When the Iron is Hot

 It's Tuesday morning and I have stacks of laundry waiting to go.  It's a Tuesday thing, and sometimes a Wednesday thing as well.  It's all about routines and regularity.  This does not mean there is a time and place for everything; spontaneity is nice.  I just don't live on the spur of the moment.

Yesterday the temps got up to 53 (F).  That's warm for January.  The forecast is for things to cool off, drop to more what are considered normal temps for this time of year.  There is frigid shit out there, but it seems to be always to the east or to the west of us.  

I received an invite back to Sirius XM.  The offer is $6 a month for a year before the cost goes back to the normal $22 a month.  Sorry.  I only listen to the radio when I'm in my car.  At home, if I'm listening to music, it's on Amazon.  And my tastes tend to be rather impromptu.  For example, there are times when I want to listen to German Folk Music and at other times the score from Fallout 4.  And I don't need to listen to some DJ trying to be relevant to all ages of listeners.

My income tax refund hit my bank account this morning.  That was a nice surprise.  I file early.  I file electronically.  And, except for that year when I hit 65 and Social Security sent those 3 big checks, I always get a nice refund.  

Kev McCarthy was on CBS and got drilled by the correspondent.  That seems to be happening more and more, doesn't it.  His little forays into Sunday morning television are intended to fluff his ego and demonstrate his power... and they always seem to fail.  He's one of those morons who never realized that respect is earned.  Giving into the the far right, making concessions, and signing secret rules and regulations earns you nothing.  Someone should tell that buffoon he wields zero power, not that he'd listen.  Honestly, I don't even think he understands how weak he truly is.

Trump's payment of hush money to Stormy Daniels is again back in the headlines.  (yawn)

People are beginning to wonder how imminent the impending indictments of Orange Anus truly are.  For many of us, imminent is in a few hours, possibly tomorrow... maybe.  Yet since Fanni dropped that word all we've heard is silence. People are getting edgy.  We've all been waiting a very long time.  I'd always heard it was best to strike when the iron was hot.

Is there a Blizzard in your Future?

 Well, a happy Monday morning to everybody.  Another cloudy, drizzly day is forecast for Central PA.  Yesterday was overcast, but all we really ended up getting were showery sprinkles and were spotty, to say the least.  Today is going to be a replay, and then overnight the temps are going to drop.  Tomorrow's high is expected to be in the mid 30s (F).

I went down to York yesterday to have lunch with my friend Betsy.  Our routine is always the same, lunch at the Imperial Gourmet and desert at Dairy Queen.  Betsy decided on an chocolate dipped ice cream cone, which led to a discussion on ice cream cones.  She found it odd that we never had cones while I was growling up.  My mom always served up bowls of ice cream, never cones.  I see cones as messy, and, of course, her chocolate dip fell off and the ice cream began to melt and dribble down over her fingers.  Wisely, I chose a cherry Blizzard with chocolate chips and, for the first time, posted a picture on Facebook.  Quite a number of people recommended other Blizzards to try: Turtle, Butterfinger, Oreo, and Chocolate Chocolate Chip, to name a few.  Evidently Blizzards are very, very popular.  Here's the pic of the one I had for dessert.  You can see her cone (pre-melt) in the background.

I saw yesterday how Megyn Kelly decided to raise a bit of stink on social media about Dr. Jill Biden.  She riled up a lot of people, which was her intention.  I always find it amusing how easily some people can b e provoked, especial those who really ought to know better.  I'm sure Meg got a few chuckles out of the reactions her comment received.  Her sole purpose was to manipulate, and she succeeded.  If you really want to irritate Meg, simply mute her.  Believe me, getting only 50 comments rather than 800 is going to far more painful to her than you think.  Not commenting is an attack on her ego.  The only power she has is when people react.  If you want rile up Meg, say nothing.  If you follow her, unfollow.  Believe me, it will drive her batty.

One aspect of the horrendous beating and death of Tyre Nichols that I find fascinating was that while there were protests, none of the turned violent.  No cars were set on fire, no windows broken, no stores looted.  This is not what white conservatists were expecting.  They were hoping to point fingers.  That never happened.  This is important because when Trump gets indicted, you quite probably will see something totally opposite from his MAGA base.  Guess who will look bad?  Guess which political party will be hurt?

Me being Serious

 Rain is in the forecast for today.  The temps are predicted to climb into the mid  to upper 40s (F).  Nice.  You would think that this warm winter would mean I was using less natural gas.  Like my electrical usage, I track how much UGI is saying I use on a monthly basis.   Imagine how surprised I was when I saw I was actually using 30% more this year than last.  How can that be?  The average daily temperature is 2 degrees warmer than last year.  And then it struck me.  The house next door is vacant, and while workmen are rehabbing it, I'm fairly certain they're not cranking the heat up.  I'm using 30% more natural gas because they're leaching off of my heat.  Damn!  Of course, next winter, when there are occupants living next door, I should be using less than this year.

Last night I watched The Pale Blue Eye on Netflix.  Christian Bale stars.  It a meh mystery with an ending that's suppose to be a shocker.  Well, I was surprised.  It's a mystery, so I won't give the ending away should you decide to watch it.  I found most of the film boring.  Bale wants to be an Actor's actor, often choosing parts in films which let his skills shine; the films themselves are not always good.  If you have Netflix, give it a whirl, I'd like to know what others think.

My Christmas Cactus is still blooming.

For those of you who didn't see, nobody's favorite little Margie (taylor green) sponsored a piece of legislation.  That's right.  This horse's ass actually proposed a piece of legislation limiting Biden's ability to sell national oil reserves to China.  She evidently doesn't know that China has a rather lucrative arrangement with the Russians when it comes to importing oil.  Obviously reality has very little influence in her comprehension of the facts.  It never has, it never will.  And Margie's stunning attempt at writing a bill got all of 14 votes.  That means over 200 members of her own party voted against it.  That bit of a loss is beyond humiliation.  In fact, nobody's favorite little Margie has only co-sponsored 4 pieces of legislation that have actually passed.  Not surprising, this bottled bimbolina wants to be Donald Trump's running mate in 2024.  I'm serious.  You can not make this shit up.

The Decent Thing

 It's Saturday.  The temps are supposed to climb into the low 50s (F).  And I have a short shift.  4 hours.  

Yesterday was good.  Accomplishments were... well, achieved.

The angelfish tank was cleaned.  They seem happy.  One of these days I'll have to make a fish run down to That Fish Place in Lancaster to pick up more Mollies.  Two years ago there were 4, now there's 1, a solitary female.  I don't know if fish get lonely, but I feel bad that she's by herself.

I got a 2 mile fast walk in while watching a mini-marathon run up a snowy Swiss Alp.  If you, too, want to run in Switzerland, here's the link.  The only problem I have with it, is that the videos are mostly focused on one woman running, so the guy with the GoPro is always behind her.  Now and then he will leave her behind, but usually her long hair is bouncing around ahead of you.  

And the polishing goes on with The Body Under Ice.  I've switched ink colors, from purple to red.  This is the time when I add little things, like Lexi Bowerman's housedress now has a pattern of small, pink petaled flowers.  Nothing really changes.

Since Biggie no longer comes upstairs to sleep on the bed, I bought him one of his own.  He spends hours on it during the day.  At night, however, he sleeps on the sofa in the writing room.

So, the Republicans elected Ronna McDaniel as Chair of the RNC.  She's been an abject failure for the past 3 elections.  When you consider her competition, you can understand the vote.  Mike Lindell apparently got 4 votes.  You also need to keep in mind the Republican mindset.  Voting her out would be admitting they were wrong right from the very start.  Republicans are never wrong.  Were they to even consider admitting something like that their little universe would start to collapse.

No, I didn't watch the Tyre videos.  I understand that Tucker Carlson spewed virulent, racist bullshit.  If you were expecting anything else from him, you are more than a little naïve.  I don't doubt that Tucker's a terribly bitter man who will never be able to deal with change.  Luckily for us, Tucker will pass, just as Fox News will pass.  Both will go the way of Newsmax, and history will not be kind.  History will do the decent thing. 

 

Dickin' around

 Friday.  I never work on Friday.  It's one of the 3 days of the week I can't be scheduled.  There's no particular reason why I picked this day.  At my age, days of the week and weekends really don't matter.  This doesn't mean they're totally unimportant, merely that there's no reason to prioritize them.

They working on the house next door again.  No one showed up for several days.  Maybe they decided to take a vacation.  Or, more probably, they were waiting for someone with more specialized skills, like a plumber, or an electrician.  They are planning on selling the house once they are finished, so I do hope the plumbing and electrical work are done by qualified, licensed individuals.  It will need to pass a house inspection if they go through a real estate agent.

My last royalty payment from KDP will be posted into my account on the 29th.  Kindle is a great place for fledgling authors who want to self-publish to get their feet wet.  However, care needs to be taken.  You see there are multiple ways to earn royalties.  You can earn royalties when someone purchases your book, that's either the Kindle, paperback, or hardback versions.  And then there's the however.  They have something like a lending library where you can earn a small % every time someone reads a page in one of your books.  They play this up by sending you emails letting you how many $$ millions are in the pot.  However signing up for this library licenses your book to Kindle, meaning you can't publish it anywhere else.  Prince Harry's book will earn him many, many $$$.  For most authors, like myself, the royalties are miniscule, which is why I've pulled my books from the 'lending library,' in order to sell them through Barnes & Noble, as well as Kindle.  On the 30th, the last royalty from the lending library will be deposited into my checking account. Let me share with you a picture of that sizeable fortune.

And now for a funny, Ha Ha moment, at least most people were laughing at this, some, I suppose, dismally.  73% of Americans believe that the Republican House leadership is just... well, dickin' around.  Only 27% think that Kev McCarthy and his team have their priorities in order.  A substantial majority is looking at the George Santos hypocrisy and saying "Kev, stop dickin' around, and kick that liar out."  Unfortunately, Kev needs the vote to get the Hunter Biden laptop investigation off the ground.  Kev prioritizes a committee to investigate the origins of Covid and people scratch their heads and say "Kev, stop dickin' around with shit only 27% of Americans are interested in."  Of course, Kev needs to 'dick around,' if he doesn't the Republican party is going to lose their base.

An even funnier Ha Ha moment:  30% of Republicans want Mike Lindell, the wacked out pilling guy, to run the RNC.  If they were to vote today, he'd win!  Stop Laughing!

Pins and Needles

 Well, it's Thursday and I get to work 8 hours.  Yep, that's right a full shift.  And no, this is not an endurance test for me.  That'll happen in 3 weeks when I'm scheduled to work 25.5 hours.  Holy Banana Peels!  I can't remember the last time I worked that many hours.

We did have snow yesterday, about 2 inches.  White and fluffy, the dogs went out several times though I don't know if that's because they like the snow, or just really liked being toweled off when they come back in the house.  With Biggie?  I'm certain it's a biscuit thing.  For him, biscuits will always rule the day.  

Bethesda had a big showcase yesterday showing off some of their upcoming games.  No Starfield information.  That's the game the world is waiting for, and I do mean world.  It's supposed to drop in the first half of 2023, though the release date is complicated.  They don't want to compete with themselves, and a little thing called Redfall has a release date of May 2.  That means Starfield will probably drop probably in late June.  I guess the big question is not when it actually releases, but if it's going to sell over 35 million copies on day one.  At $69 a copy, that's a lot of moolah moolah.  Here's a bit about Redfall.  It's free on Gamepass, so I'm not planning on purchasing this one.

Of course, a lot of people are on pins and needles as they wait for the first indictment to drop.  I'm not, but then I can be very patient.  Justice is Karma.  It doesn't happen at the snap of your fingers.  The longer it takes, the more brutal it can be.  Let's be honest.  We don't only want to see Trump pay the price.  There are others we want to see incarcerated.  Like Roger Stone.  I would definitely like to see that shitty smile of his legally wiped off his face... for the rest of his life.  And Jimmy Jordan.  Knowing that he's spending the rest of his days having to use a group shower with men who see him as just another piece of meat?  With his history of ignoring student predators, would that just be simply delightful.  These people do not understand that they are not special.  They have not been chosen.  Justice is going to teach them this lesson.

I don't know about you, but I'm beginning to chortle, chortle, chortle at Kev McCarthy's frustrations.  Did everybody hear he flipped out when an NPR correspondent asked about George Santos?  Kev made so little sense that for a few moments, I thought he was speaking in tongues..

And finally, there will be protests when the first Trump indictment is revealed.  Now, I know some of you will want to let your own frustrations out, well, don't.  America is watching.  I would not be surprised if we see a reenactment of January 6, but worse, in several cities as stupid MAGAs take to the streets.  The Republican party is dying.  These protests will be their death knell. 

Sleeping in the bed you made

 Well, it's not snowing, though the weather map has a blue snow cloud sitting right over my head.  I don't work today, so a little snow, and a little shoveling wouldn't be a bad thing.  That's what we might get, just a little.  Prediction is for possibly 2 inches.  There's a rather large storm system to the west of us, so Pittsburgh is getting hit, but not us.

I spent a little time yesterday packing up my PS4 Pro.  Buying it was a mistake.  I never found the exclusive games Sony was offering that interesting.  I like Sony's TVs, but their gaming? meh.  And since they've released their PS5, the value of a Pro has dropped, meaning I'll see if I can find someone to give it to.

Yesterday was also Tax day.  I used the Online Taxes even though I earned to much, or at least thought I earned too much.  In the end, they said their calculations had me earning less that their maximum adjusted income requirement so it was free.  As usual, I'm getting a rather nice refund, that should pay off the laundry room.

Saw this yesterday and I had to laugh.  Just think, 74 million people voted for this.

As expected, Kev McCarthy is keeping Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell off any and every committee he can.  For those who don't know, this is Republican Retribution.  You see Kev wanted to put disruptors on the January 6 committee and when Pelosi rejected the likes of Jimmy (shower at your own risk) Jordan and Marjorie (I celebrated my divorce by getting a nose job, Taylor Greene) he threw a hissy fit and pulled all the disruptor names.  Schiff and Swalwell's rejection is nothing more than Kev's revenge.

And for those complaining about a lack of indictments against Trump, et al, well Fani says they are imminent.  People need to prepare themselves.  The MAGA cult is not going to take this lightly.  There will be protests, possibly violent.  Conservatives gambled on extremism.  They are bad losers and their radicalism will be on full display for the world to see.  The ramifications will hurt them for years to come.  This is how a political party splinters.  Parts of it will die.  They made their bed, now they have to sleep in it.

Wrong Color?

Well, it's Tuesday and my first load of laundry is in the dryer.  My 2nd, sweatpants, will be going into the washer shortly.  Moving both washer and dryer to to the 2nd floor was a smart move, since the big PC is up here.  The only thing I don't like is the vinyl floor - it's faux marble, has a lot of white which shows up dog hair.  Holy Crap!  I had no idea there was so much dog hair floating in the air around me.  

We had a big carpet carpet install returned.  There are 7 rolls of  shrink wrapped carpet sitting back in receiving, each with the dimensions of a room written on the wrap.  Beaucoup Bucks $$$$.  The customer claimed it was the wrong color.  Well, that's a lie.  I can remember 2 times when the wrong color carpet was sold.  Both times, the installation was stopped before the installers cut a single piece of carpet.  I'm betting that in this case, wrong color means the customer didn't like the carpet after it was installed.  I don't doubt this happen more and more frequently because carpets are expensive now.  Two years ago, the same carpet would have run $3.25 a square foot, today it costs $5.37 a square foot.  American capitalism is destroying itself.

Back when the electrical work was being done for the laundry move, I used a small piece of plywood to keep Biggie at bay in the kitchen.  Believe me, he so desperately wanted to go hang around with the electricians.

You know, it doesn't seem a day doesn't go by without Ronnie DeSantis doesn't do something that heralds his turn to the far right.  Black people are furious about his attempt to whitewash their history.  Ronnie doesn't understand.  He desperately wants Florida to become the white Mecca.

The voters in George Santos' district are furious with him.  I would be, too, if he represented my district.  While Democrat and Independent voters want him gone, some Republicans, though still claiming to be angry, would rather he stay.  They don't want to lose his vote and they're worried that they'll do that if there's a special election.  They are totally clueless as to how badly this hurts them with the voters.

Republicans are also suffering from multiple identity crises.  A outstanding example of this is in Butler county, in western PA, where not two, but three different groups are claiming to be the true Republican party.   These problems are only going to multiply for the party of Trump.  I find this hysterical because this is happening to the Republican party across the entire country.  They are using their "shut up, I'm in charge" tactics upon themselves.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/24/us/politics/republicans-trump-pennsylvania.html

Updates

 So, we have the Monday drizzles.  The forecast for daylong flurries yesterday never happened, except maybe for 2 or 3 minutes around 11 AM.  After that, all we got was rain... steady, soaking rain.  Except for that cold bit we had over Christmas, this winter's been on the mild side.  Not warm, but not cold either.  Did I just jinx the next 2 months?  Well, not according to the long range forecast.

As expected, work was slow yesterday.  The playoff games kept a lot of people at home.  There are times when I do believe the media forces you to become sports enthusiast, though I know I might be wrong... sort of.  People want to be on the 'winning' side', so cable and network programming feed them what they they want, usually with bold headlines and banners.  And it's not just sports.  The Oscar nominations are out tomorrow, which means we'll soon be hearing about the horseraces between the nominees.  

Since I occasionally use a lyric or two from a song in my books, I thought it appropriate that I use one of those songs for this little video.

For those who don't follow Joe Manchin, that includes me, he was on Meet the Press yesterday morning.  He claims to be a centrist Democrat, but tends to vote like a mini-Republican.  I think of his as more of an obstructionist.  Like when he voted against ending the filibuster.  He tends to appease the opposition, more than he does his own party.  Oh, and there are rumors swirling that he's considering a run for president in 2024.  Someone needs to tell Joe that one of the last things America needs right now is a 72 year-old, white, faux centrist running for president.  While he might satisfy those leaders in the fossil fuel industry, he is really nothing more than an anachronism needing to be forgotten.

I think it's a shame Biden dropped the ball with this document issue.  For some reason, I do suspect the White House thought they might use this as a comparison, showing how Biden abided by the law, while Trump did the exact opposite.  What they've unfortunately done is give the Republicans another dead horse for them to kick and stomp on.  

No heart, no brains, no courage

 Well, it's Sunday morning and crap, they're predicting an extended period of snow flurries.  No accumulation.  There are several other storms making their way across the country, but from what I've been seeing, whatever snow they're bringing will be to our east, or to our west.  

OLT (On Line Taxes) sent me an email this morning reminding me that tax filing season is upon us.  I've used them for a number of years because they were free, and filed both my federal and state taxes.  This year, that's going to change.  That won't be happening this year.  They've dropped their AGI to $41K and, well I earn a bit more than that, so I may have to use Turbo-Tax, or a similar software.

I do work today.  With the football playoffs on TV, business is going to be slow.  That happened yesterday, when business was steady in the morning, but as the day wore on and the customers thinned out.  That will happen today as well.  

My first reader / editor, Patty gets her copy of The Body Under Ice today.

Saw this and had to chuckle.

And, speaking of Republicans, have you noticed that across the country Republican state legislatures are going from wack-job to extreme?  A party that desperately needs to be in total control is slowly falling out of popularity is doing what should have been expected.  Missouri passing a law that women cannot show their arms in their senate is just one example.  They are trying to masculate women, make they less female and more manly because bare arms, like long hair, are a temptation and must be hidden.  Every day these Republicans become more extreme.  For them, this is necessary, you see, the deity they created is not giving them what they want: total control.  They believe their deity must be angry.  The only way they can appease his anger, to get on his good side, is to prove their loyalty by becoming more extreme.  They don't understand that the more extreme they become, the more people see them as pariahs.

Fasten your seatbelts because these crazies are going to get even crazier.  By not succeeding, they believe they must be doing something terribly wrong.  The truth they will never understand is that they've steered their party into a cul-del-sac of decline where they will drive in endless circles for the rest of time.

The Early Morning Mind

 Saturday.  I work.  A full 8 hour shift.  Excitement percolates at the thought of sitting at the flooring desk and talking to people about carpet, should they go with Triexta, or just a simply poly (polyester).  Well, that's bunk. 

Being semi-retired means I can now sleep in a little if I want.  Of course, then I end up staying up later, which can, should I let it, begin they cycle of late nights and later mornings.  My neighbor did that, stayed up until 3 in the morning and then sleeping in until noon.  I find that I think differently late at night then in the morning.  I allow ideas to slide, rather than pinpointing details I find fascinating.  Like most people aging gracefully, I am concerned about my mind sliding, so this morning when the alarm went off at 0545, I rousted myself.  Are things clearer, sharper at this early hour?  Possibly.  I do know that I don't let things slide.  I didn't start playing a video game to help pass the time until I was tired enough to go to bed.

Well, this happened yesterday morning.  This is the 2nd dumpster brought in for the clean-up of the house next door.  Yesterday was also the day the workmen started cleaning out the attic.  One of them told me it was creepy.  I can tell you it's big.  The peak is 18 feet off the floor.  If there weren't so many beams, it might make for a nice master suite.

During an interview, Lou Dobbs claimed that there is a 'rank cover-up' in the Supreme Court over the Roe v Wade leak.  He's right, however his statement implies he believes the leaker to have been a Liberal.  I don't believe he understands how wrong he is.  Had that been true, this ultra Right-Wing court would have leaked that information.  Conservatives only protect their own.  I'm betting no one can even remember the last time a conservative stood up for a Centrist.  I know I can't.

And, of course, Jimmy Jordan got some bad news from the DOJ.  Sorry, no information regarding ongoing investigations.  As one of the insurrectionists involved in that fake elector scheme, I'm sure Little Jimmy is scared shitless.  You see, Jack Smith has subpoenaed quite a lot of information from those states planning on sending counterfeit electors to vote for Trump, not Biden.  Little Jimmy was deeply involved.  At first he tried to blame an aide for submitting the phony names, but as more people squealed to save their own asses, the truth came out: it was Little Jimmy, himself, who had submitted those fake names.  And Little Jimmy is scared his ass might fry.  Sizzle, Jimmy, sizzle.

He was Stardust

 Friday has arrived.  My next 3 days are going to be different.  I work.  That's right.  Not only do I work, I'll be at the store for an 8 hour shift each day.  How will I survive?  Probably easily.  Tomorrow might be busy.  People are beginning to anticipate their income tax refunds.  I know I'm looking forward to mine.  I still owe a couple of grand on the laundry room update.

I have noticed my water bill has dropped... a lot.  Last month I used 300 less gallons.  The front load washer uses far less water.  As for the electric, it's difficult to tell.  PP&L is having problems with their website.  No usage details are showing up.  Their excuse is that they're having problems with their server.  

My ex-neighbor sent me a text asking how things were going, and how the dogs were doing.  She has a bit of dementia.  Instead of Lily and Biggie, she used her dog's names.  I will tell her they're doing fine.  No need to confuse her more than she already is.

And, speaking of the house next door.  Late yesterday afternoon there was the sound of something heavy being rolled from the kitchen into the living.  (Sometimes the workers are loud).  Suddenly, there was a very loud crash from the front of the house.  I mean loud.  Letting curiosity get the better of me, I looked out the window.  That sound was the last of their 2 refrigerators being pushed off the front porch onto the sidewalk below.  I don't know the workers doing the rehab are as skilled as they think themselves to be.

I cut almost 2000 words from the last chapter yesterday.  Wow.  They were unnecessary. I can remember when doing such an edit would have cut me to the quick.  Now, it's just business.

David Crosby died yesterday.  He was 81.  A liver transplant survivor.  People my age can tell you how often his turbulent life made the news.  Crosby, Stills, and Nash had amazing harmony.  Here they are singing a song written for them by Joni Mitchell when Crosby and the rest of the band were in their late 60's.  They still have the harmony.

And, of course, yesterday the Supreme Court said their investigation had failed to find out who leaked the fact that they were going to overturn Roe v Wade.  But then they only asked the court clerks and their spouses, least that's what they're saying.  The judges and their spouses were supposedly not questioned.  This is just one more way for them to lose credibility.  Kevin McCarthy wants to set up a special committee to investigate since the leaker had to have been a liberal.  Republicans will never have enough dead horses to kick.

Finally, the Republicans are also floating the idea of a 30% sales tax that would eliminate Income Tax.  Of course, the middle and lower classes would be hurt the worst.  No doubt stupid Republicans are thinking this would be great, without understanding this would mean no more refunds, no more child tax credits, in fact quite a number of tax programs in place to help the poor would disappear.  Ouch.

The Only Thing a Republican is Good At

Well, it's raining in Central PA.  That's the forecast for both today and tomorrow.  I'm planning on going anywhere, except to Giant.  I need milk.  Yesterday the temps got up to 51 (F).  Inside, the temps got up to 73 (F).  This helps save money on the natural gas bill, especially since rates went up.  Wowza.  On the budget plan I used to pay between $55 and $60 a month (heat, hot water, and cooking).  Now it's $82 per month.  Electric rates went up as well.  So did water.  There was a time when utilities weren't so focused on their profit.  Greedy is in.

I've about 20 pages left on the book.  That's right, I'm in the denouement chapter.  In The Body Under Ice, it's not so much as secrets getting revealed, as it is putting the pieces together.  As Eli says, "the dots are coming together.  A picture is forming."  Writing the denouement chapter is always the funnest part of the book for me.

Being that I like my rock and roll, I was glad to see one of my most favoritest groups dropping a new video yesterday.  Fall Out Boy is releasing a new album March 24.  I'm excited.  Here's the video.

Of course, the United States is going to hit its debt ceiling sometime today.  As expected, the Republicans, who had no problem kicking that baby as high as they wanted under the Orange Anus, want to use it to attack Social Security and Medicare.  I laugh because their non-thinking base will go along with whatever the party says, even if it obliterates their future.  The last time the Republicans had this slim of a majority in the House was in 1963.  Times were different then.  They didn't have insurrectionists among their ranks.

But this Congress has a terrible problem: some of its members are under investigation for the January 6 attempted coup.  How do you remove a Republican from Congress?  You arrest him.  This is why Jimmy Jordan put together his anti-investigation committee.  These traitors are desperately trying to find out just how far along the investigations are, if their close to being completed.  Sadly, there's nothing they can do except wait, and create chaos, and havoc.  It seems that's the only thing they're any good at.

 

The Good Thing

 Oops, I did it again... slept in, that is.  To be honest, it wasn't as though I went to bed last night at 11 PM and slept the entire night away.  For some reason, I've been waking up around 0200.  Most nights I just wait to fall back to sleep.  Last night I put that time to good use.  I made notes on The Body Under Ice.  I'm finishing off the final chapter and, as always, there are points that have to be explained.  Sometimes those changes are no more than adding a simple sentence earlier in the book.  You know, simple things say so much.

And the screw in the title refers to one of he several securing the control panel of my treadmill.  Repairs are complete!  It's be lubricated and the belt has been centered.  The only thing missing is that one little screw.  It fell into the space below the motor and the only way to get it out is by turning the treadmill onto its side.  Well, that ain't gonna happen.  There are 4 other screws holding the control panel in place, so I'm not too worried about it coming lose.

Here's a bit of a funny.  Yesterday, Madonna announced her Celebration Tour.  While she does have her loyal fans her are overjoyed, most of what I've been seeing on Social Media has not been kind.  There are comments about the standard 2 hour delay before her show starts, could this be how she proves to herself that her fans will wait an eternity to see her show, to comments about carbon dating to ensure it's the true Madonna.  One fan, desperate to prove his loyalty Tweeted out "sure, she looks weird, but it's still Madonna."   Honestly, I think she's looking pretty good for an aging Asian woman.😎😎😎

Of course, Americans concerned about Democracy are unhappy with the House committee assignments.  People are wondering how George Santos could be put on 2 committees.  Well, you have to remember that Republicans don't give a shit about America.  They are selfish and self-centered.  They also know many of their campaign contributions come from corporations who also don't give a shit about America.    Republicans don't understand that for every action, there is a reaction.  They truly believe that they can act and everyone will accept what they do.  They barely scrape by with a majority in the House during the midterms and they are treating it as though they have a mandate.  They will never learn.  They do not consider what the consequences will be, only that they need to say "shut up, we're in charge."  They are going to fail horribly.  That's a good thing.  

Short Circuit

Well, it's Tuesday.  I slept late again this morning, possibly because I'd slept so poorly the night before.  Ingesting so much pasta after 8 PM is definitely not conducive to my getting a good night's sleep.  Note to myself:  don't do it again.

Because attendance had been so low at the party (which wasn't really a party), there was lots of food left over, mainly pasta.  I worked for 4 hours yesterday, which means I had a bowl.  Not a big one.  It had red sauce.  meh.  Since I make my own at home, I'm a bit of a stickler about sauces, and I can tell you this one tasted like it had been poured right from the can.

The indoor dryer exhaust I bought requires a filter pad which needs to be changed.  Individually, they last about 1.5 months.  Sadly, they also cost $16 for two.  Being the creative person I am, I'm going to improvise, using chair batting (very inexpensive) rather than the filters, which I think are pricey.  I should be able to get 24 filters pads for $12.

And I started replacing the circuit boards on my treadmill yesterday.  I was a bit leery at first since I've never done anything like this before.  It turns out to be rather easy peasy.  Taking a picture insure you plug everything back correctly, pictures like this.  Oh, and wear gloves since the oils on your fingertips are not kind to circuit boards.  Oh, and if you have a color printer, it doesn't hurt to print the pic off.

George Takei runs a small media outlet called SecondNexus. They posted a survey from Civiqs showing Republicans are growing very unpopular.  That should surprise no one.  Remember, Republicans are only concerned about their own self-interests.  While they like to call themselves conservative, the America they work for has roots in authoritarianism.  Civiqs leans left, it's surveys are open to just about anyone, which means it can be stacked by either liberals or conservatives, so, let's say it's fairly accurate.  Even if it's only fairly accurate, and not quite 64% of Americans don't like the Republican party, there's still a good chunk of Americans who believe they're leading us down the wrong path.  This is not good.  The longer they are in charge, the more they hurt themselves.  Telling Americans it makes sense to raise the age for Social Security because people want to work longer does not put them in a win / win situation.  But then most of us know their brains started to short circuit a long time ago.

Martin Luther King day

The Monday holiday.  I still work this afternoon from 3 - 7.  Business should be slow. 

It is, however, and acronym holiday, mostly because Americans are lazy.  Instead of saying Martin Luther King day, we say MLK.  How much respect is in that?  Not much.  The holiday is for a great man, land it's been reduced to 3 letters.  That's it.  No more.  We no longer have a president, we have a POTUS.  Personally, I think that sounds like some sort of anal disorder.  Can't you picture someone turning the head askance, partially covering their lips, and whisper in a derogatory tone, "he has POTUS."   And believe me, while I don't like Amy Cony Barrett, I do believe she suffers from scotus, and am truly amazed how she manages to cover up all of her itching and scratching.

We had our associate Holiday Party last evening.  Ten 8 foot folding tables were put together end over end to make one 80 foot table.  For a store with 165 associates, around 55 showed up (some with friends, spouses, or other family members).  They bought food for 180.  I brought some home.  The dogs are getting meatballs.  When I go into work this afternoon, I'll have another bowl.  There were supposed to be decorations, it was supposed to be a holiday party, after all.  No decorations.  They had hired a DJ, but there really wasn't anywhere you could dance.  I don't like eating that late, but I did.  By 9:15 PM I was heading out the door since I like to go to bed around 10ish.  Morning person here, remember?

I don't know if it was because I ate so late, but I had a weird dream, sort of a Star Trek version of a Hindi ceremony that was so vivid I woke up repeating one sentence.  I wrote it down for you all to see.  "The one who is chosen is the one who choses to make the sacrifice."  Does anybody have any idea of what that means?

And since today is Martin Luther King day, here's a picture of him.  Give the man his due and say his full name.

For those who missed it, Ronnie Johnson was on the Chuck Todd show yesterday being very evasive.  When Chuck asked him why the GOP was focused solely on Hunter Biden's laptop and not Jared Kushner's $2 billion gift from the Saudi's, Ronnie avoided the issue completely.  He later posted a clip of his interview on line, and that section had been edited out.  Here's a link to the Rolling Stone article.  Ronnie was not a happy camper.  He evidently has chosen not to make the sacrifice.

The Grand Slam

 Today's forecast:  sunny and cool to middlin' warm, (that means we should top out temps in the mid 40s).  Tomorrow is supposed to be warmer.  I'm fine with that.  Last night was windy, other people's things blew into my yard.  I get more unmarked garbage than I will ever need that way.  Most of them don't come with their lids, so they get set out on the curb.

In the side yard of my neighbor's house, there is still a pile of stuff: books, curtains, table clothes.  I wandered over yesterday and picked up a small, rectangular baking dish I'm going to use for a starter pot for cardamon seeds.  Mostly, I was scanning to see if any of my books were in the stack.  I'd given him all 5.  Didn't see them, but then I didn't wade in, just sort of surfed around the edges.

The parts arrived to fix my treadmill yesterday.  I'm glad they were under warranty.  The treadmill was on sale when I originally paid $899 for it.  I timed my purchase right, and they deducted another $100 for a  coupon Horizon was offering.  Had I paid for these parts out of warranty, they'd have set my bank account back $1099.  Adding a little spice to this pricey mixture, were I to buy this same treadmill from Horizon today, I'd have to pay $999.  Cute, eh?  Parts $1099 vs treadmill $999.

So, did Fanni Willis recommend the Orange Anus be indicted for... well, racketeering?  I understand there are 18 names on the list, 18 individuals who quite possibly charged with violations of the law.  People are lot smarter than me seem to think she's going to hit a homerun with this one.  Lets be honest here, it's not so much who hits the homerun, whether it be Fanni or the DOJ, we just want to see Trump's ass get hit out of the park.  One of the big questions we have to ask is what would hurt the GOP more, Trump's document issue, or Trump's election fraud.

Personally, I'd rather see Fanni stepping into the batter's box.  I want to hear the crack of her bat as she nails his fat ass out of the park.  I want to hear all those Republicans in the House of Representatives, the ones who did not vote to certify the election, scream in agony.  That would be a win for the American people.  That would be a win for Democracy.  And, while Fanni's rounding 3rd, I'd like to see an indictment for the January 6 insurrection striding boldly into the batter's box.  That might be as close to a Grand Slam as we're going to get.

How to Not Organize a Holiday Party

Outside, the skies are cloudy, a constant breeze is rippling through the branches of the river birch just outside the window, and the temp is sitting at 30 (F).  Today is supposed to be the only day that's cold.  Beginning tomorrow temps are predicted to start warming up.  This does not mean they've been cold.  With average daily highs in the mid 40s (F), so far this has been a relatively mild winter.  Now, the real question is going to be if by saying that I just cursed the hell out of it.  😎😎😎

I talked to the people working on the house next door yesterday.  Their plans have changed.  They were going to rehab and rent, now they're planning on a full remodel and sell.  He told me they were going to ask $180,000, which they figured would net them a $30,000 profit.  They should have no problem getting that price.  As of yesterday forenoon they had been up in the attic (she described it as creepy) but hadn't started to empty it.  The dumpster out front is full, so I don't know if they're going to be getting another one or not. 

Our Holiday Party is tomorrow.  I work a full shift (until 7), and it's going to be in the store.  That's right.  The mini-manager in charge thought this would be great, leaving more money for food and gifts.  This mini-manager is a dumbass.  There was supposed to be a buffet catered by Olive Garden, the restaurant said there would be no problem with a group of 200.  However, the mini-manager waited until Thursday (3 days before the event) to call and order the food.  Basically Olive Garden said "what world are you living in?  We need at least a week's notice for a crowd that size."  Members of the committee were calling around, trying to find someone who could hand that size crowd on such a short notice.  End result, there may be no food at the party.  I will decide when I'm at work tomorrow if I will go or not.

Last night I watched Matilda, the Musical on Netflix.  I'd heard good things, but...  (sigh), I didn't know if I was up for a musical with a lot of kids.  It's very enjoyable.  I highly recommend it.  Here's one of the songs, Bruce.  Now, ain't that a great name for a song!

Garland's decision to put the Biden document problem under the the watchful eye of a Special Counsel has evidently pissed off quite a few Republicans in the House.  You see, now that it's under investigation, they are unable to shoot out subpoenas. This keeps it from becoming a Dead Horse they can kick repeatedly.

 

Kevin's Living Hell

 Well, it's Friday, I don't work, and my first load of laundry is in the washer: towels.  Outside, the sky is overcast and a breeze is rustling the branches of the river birch just outside my window.  The clouds are supposed to clear.  The temp is predicted to rise into the upper 40s (F).  Overall, this should be a good day.

Update on the treadmill.  The service tech I talked to on the phone asked if the speed gauge increased to 12 mph, and when I told her it did, she actually said "there's probably some sort of communication error."  She's sending me a new part.  What part, I don't really know. Parts are still under warranty, so it's free.  That's nice, though I have to admit I was not in the least bit impressed.  What if it's the wrong part?

Lisa Marie Presley died suddenly.  That's a shame.  In spite of her name, and her money, I don't think she had a very good life.  People expected her to be a singer, and she wasn't.  Her private life was  public fodder.  In most of the pictures of her being posted, she's not smiling, in many of them she looks like she's ready to punch you in the face.  I hope life is easier for her kids.

And, when I got home from work yesterday evening there was this big green dumpster sitting in front of my neighbor's house.  With her flashlight in hand, my neighbor from across the street was over picking through the trash.  She was surprised when I told her I wasn't over talking to the workmen, and seemed somewhat shocked when I told her I had absolutely no interest in anything that was in that house.  I've been in her house, it's a cluttered mess, and last night she was accumulating more garbage because it was free. 

And what about those documents they found in Biden's garage?  Conspiracy theories are already shooting like lightening across social media.  One of the funniest claims these classified papers were planted in order to keep him running for re-election in 2024.  Others are shrieking about the speed in which Garland named a special counsel.  Kids, I hate to tell you, but this was probably done to placate the Republican whiners.  The special counsel takes away a very large chunk of red meat they desperately want to feed to their base.

And now for something funny.  One of the rules Kev McCarthy accepted, stipulates that any single member of the House can file to have him removed.  This includes both parties.  There are vicious little rumors spreading that the Democrats are going to do this... probably more than once.  Honestly, I don't think the small minded Republican majority even considered this.  I do believe they saw this as a tool they alone could use to manipulate Kevin.  If it wasn't before, I do suspect that very shortly Kev's life is going to turn into a living hell. 

Yesterday

 Well, it's Thursday and I have to work today.  A full 8 hour shift.  After so many short shifts, this will almost be an endurance record for me.

Yesterday was so, so.  One thing that's nice is that I have a free Capital Blue Cross account, part of my Medicare package, that provides me with a debit card that's loaded with $200.  This is supposed to help me purchases things throughout the year.  Yesterday it paid for my omeprazole.  I figure the card should cover about 8 months worth.  That's money not coming out of my pocket.

They're working on the house next door.  Yesterday, they carried in sheets of dry wall, and ripped out the suspended ceiling.  The pile of junk in the yard has become amazingly large.  The side yard is filling up fast, too.  Everything that was in the kitchen has been dumped there.  From what I understand, they haven't even gotten to the attic yet.

Yesterday, I experienced a bit of fitness tragedy.  My treadmill.  I always start it a 3.4 mph and increase the speed and incline slowly.  Yesterday, when I pressed the start button, the speed hit 3.4 mph and continued to increase to 12 mph.  My friend Steve might run that fast, I don't.  I updated the software, and the problem continued.  The speedometer can read .5 mph, and the belt is traveling at 12 mph.  I sent Horizon tech support and email.  Not good.  There was no automatically generated response letting me know they had received my query and would be getting back to me shortly.   I will call them later this morning to see what's going on.  I have a bad feeling about this one.

What's under the hood

Many terrible things are being said about the Republican party and all of them are true.  An important one is that they never learn.  Take Nancy Mace, a Republican representative from South Carolina who made news yesterday by saying her party's not learning from past mistakes.  She was talking about their anti-abortion stance, a position which caused many, many women to vote against them during the midterms.  After talking to several media outlets about this problem, what does Nancy do?  Well, the Republican majority in the House floated 2 anti-abortion bills yesterday and reliable Nancy voted for both.  That isn't the only stupid thing Nancy has done.  Yesterday, she also floated a bill requiring Pete Buttigieg to fly commercial until the problems with the FAA computers are fixed.  You simply cannot make this shit up.

Republican Garbage

Good morning, world!  What ever I had yesterday with the headachy, muscle achy, gee, I think it's time for another nap problems are gone.  Perhaps I had the 18 hour flue.  All I did was bake 2 loaves of bread, work on the book, and take naps.  Things were accomplished, but not as many as I wanted.  

One the best films I saw last year was Nope.  Soooo many people either didn't understand, or disliked it because it just didn't rub their horror, science fiction, thriller, drama, comedy buttons the right way.  This scene is just one of the many that impressed me so much.  On the big screen, this was amazing.

They finally began to clean out the house next door.  Lots of junk, garbage, and refuse for the landfill.  I think it might have been cheaper to just rent a giant dumpster, since they since labor form moving out of the house, and then loading it on a truck, is probably going to be pricey.  The stack on the far left, I suspect, is what they think they can sell at a flea market, the rest?  Garbage.

We all know that Republican voters are not the smartest and, unfortunately that can also be said for some Democratic voters as wells as Independent voters.  This is because most of the education they receive in school is, well Garbage.  There are people out there who don't know that a Bill is really nothing more than whole lotta words and has no value until it becomes a law.  So, that bill the Republican house passed yesterday is useless, unless the Senate approves it.  Not likely.  Yet the Republicans will always resort to their lies of 'getting things done.'

And that little subcommittee Jim Jordan has put together in a desperate hope to find out what dirt the DOJ has on him and his fellow insurrectionists is going to fail.  This will be obvious once the indictments begin to fall, and I'm hoping they begin to fall shortly.  The mid-terms are over.  The time is now to start throwing out the Republican garbage.

 

The Dirty Silver Lining

 Okay, so it's Tuesday and slept in again, and not because I stayed up late.  I wake up several times during the night.  I also have a headache, so maybe I have a little bug.  I don't get headaches that often.  

Every few days I go in and check the usage on my utilities.  My natural gas usage has gone up. The average temp for this time last year was 41 (F) and this year it's 37 (F), so that makes sense.  Electricity's lower, as is water.  Unfortunately, it seems as if every utility has had a rate increase, so while I'm saving $$$ I'm also spending more.

I've also ordered a Himalayan salt lamp for downstairs to serve as a night light since Biggie's sleeping down on the sofa now.  I know dogs eyes are better adapted to seeing in the dark than humans, still, it's pretty damn dark down there at night. 

Corporate is changing the software relating to our quote system.  Our measurement service has already been updated, we're not totally effected until Jan. 16.  The means our glitches have already begun.  One of my customer's quotes has disappeared completely in the new system.  In order for him to pay for his install, the IT desk had to build a new quote in the updated system.  The process ended up being rather time consuming, not a good thing when your customer is sitting next to waiting to pay.

When it comes to admitting I've been wrong, I have always been one of the first to accept the blame, and certain things I have been wrong.

It was wrong of me to believe that when it came to voting for the House rules and regulations package that at least 6 or possibly 7 Republicans would vote it down.  How naïve of me to think that large number of Republicans would have at lest a smidgen of values.  Wrong.  Only one Republican voted with the Democrats.  One of the dirty, silver lining for this is that McCarthy has shit himself into a corner.  The entire Republican party is now completely aligned with Trump, attached at the hip so to speak.

Another dirty silver lining is that any legislation they pass needs to be passed by the Senate, which is in the hands of the Democrats.  Because of this, so many things are untouchable for them.  Like the 87,000 IRS agents they despise; that change requires passage in both the House and the Senate.  

The fact that they ignored subpoena for the past 2 years is another dirty, silver lining.  Those dumb asses set a precedent.  And, when their legislations and their subpoenas fail, they will turn on McCarthy, vote him out, and their shit show will repeat itself.

Finally, I watched portions of McCarthy's acceptance speech and was seriously unimpressed.  Am I the only one who thought he sounded like a demented Mr. Rogers talking to a crowd of severely autistic children?

Republican Deja Vu

 Sometime last night a dusting of snow fell.  The morning sun is going to melt it away pretty damn fast.  That's fine.  Except for that Cyclone Bomb that froze our tidily winks off back around Christmas, this winter's been more temperate than usual, at least here in Central PA.  Everyone who pays a heating bill appreciates that.

Biggie has evidently decided he's no longer going to be sleeping on the bed.  He's also decided that the new bed I bought him makes a decent pillow.  Go figure.  My biggest challenge is sleeping on more than an eighteen-inch wide strip at the edge of the bed.  I'm making progress.

I baked a peach pie yesterday using some of the peaches I froze.  It's... okay.  I don't remember baking one before, and instead of looking at a recipe I sort of, well, winged it.  It's tasty, but it doesn't really have a peachy flavor.  I did mix in some walnuts because I like nuts.  I think I'll use my remaining peaches to make cobblers, they're easier.

I saw where Maggie Green has suddenly disavowed her Qanon roots in favor of a new hairstyle that no longer has that trailer-trash look.  Worry not, her new appearance belies the fact that she's still the hateful Margaret so many people detest.

And, in case you missed it, the fascists down in Brazil attempted their on January 6 event.  The major differences between Trump's fete du jour and theirs?  they chose coordinating colors, yellow and green, and whereas Trump sent his coup participants home with a blessing, over 400 were arrested down in Brazil.  And where was wannabe dictator Jair Bolsonaro while this was happening?  Why in Florida.  In fact, I do believe he's visiting that other wannabe dictator Donald, the Orange Anus, Trump.  How cozy.

The dysfunctional House of Representatives is set to vote on their rules and regulations today.  They need 218 votes to get them passed.  This is going to be interesting.  They can only lose 7 votes, I believe.  This is how you spell Deja Vu.

Finally, the State of Union is schedule for March 1.  I'm of the opinion the first (notice I say first, here) indictment will fall well before that date.  And the Moral Degenerate, Donald Trump, is not the only one who's going to be charged.  This is why Jimmy Jordan, and the rest of that group who wanted pardons, is desperate to set up a subcommittee to find out where all of the investigations stand, especially those regarding their own traitorous asses.

Stumbling out of the Starting Block

 Well, it's Sunday.  I'm not in a park, nor planning to go to one.  And there is no one around named George.

I did work yesterday.  I was surprised because we were busy.  It was almost to the point of being hectic.  There's nothing wrong with being busy.  Time does fly by.  On days when it's slow, I spend a lot of time looking at my phone.  That didn't happen yesterday. I did work until 5 PM, however, and when I walked out of the store the sun was still above the horizon.  This is a good thing.

Biggie's new bed arrived yesterday.  As you might expect, he didn't sleep on it.  He did walk on it a few times, but that's about it.

Later this morning, I'm going to head to my neighborhood Giant supermarket.  I need olives, as well as a few other sundry items.  There is one large chore planned for today.  I want to wash down the kitchen ceiling.  Prep work prior to painting.  It's going to be the same color as the rest of my ceilings, Garden Rose White.  That's a nice way of saying that it's going to be a shade of white.  Here's a hint for you wannabe ceiling painters:  a touch of tint softens the harshness of pure white.  You want a creamy white.  Pure white is sterile color.  This is what mine looks like.

The headline this morning from the Hill is:  Republicans stumble out of the starting block.  That's rather an understatement.  As someone said a while back, they live in a universe of their own creation creating truths that fit their own selfish needs.  Criticism is being heaped on them from just about every side and they honestly believe that if they say nothing it will go away.  They also desperately believe that if they can create a big enough diversion people will ignore the fact that they are devoid of leadership of governing skills.  Their main goal is to say "shut up, we're in charge."  

Their second goal to so satiate the hunger of their base.  Knowing this, I was not surprised to see that their first piece of major legislation will be to stop the hiring of 87,000 IRS agents.  Their base hates taxes.  They hate the IRS.  This is why the new Speaker of the House, Marjorie Taylor Green, has announced that their first thing this new congress is going to work on is the elimination of those new agents.  The fact that any bill they pass regarding this will be DOA when it gets to the Senate doesn't phase them.  It's not about governing, it's all about shoring up their party for 2024.

It's all in the Numbers

 Hello Saturday.  The temps outside are a cool 36 (F), and there is snow in the forecast for tomorrow.  The prediction is for about 2.5 inches.  That will be fine.  An easy shovel.  The long range forecast for for temps to stay around the same.  That's fine with me.  

My TV is fixed.  Not in a mechanical way, there was nothing wrong with the hardware.  Thinking there might have been an update that I didn't get, I spent some time on the internet yesterday morning researching why it was only connecting for Netflix.  On the Sony website, I clicked on Chat and shortly there after was talking to Steve.  He asked if he could remotely access my 7 year old TV and I told him he could.  About 10 minutes later the problem was corrected.  I watched what he did, so now, should this ever happen again, I know how to fix it.

I ordered a dog bed for Biggie since he no longer seems to like sleeping on the big bed.  It arrives today.  We shall see if it was worth it.

I saw this and had to laugh.  If you're praying to your deity for assistance in getting Kevin McCarthy elected as Speaker of the House, and it still takes 6 more votes, you're getting an obvious message from your deity, and it's not one that you probably want to hear.

And what about Kev McCarthy finally nabbing victory on the 15th vote?  I watched a short video, sound off.  I'm giving him 7, possibly 8 months.  All it takes is 1 member of the House to object to his performance.  At one point is was 5 members, then he made a concession and dropped it to 4, but in the end, his desperation forced him to accept 1.  Nothing will be accomplished, except for a number investigations into Hunter Biden's laptop.

George Santos was sworn in.  I'm giving him 2 to 3 months before he's arrested, or extradited.  Republicans are already discussing who they want to fill his seat once it's vacated.  I'm betting that since there's a Democratic governor, and the district Santos represents has for quite some time been Democratic, he will be replaced his Democratic challenger, the one who barely lost the election.

Finally, I have to touch on Matty Schlapp and his wandering hands, no doubt he just wanted to reach out for a lost member... of his flock.  I actually listened to the sound bite of the complaint.  Matty had been drinking.  So, is this devout Christian going to say he was drunk?  His victim is trying to sound traumatized, even though he chose to not say "no."  If he was truly unhappy about the unwanted advances, he should have just slapped Schlapp, instead he chose to make a public complaint.  I suspect this story might have legs.

And so it continues

 Friday.  Stayed up late.  Got up early.  I'll probably take a nap sometime this afternoon.  

Yesterday was fine.  I talked to, at best, 3 customers at work.  Tis not the season for flooring installations.  I still have access to the numbers for the district.  All stores are down in revenue.  Very shortly they're going to be cutting part-time hours, no doubt there.  That's why I saved my vacation and my personal time.   

I began watching The Rig last night on Netflix. That and Amazon Prime are the only two networks I can stream.  For some reason, my 7 year old Sony Bravada smart TV is not updating anything.  In fact, I can't even update Google without getting an error message telling me to check my Wi-Fi. Since I don't have cable, I'm dependent upon Wi-Fi, and that's working quite nicely.  Since I mostly use the TV for gaming, my alternative is to sign up for these streaming services using either Microsoft (Xbox), or Amazon.  Believe me, that's a lot less expensive than buying a new TV.

And for anyone who thinks that the Republican shit show is going to go away anytime soon?  Well, that ain't gonna happen.  We're looking at 2 years of dipshitery if McCarthy some how manages to get elected Speaker.  And if he does find a legitimate reason to stay in Nancy Pelosi's office, who knows for how long.  A month maybe?  It seems as though the only thing he hasn't promised those 20 insurrectionists holding the House hostage is his first born son... at least not that we know of.

Oh, and evidently Kevin McCarthy still doesn't have the votes.

And now for a bit of a palate cleanser.  I took this picture inside a Buddhist temple while on a tour around Mt Fuji a long time ago.

Today is also the anniversary of the Insurrection.  Some say the 20 insurrectionists will vote for McCarthy today as way of getting a win to celebrate.  I'd be surprised if they do.  This is not about Kevin and his lack of qualifications, it's about disruption.  It's about creating a stink.  The Democrats are doing quite well by just sitting back, snacking on their popcorn, and voting for Jeffries.  Dragging this out only hurts the Republicans, not that many understand this.  It's up to them to do the right thing.  Nominating a very moderate Republican, one who the Democrats could accept would do 2 things:  1) end this shit shoe; 2) piss the hell out of the 20 insurrectionists.  Will they do it?  We'll have to wait and see. 

A Joyful Noise

 Looking out the window of my computer / workout room, I can see the sun reflecting off the Susquehanna River.  Yes, I am that close.  No more than 3/4 of a mile away.  Being on a high hill has its advantages.  I tell people that when I finally sell my house, it's going to happen in the winter, when I can see traffic moving down Front Street.  That's on the west shore.

All I did was work on the book yesterday.  

Oh, and I took a ride in California through the redwood forests.  I'm so glad Tacx has started including rides in the United States.  Japanese rides are also now included in the package.  I did resubscribe for another year.

And I had mentioned before that I thought Biggie's potty breaks might not be as necessary as they seemed to be, well, I was right.  Instead of getting up every time he jumps off the bed to let him out, I've been letting him wander.  I don't think he's pleased that biscuits are no longer involved.  No more midnight snacks.  Sometimes he comes back on the bed, other times he doesn't.  Last night he slept for a couple hours in the computer / workout room.  Eventually, he moved downstairs to the sofa in the writing room.  He can sleep where ever he wants.

And then there's this:

Can you hear me laughing now?

McCarthy keeps making concessions to the insurrectionists without understand that's not what they want.  The man's an idiot.  And a weasel.  And spineless.  I don't think he understands that one of the goals here is to humiliate him straight to Hell.

Yesterday, while Scott Perry was speaking, someone shouted "order for the traitor."  Had I been in a theater, I'd have been rolling in the aisles.  At one point afterwards, I believe, he was caught on camera yelling that this whole thing was bullshit.  As a reminder, Perry was the one pushing a YouTube video about Italian satellites switching votes from Trump to Biden.

Personally, I'm saying more power to these 20 asswipes.  I can't think of a better way to sabotage the 2024 elections.

John Boehner, who was forced out of the Speaker position by the American Freedom Caucus, has said they actually have no true agenda, their main goal is to 'kick as much sand as possible into the gears, hoping to break the government.'  That sounds about right.

No matter what they want, the destruction they're causing to the Republican party is tremendous, so, let's stand back and make a joyful noise!