who seem to have realized that the Idiot Jerk has no values, Christian or other wise.   However, Jerry Jr is going to stick to his guns.  I didn't get a chance, but I wonder just how diverse Liberty U really is, I mean, are there any Latino students, and Black students, or is everyone there a white Evangelical?  I'm sure they have a few tokens floating around, but my money says there aren't that many.  Junior's statements, however, do tend to reinforce the belief by many White Evangelical Christians aren't really that different than the Alt-Right.
Those Baleaf shorts I got turn out to be really great... there's just one hitch, you're supposed to let them drip dry and I threw them in the dryer on delicate... and they've gotten a bit tighter, which means you can see things a lot clearer now.  Lesson learned.

Of course, as I've told people time and time again, there's nothing wrong with tooting you own horn.

Blinded by the Light

So here it is, Sunday.  I work today, off tomorrow though when I pick up my new lenses from Lenscrafters.   While I'm there I'm going to zip over to Boscov's and buy some new curtains (drapes) for the living room.  There was a time when I actually ordered drapes, not any more, it's grab and go for me, a lot cheaper.
I got home from work yesterday and found a letter from the Social Security Administration in my mailbox - they're asking me how much money I'm going to be making in 2017 and 2018.  Well, 2017 is easy to figure out, but I have an increase coming up in my paycheck which will change 2018... and they need to know before the increase takes effect, so it's guessing time again.  They also want to know when I retired... well, they should have that information, I don't know why they're asking me.  Perhaps it's because I took early retirement because of my back... but then, of course, I didn't actually stop working.
I guess the Idiot Jerks buddy Stevie Bannon gave another interview to what he would call the "fake media" once again criticizing the Idiot's administration.  My money says ol' Stevie baby is mad as hell because he's lost his position of authority.  This is how it goes with Scumbags, sooner or later they're going to get flushed down the toilet, or down the sewer drain.  Nothing's going to change.
And we sold out of welding safety glasses yesterday.  You know, those glasses arc welders use to keep from being blinded by the light?

Eclipse, you know?  Everybody wants to watch the moon pass in front of the sun!  Of course, only certain welding safety glasses will protect you eyes; the ones that are Shade 12 will do the trick.  Personally, I think a lot of people are going to end up saying "that's it?"  I mean, it's not like rainbows are going to erupt through out the corona?  In fact, you won't see any colors at all, just pretty much you standard, old black and white.  Still, it wouldn't surprise me if you end up having a bunch of drunks out there, cupping their hands around their eyes, whining "I can't see anything," as they burn off their retinas.

Abandon Ship!

You know the shit is pretty stinky when those Crazy Christian White Evangelicals start to slink away from the Idiot Jerk in the White House.  You know this guy's a phony when he says he "quietly started to distance himself from the administration months ago."  I call that bullshit.  This is just the rats starting to abandon ship.
Anyway, Bannon's gone... or is he?  I'm wondering if someone didn't decide he could be of more support rallying the Idiot's Jerk's deserting base back at Breitbart.  That's makes sense, doesn't it?  Of course, Breitbart has been fumbling since there's no Hillary to Hate or Obama to Bash so maybe they think Stevie Boy's better back there, trying to start more fires.  But then there's also the bit about James Murdoch and his donation to the Anti-Defamation League.  In case you didn't know, Jimmy is Rupert's son.  It's all about the money, you know, and the last thing Fox wants to do is alienate minority viewers.  There's no way in hell they want to be associated with neo-nazis.
I also got a decent bit of cardio because last week, while on vacation, I was such a slug.
So, I went back to work yesterday and my boss, who's a 46 year old man desperately trying to look like he's 26 had the sides of his head shaved.  Dumb shit.  Age with dignity.  None of us like getting any older, and while we don't always act our years, because they smile silently of desperation, like certain hair cuts.  Some older individuals can get away with them, many can't.  I see it on a regular basis,  women with bright green hair that looks like they colored it in a tiny bathroom sink with only a single, incandescent bulb for lighting. and men with 'devil-may-care' black goatees that look as though they were painted on.  Age isn't bad if you just deal with it.

I mean, do you really want to go through your senior years looking like this?

About those cold, dead hands

Okay, so it's Friday and that means I go back to work... for 3 days.  I stopped in at the store yesterday for some curtain rods and checked my sales - I beat my goal last week by 884%.  However, I have a number of customers who have responded yet so this morning I'm going to cancel their quotes.
I saw that 25% of Americans will never abandon the Idiot in the White House - that's not surprising, these are staunch republicans.  Chuck Heston would have found it far easier to let someone rip his rifle from his cold, dead hands than it is for these people to even suspect how evil the GOP has become.  This is about the same percentage that swore their loyalty to the Idiot 'W.'  They will never change.
I met with Kindred Care Hospice yesterday while they evaluated my Mom... she's too healthy, they say.  Evidently her dementia hasn't progressed far enough, which is funny because right now you never know what's going to come out of her mouth.  She told the caregiver from Kindred that she had suffered a cardiac arrest, and then added "believe me, it was very painful," and that it happened sometime after her Senior Living Facility moved her to the country for a week so they could repaint her apartment.  And the border along the ceiling?  "Isn't that beautiful?  I picked that out."  And none of it happened.  We had hoped that being on hospice would eliminate some of her frequent ambulance rides to the hospital, but it looks like that's not going to happen.
Could someone please tell me why some people show up at the gym with big gym bags which they cart around with them?  Lockers are provided, so why would you want to haul around a bag?  What is so important that you need to take it with you out onto the floor.  It's almost as weird as those people who do a set, and then take a sip of water.   They do another set and then... take a sip of water.  If they were sweating profusely I'd say "hey, buddy, you might want to take a sip of water," but their not.  There, that's 2 things I don't understand about people who go to the gym.
So, there's a big eclipse coming on Monday and I'm off work.

I'm in the .08 magnitude area, which means it's going to get dark, but not too dark.  I understand that sometime afterwards the Planet Nibiru is going to collide with Earth.  Let me tell you, I've got my Nikon ready for that event.  Here's an artist's rendition, just in case you miss it.

Nifty, huh?

Trump can't even make Mr. Congeniality

Well, today is Thursday... that means I have to go back to work tomorrow.  And my schedule is shit... I know because I looked at it this AM.  I work for 3 days, have off for 2, and then work for 8 days straight.  The week following I have split days off (I hate that) and I'm scheduled to go to a Supervisor meeting (which I hate even more).
During my 10 days off I got a lot accomplished, not as much as I wanted to get done, but still a good bit.  One of the things I had done was to get myself legitimately weighed and measured (I'm talking height here), and legitimately speaking, I'm 5' 8.5" which stunned me.  I used to be almost 5' 11".  Now I know you shrink with age but I'm not that old.  And then I started thinking about my back issues, how 2 of my lumbar discs are gone, bones fused, and a 3rd is nearly gone... and the same thing is happening in my neck, and discs are about 1/4 inch thick so... there you have it, or at least about an inch and a half of it.  This means my weight needs to come down a bit since I was calculating it to 5' 11".  Shit.
And I don't find it surprising that 40% of Americans now think the Idiot Jerk in the White House should be impeached.  Of course, only 7% of Republicans feel this way, but then they've always been obtuse when it comes to politics.  And one super hilarious statistic is that the World trusts Putin more than it does Trump.  That's not saying much for the Idiot Jerk in the White House; the fool is getting smacked back from every direction.  One of thing that is almost spectacularly funny is going to Social Media and seeing all of these crazy, conservative Republicans squealing "we're not racist, we're not racist..." They make me laugh because of course they are, I mean that became obvious with their attacks on Obama.  Fools!
Agents Of Mayhem was released yesterday and I'll probably download it later this morning.  It's from the same studio that put out Saints Row IV, which I thought was great - sick, twisted, and a lot of fun.  Saints Row IV was banned in Australia - maybe because one of your weapons was a club that looked an awful lot like a giant dildo.  Agents lets you play as one of 12 different characters, I'll probably choose Hollywood.

Hollywood is in the Center

That way I can dress him up... or down, as much as I want.

Here comes the Karma

For those of you living in a cave deep, deep underground, the Idiot Jerk in the White House turned his ass towards reporters yesterday and farted out great chunks of fecal matter (that's my way of saying that the shit has started to hit the fan).  And did you hear the wail of Republican politicians as they saw their political futures flash in front of their eyes?  Or was it drowned out by the scrambling of their shitty, little feet as they ran to the nearest camera to denounce the Idiot Jerk?  I've been telling people for a long time now that this moron's Karma is so bad, it's going to sweep over him and all those who supported him washing them all back into the sewer.
He's an old, white guy who sincerely believes that white people are superior.  There is no way in hell he will ever understand anything even remotely close to reality, that we are all one species, that we are human and that we are all equal.  These racist views of his will effect everything he attempts to do; Asians, Latinos, Africans, Australians, Germans, Italians... all will be treated as inferiors.  I mean, would expect anything else from an asshole?

And remember 3 weeks ago when those Crazy Christians gathered in the Oval Office to lay their hands on him?  What does this say about them?  Not much?  Well, it does say that they will spread their legs for anybody who promises to give them what they want.

And what about Luther Strange, that white racist from Alabama?  He says the Idiot Jerk is a miracle from God...  This guy was evidently born stupid.  He deserves to be swept away by Karma.

And they are all tainted flesh, you know, every single Repugnant Republican who voted for him, racist to the core of the party.  They deserve everything that's coming their way.

Yes..terday

Yes.. terday was interesting.
I'd bought a Luminox watch through Amazon.  The watch I received looked like the one I'd ordered... for the most part, but not quite, so I went on line and checked.  The watch bands were different.  I sent an email to Flying Fashion, the retailer, thinking they would send me a new band.  Their response was to blame Amazon Fulfillment for sending me the wrong watch and tell me to send back the watch, no offer to replace the watch with the correct one, just return it.  Being in retail, I find that reaction suspicious - no one likes to take a hit in revenue.  Surprisingly, I've already received an email from Amazon crediting my account.
And the Idiot Jerk in the White House gave some sort of statement yesterday condemning hate groups... too, too late.  My money says he can't even wipe his ass clean which is why he has this lingering stink of shit around him.  Maybe you ought to reach for your gas mask now since it's only going to get worse.
And last night the "Yestival" was in Hershey.

Carl Palmer opened the show... and he was tremendous.  He got a standing ovation when he launched into the ELP version of Fanfare for the Common Man!

The great Carl Palmer

Todd Rundgren was next on the bill... what can I say?  He had a good light show?  Yeah, he had a good light show... but I kept reminding myself that if he hadn't been on stage so long Yes could have played a longer set.

Good light show but empty of music

And then Yes took the stage.  Steve Howe and Alan White, two of the original root members, Geoff Daniels on keyboards (he's been playing with the band on and off for years), Jon Davison on vocals, and Billy Sherwood on bass.  They had a 2nd drummer last night so I guess White must be looking at retirement.

Roundabout

Yours in No Disgrace

I was very pleased!  This was probably the last time I will see one of my favorite groups and I'm glad it was a damn, a really damn good show!

The Cretin Trump effect.

So, I've been enjoying my time off, my vacation away from my job.  Today, however, seems to be the first day that I've planned to do any of the chores I'd meant to start last week which is fine.  There is a price to pay, however.  This AM I jumped on the scales (that right, I have 2) to check out the damage... if you heard anything around 0517 it was me smashing atoms!  I expected the poundage increase.  I mean, what's a vacation if you don't gain a couple of pounds?  Going to the gym and cardio will be the price I have to pay... and I've already started.
Yesterday I visited my friend Betsy, down in York, and we did what she likes to do - go to the mall.   The Galleria Mall, to be precise.  I hate malls.  You're forced to walk past store after store after store, now of which have any interest to you to your 1 or 2 destination points.  The Galleria has a Boscov's, which used to be really big in Central PA.  It has mirrors on the ceilings.  That's right, mirrors.  Now, how many ways can you spell tacky?

And, of course, yesterday was that shit storm called Charlottesville, but then we all knew there was going to be  shit storm.  The White Supremacists are empowered by the Idiot Jerk in the White House who did what any one person with half a brain expected him to do, protect his fellow racists by blaming many sides, many faces.  And David Duke former grand dick of the KKK called him on it!  "It was our votes that got you elected!" he Tweeted, or something to that effect.  Duke is pissed because he was expecting support from his fellow racist and all he got was some banal statement about hatred.  The statement which intended to spread the blame to those who were injured, who were using non-violence, totally failed to appease.  His base is furious because he failed to support racism, and hatred, and bigotry.  For everybody else, every second of every passing day, it becomes more and more obvious that calling him an Idiot Jerk is much too nice.  Cretin is much better.  In fact, the moment when he revealed his Cretinism is going to have a profound effect on his approval ratings.  You know where they're going to go?  Down even farther.  And now those Supremacists who thought he was king are going to take a big step back, for them he has joined the ranks of the gutless.

Machine me

So, I ordered a refill for my Naproxen prescription at CVS - with my insurance, it normally costs .26 cents... and I was wondering, now that they've been accused of over charging on prescriptions if that cost will drop... probably not.
I had my eyes checked yesterday - usually I go to Pearle since the exam is free, however they are not doing exams at my local store and the closest was across the river, in Harrisburg, so I went to Lenscrafters instead.  The exam is still free.  My prescription changed, my left eye is a little worse, but the pressure in both of my eyes is down.  They ordered new lenses for my D & G frames... that's right, designer frames.  Anyway, while they were refitting my frames I got sucked into their computer for a little bit, so quickly I snapped a self portrait of a machine me.

You can call me Tronny

Oh, and I see the Idiot Jerk in the White House is now saying that the United States is "locked and loaded" in regards to NK.  He evidently hasn't been paying attention to Defense Secretary Mattis has stated that war would be catastrophic - and the statement he's making is about war on the Korean peninsula in general, not nuclear specific.  Of course, all of this "super power" talk is giving the Idiot Jerk a stiffy, proud of his little soldier he is because his little hands make it seem so big.  Of course, he will never understand that size and power are all relative.

And how about the feud between the Idiot Jerk and McTurtle?  Keep that baby on your dance card because the next thing you know, those two old farts will be trying to do The Hustle.

Chart this

I see I forgot to title yesterday's entry... shit.  Oh, well, what can I say, I'm on vacation.  Today is my 2nd legal day off from work and I'm loving it.  Took the dogs for another walk at Adams Ricci Park.  They loved it!  Made an eye appointment for this afternoon for an exam - the Optometrist I go to is covered by my Major Medical but my regular eye insurance doesn't cover him for exams so this afternoon I'll be visiting Lenscrafters.
Bought myself a muscle chart so I can learn the names of all of the muscles that I don't know.  It's pretty nifty.  I hung on the wall in the weight / computer / PC game room.

So... it looks like my brother and his wife are buying a farm.....  She's a hoarder in training so this is going to give her a very large barn to fill up with shit.
And I see everybody is still talking about North Korea and the Idiot Jerk in the White House.   Doesn't anybody realize this is exactly where he wants to be, in the spotlight.  He doesn't really care what turds he spits out of his mouth, as long as people talk about him... well, he thinks that just ducky dandy.  His problem is that he doesn't understand that he's moving in the wrong direction if ever wants to get his Sally Field moment.  In fact, I don't a moment like this was ever in the cards for the Idiot Jerk in the White House:

Vietnam was bad for the Republicans.  Iraq was even worse.  If something goes wrong in North Korea... well, as a political party, their goose will be cooked.

 

I am, for the most part, a creature of habit; I set routines and I follow them.  I like my life to be regular and I like to regulate it.  I plan my life.  My fitness regime is 6 days a week, alternating cardio and strength training.  However, going to the gym it's fairly obvious that I am in a minority group, that many of those that go there. work out for a couple of weeks (if that) and then skip a couple of weeks, or even stop going, which is one of the things I truly fail to comprehend, how you can live a life without organization.
Anyway, today is my first official day of vacation (and I got up at 0500 so I could go to the gym).  After I finish writing this, I'm going to take the dogs up to the park, something they love and which we haven't done in a while.  Fun stuff, eh?
And what about the "fury and the fire" the Idiot Jerk was talking about yesterday?  What an asshole.  Of course the world's stock markets reacted exactly as you'd think they'd react - they started dropping.  And, of course, Rex Tillerson, a billionaire who is in way over his head, finds he has to calm jumpy nerves.  He should have been expecting this, and yet I'd bet money that the Idiot Jerk caught him totally off guard.  What yesterday's comments really did do was put the entire world's attention on the Idiot Jerk, some thing, I do not doubt, that gives him endless pleasure.  Can't you just picture him gleefully jumping up and down, shouting "they're talking about me!  they're talking about me!"  Idiot Jerk.  He doesn't seem to understand that he's already got a lock on "the worst president in American History," so I guess he's aiming for "the worst president in the world."  I really do feel sorry for those people in Asia because he's using their lives in his boast.
Well, it's time to go to the park.

Welcome to polling hell

Well... I decided to take a personal day today rather than go into work, which gives me 10 days in a row off - in 4 weeks my tenure will pop another 3 weeks vacation into my box.  If I stay full time for another 6 years I'll get 4 weeks of vacation...  I don't think that's going to happen, the full time bit, you know?  Part-time?  Sure.  Of course, I did get a cool reception when I called in but... well I have time on the books because I don't take personal days that often.
Anyway, as most of you probably saw, the Idiot Jerk in the White House let loose with a Twitter tirade yesterday, his 200th day in the Oval Office, mostly because his base is beginning to crumble.  Ain't this fun!  Brookings has a nice bit about it and includes a link to the Quinnipiac Poll.  Here are some more really, really bad numbers for our non-president.  Let's be honest here, many of us are beginning to enjoy rubbing his nose in his own shit.  There's even a rosy little bit on how 52% of Americans would now prefer to have a Democratically controlled House.  The Crazy Right cannot hold their position, they are beginning to fall apart.  This is what happens when a minority hate group manages to get themselves into a position of power.  Understanding the majority, being able to include the majority, reconciling themselves to the fact that they need to compromise and deal with the majority?  These have long been problems with the Republican Party.   They are not the voice of authority for the majority, and so they fail.
And all of those Tweets yesterday AM?   They show that the new Chief of Staff, John Kelly, is unable to control the Idiot Jerk in the White House.
Since today is now going to be the first day of my vacation, rather than tomorrow, I've already started rearranging my schedule.  Leisure time is important, but there are still things that need to be done.  Hey, and you never know, I might be able to find 7 naked men and all of us could form a pyramid.

Dirt

So, here it is Monday, the start of the work week... but not for me.  This is day number 5.  Tomorrow will be day number 6.  Of course, I have off for 9 days after tomorrow and to be perfectly honest, the idea has occurred that perhaps my back might be in a weakened state tomorrow morning and I might have to make it 10 days off... in a row.  I do get these notions from time to time but rarely follow through... mostly because I hate using my personal time.  This is not the case for other people.  Yesterday, for example 2 of my fellow associates called off leaving me by myself in a department that's supposed to be double staffed.   There was much fun and hilarity... well, not exactly, but I did survive.
Politically speaking, yesterday seemed to be pretty quiet - the Idiot Jerk is on vacation but we know that's horseshit.  He's going to be doing what he always does, sit on his dais waiting for his supporters to kiss his ring... oh, and watching Fox News, the only major media outlet to kiss his ass.  In fact I do believe they're all on vacation, all of those GOP sycophants gone home to their hate hovels to brood about September when more shit is going to hit the fan.  Sure, they say they're going to come back and work on Tax Reform (that's what they call tax cuts for the 1%), but that will never happen.   What they're really going to be doing is working on funding the government because it's "running out of money."  Catchy phrase, isn't that?  "Running out of money."  Almost musical.  "Running out of money."  A taunt, almost toward the party that fails to govern.
Oh, and I see Chris and Anna are splitting up.  Supposedly social media is going crazy...  prioritizing the breakup of a celebrity marriage over every thing else that's going on in the world.  Now, I'll be the first to admit that since Chris has lost weight and starting hitting the gym he's transformed himself in a ginger extraordinary...  but his getting a divorce just turns he and his wife into ordinary people... unless there's dirt... and then they're just ordinary people with dirt.

Ah well, time to head off to the store.

Wattle I Do With This

Sometime between the ages of 50 and 55 human skin begins to lose it's resiliency (it loses its stretchiness) which means if you start toning, or losing weight, it doesn't necessarily snap back to the way it looked when you were... oh, say 19.  Yesterday, while I was shaving, I notice a little fold of skin about an inch below my Adam's Apple.  I froze, staring at it, realizing I was looking at a prepubescent wattle - that's right, it's just starting... spread.  Shit.  They're prevalent on my father's side of the family.  My Grandmother had a whopper.  Not wanting that, I will most likely have it removed since I don't want to look like a chicken.
Anyway, as I was thinking about writing this, I thought I'd grab a pic or two of chicken wattles to show what I was talking about and got smacked right in the my forehead with reality.  This is what I'm talking about.

Chickens are the descendants of dinosaurs!  If this is what happened to Raptors, what will happen to us, to our own species?  Currently geneticists are saying our skin will be darker and our cheekbones will be higher which is really, really bad news for Social Conservatives, especially White Evangelicals who refuse to believe in evolution because it makes them wrong.  Still, it's happening.  And there is no way to stop it.  In America alone the population is much browner than it was 25 years ago.  Dominant genes, you know?  And sure, Conservatives can try and surgically remove the color ratio, but they will fail.  There is no stopping that omnipotent power called the Universe.
So, 7 or 8 years from now, when my wattle is much more pronounced, will I have it removed?  Probably. but then I understand that's only a superficial change and nothing more because I know that damn thing will grow back, it is part of what makes me who I am whether I like it or not.

Mind Pollution

So, it's Saturday, my 3rd day at work and, after today, I will have only 3 more days until I start my vacation.  Not going anywhere, doing things around the house... a lot of things.  Painting, lawn work, all sorts of good stuff.  I've a lot of old, old stereo equipment, including some massive Kenwood speakers, up in the attic.  That stuff is going to be brought down and hauled over to Community Aid.  About 10 years ago, when I started getting rid of stuff my Mom had shaken her 70 something head, saying "why would you give it away when you can make money on it?"  With her, as with many, many, many other people money has always been a priority.  Gimme a break.  Financially I'm fine so the couple of bucks I make selling this stuff is relatively unimportant.  Still, this does seem to be the Mission Statement for so many:  "Make money, you can never have enough, so every chance you get, make more."  In fact for some money has become so important they've put the well-being of humanity on the back burner, and others have taken that well being off the stove completely.  For these people only two mantras will do:  "my money," or "my taxes," they like to say they give to the charities of their choice, with themselves being their favorite charity.
Anyway, the Idiot Jerk is on vacation... right, just like he's been for almost every weekend since he was sworn into office.  Oddly enough, his pal Vlad also seems to be on vacation... taking a mini-break to pose for some photo-ops.  That's right, photo-ops because I don't think Vlad takes vacations because he's a dictator.  That's right, this was work for Vlad.  There are a lot of pictures of him "not working," some of them showing him shirtless, oozing his masculinity.  And the Russian people nod and say, "now that is a picture of a real man."

Am I the only one wondering if that fish is real?  And aren't you glad I didn't post the pic of him sunbathing?  Holy Shit!  What if the Idiot Jerk tries to emulate him?  Horror of horrors!  What if we get pictures of the Idiot Jerks standing shirtless in the surf at the Jersey shore!!  Could we even survive an almost lethal does of mind pollution?  Cover your eyes!!!

Holy Shit!!! I just realized that Vlad, the Idiot Jerk, and I will all be on vacation at the same Time!!!

Channeling Ethel

For a minute yesterday afternoon I thought I was channeling Ethel Merman because I had this overwhelming desire to start singing "everything's coming up roses! (a Grand Jury has been convened) and daffodils! (phone call transcripts published) Everything's coming up roses for you (and the Idiot Jerk looked like an Idiot Jerk) and for me!"  Of course I didn't because customers in the flooring department would have thought my senses had taken flight.  Still...  And from what I've heard the Idiot Jerk is seething with rage because... he's an Idiot Jerk.
About those transcripts, some people are saying they went a bit too far... sorry, everybody knows, or at least should know, that had the Idiot Jerk been holding phone call transcripts he'd have read cherry picked morsels at his rally's, and his supporters would have raised the roof!  He's desperately trying to pivot his supporter's attention back to the Clinton emails, a dead horse if ever there was one, without understanding that everyone with half a brain knows it's a dead horse.
"Let me, entertain you.. " sorry, Ethel keeps creeping into my consciousness and I don't want to break into song because I don't nearly have the range she had.  And then there's is that Grand Jury "and sunshine and Santa Claus," ... holy crap!  She's taking over me.  I can't hold her back.  Ladies and Gentleman!  here's Ethel!

Dinner vs War

I highly recommend that if do an ab workout after you get back from the gym, and you use a purple yoga mat, keep your shirt on, usually I do, today I didn't and... well, it stuck to my back, sweaty suction, you know?  Lesson learned:  keep the sweaty shirt on until you're totally finished.
Oh, and now we know that the Idiot Jerk in the White House is truly clueless when it comes to comparisons and analogies.  Case in point:  the war in Afghanistan and the opening of 21 (one of his favorite restaurants).  That's right, he compared a war to the opening of a restaurant club.  Evidently he believes that the owners delayed the opening too long and, as a result, lost money.  That's right, he's comparing our troops dealing with a hostile environment, with an enemy that wants to shoot them, blow them up, and kill them with the opening of an eatery, a club, a place you go for a cocktail, where the only thing which might be injured is your bank account.  That's right, the Idiot Jerk in the White House is comparing this:

to this:

And because the General in charge over there hasn't wrapped things up yet, the Idiot wants him fired.  Personally, I think we ought to suit of the Idiot's kids and send them over for a stint.  Can't you picture Ivanka in designer camo, with shoes by Jimmy Choo only because Gucci doesn't make boots.

Of course, that will never happen.  She might break a nail.

Anyway, I guess the Joint Chiefs of Staff looked at him as though he were nuts... this absurdest rendition of bad judgment, and ignored him.  Of course they did talk about it.  And you know, as they were walking out of that room they were saying things like "wow, this guy's as dumb as a fucking brick."

Atomic Blonde and GOP denial

So, I went to see "Atomic Blonde" last night.  It was entertaining, violent, and good for the most part - the only issue I had was that as soon as the bit about the 'double agent' came up... well, I knew pretty much how it was going to end.  This means that if you're one of those people who is good at stacking blocks together to form a bridge to the truth... well, you may also know how things are going to end.  Of course, there can be a lot of fun in watching how those blocks get stacked.  I enjoyed being about to pick out what was a clue and what wasn't, the old 'red herring' as they used to say.
Can you believe we've gone... is it a day without a Tweet from the Idiot Jerk in the White House?  Don't worry, those old, decrepit fingers of his are ready and waiting for the first thing that's pisses him off.
I saw where the Republican chairman of the Judiciary committee is trying to prioritize the Clinton emails so long after the election.  It's all about beating a dead horse, you know?  Like Benghazi.  Sadly, this is the only way they can keep their base involved as the Idiot Jerk's administration continues to devolve.  For the majority, however, the truth is that the Idiot Jerk has an approval rating of about 39% (if you score it on a curve) and when the minority bring up dead, smelly horses in order to rally their base the national response is to shout either "go away" or "shut up!"  Their tunnel vision is so narrow they totally fail to perceive that they have no traction, their tires are spinning relentlessly.  In fact, I find it positively hilarious that Jeff Flake, a Republican from Arizona, has been rather forthright in stating that his party is in total denial about the Idiot Jerk.  Oh, and the bit about "spasms of dying" adds a nice touch.
James McAvoy costars in "Atomic Blonde," and is somewhat cute with scruff.  Most of his scenes with Charlize Theron are cut with close-ups, however when their share the camera it is fairly obvious that he's a bit on the petite side.

Now, I have nothing against someone being petite, in fact, sometimes that can be quite advantageous.  In movies, however, I do like the illusion that the Leading Man does have a bit of size, if you know what I mean.

Sweating out the Idiot Jerk

So, I guess social media went crazy yesterday when an Idiot spokesperson announced that the "mooch" was gone.  I'd seen the news while I was eating lunch.  What was really funny was that 15 minutes later I was selling a measure to a guy named Kona who pulled his phone from his pocket, looked at it, and announced to me that "the mooch is gone," he then proceeded to laugh, adding "we have the biggest jerk we could possible have in the White House."  Jerk is a good word, a nice noun that precisely describes the Idiot.  Maybe I should start calling him the Idiot Jerk.  Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?
While I was at PF this AM, some middle-aged gent came in wearing sweat pants and a sweat shirt and proceeded to start strength training.  Now during the winter I wear a lot of sweat pants and shirts when I'm around the house.  If I wear them to the gym, they come off and get stowed in a locker.  I don't wear them to work out since they do make you sweat.  Sweating is good; I do a lot of it in my shorts and T's.  Some people like to sweat a lot and then weigh themselves.  That weight is almost as phony as the Idiot Jerk in the White House, but not quite.  That weight is the result of water loss, which you gain back the minute you start sipping down your trusty Gatorade.  So, I guess this is my workout tip for the day:  loose clothing, shorts and T's are great, sweats aren't.  And don't even get me started on yoga pants.
And I've started playing Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon - Wildlands, in which I get to hunt drug dealers in Bolivia, and, as usual, I made sure that I look like a stud.