Greek

I woke up around 0300 for a call of nature... this sort of thing happens more often after the age of 60, and as is my habit I looked out the bedroom window.  Now I don't have a really great view  because there's a river birch growing right outside, but I can see down to my driveway.  I was more than a little surprised to see the interior lights were on in my car.  Shit.  So, I got dressed and went down to turn them off, luckily they're LED and don't take much power, with this mystery roiling around in my head:  How did they get turned on.  The car was locked, which meant they had to have been on for quite some time.  One light is turned on by pressing a button, you turn the other on by pressing the light, itself.  Both button and light are about an inch apart.  I was back in the house and halfway up the staircase before the answer flashed into my head like a little light bulb.  Big Seig's Nose.  I took the dogs to the park yesterday.  Big Seig likes to stand between the driver's and passenger's seats.  On occasion his nose will touch the rear view mirror.  Yesterday he must have nosed the interior lights.  Now I know to check next time I take them to the park for it will, undoubtedly, happen again.
I tried to stream a little of the debate last night,  To my surprise, most media outlets were streaming... updates, rather then the debate itself.  It was just Sanders and Warren and Mayor Pete and Beto.  One of the headlines I saw this morning was "What ever happened to Beto?"  Well, I've said this before, he needs to go back to Texas and win and election.  Tonight it's Biden's turn... oh, and there's going to be some others on the stage as well.  This needs to change soon.
I rode the Meteora route yesterday... in Greece.  It's a short, 5 mile, great ride.  my pulse hit 193 at the beginning, which is super high.  Normally it sits around 126 when I ride.  I think that's because you start off in the town, and like every 3 or 4 seconds you turn, and you're going really fast.  The pace is neither casual or slow by any means.  Shit!  Once I started climbing, which is about 3.5 miles of the route, my pulse dropped back down to my normal riding pulse.  Interesting, huh?  The same thing happens if I'm riding along and suddenly another cyclist pops up close to me.  I don't like it when someone is chasing me.
Anyway, I get to go back to work today.  Can you feel my excitement.
I also bought a workbook to help me learn my Greek alphabet.  What I find really interesting at first was that it sounds a lot like Latin.  And then I thought... duh.  The Greeks colonized Italy and took their language with them, along with their gods, and democracy, and a lot of other stuff.   This means that the root language for Latin is... Greek.  Which is why some things are Greek to a lot of us.

Look at all those names ending in 'A'

The Ground Zero Lie

The temps are supposed to hit 94 (F) again this afternoon... before the thunderstorms arrive.  Something happening this year that didn't happen last?  My grass is beginning to turn brown.  That used to be the normal.  Last year we had rain all summer and I needed to mow my lawn weekly.  Not so this year.  I'm interested to see what next year brings?  Rain or heat... or both.  Climate change might turn Central Pennsylvania in a rain forest.
If anyone is interested, I am not going to see The Lion King.  I have absolutely no desire to sing  CGI hyenas sing.  Animals talking?  meh.  The same thing goes for that Milo Ventimiglia film.  ugh.  That's one of those films designed to manipulate your emotions.  You know going in someone... or something, is going to die.  The next thing on my list will be that Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham reeling jolt of testosterone flick.  I mean, what's not to like about Dwayne and Jason?
I took my old box spring out to the curb yesterday, with Seig's help, of course.  He thought it was a lot of fun!
I also managed to get in another 10.5 miles in on the bike yesterday.  When I finish, I always wonder where the time went.  I downloaded a ride from Meteora, Greece that's five miles long.

In case you're wondering, Meteora has more to do with meteorology rather than meteors.  This should be interesting.
And I saw the Moral Degenerate in the White House lied about being at Ground Zero.  Evidently this buffoon from Hell doesn't remember... or realize, there a sound bites of him claiming to have been in his apartment watching the attacks on TV.  Remember?  He claimed to have seen videos of Muslims on rooftop cheering.  His lies make America look bad... really bad.  The sooner we vote this scumbag out of office and put him in jail, the sooner we can begin rebuilding.  Those who voted for him don't care.  All they are concerned about is "my taxes," "my money," "my guns," and "my religion."  They are humanity at its worst.
Finally, tonight there are going to be more Democratic debates.  Same thing goes for tomorrow night.  Then, hopefully, we will start to see some of the non-performers begin to realize their main purpose is not to run for president but rather help take control back in the Senate and maintain or grow the Democratic majority in the House.  I suspect that after this evening there will be four leading the pack:  Biden, Warren, Sanders, and Harris.  I know a lot of people love Mayor Pete.  I would rather see him win the Governorship of Indiana and first indict, and then jail Pence for masquerading as a human being.

This is how I Dance

Well, I'm off today and the temp is supposed to hit 94 (F).  I'm off tomorrow and their forecasting the same high temp.  Wednesday is not supposed to be as warm... but I work.
The only big things I need to do for today are... laundry and get the box spring out to the curb.  Tomorrow is garbage day and we're allowed one large item per week.
I rode over 12 miles yesterday and felt good afterwards. I've ridden 149.6 miles in July, easily hitting the Trek Cycling Challenge.  And I made a mistake when ordering the Legion Whey... I thought I was going to be getting the Strawberry / Banana but that flavor doesn't come in the size I wanted so what I actually ordered was the Chocolate / Peanut Butter.  Holy Shit! it's like drinking a healthy peanut butter cup!
I find it interesting that the Idiot Jerk in the White House and his team of racist sycophants have decided to make race one of the Big Ticket items for the 2020 election.  Their plan, no doubt, is to split the country in an attempt to get enough white supremacists to vote for him.  Be prepared.  He and Stevie Miller have much worse planned.
As some of you know, I'm a Kaiser Chief's fan.  Their first big hit quite a while back was a song called "Ruby."  They just released their new album "Duck."  There are a lot of good songs on it, but the one that's has my full attention right now is called "Wait," and it isn't because of the lines "checking out the boys, in their summer clothes."  Oh, in case you didn't know, they're a very socially conscious, friendly group.  Here's a not so good video of a live version:

And, in case anybody is wondering, this is how I dance, like a perky little lounge lizard, no swavey deboner moves for me.

Back to our Roots

Well it's Sunday. 
The Tour de France ends today.  The winner is going to be Egan Bernal.  He is 22 years old.  He is the first Colombian cyclist to win.  This is amazing!  This is the future.

As for me?  I'm going to work again today. 
And out in Hell Creek, North Dakota a college student discovered a 65 million year old Triceretops skull.  Dinosaurs... you got to love them.  A long, long time ago, when I was in grade school, we could buy paperback books from a Scholastic Press, and publisher specifically geared towards juvenile literature.  One of the first books I ever purchased from them was something call "The Enormous Egg," about a boy whose chicken lays a very, very large egg that hatches a baby triceratops.

This was my introduction to evolution, in a round about way.  Written in 1956, I doubt very much if Oliver Butterworth had any inclination that eventually we would learn that birds, even chickens, are the descendants of dinosaurs.  Can we talk about scientific foreshadowing here?  Believe me when I tell you I loved that book and read it dozens of times.
Evolution never stops.  Just look at homo sapiens.  We originated in Africa, moved north and experimented with the recessive genes of blue eyes and lighter skin tones.  Genetically speaking, those genes were a dead end and are in the process of being written off.  The dominant genes for dark eyes and dark skin have taken helm of our ship.  Makes sense, doesn't it?  Look at the Greece, for example.  The birthplace of Democracy.  Ain't that amazing!  People with brown skin gave us Democracy... oh, and Geometry...   I guess you could say we're going back to our roots.

Back to Work

So, I'm sitting here eating my oatmeal trying not to think about the fact that in a little over an hour and a half I'll be heading off to work.  Can you feel the excitement?  On a Saturday?
For those who don't know, Stage 19 of the Tour de France was halted yesterday because of...

snow and ice storm.  They day before the temps were hovering near 100 (F) in the Alps.  Today's stage has been shortened because of... snow and ice. 
Oh, and the Supreme Court said the Idiot Jerk in the White House can pilfer $2.5 billion from the Pentagon's budget for his wall.  You know, he has to give the white racists in his basis their precious little foible.  This is why he tried loading the Supreme Court with Conservatives, so that horrid, little minority group can get what ever they want.
I put a mattress platform on my bed yesterday and moved the box spring out into the hallway.  I need to get it downstairs and out front by garbage day.  My bed is lower, by almost a foot.  I didn't know how I was going to sleep... well, I was out like a light.  The mattress is firm and I had no idea how much bouncy, bouncy the box spring had - that's what happens when you have 180 lbs of dogs jumping around on it thinking it's a toy.  The notion had cross my mind to buy a new mattress if this didn't work out, but now I'm fairly certain that will not be the case.
A workbook is arriving today to help with the Greek.  Learning the alphabet is the tricky part, teaching your mind that a 'v' now sounds like an 'n' is not as easy as you might think, and there's a letter that can sound like either a 'y' or a 'w'.  This is what's called exercising your brain.
Another thing arriving today is whey.  Legion whey.

Why whey, you say? (or ask, but that doesn't rhyme).  Protein, pure and simple.  I already use a chocolate cake batter flavor, this one is strawberry banana.  When do I drink it?  Before I ride my bike.  Before I ride, I make a shake of 4 oz whey, 6 oz whole milk, and 6 oz water and chug that sucker.  Protein helps you build muscle, that thing we tend to lose as we get older... and I'm riding more and more hills.  They're a pain in the ass... or, well, legs, and they're work.  Even though I will tell myself I'm not going to ride this evening, I know I'm probably going to climb on the bike after work... to work.

As with all good things

Tis Friday... the last day of my Staycation.  Starting tomorrow I have to work for 2 whole days before having off for another 2 days.  Next week is my last 32 hour work week - then it's back to 40 (can you hear me gnashing my teeth?) hour works until my anniversary date 9/4, at which point another 3 weeks of vacation rolls into my account.
I had my annual physical yesterday.  I'm in great shape... well, my glucose is 111.  My PSA, that little number aging men take into consideration is 2.48 which is what you'd normally see in a 40 - 50 year old man.  My triglycerides are at 88 and my total cholesterol is... (are you sitting down?) 132.  Blame it on my cycling.  Oh, and don't forget... I drink whole milk - sometimes by the glass.
I took a ride in Eistobel yesterday, which is in Bavaria which has some nice hills.

A few of those Bavarian Hills

The green bar at the top shows the terrain.  This is the first half of a 17 mile ride.  The 2nd half has even steeper climbs.  I may give it a shot this afternoon.  This is one of those rides I need to complete to increase my ranking in Rouvy.
Today I'm also going to be getting rid of the box spring on my bed in order to reduce the height.  I might end up buying one of those memory foam mattresses, or something like that.  I was pricing them the other day.  They're rather affordable and I'm most likely going to have to buy at least one more mattress.
And finally, yesterday, as I was sitting in the waiting room I started thinking about the heat wave in Alaska... and in Europe... and the one we just had, and how people are shrieking about Climate Change.  The Crazy Christians are in a terrible state of denial in order to keep reality from blasting major holes in their philosophy.  Sorry, but even bad things need to come to an end.  As a cognizant species, we have not been around that long... a couple million years.  Whether you understand this or not, we are still in our infancy.  The dinosaurs were around for what?  Sixty million years until that silly asteroid wiped them out?  Climate change will lead to adaptation.  I know some find that scary, but it will happen.  Climate Change will move us out into space - there's no climate change on the moon.  However, living there will induce other adaptations.  In two million years there may be nine or ten different variants of the human species.  This is what we have to look forward to... and it ain't bad.  As with all good things adaptation and evolution are necessary for survival.

My physical's today, the 5th day of my StayCation

That's right, today I'm going to find out what those 4 (or 5) vials of blood they drew from me two weeks ago reveal.  Meh.  On the way home, I'm planning on buying some new candles.
I took my first shower with Every Man Jack yesterday (hows that for a phrase?).  The Cedarwood scent is light, not highly perfumed, which is nice.  The last thing I want to smell like is a two bit whore preparing to flounce.
Seig had his physical yesterday... and he weighs in at 117.  As we left the examining room the assistant smiled and said "see you later, handsome," she was talking to Seig, of course.  We did not do the blood work for heartworm and he is on no regime.  According to the National Heartworm Assn, Central PA averages 1 - 6 reported cases per clinic per year.  Do you have any idea how low that is?  If the incidence level were higher, I'd put him on meds.

We also didn't do the fecal exam for parasites, nor the Lyme Disease vaccination.  Lyme Disease is different in dogs; 85% of infected dogs will never, ever show any symptoms.  If symptoms show up the standard treatment is the antibiotic doxycyline.  Besides, my dogs are on Frontline anti-flea and tick medication - no fleas and no ticks.

For those who missed it, Mueller testified yesterday.  I don't know what people were expecting.  He pretty much repeated just about everything he'd said in his report.  Did they think he'd suddenly start blabbing his mouth off?  There were some juicy tidbits but mostly it was meh.  The one moment I did enjoy was when he said the Idiot Jerk in the White House could be indicted after he leaves office.  Thank you Robert!  You've just given the Democrats a chant for their rallies!  Indict!  Indict!  Indict!

And finally, that bumble-brained idiot Boris Johnson is now the Prime Minister of the UK.  He's intelligent but he's not smart, if you get my drift. Like the Idiot Jerk in the White House, he has a problem with veracity.  He is high on panache and low on substance, making bold promises without totally understanding the steps which need to be taken to achieve the results he guarantees.  For all intents and purposes, I wouldn't be surprised if he happened to be one of the Idiot Jerk's bastards.

StayCation day 3 (or Biggie goes to the Vet)

Yep, it's day 3 already... my, how time flies when you're having fun.
Yesterday was fairly busy:  had the car serviced, shined the candelabra:

I took the dogs for a walk in the park, they loved it, though Seig was exhausted when we got home.  He's good for short bursts of speed and walks around the block.  I also rode 12.19 miles of a 16.18 mile ride in Canyonville, Oregon.  Rouvy has a little clip if you want to see what I see.  The clip shows several cyclists and usually it's only me.  Occasionally there are other riders, but we never really get close.

Gallup has an interesting article on how the number of people who respect organized religion is continuing to drop.  They cite several reason:  the priest scandals of the Catholic Church and Evangelicals forcing their way in to politics.  Their comment about the latter was something like: Republicans may like it but Democrats and Independents don't.  Remember, the election will be here before you know it.
And finally, Seig goes to the Vet today.  He needs his distemper and rabies shots.  As always, I like to remind people with pets that they need to manage their Veterinarian.  He may talk puppy or kitty talk to you pet in a very trustworthy voice but the bottom line is he is running a business.  He is a lot like the big, home improvement retailer I work for in that he wants to fill your shopping cart.  Here's one example:  Seig was wormed when he was a puppy, yet they wanted me to bring a stool sample so they could run a fecal test for parasites.  A small modicum of research on the Internet will educate you on what symptoms your pet will exhibit if he have worms.  The last time Seig weighed in at 118 lbs, it's why we call him Biggie.  He does not have worms, but that's not going to stop them from charging me $40 to run a fecal exam... just to be on the safe side.  Once you begin to manage your Vet he will learn to reach into someone else's pocket to pay for his Mercedes.

On day 2 of my StayCation

I got up at my usual time, 0500.  I'm having my car serviced, either at 0715 or 0730 - I didn't write down the specific time when I made the reservation.  Silly me.  Shit, I hope that's not what they call a senior moment.  I should have paid better attention.  After I made the appointment I got a notice, "add to calendar," which I clicked on - well,  the date was scheduled but not the specific time.  Shit.
Yesterday I completed my 100 mile challenge... barely.  I had just completed a little over 5 miles when I received an error message.  The route I was downloading failed and that shut down my system.  Everything stopped.  The video, which had been locking up briefly stopped and I was taken to the 'ride completion screen.'  I'd had ridden 3/4 of a mile past the necessary 100 miles.  Golly!  I wanted to put in at least 11 or 12 miles.  I will add those miles this afternoon.  And, what do I get for riding over 100 miles?  A Trek T-shirt.  It's should be read for pick-up at Holme's Cycling in Camp Hill in mid-September.  This is funny since I'm a Cannondale man and ride Cannondale bikes no Trek bikes.  Will I wear it?  Don't know.
My neighbor got a bull mastiff puppy.  He was out in the front yard yesterday doing the house training bit.  He and his wife already have one... but it must be around 6 or 7 years old.  I gave him a 'thumbs up' as I drove by.

Big dogs are great!

Update... my appointment was for 7:30 so I got here 20 minutes too early.  Shit

On the First Day of my StayCation

I did not sleep in.  Nope.  Up at 0515, normally up at 0500, so I guess I'd have to admit to a minor bit of sluggishness.  What can I say, I had 3 glasses of wine last evening.
We had rain over night and things are going to cool off - the temp is only supposed to hit 84 (F) today.  I can live with that.  The dogs like temps in the mid 80's.  When it gets really warm Seig starts melting into the veranda... well, he doesn't really melt as much as decided he's going to lay down,,, and not move.
Speaking of Seig, he was out on the front porch this morning as I took a snap of my sunflowers, more of them are opening. Can you spot him?

Sometimes brindle can be so hard to find.
I saw where the Idiot Jerk in the White House says Rep Omar needs to apologize to America.  If I were her I'd say "America, I'm so sorry you have to deal with this liar in the White House, a man foreign dignitaries have called inept.  I am so sorry you have a president who has no problem destroying the finest things about this great country as he desperately clings to power."  I'd continue, but you get the gist.  Remember what I said, let him use his own words to get him out of office.  An apology like that would get him doing double back flips.  Turn his own words back on him because he's stupid.
Okay, and finally, so I know everybody is wondering just which body wash I chose to lather away the dirt, and grime, and post cycling sweat... well I just placed an order for Every Man Jack, (how's that for masculinity?)  Here's their website.  And a picture:

Organic, no animal testing, and just think, I'm going to smell like a cedar tree.  Say that name several times.  Don't you like the way it rolls off you tongue?  Every Man, Jack... oh, that's right, there's no comma.

Starving the Ego

When I got this morning at 0500 the temp outside was 84 (F).  That's warm.  The forecast is for thunderstorms this afternoon.  They're supposed to be cooling things off for the next week.  People need to remember that these are the dog days of summer.
As for my Trek Cycling Challenge?  I have 4.5 miles to go before I hit my hundred miles.  That will happen this afternoon.  What happens when I hit it?  Well, I get this little badge for my Strava Account and a T-shirt.  If I managed to get a total of 500 miles in before the end of July, I'm entered into a contest to win a Trek bike.  I'm a Cannondale man, so that doesn't excite me too much.
The store is most likely not going to be busy today - the heat.  Those who do show up will be there to buy portable A/C units.  I don't understand their lack of fore planning. Every summer they show up, and then they white "that's all you have in stock?" We only get so many units.  Corporate does not keep shipping them in on a weekly basis.  When they're gone... you're shit out of luck.  Plan ahead.  Don't wait until we're in the middle of a heat wave to decided you want a little A/C comfort.  People do the same thing with snow blowers and shovels and icemelt.
And, of course, now I'm going to need to change my body wash.  Shit!  For years I've used Nivea's Body Wash for men for my after workout shower.  I like smelling fresh as a daisy, you know?  Well evidently Nivea has decided that they don't do gay.  What's is that their ad agency does... gay.  In fact, one of the owners is... gay.  So, the ad agency pulled an Nsync on them and sang "Bye, Bye, Bye."  There's no way I can support a company that doesn't do gay... you know what I mean?  So I'm in the market.  I'd like to avoid products by Unilever is possible since they do a lot of animal testing.  Suggestions are welcome.
Finally, I understand the Idiot Jerk in the White House is still verbally attacking Rep. Omar.  What I find interesting is that he's not making headlines... at least not the way he had been after his rally in North Carolina.  Fox News likes to smear around his shit, but most of the other media outlets seem to be playing it down.  There blurbs and and articles about racism, no doubt because his decision to play the race card is directly related to the White Republican Party.  However, there are no banner headlines and that must piss him off.  His ego needs feeding.  He does this by stoking anger and fear.  It's time we started starving that sucker.

And... the heat is on

It's Saturday and the temp is supposed to hit 98 (F) today.  It was 99 (F) when I left work yesterday, and last evening, after things had cooled down to a sweltering 95 (F) my mowed his lawn... with a push mower.
I have 15 more miles to go before I complete my Trek Challenge - a lot of those will be done today.  Inside on my trainer, of course, since riding around outside today might be considered grounds for committing me to the nearest cycling asylum.
Interestingly enough, I least I think so, in The Body in the Tower Eli and Max fly down to Pau, France, for the mountains stages in the Pyrenees and yesterday this year's tour was actually in Pau.

 I did see, as I copied that link, Amazon has the paperback version on sale for Prime members.
So, besides riding what am I going to be doing today?  Well, lotsa laundry.  My, doesn't that sound fun.  Remember, it's going to be at least 98 (F) outside.
And, of course, even though the Idiot Jerk tried to distance himself at first from the racist chanters at his rally, now he's defending those white supremacists.  That should be no surprise.  He wants to turn himself into a god for his base, a group of aging white people committed to the denial of science.  They are desperately clinging to the dark ages of the 1950's as though they are the last life preserver from the Titanic.  They don't know the smart people, the ones who used their noggins, are the ones who got in a lifeboat, or jury-rigged a raft.  There is no salvation for them... literally.  The heat is on and instead of understanding they need to work to save the ship they're jumping overboard.
Finally, I started watching "Dark" last night on Netflix.  It's a bit of a scifi supernatural thriller and it is... good.  Here's the trailer.

Meh

Today is actually my Friday, I'm off tomorrow, of course I'm back to work on Sunday... but just for one day.  Then I'm going to have five days off in a row.  Now... just what will I do?  Maybe paint.  Three things that are scheduled are my annual physical, my car gets serviced (oil change), and Seig goes to the Vet.
And, of course, repercussions and accusations are still flying into the walls of American morals after the Idiot Jerk's rally in North Carolina.  While his base sings and dances to his racist song, far more Americans saw him step into a deep pile of shit.  Does he, and the rest of these dung dancers, really care?  Absolutely not.  He has an adoring base and as long as they give him what he wants, praise and veneration, he will spew hatred.  For him, the only true American is one who bows before him.  His problem, and it's a serious one, is that large swaths of voters took a step back and said "what the fuck?"  The crowd at his rally was not all local.  Some drove from as far as Florida to spin and whirl in his hatred.  The response by a majority of Americans was to scratch their heads in disbelief and say "shut up!"  Prepare yourselves, he and his white party will continue to shit in their pants.  It's the only thing he really knows how to do.
On the bright side, Rep. Omar went home to praise from constituents.  The Idiot Jerk has no clue as to how much he helped with her re-election campaign.
And on the 'meh' side of life.  The trailer is out for "Cats."  Deep, deep groan.  I saw "Cats" on Broadway.  Many words have been written, not about how great this show is, but rather how it's a one song musical.  "Memory."  There, I've said it.  The rest of the music is... meh.  How meh?  The London cast version had different songs to sing than the New York version.  Meh.  I like shows that use dialogue to move the story forward.  "Cats" is a dance musical...  No dialogue.  In fact, this is a concept show, meaning there is no real story per se.  They do sing "Memory" though, a couple bars here, a couple bars there, and then the full song at the end.  Now, I don't mind watching people dance on the stage for short periods of time... though not for 2 + hours.  Meh.  I watched the trailer and I think the actors look less like cats and more like aliens with kitty-cat ears and tails.   Meh.  Don't believe?  Watch?

There's almost as much dancing here as at one of the Idiot Jerk's rallies... well, maybe not that much.

Time to Unify

It's Thursday... I know this because I checked my calendar.  For some reason I thought it was Friday... wrong.  Believe me, I would really like it to be Friday.  It's my approaching vacation... and the fact that it's slow at work.  This is not flooring season.
I went riding in Utah last night, not my normal 10 or 11 miles, I was on a new route... with hills, strep hills - 10% grade.  I took a snap.  My position is marked by the little blue helmet.

My legs are a little sore this morning, so I'll take the day off. I like this ride, though, so I'm going to focus more on it and build up some strength in my legs.
The Idiot Jerk held a White Republican Rally in Greenville, North Carolina.  It was racist as all get out, with the very white crowd chanting "send her back."  The ugly man is fueling hatred towards minorities because he wants to, because it gives him joy.  He so desperately wants to wear the mantle of American Dictator.  His approval rating has gone up a few percentage points... among white Republicans.  The rest of America is inching backwards in horror as the party of the Idiot Jerk creeps deeper into fascism.  Believe me, the Idiot Jerk would love to run a fascist country and so would the Republicans.  They hate the constitution because it restricts them, binding them with rules which deny them the control they so desperately want.  One good thing is that they are a minority group, themselves.  Vast majorities do not stand behind the Idiot Jerk.  His approval rating has been sitting, for the most part, in the low 40's since his election.
Democrats need to come together.  The infighting between the middle and the far left needs to stop until after the 2020 election.  If this means AOC needs to bite her tongue... well, then she needs to bite her tongue.  Centrists and Independents are the key.  Do not piss them off.  The Idiot Jerk does not know how to deal with a wall of unity.  He and his sycophants will chip away at every crack they can discover.  Unification is the only way to beat this Evil.  I like The Squad, but they need to become for Centrist in their message if we hope to defeat the Idiot Jerk.  The Squad needs to become a name he hates.  They need to represent truth, justice, and equality for all Americans.
And, now that Al Green (D - Texas) has failed at his little impeachment stung, he needs to put on his Big Boy Pants and join the team.  His priority must be to help win the White House back from the Idiot Jerk.  He needs to pocket his hatred until we Americans can begin to prosecute the Idiot Jerk and his henchies.

How to Treat an Inept Politician

Holy Crap!  It's Wednesday... and I go back to work for 3 days.  Trois jour ou les temperatrues seront tres chaudes...   The humidity is already here.  Yikes!
I had an eye exam yesterday.  It's been 6 months since I stopped using the eye drops.  And the good news is?  I don't have Glaucoma, as diagnosed by my first specialist.  That's nice.  The pressure in my left eye actually dropped... now ain't that nice.
I have 79.5 miles completed on my challenge.  That will be easy peasy.  For those who are curious, here's a snap of my riding set-up.

When I'm riding a route, the TV in front of the bike show a video of the route.  The only thing bad is going around curves because I'm on a stable bike and the camera leans into the turn, the way I would if I were riding the actual road.  I can live with that.
The House passed a bill censuring the Idiot Jerk for his inflammatory rhetoric yesterday.  Oh, and some dingle-brained Democrat from Texas introduced a bill of impeachment.  Don't try and impeach!  The last time a political party impeached a president, Clinton, he went on to win a second term.  We need to legally vote that Moral Degenerate out of office, and then prosecute... prosecute... prosecute. We need to get the AG Billy Barr disbarred.  The rest of the Idiot Jerks terror team will be jailed for committing crimes against humanity.
And the Idiot Jerk's rhetoric?  It will not only continue, it will get worse.  Instead of throwing temper tantrums, our representatives need to begin to throw it back at him in a very... nonchalant way.   Don't take his bait.  They need to start using phrases like "These are the things you expect an inept politician to say," and "These are the words of a failed political hack."  When people call him things like this he flips out and makes himself look even worse.  Don't try and impeach the sucker, just piss him off.  Let him do the dirty work himself.
And now, for some pretty snaps... of my purple dahlias.  Yes, they are blooming.

Now, ain't that just beautiful?

Rest Day

Today is Tuesday.  This is the first of 2 rest days in the Tour de France.  Those cyclists deserve it, they've ridden over 1300 miles in 10 days (give or take a mile).  They will relax and eat pasta and build up their strength for the stages in the Pyrenees which come next.  Eli and Max spent the first rest day up in Montmartre.

That evening found us having dinner with Walker Beresford and her fiancé Henri d’Eauville at Le Poisson Blanc, a basement café in Montmartre.  The long dead souls of Beat poets filled the air around us while people wearing berets smoked cigarettes in long, eloquent holders.  This was a shadowland of past and present, where shiny cell phones lay on tables next to wine glasses and ashtrays filled with unfiltered cigarette butts, where some conversed and others listened to the pale, smoothly flowing sounds of a jazz flautist.  A transfixed moment from a Romantic age now only chronicled in books and on film.

Here in the United States we have a Moral Degenerate, and Idiot Jerk in the White House who is proving he will stoop to any level in order to get himself re-elected.  He is justifying his racism by call those voices unifying against him as unpatriotic... un-American..  Four of those voices are women of color.  He is trying to rip a page from McCarthy's playbook.  For those who don't know, McCarthy was a Republican politician who saw Commie, Pinko Sympathizers every where.  He got Congress to hold hearings on Un-American behavior.  The Idiot Jerk wants to do the same thing, except his targets are minorities.  It's the 'old, white thing' you know?
One of the opinions I saw this morning on NBC News claimed he'd flipped the race card on Pelosi, tying the entire Democratic Party to the far Left.  That might be true if we already hadn't seen 2 years of the Idiot Jerk.  He is inept.  He has henchies like Stevie Miller telling him what he needs to do to hold on to his base.  This is what he is desperately trying to do, make sure they go to the polls in 2020 and cast their votes for racism.  If you weren't prepared for this, you should have been; he will pull every dirty trick in the book.  He is a desperate, angry man who represents an aging white America that steadfastly refuses to even try to understand evolution.  We are changing... and it's worldwide.  The dominant gene is brown, not white.
There will be no rest day in politics until the Idiot Jerk and his minions are voted out of office.  Vote Blue. 

Grade This

My weekend begins today!  What's in store?  Yard work, of course.  And most likely a ride on the bike.
I hit the 60 mile marker yesterday on my 100 mile challenge.  I rode and completed the CBTT (Charlie Baker Time Trial) in Concord, Mass.  I was pleased because this ride has some hills.  Hills are good, they build strength and grow muscle in your legs.  The higher the grade of the hill the more power you expend.  What is grade, you ask... well, if you have 1000 feet of road and the end point is 90 feet higher than start point, you have 9% grade.  In "The Body on the Lawn," Eli remarks how the grade up to Margaret Stanley's estate is a 9% grade.  When the Tour de France goes through the Alps or the Pyrenees the grades are as high as 24%... that's almost like riding up a ladder.  The steepest hill I had yesterday riding the CBTT was 6.5%.  I took a snap of that ride when I was finished so I could show you what those hills look like.

The hills are the green bit

And, of course, the Idiot Jerk in the White House Tweeted out his ugly racism yesterday.  Approximately 89% of the Republican Party agree with his handling of the immigration crisis.  They are a slowly shrinking minority group, a fact to which they completely oblivious.  They are white, aging men and white rural communities with a small minority presence.  They are the white class of Americans who feel entitled:  they want to buy as much shit as they possibly can with low payment, interest free loans.

And now an amusing customer story.  He had bought three vinyl mini-blinds and was attempting to adjust the length.  We will cut the width down, but length?  That the customer's responsibility.  It's a timely process.  Well this customer was having problems.  He didn't understand you need to take the extra string and thread it through the holes in the bottom rail, tie them together, cut off the excess, and replace the plastic plug.  "I have all this extra string," he kept saying.  So, I repeated the process.  His response?  "If I can't figure this out, do you have a support team you can send out?"...   ...   ...  He must have thought we had a blind Geek Squad... or, well, a Geek Squad for blinds.  We don't.  I apologized and told we don't provide that kind of service and recommended he call the 800 number on the instruction sheet.

Mike and Barbara?

Something is eating my nectarines!  I have no idea what... some sort of buggy things.  It's actually not that upsetting.  I hadn't planned on being able to harvest any this year.  I'm off tomorrow and that's one of my yard work chores.
In my Trek Riding Challenge I am 98,983 in the rankings.  That sounds bad, right?  Well, there are actually 41, 208 cyclists who are doing worse than I am.  Oh, and I hit 50 miles yesterday.  Also, I can tell you that some of the few ahead of me have over 1000 miles in so far this month.  Think of that, the month is not even half over and they've already traveled more than 1000 miles on their bikes.
One of the things I did to aid myself in learning Greek was to print off a copy of the alphabet.  For me, learning a language has always depended upon specific sounds with specific letters.  Showing me a word with letters I've completely unfamiliar with is not the way to teach me, especially when at some point I'm going to have to write Greek... and that depends on spelling.  I also write down the new words I'm given.  You need to be familiar with the Eta, Beta, Theta... if you know what I mean.
On Jeff Epstein: there are a lot of words being written about how he, as a sex offender, a jailbird, managed to get so many of the rich and powerful to turn their heads.  He lent his jet to the rich and famous.  Here is a very small list of those many who flew Little Lolita down to Florida:

The names include well-known performers, including Ralph Fiennes, Alec Baldwin, David Blaine, Jimmy Buffett and Courtney Love; media figures including Charlie Rose, Mike Wallace and Barbara Walters; former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak, former British prime minister Tony Blair, industrialist David Koch and the late Salomon Brothers Chief Executive Officer John Gutfreund and his wife, Susan.

Holy Shit!  Barbara Walters!  Mike Wallace!  It wasn't just Prince Andrew and Bill Clinton, there were a whole slew of people.  So, were all these people being flown down to one of his parties?  No. Before we blindly brand everybody with Epstien's evil we need to get to the truth.  He is not some dolt, like the Idiot Jerk in the White House, rather he is exceptional when it comes to muddying up the waters.  The truth he doesn't want you to see is there, all you need to do is filter the water first.  His purpose has always been to do what he wants by covering his ass.  Tell me, do you really thing Mike Wallace and Barbara Walters got massages from 14 year old girls?

Of course, you never can tell.  Maybe they made a sandwich with Tony Blair...

Oh, my, did I really write that?

ηλιοτρόπιο

I guess today should be called my mini-hump day since I'm in a 3 day work week.
Yesterday, work was slow and boring to begin with but then, about 20 minutes before I was supposed to leave things... got hectic.  One of my customers with an expensive carpet install showed up... and did some minor changes... and signed up for a credit card.  The other 2 specialists were busy with customers of their own, and then another customer showed up, and another, and then a customer wanted blinds cut
 Oh, and we have a customer with a flooring issue:  three of the transition strips they need for her doorways have yet to be delivered.  For fifteen minutes I listened to her non-stop complaints about how her daughter had warned her we were going to be slow, how she can't have guests over because they've moved the island out of her kitchen, how she's a clean person and can't deal with the mess, how she's spending all of this money and wants the job done now.  There's only so much we can do.  We don't manufacture this product... somebody else does, there's nothing we can do if they're waiting for materials.  So, I patiently listened, and apologized... and didn't that whiny woman call back 6 hours later and go through the same song and dance with one of our Assistant Managers.  She is one of the Entitled Ones who is only patient as long as things are going her way.  Her demands are always framed in whines.  In the end they will probably knock a couple of hundred dollars off of her charge, not because it's the right thing to do, rather they'll do it to shut her up.  She is a lot like the Idiot Jerk in the White House, who feels she's owed.
Anyway, because I didn't get home till late, I didn't add any mileage to my challenge.  I did, however, print off  Greek alphabet so I know what their letters look like.  Now when I look at a word, I know what the symbols stand for, like the English 'p' is actually the Greek 'r.'  Interesting.
Oh, and I planted ηλιοτρόπιο  (sunflowers) this year... and they're black.

I will save seeds and plant them again next year.

Better Bits and PIeces

Key happy dance music!  It's Friday!  and I get to go back to work!  For 3 days!
Whew!  Glad I got that excitable bit out of my system I can move on to bigger and better bits and pieces!
For those of you interested my my Trek Cycling Challenge... I hit 40 miles yesterday.  I rode in Follonica, which is in Italy.  My route takes me past this port:

You can almost see me behind the railing, eh?

The only problem is whomever recorded the video did a pretty crappy job.

My new pedals arrived yesterday... and they're still in the box.

Last evening Eli and Max checked into the Lodge at Rattler's Den.

My local Weis Market has the 31.1 lb bags of Beneful, so yesterday I bought my dog food there.  Their Chobani yogurt and Folger's coffee is also less expensive than my neighborhood Giant... and Weis is less than a 1/4 mile from Giant.  Yesterday I save close to $4... This is how life is.

I've also decided I'm going to give Greek a try.  The language... I'm talking about the language.  I signed up for a 2 year course with Rosetta Stone.  We'll have to see how it goes.

And, of course, the Idiot Jerk caved on the Census question.  Billy Barr was standing behind him, scowling to beat the band as he made the announcement...  This was after the Idiot held some sort of Conspiracy Theory Summit.  He sure does love surrounding himself with liars.

There are more flower pictures coming.  More things are just beginning to bloom.

There are sunflowers coming and some sort of purply pointy things...

Lily in the Yard

Well, here it is... Thursday, and I have the day off, then I go back and work for 3 days and have another 2 days off.  I've said this a million times, I hate having single days off.  For some reason the scheduler has chosen to only give me 32 hours a week... I don't really have a problem with that.
How's this for the funny, crazy Christian, daft Republican story of the day?  Evidently there is a Republican candidate for Governor who has decreed women reporters following his campaign need to be joined by a male.  Not figuratively, of course, that would be sinful.  He says it's because he doesn't want people thinking he's having sex with them...  Personally, I think it's because he sees all women as the blackest of temptations and he knows he will succumb to their wanton ways.  In other words, he's pretty much of a loser.
Oh, and in case anyone is wondering, the Tour de France is playing on the big screen TV downstairs... Live.  I don't sit and watch every second of every stage... but I can hear it.  Today's stage is about 100 miles long... with hills, which means it will be a 4.5 hour ride.

I guess the Idiot Jerk is going to makes some sort of Executive Announcement today about the Citizenship question racist Republicans want on the 2020 census.  These are desperate old white people grasping at their last straws of control.  They are completely unprepared for the evolution taking place.  Blame their narrow minded religion.

Anyway, while I was doing yard work on Tuesday, Lily spent much of the time watching me.  Seig likes to sleep inside in air conditioned comfort... she, on the other hand, loves to be outside.  So, here's a picture of the lovely Lady Lillian.

It's hard to believe this little dog weighs 60 lbs.

Wake up Call

Well, here it is Wednesday and I go back to work... for one day.  I really do hate this schedule of work a day, off a day, work 3 days, off a day.  I go back to work Friday for 3 days, and then I'm off for 2.  My new schedule gets posted today... I'm waiting.
Yesterday's chores are complete and more are planned for tomorrow.  I'm going to get out the chain saw and cut down a bush blocking the view from my front porch.
I also got a 10 mile ride in - I've now ridden 29. (something or other)miles in my 100 mile challenge.  Tomorrow I'll hopefully get another 10 or more miles in.  As for my standing in this challenge, right now there are a little over 93,000 other cyclists with more miles.  In case you didn't know, there are a lot of people out there who ride bicycles.  What was playing in my Senso ear buds?  Nothing But Thieves.

Amy McGrath is going to be running against Mitch McConnell.  You know, the crazy conservative who looks like he's been spending too much time hanging around Death's door?  He's a bitter, old racist who's only joy comes from fomenting hatred in the world.

Oh, and Ross Perot died.  Now there's one less billionaire in the world to worry about.

Tom Steyer, another billionaire, wants to be the Democratic Nominee.  His platform?  Impeach the Idiot Jerk in the White House.  Tom, I hate to tell you, but billionaires need not apply for this job.  As the Idiot Jerk aptly proves over, and over, and over again, you can't run this country like it's a business venture.  Starbuck's Schultz got out... or, well, maybe withdrew, or perhaps reality finally set in, though I guess he's saying he hurt is back... skiing... or something like that.

And finally... I ordered a pair of these.

They're Shimano Mountain Bike pedals.  Actually, these are considered platform pedals.  The ones I have on the red bike right now work great indoors but my shoes don't always click in the first time.  Platforms solve that problem.

Picture This

So, it's Tuesday, my day off and I slept a little late.  Lots to do today... like pay my taxes.  I am not opposed to paying taxes.  Nothing is free in life.  In case you're wondering, we have the lowest tax rate in the area.  I  don't mind paying them.
I woke up yesterday morning to an inch of water in the basement.  This happens too when you have a 114 year old stone foundation and your basement was excavated in the middle of a shale field.  I haven't checked this morning yet, but things should be fairly dry by now.  Water runs in at the back and out at the front.
I went to see Spiderman, Far from Home last night.  I enjoyed it.  The Marvel Super Hero movies have all been better when the revolve around just one character.  The storylines are concentrated to provide a single, two hour arc since there's no need to provide a large number of characters 15 minutes of obligatory screen time.  Villains have time to build character, rather than just be the bad guys, and the villain here is bad, no doubt about it.  And heroes?  You get to see their personalities grow, their weaknesses are exposed and they evolve.  Tom Holland did a very good job.  You like his insecurities and naivete.  Not only do you like him, you like his friends.  I was also please to see Jake Gyllenhaal leave his desperate Oscar aspirations behind and play a part not geared towards getting himself a nomination.

And I guess they brought in extra cleaning crews to clean the shit out of the White House after the Idiot Jerk exploded after he learned the UK Ambassador was laughing at him.  He has that ego,you know?  Inept.  Nice word.  That little 'pt' sound at the end sounds so much like you're getting ready to spit.  He has no clue as to how much ammunition he's giving the Democrats.  Picture this:  He's in debate with Elizabeth Warren and she drops this little sound bite grenade: "when world leaders are quietly muttering to themselves about how dysfunctional and inept this administration is, nothing is going to be achieved."  And it doesn't have to be Warren, it can be anybody, because now we know just how easy it is to get his head to explode.

Surprise!

Well, it's Monday, I work, and I'm less cranky then yesterday... though I did wake up to a torrential downpour this morning.  The dogs will sit on the back porch and look out at heavy rain, glancing at me occasionally just to let me know they're not going out.  They don't like the rain.  Once it subsides they'll go out and do their business.
I missed yesterday's Team Time Trial.  Education First came in 6th, here's their team.  They leve Belgium for today's stage, which takes the riders from Binche to Epernay, a mere 214 kilometers, and hilly.  In fact, while I'm typing this, they are riding across the French countryside.

As for my own little cycling challenge, I rode 8.65 miles yesterday.  All I need is another 80 miles to hit the goal of 100 miles.  That should be no problem.
I guess the Brits are going to apologize to Ivanka Danka for the leaked cables describing her old man's administration in some not so flattering terms.  I personally liked the "uniquely dysfunctional" bit.  Do you think the Idiot Jerk in the White House will realize this is how most foreign governments view his administration? Absolutely not.  Interestingly enough, the British government as labeled the leaker as 'mischievous.'  That shows you just how seriously they take the Idiot Jerk.  Sadly, for them, because the Idiot Jerk is nothing more than a petty, tyrant wannabe he's going to make them pay through the nose.  There will be no fair trade deals with the US if, or when, Brexit goes through.  Of course, that should come as no surprise.  This administration is totally one sided in every deal it tries to strike, phony to the end.  So, all you Brexiteers who think you're going to be able to rely on the Moral Degenerate in the White House to help you... Surprise!

Dumb Bitch

Well, it's Sunday and after a not so thrilling day off I get to go back to work for 2 days.  Well, let me clarify that.  Saturday had it's good points.  Mike Teunissen, a Dutchman, won the first stage of the Tour de France.

Not a sport for the safety conscious

He wasn't even considered as a contender but there were crashes... 2 of them, and at the last minute he pedaled his ass off... well, he still has it, he just rode like hell.  Good for him!

So, I was in a good mood.  I did chores, no laundry for a change, and decided to put in some mileage on the bike.  Everything was going well until Votis showed up.  Who's Votis you ask?  I have no idea.  What I do know is that someone, somewhere was riding the same route I was riding and he was less than 2 miles away.  That's right, the training application I use lets you see other riders, no matter where they live, riding on the same route.  Until yesterday, this has never bothered me... but for some reason yesterday I found Votis an aggravation.  He was slowly falling behind, and was soon going to disappear from my screen... yet I couldn't stop looking at that little blue balloon named Votis.  So, after 3 miles, I got off the bike and went downstairs and completed 35 minutes of cardio on the elliptical.
I did climb on the scale this morning.... Holy Shit.
Anyway, late yesterday afternoon I did something I rarely do... I looked at the sales reports of my books.  Now, I know my writing is never going to make me rich, which is why I rarely check my stats.  But there was one sale I was looking for...  I think I've already told you about my Navy buddy's wife who posted a list of books on Facebook she was planning on reading during the summer.  I jokingly asked "where's my book?"  Well, she shot back this little challenge, "have you bought mine?"  Her's is a slim, paperback volume of black and white photos... and poetry.  I had no problem buying her book.  I can gift it to my friend Betsy, she might like it.  So, I told this friend's wife I'd purchased her paperback volume (no inexpensive Kindle version was available) and she responded by saying she'd purchased The Body on the Lawn... the Kindle version.  Well, that was over a month ago and I got curious.  You guessed it.  No purchase from around that time.  Basically, she lied.  This is irritating, you know?  She knows I can see my stats, so why tell me she bought the book when she didn't?  Dumb Bitch.  This makes her look really, really bad.

Day One

Today is Saturday, a day off for me.  I requested off because of... Kid's Workshop.  Even though this is a really great thing, having 300 plus kids banging away with little hammers less than 100 feet away is not conducive to good sales.  You can't hear your customers talk, and they can't hear you.

A way more important reason for taking off was today is

The First Day of The Tour de France!

This is the reason why I have a subscription to NBC Sports Gold Cycling.  I can watch it live... commercial free.  The first stage this year is Live... From Belgium.  In fact, the first 2 stages take place in Belgium.  Tomorrow is the first Team Time Trial... and hell, I have to work.  Today's state is 194 km (120 miles) long.  Right now their average speed is 44 km per hour (27 mph).  That's fast.  My average speed is between 15 and 16 miles per hour.  Since I'm not in Brussels, I took some snaps from my big screen TV.

I wrote about the colors and the crowds in The Body in the Tower.  I also wrote about those cameramen on motorcycles.

The jobs report came out yesterday for June.  It was good... and the stock market went down.  Investors would rather have a bad report in order for the Fed to drop interest rates because Americans at work have less appeal to them then the % they're going to have to pay in interest (88% of thee investors are foreign). 
Two days after the 4th and many Americans have decided they weren't impressed with the Idiot Jerk's ego parade in Washington.  What ever happened to the America being the land of Opportunity?  Don't ask foreign investors, you won't like their response.

A Little Bit About Respect

So, the Idiot Jerk in the White House threw a party for himself and Republicans yesterday at the taxpayers expense.  Who showed up?  White Americans with MAGA hats, and signs, and posters for the 2020 election.  Donors to his campaign got VIP seating.  When those who write checks for the purpose of your re-election get special privileges, that's politicizing a National Holiday.  When the only ones who received tickets to sit close to the Idiot Jerk were members of the Republican Party, that's politicizing a National Holiday.  Don't let these lying sacks of shit try and fool you.  This was a campaign rally celebrating the Moral Degenerate in the White House.  If you think this is bad now, it will only get worse.  Republicans don't care how badly they damage the United States as long as they are in charge.  They stupidly ignore their failures, sweeping them under the rug.  They never step back and try and learn from their mistakes, instead treating then like water over the dam; for them ignorance is bliss.
Anyway, I'm off tomorrow.  Time to get back on the bike.  I've eaten way too much, as always over a holiday.  Too many wieners, and burgers, and brownies... deep, dark, and calorie rich brownies.  I won't step on the scale until Sunday.  To do otherwise would probably bring me to tears.
I didn't watch any fireworks yesterday, but I could hear them.  I'm am surrounded by communities which shoot them off.  Luckily, the dogs pretty much ignore them.  Mostly, I talked to my friend Betsy on the phone.  And I spent some time on The Body in the Well.  Here's the little bit where Eli and Max climb the stairs at Greely's Smithy and Tack Shop.

The door to the Tack Shop was in the stall on the right side.  Next to the door was a small, black metal sign noting the store’s hours.  If I had been expecting dark and dingy, I was pleasantly mistaken.  Inside, a wide wooden stairway led up to where the lofts had been used for storing bales of hay.  We passed old photo after old photo as we climbed upwards, pictures of the Rattler’s Den silver mine, of miners standing in front of carts, and hitching posts, and store fronts, bright smiles shining through dirty faces as they had stood patiently waiting for a photographer with a black cloth draped over his head to tell them it was once again safe to move.  There were framed newspaper articles talking about the mine, the town, and the townspeople of Rattler’s Den, tiny history lessons of what life had been like so many decades ago, a vibrant age when miners, and shopkeepers, and saloon girls, rubbed shoulders with gunslingers.  And I suddenly felt the sense pride these people still must have, pride in themselves, and pride in their history, and pride that they had survived while those ghost towns surrounding them had faded into forgotten memories.

Max touched my elbow.  “They were hard working men.”

“Yes,” I nodded, “they deserve our respect.” 

This is just a rough draft, so there will probably be a change or two before the book gets published.

Happy Fourth of July!

The downer side of this holiday is that I work.  Why?  Because there are people out there who believe the best time to get a deal is on a National Holiday.  The calls began a few days ago:  What carpets are going to be on sale? (none)  Is laminate going to be on sale? (no)  What deals are you going to be offering on blinds? (none)  On the bright side, management is going to grill burgers and hot dogs for us.  Free food is always nice.
On the bigger down sided... there's going to be a MAGA rally on the Mall in Washington.  The Idiot Jerk says it's not political yet lots of tickets were sent to groups who love to grovel in front of him... the white men in red hats.  No tickets were sent to the Democratic Party, nor to Independent organizations... only Republican...  Oops.  Can we talk about putting ringers in the audience.  And, speaking of the audience, there is evidently some serious concern about the size... or lack there of; a majority of people just don't like this Moral Degenerate.  Of course we all know size is unimportant.  He will claim the crowd was "massive! the largest crowd in American history" because he's a lying sack of shit.
Anyway, we need to look on the bright side, this is 2019.  We will only have to endure one more 4th of July with the Idiot Jerk in the White House.  Two years from now is fat, orange ass is going to be grilled as his bank accounts get sucked dry by lawsuit, after lawsuit, after lawsuit.  Until then sit back this evening and watch the fireworks displays from New York, or San Francisco, or Chicago, or... well, any city other than Washington.  I mean, if you wanted to see fireworks up close you could always drive up to Brooklyn where this guy was.

I laughed really hard when he started yelling "Holy Shit!" and will admit that maybe this was a little to close.

The Firework Treatment

Well, the drawing of the blood went okay.  I didn't pass out, of course I didn't look so that was fine.  However, when I went to pee in their little cup I discovered my tinkleator was dry.  So, I stood there thinking wet thoughts as I turned on the faucet and let water trickle down over my fingers until it started... drip... drip...drip.  They did not get a full cup.  Nope, my bladder gave them just enough to run their little tests.
The FDA came out with a list of dog foods which may lead to cardiac disease in dogs.  Evidently at some point in the past couple of years, certain people without any scientific background decided whole grains were bad for dogs.  Nope, they decide things like lentils and chickpeas were going to be better.  Oops, it seems as though they're not.  Here's the list.  As I've said before, my dogs like Beneful.  There's an influential website which grades dog foods, letting you know which are healthier for you dog.  Beneful is barely acceptable because... it contains grains.
And, if you remember not too long ago, I wrote that if someone gives one of my books a good review I will publicly thank them.  Well my sincerest thanks to Anne Marie of Philly!

The only other things I did yesterday was nap, and eat ice cream and hot dogs.  It was one of those days.  As I stepped on the scale this morning, I could only wonder why wieners have so many calories. 

Ride This

I don't have to work today... I'm having my blood work done this AM for my yearly physical.  That means I've been drinking my coffee black...  They have to check for diabetes.  Last time I ate breakfast before they drew those 5 stinkin' viles of blood and my doctor said "oh, I see you failed to 'fast.'  I'm very possessive of my blood, in case you didn't know.  I like to keep it flowing where it does the most good, in my veins.
When I got home from work last night I rode a little over 8 miles - the total ride is over 27 miles.

What I find amusing about this ride is that running right through the center of the route is the Reagan Memorial Tollway... which means you must pay tolls..  The highway directly to the north, Route 38, is the Lincoln Highway... and it's free.  No tolls.  What better way is there to remember a not so good president then to charge you to drive on a road named after him?  They must really love him in Dekalb County.  Or is this is just one more example of those damn Republicans gouging the average American paycheck?
And I guess the Idiot Jerk wants there to be tanks in the Washington Mall on the Fourth.  And fly overs by Navy Jets... maybe.  Some of the planned events are being kept... secret, because the Moral Degenerate wants to be another PT Barnum, albeit one from the 'dark side.'  I can hear Melanoma complaining now "D'is is goink to give him a leetle boner ent he's goink to vant sex."  I mean, that's what this is really all about.  Not America, but the Idiot Jerk.  His ego demands it.  He needs to brag about it.  And you can bet a number of failed Evangelicals will show up to praise him.  I'm surprised at how easily they bow their heads.

Trickle Down Failure

The challenge starts today.  My goal is to ride at least 100 miles, albeit inside on my Cyclops trainer, i the next 30 days.  For a while I was getting up early in order to get my rides in before I went to work.  Well, that didn't work.  While I'm a morning person and get a lot accomplished before I head to the store, riding a bike or cardio are 2 things I find myself putting off.  They fit in better later in the afternoon, after the work day is finished.
I find it amazing how China and the US agree to begin trade talks again and the Stock Market goes up.  Your average MAGA head dances around singing Yippee Skippy... while quietly, in the background, prices continue to rise because in America corporations can never make enough money.  Saturday I had customers come up to me, they wanted to buy 3 cases of vinyl planks but wanted to pay the store price, not the online prices.  No problem.  That happens now and then, the Internet price is a bit more.  That wasn't the case.  Our store price was wrong... by 20 cents a square foot.  And these prices increases are National... and the product is manufactured in... China.  Not every price went up, but a number of them did so we had to pull price stickers off our displays.  Even if a deal is struck, those prices are never going to go back down.
And it's not just flooring, and it's not just the retail corporation I work for, it's everywhere.  My dogs are fed both dry and moist dog foods purchased at my local Giant Food Store.  For a dry food, they like Beneful and I buy big bags of it.  The price has always been $29.77.  Four weeks ago I noticed the price had dropped a dollar a bag and I thought, my, isn't that nice...  Until I checked into it.  The price had dropped, but so did the poundage per bag.  $29.77 used to get me 31.1 pounds.  Now, $28.77 gets me 28 pounds.  It used to cost 96 cents a pound, now it costs $1.02 a pound.  Oh, and it appears as though the 31.1 lb bag is out of stock... even at chewy.com , so I'd say this is probably a Purina decision.  And it's not just dog food, it's everything.  For those who are naive enough to believe in Trickle Down Economics, this is how it really works.  And don't forget, these are the same corporations that got a really nice tax break, thanks to the Republican Party.  So on this Fourth of July, while the Idiot Jerk is giving his shitty little rally speech, and all those little MAGA heads are dancing around his feet, remember, this is what he truly given us: higher prices so corporations can make more money.  It's why we have these tariff wars, not so our prices can go down, rather it's so corporations can make more money which is never, ever going to Trickle Down.