I see problems

 Sunday, the last day of October, All Hallows Eve, I believe, and the current weather here in Central Pa is dark, with thick clouds casting a gloom upon the land, while beds of thick fog have sprung up to stymy drivers on wet leaf slickered roads.  Oh, and it's raining again.  This is why I'm staying indoors today.  With no reason to venture out, I'm planning to spend the first of my 3 days off relaxing.  Sounds like a plan.

Yesterday, was an odd, short work day.  Busy, through most of the day.  I designed to sets of blinds for a customer who didn't want to sit down and work through the process.  She just gave me a few details she wanted.  I don't see dead people, but I do see problems there.  And another customer who's replacing her flooring.  A very nice older woman, who has chosen a vinyl plank that's 'middle of the road.'  She will end up spending close to $5000 on a floor I think is ugly.  The manufacturer has issues getting trim parts to the installers on a timely basis.  I see problems here.

And then there was the woman who was asking about hardwood flooring.  She was quite pleasant, asked pertinent questions, and then brought up the 'supply chain' issues.  Sometimes there's a wait, but not extensive.  Products can be delayed, at times for a week or two, but there are no consistent problems.  After I told her this, she paused and then said, "supply chain problems are going to explode on Monday when the OSHA mandates take effect because so many are going to quit their jobs."  Of course, I had no idea what she was talking about, so I started searching when I got home from work.  This is one of the items I found, but nothing as explosive or terrible as she was talking about.  She's anti-vax.  We both made a few, calm statements before she left the department.  No angry response from either side.  Monday's going to prove her terribly wrong.  There will be no major strikes shuddering through the nation.  This is one place where I don't see problems.

The Shame of it All

 Six hour shift today.  No problem.  Then it's 3 days off.  I can handle that as well.  Most of my schedules now are around 24 hours a week, which is what I intended.  

Oh, and in case anyone is interested, it rained like hell yesterday.  There were showers on and off through out the day, however around between 4 and 5 PM that changed to steady rain, and wind; what you'd call a long soaker.  The dogs refuse to go out if they think it's too heavy, so they waited until a little after midnight.  

I baked a loaf of olive bread yesterday, it's tasty, however I chopped my olives so fine you don't really taste them that much.  The recipe also called for using the olive brine... I think I'll skip that next time.

Adam Kinzinger announced his retirement yesterday.  Many are saying this is happening because of Trump.  More than likely the real reason is that there has been redistricting in Illinois and his new district encompasses many Democratic voters and... he's a Republican.  I was wondering if this was going to happen when I saw the map changes a few weeks back.  This is a shame since he's one of the few Centrist Republicans who hasn't sold his soul to the spawn of Satan, Donald Trump.

And, speaking of souls, I do feel sorry for those people down in North Carolina having to deal with their Lt Governor Mark Robinson, a man so filled with hatred he seems bloated.  Oh, wait, I must apologize, he's not bloated, he's just fat.  Oh, wait, that's rude, he's extremely corpulent and has no shame.  And this Cracker Jack Crazy is filled with hatred.  He wants a Christian Authoritarian government, and there's no doubt that if you don't fit into what he wants, he will make you pay.  My money says he hates those idol worshipping Catholics.  I'm not going to bring up Muslims, or Hindi's or Mormons since history has already shown us what Zealots do those people they call heathens.

Funny Things

Okay, so some of you who have 5 day work weeks are feeling all jiggly because you're going to have 2 days off.  Well, I'm part-time, and that means I have a lot of Fridays you don't get.  Coming up, I have an 18 hour work week.  Be jealous.

And, speaking of Fridays, here's the inanity of the week.  A Navy buddy of mine who is older then I, and fully retired from everything posted a Thank God It's Friday meme on Facebook... or, maybe I should call it Meta.  Anyway, think of the complete lack of logic in what he posted.  We are surrounded by dumbasses.  This would be funny if it weren't so sad.

Yesterday I worked for 6 hours, I'm off today, have a 6 hour shift tomorrow, and then I'm off for 3 days.  I could get used to this... and won't that be nice.  Of course, today they are calling for rain.  That's fine.  I have chores needing to be done.  I'm hanging a pot rack over my stove.  After that, the wall is going to be tiled with the same mosaic I used for my backsplash.  Fun stuff, eh?

One of the things the changing climate will effect will be religion, and in a very major way.  Believers will need to blame someone and so they'll look to those groups they've always blamed and claim it's a lack of family values without a single glance at just how selfish and self-centered they, themselves have become.  They have become ludicrously absurd.

I find it interesting that the Q horseshit is effecting a certain mythology almost worldwide.  I see this as a sign that they are growing desperate for a sign legitimizing their beliefs.  On the funny side of their decent into lunacy, I saw this meme.  How appropriate.

Finally, Biden went to Rome and the Pope came out to greet him.  I'm sure Loser #45 is not taking this well.  Remember, he too desperately wanted to meet the Pope, and what we got were pictures of the Head of the Catholic Church lecturing him.  Big difference.  And you can bet this meeting is pissing off ultra Conservative American Catholics as well, like that Bubio Rubio.

Last night I had a dream

 An appointment has been made for my booster shot:  11/12/21.  This is a good thing, as a day doesn't go by that I don't get older.  Wouldn't be nice if we all got free, no aging weeks every now and then, sort of like Social Security checks?  You know?  A couple days here, a couple of days there, just to slow the process down a little?

Strange dream time:  So, I had this dream last night.  I was running through a vineyard with other people, and we were trying to escape from something.  Fiery explosions started all around us, and I was injured and for a few moments in a triage tent where I was given a shot.  Then I was outside on a lawn with a man and his two children; they were playing.  We moved into a large room with fine wooden wainscoting on the walls.  The walls above were bare, and I thought there should be paintings.  Several middle eastern men came in and I was taken to another room with a hole in the floor and they began lowering me into a room with water.  I realized the water was too deep for me to stand, so I told them to stop.  As I did so, I was outside watching and saw that we were in a tall skyscraper, and as I watched, the building began to crumble.  Then I was back in the room with the fine wainscoting, the man and his two children.  Another man wearing white shorts and a T-shirt joined us. I could not see his face.  He took off his T-shirt and laid down beside me on a chaise.  As he touched my leg and said, "you're hairier than me," and I understood that this other man was actually me, and we were the same person and yet different.  And then my alarm went off and I woke up.  I dream in color, so this was rather vivid.  Are there any dreamsayers out there?

And isn't politics running rife in Virginian, like a very Republican joke.  Did you hear the one about the mother who's complaining about a book her son read 10 years ago as a senior in high school, and who is only now objecting to it?  Did you hear, her son is actually an attorney working for the Republican Party.  Or that the book is actually by a black Pulitzer Prize winning author.  Or how this woman wants to 'Cancel' this book?  Oh, wait, that can't be right.  Republicans are all for free speech, at least that's what they say.  Wrong.  Vote Blue.  We need to move these losers way past the sidelines where their ugly, selfish voices will be moot. 

Epic

 Good Morning. 

The Cyclone Bomb, i.e. Nor'easter brushed us yesterday.  Not a lot of rain here.  But wind?  Yes, with some fairly strong gusts.  If the temperatures were colder, this would ripping the leaves from the trees.  The wind's supposed to die down today.  I don't really care since I'm scheduled for an 8 hour shift at the store.  Though from my point of view, the wind is good because my leaves blow across the street into my neighbor's yard.

I went to see "Dune" last evening.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.  When buying my ticket, I told the guy at the concession stand that I had read the book over 45 years ago and received a blank stare.  He told me he'd seen it and thought it was fine.  Translation: there was serious narrative in between the action sequences in which the dialogue is important.  Words have meaning.  Their purpose is to move the story forward rather than loosely set the scene for the next car chase / fight scene between the good guys and the villains.   This film is epic.

I saw where Loser #45 lost another skirmish in trying to get his Twitter account back on line.  Good.

Also, that dumb ass fascist Mo Brooks has said he, himself, was not involved in any of the meetings with the insurrectionists though some of his staff may have been in attendance.  This is one of those phony confessions where he, like so many other failed Republicans, is put the blame on someone else.  They all do it when they're caught.  Why are Conservatives so spineless?

The faces of Evil

 My day off is chock full of plans.  Lucky me.  Of course, my shift to part-time was not done in a timely manner, my manager needed to email the HR person in order to get this accomplished.  As a result, this week's schedule was written before I had a chance to effectively change my availability.  Our HR has some problems with so many things.  As someone who was once in that position, I tend to keep my mouth shut.  Things are stirred up enough, my opinion would only make things worse.  However, this doesn't mean I'm not going to take a personal day this week in order to get 2 consecutive days off.

Weather wise, we're supposed to be hit by a weather bomb of sorts, rain and wind, however we're far enough inland we will mostly get showers and the occasional gust.  Things will be worse in Philly.  The states to the north are going to get slammed.

We have a new associate in my department, a woman from Texas... southern Texas, actually on the border between Texas and Mexico.  I made a terrible mistake.  I made an assumption.  She speaks with an accent, so I told someone she could speak Spanish.  Well, I was wrong.  She can speak Spanglish.  She told me she tried taking Spanish in school and failed the course.  I'm guilty of making a judgment call that was wrong, so I apologized.  The truth is I jumped to a conclusion based on a perceived stereotype.  Lesson learned.

And what about that Rolling Stone article in which several loud mouthed Republicans were said to have been helping the insurrectionists plan January 6?  Marjorie Tayler (the loser's wench), Mo Brooks, Louie Gohmert, to name a few?  I believe there were 6 names spit out, so they will hence forward be known as the Gang of 6 who planned for the 6th.  Truthfully, this would not surprise me in the least.  These 6 are virulently hateful of everyone who doesn't kiss the ass of Loser #45.  In case you didn't know, these people are the faces of evil.

The Liar

 Difficult to believe, but the temps here are supposed to go into the upper 70's (F) today.  Yesterday we topped off at around 62 (F), however there is rain in the forecast again.  In fact, for the past week our skies have been overcast with showers on and off throughout the day.  Climate change, you know?  If this continues, and the temps drop, we might have a very snowy winter... or we might end up like Seattle.

I got over 8300 steps in yesterday and they were done at work.  Improvements continue.  Cori, my cover artists told me "you're no longer all hunched over when you walk, like a 95 year old man."  She's right.  Bending, however, is a problem.  Don't ask me to bend over.  Ouchey, Ouchey!  If my lumbar vertebrae are fusing, this is going to be a continuing problem.

And, speaking of Cori, we were talking about the cover art for The Body in Repose yesterday.  This one's going to be interesting.  She asked me where I wanted that thing that looks like a rocket ship, and then she laughed, telling me she knew it wasn't a rocket ship.  Ha. Ha.  This is what she was talking about.  You might want to save this and then compare it to the final version.

I saw that the Cowboys for Trump are pissed at him.  Actually, pissed might be just a tad to mild.  I like the bit where the founder, Couy Griffin, (and this is me paraphrasing) claims the shouted 'lock her up' for for years, and Loser #45 said he was going to do just that... and not only didn't Loser #45 follow through with his promise, he's letting his supporters be the ones who get locked up.  That's right.  Trump the Liar wants absolutely nothing to do with those people who showed up in Washington on January 6 to stand by him.  In his mind, they got caught so they're the losers.  You'd have thought they'd have realized by now he wasn't sent to give them what they want, he's here to destroy them.

Silent Minority

 Well, the weather is definitely autumn temp wise.  Our high today is supposed to top off somewhere around 60 (F).  The heat is on.  Lucky for me, I'm in an area where natural gas is inexpensive.  Homes around me are slowly switching to a fossil fuel that burns cleaner than oil.

The new roof is on my front porch and the small roof over the bay window on the side.  That's right, I have a bay window that just out into the yard.  A long, long time ago there was a window seat there which could be used for storage.  At one point, during the past 116 years my house has been here, someone saw fit to remove it.  The clean-up was thorough, the 2 man crew even did my fall grounds keeping.  Things change over time.

Of course, Biggie had to come out onto the front porch to investigate.  When I told him to go back inside he did, just inside the front door where he barked at me.

Work was very busy yesterday, lots of people buying blinds for their windows.  Damn!  Thousands of dollars.  Amusingly enough, a bunch of my Navy buddies had a bit of a text conference last evening, I read some of them, but stayed out.  One of them kept stating how prices weren't so high when Loser #45 was in office.  Dumb Ass.  Yet this person represents how some Americans think, out of context.  Supply chain issues created by the pandemic have nothing to do with prices, as far as they're concerned, it's the Democrats.  These are non-thinking voters.  We need to do our best to make the a silent minority.

Mysteries

 Ahhh, the weekend.  I work 6 hours today, they're even giving me a lunch, I might just turn it into a break since rain is in the forecast.  In fact, the whole weekend there's good possibility we'll be getting rain.

I slept in again because Biggie hurt his paw, or his knee, or something, jumping off the bed.  He was panting badly and for a while I thought he might be having a mini-stroke.  While he slept through the night, I worried, until around 0300.  That's when he started snoring and I knew I was blowing things up out of proportion.  He has arthritis in his hip, so I think I'll be giving him his meds daily for a while.

Oh, and they just showed up to do my roof, so.... should I take a personal day? I was told I didn't really need to be here, so... I'll probably go to work.  Sitting here, I'll have to listen to the dogs barking constantly.  You would never think Biggie had an issue last evening.

I'm up to Chapter 27 in the first draft of The Body in Repose, so I thought I'd give you a little mystery.  I took the first page of the previous chapter (26), and cut out the paragraphs, and then rearranged them.  If you want, you can embiggen and try to figure out which paragraphs go where... oh, there just might be a clue here.

I saw where Mikey Pence was at an In and Out burger joint and dropped a definite hint at making a presidential run in 2024.  Stop Laughing.  He is going to tear apart the Evangelical crowd, because you know Trump will  lie through his teeth to make them believe he's the Chosen one.  Dumb asses.  They have no clue as to how bad this makes Christians look.

The Non Sequitur

 Friday Morning.  Yesterday was less productive than I anticipated.  This happens.  I slept in because I was up late... or I should say I went to bed and then got up a little before midnight because Biggie had to go out.  Normally, I fall back to sleep rather fast.  That didn't happen.

I downloaded my MRI yesterday so I could see why my lumbar spine looks like.  I needed to also get a special app.  Several are available.  I chose something called Mango since I like the fruit.  The slides I looked at yesterday were all vertical, I want to see it horizontally.  It's difficult to make out specifics on individual slides, so I'll have to play around.

Still no call from UPMC.  Interestingly enough, my back seems to be realigning itself, or something else is happening.  I don't have nearly the pain I had 2 months ago.  The same thing happened 6 years ago.  Could this be a little of Cura te ipsum?

Alec Baldwin was involved in a fatal firearm accident yesterday on a movie set.  This morning, as I scanned down through Facebook to see if my Navy buddies had posted anything, I saw people were posting pictures of him supposedly taken after the incident.  Losers. I don't understand why people need to post this shit, or even worse, why people like to look at it.

I made a tasty chicken dish for dinner last evening:  boneless chicken breast, fresh tomatoes, lemon, and basil.  No recipe, just me playing around.  Simply scrumptious.

A group of five veterans, Kristen Sinema's advisory panel on Veteran's Affairs quit.  They did not claim that she is a non sequitur, and even though that is normally a literary device, in this case, as far as her being a politician it fits.  They were very specific about her absurdly confusing, non performance as a Senator.  An aid of hers released a generic statement which unequivocally said nothing.  She is, without a doubt, the sum total of her words in this, and in so many other matters.

Freezing Republicans

 Well, this is my weekend.

I've been watching "Another Life," a science fiction series on Netflix... or, I thought it was going to be a series.  Last evening I watched the last 4 episodes of season 2 and, well, the series seems to be over.  As usual, humankind once again saves the galaxy from the evil space aliens who turn out to be disembodied flashing lights.  The writing definitely lacked sophistication.  Spoiler alert!  Infecting the aliens with a virus is the key, just like in War of the Worlds, and that more recent ripoff Independence Day.

The weather's supposed to be very nice today, so I'm thinking of doing some yard work: cutting things back and cutting things down.  As long as I'm near a heating pad things work great.  Tomorrow, I may try a ride on the bike and see how that feels.

We're working on setting up another Zoom meeting for my Navy friends.  Every one is retired for the most part, my schedule is flexible, yet one individual seems to think these things need to be held on a Saturday.  I don't understand that.  Wouldn't you be more likely to be home on a weekday?  Interesting.

Tonight's supposed to be movie night, I haven't heard from my movie friend yet, so it may get delayed.

Odd things crossing my mind:  how brittle does a body get if it's frozen.

Oops, sorry, wrong frozen body.

And, of course, today's the day the House votes to send the Bannon issue to the Justice Department.  You can bet, if it is today, most Republicans will vote against it.  Those dumb shits are on some seriously thin ice.  If they think the freeze in Texas was bad last winter, they ain't seen nothing yet.  Vote Blue, then grab your pick and start picking away.

The Good and the Funny

Okay, so today's Wednesday and supposedly it's the middle of the work week, however, that is rarely the case when you work in retail.  Being a part-timer in retail definitely takes that definition off of the table.  Perhaps, if I were a Republican, I might suggest a name change to Indictment Day, but I'm not, and I don't believe the indictment will come until tomorrow.  Of course, if I were Jeff Fortenberry, that would have been yesterday... ah, but more on that later.

For me?  Yesterday was a day of accomplishment, with getting my lawn mowed at the top of the list.  Also on that list is bread being baked, laundry laundered, and tapestry hung (that's right, I bought a tapestry.  There were other sundry things which achieved completion. 

Another cheery bit of news is that Rachel Levine has been promoted to the rank of a four star Admiral.  This woman is not only breaking records, she's making extreme history.  More power to her!

And then I got this laugh sent to me on Twitter.  Of course, I had to share.  These people are the primary reason Democrats and Independents need to vote in force, because these losers go to the polls, sometimes 2 or 3 times.  I loved the bit about the balloon plane.

I understand the Orange Anus was deposed for 4.5 hours yesterday.  I'm wondering how many time he spit out The Big Lie.    I understand they're going to go after in in Scotland, too, because he destroyed a protected natural habitat to build a golf club that's losing money.  He lied back when he got approval.  But then, do you really think he care about the environment?

And the investigating committee for January 6 voted for the Justice Department to go get Bannon.  Grab you popcorn, this should be entertaining.  

Oh, and that Cracker Jack Crazy, anti-abortion Senator Jeff Fortenberry?  A Grand Jury indicted him for taking money from an Algerian businessman... twice.  Jeffy lied about it because... well, he's Cracker Jack Crazy.  He will lie through his teeth and then ask for Forgiveness like a broken record, over, and over, and over again, because all you need to do is believe and ask for forgiveness.  This loser needs to go.

Explosive

 Off today, temps are supposed to be in the low 70's (F) and I need to mow the lawn.  Two years ago the summer was wet, the grass stayed green, and mowing was frequent, but not as frequent as this year.  Rather than the normal 4 -5 week stretch with out rain, the skies over Central PA have rained down upon us with almost consistent regularity.  I'm a little tired of the rain.  And, of course, people are wondering about what the winter's going to look like, and how frequently we'll be getting snow.

An interesting aspect of going part-time is the decreasing need for me to take my own lunch to work.  This was something that never occurred to me, but this detail turns out to be a bit of a savings.  Shopping at my local Giant always entailed buying the necessary ingredients to cook 5 lunches every week.  Now there's extra meat in my freezer and I'm saying "wow, I'd better start cooking."

Tonight was supposed to be movie night, but that's been changed to Thursday, so you'll have to wait for my comments.

One of the interesting things about this past summer was that the dahlias that I left winter outside have bloomed continuously week, after week, after week.  I just ran out and took this picture.  The roses are still blooming, too, but the explosive pink of the dahlias steals the show.

And, of course, Loser #45 has sued to keep the National Archives from releasing documents relating to January 6 because... well, he probably doesn't want Americans knowing how much he was cheering on the rioters and insurrectionists.  The funding for this lawsuit is not coming from his own pockets, however, nope. This thing's being paid for by MAGA money; all those dollars mini-losers sent his super-pac to 'stop the steal.'  That money can be used for just about anything he wants, and right now he's desperately trying to keep those explosive documents out the hands of the House investigating committee.

That's Fine With Me

Temperature wise, we have another cool one out there, with the high only supposed to hit 62 (F).  That's fine with me.  Seasons change.  Temps are going to warm up again, don't worry.  Starting tomorrow forecasters around here are expecting highs to be in the mid-70's again.  This means that on my day off there will a mowing of the lawn... and a movie tomorrow night.  Wednesday's a work day, but then Thursday and Friday are scheduled off.  That's fine with me.

Everything seemed fine yesterday when I got home from work, until I went upstairs to change out of my work clothes.  I found the remnants of a can of fish food (fish chips) lying on the bed.  Most of it had been consumed by one or two boxers who will remain nameless to protect the innocent.  The fish didn't like the food and often let it just sink to the bottom of the tank, so I was glad someone enjoyed it.

I had been going to use the lyrics from this song in the new book, a chapter in which Bobby Tussel hangs out at the PF on Pomfrete, but chose something else.  This is a really great Halloweeny update by Broken Peach.  Usually the guys stay silent, but not on this one and that's fine with me.  (oh, shit, I just saw Fearsome posted the same vid.  Hope you all love it!)

This is the week in which they vote to arrest Steve Bannon.  That smarmy assed sack of shit needs to be held accountable.  Of course, during that 4 year period when that disgraced degenerate, the Orange Anus, was in the White House, subpoenas were routinely ignored.  The Republicans in power were always singing a sour chorus of 'that's fine with me.'  Now floating around in a boat riddled with lies and holes and will have to pay the price.  I'm hoping Bannon gets taken into custody.  Honestly, he will shriek out more lies, but I don't care.  Having his ass behind bars is fine with me.
 

Danny, Say it's So

 Thunderstorms yesterday brought a change of temperature, so I turned the heat on before I went to bed rather than wait to see how cold it was going to get.  Good Thinking.  This morning it was a cool, chilly willy 43 (F) outside.  Inside?  A comfy 71 (F).  Getting older, that seems to be my 'go to' temp.  

Work was steady yesterday - I got 3 measures.  Not bad.  They still have not flipped the button making my part-time status official.  This does 2 things I don't like: keeps me from tweaking my schedule ( work until 7 this evening and back in at 0800 tomorrow morning), it also keeps my metrics high; part-timers have lower goals since they have less hours to meet them.

Social Security is giving me a nice increase, a 5.9% raise to keep up with the cost of living.  That's a nice increase.  Interestingly enough, I had just mentioned to Bathwater that I couldn't remember the last I got a 5% increase.  Well, now I can.

I'm going ahead with the new roofs.  The expected start date is towards the end of November.  That's fine with me.  After that, I'm planning on having some electrical work done, which I suspect will be just as pricey.  

Daniel Craig says he used to go to gay bars for 2 reasons, to keep from getting into fights, and to meet women...   To be honest, the only time I saw a fight was at the Strawberry on 2nd Street during the crush to get to the bar for last call.  As for the women...  only the occasional, usually showing up with their bestie gay guy and not looking for romance.

I understand GOP donors are handing money over to Sinema, this from the Insider.  This would not surprise me.

Finally, it seems as though 22% of Republicans believe the Orange Anus is going to be reinstated before the end of the year.  Who could ask for more conclusive evidence of their stupidity?  Will they turn out to vote?  Don't know.  What I do know is that Democrats and Independence need to turn out in droves for every election possible.  This should be a chilling thought: you can't even imagine the damage Republicans would do to this country if they were to regain control of either the House or the Senate.  Vote Blue

Biggie and the Spanish Guitar

 Well, a happy Saturday morning to you all, unless, of course, you're in Australia, then it's a happy Sunday morning.

I get to go to work today.  As usual, I always brown bag it (take my own lunch).  Just call me frugal.  A number of those I work with order out using one of the delivery services, one my fellow associates loves Door Dash (someone has much more disposable income then I do).  Or, because there are a number of fast food restaurants within a 5 minute ride, they eat fat rich, sodium extravagant fast food.  My lunches are always home made and healthy, and always include fresh fruit.  Today desert is going to be blueberries and bananas.

For quite a long time, I would sit down and write in total silence.  That's been changing.  Music is now almost always in the background.  Sometimes classical, sometimes folk music.  Last night French folk music was playing, though most of the songs were about New France i.e. Canada and Quebec.  Lily could care less what's playing.  Biggie, on the other hand, seems to enjoy music.  The night before last Spanish guitar music was playing and this is what he did.  I almost didn't post this because the light reflections seem a bit garish. 

Interestingly enough, that one specific school board in Texas which made headlines about needing apposing view of the holocaust has suddenly done a back flip.  These racists, and bigots, and white supremacists don't like to be scrutinized.

Another group of Cracker jack Crazy Conservatives that's soon to be list as a hate group is the Moms for Liberty.  This group of hate mongering women is trying to infiltrate school boards to upend curriculum they don't feel is Conservative enough.  That's right, it's another damn minority group trying to force their socially conservative beliefs onto the majority.  These women are ugly and hateful.  Keep them out of politics before they have a chance to spread their cancer.

 

The Texas Taliban

 So another none Friday has arrived.  I'm off today and, as usual, working the weekend.  My next day off isn't until Tuesday, after that it's Thursday.  I mentioned to the scheduler that I want Consecutive days off.  Working every other day is too much like working full time.  She has yet to actually make me part-time in the system.  Once she does that I can set up my own availability.  I don't what is taking her so long.  That should have been one of the first things she did last Monday morning, prior to writing schedules for the week.

Sheetz Roofing is going to get a call this morning with the go-ahead to shingle my roofs.  Working at the largest home improvement retailer in the world does give me access to 'professional' opinions, and across the board, every body I talked to said I was getting a deal.  I pretty much knew that, but it never hurts to check.

I ordered new running / walking shoes and they arrived yesterday.  Asics.  Very decent quality.  I've been wearing the last pair I bought to work, and to mow the lawn, and... well all over the place and they now look very well worn.  The new ones are definitely not meant to be worn anywhere other than on a treadmill.

And what about that Cracker Jack Crazy state of Texas, home of the Texas Taliban?  Well, they're not really Muslim so we can't say they are completely Taliban, they're Crazy Christians with a 2 term Governor who believes the only way to stay in power is to out crazy the craziest.  Only 40% of the population is white, yet white Cracker Jack Crazy Republicans have redrawn the maps to attempt to gerrymander themselves into power for another 10 years.  The state removed an LGBTQ page meant to help and provide answers to youth because an anti-LGBTQ loon started shrieking his loon tunes about its evil.  The Southlake School District, a site for home grown Texan white supremacy, has stated that there needs to be a balance to books talking about the holocaust...  that's right school library's need to offer opposing views regarding that Nazi horror.  I do not doubt for a second that the state will become a magnet for hate groups, since that appears to be the only way they can grow their MAGA base.

Weightless

 Okay, so I get to go back to work today.  I'll still be going in for an 8 hour shift, however I'm starting earlier, 0900.  This is going to be different.  When I leave, traffic will be heavy, one of the reasons I never took the early shift.  The schedule which was posted yesterday for 3 weeks out has me up to 29.5 hours... again, so I'm going to have to make some changes.

Walked another mile on the treadmill yesterday.  I get more mileage at work, but that's accomplished over an 8 hour period.  Walking a mile without a break is the better workout out.  I don't know which provides the best physical therapy, but I'm betting it's the treadmill.

I printed off that picture of my sister, brother, and myself, framed it, and dropped it off at my sister's yesterday.  She told my my brother in law had to get a Covid test because one of his co-workers got sick.  He's an anti-vaxxer MAGA of the first degree, and she said he was furious.  She and I  are vaccinated.  Yesterday, we had a really good laugh at him.

In case none of you have heard, William Shatner went to the edge of space yesterday.  It made me feel good.  Now, I know there are a lot of whiny people out their shrieking about billionaires.  Let's be honest, our government isn't doing much to get us out into space.  The Russians are slowly shutting down their space program.   In fact, the only country working to get man back on the moon is China.  So if it takes billionaires to get us out into space, more power to them.

Weightless

Will they jail Steve Bannon for ignoring his subpoena?  I hope to hell they do.  Of course, he's going to try and make himself into a martyr, but only to a shrinking MAGA base, (thank you Covid for providing a slow Judgment).  We need to take a big bite out of that asshole's ego.

And evidently the Orange Anus had some sort of rally in Iowa...? Idaho?  (those conservative 'i' states always confuse me).  While a number of MAGI attended, their enthusiasm was rather constrained, possibly because the only song he sang was that broken record called The Big Lie.

Separated At Birth

Holy Crap!  I slept late!  and went to bed around my usual time  2230.  Turning my alarm off this morning was not a good idea.  Crap.  Instead of my normal, healthy breakfast, I'll be wolfing down a nuked chimichanga.  How's that for great nutrition?

Yesterday I walked a little over a mile on the treadmill wearing the portable heating pad, which doesn't really work that well.  Could that be why I slept so much?  Don't really think so.  Rather than pain now, I have discomfort which is manageable.  My prescription for 500 mg naproxen arrived this morning so that should help.  Mostly, right now, I want to stop walking with a stoop.  As Cori, the woman who does my book covers pointed out, "you're walking like you're 90."

My front porch and side roofs need to be replaced.  The estimate arrived this morning.  $1400 Wow!  Fifteen years ago I had my main roof replaced for the same cost.  My, how things change.  And there will be an additional fee if they need to replace any of the wood.  Son of a bitch.  I will bite the bullet and use my SS to cover the expense, since the guy's dependable.  He's did my main roof back at the dawn of time.

I saw this in Marc Alexander's blog Voenix Rising, and just had to steal it from him.  I can't say I've never seen Mitch looking so... loverly.

Speaking of McTurtle, evidently the GOP is ready to give him his walking papers after he blinked on the debt ceiling.  If you haven't realized it yet, they would destroy the America in their attempt to gain control.  They don't care about human beings, just power, and their need to make this a fascist society.  The Election approaches.  Vote them into oblivion.  Vote Blue.  And you Democrats and Independents in Virginia?  We're counting on you!

 

Revolutionary Thinking

Well, here we are... Tuesday.  Sunday I had over 10,000 steps in, yesterday?  Only 5465.  I wanted yesterday to be a rest day.  This is how training works... a lot of steps one day, recovery stage, and then another day with a lot of steps.  Today there are chores planed.  I need to go to PetSmart as well as grocery shopping (I'm running low on paper products, and I thought I'd stock up, just in case).  The idea occurred to me that since I purchased that portable heating, I might as well try using it while I'm on the treadmill where there are a lot less layers of clothing.  Wearing it to work proved to be very ineffective.

Yesterday, almost to my horror, I subscribed to SiriusXM, but only for a year.  $4.99 + taxes and royalties = $5.62 a month.  After that, however... well... I don't want to spend nearly $17 a month when I only listen to one station.  That is not what I call getting enough bang for my bucks.

Yesterday was Indigenous People's Day.  Today is Columbus Day.  For those who need to be reminded, Columbus did not discover America, however he did prove to the scholars of his day the reason you could move beyond the horizon was because the Earth was round.  That was revolutionary thinking back then, so recognize him for that fact and only that fact.

As for Indigenous People's Day? There is a group called the Icollective, a group of indigenous chefs, working to bring indigenous recipes to the world.  As someone who toys with words, I appreciate their punniness.  Give them a look see, you might find something interesting.

Picture is from the Washington Post

I'm sure there were a lot of Conservative voices complaining, they always do when someone else is getting recognized.  They whine so much.

And what about Abbott, Texas' lackey governor issuing an Executive Order outlying mask and vaccine mandates?  For those who don't know, this is fascism masquerading as democracy.  Those stupid MAGAs think this represents freedom, when in actuality what we are seeing is a malignant attempt to control.  Rules are enacted creating illegalities.  Like their absurdly unconstitutional abortion law, they are attempting to vilify that majority group who believes differently.  They will continue until we vote these losers out of office.

Now, isn't this exciting?

To celebrate my transition to part-time, I bought a small bottle of merlot and watched 2 movies.  Now, how's that for excitement?  The first was "Wave," about a landslide into a fjord in Finland.  Decent amount of tension, however the ending?  The electricity was still on in certain areas, and that was highly questionable.

They 2nd was an old, old Disney movie "In Search of the Castaways," with Haley Mills, Maurice Chevalier, George Sanders, and Wilfred-Hyde White.  There were some Oscar nominees and in that cast who had more than a little talent.  I saw the film back in 1962 when Disney released it.  Loved it back then, last evening I found it amusing.  Here's a clip.  Special Effects were done by Ray Harryhausen.

And this late posting is because I did choose to sleep in this morning.  I don't have to go back to the store for 3 days, and many chores have been planned.

Also, while I have a lot to say about the evil Republican Empire, I'll save most of it for later... except for this smarmily amusing bit.  Evident on Loser #45's trip to Saudi Arabia, he as given gifts that were illegal, and, of course he kept them because why should he be concerned about legalities.  Well, it seems like the leopard and white tiger robes were fake, died just like his skin, to make him believe he was getting something much more expensive than it actually was.  Now, isn't that just furry?

Goodbye Full Time!

Today is Sunday.  Today is also my last day as a full-time associate.  I will celebrate this evening by stopping off on the way home and picking up a small bottle of wine (I don't do the large bottles anymore).  People ask me, "are you retiring?" Then I tell them I'm still working part-time.  Some understand, some don't.  Personally, I think retirement is a bad word, to me it implies being put out to pasture: you retire something that is no longer useful.  That's a terrible thing to tell a human being, that they're no longer useful.  The opposite of useful is useless.  Sadly, there are some who don't understand this.  Friends have told me "I've worked all of my life, I don't want to work anymore."  Not me, and not for many other retirees.  Some travel, some take courses, they go to they gym, they get involved with causes.  Retirees volunteer.  Many still work part-time jobs because no one wants to spend their last years sitting on their and slowly feeling more and more useless.

Rain is in the forecast for today.  This means should be slow at the store.  Yesterday we were busy until mid-afternoon, and then things slowed down.  I was not bothered at all.  In fact, the lack of business allowed me time to walk.  I got in over 7500 steps.  Back when my disc issue erupted, I was lucky if I managed to walk 2000 steps.  This is a sign of improvement.  Walking is always good for back issues if you can get past the pain.  I have this sneaking feeling that by the time they get around to giving me my shot, I won't need it.  That's fine with me.

Maureen Dowd has an interesting piece in today's New York Times about the Supreme Court.  They are going to be making decisions supporting a minority viewpoint, and for some reason that's not sitting too well with them.  They don't want to be branded as hacks, yet they are running head first into the branding iron.  She's dead on when she makes a point about the Bush / Gore election, when they chose to stop a recount.  That was the moment when they first started eyeing up that branding iron.  The sad truth is that like most Conservatives, they don't give a shit about America.  They're too selfish.  They don't care that a large majority of Americans thinks they're hacks, and losers.  They have that "we're in charge, so shut up mentality."  America is Centrist.  America is diverse.  And they hate those two words because they take the control they crave out of their hands.  Vote the Blues out.  Vote them into oblivion.

Don't Blink

I'd say "hello weekend," but most of my weekends will be filled with work.  My days as a part-time associate will fall mostly during the week.  This is fine with me.  There are many who believe that Saturday and Sunday are the only days of the week when you can get things done. Mais non, mon frère.  I learned quite a few years ago that the days of the week are much more suited for accomplishment.  There are always fewer crowds, no matter where you go.  Honestly now, wouldn't you rather not have to wait in line for 10 - 15 minutes to check out at a grocery store, or big box home improvement store.  As for going out on a Friday night, I don't need to be surrounded by a crowd to know I'm having a good time.

The weather forecast for today and tomorrow is rain.  That's fine. I work.  This will keep some of the crowds away.

Oh, and for all of you holiday lovers, our set-up crew began unpacking Christmas this past week.  That's right, we've got Halloween raging next to the registers, and Kris Kringle down near the green house.  And, in case you're wondering, people are buying this shit already.  Damn!

Meet our new Lumber Associate

At the NYT, Ezra Klein has published an which looks at projections made by David Shor, and thinks they look bad for the Democrats.  The read is interesting, however, I feel seriously flawed.  He pretty much says to ignore the past and poll the people to find out what it is they want, and then have candidates offer the voters what they desire.  His idea of ballot splitting being non-existent and thereby hurting the Democrats is odd.  Nobody I know actually splits their ballots.  They have always voted straight down party lines. Maybe it's just me, but while I like Ezra, I think here he comes across as a bit of fanboy.

Oh, and the Republicans are furious with McConnell over the debt ceiling.  They're shrieking he blinked.  The MAGA base doesn't realize that not blinking would have made them look even worse then they already are, and the default would have fallen directly into their own laps.  They would rather kill the country rather than blink.

Voting by Mail

 Hello to Friday.  This is my almost Hump Day, since I only work 4 days this week.  Monday begins another 3 days off, which I will enjoy.  I will be hanging a tapestry, and cleaning the aquarium.

Speaking of my aquarium, the angelfish laid another clutch (I think that's what it's called) of eggs.  This time they were on the heater.  They hovered over them for a few days, and then they were gone, all of them.  Food no doubt.  They're fish.  Everything is instinctual.

I'm still waiting for the phone call letting me know about my cortisone shot.  I hope it happens soon.  Though I do have to admit things are slowly improving, the same way they did 6 years ago, though back then I walked with a cane.  Where I was waking up every 2 hours to sit against heating pad for 45 minutes, I'm now either sleeping through the entire night or getting up once for a twenty minute heat therapy session.

Last night I woke up around midnight, and though I probably didn't need it, enjoyed a session while I sat at the computer filling out my ballot for November's election.  One thing I find tremendous about voting by mail is the fact that I can research the candidates on my computer.  Too often when you step into the voting booth, you look at all of the names and say to yourself "who the hell are all these people."  When you have 4 Democrats running for 1 position, you want to make sure you chose the most qualified, right?  I wouldn't be surprised if this was another major reason Republicans hate mail-in voting; you can research the candidates and make an educated decision, rather than chose the most attractive candidate, or the one who's name sounds familiar.

For example, this year one of the candidates for a judgeship was endorsed by some 'right to life' group.  This judge, a woman, did not get my vote.

Here's a catchy little tune from The Wombats.  Could these lyrics show up in my next book?

Speaking of books, I'm moving on to Chapter 23 of The Body in Repose, which means there are about 11 or 12 more to go, and then there will be a bit of rewrite before I unleash this thing upon my readers.  And, as usual, my mind has already begun moving to the next.  I had wanted to send Eli and Max to Pamplona and bullfights, and toreadors, but then...  this picture jostled into the front of my mind: red woolen gloves, fingertips, ice, blowing snow and snow mobiles on Mackinac Island.  Could all of this be inching me towards The Body Under Ice?

The MRI

 So, I had my MRI yesterday (no pics yet). though I received a call from my Dr. around 1:30 (PM) with the results.  They are pretty much what I was expecting.  L1 is bulging and L2 is in the process of spitting out its disc jelly.  Ouch.  My pain right now is nowhere near what it was 6 weeks ago.  To me, that signifies improvement.  Nerves from L1 and L2 run down the front of your leg, hence the fiery discomfort in my quads and knee caps.  This also explains why now and then my quads will get tingly, like the muscles are falling asleep.  I haven't actually seen the pictures yet, but the VA is going to upload them to my file so I'll be able to watch those snazzy videos from the comfort of my gaming chair.  In the meantime, here's a diagram.

Six years ago L4 and L5 were in the process of fusing naturally, L5 and S1 had already fused.  L3 was bulging badly.  Basically, the process is slowly moving up my spine.  I'm interested in seeing if L3 and L4 have fused.  Since the pain has decreased, I suspecting the fusion process is underway.  For the time being, I'm going to opt for an injection of steroids.  As my doctor said, that will pretty much eliminate the pain, however it does nothing to correct the issue.  However, if the fusion process is happening naturally, I don't see why I should submit to surgery for a quick fix, so to speak.  So, right now I'm waiting for a call to tell me where and when to go for my injection.

Politically, wasn't it interesting to see Mitch McConnell blink regarding the debt ceiling?  While the Republicans are trying to spin this in their direction, old Mitch has suddenly decided is comment about "no compromise" only had traction in the MAGA base.  Ever other voters was looking at him and wondering why he was being such a dick.  By the way, the answer to that is:  he's a Republican.

Oh, and saw where the Arizona Democrats have already found a replacement for Sinema.  First they follow her into the restroom so she can't pinch a loaf in private, and now they've settled on someone they consider better qualified to fulfill the Democrat agenda.  Don't worry.  She's not upset.  She doesn't care.  That's how phonies are.

Time Constraints

Short one today because I'll be leaving the house early for my MRI.  Time constraints.  I usually work very well with them.  

Baked a loaf of my delicious Italian bread yesterday; love that stuff.  However, I also bought, and ate, a pumpkin roll with cream cheese frosting.  That's right, the whole thing.  Damn.  I am going to blow up like a house.  We need to get this back fixed fast.

I went to see Venom last evening.  I liked it a lot, and not just because Tom Hardy stars, though his acting skills do bring a tenor of legitimacy to the super hero roll.  The bit surprise was Woody Harrelson.  Holy Crap!  I haven't seen a serial killer played with such pathos since Anthony Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs.  It's PG-13, so there's not 'F' bombs, but there is pretty much action / violence.  I might have to rent this baby and watch it again.

 

Michael Beschloss posted a funny Tweet.  I need to learn how to copy Tweets and post them here.  Since I can't, as of yet, I'll paraphrase:  "Oh my, someone has just been kicked off the list of the 400 richest people in the world.  I guess this means his aides are going to be playing a lot of show songs."

Later, Y'all.

Free Thinkers

 I slept in again today.  That's becoming a bit of a habit, not necessarily a bad one either.  That's a sign my back is improving, no painful muscle spasms waking me up every 2 hours, and no need to apply a heating pad for 45 minutes.  With a return of the sleep come the odd dreams again.  Last night I dreamt I was investigating deaths in high rise nursing homes and instead of finding bad stuff, everyone was nice, plying me with food... on every floor.  They were so nice, I found myself doing laundry in the basement using jet powered washers, until I finally ended up at the dessert tables (plural) at my college reunion.  Food played a major role.

As for my back, an MRI has been scheduled for tomorrow morning.  Getting the call was a bitch.  My phone kept thinking the Radiology Department at the VA was a spam caller and kept disconnecting.

I understand Kristen Sinema is not happy.  Now, isn't that a shame.  Some say she's trying to be an iconoclast, I say she's stuck in 'free thinker' mode.  Look at her history.  She was with the Green Party for a while, then a Bernie Babe, and now... well, she got enough Democrats in Arizona to voter for her to get her into the Senate.  She has always been a free thinker.  She likes that, to be able to change her mind when she wants, to choose a different viewpoint because it tickles her neurotransmitters differently.  She doesn't want to explain herself, and so rarely gives interviews, and her statements are mostly framed by negatives.  She's being badgered to explain herself, and she can't.  To do so would mean she stood for something.  Free thinkers rarely stand for anything which will lock them down.  Getting behind something, giving reasons why you object to something, or are voting against something takes away your freedom.  Believe me, she will never stand for anything.

Puritanical Hell

 I'm not really official yet, not until the end of this week, however the thought of working and 40 hour week was not what I wanted, so I scheduled a vacation day - 3 days off, four  on.  My new part-time schedules are interesting so far.  Two weeks out, I'm scheduled for 29.5 hours, which is my book is bordering on full-time.  This may have to be changed.

People keep asking me what I'm going to do now that I'm part-time.  Why is that so important to them?  There is no specific agenda, in case you're wondering.  More free time to do what ever I want, what ever that is.

Tis the season of mice, and since they're not likely to stop breeding, mousetraps were picked up yesterday.  I used to buy white plastic ones, however, they barely survived a season, so this year they have been replaced by wooden ones.

And, of course, the Supreme Court's new session begins today, and the justices are being scrutinized... and they don't like it one bit.  They claim they're not using the 'shadow docket,' even though there's no way for them to hide how often they are using... the 'shadow docket.'  This court was loaded for one purpose, to give the religious zealots in the country the power they're dirty hearts have been craving for so very, very long.  What kind of life do these Cracker Jack Crazies want for America?  Look to the Puritans if you want am idea.  Yep, they wants to live a life of prayer, and worship, and Puritanical Hell.  The voters of American need to stand up for their personal rights and put these crazies out to pasture.  Shut them up.  Shut them out.  Shut them down.

  

Cough, Cough

 And here it is, Sunday morning.  After today, I'm going to have 3 consecutive days off as I move into my part-time status.  One thing that's going to change is the way I do laundry: all in one day.  That doesn't need to be the case anymore.  I can do a load one day, a load the next, and so on and so forth, if the mood strikes me.  Will I?  Nah,  I like getting it out of the way.

Yesterday was rather busy at work... in the morning and early afternoon, and then the customers thinned out.  Evidently there was Penn State football on TV last evening.  Being an hour and 15 minutes south of the university, just about everybody in the area is a fan.  At one time, when I was growing up, they were one of the winningest teams in college sports.  I don't think they're so much now-a-days.  Too many controversies.  The god Paterno turned out to be much less than a demi-god.  One thing, and many of you may find this difficult to believe but traffic is always terrible when there's a home game, even this far south.  Before Covid, (cough, cough) this is what Beaver Stadium looked like, and yes, it is called Beaver Stadium.

There are at least 2 associates out with Covid at the store.  One of them called off for 2 days, and then came back to work before being diagnosed (cough, cough).  An anti-vaxxer Republican, if you had any doubts.  Nationally, the infection rate is declining, however, that's only the case when you look at the entire country, and those states with a high vaccination rate.  Those states, like Alaska, and Wyoming, and Texas, and other Red States, where the anti-vaxxers dominate, people are still dying.  Over 3000 a day, and mostly anti-vaxxing Republicans.  I was talking to a fellow associate yesterday pointed out that this was a lot like watching Judgment (Cough Cough).  And I had to agree, this is like watching Slow-Mo Judgement.

Eternally Banned

 Okay, so I went to see my doctor yesterday.  I got yelled at for taking too many Over the Counter meds.  "They'll burn out your liver!"  Now I have to follow the numbers.  An MRI is being scheduled to assess the arthritis.  Because the pain goes down the front of my legs, he suspects the damage as reached the L2 and L3 vertebrae.  We talked about possible surgery and he seemed rather pleased when I opted out of that treatment.  I'd be satisfied with pain management, where every 3 - 4 months I get a shot.  I've read too many bad things about the surgery.

I also got my yearly flu shot and the first of 2 shingles shots, so both of my shoulders are a bit sore this morning.

Took this shot of Biggie yesterday.  He does this when he's trying to guilt me into giving him a dog biscuit.  It never works.  Instead, I moisturize his nose with balm... and then he gets a little biscuit.

I saw where Loser #45 is attempting to get his Twitter account reactivated.  If, by chance, this happens, make sure everyone you know signs up.  I do believe a constant barrage of people calling him a Loser would definitely result in some Lava Level rage, enough to get him banned eternally.

Here I Go

Well, here we go.  Friday, October 1 has arrived and I have a doctor's appointment this morning.  This is actually a preliminary visit in order to set up a second appointment with an orthopedic specialist.  I actually have pictures of my MRI from 6 years ago to take along.  Always be prepared.

My next part-time schedule was posted and they have me working 29.5 hours, four days.  Once October 11 rolls around and everything is 'official,' I'm going to take Monday, Wednesday and Friday out of my availability.  I want to insure that part-time truly is part-time.  Supposedly they're going to replace my fulltime position, however we will be heading into winter hours after Black Friday, so that will probably not happen until sometime in late February or early March.

For those interested in my writing process, I made this short video.  That's right, you'll get to hear me speaking in my 1950's documentary voice.

I saw where Justice Samuel Alito spit out some sort of tripe about those claiming the Court has become horrifically biased towards the Right.  What surprised me most was this belief he has that the Supreme Court is above judgement.  You can almost hear him saying we are stupid, they are not.  I thought his use of the word 'nefarious' was sadly poetic, as he attempted to justify what they do behind closed doors.  Doesn't it seem like some of the justices are going overboard in an attempt to cover up their bias?  Amy Coney Phony claims their not political hacks.  Thomas rails that Americans will destroy the institution.  Now Alito is saying that 'what happens in the dark, stays in the dark,' but that they're not being nefarious.  Doesn't it seem as thought they've become very defensive about their shift to the Right?  Unfortunately, just like pad prophets interpreting the scriptures, they will interpret the Constitution in a way that tickles their jolly button the best.