Extraction

Depending upon where I looked this morning, the temp was just below, right at, or just above freezing.  Either way you look at it, the temps outside are chilly.  Sunshine is supposed to be abundant today.  These are seasonal temps, just in case you're thinking this is a little cool for Spring.  My furnace is still running, though not nearly as often as in February when the temps were truly cold.

Yesterday I got my workout in.  I'm upping the weight on the Romanian Deadlifts.  For those of you who don't know, in this exercise you bend over at the waist and then stand up.  I'll be doing it with 20 lbs in each hand.  This is a good exercise for the lower back.  That puppy needs to be kept strong to avoid back issues down the road.

Retail was terribly slow yesterday.  One of my fellow specialists called off, so it was just me.  I found out this morning that his older brother died, so I sent him a sympathy note.  Still, yesterday was terribly boring.  I did get a measure for a carpet install.  And I did have to sit for over fifteen minutes listening to a gentleman complain about his daughter-in-law.  His son died 6 years ago, and her money was beginning to run low, so she told him and his wife that she was going to move in with them.  As he talked, I sat and nodded, providing him with the obligatory nods and shakes of the head.  He gave me way too much information.  I have no problem being a friendly ear, however a friendly ear is not going to solve his problems.  That's something he will need to do himself.

I'm getting a molar pulled later this morning.  Woo! Hoo!  It's the one in the back.  The wisdom teeth went long ago.

So, the Supreme Court heard arguments yesterday about voting by mail.  Even though he votes by mail, the Orange Anus hates it.  I vote by mail.  I love it.  The GOP doesn't want ballots received after election day to be counted.  This will disenfranchise many citizens and military personnel living overseas.  This is odd because a large number of the men and women serving in our military tend to voted Republican.  The Republican party doesn't care.  Here in the states, 36.8% of voters over 65 vote by mail.  Again, older voters tend to either be Republican or vote conservatively.  People over a certain age prefer voting by mail, they'd rather drop a ballot into a mailbox than stand for an hour or longer at a polling station.  Taking away that choice or limiting that ability will result in lower conservative and or Republican votes.  The Republican party doesn't care.  They feel it will effect Democrats worse than it will Republicans.  They are terribly wrong.

Eggs!

Right now our outside temp is sitting at 48 (F).  That may be our high for the day.  Temps are on their way down.  I woke up early this morning, around 0500, and at that time the temp was 52 (F) so our temps are definitely on their way down.  Yesterday we popped all the way up to 82 (F).  I didn't work, but I'm wondering if there was a run on window A/C units at the store.  That always happens at this time of the year.

And yesterday was not quite meh.  This were done, which is always a good thing.  I had hoped to feel as though much more had been accomplished other than frequently going outside to enjoy the weather.  Howie and I played ball for a bit, but just a bit.  He has a bad habit of not wanting to give the ball back to me so I can throw it.  He'd much rather have me chase him around the back yard.  He gets so much enjoyment out of me running after him.

I'm out of whey. I use it as a source of protein when I finish a workout.  Since eggs are a great source of protein and a good alternative, I made red beet eggs yesterday.  Some people call them pickled eggs.  Here in Central PA, which is in PA Dutch country, we call the red beet eggs.  They're delicious.  

This afternoon, I get to work.  Supposedly, this week they are going to be switching supervisors around.  Everybody in specialty is curious as to who will be taking over the our current supervisor, who's not been the most successful.  She's 67 and want to be promoted.  That will never happen.  She will, most likely, be moved to another department. not because of her age, but rather because of her performance.  She spends too much time focusing on the minutiae.   She is a broken record.  Two years ago corporate decided associates needed to greet every customer by saying, "welcome to the Orange Retailer."  Nobody says it, especially to a customer pushing around a shopping cart that half filled with merchandise, nobody except her.  Whereas the successful supervisor understands flexibility, she does not. 

Here's a pic of my red beet eggs!

Today's going to be a momentous day for all of the wrong reasons.  Firstly, ICE is going to be moving into airports.  They're not going to help with the TSA issue, nope, they're going to be checking IDs because the Orange Anus and the Republican party hate immigrants.  There is a rumor abounding that when this happens a lot of TSA agents will simply quit.  The Democrats have sponsored legislation to get these people paid, but the Republicans have voted down every attempt so far.  This is because that fat, Orange Anus in the White House wants to be a dictator. He wants the SAVE act tied to any and all legislation that makes its way through Congress.  I suspect air travel is going to get much worse.

And at 7:44 PM the 48 hours Orangie gave Iran to open up the Strait of Hormuz is up.  This moment's burning question is to TACO, or not to TACO.  The Orange Anus and those he has surrounded himself with, has put himself into a extremely perilous position.  He he doesn't follow through with his threats, he will appear weak, and if he does start bombing infrastructure, as he said he would, Iran's going to start taking out desalination plants across the region.  While this is not the worst of all possible worlds, it's a pretty bad one.

Evil

We may reach a record breaking high today if the temps get as warm as they forecasters are predicting.  Another day in the upper 70s (F) with overcast skies and drizzles is what they're saying we should expect.  As long as it saves on my heating bill, I don't care.  Of course, tomorrow our temps will be falling to what is considered a normal range for Spring.  This is fine, too.  Summer will arrive soon enough and this one might be a real cooker.

I did work yesterday and wow was it slow.  I easily got in my steps.  I easily made my sales for the week.  Two more of my installs sold yesterday, as well as the $11,000 job that went through on Tuesday.  

Plans had been made to go down to York today, so I took the day off (with pay, of course).  They changed last night when I talked to my friend Betsy, she has a cold.  When I get a cold, I have a runny nose and sniffles for maybe a day.  She gets sick, sometimes with a fever.  So, the York trip for today is off.  That's fine.  I can spend that time on other things... things I've been putting off, like getting out the vacuum and sucking up some the Howie hair that's nestling in the corners of the staircase.  

And Robert Mueller died yesterday.  I'd heard that he'd been suffering from Parkinson's for some time.  Every one of our living presidents, Democrat and Republican, gave tributes to him.  Everyone, except the Orange Anus.  He posted this on Truth Social.

This comment is pure evil.  Why is Orangie being so hateful?  Because Mueller, as head of the FBI, investigated the Russian connection between Orangie and Russia.  He came to the conclusion that there had been undue influence by the Russkies in getting their asset elected.  We all know how Orangie hates both transparency and accountability.  His cultists celebrated his comments, but then they've also sold their souls to the Spawn of Satan.

How are the gas prices in your neck of the woods?  Here in Central PA on average it's $3.99 a gallon.  People don't believe me when I tell them that it's going to go higher.

And Orangie just posted some shit comment to Truth Social stating that with Iran dead, the last great evil in the world was the Democratic Party.  I suspect that Iran is going to have a few words about him thinking they're dead.  What he's attempting to do is incite anger towards Democrats in order to get his cultists to stop talking about how his war in Iran is an abject failure.  Remember, everything Trump touches dies.

The Iranian TACO

Well temps are in the 40s (F) and we're going to end up somewhere in the mid 50s (F).  We're going to have mostly sunny skies, too, which is what I call a decent spring day.  Tomorrow we'll get warmer, but we'll also have a much greater chance of rain showers.  That's okay.  This is Spring.  We are in a transition period between the bitter cold of winter and the stanky hotness of summer.  This is a season we should enjoy.

Yesterday was productive.  Lots of little chores, the ones I am constantly putting off were scratched off the list of "things to do."  I'm pleased with that.  I got a decent ride in on the Isle of Corsica.  My trainer's happy.  If I get the strength workout done today, it will have been 5 consecutive days of working out. Last time the routines were broken up:  3 days on and 1 day off, 2 days on and 1 day off.  Honestly, 5 days in a row is easily doable. 

A retail workout is on the schedule for today.  I'm getting an increase in pay, though I don't know how much.  Last year they called me back two days before payday and gave me a little slip of paper indicating how much of a raise I was getting.  Rumor has it that these raises will not be processed until April, if that's the case, then every employee is working 13 months at the same rate of pay.  This wouldn't surprise me.  That would help cut back on the payroll expense for this fiscal year and expenses are a very high priority for corporate America.

Someone had a busy day yesterday.

I'm hearing that the Orange Anus would like to TACO us out the war with Iran that he started.  Some one should tell that idiot that wars don't end that simply.  Still, at the same time we are being told that American troops will soon be on Iranian soil, that's if they can make it through the troop carrying ships can make it through the Strait of Hormuz.  This is what happens when you put a dementiated old man in the White House.  

And in and desperate attempt to keep gas prices from going through the roof, oil sanctions have been dropped against some of Iran's oil.  Yep, nothing spells out stupidity like trying to buy the oil and gas from the country you're at war with.  Unfortunately, Iran seems to have the upper hand here.  It's not just stupidity, it glaring incompetence.  And people are growing more and more furious at Orangies fratboy drunk trying to run the Department of Defense from a pulpit.  Telling people they should be down on bended knees praying to God to help our troops?  Someone needs to tell Bourbon Breath that prayer has never, ever worked.

And did you hear about he FEMA director who rolled his car into a ditch and found himself teleported to a waffle house a few hours later.  This is also called driving blind drunk.

Donald Trump's Heresy

 Our temps are on the rise.  Currently we're sitting at a cool 34 (F), but by this afternoon we should be up in the low 60s (F).  There is drizzle in the forecast, but that's okay, we can always use a little rain.  One thing to take note of is that because our planet spins, what happens on the west coast tends to move east.  This means that all of that heat the westies are suffering through now will slowly move east.  

I had a nice workout yesterday.  I'm up to 70 pounds on my leg extensions, that's per leg, and I'm pleased to say I have no soreness today.  I've also increased the weight on the lat pulldowns to 40 pounds.  This is good stuff, since at this point in my life I'm focusing on muscle maintenance and growth.  And yes, for those of you who are wondering, you can still build muscle as you enter your senior years.

Retail was very slow yesterday.  However, to my surprise, I did make sales for the week.  One of my installs sold for the second time.  Yeah, the second time.  When it originally sold everything seemed fine, but then there was a problem.  The install was canceled and my credit for the sale was debited off.  Well, the problem, whatever it was, is now fixed, so the install is on again.  Wednesday they again credited me with an $11,000 sale.  

And the flooring specialist they hired is gone.  He got another job.  Even though he did give a two week notice, but then he ended up calling off every day this past week.  That would have been fine if he had personal time on the books, but he didn't.  This means when the process his termination, there will be a note added making him a non-rehire.  He will never be able to work for the orange retailer ever again.

The Washington Post revealed the $250 gold coin the US Treasury is going to be minting for the Orange Anus.  I had a WTF moment the instant I saw it.  In fact, that moment is still continuing.  This is the coin Orangie wants put into circulation.

You'll notice that the Orange Anus is directly above the words In God We Trust.  Yepper, Orangie wants to be seen as God.  I do believe this is heresy.  This man has done more to damage Christianity in the past year, than anyone else in the history.  Everything Trump touches dies.

Yesterday, for those of you who missed another one of his atrocities, with the Japanese Prime Minister sitting next to him in his gaudy as hell oval office, he joked about the Japanese bombing Pearl Harbor.  This man is an idiot.  Sadly, there are wack job cultists out there who laughed at his terrible joke.  The Prime Minister was not amused.  Shortly afterward, she glanced at her watch, an obvious signal to wrap things up.  I honestly don't know why foreign dignitaries sit through these events.  They are only meant to give Orangie fifteen to twenties of grandstand time on camera.

Inflection Point

Our outside temp was above freezing this morning.  That's nice.  For the past 2 days people in Central PA were waking up to more than a little lite frost on the windshields of their cars.  Even though today will be warmer, don't look for it to be sunny.  Clouds are going to be hanging over our heads for the next 2 days with s potty showers.  Spring officially starts tomorrow, so we can begin gauging our weather on the new season.

Yesterday was... not quite meh.  I got things done.  A loaf of cinnamon raisin bread was baked.  This is one of my favorite desert breads.  Special icing was made for the top.  In fact, extra icing was made to be used rather than butter.  Who care about the killer carbs? Not me.

A decent workout was finished.  I have a rower which I was using as a warm-up, however, it's grown out of favor.  My trainer added some dynamic exercises as a substitute, one of which is called  "inch worm," (honestly, I'm not making this name up."  Anyway, the inch worm is basically a burpee, which is an exercise I've hated since high school. 58 years ago we didn't have people hired specifically to be gym teachers.  Nope.  We had math teachers, and biology teachers, and history teachers who also managed gym classes.  They were also the coaches for sports.  One of the math teachers was also the basketball coach, and the home economics teacher was in charge of girl's field hockey.  Well, my faux gym teacher specialized in 2 activities:  rope climbing and burpees.  I hate burpees.  So, the inch worm is being replaced.  Dante said there are so many other good exercises.  Now, isn't that nice.

And, for those who've been living under a rock, gas prices are going up.

Natural gas prices are going up to, and that means food prices will go through the roof.  Prices are going to go up all over the world.  So many are going to be blaming America..., no let me correct that, Americans are going to suffer, but the real hatred is being directed at the Orange Anus.  America has become the villain of the world because 77 million people either couldn't vote for the Harris, or they were stupid enough to be the lies spit out by the pedophile in the White House.  Here's some news for the MAGA cultists, America was great, you were not and you never will be.  However, these people do hate change.  The entire world is going to suffer because of their inability to adapt.  

What's truly terrible about this world chaos is that the pedo and in the White House, and the Republican party keeping him there, are more concerned about losing power than they are trying to make things right.  I find it rather pathetic that conservatives are so out of touch they thought that the American people would just sit back and let them take over.  The Republican party is dying.  Like most cowards, those in charge are going to take what they've stockpiled away and run.  I'm thinking Orangie will be gone by mid-terms, or shortly thereafter.  Those who don't run will be arrested.  Some may turn State's Witness to escape truly terrible jail terms.  And some, may well be executed for treason. We are going through an inflection point.

The Slice and Dice Period

Woah!  It was a chilly one this morning!  Our outside temp was 22 (F) when I got up this morning.  After today we will be warming up to more Spring like temps.  I talk to a lot of people, no one has said they were sad to see the Winter temps go away.  I will be happy for the sunny days of Spring and Summer.  In the bathroom, my heating vent is about 3 feet off the ground, one of the few good things about this winter was that I could set my drying rack in front of it.  Believe me, it works just as good as the dryer and is a lot less expensive.

I got a nice ride in yesterday on Achille's Island, Ireland.  It had the right amount of low grade hills that get my heart pumping.  Good cardio.

My two aquariums are going to be combined as one.  I'm going to keep the 30 gallon in the living room and get rid of the 50 gallon in the writing room.  This will happen as soon as the last tiger barb in the 30 gallon tank dies.  He has some serious air bladder issues, so I don't think he'll be swimming around too much longer.

While talking to my sister on the phone, she said she told my brother in law to get a job.  He abruptly retired back in November without any plan for how he was going to occupy his time.  Now he sits around the house doing nothing.  He retired abruptly back in November and now just sits around the house.  There are a lot of people like him wasting away the rest of their lives.

And evidently a Federal Judge is... skeptical of the Orange Anus's plans to add a new ballroom and Convention Center onto the White House.  

Wow!  It doesn't seem as though anything is going right for this dictator wannabe, does it?  He starts a war with Iran and then asks for help and all of our former allies tell him to eat shit.  Woah!  They say there are off ramps in place to end this war, but you can bet your bottom dollar he'll not take one of them.  That would mean he made a mistake.  As a result, he will send America's youth to die there, all the while ignoring the fact that American hatred for both he and the Republican party is growing almost exponentially.  

His SAVE Act is dying in a very public manner, with Republican Senators openly saying that there are not enough votes to pass this crappy piece of legislation.  

And every day his dementia becomes more and more apparent.  

And then yesterday Joe Kent, a staunch follower and major MAGA cultist broke away, saying that Israel strongarmed Orangie into invading Iran.  MAGA world is entering the slice and dice period, a precursor the inevitable downfall of the Republican party.  The blades are out for Orangie, himself.  Do not fret for him too much.  You know he's finding solace in a Big Mac and an order of fries.

The Singers

Holy Shmolly, we had snow flurries galore last night.  Seriously!  I'm talking about near white out conditions.  There was some wind as the cold front went through, just enough to have the snow fall horizontally.  How bad was it?  Howie went out and did his Tweedle Dee against the recycling bin and then ran back into the house.  He doesn't usually care about the weather.  This morning all that remained was a light dusting, and only on some areas of the lawn.

I got a text from Dental Specialties, they're the oral surgeons who are going to extract my bad molar, in which they sent me a quote.  The cost?  $163.40 after insurance.  I am so glad I renewed my dental insurance this year, otherwise I'm certain that cost would be rather prohibitive.  One thing I'm not going to be paying for are the new crowns and bridges my dentist wants me to buy.  I can think of better things to spend my money on.

We had a specialist who retired a few months back.  About six weeks ago they hired a replacement.  I found out yesterday that 2 weeks ago he gave his notice.  Now he's going to need to be replaced.  That probably won't happen for a month or so.  I did change my hours a bit, mostly because I wanted to go in later to ensure I got my workouts in, not that I think that's going to help with coverage.

Last night, I watched The Singers, the short film that won the Oscar for live action short.  While there is drama in it, mostly, it's sort of like a musical comedy... sort of.  This is evidently Sam Davis' second nomination and first win.  Sam's the cutie Bob spoke about, by the way.  I liked it.  It's a bit different.   But different can be very good.  It's only on Netflix, so if you subscribe, watch it.

And Cuba is going through a full out blackout because of the Orange Anus.  I was thinking about this and couldn't stop myself from shaking my head.  This asshole has initiated a war in Iran, and while his administration is saying there are "off ramps" in place, I can't help but think that they're lying.  The Pentagon is saying that we've had at least 200 injured. Knowing how much this administration is trying to put a good face on this terrible screwup, you know this number is a lie.  And now Cuba.  We used to be the good guys on the block.  Now no atrocity is bad enough for Orangie's Gang.  For those idiotic Republicans who prayed and dreamed about being in charge of an authoritarian government, this is what it's like.  The rest of American is trying to grab onto the reins, yelling woah!  Hold your horses!  And the GOP, instead of listening, is too busy giddily singing, "We're in Charge!  We're in Charge!"  People are dying because of them.  School girls in Iran.  Americans.  And that reality simply doesn't sink in.  It never will.  They have been drinking Desperation Kool-Aid for way too long.  They can never change.  The only choice left to us is to manage them, the way you do any delinquent.

Streisand Sings

There's a storm front that's going to be moving through the area this afternoon.  High winds.  Possibly heavy rains.  They're predicting almost an inch of rain.  This is fine, as long as we don't get it in an hour.  That would be disastrous for low lying areas.  The temps are going to drop a bit too.  Remember, we're still in winter.  The good news is that the warm-up continues.

And work yesterday was... so... slow.  I got more than enough laps to to hit my step goal.  I browsed the aisles, as it were, looking for deals and I found one.  Arm & Hammer laundry detergent: 128 loads for $9.  That's a $4 markdown.  I now have laundry detergent for the next 2 years.  

I also did some research on passports for children.  All American children traveling abroad need a passport, no matter what their age.  So, if you're planning on taking your 10 month-old to France, he's going to need a passport, and that passport is only good for 5 years.  Honestly, you'd think there'd be a way in which you could simply update the picture every year.

And the Oscars were on last evening.  In spite of some sound issues, I enjoyed them.  One Battle After Another won 6 awards, including Best Picture.  It's definitely anti ICE, starting off with immigrants who've been arrested, being rescued.  I laughed a lot when I saw it since it's more of a comedy than a drama.  Michael B. Jordan won for play identical twins with different personalities in Sinners.  He deserved the award.  Timmy Chalemet lost all around because not only was he nominated for Best Actor, he was also one of the producers for Marty Supreme, which was also nominated for Best Picture, and Best Director.  And the high point was 83 year old Barbra Streisand's tributed to Robert Redford.  She sang live, and that brought a tear to my eye.  

Back in the real world, the Orange Anus is peeved that none of the countries that used to be our allies in NATO want to send any of their ships to help us open the Straits of Hormuz.  They know that the longer it stays closed, the more he's going to look like a dumb bastard for starting a war on a hunch.  People around the world are going to hate on America because of him.  

Gas prices are going to continue to climb.  The Orange Anus has evidently opened up the reserves trying to bring prices down and that, so many other of the things he does, failed to work.  MAGA cultists, those on the lower rungs of the financial ladder are beginning to complain.  Perhaps if they hadn't been so gullible, if they hadn't wanted to believe that a man who speaks like he's 12 years old was actually more mature than a... 12 year old.

And finally, RFJ Jr's team put out a video of him wrestling a Twinkie.  This administration has fallen so far.

Five Finger Bibi

 We have a warm day in store for us here in Central Pa with a high in the mid 50s (F).  Tomorrow, if the forecasters are correct we might even hit the low 702 (F).  Sadly, I will be working.  On Tuesday, my day off, the temps are supposed to drop again.  This is normal Spring weather, so even though we've not officially hit the midpoint between Winter and Summer, I'd say that Spring has arrived.

I did work yesterday.  I got a measure.  That will please management.  I also had a nice vinyl plank sale, which will please management even more.  Today I'm going to sell an installation.  That's nice.  Keep them smiling.  The new flooring specialist who was hired about 2 months ago told me that he's given his notice.  He's going to work for a sound system company.  He's a nice kid, though his news didn't really surprise me.  He's smart and very affable, but at 24 years of age, he's already had quite a number of jobs.  Wisely, he gave notice, rather than just quitting.  This means we're going to be looking for another flooring specialist.  Anybody interested?

The Oscars are on tonight.  Because I go to the movies a lot, they're the only award show I watch.  As usual, I have my favorites.  Unlike so many others, I'm not going to give any predictions.  What I will say is that there are 2 big favorites for best picture.  Sometimes, when this happens, voters will cancel each other out and another film will win.  This is also true with the best actor category, though Timmy may have danced himself out of the competition.  Two actors from the same film are nominated for the supporting actor and that's never a good thing.  One thing to remember, no matter who wins, no one is going to get gypped.  These films and actors nominated are all very talented.  Simply getting nominated is a boost to their careers.  I've seen a number of these nominated films and every one of them is outstanding.

And now on to the burning question of the hour.  Is Bibi dead or alive?

Numerous five finger no thumb pictures have been posted.  People are beginning to wonder why he hasn't made a statement in over 13 days, especially since he likes to be in the spotlight almost as much as Orangie.  Reports are coming in that he was killed by a hypersonic missile.  You would think the Israeli government would provide some form of evidence to dispel these so called rumors and so for they've give us silence, and some video clips that many are calling AI.

An honest assessment is that this war is not going to the way the Bibi thought it was going to go.  This is what happens when you put Conservatives in power.  Israeli Conservatives are a lot like the Republicans in this country; they believe once they are in charge they can simply create the reality they want.  That never happens and lives are lost because of their incredible stupidity.

Brenda Carr, the head of the FCC, is frantically beginning to shriek that Main Stream Media needs to report on how well the war is going, yet the only evidence that might prove that is Orangie's shit talk.  Perhaps if he weren't a pathological liar this might be somewhat believable.  However, to quote Gavin Newsome:  Trump just makes shit up.

Grave Consequences

Our morning temps are in the low 40s (F) and this afternoon we should be heating up into the low50s (F).  This is almost Spring weather... but just almost.  Rain is in the forecast.  Depending upon which forecaster your looking at we may get as much as an inch on Sunday.  Then we have a day of cold, with highs only reaching into the upper 30s (F).  But then, as is normal for this time of year, the temps will rebound.

And yesterday was fine.  I got a ride in, though it was short, on Dingle Island in Ireland.  I did laundry.  Went to the store. But most importantly, I connected my Roland keyboard with both my phone and my laptop.  This means I can record again if the mood strikes me.  More importantly, I can play music from either the laptop or my phone through the keyboard's speakers.  That's important.  I do like to listen to music.  I have, for lack of a better term, a shit load of vinyl.  I also have, again looking for accuracy in terms, a shit load of CDs.  Now I can listen to both.

This may come as a surprise to some, but I have an old Alexa.  All I use it for is turning on and off lights.  Years ago when I purchased it, the Bezos empire was in its infancy.  For a while I had two, one upstairs and one down, but I never used them for what they were intended for.  About 2 years ago the one upstairs went into the trash.  The one downstairs is taking the same route.  Not only don't I need to Alexa to turn on the lights for me, I also don't need it listening to me.  And you know, it does that.  It's always on and always listening.  I don't need Jeffie B listening to the conversations I have with myself and others.  So ends a silly era I once thought nifty, the turning on and off of the lights.

For a bit of levity, here's Howie and his wrecking ball.

One refrain I'm hearing over and over again now that the Orange Anus has chosen to sent American troops to Iran is that he is by far the dumbest president we've ever had.  He is a bad businessman who has never learned that his hunches have led to 8 bankruptcies, that's right, he has 8 bankruptcies; he will only admit to 6.  He's a senior citizen with dementia who ego gloats in his deceitful beliefs that he is the most powerful man in the world.  As such, his every decision must be followed, and to do this he has managed to install people who are either more stupid than he is, or have no problem telling him what he wants to hear for their own enrichment.  Some of these billionaire fools are now coming to grips with what their selfishness has wrought.  There is a telling video of Bessent being called from an interview by something urgent in the Situation Room in the White House.  When he returned an hour later he was visibly shaken.  There's a tremor in his voice when he says he would trust his child's life in Donald Trump's hands.  Orangie, the stupid man with cognitive disabilities, has stupidly followed a hunch that is going to have grave consequences for Americans.

The Sum Total of His Failures

What difference a day makes.  We are chillin! with an outside temp of 28 (F).  Yesterday, as the cold front rolled over Pennsylvania, social media was filled with pics of wind, and rain, and snow showers as the temps did their version of a later winter plunge.  As far as I could tell, my neck of the woods didn't get any snow.  To be perfectly honest, I spent very little time glued to my windows looking out for randomizing snow flakes.  Our afternoon high temp will rise into the low 50s (F), which is warmer than was originally predicted.  

Yesterday was rather productive.  Instead of doing my workout in the morning, I spent those hours doing my run-around chores.  The old phone has been shipped back so I can get that nice $500 credit.  A clear case was picked up for the new phone; why buy a nice blue phone if no one can see the blue? Shopping was done.  Bones were bought for Howie.  And a load of laundry set out to dry.  Then, I did my workout, which went quite well.  I know because my inner thighs are little sore thanks to the lateral lunges.

Words were edited.  

I have a bike ride scheduled for this afternoon.

Where does inspiration come from?  I have no idea.  Notes are being jotted down for the next book.  The title is already set, that happened a few months ago.: The Body in the Words.  I can't tell you what it's about because it's secret.  I was looking around for a setting.  Eli and Max have been to France, and Greece, and Scotland, so going abroad isn't a problem.  They've also spent some time in wintery Michigan, and in the ghost towns of Colorado, as well as well as Olde Town, which, for those of you who don't know is Central PA.  Then, this morning a friend was talking about a trip she'd just made and this was one of the pics she shared.  I now have a setting.  Ireland.  Max Sullivan will feel right at home.  What a great place to find a dead body, don't you think? 

And the war with Iran continues.  One of the media giants was talking about how the conflict was dragging on.  You may have heard me laugh at that one.  Russia's illegitimate invasion of Ukraine is dragging on.  I think that conflict is now heading into it's 5th year.  You'd think Putin would have realized the error of his ways by now.

Though, with Orangie's decision to invade Iran beginning to press heavily on the minds of Americans the past week and a half many may think it's dragging on.  I'm betting this must be torture for his demented soul, after all he's a loser who needs to take credit for wins, not losses.  And that's something he simply cannot do.  He can lean on a podium and or sit at his desk and decry that the war is over and that people need to move on, but it ain't happening.  He is reaching the sum total of his life's failures.  He has 8 bankruptcies, but will only admit to 6.  He has more failed startups than anyone in history. He has molested young girls.  Up until he decided to run for president, he was getting away with it all.  But once his ego gave into his greed for power, the shit started slipping through the cracks.  Now that shit has started to gush.  Nothing is going to stop this dam from breaking, and it will wash away the Republican party.

War Machine

Right now in Central PA, we have overcast skies and drizzle.  The temp is sitting at around 40 (F).  Things will warm up... slightly.  Tomorrow our temps might make it up to the low 50s (F).  Keep in mind we're still 8 days from the start of Spring.  Our temps are normal for this time of year.  But don't worry, only 100 days until summer.

Yesterday was sort of a meh day and yet not.  There was that dental appointment in the morning.  A cleaning appointment has been set up as well as an appointment to have that right back molar extracted.  On the extraction, they asked if I wanted to be anesthetized.  I'm not a big fan of anesthesia.  I have had it done three times, for the tonsils, the hernias, and the colonoscopy; that is more than enough to realize I don't like it.  So, I suppose they're going to end up numbing the hell out of my gums.

I did get a decent little workout in.  Then in the afternoon I had lunch with friends.  After lunch I didn't really want to do much of anything.  For dinner, I finished off the fries I'd bought for lunch.  And then I watched a movie on Netflix.  War Machine.  It was filled with testosterone entertainment, and Alan Ritchson.  There's a lot of action and a giant, killing war machine.  Oh, and did I mention Alan Ritchson?

And does anyone have any idea what the price of Brent crude is today?  I'd heard it was over  $100 a barrel.  I'm guessing that isn't making Wall Street too happy.  So much for you 401ks.  And the idiot in the White House?  He's doing what he's always done, or at last trying to, and that is move on to something else.  He will never, ever take responsibility for any of his actions.  Everything he does is calculated to make him look stronger, more powerful, and better.  He has absolutely no consideration for anyone else in the world.

And what about Keg Breath Hegseth banning photographers because their pictures make him look bad.  Actually the word by so many sources is unflattering.  Damn, we have a Secretary of Defense who's more concerned with how he looks on camera than doing his job.  Heggy is truly a terrible human being.  A religious fanatic, he will put so many others in harm's way while never letting himself be put in danger.  He's a coward who hides behind alcohol and phony faith.

What is so amazing to me is that the Republican party is so out of touch with America, that they simply refuse to even try to understand how a majority of the population is turning against them.  But, I suppose this is always the case with wannabe authoritarians.

Expensive Smiles

Well, our outside temp is in the mid 50s (F) and it will warm up today.  Sometime this afternoon we should reach the mid 70s (F), then, however, the storms are going to roll into the area. Overnight the temps will drop back into what is considered more seasonal, with afternoon highs being in the low to mid 50s (F).  This is fine.

The new phone arrived yesterday.  Howie embarrassed me by jumping up on the UPS delivery man.  I apologized.  Howie's okay with most people, the he's always excited when the UPS man comes a knocking at the front door.  Yesterday was no different.

As for the new phone.  I thought I'd get it up and running in about 45 minutes.  Well, it took that long to transfer the data.  All the apps were there, however none of the apps recognized the phone.  This meant signing into every single one of them.  Some needed to uninstalled and then reinstalled before I could sign in because they were attached to the old phone's IP address.  Over all, it took me most of the afternoon.  I was scheduled to do a cardio and that got canceled.  I texted my trainer and his comment was that getting a new phone was as bad as having to change a credit card.  I haven't had to do the later, but I'll take his word on it.

This morning I went to the dentist.  I have a molar that cracked.  There's no help of saving it.  I can remember a time when, if you needed to have a tooth pulled, that would happen in the office.  Now I have to go to an oral surgeon.  He said I could replace it with an implant for around $4500.  I said no.  At my age I can think of much better things to do with my money than to pay for a molar implant.  He then said I use that tooth for only about 2% of my chewing anyway.  Why does everything have to be about greed?

And evidently Israel's Iron Dome is good when all it has to deal with are the small rockets shot at the country from a fairly close range.  Those missiles Iran is shooting at them?  A different story.  They are getting through.  Some of them have cluster bombs attached.  Even Fox Entertainment is reporting this.  Of course, Israelis are beginning to ask "where's Bibi?"  For those who don't know, 12 days ago he took a long flight out of Israel.  Some thing he might be in Florida.  Believe me, this spineless man is as far away from the war as he can possibly get.

Americas casualties are worse than Kegsbreath and his Department of Defense want to admit.  As of yesterday, the number of injured was somewhere around 150.  Even Karoline Leavitt admitted this.  But then she also said that the Orange Anus took us into this war on a hunch.  Just let those word swirl around in your brain for a bit.  Remember the saying Everything Trump touches dies?  Well, those things he touches are all hunches.  Oh, dear me.  I think we as a country should be very concerned.

Attempted TACO

Our afternoon high yesterday was 72 (F).  Today, the prediction is that we climb all the way up to 78 (F).  This is nice so late in winter, and it is still winter for those of you who have forgotten.  We have another 10 days until we hit halfway point between Winter and Summer known as Spring.  Starting Thursday our temps will be falling back into the normal range.  One thing I did see yesterday on Social Media that was smart was advice telling people it is way to early to start doing yard work.  We got some cooler days ahead, and even though the daffodils are beginning to poking their heads up through last Autumn's leaves, let them be.  Put down that rake.

I didn't work yesterday because... well, I was supposed to go down to York and have lunch with my friend Betsy on Sunday, yet for some reason when I requested the day off, I keyed in March 9, rather than the 8th.  This is not the first time I've made this mistake.  I have a problem with trying to use the calendar in my head, which is never correct.  So, I ended up getting scheduled off yesterday.  In fact, I don't work until Saturday.  Lucky me.  Believe me, my time is easily filled for the rest of the week.  I wouldn't want to do this every week though, I might run out of things to do.

Today is garbage day.  Waste Management is our collector.  They gave us 2 large green garbage cans, one with a green lid for your garbage and one with a yellow lid for your recyclables.  I usually only put my cans out every 3 weeks since it's just myself and Howie.  My neighbors, the ones who argue all of the time, have stopped putting out their recyclable can, so I suppose they just throw everything together.  Taking out one can is far less work than taking out 2.

And for those who haven't been paying attention, we had an Attempted TACO yesterday.

Our Orange president, who has never been too smart, and who was also desperate to get people talking about something other than the Epstein files, let Bibi Netanyahu talk him into invading Iran.  So, with much flashy brashness, we began shooting missiles into Tehran.  Then the Orange Asshole killed the old hardline leader only to have him replaced with a younger, angrier hard liner... and the Straits of Hormuz were closed to shipping.  Oil prices went up and Wall Street reacted and Orangie did his best interpretation of Edvard Munch's The Scream.  And a TACO was attempted... but with the wrong ingredients.  You see, Orangie forgot that his frat boy Secretary of Defense had already been spewing nonsense about this being a religious war that was going to lead to the second coming of Jesus.  This morning Kegsbreath is spouting off about how the bombing is going to intensify and the Straits of Hormuz?  They're still closed.  It appears that the only way Orangie can make a complete TACO is by getting rid of Kegsbreath, but that would mean he'd made a mistake in putting the Christian Nationalist is charge of the military.  So, the big question is to TACO or not to TACO.

The Price of Oil

 The temps outside are cool, sitting around 34 (F), but the sun is shining brightly over Central PA.  Our high today will be in the low 70s (F).  That's fine.  Not that it's going to last.  By Thursday our daily highs will be back to the mid to up 40s (F).  This is Spring after all, not summer.  

Sadly, there are those who confuse the two.  Our garden department did have customers yesterday and they were beginning make early purchases for what they call "curb appeal."  For me, curb appeal means mowing the lawn.  I don't need to put in cutesy plants that only live for the season.  There is a hedge between my neighbor's front yard and mine.  It is totally on their property.  They didn't trim it last year, and I'm betting it's a sure thing that they'll not do anything with it this year.  I told him he could borrow my hedge trimmer and the told me he already owned one, but that it was electric.  He complained that they have no exterior outlet.  I told him he could use one of mine and got a "thanks," that's means no thanks.  

Speaking of the neighbors, their son is a sophomore at Temple University.  He was home for spring break.  They took him back down to Philly this morning.  The whole family drives down, including the daughter who's in junior high.  This meant much screaming of obscenities, cursing and swearing, before they loaded everybody into the car.  I don't understand this.  I owned a car when I was a sophomore in college.

I slept on and off last night.  This is mostly because of the war the Orange Anus, at the behest of Benny Netanyahu, has initiated in the Middle East.  At one point I turned on the lights and pulled out my tablet to discover that Brent Crude Oil was up to $118 a barrel.  Ouch!   Will it go back down?  I'm thinking that might be a hard No.  You see Orangie, relying on Benny's deceit, believed this would be like Venezuela, what so many of the hookers in his life have called a Quickie.  However, only the MAGA cultists believe Orangie to be intelligent.  The rest of the world knows he's an idiot.  Right now it's selling at $96.08 a barrel.  That means gas prices are going to go up.

The fact that Iran now has a new Supreme Leader, the hard line son of the Khomeini our military just killed, does not bode well for oil prices to begin to drop anytime soon.

There are some who are thinking Orangie is going to pull a TACO in a few days and declare victory.  Someone needs to tell both he and Benny that Iran is not going to quickly forget what we've done to that country.  The fact that we bombed a girls school killing around 170 children is going to burn in their hearts for decades.  The damage that this loser in the White House has done is inestimable.  We have lost so many allies.  Believe me, when Iranian terrorist cells do something bad in this country, and they will do something bad, those allies are going sigh and say, "now, isn't that a shame."  The Republican party owns this shit.  They alone are responsible.  

The one small glimmer of light is that this turmoil in the middle east will cause Wall Street to shake and shudder and believe me, the one thing those billionaires who are so desperate to run the world hate is for Wall Street to be rattled.  When Wall Street clanks and clatters, they lose money... lots of money.

Douche from Hell

Well, we have 51 (F) outside as I type.  Our afternoon high will climb into the mid 60s (F).  I'm seeing lot of men walk around the aisles of that great orange home improvement store I work for in shorts... some of them shouldn't.  Spring is in the air until Wednesday evening, then we drop back to more seasonable temps with daily highs in the mid 50s (F).  This is fine.  We want to warm up, but we don't want to warm up too fast.  We want a warm summer, not a hot, hot summer.

Something I've learned:  Howie like bones, especially those with lots of fat and gristle.  However, too many bones spoils his pallet.  Because bones make his tastes snooty, his kibble will sit in his bowl for hours, and he'll treat it like a poor man's snack.  Since his kibble, which I think is very expensive, is still far cheaper than beef bones, especially with the price of beef what it is today, the rich treat of fat, gristle, and bone has become a rare treat.  This is the way of the world we are now living in.

Yesterday I sold 2 measures, that was my goal for the week.  On the sales side, I'm getting slaughtered.  I had sold a vinyl plank install a bit ago and the customer decided that he was going to install the baseboard himself.  There was a big disagreement as to whether this would void the warranty on the floor.  In the end, the customer chose to do the install himself rather than pay for us to do it.  This meant they had to refund over $3000 to him.  My sales get charged for the credit they give him, so now, instead of having a goal of a little over $5000 for the week, I now have a goal of nearly $9000.  Well, that ain't happening.

And guess who's getting a lot of blowback for wearing a white MAGA hat yesterday?  That is not a difficult question.  He was at Andrews Air Force Base yesterday for the official transfer of the 6 innocent Americans who died as a result of his ego war with Iran.  We've all know for sometime that he's a douche from Hell.  

Of course, he might have worn the hat to cover the fact that his hair has gone bright orange.  Not blond, mind you, he's put a bright ginger rinse on that dead rat he wears on his head.

And prepare for sticker shock at the gas pump!  Refineries and oil fields are on fire in Iran.  The Strait of Hormuz is closed.  Those 2 things mean we're going to be paying higher prices at the gas station.  I don't know for sure, but I'm betting this is going to put a big burn in every MAGA ass.  Me?  I don't put a lot of mileage on my car, but there are those who drive a lot.  There are people who like to go shopping, who like to go to the mall, who go to the supermarket every other day.  These higher gas prices are going to hit them hard.  This is how it goes when you have a douche from Hell in the White House.

Succumbing to the Panic

I always like waking up in the morning and discovering that our temps did not go down below freezing during the midnight hours.  That happened last night.  I'm good with that.  We're going to be getting our first heatwave this coming week.  Thursday our afternoon high is supposed to be nearly 80 (F).  Of course, after that the highs and lows will fall back down into what's considered normal for late winter, early spring.  Again, that's fine with me.

Yesterday was one of those odd days.  I got things done, and that's a good thing,  I had to do a rewrite on the transition between the end of one chapter and the beginning of another.  When I initially write things down they can sound almost brilliant, then, during this stage of the editing process, I look at them and wonder how I could have even thought they were anything but shite.  Yesterday I took out a long section describing how Netty LaRoux's family was from Shropshire.  Sorry to disappoint those readers from Shropshire, but you're no longer going to get a mention in the book.

I also got an 9 mile ride in.  It was the first good ride in almost 2 months.  It felt good.  I was on Orust Island, Sweden.

T-Mobile sent me a notification that my new phone is being prepared to ship.  Being an S26, there's a high demand; people like buying new phones.  The release date is March 11.  I'm having lunch with friends that day, so if it's supposed to be delivered then, I'll make arrangements to pick it up at the UPS store.

And I made a cheeseburger quiche yesterday.  It could have used more hamburger and cheese.

Overnight the Iranian government issued and apology to the neighboring country for hitting them with missiles and drones.  They also issued a clarification saying they would only shoot or aim said missiles and drones at targets in those countries which launch attacks on Iran.  Their statement and clarification are no doubt based on the fact that Russia is providing them with targeting information.  This must be driving the Orange Anus bonkers... wait, he already is bonkers, so it has to be making him even super bonkers because he thought he and his blow bro Vlad were BFF.  Ouch! A big hint that things are far worse than Orangie and his frat boy Secretary of Defense was the fact that Condoleezza Rice was seen entering the White House last evening.  For those who don't remember her, she was Secretary of State under W. Bush.  So, where's Little Marco?  Shouldn't he be in this mix some where?  

Also, more Epstein files dropped, including the complaint that Orangie tried to force a 14 year-old girl to commit fellatio on him and she bit him... and he punched her, and then he.... .  Honestly, this administration is so screwed up they have no idea what they're doing.  They are succumbing to the panic.

With Friends Like These

We had rain all day yesterday, that continued into the night.  The temps stayed rather warm, which is good.  Even though Spring is only 2 weeks away, we are still in winter,  That means temp swings can happen at a moment's notice.  I understand one is approaching us, but won't be here until next weekend.  This coming week our daily highs will be in the mid to upper 60s (f), and possibly, for a day or two, in the low 70s (F).  Now, isn't that fine?

And yesterday, because of the rain, turned into one of those nappy days.  I baked bread in the morning, got my haircut, and did some shopping, but then I whittled away the afternoon working on the edit and taking naps.  To me it seemed as though I took lots of naps, though a lot of The Body in 4:$ time got edited as well. 

Howie, who usually has no problem going out when it rains, wasn't too happy.  Most of my backyard was a shallow pond and while he doesn't mind getting rained on, he seems to developed a dislike to wading.  

I did get my haircut.  I was in the shop for about 7 minutes.  My stylist was not chatty, a good thing.  However, shortly after I sat down in the chair another customer entered and he was.  It took him and his stylist about 30 seconds to blow a simple hello into a full fledged BFF gossip session.  I laughed, even though I kept telling myself that he might be enjoying the only bit of socializing he gets.  What a shame that would be if it were true.

And Kristi Noem was... demoted yesterday.  

People are saying she was fired, and that brings a lot of joy to many Americans, but in all actuality this was a lateral move to another position the Orange Anus created just for her.  That's right, she's still on the payroll and you tax dollars are still paying for hair extensions.  Some are saying that she wasn't happy, yet I suppose it was either move to the new job or try experimenting with defenestration.  Her replacement, Markwayne Mullins isn't any better.  They share the same IQ and, like Noem, will have absolutely no problem following Stevie Miller's orders.

And here's a bit of breaking news:  it seems as though the Ruskies are providing Iran with the coordinates for our ships, and planes, and automobiles.  Well, maybe not the cars.  Troop locations, when Orangie and Kegbreath send in ground forces, will also be duly noted on Iranian maps.  If you weren't expecting this, then you certainly haven't been paying attention to world politics over the past decade or so.  Surprise, Russia and Iran are BFF!

Zippo. Zilch. Zero.

Today's going to be a rain day.  All Day.  That means steady showers through the day.  There will be breaks, of course, allowing Howie just enough time to run outside and jump around in mud puddles.  Temps today are going to climb into the upper 40s (F).  That'll be nice.  Next week we'll be in the mid 70s (F).  Isn't that nice?  And Spring is still 2 weeks away.  Of course, temps will drop down.  There will those inevitable freeze warnings for those who start planting their gardens too early.

Yesterday was a good day.  I got a really good workout in.  I did squats, and thrusts, and used the machine.  Using the equipment is important because it proves to me that I didn't simply throw money away.  There are a lot of treadmills, and ellipticals out there being used as clothes racks.  It always makes me feel good to know that I'm not one of those who waste money on something they use for 2 weeks and then forget about.

I have some lunches planned for the next few weeks, which means I really should get a haircut.  My view on haircuts:  get into the salon, get the hair cut, and get out as fast as possible.  I'm not one of those people who needs to chit chat away 5 minutes of my life with a hair stylist.  If I didn't feel the need to look somewhat presentable I'd probably never get one, or shave my head.

I did start a loaf of bread this morning.  It's time to finish backing just before I leave to get my haircut.

And I follow some German man on Threads who posts pictures of sunsets looking out over the Baltic Sea.  His name is Bjorn, which seems like an odd name for a German.  Here's a sunset he posted yesterday.

There was an interesting article this morning on the NBC news website about Democrats flipping elections.  For those who aren't counting, so far the Democrats have flipped 27 seats while the Republicans have flipped zippo.  Zilch.  Zero.  One of the laments coming from the GOP is that without the Orange Anus on the ballot, they're afraid that turnout is going to be light.  They simply do not understand that his base, the MAGA cultists are in no way a majority in this country.  Hell, they only makeup 17% to 19% of the population.  This is not the total number of registered Republicans, that's around 27%, just the crazy people whose fanaticism has taken away their sanity.

The Republican Texas primaries are falling apart.  Orangie has yet to endorse either Paxton or Cronyn, though he has said that after he curses one with his endorsement, the other candidate needs to drop out.  Paxton has said that he's not dropping out no matter what.  This puts Orangie into a bit of bind.  If he endorses Paxton, people will say this is just another TACO.  And if he endorses Cronyn, it means that his endorsement means zippo.  Zilch.  Zero.

Great News

Our temps did not drop below freezing last night.  This is a good thing for this time of year.  The forecast for the next three days, however, is for drizzles.  That's right Spring showers have arrived early.  At least sprinkles are better than the cold that brings with it snow flurries, or snow.  Spring never promised to be warm and sunny.  

And yesterday was a good day... a very good day.  The HVAC from Berkheimer arrived early, around 0740.  He spent about a half hour down examining my furnace, doing testing and taking readings before coming and telling me there is absolutely nothing wrong with my furnace.  There is nothing wrong with my heat exchanger.  He told me that a candle puts more carbon monoxide into the air than my furnace does.  And on top of that, they did not charge me for the service call.  For those of you who live in the area, that's F.M Berkheimer.

So, what did I do with this Great News?  I filed a complaint against Bowman HVAC with Home Depot, and I was told that their contract as a service provider  will end in about a month.  This is not because of all the complaints Home Depot has been getting, rather it's the fact that Bowman has been acquired by a much larger group who only wants to work in larger urban areas.  Servicing rural customers does not earn them enough money.  Fortunately the large, orange home improvement retailer I work for understands the importance of building up brand loyalty among those who are more than 30 minutes away.

Of course, the Debby Downer is the Orange Anus in the White House and his drunken fratboy Secretary of War defense.

According to them, the war in Iran will now last 2 months.  They know this because Hegseth found that number on one of the pages of his Christian Nationalist Bible.  That number is also in one of his White Supremacists tats, and nothing can refute the truth in the ink.  Of course, he's also telling people that Jesus anointed the Orange Anus, and even though Orangie's not the least bit religious, he loves believing he's been anoionted.

In other Great News, primary season has begun.  Democrats are soaring while Republican candidate after Republican candidate is in run-off elections because the GOP is splintering.  Talarico won in Texas, Cooper in North Carolina, while Crenshaw, an Orangie boot licker, is out.  MAGA cultists couldn't decide which hate monger to vote for, so Cronin and Paxton will be in a run-off election, so will Congressman Gonzales, he's the one who had an affair that ended in a staffer's suicide by immolation.

Evacuation Orders

Well, we're dealing with a wintry mix.  Well, that's not quite right.  Mostly we're dealing with a drizzle.  The temps are borderline freezing, but that 1/10th of an inch of ice has yet to put in an appearance.  This doesn't mean there isn't a glaze on the windshield of my car, there is, but is it 1/10th of an inch thick?  I'll find out later when I go to the store.

Yesterday, retail was slow.  The store didn't make plan last week, but was on track to hit our $$$ goal when I left.  So, mostly it was a lap day.  I did get in my steps, and that's about all I did.  We did cut some indoor/outdoor carpet for a young man who was going to put it in his Jon boat.  I had no idea what kind of boat that was, so after he left I Googled it.  A Jon boat is a flat-bottomed boat with a shallow draft that is used in streams, rivers, ponds and lakes where the water is flat without waves.  The Jon boat doesn't like waves.  Consider this your bit of boat studies for today.

A tech from Berkheimer should be here shortly to evaluate my furnace.  Update coming tomorrow.

And I work with an associate who was born in Lebanon, the country, but who grew up in Kuwait.  His wife owns an apartment in Marrakesh.  Usually once a year they will go there for at least a month.  This year they also took a quick jaunt to Istanbul.  He was surprised that I've never been there.  I kid him about not bringing back souvenirs, and this year he brought one back.  It's pretty and hangs on the wall.  He knows the man who makes these, so if you have any interest in purchasing one, let me know and I'll put you in touch with him.

And thanks to Marco Rubio we now know that we initiated the war with Iran because Netanyahu convinced the Orange Anus that if Israel attacked Iran, that Iran would then attack the United States.  As so many people have already said, Orangie is not the brightest color in the box, nor is he the sharpest tack.  The US government is waring Americans to leave 15 countries in the Middle East. so I guess this means that a trip to Istanbul is off.  But this does go back to what I've said before on Orangie being so easily manipulated.  

And, of course, Orangie did was supposed to about America's servicemen and how terrible it was that we had already lost a few lives in this unnecessary conflict, and after a few moments change the subject to something more near and dear to his heart, his ballroom, the cost of which has now ballooned up to $400 million.

Finally, the videos of both Hillary's and Bill's depositions were released yesterday.  Talk about taking no prisoners!  They both realized the GOP was doing nothing more than kicking dead horses.  The bit where Hillary learns that Brainless Boebert took a picture of her and had it posted on line is simply priceless.  Both Comer and Boebert can be heard babbling in the background as Hillary slices and dices.  Why are Republicans so stupid?

Trump is so Easily Manipulated

 We've got a super mini cold front starting to pass over Central PA.  Today's high will be in the low to mid 30s (F).  That's a lot better than 19 (F).  Tomorrow morning the sky is going to spit of bit of sleet and rain that might be up to 1/10th of an inch thick, and the precipitation will only fall for a few hours.  Then the freezing drizzle will stop and things will begin to warm up.  I can live with this.

Retail yesterday was slow.  We definitely missed our plan last week.  Whispers are circulating that supervisors are going to be moved.  I'm hoping this means that our current supervisor is assigned a new position where she will not adversely effect sales.  The words "qualifying the customer" do not exist in her vocabulary.  Yesterday there were 2 sets of people in the department, a husband and wife were looking at rolled carpet, and a family were looking at vinyl plank flooring.  Both had been greeted.  Both had said they were browsing.  She walked into the department, looked at them, and said, "those are 2 sales."  When I explained that we had already talked to them, she frowned, and repeated, "those are 2 sales."  She will never understand.

And this morning I'm starting my first workout.  It should run around 50 minutes.  I should have more than enough time to finish it and still get ready to go to work.

And this is very important.

I see this morning that the war in the Middle East is expanding.  No surprise there.  Three of our fighter plans were shot down by friendly fire by Kuwait.  This makes me wonder if they are really our allies.  The Orange Anus originally said this was going to run 4 or 5 days.  He's now saying 4 to 5 weeks.  Tell, are those going to be famous last words?  I saw that Netanyahu left Israel for safer ground.  He's another gutless sack of shit.  Whispers are saying that for the past several weeks both Netty and Prince Bubble Brain of Saudi Arabia have been plying Orangie's ears with manipulative praise.  Sadly, this makes more sense to me than the fact that he might have initiated WWIII because of the Epstein Files.  His ego lives for praise.  World leaders know that all they need to do is tell him he's the greatest thing that's every happened to the world and he will drop to his knees faster than a two bit whore.  He lives for the Fool's Gold.  Sadly, many innocent people will have to pay with their lives.  

Trainwell

 So, our overnight temp did not drop below freezing.  This is good when you want the snowpack to melt.  It's also a very good sign that spring, which is only 19 days away, is going to be here sooner rather than later.  That doesn't mean we here in Central PA are going to have cold spots, in fact we are going to have 2 today and tomorrow when our daily highs will not get out of the mid 30s (F).  However, by next Tuesday and Wednesday we should be up in the low 70s (F).  Since I don't work those days, I plan on getting a little yardwork in.

And I did manage to sell 3 measures yesterday in spite of how slow the store was.  We are well over $100,000 under plan for the week.  I will be hitting my sales go and my measure goal, however, that should keep management happy for a while.  I also get to work today.  I'm hoping it will be another slow day.  I have no problem spending 8 hours getting laps in.  Steps are good.

Since we're starting a new month, sometime later this morning, possibly when I'm at work I will be reactivating my Trainwell subscription.  What the past 2 months have proven to me is that I do need those daily notes, and texts reminding me that a workout needs to be completed.  I don't know if it's my age, but I do seem to be becoming a rather lax individual when it comes to working out. 

And the Iran issue continues to be the headline attraction for Orangie, and he has, momentarily pushed the Epstein files onto the back burner.  However, it's quite possible he's jumped from the frying pan into the fire.  One thing that has changed is that now Orangie is telling the world the attacks on Iran were for regime change.  This is coming form a guy who's constantly lying about tariffs, and who's failing to convince the American people that other countries pay them.  Regime change has never worked.  History proves this point over and over again.  But then Republicans and Conservatives have never been too smart.  They think all that they need to do is say "shut up, we're in charge," and the people will listen.  They are simply not prepared for the consequences.  I saw where the Netanyahu's government has said there will be no "boots on the ground."  Well, we all know that's horseshit.  The only way that would happen if the Iranian Army would suddenly start shouting "Yippee!  Skippy!  We're glad you're here."  They are already forming another hardline government.  The GOP and the Israelis just don't understand that those Iranians are just like the parties that are in power in both the United States and Israel, though the Iranians don't have people who suffer from bone spurs in charge.

Tiny Little Putin

We're above freezing and our high this afternoon is expected to be in the low 60s (F).  Tomorrow night another cool front is going to be moving through Central PA.  The original forecast had us receiving about 2 inches of snow.  That has now been changed to rain, with smattering of ice late Monday night into Tuesday morning.  After that, temps are going to zoom upwards.  There are actually a few days in which we're expecting to breach the 60 (F) barrier.

And yesterday was one of those, hhhmm, lets get this done sort of of days.  I set up the dehumidifier in the basement.  Thinking that my basement was rife with humidity, I set it up to run nonstop.  This morning, I reset it, taking it off nonstop and setting the humidity lever at 45%.  I also did some research online.  Most of my humidity problems will happen during the spring and summer, not the fall and winter.  This means the new dehumidifier will probably be sitting in standby mode until April or May.  That's fine.  

I also managed to get a little workout in using the new piece of gym equipment.  Tomorrow I'm going to activate Trainwell for another 3 months.  I need to.  I've gained weight.  My trainer and I will have to re-evaluate my workouts since I've changed my hours.  This means I will have to put the rowing machine back together.  I may rearrange the workout room while I'm at it, or maybe not.  

One of the things I did yesterday was back a chocolate olive oil cake... from scratch.  Most recipes are for vanilla or lemon flavored cakes but I was craving deep, dark chocolate, so that's what I made.  With a peanut butter drizzle frosting.  Yum.

So, I guess everyone knows that the Orange Anus, in conjunction with Israel, has started a war with Iran.  This is not a good thing.  It's also the ultimate distraction from the Epstein files, especially after they realized questioning the Clintons was a non-starter.  You can only kick a dead horse so many times before the village idiots begin to lose interest.  That's one of the many things the GOP has never learned.  Keep in mind, Iran and Russia are Best Friends Forever.  It's my understanding that Iran supplies many of the drones to Russia for their war with the Ukraine.  Vlad thought his puppet Orangie would play by Vlad's rules, however Orangie doesn't want the Epstein files to come out because it would be catastrophic for the family business.  If you want to look for a source for all of the shit going down in the world, you need look no further than Vlad Putin, a failing dictator who no matter how grand he sees himself in his head, is really nothing more than a tiny little man, at least this is how history will portray him.