Suddenly, In a Fish Bowl

 So, we're entering another slow weekend.  Outside the temps are a cool 58 (F).  Now ain't that nice.  Quick reminder to myself, we're still in summer.  The dog days of August haven't even arrived on the scene yet.  Just wait.  They're forecasting thunderstorms for tomorrow.  That always means hit or miss.

I've started eating breakfast when I write this.  Breakfast has changed.  No longer am I chowing down on oatmeal, and nuts, and berries.  Now I'm serving up one egg over easy and a slice of homemade Italian bread.  More protein and less carbs.  I'm not worried about the cholesterol from a single egg yolk.  You usually don't really need to worry about these things if you're physically active.

I had an interesting customer yesterday, a rather large man in his late 30's (I'd guess) and his son (early teens, I'd guess) looking for indoor / outdoor carpet.  They were fun.  And the carpet wasn't for a deck, or patio, this gentleman runs a fish bowl booth for high school fundraisers.  You know?  Where you toss ping pong balls, trying to get them into little fishbowls to win a prize.  They were nice.  I do suspect, however, that being as large as he was, their life was not always going to be nice, and I felt bad for that.

And I'm sure at least one 'F Bomb' popped out of the mouth of the Orange Anus yesterday when word came down that Congress can get a hold of his taxes.  Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if his mouth was still streaming obscenities and vulgarities.  And that little note was also dropped, the one where he told his acting AG to call the election corrupt and leave the rest to himself and the Republican Party.  It's as if he and his party were suddenly dropped into a fishbowl for the world to see their corruptness.  These people really are scumbags straight from Hell.  But then this is what you expect from the Spawn of Satan.

The Swarm

 Today is my Frump day, that means for most of you it's a Friday while for me it's a Hump day.  

And, in case you're wondering, we did have rain yesterday.  The humidity was heavy.  I like to ask customers what the weather's like outside of the store.  Yesterday, no one had a nice thing to say.

Can we talk about a communication break down?  If issues crop up after we sell an installation, they are resolved by a COS (Customer Order Specialist).  Believe me, they do crop up from time to time.  Normally, when we get an inquiry or complaint, we transfer the call to the COS.  Well, our COS is helping out at a different store this week.  Since no one told us, we've been transferring calls to her extension... calls which are not getting a response because... yeah, that's right, she's working at a different store.

My back is feeling much better.  After all of these years, I should be used to this by now.  This episode was definitely on the light side.  I think they happen to remind me I do have some limitations.  And believe it or not, it isn't the meds that help most, it's a good, old-fashioned heating pad set on low.

I may end up putting mowing my lawn until Monday.  That's fine.  The tall grass will make for slow mowing.  Sweat pants and a long sleeved T-shirt will be required because of the blood-sucking mosquitos.  Wearing anything else means entering into the swarm.

And I saw in The Hill yesterday where the failed, one term loser president, let loose with a stream of angry verdictives when he heard 17 Republican Senators had vote to discuss the infrastructure package.  Dumb ass.  Seriously.  Just think about it.  This loser yammers something venomous about Republicans at the very time many Republicans in the House are being proven to be liars and fakes by the Jan 6 commission.  Many say they are too busy to either be watching or listening to the hearings... well, that's a lie.  You can bet their eyes and ears are glued to the testimony, desperately praying things don't get any worse for them.  And what does dumbshit do?  Spits out a big turd.

Boosters all around

 And I thought today was supposed to be sunny and dry... well, that forecast was wrong.  Now I understand there's a good possibility we're going to be getting rain, with the occasional thundershower thrown in for good measure.  No sun, the clouds are going to be hanging low, bundled in a swathe blanket just a few hundred feet above the tree tops.  This is not at all what I was hoping for.

Work was slow yesterday.  I did sign 2 individuals up for credit cards.  I don't push credit.  I don't want to be even remotely responsible for a customer getting in over their head in debt.  However, that being said, if someone walks up to me and asks to sign up for a credit card, I will sign them up.  That happened twice yesterday.  I can never, ever remember that happening before.   Management will be very happy.

Yesterday, I also sat down with our store HR person and told her I had picked my day to go part-time.  Her response?  "Don't tell me, you need to talk to your manager."  Slacker.  I used to do her job.  I know how things work.  She has a habit of sloughing things off on management that she doesn't want to deal with.  Oh, well, this is how it goes.

Oh, and there's a lot of talk about how we vaccinated are going to need to get a booster shot.  Where does the line start.  I want to be part of that club.

I saw where Loser #45 tried to spin the loss of the candidate he supported into another lie, at least that was the very minor headline in one of the media outlets I scan daily.  His base is small, loud, and now evidently prone to failure.  

And what about that infrastructure deal.  What was it?  Seventeen Republicans jumped off the sinking ship?  And Susan Collins said "bipartisanship works?"  America is watching.  The hardliners are fuming loudly

And then, of course, there is the January 6 Commission.  So many Republicans are wishing their phony Benghazi commissions, all 3 of them, had struck this much of a cord with the American public.  The truth is going to kick them back under the rocks from whence they came. 

A patron of the Arts and Prosperity

 Well, I do get to go back to work today, and tomorrow, something I will need to endure for the next 5 days.  Don't get too close, my lack of enthusiasm is contagious, not as bad as Delta though.

No rain is forecast, so that's nice.  The temps are supposed to hover around in the mid-80's, so that's nice, with the occasional thunderstorm.  I need to mow my lawn, so that will probably take place either tomorrow or Friday before I go to work.  Hopefully things will dry out a little more by then.

On the Simon Biles bit?  I feel sorry for her.  America only wants winners.  Counting the gold medals is more important then the competition.  We want our athletes to be more stellar and less human.  And it isn't just America, however here too many feel victory needs to be assured.  But doesn't that take the human element out of the equation?  You may think me odd, but when I saw the UK won a medal for Mountain Biking I felt really pleased.  Way to go Brits!!!  and France!!! and Slovenia!!! and Austria!!!  Somewhere in our recent past, America seemed to lose our understanding of sportsmanship, and that's a shame.

And I bought myself a small statue of Ganesh.  He is a patron of the arts, and also a destroyer of vanity.  And, while I don't practice Hinduism, I don't see why it isn't a good idea to have him on my side.

Oh, and I saw that a candidate, Susan Wright, supported by Loser #45 lost in a special election.  So much for the fading power of a lying sack of shit, known by so many names, all of which are derogatory.  Voting was said to be 'soft' throughout the district, and, of course, his minions are now blaming her, saying she ran a terrible campaign.  I'm surprised she hasn't trotted out their favorite rotten chestnut, voter fraud.

Anger

 Holy Crap!  It's Tuesday.  Tomorrow I have to go back to work... for 5 consecutive days.  Luckily, I did not have a lot of measures going into this mini-vaca, so the number of phone calls I have to make is minimal.  I don't mind talking to people face to face, however, I really dislike call them to ask if they're going to buy their flooring.  Me personally?  I never put myself into a position where someone's going to call and ask a similar question.  I usually have all my ducks in a row before I even talk to a sales person, and am usually sure I'm going to purchase.  The less I need to deal with salespeople, the happier I am.  Having to deal with someone who wants to play hardball to get a sale pisses me off.

My back is feeling much better today, though there are the occasional spasms.  I just need to remind myself that some of my lower vertebrae are fused and that I'm not as flexible when it comes to bending and lifting. The responsibility is mine.  Picking up a 118 pound dog?  Not in the best interest for my lower back.  Biggie is just going to have to understand.

The temps are supposed to climb into the mid 90's (F) today.  No rain is forecast.  Still, I'm going to have to go out and mow my lawn.

Also, my dentist sent me a text, I have an appointment for September 4.  I do believe I'm going to call and cancel.  I just don't feel like going.  My teeth are fine.  Getting older, I've realized my main concern now deals with having one of them chip or crack.  

Here's a pic of one of my dahlias that survived the winter.

And if you're one of the vaccinated, there's a good possibility you might be growing a little angry at those who refuse to get the shots.  Tempers are rising, especially in areas of America where Republican / Conservative beliefs have been horrifically tainted by Loser #45.  While it's normal to have a certain number of people who have some trepidation about getting inoculated, the numbers in the red states are going through the roof.  Unfortunately, these people are beginning to piss off the rest of America.  Even more unfortunate is the fact that having only one shot doesn't quite protect one from the Delta variant.  Nothing is going to change the minds of these anti-vaxers.  Their anger is only going to grow.  My personal opinion is, if they don't want the shots, if the want to gamble with their lives, then let them.  The more they die off, the less power they'll have at the polls.  It's as simple as that. 

News

 Well hello and good morning!  This is my 2nd day off in what one person at work called a mini-staycation.  I have been relaxing.  Taking the occasional ibuprofen for my back.  I switched from naproxen,  For some reason, the naproxen didn't seem to be able to knock out the inflammation.  Mornings do make me feel like a creaky old man.

I'm going to need to mow the lawn either today or tomorrow.  The weather's forecast to be nice both days, of course the forecasters have only been accurate about the heat.  Yesterday there was a 70% chance of rain and?  Nothing.  Not a single drop.  Which is good.  We've had way too much rain while other places have nothing but drought.  In time, people living in those stricken areas will begin to migrate.  This is how things have worked since the beginning.  Now, however, we are a much more mobile society so they'll drive to their new homes in places where the temps aren't so hot and dry.

I wore a pair of my new socks yesterday.  They're climbing socks, however, I didn't climb.  I only needed 4.5 miles to reach my goal for the week, so I rode 10.5 miles.  When I'm riding, time goes by fast.  My brain works.  Things just click, especially in the creative regions.  A friend says it's because I'm oxygenating the hell out of it.  What ever the reason, new ideas pop open like unseen vistas waiting to be explored.  Here are my climbing socks, in case you were wondering, and no, I didn't buy them from the giant orange home improvement retailer I work for.

I saw where Chris Christie was mumbling gibberish about the unvaccinated, saying they don't want to be indoctrinated.  Now, isn't that ripe.  These very conservatives are trying desperately to indoctrinate Americans into believing The Big Lie.  The article is rather amusing.  He laments how our political leaders haven't done a good enough job explaining vaccines.  Notice, how he tries to incorporate all political leaders.  Anyone with half a brain, that automatically excludes Republicans, knows that the only political leaders who have been running a constant tirade against vaccination are... Republicans.  To do otherwise would insinuate their Liar in Chief was... well... a liar.  No news there.

Adaptability

 Today the weather forecasters are calling for on and off showers and thunderstorms.  Yippee!  I'm off, first of 3 days, so it's going to be a lazy, laundry, cleaning day.  My real weekend begins tomorrow.  

Right now the skies are overcast and the temps are sitting at 75 (F).  After today, a heat dome is supposed to position itself over the center of the country.  We here in Central PA are close to the edge, which means our temps are predicted to be tolerable.  

This afternoon, I do plan on climbing onto the bike.  I need about 7 miles to hit my 55 mile goal for the week.  A ride through Amsterdam should do the trick.  Here is a list of my favorite Rouvy rides.  I've downloaded them, so I'm wondering if I can move them over into the Tacx App.

I see where Biden's approval rating has dropped.  People also don't see the country moving in a positive direction... because infection rates are rising all across the country.  Honestly, what did people think was going to happen?  You have a specific group who refuses to get vaccinated.  Because of this, more and more of them are going to get infected.  Some will survive, others will not.  The rising infection rates are causing the economy to stall.  What did people think was going to happen?  This is what happens when you have one group of people who are bent on destroying everything they don't like.  I suspect we're in for a bit of a rough ride.  I also suspect that the variants are just beginning to roll out.  Covid will mutate regularly.  This think isn't going to go away because people don't like it.  Adaptability is the answer.

The same thing is true with the approaching high temps. I think few, if any, ever thought we'd be living in an age when Darwin was going to be proved right so frequently.

Blame

 Well, hello Mr. Weekend!

Today is the last of my 3 sequential workdays.  Beginning tomorrow, I have 3 sequential days off.  Now isn't that nice.  One of these days I'm will need to sit down with a calendar and decide just when I'm going to go part-time.  Let me be honest, I do like the extra money coming in, so part-time for me might actually be working 24 hours a week.  At the onset of Lockdown, I worked 5 hour days and that was simply fine.  I will have to set up a little spreadsheet to calculate income vs expenses.

And yesterday, things were a bit skewed.  I had ordered one of the Xbox gaming consoles, the Series S version.  With the Series S, you download your games rather then purchase a 'hard' copy.   While I like purchasing a disc you can insert into the console, I took a long look at all of the games I had purchased and realized many were never going to be played again.  Besides, the series S was $200 less then the Series X.  Initially, the console was supposed to be delivered yesterday, how I changed the deliver date to Monday since I was scheduled off, (that cost me almost $6).  Yesterday morning, around 0800, I get an email telling me my console is out for delivery.  So I ended up going into work late.  Last evening, I set it up.  The blame for this mini-fiasco goes to FedEx, and I will be getting a credit since they charged me for nothing.

And what about that sorry sack of shit governor Kay Ivey?  So like a Republican, right?  They sure do like to point their fingers.  What surprises me is that she didn't some how manage to blame Biden as well.  Maybe tie in The Big Lie, a variation on the theme 'these people aren't getting vaccinated because Democrats are phony socialists.'  In conservative states, where the conservative media and conservative politicians have been working in conjunction to spread rumors about the invalidity of vaccines, counts are going up among Republican voters.  Isn't this ripe?  Ivey's been one of those reinforcing the falsehoods about vaccinations... until she realizes it's too late.  The one person she needs to blame more then anyone else is herself, of course she won't.  That would mean she's nothing more then a loser.

When it Rains

 Hello Friday morning. The temps are only so supposed to hit the low to mid 80's (F) which is nice.  Ain't it damn shame I have to work, especially when NOAA is projecting temps for this area to be 10 -15 degrees hotter then normal.  Or maybe I should say, this is the new normal.  What ever the case, I'm wondering if the rains are going to cease as well so things will be able to dry out.  Right now it looks we're supposed to have soaking rains on Sunday.  

Yesterday was slow at work.  I sold one measure.  We have 2 weeks left in this year's fiscal half and we're doing almost as well as last year.  Looking at our figures, it's difficult to believe some people are saying the economy's in trouble.  

I gave Biggie a boost up onto the bed the other night and strained something, so I've pulled out the heating pad.  It works really well to loosen up the tight muscles circling my left buttock. ... Is that too much information?  I took this picture of the dogs on the futon when I was on vacation last week.  I'm thinking of calling it "The Epitome of Boredom."  By the way, you can see an original vinyl recording of Les Parapluies de Cherbourg which I bought several decades ago.

Why did I decide to learn French?  It was this album, and this movie.  Here's a clip with the ever beautiful Catherine Deneuve.  My French is not that good anymore, but that's how life moves on.

Oh, and I saw some sort of blurbing headline that Ronnie Johnson says he may not be the best candidate for Wisconsin in 2022.  I didn't read the article since this man is so full of shit.

Good Vibrations

 Yesterday turned out to be quite the nice day.  The temps only climbed to a comfortable 82 (F) and there was a bit of a breeze to help dry out all of the rain.  That was a lot different then the forecast, which had been calling for a 60% chance of rain.  In fact, for the next few days they're forecasting no rain.  In the 'what used to be normal' summer weather, July and August were dry and sunny.  The pattern changed last year, and so far this year the change seems to be holding.  

And I do get to go back to work today.  Not surprisingly, I'm not 'a flutter' with excitement.  A return means having to call customers and dealing with issues.  That's one thing you can bet on, issues have cropped up.  Being forced to provide outstanding customer service to people who don't always deserve it is a real pain in the ass.  I really do wish we'd just start saying 'no' to the entitlement so many feel.  People are not as special as they believe.

I've found the reactions of people to Bezo's trip to the edge of space fascinating.  Quite a lot of chatter is going on about New Shepherd, his rather phallic looking rocket.  Let's be honest here, rockets, in general are phallic, Jeff just added a little pizazz to his.  Let's be honest, it does look quite a bit like a billionaires sex toy, and I'm willing to bet Jeff was feeling some really strong 'good vibrations' on his 11 minute ride.

And then there's this, courtesy of JMG.  99.5 % of Covid deaths in Texas have been unvaccinated individuals.  I was going to add a tag noting they were all Republicans, except .5% were actually vaccinated individuals who suffered from breakthrough infections.  Still, I'm will to bet that most of that 99.5% were Republicans.  Since February, the Texas GOP has lost over 8000 loyal Trump supporters, and that's on top of those who died from other causes. like freezing to death, or, more recently, sweating to death.  Oh, and in Florida, DeSantis is now saying Covid is seasonal, meaning you can get infected in every season of the year.

The truth about revelations

 For some of you this is Hump Day, the middle of the week.  For me?  It's the last day of my Staycation.  Don't worry, I have another planned in a little over three weeks.  Six days are always better then five.

Weather wise?  Today's supposed to be crap.  Showers and thundershowers.  The forecast is not going to change for the next 3 days.  We're going through a mini-broken record of on again, off again storminess.  I do wish the rain would hold off for a couple of days so things could dry off.  Everything is so damp, the ground, itself, seems spongy, and the mosquitos are a blazin', almost to the point where I ready to light some citronella candles in the house.

As many of you know, I like using song lyrics in my books.  Old songs, new songs, lyrics add provide depth in their poetry.  This song has always been a favorite of mine and I'm pleased to say the inestimable Sheila Caine will be performing some of these lyrics from the Nefertiti Stage of The Amon-Ra night club.  Welcome to New Orleans.

One of the many, many fires out in California was started by a gender reveal party.  I found it rather pleasing to see that the couple responsible are now facing numerous charges, including manslaughter.  Good.  Gender Reveal parties are one of those trendy things people have come up with to get their names in the media.  This couple have definitely succeeded.   I doubt very much if they'll ever think about smoke bombs without remember the expense on in particular is going to cost them.

Don't you find it amusing to see Republicans and their allies, so strident in their anti-vax bias, suddenly revealing how much they want their constituents to be vaccinated.  Scalise gets his first shot... and that made headlines.  McConnell's telling people to 'get that shot in the arm.'  The CEO of Newsmax has said Biden's doing a good job fighting the virus.  I guess they've finally realized that dead Republicans can't vote.

Ironically Speaking

 Well, yesterday was filled with surprises... sort of.  First of all there was the weather.  Temps were supposed to be in the high 80's and there was a 5% chance of rain.  Guess what?  We had rain.  Not just once, but twice with one of the storms lasting almost a half an hour.  Remember what I said about us becoming a tropical rain forest?

Another surprise was my car.  It was recall time.  When I arrived at the dealership, I was told about they were only going to take about 2 hours.  Ironically, after 2 hours, I was told they were still reprograming my car and that it would take at least another 3.  Yikes.  That meant spending 5 straight hours sitting in the waiting area.  So they gave me a loaner to go home.  They were right about the 3 hours.  They called about 5:15 PM and told me my car was ready, so I returned the loaner and picked up my car.

Today is the first day in my little Staycation in which nothing is planned.  I have no appointments, no luncheon dates, just time to do what I want.  I'm going to enjoy today.

I bought some new, really snazzy socks.  If I get a chance, I'll take a picture of me modeling them.

Evidently there is a growing backlash in this country over vaccinations, mostly angry Republicans shrieking about how the government is pressuring them to get their asses vaccinated.  They are intensifying their attack lies because they simply cannot believe Covid is a serious threat.  Hospitals are filling up, and certain states are reconsidering mask mandates.  Isn't it ironic how desperately they want to tell Americans how to live their lives, yet they, themselves, want to be told nothing.  They actually do believe they are special.  Damn.  Maybe this is the real reason why Trump got elected, to cull out the losers.

Fortune

 Monday has arrived.  This is my Staycation Hump Day.  I'm right in the middle.   Unfortunately, I've got to spend some of today at the car dealership.  There were 2 recalls that need to be taken care of on my car.  Hopefully they will only waste about an hour of my time.  I will do what I did last time.  Take the first chapters of The Body in Repose and reread and edit.

Yesterday, I spent the afternoon down in York with my friend Betsy.  We had lunch at a Chinese restaurant.  As is always the case, I ate way to much.  Here's my fortune:

I harvested my first cucumber yesterday.  I think I purchased the wrong kind, this looks more like the ones used in making pickles. Does anybody know if they're still edible?  I suppose they are as those you buy in the supermarket.

My lower back has been bothering me, so I'm going to go back on the naproxin regime.  It's been a quite some time.  Most likely I pulled something, or strained something.  Everything's ducky dandy after about 20 minutes with the heating pad, so I know it's nothing serious.

Evidently the Matty and MTG mini hatefest couldn't fine a venue wanting to let them spread their lies while they were in California.  They struck out 3 times.  Someone should tell them that after 3 strikes, your out.  Not that they'd believe you.  They'd claim you were lying.  This is what they desperately want to believe.  Any other truth would define them as seditious losers.  

And not surprisingly, China is now being charged with global hacking.  Duh.  I see these headlines and can not help but wonder how people could not realize this was happening.  I do hope our government is responding in like kind.  In fact, I'm even more surprised that we are not in the forefront of using this tool against our enemies.

Notes

 So, we were under a lot of weather warnings yesterday:  high wind, tornado, hail, heavy or torrential rains, flash flooding, and we got... a steady rain for about 45 minutes.  It was a bit breezy, but that's about it.  No garbage cans went rolling down the street.  One thing I will say is that we have had a lot of rain so far this summer.  Last year my river birch were losing leaves constantly, this year?  New growth on every branch.

I'm spending the afternoon down in York.  My friend Betsy's getting her copy of The Body in the Loch.

And it is Sunday, which is also the day the Internet slows down.  Not because of any religious reasons, mostly because people do need a day of rest.  This is the day when the blog always gets the least amount of hits.  Because of that, I've decided to share some notes with you.  This is roughly what the next 4 chapters of The Body in Repose is going to look like.

Have a good one.

Let the Staycation Begin

 Ah, the joys of not having to go into work.  Having paid vacation is nice.   Five days in a row.  And in just 4 weeks I'm going to have 6 days off.  This is almost like working part-time... oh, hell, who do I think I'm kidding.  This isn't even close to working part-time hours.

Those weather guys, who can never seem to get their predictions right, are forecasting rain and thunderstorms today, and then some cooler temps for the rest of the week.  By cooler, I mean high 80's (F) and low 90's (F).  These temps are what would be considered normal for July.  Of course, we all know how inaccurate those weather guys can be.

I harvested my first eggplant, not so much because I was desperately hungry, but because it was resting on the ground and I didn't want a bunch of little critters making it into a meal.  The plant is for me, not them.  It's almost a foot long, but narrow.  Think how tasty this will be sautéed with a little olive oil.  Yummy.

I saw where Alan Dershowitz has flipped, and now admits that the election was not stolen.  He did try to soften his statement for the MAGAs by saying "no election is perfect,"  but then he continues.  Basically, what he's doing is calling Donald Trump, and the Republican Party, liars.  Of course, the far right can't handle the truth, so prepare yourselves.  More and more, you're probably going to hear them shriek, not about The Big Lie, but about the Big Brashness.  Also remember, these people are really bad losers, so they will get nasty, but like any rat in a trap, at some point they will begin to chew off their feet.

Greece, and other things

 Today's my Friday.  Literally.  And this is odd, because it's also Friday all over the world!  For me, this is almost like celebrating a lunar eclipse.  And, of course, my staycation begins tomorrow, or to be more precise, around 7 PM this evening, give or take a few minutes.  I might leave work early.  The great orange home improvement retailer I work for gave people over the age of 65 six weeks of personal time because of Covid.  They were very generous.  I cashed a lot of a number of days in to pay off my car, and used the occasional day now and then.  The days I haven't used will be paid out on my next paycheck.  Now, ain't that nice?

So, what am I going to be doing with my time off?  Well, work on the aquariums, for one.  The fish have started eating some of the plants in the big tank, not all the plants, they don't touch the broadleafs, but everything else?  Hungry little buggers.  They get fed three times a day.  So, I bought some artificial tall plants for the back of the tank.  If they look okay, I'll keep them.

A friend of mine started ending his emails with punctuation smileys.  They're odd.  Like this: (;  I'm wondering if  he might be a little dyslexic. 

And I went for a ride in Greece yesterday.  Lordos.  There are some nice 9% and 12% grade hills.  This is the ride where the deer run across the road.  Here, in central PA, it's not that unusual to see deer running across the road.  You don't really expect it in Greece.

I find it rather amusing that Republicans in congress are now wringing their hands and whining horrifically the Schumer is playing hardball, and that it's not fair.  Excuse me, but this is the same party who, when they had control of both the House and the Senate, told everyone to "shut up, we're in charge, we're going to do what we want."  Of course, this what we have come to expect from stinking losers.

Bite Me

 I do believe I had that sign on my back yesterday when I went out to mow my lawn.  Every little flyin' critter within miles began swarming around me.  Lots of little bites.  Nothing serious, and they went away soon after I was back in the house.  Still, if everything weren't so wet.  There is sitting water everywhere.

And last night I went to the movies to see Black Widow.  We did not stay for the tag at the very end, after all of the credits.  Interesting storyline from an earlier time in the character's life.  Most of the cast was women, and it was directed by a women, but there were lots of men in the audience, and not because of Scarlett Johansson.  I thought some of the actions scenes went on a little too long.  Marvel Studios works very hard to take the comic book out of their movies, yet the giant action piece at the end must have come straight from comic book, or graphic novel, which ever you want to call it.

There will be a big change in movie.  The stop at the concession stand is going to have to stop.  $14.08 (+ tax) for a small beverage and popcorn is too much.  The total cost of the movie and the snacks was over $22.  I understand AMC is trying to make back the revenue they lost from last year, and they need to understand that it's not coming from my wallet.  Personally, if they think I'm going to pay their costs, they can just bite me.

Of course, you can't look at any form of news media without hearing about Delta.  More important, every where you look, people are talking about just who isn't getting vaccinated.  And Fox News?  Even though they are all vaccinated, they are shrieking the siren's song of the unvaccinated.  For those who don't know, mythological sirens used to to sing their songs to lure sailors.  They sail their ships onto the rocks, their ships sink, the sailor's die, and the sirens are happy.  This is Fox News.  They really don't care if people die, just about their ratings.  Good ratings lets them charge more in advertising fees.  Personally, when I think of Fox News, the first words that spring from my lips are "bite me."

Who Cares?

 On the last day of my weekend, I have so much that needs to be done.  How much gets accomplished?  We will have to wait and see.  

I did talk to the  radiology dept. at the VA yesterday, and yes, they were calling to schedule an appointment... for next year, June of 2022.  They do plan in advance.  My next physical is already scheduled, as well as the bloodwork, for next May.

My ride yesterday took me to Barcelona, along the shore.  There were so many people, though the ride is not nearly as bad as Amsterdam, where dodging tourists becomes a sport. The video was definitely shot pre-Covid.  They have bike lanes, which is really good, since the route wends it's way down some high traffic streets.

Temps today are forecasted to hit the upper 80's (F).  That's fine with me.  According to Accuweather, there are more days where the thermometer is going to hit the high 90's (F).  There was an article on Climate Change, NYT, I believe, where the comparison was made between the west coast heat and the east coast rain.  They don't have enough rain, we're getting a bit more than normal.  Same thing happened last summer.

Here's a pic of me in my chili pepper cycling socks.

And finally, we're all seeing how Covid cases are rapidly rising among the unvaccinated.  Who Cares?  Is the predictable even noteworthy?  Governor DeWine, (Ohio), is again pleading for the Republican voters of that state to get their asses vaccinated.  He doesn't understand that his embracing The Big Lie is insidiously tied to the Anti-Vax movement.  There is a raging fire of infection in his state, and he's coming up with contests.  At this point, nothing is going to help.  Even if he began telling the truth, not of his constituents are going to be believe him.  Tough shit.

The POM PSA

 Good Morning, and hello to my weekend!  I'm delighted to be here, especially knowing that on Saturday another staycation will be starting!  And how will I be occupying my time?  Believe me, there is plenty to do. 

Yesterday as boring at work.  Not a lot of customers.  The humidity was heavy as hell, even after the thunderstorms went through.  They're forecasting a repeat today. 

I did receive a phone call from the radiology dept. at the Lebanon VA telling me I needed to schedule an appointment.  This is a bit confusing since all of my testing should be done until next year.  When I called them back, they had already left for the day, so I left a message. Later this morning, I'll call my Primary Care physician to see why they called.

The humidity is ripe again today.  Thunderstorms are waiting.

As most of you know, I ride bike a lot.  Remember, your legs are the engines of your body.  Since I do work them on a regular basis, I thought I give you all a little PSA on POM, (pomegranate juice).  I drink some after ever ride.  Even if you're not interested in the POM, you do get to hear me talk.

And what about that Cracker Jack Crazy CPAC down in Texas?  In case you haven't realized it yet, those people are all nuts.  They are so out lost in a fantasy world of their own creation, they have very little, if any connection to reality.  Truthfully, what they've come up with is a 7 point agenda to their own annihilation.  They simply don't understand that if they were to even attempt something like that, the Centrists, and Independents, and Liberals, and Progressives would first reject them, and then begin to club the shit out of them.  Of course, maybe that's what they're waiting for.

Hiding the Dirt

 Good Morning Monday!

After today, I'm scheduled off for 2 days, then back on for 2 days, and then off for a week.  Another Staycation is rapidly approaching.  This is  good thing.  I am so looking forward to those days, not that I have a lot planned.  That's precisely the point.  I don't.  Now, that doesn't mean I'm going to let my lazy ass lag around the house.  I will be busy.  I'm almost always busy.

There are a lot of specialists who aren't always honest with customers; they agree with what the customer says, knowing it's not necessarily true.  Not me.  I had a family looking for a carpet runner last evening.  The attractive ones were sold out, and so they were looking at one with an inch of black rubber on each side and used more for commercial applications.  It turns out, they were going to use it in their upstairs hallway.  When the wife asked me what I thought, I was honest.  I told them, "this is something you would use going into a 7-11, or convenience store."  They didn't buy it.  They're not putting it down to protect white carpet.  They just installed easy to clean, vinyl flooring in the hallway, the runner is going to be decorative at best.

The husband also said something I hear a lot.  The runner they were looking at would hide 'dirt.'  I hate that.  If you vacuum, you don't need to buy a runner to hide the dirt, or carpet, for that matter.  Yet a day doesn't go bye without someone saying, "this color is good at hiding the dirt."  Clean your house!  The fact that there are people looking for a color which will allow them not to clean, says a lot.  What?  Do they only want to vacuum every 8 or 9 months?  And it's not just carpet they want to hide the dirt.  Son of a bitch!

I had a nice little ride in Yosemite yesterday.  4.9% grade for the first 3/4 mile.  Fun.  You know how I love my climbs.

And, of course, people are really beginning to take notice that it's Rooper Pooper Murdoch's media outlets that are working on some serious overtime spreading the lies about Covid vaccinations.  I understand everyone at the network had to be vaccinated, but every show is laced with lies about the evils of vaccinations.  Rooper Pooper evidently believes there is more money in lies then truth.  This is fine.  I understand the ratings at Fox are on the slow decline.  This will continue as the crazies die off.  More power to them.  

Slow Day, Sunday

 That's right, Sunday's are always slow with web traffic.  People sleep in.  There are other more important things to do than spend time in front of a monitor.  For me, well, it's just another day.  It's a work day, today.  And with the forecast, I'm not expecting the store to be super busy, moderately so is more likely going to be the case.  That forecast includes the skies being overcast, and passing shower and thundershowers.  Our high is supposed to hit 86 (F), though this coming week we should be hitting the mid to upper 90's.  

I spent a lot of time in the paint department yesterday because of a call off.  I like working there.

Once my subscription is up to Rouvy, I will most likely not renew.  It was nice to revisit the app, but there are too many flaws for my personal riding style to continue investing my money.  I have downloaded a number of videos and I'm wondering if I might be able to import them in the Tacx software.  Probably not.

And, since today is Sunday, and it's a slow day, I thought I'd post a picture of my cycling shoes.  Now, isn't this exciting!

I'm almost finished with chapter 4 in The Body in Repose and have over 9000 words.  Chapters are longer then before.  I'll have to do something about that.  If you've read any of my books, I like short chapters, little vignettes, or slices of what's happening in the moment.

Covid cases among the unvaccinated continue to rise.  This was to be expected.  Both the Moderna and the Pfizer seem to hold up well against the Delta variant.  Hospitalizations in Missouri continue to rise.  They're rising in every red state where the unvaccinated Republicans have chosen stupidity.  I understand there are 5 red states where Covid is running rampant.  I have no problem with that, either.  You pay your money, you make your choice.

 

Little Suckers

 Silly me, I forgot to mention it's The Weekend.   That's for all of you who have a 5 day work week.  Since I work 4 days this week, my Hump Moment will happen around 0300, and I'm going to celebrate it by sleeping.

We had another torrential downpour yesterday while I was at work.  Mosquitos are becoming rather prevalent.  Last year people in my neighborhood had a bit of a problem with the little bastards.  Some blamed it on being so close to the river, barely a mile as the crow flies.  They overlook the fact that we have a small park less then a quarter mile away that has sitting water.  I know, I've walked the dogs there.  I'm thinking that's where most of the little suckers come from.

Today the weather's supposed to nice and sunny, though tomorrow they're forecasting more thunderstorms.  From July to mid-September we tend to be dry, last year that changed and we were wetter then normal.  This year's looking to be similar to last year.  This might be a pre-cursor as to what Global Warming is going to do to the region, possibly turn us into a rain forest.

Republicans are desperately trying to find something they can use to attack Biden, and failing miserably.  This is not surprising when you look at lack of morals, and ethics, and values they represent.  For years they tried to represent themselves as the part of family values, but then they put the Spawn of Satan in the White House and lied like hell to keep his evil ass in power.  The truth is they're just like mosquitos, desperately trying to drain the lifeblood of America in their attempt to stay in power.  What a shame we can't simply build a big MAGA zapper.

Dana Milbank's opinion of Mitch McConnell published in the Washington Post is quite interesting.  I will tell you, though, the title "Mitch McConnell is naked and afraid" created such a frightening vision, I almost didn't read it.  I kept yelling at my eyes, "Look Away!  Look Away!"

Sign here

 Yesterday was somewhat eventful.  The temps were warm, the air heavy with humidity, and then it rained like hell.  Some of it was an hellacious thunderstorm which dropped buckets and put us in a flood warning, and I think some of it might have been the edge of Elsa as she sprinted up the East Coast.  I ended up with about 3 inches of rain.  

Prior to that, I had a mini-book signing at a popular restaurant called Black and Bleu.  It was actually a lot of fun.  There's talk of scheduling another on a slightly larger scale.  I'm not holding my breath.  I was surprised by how old I looked in the pictures.  I may have to do something about that.  And I hope you all like my Hawaiian Shirt!

One of my fans.

Also, and not too surprising, the Christian Right is continuing to lose ground in the eyes of the public.  Honestly, is this really a surprise?  While Evolution is normal, the Cracker Jack Crazies have mutated into something else.  Fracturing and splintering, their once overly white toothy smiles have begun chewing off their own legs to get out of a trap of their own making.  I have no problem with this, and can only wish the process could be accelerated.  One thing you can be certain of, they will never understand the truth since they've learned how easy it is to wrap their souls around so many lies.

 

Blooming

Today's another day off for me.  Nice.  Kind of.  The weather's supposed to be overcast with storms predicted to hit us sporadically.  It's a good thing I didn't plan on mowing the lawn.  Truthfully, it doesn't really need it.  What we've been getting in rain have been quick downpours that last for 10 or 15 minutes and then they're gone, the hot air pumping the moisture back into the atmosphere.

Elsa's coming our way.  She seems to be moving up the eastern seaboard rather fast, so she should be raining on us either tonight or tomorrow.

And, of course, last evening, just as I was preparing to leave one of our regular customers showed up at the flooring desk.  Vinyl.  That's right, he wanted vinyl - the really cheap stuff, the vinyl that's  so close to paper thin you need to be careful you don't tear it.  And he wanted 16.5 feet of the stuff.  As I went back to the vinyl cutter, I silently prayed to the god of 'out of stocks' for us to be... well, out of stock.  My prayer was answered!  We did have a roll in the back, so I left a note for our Aisle Supervisor to bring it front.

My red roses are blooming.

Evidently, Loser #45 is going to charge the the US Government for the hotel rooms his Secret Service agents will need to stay in for eternity.  This is because the loser doesn't really have a residence, per se, but rather always stays in one of his financially failing properties.  Let's face it, he's got scrap up the bucks somehow.

There was also an interesting article on the NBC news website about Marjorie Taylor Stupid's constantly comparing the Democrats to Nazis.  To sum up everything they say, she appeals to small, stupid minds who have absolutely no idea who the Nazis were and by making the comparison she's trying to make her own fascist beliefs seem acceptable.  The voters of Georgia need to fire that bitch.

Tasty

I'm back to work today... for one day, and then off again.  Then it's back for 4, off 2, on 2, and then off for 5.  I have this vacation I need to use before September, so I'm taking time off in July and in August.

Yesterday was slow and uneventful.  The temps were hot, but didn't crack that 100 (F) mark which had been predicted.  In the evening we had brief dry thunderstorm, that was very loud for a few minutes.  Since there was no rain, I ended up going out and watering my garden.  My eggplants are getting large.  I picked 2 of my banana peppers.  

For lunch, I made a cold meatloaf sandwich on fresh, homemade bread.  It was delish.

Windows is doing an update, so everything is slow.  I don't know if this is part of the Windows 11 package, but things have changed in the way I find pictures.  Something new to learn.

For those of you who didn't hear, last week the RNC was hacked by the Russians... or at least one of the cybermobs funded by the Russians.  Now, I don't know about you, but I think this is rather amusing.  I wonder if Load #45 even cares that his Besties are trying to find out what his party is up to, probably not.  Or, maybe they were just interested in getting all the email addresses for every MAGA head in America. 

Hey, and I even saw where McConnell is beginning to really push his constituents to get their asses vaccinated.  Oooohhhh.  Maybe Mitch has finally realized his old ass can't get re-elected if half of his supporters are either dead or ventialted.

Rouvy and the Day off

 Oh, my gosh!  I'm scheduled off today and will end up dealing with temps in the upper 90's (F), though our heat index values will be between 100 and 104 (F).  That's toasty.  A day to stay inside, and ride, and work on the next book.  Today's also the day that new, little A/C unit gets tested, thanks to the forecast.  It handled yesterdays temps quite well.

I do have to go to my neighborhood Giant.  I also plan to pay my school taxes,  Both those things will happen this morning.  Oh, and I'll probably nap on and off during the day. Oh, and as usual, I'll go for a ride.  For those who haven't seen the updated Rouvy screen, here it is.

Colorful, isn't it?  That's the Bowtie Ride, 27 miles long and fairly flat... and boring, as your ride through cornfields.  I use it as a recovery ride, or just to add some miles to my total.

One of the interesting things I've seen lately, is that Americans associate pictures of January 6 with the Republican Party.  That is not a good thing.  For their part, most Republicans don't care.  They see something completely different.  They do believe the 74 million votes Loser #45 received are set in stone, that those same people will vote Republican again.  Of course, they've been believing their own lies for so long, they'll never acknowledge the truth.  We need to teach them a lesson.  The only way to do that is to vote them out of office.  We out number them, so that should be easy peasy for us.  This means taking all of their voting laws and shoving them back down their throat.  

Riding through the holiday

 While yesterday was the actual day for celebrating our Independence, today, the 5th of July, is when many people will celebrate... well, that's not completely accurate.  Today, I suspect, a number of Americans will be dealing with hangovers.  Not me.  I went to bed at my usual time last evening, the sounds of fireworks in nearby Harrisburg booming in my ears.  Sometimes I can sleep through anything.

 

Today, I'll go to work and I suspect business will be slow, except for those looking to take advantage of 'sale' prices.  Not in flooring.  They will, most likely, bring in some sort of food for us.  I know yesterday they brought in Jersey Mike's subs... or maybe Jersey Mike sells barbecue.  Which ever one the franchise sells is the one they served up for the employees.  Either way, I'm taking my lunch.  Meatloaf.  That's right.  One of the ways I celebrated the 4th was to make a large meatloaf.  Yummy.

A bicycle ride was also booked.  Cow Creek.  I rode half of the 17 mile ride, only need a few miles to complete the 55 miles per week for completely my goal.  This morning, I will ride some other route.

For those of you who don't work today, have a good day off.  For those like me, may your eight hours pass fast.  Tomorrow, I'm scheduled off again.  Of course, the temps here are forecasted to reach 100 (F) so what ever gets done outside will be done in the morning.

My eggplant

 Happy Fourth of July!

I don't work today, but I'm thinking of going to my local Giant Supermarket and buying enough ground beef to make a holiday meat loaf.  That's probably the only thing I'm going to do today, on my day off.  Most of my chores will wait until Tuesday, another day off.

Speaking of Tuesday, the temps here are forecasted to hit 100 (F).  That's very toasty, stay inside weather.

Last evening I watched The Tomorrow War on Amazon Prime.  Some of the action scenes in the future were well done, I found the storyline in the present rather weak.  There is a rollickingly big set-piece at the end, but...  (and this is not really a spoiler) but I kept wanting to see the intelligence of this alien species wiping out mankind.  They needed to prove they had the smarts to build a spacecraft capable of bringing them to earth... and that evidence was completely missing.

Since it's the Fourth, I thought I post a picture of my eggplant.  As you can see, it's getting bigger.

Tomorrow is the official day of celebration.  I work.  Not a big deal.  Many of you in America will have the day off work.  Enjoy!  Do something fun!  Burn a MAGA hat!

The Clarence Thomas failure

 And this is the beginning of the holiday weekend.  I'm off tomorrow.  No plans.  For me, it's just another day in Central PA.  This means I'll miss all those shoppers looking for a July 4th sale.  If you're going to buy paint, now's a good time... or an appliance.  Of course, many believe sales are store wide, they're not.  Lawn furniture might be on clearance right now, simply because they need to clear out space for the next big merchandising event.

There are nectarines on my tree, but they're small and quite few of them have problems, and I'm not just talking about spots.  Some sort of disease, I believe.  I don't think any of them will be edible.  This will be the 2nd year without a harvest.  If it happens again next year, I'll cut the sucker down.  I don't need a non-producing tree taking up space in my yard.

The cucumbers and cantaloupes have issues, too, of a different nature.  They're planted in small mounds of dirt that came from a bag of topsoil I bought early in the spring.  Well, besides the fruit, I seem to be grown tons of little mushrooms.  Now, isn't that interesting?

And, of course, the Supreme Court is edging the country to the right in regard to voting laws, those rules and regulations white Republicans are putting into place to try and maintain control over the country.  What else can you expect from a mostly white Supreme Court?  Clarence Thomas doesn't count, because he's a black man desperately trying to be white.  That man sold out his black self-esteem a long, long time ago.  He doesn't understand historians are going to see him as more of a traitor to his race then anything else.  I do find it odd that a man who is so virulently anti-abortion has no children, don't you?  It makes you wonder how much hatred he has for his race.

 

Cool

 Can you believe that Sunday is a holiday?  At least for those of us in America.  We celebrate what the English call the 'Civil War.'  For us, we celebrate our revolution.  There will be fireworks around the country.  In the past, the store would close early so employees might enjoy those fireworks with their families.  Not this year.  I guess greed got in the way of patriotism.  Who will show up to shop Sunday evening?  Mostly foreigners who don't see July 4th as a holiday.  Of course, they also show up on Memorial Day, and Labor Day, in fact they shop on any day they don't recognize as a holiday.

I bought a small, window A/C unit for the bedroom.  Why?  Those 98 (F) degree days.  I'm in an old house, ten foot ceilings, with only one return vent on the 2nd floor.  When the temps are in the upper 80's (F) there is usually no problem, but when the temps hit those high marks I need to turn the thermostat down.  End result, it's 65 (F) downstairs and 88 (F) upstairs.  And those high degree days are not going to disappear soon.

While on the Zoom call with my Navy buddies, one of them asked me to send him a signed copy of one my books.  I kind of agreed.  Later, he said me an email apologizing for guilting me into send him a book.  So I said, no problem, I send it after his wife reviews the book she bought 4 years ago.  Well, I got a message from her on Facebook yesterday morning asking why?  So I explained:  she challenged me to buy her paperback book of poetry (with black & white photos), which I did, and gave her a nice review.  Holy Shit Storm.  I received notifications 3 times  yesterday that she had messaged me in Facebook. I checked this morning and they were gushing with anger, how she was too busy to read, how my friend had turned her into a jockette, how she was a farmer (she had a garden), how I probably couldn't connect with the poetry in her book, and how she had to buy 4 copies of it to give to friends, and on, and on, and on.  My response was simple:  "So bitter.  And what a waste of words.  You could have simply said you weren't giving the book a review.  I guess this means Mike doesn't get a signed copy."  I don't mind pissing her off because she never bought the book.

Finally, the indictments against the Trump Organization were revealed yesterday, one of which was Grand Larceny.  That's a whopper.  Weisellberg's daughter said he'll flip.  I don't doubt it.  He's 73.  If you though Michael Cohen knew were the bodies were buried, this guy still has the receipts from buying the shovels to dig the graves.  And yes, of course it's partially political.  This is something the Republicans have been doing for years.

In the Dark

 Yesterday, as I was preparing to leave work, we got smacked by a thunderstorm.  On the Accuweather map, we were covered by a bright, hot pink spot.  Red spots are bad, bright, hot pink spots equal strong winds and torrential downpours with lightening zig-zagging in every direction, and loud crashing thunder shaking the very air molecules you're breathing.  It was stupendous!  I do like storms and like watching them from a safe place.  Of course, there are those non-thinkers who have no problem standing in glass vestibules watching shopping carts fly through the air.

Of course, the temps here yesterday afternoon were stuck in the 98 (F) doldrums with nary a breeze for comfort.  When I was young, the few places to actually have air-conditioning were movie theaters, so people when to the movies to get cool.  Nowadays, most retailers have 'air.'  Our, however, is managed by corporate.  This means our lights will dim for a while to compensate for the electric costs used for the 'air.'  Believe, some departments get really dark for short periods of time.  

And yesterday Bill Cosby was set free on what they say is a technicality.  He was in jail for 2 years of what was probably going to be a 3 year sentence.  As for the technicality?  Evidently he gave protected testimony as part of a plea deal to one District Attorney, and then another District Attorney used that testimony to convict him.  This is quite non-kosher, and so Bill's a free man today.  This is what happens when you fail to line up all of your ducks in a row.

Oh, and the woman who caused the crash at the Tour de France has been arrested.  Good.  That's something I will never have to worry about.  For those of you who've never seen it, here's my cycling set up.

Finally, for those stuck in the dark, they have begun to file charges against the Trump Organization.  This is just the beginning.  There is a growing surge of whispers that Weisselberg is going to flip on his boss.  He's an old man who doesn't want to spend the rest of his days in jail to protect a loser.  I don't doubt he will see the light and strike a plea deal, just like Cosby, simply to save his old ass.