Winners and Losers

Wednesday, and I'm feeling better than yesterday morning.  The congestion was gone by noon.  I'm thinking perhaps it might have been the result of my drywall contractor sanding down the seams in the kitchen.  Since there is dust everywhere, I figure that most likely there was some in my lungs.

Painting in the new laundry room is finished, (except for a few minor touch-up spots on the trim).  The valances are hung.  My deliver is between 7 - 11 AM this morning.  Home Depot lets you track your appliances.  I was the 3rd delivery scheduled, so I'm figuring the washer and the dryer should be here by around 10 AM.  After reading the instruction books thoroughly, I'm hoping to have the first load in by around 1 PM.

The only thing which might slow things down is the rain.  There's a shitload coming up from the south.  Temps are supposed to stay in the high 40s (F) to mid 50s (F).  I'm fine with that.

And what about our American Men's Soccer Team?  We beat Iran!  One of the many reasons this is important is that soccer is not our most favorite sport.  Baseball and football tie for that honor.  Our soccer teams rarely get the time of day from sports enthusiasts, until they beat Iran.  In Europe and the Middle East, football (soccer) is King.  Their fans have been not to riot when the lose.  People have died.  Their teams are considered truly elite.  While we have exceptional players on our teams, none of them is a quarterback, or a tight end, or a receiver.  And we beat Iran.  Let that sink in.  Thank you Chris Pulisic and the entire American Men's Soccer team.

The Senate passed the Defense of Marriage Act yesterday.  This is a good win, but not a great one.  States that do not recognize same sex or interracial couples will have to recognize those marriages if they are performed in a state which allows same sex or interracial marriages.  Eleven Republicans helped pass this groundbreaking bill.  This is a finger in the eye of those Cracker Jack Crazies who desperately want to use their mythology to define America.

Elmer Stuart Rhoades lost yesterday.  As one commenter put it, this was more embarrassing then shooting himself in his own eye.  Guilty of sedition.  A loss for Elmer is a win for America.

And Markie Meadows was another loser yesterday.  The South Carolina Supreme Court has ordered him to testify in front of the Atlanta grand jury investigating Trump's interference in their 2020 General Election.

Everyone of these losses makes Trump a bigger loser.  I don't know about you, but I'm just loving this shit.

In the Light they can be defeated

 And my mid-week weekend began with some chest congestion and a slight sniffle.  I'm debating whether I want to waste another one of my free Covid tests.  I will probably wait and see if things progress.  These days it's too easy to slip into panic mode.  Nope, wrong word.  I don't panic. It's more of a son of a bitch mode, you know what I mean, more of a pain in the ass than anything else.  There's things needing to be done.  The washer and dryer arrive tomorrow.

My kitchen ceiling is patched and ready to be painted.  I checked with the Paint desk to see if Behr was going to be going on sale soon and was told 'no.'  Of course, having managed the paint department for a number of years, I can tell you more than likely a paint sale is coming up.  Over all, paint is not making its plan, so corporate will want to increase sales and to do that they'll run a sale.  The mark-up in paint, as with so many of the things we sell, is high, so a $5 or $10 off coupon is not really going to make a dint in the profit margin.

Biggie was supposed to go for bloodwork late this afternoon.  They called and postponed it; the vet had to take his father to an appointment.  No problem here.  While Biggie does lay around a lot, he's also going to be 8 years old on 12/25, which, given his size, means he's most likely considered nearing the age of a geriatric dog.  Not that he doesn't still have a lot of bounce, he just seems happier to be doing this, napping against my leg while we were waiting for the drywall contractor to finish.

Time to moisturize his nose again

So, the Defense of Marriage Act is going to get a vote today.  As it stands now, it will not codify same sex marriage into law because... wait for it... 3 of the Republicans who originally voted for it have reneged.  Mike Lee, a Trump ass-licker, added a religious amendment to the bill, to satisfy the GOP's every shrinking Christian minority.  Given the chance, Republicans will desperately try to force their mutating social conservatism onto America.

The Washington Post had an interesting take on the festering sore in the GOP.   Of course, this is something most of us knew a long time ago.  Trump's election loss, and the Big Lie, just tore away the bandages.  Their hatred for minorities, and I'm including everyone who isn't white, male, Christian, and straight, has always been there, masked by their deceit of really caring for all Americans.  It was Trump who openly began acknowledging this lie.  There were good people on both sides, he said, knowing white nationalists and supremacists would feel welcomed.  It didn't make a difference how deep your aniti-American hatred ran, as long as you were loyal to Trump and the GOP you were accepted.  There is a good side to this dark side of the Republican party.  Thanks to Trump, we now know their names, Fuentes being one of them.  They are no longer scurrying around in the shadows.  In the light, they can be fought and defeated.

Hard Candy Christmas

 Hello Monday.  I'm scheduled for 6 hours today.  My morning is free.  That's fine with me.

My drywall contractor will be finishing up the kitchen ceiling this morning.  That also is fine with me.  I can not wait to put things back where they belong and begin to clean.  Dust is everywhere.  It will get a little worse before it gets better.

We did have rain yesterday, not buckets worth, but on and off showers, and misty drizzles.  The temps stayed in the low 50s (F).  I don't know about other people, but I'm glad the cold temps have decided to postpone their arrival.  Anything helping to keep my heating bills down is a plus.

Not surprising, now that Black Friday has come and gone, Christmas music has arrived in the store.  Shit.  I'm so glad I'm part time and will only have to listen to these songs for a limited time only.  The only thing making them interesting is how some of these songs are not about Christmas at all.  'We Need a Little Christmas,' from Mame is a good example.  Broke and down on her luck, Mame uses this song to cheer up her nephew and friends.  But, I have to admit the song I laugh at the most is 'Hard Candy Christmas.'  I saw this song performed live when I went to see 'The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.'  It's sung by the prostitutes lamenting that the house has been shutdown and they'll need to go somewhere else to find work.  Here's a decent version of it, and no, Dolly Parton did not write this.

And, hey!  What about those protests in China?  They are not what their authoritarian government wants at all.  Boebert, at least I think it was her since she is stupid enough, Tweeted out some sort of nonsense about the Chinese people and 2 amendment rights.  I'm not even going to try and make a connection.  Let's just say the Xi, and his regime, have a problem and if he sends in the military, it's going to get worse.

Isn't it funny how everybody, except the Republican congress, is calling out Trump for his fascist dinner with an Kanye West and Fuentes?  Trump has been pirouetting in his liar toe shoes from one absurd excuse to another.  And he's being called out by everybody but Republican congressmen.  This is actually pretty damn funny.  Conservatives have never really given much credence to what Americans want, their wants have always been foremost.  They latch onto anything they believe will get them votes:  anti-vaxxers, 2nd amendment, pro-life, but most importantly, Donald Trump.  As long as he could get people to vote for him, they didn't give a shit about how evil he was, and now, to the glee of many, it looks like they might be heading into a Hard Candy Christmas.

Venting

 So outside we have an overcast Sunday morning.  Rain is on the way.  Possibly a lot.  The swath of moisture moving up from the south appears to be massive.  Though, we know from experience all of that green on the map may end up being nothing more shits and dribbles, a misty, drizzly blanket which makes this damp and uncomfortable.

My 6 hours at work yesterday was tolerable.  I got a sale, which one of my associates processed, and a hardwood flooring measure that I sold just before then end of my shift.  The store did serve hot dogs to the associates all day.  They're doing the same thing today.  There are those who snub their noses at hot dogs, not me, and there are also hot dog snobs, those people who believe the only topping should be mustard.  I worked with a woman like that, back during my Marriott days.  For her, any other topping, whether it be cheese, or onions, or relish, or sauerkraut, or ketchup, was a sacrilege.   At work, they have a cornucopia of toppings; even chili dogs can be the dog of the day.

Tomorrow the drywall patching of my ceiling should be complete.  I'm nearly ecstatic.  I can finally put things back where they belong.

I ordered an indoor vent kit for my dryer.  This is way less expensive then paying someone to lean a ladder up against the back of my house in order to cut a hole in the wall. 

Early voting has started in the Georgia run-off.  Republicans hate this.  Their idea of a fair elections restrict the times and places Americans can vote.  They believe such limitations decrease Democratic turn out.  This has been proven wrong time and time again.  In their tiny minds long lines lead to Democrats choosing not to wait, deciding not to vote, and simply shrugging off the election.  Every election has proven that these beliefs are fallacies.  Democrats have no problem waiting in line to voice their opinion.  Republicans will never understand this, to do so would me that they are wrong, and how in hell could that be true.

And, of course, there's another vote that's being tracked besides the one in Georgia.  Who is going to be the Speaker of the House?  Kev McCarthy is so desperate to be in charge, he kissed Donald Trump's... well, let's just say his ring, keeping in mind there are many kinds of rings on the human body.  I'm betting that Kev is shitting in his pants right now.  But then he does represent the Republican party, so I'd say quite a number of them are privately saying "oh, shit."  And what happens if Kev doesn't become Speaker of the House?  Will Trump start swinging his sledge hammer?  Or, will he quietly vent on Truth Social?  I'm doubting that will never happen.

The Death of the Republican Party

 Saturday.  As usual, I will be working this afternoon.  Only for 6 hours, however, I will be taking leftovers for a mini-meal.  Eating when I get home, around 7:15 PM, is a little late for me..  The orange retailer I work for gives me a 15 minute break, so I 'break bread' so to speak.

Work is continuing on my kitchen ceiling.  The contractor is doing a really great job.  She is young, mid-20s.  If I'm satisfied, I will have her back to do other work.  As we age, it's best to have either or handyman or contractor to take care of the upkeep.  I don't mind paying.  Here's a shot I took yesterday.  The wall to the left is going to be drywalled over in the spring and probably a cabinet or two will be hung.  You can never have enough storage in a kitchen.

I was going to put a cabinet in the new laundry room, but am now beginning to think along the lines of a rolling cart with possibly wire baskets.

Evidently The Former Guy ruffled some feather by hosting a dinner with Kanye the Anti-Semite, who, supposedly, just happened to bring Nick, the pro-Nazi white supremacist as a guest.  Now tell me, why would anyone be surprised?  Does anyone think trouble might be brewing?  Is Trump foreshadowing in plain sight?  Wouldn't surprise me in the least.  Trump is not stupid.  He wants to be a huge player in world politics.  The Republicans thought he was their savior, Reagan reincarnated as a grifting conman, uniting America.  He isn't, and was never going to be another Reagan.

I noted previously Billy Barr saying Trump would destroy the Republican party if he didn't get the nomination.  Well, this should come as no surprise, but he's going to be destroying it a lot sooner.  Like... oh, say, after he gets his first indictment.  On Thanksgiving he posted "give me freedom, or give me death" on Truth Social.  That was his first salvo.  He is prepping all of those MAGA and Qanon loyalists.  His comment was in a similar vein to what he was Tweeting before January 6.  The instant he makes his first perp walk, he wants them to rise up.  In his eyes, Kanye and Fuentes are allies.  Remember Portland, OR during the BLM protests?  Well, that's what the Orange Anus envisions, lots of Portlands  springing up across America defending him.  When that happens, the Republican party will be dead.  No ifs, ands, or buts about it.  He believes Civil Unrest will save his ass and carry him forward.  It won't.  We had a Civil War in which leniency reigned, the leaders went free.  That will not happen this time.  America will have had enough of this shit.

The Menu, wickedly saucy

 Okay, so did the weekend begin on Wednesday evening, or does it start this evening?

For those who don't know, it is Black Friday.  Because Friday is one of those days I never work, I'm not working.  Today I'm going to pretty much finish painting the new laundry room.  Rather than go with a bold, bright color, I'm going with a pastel, a minty green.  Accents are going to be taupe and light browns.  The trim is a color called Tiramisu, though it's much darker than the desert.

On Wednesday evening, I did go see The Menu with Ralph Fiennes and Nicholas Hoult.  What a hoot!  So, there's this couple who go to a very expensive exclusive restaurant on an private island for the meal of their lives.  The humor is witty and dry.  I chuckled most of the way through this satire on the wealthy; each course dissects a lie.  It is a little bloody at times.  Oh, and if you're one of those people who doesn't like to pay attention, you might want to avoid this film.  Personally, I found it quite tasty.

And yesterday was Thanksgiving.  I hope everyone of you had a good day, whether with friends, or family, or just quietly trying to keep a hold onto your sanity amid the angst and strum.  It was quiet here.  The dogs slept.  I roasted a turkey breast and made stuffing.  Tasty.  I finished cutting out the trim in the laundry room.  My sister called to fill me in on what I so happily missed at one of the invitations I declined.  

Billy B arr wrote in an op-ed published by Business Insider, that if Trump doesn't get the nomination, he will burn down the GOP.  Honestly, am I the only one not surprised by this?  Of course, this is what the GOP deserves for attempting to turn a narcissist into a demi-god.  I personally think he will pretty much tear it to pieces before the party even begins the nomination process.  The second his ass gets indicted, Trump is going to start swinging his sledge hammer.  Remember Portland, Oregon during the BLM protests?  Picture something similar happening in other cities across the the country (mostly down south).  And all those Americans horrified by January 6 are going to say 'what the fuck?'  And the GOP will rapidly spin into a death spiral.  This is how it happens.

Thanksgiving

 Well, if it isn't Thanksgiving!  Some of you will eat turkey, some of you will eat duck, and those of you living abroad will have your standard fare since this isn't a holiday for you.

In this country, Liberals, Centrists, and most Independents have so many things to be thankful for.

Here in Central PA, all seems to be well.  Lily got out of bed to go potty outside, and now she's back on the bed.  Biggie moved from the sofa in the writing room to the futon in the living room, took his morning meds and ate a biscuit.

I'm thankful we have Josh Shapiro moving into the Governor's mansion, it's nice, I've been there.

As of January 5, we will have 2 Democratic senators in Congress:  John Fetterman and Robert Casey Jr.

Our Pennsylvania state house will once again be Democratic.  Yeah!

In no small part do we owe this to the evil, narcissistic Donald J. Trump.  I do not doubt for a second that for Democrats, and Centrists, and like-minded Independents, he will be the gift which keeps on giving for quite some time. 

You'll notice, I did not post a picture of Trump as a turkey for fear of the fat catching fire.

Retribution, and Thoughts, and Prayers

 So, tomorrow's Thanksgiving.  This is supposed to be a time when friends and family gather.  Of course, we know that's not going to be happening for a growing number of families.  Yesterday was just another day of the week when it comes to mass shootings.  First there was QClub, now a Walmart.  I haven't seen any Conservatives sending thoughts and prayers yet this morning, but it's only a matter of time.  People will ask what's wrong with America?  The answer is simple.  Conservatives.  They are desperate to dictate how America lives it's lives and they realized a long time ago, the only way this is going to happen is if they build a coalition of disparate groups:  the Evangelicals, the fiscal conservatives, the Qs, and the 2nd amendments loyalists.  In order to keep that coalition together, they try and give these groups everything they want, and always at the expense of others.  This is the only way conservatives can win.  We've started shutting them down, and we must continue because they will never learn.

The electricians were here yesterday.  They were not expecting the surprises a 118 year old home had in store for them, like cross beams in between the studs.  They made more holes.  Those in the ceiling will be fixed by the drywall contractor, who starts this morning.  The ones in the wall?  They are going to have to wait until this spring when I have 1/4 inch drywall installed to cover them, part of the slow kitchen renovation that is taking place.  Those striped throw rugs?  They're covering a window opening that used to look out onto my back porch.

The holes.

And, as you might expect, Kev McCarthy, standing on the boarder, told America that after the Republicans take control of the House, there's a good possibility they will impeach Mayorkas.  The party that can only say 'no' when they're not in power, needs to hand out a little retribution to keep their base happy.  If that retribution happens to benefit them politically, well, so much the better.  Conservatives need their dead horse to kick.  The base loves it.  Retribution helps keep their coalition together.  They need to continue fomenting anger against the party in power.  That and Hunter Biden's laptop; this will be their Benghazi for the next 2 years.

Beating Elon Musk

 Well, as expected, yesterday was oh, so slow at the store.  I did manage to sign up a woman who wants someone to go to her house with display books and take to her about curtains and draperies.  Those Leads usually never sell; the cost is to exorbitant.  

Being that it was slow, I spent sometime putting together details for the denouement of The Body Under Ice.

I understand our Fun Committee is planning on a Holiday Party this year.  Don't tell certain religious organizations that, the packaging on some of our holiday decorations uses the word Christmas and that makes them swoony with joy.  It says a lot about such organizations when they're happy merchandisers are using the word Christmas without understanding its sole purpose is to target their wallets, pocket books, and credit cards.  They are so easily bought.  

At 0930 this morning, the electrician will arrive to install my dryer hookup.  I'm excited.  He's also installing a 2nd outlet in the kitchen.  I asked if the work could be done in a single day, the answer was yes.  The more I think about it, I'm certain he'll only be here for a few hours.  If that's the case, I may actually start painting the new laundry room.

I saw Musk has permitted Margie Taylor back on Twitter.  While he claims he's reinstating people because of free speech, more and more it looks like this is his way of say "screw you, I'm rich enough to do what I want."  At this point, while many say they are staying on the platform, many are moving to a more regulated platform.  Hate speech is not free speech.  What am I seeing?  Lots of MAGA hatred.  Many comments about how the extremist left is going to destroy America.  They get lost of responses, mostly calling these haters out.  I rarely respond since the Stevie Millers, and the Margie Greenes never look at the comments.  Their main goal is to Tweet something so reprehensible it begins to trend.  When no one replies, they fail.  Seeing one of Stevie's Tweets only garnering 40 responses after 6 or 7 hours brings joy to my heart.  Don't take their bait.  This is how you beat both them and Elon Musk.

Two Unarmed Gay Men

 The holidays have arrived, or, at least they will in relatively few days.  First up will be the crassly commercialized Thanksgiving with its football, followed by that ever popular Black Friday.  Is it me, or does it seem like corporate retailers no longer have dominion over the American Household?  Not that there still aren't enough wack jobs out there who fail to realized those great deals are nothing more than corporate manipulation.  

Anyway, I am scheduled to work today.  I'm supposed to be an appliance salesman.  They do this every year.  Usually, it doesn't happen.  I almost always hang around the flooring desk.  Today, will probably be the same.  You see, I'm scheduled to start at 0930, and the temps are cold.  Not quite bone chilling, but a very brisk 22 (F), outside.  Customers might venture out this afternoon.  And there are a lot of wack jobs out there who still think the best deals are only on Black Friday.  

I worked yesterday and it was oh, so slow.  

Tomorrow, the electrician comes to install my dryer hookup.  He will also be installing 2 outlets, one in the kitchen, and another upstairs for the washer.  These are dedicated lines.  Nice.

A lot of America is talking about what happened at Club Q.  Another tragedy.  One thing that I read yesterday stands out above all else: two unarmed gay men did what the heavily armed police force in Uvalde couldn't do.  Take a few minutes and let that thought sink.  They took the shooters handgun away from him and hit him with it.  I hope they hit him in the face, maybe broke his nose, and all in self-defense.  Two minutes after the police arrived, this 22 year-old loser named Aldrich was in custody.  Five poor souls died, but the actions of two unarmed gay men saved countless of others.  America saw a sense of strength in Colorado Springs they were not expecting.

I saw where Elon Musk quietly reinstated Kanye West on Twitter, and the exodus continues.  For those worried that Trump might actually return, I understand he has some sort of financial commitment to Truth Social.  Money is the golden calf he prays to.  West's anti-Semitic Tweets will appeal to a certain crowd, a group whose numbers do not nearly compensate for numbers of people who are leaving.  I'm actually wondering if Twitter does go under, if he can somehow claim his $44 billion investment a loss, and use it as a tax write-off.

And finally a funny.  I read that what corporate American wants most from the Republican controlled house is a $183 billion tax cut.  Corporations donate a lot of money to Republican Super Pacs, and that's what's important to Republicans, not the American people.

 

Frustrations

 Well, it looks as though we're in for a cool, cool Sunday.  The temps might climb up into the mid-40s (F), however some of the forecasts have that high as much lower, the mid 30s (F) is what some weathercasters are predicting.  I work, so I really don't care.  

Yesterday, I had a Zoom call with some of my Navy buddies and of course there were some logistical issues.  I couldn't hear what they were saying for the first 15 minutes.  They could see and hear me, so they heard every "fuck" I said.  I took the call on my writing laptop, the one I use to make videos, so I checked sound output.  That's where I discovered the issue:  most likely during one of my Windows updates, the sound output had been switched to the microphone.  So, I changed that, and still I couldn't hear them.  Nothing was working..  It turns out that Zoom sound output works independently of they system output, so I had to tell it which output to use, and, of course, it was trying to play sound through the microphone.  Lessons were learned.

I've had several invitations for Thanksgiving.  Hhhmm.  All of them, I kid you not, put me in contract with rabid Trumpists.  I find it frustrating to keep from lashing out, so I've decided to stay home and work on the book.  Subconsciously,  I decided this a while back, going to far to purchase a turkey breast in advance.  It's slowly thawing in the refrigerator.

Of course, word is going around that a leak back in 2014 regarding the Supreme Court's decision with Hobby Lobby can be sourced to Sammy Alito.  Why should that not surprise anyone? What this does imply is that Sammy has been working for some time to tear down the wall separating Church and State.  And here people thought he believed in that separation, however that couldn't be farther from the truth.  He wants a devoutly Christian state, in which religion plays the most prominent role.  This revelation also makes it quite probable that Sammy, being quite pleased with the decision to turn over Roe, had to just tell a few of his Christian extremist friends.  He must be rather frustrated to see that the American people are so soundly rejecting his efforts.

And, finally, headlines flashed that Elon Musk was reinstating Trump on Twitter.  He based his decision on a poll he ran on Twitter.  The response was not overwhelming.  Of the hundreds of millions of people on Twitter, only around 25 million responded.  An understatement would be that the app is in horrific turmoil.  Over 1200 employees took his severance package offer.  Long time users are turning to other apps: Mastadon (God and George Takei, among others are there), and Tribel.  Musk is going to completely ignore the fact that Trump used Twitter to incite an act of sedition, mostly because if Trump comes back, he's going to bring with him about 100 million followers.  That's a lot of money if they choose to stay and pay for the blue check mark.  The truth is that everyday, Musk is growing more and more frustrated because everyday his level of incompetency seem to rise.

Sing

 The temps outside are a cool 26 (F).  There was some snow in the forecast yesterday, but we're too far from the lakes for them to effect us.  Not so for Buffalo.  They've had 5 feet  (1.52 meters), with more on the way.  Of course the climate deniers will be pointing at this and ask how can be global warming when this happens.  Believe me, many have tried, there's no fixing stupid.

Yesterday was busy.  Just because I chose to sleep in doesn't mean I didn't get much accomplished.  I did.  

This afternoon, I have a Zoom call with my Navy buddies.  That should be interesting.  These calls have turned into an annual event.  It is interesting to see how age is effecting us.  Some are handling the years gracefully, others, unfortunately, are having difficulties.  By the same token, some of us have been more successful than others.  That alone is very interesting.  

Final prep work for painting the new laundry room will be finished by the time I sit down for in front of the camera.

So, I'm into the final chapter of The Body Under Ice, tentatively titled:  Karaoke.  Tell me, do you think somebody is going to sing?  While this picture has nothing to do with the book, I'm surprised no one has made this into a movie yet.

And Merrick Garland has assigned a Special Council to multiple Trump cases; he and his supporters are flipping out.  Badly.  The move was done to take away any implications that what is going to come, and it is going to come for those waiting in anticipation, is not politically motivated.  Jack Smith is now, and has always been registered as an Independent voter.  He has a reputation for bringing his investigations to a rapid conclusion.  He wins.  Knowing how meticulous Garland is, a man whom also wins, this decision was made some time ago.  I wouldn't doubt if Smith has already been hard at work.  Indictments are coming.  Notice I'm using the plural form.  I wouldn't be surprised if multiple people find themselves on the wrong end of the law.  And some of those other people are frightened.  The tenor of fear in their voices says so much (also notice, I didn't say sing, that's too bad of a pun).

The Gift that Keeps on Giving

 I slept in this morning which is becoming a Friday morning trend.  And I didn't stay up late.  Just played a little of Assassin's Creed Odyssey.  What can I say, I like looking like a Greek god.  Island hopping from Mykonos, to Lesbos, to Kefalonia is fun!  

Yesterday was slow at work.  There was a meeting of the Fun Committee, on which I do not sit, but my connections tell me their plans for creating fun in the store.  A holiday / Christmas part is in store for us, the first since Covid.  Once again, everyone in the store will be gifted with a hoodie or a sweatshirt.  I say again because they have become the standard holiday gifts for employees.  You have no idea how many hoodies and sweatshirts I have that are emblazoned with the orange retailers logo.  I told one of my connections that this year a large can of mixed nuts might be nice.  The committee nixed the nuts and went for the outerwear.

That loud shrieking nose you heard yesterday afternoon was me getting my monthly email from PP&L, my electric supplier.  There was a large increase in my monthly budget.  Big Time.  One of the problems with being on a budget plan is simply paying the balance without checking the bill itself.  Yesterday, for the first in months, I looked at my bill.  The dramatic increase was because of the KW I used this past summer, after I installed the new, little A/C unit in the computer room / gym   It might be little, but it sure as hell sucks up the energy.  That's the last summer for that sucker.

This song was released a year ago, but has started to get a lot of airplay quite recently.  Grab your tissues.

Yesterday the Republicans, who may end up with a five seat majority laid their plans for when they take control:  investigations and possible impeachments.  Totally lost on them was the fact that there was no 'red tsunami' because of Trump, and because of this rhetoric.  One can only ask if they are really that stupid, and the obvious answer is yes.  They are going to beat themselves into a bloody pulp.  Good.

In Central PA:  Josh Shapiro won the governorship by 14%.  The last time that happened was in 1946.  John Fetterman won his Senate race by close to 5%.  Because of this the PA House is almost ensured to turn Blue.  Democrats owe a lot of this to Donald Trump.  It turns out that for Centrists and Liberals, he is the gift that keeps on giving.

And, finally, Nancy is retiring.  Some people liked her, others didn't.  She became the most powerful woman in United States history.  She set a path and stuck to it.  Without her Democrats will have no saint.  Some Republicans might cheer, but our loss is their loss as well, a loss they will never understand.

Respect for Marriage

 Well, according to some people, we have passed the Hump day, Wednesday is now in the past.  I got up extra early this morning, not because I have big plans, rather both dogs decided they needed to go 'potty outside' at 10 minutes of 5.  So, this is getting written a lot earlier, as well.  Keep in mind that even though I am scheduled to work, at this hour I have absolutely no problem in going back to bed for a nice little early morning nap.

I finished painting the trim in the new laundry room yesterday.  The walls are next.  Knowing my penchant for bold colors, I'm, going to shock everyone by going with a pastel.  The room is small.  Painting the walls something shockingly deep would make the space smaller.  Eventually, I will bring that color out into the bathroom.  That won't happen until after I remove a sunflower boarder.  

I went to see Wakanda Forever, last evening.  It was good... though I thought a little too long.  Too much emoting over the death of Chadwick Boseman.  The film was very entertaining, though I had pretty ascertained before sitting down how the plot line needed to go.  I would not be remiss in saying Wakanda Forever is about life, and death, and the transitions we all go through after death, how the finality of won life leads to both anger and grief.  For those hating subtitles, be forewarned there are quite a few, however they are in different colors, depending upon the language being spoken.

Two things of importance yesterday:  the Republicans took control of the House by a slim margin.  Will they reflect upon the midterms and the red tsunami they were expecting and act accordingly, or will they squander their tiny advantage by being petty is up in the air right now.  I wouldn't be surprised if they end up being petty.  By now, that might be part of their DNA.

The second thing was the Respect for Marriage Act, which, with help of 12 Republican Senators, passed the filibuster hurdle in the Senate.  There will be a second, and final vote, that's almost certain to pass.  A majority of Americans have no problem with this, however, a number of Cracker Jack Crazies are flipping shit burgers over the idea that couples, black, white, and brown, whether male and male, female and female, or male and female will be able to legally decide how they want to share their lives.  This is probably the essence of Freedom of Religion, that your beliefs allow marriage between two individuals no matter what their genders.  Many Evangelicals hate this.  They want America to follow a Christian path that they dictate.  This is a freedom they despise.  It takes away their control.  Thinking minds make choices and they don't want anybody to think, just live a life of rote.  I believe the final vote might be as soon as tomorrow.  At that time, their choke hold on America will be weaker.  That is a very good thing.

The Republican Civil War starts now

 Well Hello Wednesday!  Today is the Sunday for my mid-week weekend.  Schedules will get posted today.  Can you feel the excitement?  Probably not.  If you're in Central PA, that's most likely because you're still in shock from yesterdays snowfall.  It started off in, as my PA Dutch grandmother would say, in the forenoon with sleet.  Then we had drizzle and schlizzle until around 4:30 PM, and then the big flakes began to fall.  Large, at first, the size of a ping pong ball smashed by a careless foot, and super slushy.  When I let the dogs out around 9 PM, we had about an inch of mush.  This morning, temps are warmer and it's doing what snow should do: melt.

Crap, my Garmin Connect is no long importing my weight from my Withing's scale.  That's a pisser.  And my Senso earbuds Bluetooth is no longer working.  Both are old.  My weight I can manually enter and the Senso earbuds may end up in the trash since I have a pair of nice Jabra earbuds to take their place.

15,000 people have not been sentenced to death in Iran.  This is from NBC News, if you don't believe them, there are other reputable news sites (BBC, Le Monde, NYT) reporting this.

And, joy of joys, Donald Trump announced his candidacy for president in 2024.  Joy of Joys, you ask?  Because this bitter loser is going to destroy the Republican Party.  Al Jazeera has a nice take on his bid, they suggest he will take his party to the brink.   I understand CNN was the only media outlet to carry the entire length of his speech live.  That shows you how far CNN has fallen.  The Guardian says the only reason he's running is to try and stay out of jail.  Even Fox news cut away for their' 'journalists' to discuss his announcement.  The Murdoch news organizations have already switched their loyalty to DeSantis.  The problem with the GOP is that Donnie, the Orange Anus, has a large MAGA following, probably about 2/3 of the Republican Party who will lavish every turd of untruth he spits out with praise, before the swallow them whole.  And a large majority of Americans, around 64% are saying "what the fuck."  Prepare for a vicious (and bloody) Republican civil war.  This is going to get good.

This is Them

 Okay, so I've started my weekly, week day weekend..  Nice.  Outside, the temp is 29 (F), which is cold.  The rest of the leaves should fall of my trees now.  Surprisingly, half of the gingko tree still has leaves.  The right half.  All the leaves on the left side fell off.  Odd.

I purchased my washer and dryer yesterday.  Ouch.  I upgraded to sensor dry, or dry-a-matic, or what ever it's called.  If this feature really works, the dryer will shut off once its sensors detect no moisture.  Electric dryers are one of the mail culprits in high electric bills, they and refrigerators make that little wheel on your meter spin nearly at the speed of sound.  We shall see if the extra expense saves money in the long run.

Both appliances are going to be delivered on 11/30.  Also purchased was a stacking kit $39.  I also need to buy the hoses for the water hookup and the power cord for the dryer.  Now tell me, wouldn't you think that buying an electric dryer, the power cord should be included in the price?  Another thing, steam cleaning is included with the washer.  Never steam your fabrics!  Steam is good for cleaning caked grease off your engine block, not your favorite, puffy pink, 100% cotton chemise.  This is them.

So, the results are nearly all in for the 2022 midterms.  This was an historic election for Democrats.  We grew our governorships.  We didn't lose horrifically in the House.  In the Senate, depending upon how the Georgia runoff goes, it's possible we will have 51 seat majority.  Now, wouldn't that be nice.  More importantly, the Republican party is approaching clusterfuck status.  Donald J. fucking Trump did not come through for them.  In fact, he was a drag.  So was abortion.  In Pennsylvania, 57% of the women voted for Fetterman, that alone was enough to get him across the winner's line.  

One of the many things this election did was the GOP, the party that loves to say "shut up, we're in charge," is that a majority of Americans do not want them in charge.  Their candidates stayed mum on the abortion issue because that thing they thought a majority of Americans would cherish, pissed Americans off instead.  They need to keep their socially conservative beliefs, like their religion, to themselves.  Lucky for America, the party is continuing to descend into chaos. The small question is will they learn from this.  Probably not.  The Orange Anus is probably going to announce his candidacy this evening and a majority of MAGA males will enjoy a premature ejaculation.  While attrition will slowly decrease their numbers, that group of losers will not go away any time soon.  

Negative

 Well lets say a happy hello to the new work week.  Of course, I perhaps should leave out the 'work' since not everyone is working today, or has a full work week.  I do work today.  4.5 hours.  I have an odd shift: 0930 - 1400.

One of our flooring associates climbed up onto the shelving, a serious violation of safety protocol, to push a rolled up area rug into place and fell, hitting his head on the concrete floor, and knocking himself unconscious.  Big gash on his forehead.  He was out for 10 minutes (concussion), and didn't start to come around the EMTs had him on the gurney and were wheeling him out.  This man was very nice.  I enjoyed talking to him.  The odds of him coming back to work are slim to none.  Major safety violation.  We have rolling staircases we call ladders.  Instead of using one he chose to climb up onto a piece of shelving that was over 3 feet above the concrete floor, using another shelf for support.  OSHA came into investigate.  They looked at the CCTV feeds and watched him fall.  The Orange Home Improvement retailer I work for will use this clip in future safety videos to illustrate what not to do.  The last I had heard, this associate could not remember being at work the day he fell.  As I said, he will not be coming back.

On a brighter note, I had my first cup of coffee since the arrival of the stomach bug.  Interestingly enough, I had no nausea or diarrhea.  My symptoms were:  pain in my upper abdomen and headache.  For a while, I had thought it might be the onset of an ulcer, but ulcers don't give you headaches.  So, I Googled my symptoms and for some individuals, those are symptoms of Covid, so I did one of these:

And it came back negative.  

Now, if you will all excuse me, I have to leave for work.

Honesty

 Hello Sunday.  A slow day.  Outside the sun is shining, and the temp is 41 (F) outside.  It's supposed to drop below freezing tonight.  It is that time of year.  As long as I have heat, it doesn't bother me.  I had been thinking of buying a new coat, but I'll put that off because of my new laundry room investment.

Yesterday was meh.  I have a hiatal hernia which acts up every now and then, yesterday was one such day.  I take omeprazole, but not regular.   That's going to have to change.  One of the unjoys of growing older is that your body does begin to slowly break down.  Things don't work as well as when you were young.  I did end up taking a personal day off from work.  That happens very rarely now that I'm semi-retired.

I did spend most of the day watching the results slowly drip in.  That was fine.  I didn't really have anything better to do.  I was pleased to see this.

During a midterms where every where you turned there were headlines about a red wave, the above little graphic is simply amazing.  Who'd have thunk?  Well, I did, for one.  But so many others were biting their nails in anxiety.  Pundits and polls both shrieked of a red wave.  I got up around midnight on Tuesday to let the dogs out and saw that Fetterman had won, and new it wasn't going to be bad.  But this is great.  If we win the runoff in Georgia, we will have 51 seats in the Senate.  The Republicans might take the House, but they're so roiled with losing, dealing with the fact that Trump is killing their party, and congressman who as so stuck in their old days, they'll need Democrats to get anything passed.

Of course, the lies about election fraud are happening.  Republican hate mail in voting, so there are rumors about ballot dumps being spread.  The truth they don't want to understand is that they did this before, and it only worked with Republicans... and they ended up losing.  They need to come with a new strategy, one that revolves around honesty.

What the Future Holds

 And so the weekend begins.  Storm clouds are settling over some parts of the nation.  Yesterday, here in lovely Central PA, we had showers, drizzles, and heavy bands of rain throughout the day.  I had planned on relocating the leaves in my backyard to the other side of the fence.  I do this every year, rather than drag them down to the curb for the street sweeper.  I like to recycle the nutrients which go into the growing of leaves back into the ground from which they came.  

I got a phone call from one of my Navy friends yesterday.  It's been many years.  He was very excited.  Originally from Virginia, he has since relocated to North Carolina, and lives in a condo on an island.  He has picked up that southern drawl.  His wife passed away a number of years ago.  One of his sons has developmental issues.  I feel bad for him, that's such a chore for aging parents. A Zoom call is scheduled for November 19.  Hopefully he and a number of my other Navy friends will be there.  Here's a dark picture I took of him at a radar console while on watch.  You can see the outline of the the Tonkin Gulf of Vietnam on the console screen.  You might want to click on it to make it bigger.

And, of course, Mark Kelly won his race to be Senator of Arizona.  Right now the count for Senators is even, each party having 49.  It's quite likely the Democrats will win one, possibly two, more.  That would be nice.  It's not quite as nice as having a majority to codify laws on abortion and marriage, but it's nice.  As for the House, in the past the midterms had the president's party losing 40 to 50 seats.  If Republicans do manage to get control, the number will be small, possibly 10 or less, which is not what they wanted.

Kevin McCarthy, who chose to hang onto Trump's nether region like a starving sucker fish, will never be Speaker of the House.  His decision to shit on Democracy has turned him into not only a failure, but a pariah for those Republicans looking for someone to blame.  The MAGA base has turned on him.  The same thing is true for McConnell.  Their political lives are over.  

It will be interesting to see how the Republicans will proceed if they do manage to wrest control of the House from the Democrats.  I wonder how many of them have come to terms with the fact that America has just rubbed their noses in Trump's shit.  Remember, Republicans in general struggle with their 2 dimensionality. Stefanik from New York is stuck in the past.  She was already Tweeting that Trump will again be a candidate for president.  He's having some sort of flash and bank shit show on November 15, probably to make his announcement.  When he does, that will end the Republican party because he is all they have.

My Policeman, Oh Joy!

Well, can I get a happy hello for Friday?  I know some of you are looking forward to the weekend.  Me, well, I just got off the scale and that pecan pie into my corporeal self.  Can someone please explain to me how something that weighs... oh, say 16 oz can suddenly add 32 oz to your weight?  Do fat cells weigh more than pecans?  And sugar? 

I watched My Policeman last night.  I truly enjoyed.  It's a love story of sorts, though more about redemption than anything else.  What will we do for happiness?  Sometimes it's something as simple as sticking your hand out of a speeding car to feel the air rushing past.  It's also about the brutality of the 1950s,  and how so many chose the safety found in silence.  A lot of people will watch it because of Harry Styles, and he can act.  It's free with Amazon Prime.  

And yesterday, on November 11, our Christmas trees arrived.  Over 250 of them.  The outside garden smelt simply wonderful, all of that heavenly pine.  Too bad they'll be dropping needles like rain before Christmas.

And the fallout from the dead red wave is still crashing down upon the Republican party.  Oh, Joy!  I work with several conservatives, one of whom simply can't talk about it because it brings him to tears.  That's right, these midterms have cut a 62 year old, a Christian man to his quick.  Oh, Joy!  And it's quite amusing to hear conservative pundits saying on national TV that one of the things that hurt them so badly was abortion.   Pardon me, but how can they be so fucking closed minded and stupid at the same time.  Remember in the runup to the elections how some were even talking about codifying an anti-abortion law?  So, will any of them learn anything from this terrible rude awakening?  When Trump gets indicted, and it is coming, the party will be cut off at their knees.  Oh, Joy!  

 

Washed Out to Sea

 I had baked a pecan pie on my birthday.  Since it's recommended I cut back on high carb / high calorie foods and I didn't want to throw it away, I ate it yesterday.  The entire thing.  I mean, I wasn't about to throw it out.  Why would I waste food?

My brother's taking me out for breakfast this morning to celebrate my birthday.  I will probably eat toast, and several other things.

I am going to stop baking bread for a while.  I bake it frequently, and just as frequently, I eat it.  So many carbs.  I am a carboholic.  Always have been.  Candy, too.  

Today is also a work day.  I really am tempted to call in and take a personal day.  Probably won't.  Either way I'd get paid 8 hours. 

The woman fixing the drywall on the ceiling just realized she had scheduled the repairs over Thanksgiving, a natural mistake since I didn't really know when the holiday was.  She sent me an email asking to start a day earlier.  I just sent her an email asking if she could start after Thanksgiving since the Electrician is scheduled to be here on 11/22.  I'm waiting for a response.

Here's a shot looking out my front door.  Notice the bright golden leaves of my gingko?

And wasn't yesterday fun?  Holy Crap.  Benny Shapiro flipped out on Twitter, blaming the Orange Anus for everything.  The OA, himself, flipped out because it's never his fault.  His entire life has been spent shifting the blame to someone else.  In this case, the blame needs to be spread over the entire Republican hierarchy.  They've been setting themselves up for this ever since they managed to stack the Supreme Court.  Calling your political opponents every name in the book is a fail; the MAGA brain is incapable of understand just how bad the Nazis truly were.  Overturning Roe v Wade hurt the GOP badly.  Their intent to tell women to "shut, we're in charge, and we're going to tell you what you're going to do," simply failed.  America is Centrist, not Conservative, so trying to force Conservative values on the entire country will never work... unless you live in Florida.  Of course, thanks to climate change, Florida will soon be washed out to sea.  Will Republicans learn anything from this?  Probably not, rocks don't think.

Fetterman Rocks!

 Yesterday was nice and quiet.  The dogs and I had cake and ice cream.  Dinner was chicken marsala, (I've been eating that a lot here lately), and desert was a homemade pecan pie.  I told my Dr. this and he replied, "that's fine, it's your birthday, but you really need to lose 13 pounds before you next visit."  That's in 6 months.  That's right, I'm at that age where I visit my Primary Care Physician every 6 months.  Do not worry, you, too, will hit that age.

While at the VA, I also got my Covid booster and my flu shot.  Chatting with the nurse as I waited for my injection, I asked if the Covid boosters would ever go away.  She told me no, they and flu shots are here to stay.  I have no problem with that.  I don't know about you, but I would rather have microchips swirling around in my blood stream then spend time in a hospital. (That's a bit of a joke for those who don't know my sense of humor).  This morning, my Covid shoulder is sore, my flu shoulder is not.

And here's a not too subtle reminder of what happened yesterday.

He won by 3% of the vote, not bad. and Ozzie's loss is an embarrassment for the Orange Anus.  I mean, how many times was that moral degenerate in PA to promote his bad decision?  3 or 4?  I believe it was 4.  And this projection was made without all of the mail-in ballots being counted.  There's a huge possibility that 3% might actually hit 4%.  That's a big defeat for the Quack from NJ.

Even though Vance did win in Ohio, last night was a serious smack in the face for the Republican party.  They kept repeating constantly how it was traditional for the party which wins the presidency to lose badly in the midterms.  Those dumbasses were counting on the Red Wave.  I don't doubt for a second that the ultra conservative Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade because of they anticipated Republicans taking control of the House and Senate.  Yesterday's results mean they pretty much shit in their pants.

In fact, Trump, himself, is pretty much in the shitter.  He had planned on riding that anticipated red wave into a presidential nomination.  Ouch.  While some of his endorsements did win (Vance), many big name endorsements did not (Oz).  Amusingly, I saw where Lara Trump Tweeted some sort of shit that now was the perfect time for Trump to return without understanding he is one of the main reasons the red wave spluttered.  

The base the Republican party counted on to come through for them failed.  This creates a big problem for the party.  If they do take control of the House and fritter away their wins by focusing on phony horseshit like Hunter Biden's laptop simply to satisfy that tiny base, they'll be shooting themselves in the foot.  Will they?  Watch out for the blood splatters.

70

It's 45 (F) outside, the high today is supposed to be 59 (F).

Today is my birthday.  Hold onto you seats, a little less than an hour ago, I turn 70.  Holy Shit!

My sister, my brother, and I cannot stop laughing.  Son of a bitch!  I can remember sitting in 3rd grade, and 4th grade, in fact most of my school years, thinking this day was so far into the future I would never see it happening.  Yet, here it is.  I laugh loudly, I'm very opinionated (usually right, but not always), and am eagerly looking forward to the next 70 years.  I am not kidding (did you know I'm a bit of a smartass?).

This morning I saw that People magazine has name Chris Evans the Sexiest Man in the world.  He's only 41.  Do you think he's too young?

In about 1/2 hour, I'm going to be driving down to the Lebanon VA for a physical.  Now, how's that for a birthday present to myself?

Yesterday, I cancelled my Sirius XM because my promotion ran out.  That $5.99 a month was suddenly replaced with $23.17, or about a little less for what I'd pay for 4 months.  Ouch.  You have to call to cancel, you can't do it over the internet because they want to try and use another promotion to keep you as a subscriber.  Of course, there would be another nasty surprise when that promotion ran out, so I cancelled.  I can still listen, but I'll have to deal with commercials.  I was beginning to have problems anyway, like with their Top 18 count down, which repeats several times daily.  It's a way for them to not have to pay a DJ.  Sirius is okay, but not worth the $$$ hassle.  It was through Sirius that I got introduced to Matt Maeson.  Take a listen.  This guy can sing.

It's also Election Day.  Will I get a nice Democratic birthday present?  I'm hoping so, covered with Blue paper, and topped with a Blue Ribbon electorate.  Vote.  Vote. Vote.  Democracy depends upon it.

Republican Lawsuits

 Today is most likely the last day we will be having warm temps; 64 (F) outside as I type.  That's almost balmy.  Predictions are for us to hit a high of 75 (F) today.  Then the mercury is supposed to drop, cratering to a low of 33 (F) overnight.  It will be much cooler tomorrow, so if you're one of those standing in line to cast your vote, make sure you bundle up.

Yesterday was terribly slow at work.  On a Sunday afternoon and early evening, you know televised football is cutting down the shoppers. The weather was warm, mid 70s (F) when I left work, so rather than shop, people did things outside.  Black Friday is coming up, and even though we have a lot of pre-Black Friday deals, people will wait for what they think is going to be a better sale, (remember when I said that great sale will end?).  And then there are the price increases.  Not so noticeable on the big ticket items, it's the smaller priced items where the higher prices are more apparent.  Corporate wants to hit it's fiscal goal and to do that they will raise the cost of a drill, or screws, or paint brush.  While during the pandemic we were considered an 'essential' business, in truth, for most people, the products we sell are not essential.  No one's life is going to depend upon whether they paint their living room sage green, or lollipop lavender.

I do have leaves.  They're sill falling like rain.

After tomorrow, the election ads will be put to rest.  Lucky me, I don't watch TV so the only time I see them is when I watch something on YouTube (one of those services I'm not paying a subscription for).  I suspect one political party is not going to be very happy.  Lawsuits are already being filed, and not by Democrats.  The last I checked, over 41 million Americans have voted, either by mail, or through early voting.  Many Republicans have this innate belief that such voting benefits the Democrats.  While this is true in some instances, if you start poring over the data, you find that quite a few Republicans also take advantage of both.  When Republicans lose, they point their crooked, little fingers at early voting and mail-in ballots as corrupt and filled with fraud, and so they file lawsuits pushing these lies.  The truth is conservatives are just terrible losers.  To lose, means that a majority reject their beliefs, that a large number of voters have said they don't like the conservative message.  This is something the losers reject, because in their minds they can never be wrong.

Rejecting Republicans

 Hello, Standard Time!  I hope everybody enjoyed their extra hour of sleep this morning.  I got up at my standard time, which meant I didn't really gain an hour, it was just an hour earlier.  Now I have an extra hour to get things done before I go to work.  Sadly, the daylight will continue to shrink for another month and a half, give or take a day, so it doesn't matter if it's Daylight Saving Time or Standard Time, it will still be dark when I leave work.

Work was slow yesterday, I suspect many people wanted to staying to preparing to watch the Phillies lose.  I'm not a big fan, but his morning when I got up (at my standard time) I thought of Anne Marie. She was a huge Phillie fan, so I'm fairly certain she would be rattling the rafters with her above average vocabulary.

Outside, the weather is warm and very humid.  We've been having showers on and off.  There's an 80% chance of rain today, and so far we've hit that percentage 100%.  That's a win, win for the forecasters.

In the front yard, my gingko is fully yellow.  Those leaves will probably hang on until Tuesday, when the temperature drops, and then they'll fall like a golden shower... wait, that phrase might be a little too graphic visually, so how about if I say they will fall like yellow rain?

The midterms are approaching.  I find it fascinating that over 1 million people have already voted by mail in Pennsylvania.  This means it's going to take a while to get all of our votes counted.  From what I'm seeing, 70% of those are Democratic.  This is what Republicans hate.  They also hate early voting.  They have this belief that only patriotic Americans will vote, no matter how difficult they make it.  These beliefs not only hurt many different voters, most especially senior citizens, a group tending to be conservative.  Of course, you know Republicans will blame the Democrats if their senior citizen votes decline.  They are the party of blame.

We do need to steel ourselves because, should they lose on Tuesday, they will turn into the party of rage.  They, like their orange assed savior will be very upset that American has rejected them.

Twitter and the Hate Mongers

 Let the mini-summer begin!  Or, as some call it, Indian Summer since, for the next few days, temps here in Central Pa are going to be in the mid to upper 70s (F).  Unfortunately, starting Wednesday we're going to be back to seasonal weather.  I have no problem with this unseasonably warmth.  A little respite from the heating bills is always nice.  Honestly, I find paying utility expenses such an unfair expenditure of my money, especially since utility companies have decided they want to be major players in American Capitalism.  

Take electricity.  I received an email from P. P. & L. my provider, that beginning in December rates for the average family using 1100 kwh per month will increase by about $22.  That's a big jump.  I immediately checked my bill to see how many kwh I use in a month.  As a single person, I use about 550 kwh, so my bill will only increase by around $11.  I like using my air fryer, but that little oven burns up electricity like it's going out of style.  From now on, I'll probably only use it for hamburgers and French fries, foods that only take about 10 minutes to cook.  Everything else will be cooked in my gas oven which is a lot less expensive way to cook.

Here is one of my autumn roses. 

I saw Bibi Netanyahu won the election in Israel by the skin of his teeth.  What a shame.  The country was making some very nice advances in it's approach to the Arab states which surround it.  I don't see that lasting since he's a hardline conservative.  There will be no compromise, a word conservative despise.

Isn't the Elon Musk's Twitter fiasco entertaining?  Instant layoffs, corporate advertising pulling back, people complaining about having to pay to be certified?  That $8 monthly charge is pissing people off.  Verification used to be related to certification, ensuring you were not a bot.  Now, if you've read what the Chief Fool has said, it's totally dependent on your paying the fee, meaning everyone who pays will be verified.  I suspect that's really what's pissing off the advertisers; Subway doesn't want it's ads sandwiched between Tweets of raging racism and hatred.  The Chief Fool doesn't understand this.  Only the foolish will pay that fee.  Everyone else will move to another platform.  There is a good possibility Twitter will become a lot like the fiscally underperforming Truth Social, catering mostly to hate mongers.  Note to the Chief Fool, hate mongers rarely click on ads, they're too busy foaming at the mouth.

Prepping

 I'm always delighted to say "yesterday was a day of accomplishment."  That isn't because I don't normally accomplish much, mostly I think I do.  It just means that the specific goals I've set for myself, have been reached.  Yesterday the ugly, white PVC drain for my new washer was primed.  If it were in my basement, I wouldn't have given it a second thought, but since the new laundry room may at some point in the future again be used as a walk-in closet painting is necessary.  

Today, I want to get the first coat of paint on the window.  By this time next week, the trim as well as the walls, will have all been painted.  A decorative film, UV protective of course, will be on the lower window.  The top window will have a valance.  The color palette and the film are all about making the room larger than it is.  The bathroom will be repainted in the same color.

I've decided which washer and drying I'm going to purchase.  They're LG (Life's Good) appliances with a 10 years warranty.  Ten years is a long time.  Who knows where I'll be a decade from now.  The house is paid for, that means it's rent free, of the main benefits of home ownership.  It may end up being home port to which I can always return.

My dahlias are still blooming, as are my roses.  Next week the temps are supposed to climb into the mid-70s.  Even though I haven't had a frost yet, this is Indian Summer.   Maybe.

So, Oprah has endorsed John Fetterman.  Not a big Oprah fan, myself, though I will admit she does wield a lot of power.  She has many, many fans.  The fact that she's not endorsing Oz, a quack who was on her show for many years, should not be dismissed lightly.  

Five days from the midterms and both parties believe they'll be victorious.  Will there be chaos on November 8?  Do not disregard in the least the anger of election deniers if their party loses.  For them, The Big Lie is everything.  Segments of the Christian population are devolving.  They have become a cult that will have no problem doing what ever Trump asks of them.  January 6 may have only been foreshadowing.  His pundits, Ingraham, Carlson, Hannity, on Fox, have no problem in both inciting and justifying violence.  They do not understand that America will fight back.  People might die.  And for Donald Trump, a MAGAs death demonstrates the greatest loyalty he could ever wish for.

Being Tricky

So, what will today bring?  Any ideas?  Yesterday, was fun, in an odd sort of way.  I had my driver's license renewed.  While this may seem a mundane chore to most, this was my first time at the new PA driver's license office, which is located in Enola.  That's right.  No driving into downtown Harrisburg anymore.  Not only is it in my home town, it is, as the crow flies, about 3/4 of a mile away.  The building used to be a supermarket, now it's used solely for renewing and applying for driver's licenses.  My visit was fairly uneventful except for one thing.  Now, everybody knows their picture on their driver's license looks like crap.  Well, there was this blond woman who wasn't satisfied.  From where I was sitting, I could see the screen with her pictures.  At first there were 2, which she didn't like, so they took another, and another, and another.  She kept dismissing them all.  I laughed.  The only time anyone is going to see that picture is if you get pulled over by a traffic cop, or if you're getting carded going into a bar.  At her age, she was definitely not going to get stopped going into a bar, so I suppose the police must pull her over a lot.

I went for an 11 mile ride in Oregon.  Small hills, and fairly flat.

Also, for those looking to buy an appliance, the big sale starts today.  This is the Black Friday special.  Pay close attention.  This sale ends 12/1 and a Christmas sale begins.  That sale is not as good.  Of course, most people will think this is one continuous sale.  Tricky, we are.

The rest of the pumpkin pie is gone.  Good.  Now my hellish carb addiction is satiated, at least for the time being.  I made 2 stuffed peppers.  Since I had a couple of plum tomatoes on hand, I made the sauce, too.

And last evening I saw the pertinence in yesterday's blog.  Evidently Kash Patel was given immunity to testify.  This is going to be very tricky.  The immunity covers a very narrow area and has no effect on other crimes he may have committed.  He will sit there with an attorney who will prod him to use the 5th as often as possible.  Even more important to remember, is that Patel is a lying sack of shit; he's prone to falsehoods and partial truths, what ever he thinks will save his ass.

Biden spoke last night.  I didn't watch.  I'm doing a replay of Assassin's Creed, Valhalla with studly Alexios.  I don't think I need to tell you that everything he said was true.  We may end up with several years of chaos if a number of election deniers win.  I'm thinking the Democrats are going to keep the Senate, and possibly the House (by the skin of our teeth).  I'm thinking we're going to do better than the Republicans think.  Why?  Because on a Fox Townhall, J.D. Vance, a celebrity non-politician who thought this would be a cakewalk, said he thinks the abortion issue would be settled if we went back to Roe v Wade.  Does he believe this?  He may have written a bestseller, but when it comes to the American people his brain is witless.  He's just being tricky.  When lies fail, Republicans turn to trickery.