Best at Being the Worst

Well, today is starting off cooler than yesterday.  Currently  we're in the upper 60s (F).  However... we've got an hellacious increase in humidity on the way.  This will be topped off by wow! packing thunderstorms a front moves through the region.  This is the perfect day for floating around on an air mattress on a pool.  Just make sure you go inside as the evening approaches; lightening strikes can be fatal.

I did work yesterday.  It was incredibly slow at the flooring desk.  Staffing was minimalist.  Actually, that's an understatement.  I was the only one there.  Our aisle associate, the guy who's supposed to pack down product left without stopping by.  He's MAGA and they're suffering right now, which is a good thing.  My big tile installation stopped by, but they were in a large family group.  They told me that they'd be stopping in to buy on Monday.  That's fine with me, a sale is a sale.  Their son in law used the tile they chose to render pictures in ChatGTP (?).  He was very pleased with himself.  You can do the same thing by uploading pictures of your room to our website.  I said nothing, it is, after all an $8600 sale.

My store manager gave me some bad news.  He's been promoted.  Thursday will be his last day.  His replacement will either be a store manager who worked previously at our store as an assistant manager, or a store manager who's known to be a stickler and a hardnose.  If it's the aisle associate who's MAGA will quit, since she's the reason he transferred to our store in the first place.

And I went to file for the copyright for The Body in 4/4 Time yesterday and... DRATZ!!  They want submissions to be done using Firefox on a Windows OS.  Using another browser might present problems.  It did.  I kept getting error messages when I went to change my password.  Shit!

For those of you who don't know, this is what Elonia looked like before all of the plastic surgery and hair implants.  

And of course, Orangie's birthday celebration is today.  According to Fox Entertainment, only 31% of the Republican party approve of this travesty.  This administration has become an American embarrassment.  The corruption is on a scale never before seen... in the entire world.  The Orange Anus has never been an even adequate businessman.  Even though he will admit to 6 bankruptcies, in truth he has 8.  Remember his University?  He had to pay out millions in restitution because it's sole purpose was to defraud students who believed his lies.  This cage match?  This is SOP for him.  He is a stupid man who has blundered his way into being the most despised president of the United States.  He has always wanted to be number one, well, of all the other contenders in the world, he is best at being the worst.

The Happy Ending

Well we've reached Saturday.  I slept in a bit, so it's now 0912 and our outside temp is 76 (F).  Once again temps are predicted to hit the 90 (F) degree mark, though today forecasters are saying that our humidity is going to be oppressive.  Tomorrow's forecast is for the same with the exception  of the day ending with thunderbangers, high, possibly damaging winds, and rain.  Small reminder:  Washington DC is only 75 minutes south of my humble abode, and I'm so glad I didn't lose my sanity and purchase an overpriced ticket to a cage match.

And yesterday was sort of meh.  This doesn't mean that I didn't do anything, I did.  Grocery shopping in the morning, a little garden work, and then a bike ride in San Remo, Italy.  I like Italy.  I should actually visit.  I would like to see the colosseum in the early morning before the tourist busses descend upon it like a swarm of locusts.  

I do work this afternoon.  I have a tile flooring installation that's supposed to sell.  The customers are bringing their daughter because she has impeccable taste and she needs to approve their choice in tile.  If she doesn't like it, she'll pick the tile they're going to use.  Either way, the sale should go through.

And silently, under cover of darkness and a large curtain, Orangie's name was removed from The Kennedy Center for the Performing arts.  He didn't want anybody to see, or take pictures of his defeat, because that's what this was.  He lost.  Justice smote his ego... badly, and I'm really up for that.  However, pictures and videos are being published.  Here's a screenshot from a longer video put out by The Guardian.  I think this might be the removal of the P, since it's from the far right side of the scaffolding.  You can see the worker's hands grabbing onto the letter, and in the video, he just rips it off the wall.  Karma rocks.

This is Orangie's birthday weekend.  Let's see, the freedom concert thingy is gone and there is the possibility that his UFC cage match might end up being a lightening rod.  There might be something we can end up celebrating after all.

Oh, and Elonia is now, on paper, a trillionaire.  This man is so vainglorious he simply has no clue as to how anger and hatred he is generating around the world.  I don't believe he was ever destined for a happy ending.

 

Performance

So, here it is, Friday.  Our outside temp is 71 (F).  Once again the forecast has our afternoon highs in the 90s (F).  I didn't check to see what the "real feel" is supposed to be, but I can tell you I went out into the backyard briefly yesterday and it felt very hot.  I did use a personal day, rather than go in to work.  I used the excuse of there being a "heat advisory" to use a personal day.  There are times when age does have it's benefits besides having wisdom and authority.

So, what did I do yesterday since I chose to stay home in cool air conditioned comfort?  No yardwork, it was way too hot.  In the morning I completed my workout.  My trainer, who's in Portugal for the next week, sent me an "attaboy."  A lite dusting was done.  Most of the afternoon, however, was working on the final edit for The Body in 4/4 Time.  The words "final edit," are important.  There comes a time when you simply have to put the manuscript down.  I worked with a man who'd written a non-fiction book on autism and I watched as he spent literally years refining his manuscript.  He would bring it to work and sit in the lunchroom editing during his breaks.  He used yellow #2 pencils, and he'd read a paragraph, then scratch a line out, read some more and then make a note.  This went on for the 11 years I worked for International Paper.  To this day, I don't know if he ever had his work published.  At some point in time you need to put that baby to bed.  

And since I do workout regularly, I thought I'd post this snippet about our Secretary of Defense working out.  If you have access to social media, you should watch some of the videos the Department of Defense is releasing of Kegsbreath working out with Marines.  They prove how badly his neural transmitters are... transmitting.  I do not doubt for a second that he believes his performance is exemplary.  The thought that the world is laughing at him never crosses his mind.  Here's a picture of him doing a dumbbell thruster with 15 pound weights.  Thrusters are a great cardio/strength exercise.  I do this with 20 lb dumbbells.  Notice how his wrists are bent back?  That's what I call swishy wrists.  Your wrists are supposed to be straight.  In the video, he only does a half squat (wrong) and his thrust is herky jerky.  I do not doubt that in his mind his form is perfect.  As someone suggested, and I concur, is so he can shower with the Marines afterwards, you know, mano e mano, sort of like they showered in Heated Rivalry.

Where are his biceps?

And finally, today is the day that Orangie's name is supposed to be taken down from the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.  While it has already been removed from the website, it is still on the building and... this should come as no surprise, his allies running the Kennedy Center have decided to fight it.  How humiliating to have his name removed 2 days before his birthday.  He is going to get a healthy serving of humiliation much sooner than he thinks, and his ego will not be able to survivie.

Blind to the Real World

We're going to warm today.  We're also going to be humid.  Our outside temp is a balmy 74 (F), and yes, we are under a heat advisory.  While the afternoon temp is supposed to top off at 94 (F), the real feel is predicted to be around 103 (F).  This is what I call stinky winky weather, where I get the urge to run around the backyard like a rather inhibited satyr for all of the world to see.  Don't worry, it'll never happen.

So, I had my physical yesterday.  I'm healthy.  I've reached that stage of life when I have to take off my shoes and socks so they can poke my feet to prove I don't have any neuropathy.  I'm fine.  Orangie has to deal with 22 specialists while I get one doctor who thinks I'm funny.  He did tell me that I don't look my age, which was nice.  My sugar's a tad too high, so we're going to up my metformin.  He told me that besides helping my glucose levels, this might also help me lose weight.  Believe me, I'm all for that.

I get to go to work today.  Yee Ha!  With the impending high real feel temps, I momentarily did think about taking off, but then decided that getting paid to sit on my but my be a better use of my time.  Of course, I do have more than enough time on the books and there are things that I can do around the house, like vacuum up the Howie hair.  Honestly, I've never had a dog who sheds as much as Howie does.  Of course, I do have to take into consideration that Heat Advisory.

And I went food shopping on Tuesday.  Yowza!!  Inflation is the highest it's been in 3 years.  This was quite noticeable while I was filling my grocery cart.  Whole milk is up to $5.02 a gallon.  That's the New Low Price.  Last week the Old Low Price was $4.99 a gallon.  There are now so many items in every aisle with New Low Price stickers.  This is a family pack of hamburger with 20% fat.  The total cost is $32.66, and this is before the price of beef goes up because of screwworms. 

I was surprised that the Federal came out with the news that inflation had increased.  Knowing how this administration is rife with deceit, I'm suspecting that the 4.2% is on the low side.  Oh, and the trade deficit hasn't been this wide in 30 years.  That's almost as long as I've been living in my house.  Shit.  And things are going to get worse.  

A vast number of Americans believe that Orangie's UFC Cage Match in the front lawn of the White House is a bad thing, that's according to an IPSOS/USGov poll.  This is something that this administration, as well as the Republican party, simply fail to understand.  Their only concern is about being in power.  Instead of taking this into consideration, they're dancing around singing "We're in charge!  We're in charge!"  They are blind to the real world.  They've have living in a delusional world for decades.  Reality is going to do more than bite them in the ass.

And in case you're keeping county, Orangie has claimed that a peace deal in on the table with Iran 34 times.

The Good and the Bad

This is going to be quick since I have to leave shortly for my annual physical.

Showers and thundershowers are in the forecast for this afternoon.  Good.  Temps in the mid 80s (F).  Good.  Humidity is supposed to be high.  Bad.

The wheelbarrow needs a little spruce up spray paint, otherwise it looks fine.  As I said to Maddie, now I have a moveable garden.  The Weber will probably be done sometime this weekend.  Then I'll post pics.

Yesterday I bought a stromboli.  And ate it. And then felt to bloated for my normal Tuesday bike ride.  Bad.

Here's a pic of me when I was in 3rd grade.  Even at that age you can tell that I'm going to be both opinionated and judgmental.  Good....  Ba....  Good.... Very Good.

Nancy Mace lost in her bid for governor.  Good.

Graham Platner won up in Maine.  Very Good.

The Iranians shot down one of our expensive Apache helicopters.  Bad.

Orangie is still breathing. Bad.

A Good Thing for the World

 The sky stayed overcast yesterday even though the forecast was for sunny skies.  Temps did stay low, with a high in the upper 70s (F).  Today seems to be a replay, except temps are predicted to  climb into the lower 80s (F).  I'm planning some yardwork for this afternoon, so it's nice the weather is cooperating.

I'm thinking of repurposing my old Weber grill into a planter, I haven't used it in years.  Occasionally I think of getting myself a gas grill, but when I compare the expense to how infrequently I'd end up using it, I always change my mind.  I also have an old wheelbarrow that I'm going to repurpose. 

Yesterday was boring in the specialty retail world.  I did sign up a customer for a shutter lead.  It will never go through.  He's probably a senior in high school or else just graduated.  His father and grandfather were with him, with the grandfather the one telling him to go ahead.  The probably $2000 price tag is going to be a deal breaker.  Of course, you never know.  If he's the first born grandson he might get whatever he wants.

 Something I never knew was that tomato plants are self-pollinating.  That's right, their bi.  If you don't have enough buzzy bugs in your yard, at least according to Google, all you need to do is tickle the flowers.  So, every morning my little, yellow tomato flowers are getting a tickle, tickle.

And, as everyone should have expected, the Orange Anus fell asleep at the Nicks game last night.

The man sitting next to him is James Dolan, owner of the New York Nicks.  Jimmy's a billionaire and a big supporter.  Evidently no one told Jimmy that everything the Orange Anus touches dies.  With Orangie sitting next to him, one can only wonder if he actually thought that his team was going to win?  I wouldn't be surprised of Orange had placed a bet on the Spurs to win, and then put in an appearance just to jinx the Nicks.  Anyway, with all the noise of a playoff game, the screaming fans, the booming voices of the announcers, Orangie decided it was a good time to take a nap.  Oh, and he later posted on his Truth Social account that he was cheered, not booed.  Chees!  Even Main Stream Media aired clips of him being booed.  As for billionaire Jimmy?  You can bet he's going to be blaming everybody else for his team's loss.  

Every time Orangie pulls a stunt like this, he alienates even more voters.  He will continue these stunts.  To do otherwise would mean admitting that he's at fault.  This is a bad thing for Republicans and a good thing for the world.

Lulu

 According to the forecast, today's afternoon high is predicted to be cool, at least that's what they're calling a temp in the upper 70s (F).  Me?  I call that early summer weather.  We'll have to wait and see if we're going to have a day where our temps didn't climb up into the 80s (F).  

And since I worked yesterday, it was pretty much of a meh day.  Management will be happy, I got 5 install measures, which brings my total for the week up to 7.  The big problem with having so many measures is that you need to deal with them.  After the quotes have been built, you need to call the customers and try not to sound like a used car dealer.  I do this by only call them occasionally.  There are also times when I send notes to our measurement services telling them to not harass the customers.  Believe me, this does happen far more often than not.  I could regal you with horror stories of customers who have received email, texts, and phone calls every other day.  In my opinion, this makes us look desperate.  Sadly, I realize that when greed is involved the sounds of desperation get little consideration.

I've mentioned before how people like to bring their pets into the store.  Over the years I've had the chance to meet snakes, raccoons, one blonde skunk, and many, many dogs.  On Saturday, I got to meet Lulu.  She's 27 years old.  Her owner told me that when he got her 2 years ago she'd lost most of her feathers because of stress.  She's in a much less stressful environment.  She said "hello."

Of course, everybody was talking about the ugly meltdown the Orange Anus had yesterday on Meet the Press.  Social Media was flooded with videos of him seething at Kristen Welker.  Even the Washington Post, usually very soft for Orangie, did not try to sane wash the moment.  Their headline:  "Trump walks out of interview when challenged over his false election claims."  Some were saying he stormed out, but they were quickly reminded that at his age his storming days are done and that what he really did was toddle out.  I will admit to being quite pleased, in fact I was cheering her on.  One of the things that did surprise me was that this interview was recorded on Saturday and the decision was made to keep his meltdown in, rather than edit it out.  Could Main Stream Media be learning that they'll get more clicks if they show his vile side?  

And tonight?  If he actually does go to the Knicks game, prepare for him to be booed mercilessly.

 

You Snooze, You Lose

Starting the morning off with an outside temp of 70 (F) this late in the Spring should start alarm bells ringing.  These are mid July temps, not early June temps.  Still, if the forecasters are correct u=our high this afternoon will hit the mid to upper 80s (F).  Of course, yesterday we had a 1% chance of rain and some serious thunderstorms spread through the area in the late afternoon.  We can only wonder what today will bring.

I did work yesterday, however I wasn't in the flooring department.  Nope.  I spent most of my time in the paint department.  I like working paint.  In fact, at some point, when I no longer want to deal with installations and the problems that go with them.  Like... well, take yesterday for example.  Right after I punched in, I was informed that one of my customers had been in to complain.  They weren't fuming.  Nope.  The were outraged and loudly verbally bashed everyone within hearing distance with their anger.  The installers had shown up yesterday morning to install their new carpet, however the mill had shipped the wrong carpet.  This was not something we did, it was totally the responsibility of the manufacturer.  As a result, the customer will get a credit to their account, which means my sales figure will be reduced.  New carpet will be ordered at a greatly reduced price, which will again effect my sales.  This is why I will, at some point, have no problem moving to paint.

And here's a picture of Orangie sleeping without Biden taking a selfie, or writing on his forehead.

It's my understanding that a lot, if not all, of the A Listers that Orangie invited to his UFC Cage Match are sending RSVPs that are, "no thanks."  It's not that they're even attempting to be socially polite by saying "thanks, but no thanks," they're simply saying "nah, I got better things to do."  Dwayne Johnson, said "nope," as did Jared Leto... though I don't know if I'd call him an A Lister, and the same goes for Mario Lopez.  Mario who?  Though I do understand that Dean Cain, who at first didn't get an invite but then did, will be in attendance.  If this keeps up, Orangie's going to need to do 2 sit down rallies.

And how about that Tommy Tuberville voter fraud?  It always turns out to be the Republicans, doesn't it?

Karma is a Bitch

Well, we have another sunny day ahead of us here in Central PA.  Our high temp should be floating just around the 90 (F) mark, meaning it's going to be hot enough to make things slightly uncomfortable for some.  As long as the humidity stays low, this is not a bad temp.  The long range forecast implies humidity will not be rising.  This is a good thing.  However, the lack of rain means I'll need to be watering my garden daily.

Things I did do yesterday:  move an old wheelbarrow that I'm going to turn into a raised flower bed - things need to be above ground to keep Howie from peeing on them.  Also, the idea is to make the space around the raised bed veggies as happy a place as possible for the bees and other buzzy things needed to pollinize.

 A very decent bike ride in Corsica. I like riding in Italy.  I should really visit.

 I'm still editing through the book.  My cover artist is in the process of moving.  She's saying another 2 weeks maybe.  This is probably a good thing as I'm still finding bits and pieces that I feel need to be changed.  At the same time, I want to put this baby to bed.  I have a bunch of notes on the next book, and I can't wait to start, but I have rule:  never start the actual writing until the last book is published.

And you know, Karma is a real bitch.

As Six and others pointed out, the Asshole held what was supposed to be a roundtable meeting in Wisconsin yesterday but which was ostensibly nothing more than a mini-rally.  He sat through the entire event and then needed assistance taking the one step down off of the stage.  Now, I don't know about you, but it seems to me as if his administration suddenly seems to be ramping up not only his vanity projects, but the 2025 Project as well.  One would almost think they understand how fast time is running out for them.  Could this be why Republicans in both Congress and the Senate are beginning to break from him?

And I'm going to wonder how they're going to handle the June 14 birthday celebration.  I'm suspecting the entire event will be televised with him rambling for an hour and a half sitting behind his desk in the Oval Office.  I'm also willing to be that the only network to carry that event will be Fox News.

Squirrels

 Our out door temp is 65 (F).  It's going to be a stinker of a day.  For the next 3 days our highs are going to be in the mid 90s (F).  They'll drop back into the upper 80s (F) after that.  No rain is in sight for the next 10 days.  It looks as though summer has arrived 2 weeks early.  So be it.

I did get a decent workout in yesterday.  I've signed up for another 3 months of Trainwell.  The results so far are, by my standards, impressive.  The goal is not to just maintain muscle, but build it, too.  And, well, I have biceps now.  My core muscles are stronger and they are essential if you have lower back issues.  They keep you spine in place, don't let it jiggle around so much when you walk.

Work yesterday was filled with issues, all of them other people's problems that I got stuck fixing.  My first 3 hours zipped by.  The last 3?  They were on the slow side.  I did hit my measure goal for the week, one of them a commercial tile floor installation.  Management will be very happy if that goes through.

Without any rain in the forecast, I will need to water my garden every day.  In case you're wondering, this is what it looks like.  The only problem I'm having is with the squirrels digging up the seeds I've planted.  

And, while having a meeting in the Oval Office, the Orange Anus fell asleep yesterday... again.  He has also now officially canceled his Freedom 250 concert and will now be the lone speaker.  Or, at least right now that's the plan.  Believe me, this will change. His declining health will require he share the spotlight.  I don't doubt that the crowd will be small.

Also, yesterday Pammy Jo Bondi said that Todd Blanche, Orangie's personal attorney, was solely responsible for the release of the Epstein files.  While this is probably true, it shows she's desperate enough to throw Blance so badly under the bus.

The Worst People in the World

Our high today is predicted to be in the low 90s (F) with the sun blasting down from a cloudless sky.  Since I work, I don't really care, but I know there are plenty of sun bunnies out there who will be celebrating.  If the long range forecast is correct, our daily highs for the next 2 weeks will cruising along in the high 80s (F) to low 90s (F).  This is fine with me.  Our transition into summer is almost complete.

Yesterday was another day in which many things were accomplished.  Most importantly, I cut the dead branches out of the river birch tree at the side of my house.  Every time we have a windy day a number of them fall down.  Howie loves this.  He'll run around the yard with a 4 foot stick in his mouth.  I don't want him chewing them up, so now they're gone.  I don't think he'll be very unhappy.  He's a dog.  His retention span is on par with that of a 2 year-old.  

As I said, work is on my schedule for this afternoon.  Will it be busy?  I have no idea.  We are heading into vacation weather, so I guess we shall see.

When I go to the movies, it's always at the AMC in Camp Hill.  It's a 12 minute drive.  Occasionally AMC will send me surveys to fill out and, as a token of gratitude, they give me a coupon for free popcorn.  The last time I filled one out there was no coupon.  I was emailed a link for a survey because I went to see Backrooms.  When I clicked on it, I was informed that I'd already filled out that survey.  I guess the cost of popcorn must have, like every other price we're dealing with, gone up.

Since I was busy most of yesterday, did I mention I did finally get my haircut? I didn't have much time for looking at social media.  However, on one of the times I did take a little scroll this popped up in my feed.

As someone said, Orangie needed to make a mandatory appearance to prove that he was still alive and he wasted everybody's time by showing how big the reflecting pool would be if it was stood on end.  Oh, my God, what simpleton would be impressed to find out that the pool, if standing vertically, would be taller than the tallest skyscraper.  Pardon my language, but Holy Shit!  What yaya brain thought this was a good way to get him in front of the cameras?  I listened to a snippet and as many others pointed out, he sounded hoarse and tired.  And as someone else pointed out, he sat through the entire Q&A feeding speculation that he has problems standing.

You have to wonder whether what's going on is actually coming from him, or from the allies he's surrounded himself with, like Stevie Miller, and Todd Blanche?  He has surrounded himself with soulless people who celebrate their own evil.  They are truly the worst people in the world.

Backrooms

When I got up this morning, our temp was 54 (F).  That was 2 and a half hours ago and it's already up to 62 (F).  The low to mid 80s (F) are where we will be at some time this afternoon.  No rain.  In fact, the skies are supposed to be fairly cloud free for the next few days.  The heat is returning, with our daily highs being in the low 90s (F).  It's difficult to believe that summer is only 3 weeks away.

Yesterday was busy.  My car passed the yearly state inspection.  Since it's new, I would have been truly shocked if there would have been any problems.  Many household chores were completed.  I stopped by the store and bought another tomato cage, which I'm using on the cucumber plant, and while I was there I picked up an eggplant seedling.  The only thing I didn't get accomplished was getting my haircut.  I stopped in and the wait was over an hour.  Need I say anything more?

In the afternoon, I got too a bicycle ride in Ireland.  Nice.

I also went to see Backrooms.  I liked it.  The film is classified as horror and there are a few jump scares, but overall I'd say it was more tension driven.  This is because you don't know what in Hell is going on.  Backrooms is not for everybody.  Two women sitting in front of us left about 3/4 of the way through the movie.  I understand it does make some people feel very uncomfortable.  There is a lot of lore online about the Backrooms, I looked at it afterwards and the history of company Async and what they've done helps.  Backrooms is not undiscovered country, in fact I immediately picked up parallels with the SciFi classic Forbidden Planet, where the long extinct Krell built a giant machine to explore the Id.  

So, there were elections for midterm candidates yesterday.  Truthfully, there were no surprises... well, except for one.  Orangie's endorsed candidate for governor in Iowa lost.  This is a first for Orangie in the primaries, and I don't doubt repercussions are happening in his administration.

And right now people are beginning to wonder just where Orangie is.  The last time he was seen in public was at a Cabinet Meeting on May 27, that was before his visit to Walter Reed for his 3rd physical since stupid voters put him back into the White House.  As for the nightly shit posting on Truth Social that he's getting credit for?  Is it actually him?

CBS is dead.  I suspect that the Ellisons, the billionaire father and son duo who bought the network, thought they'd be able to turn it into Fox New Lite quietly.  Now they know that ain't gonna happen.  This is just one more example of how billionaires are simply unable to read the room.  They have this belief that, like the kings of old, the people will simply bow down to them  and allow to be put into servitude.  They simply refuse to believe that being wealthy does not make them special.  History is littered with the bodies of so many who believed exactly the same thing.  I wonder if the Ellisons ever took into consideration just how much hate their takeover was going to generate.  Probably not.  After all, they are billionaires.

Trump Suffers

Well, we have 52 (F) outside and today is going to be busy.  Luckily, mother nature has seen fit to copy today's weather over into tomorrow when I'll have the opportunity to do some yardwork.  Today's high is predicted to be in the upper 70s (F) without a cloud in the sky.  Tomorrow's going to be repeat of today.  The same weather is on tap for Thursday, but I work so it's not as important.

I worked yesterday.  I was busy.  I sold 2 measures and had to deal with an array of problems that made time fly.  The biggest dealt with this new software they've dropped on us.  First off, it's not fully functional yet.  The ability to change products is just not there.  We're still relying on our measurement services team to build quotes, however the default products they're using are wrong.  The process used to correct this, to give the customer what they ordered, is... interesting.  We have to delete the existing wrong product, add the new product, then go into the install screens and reattach all of the installations.  Oh, and for some reason the system wants to throw in random decimal points.  You can't buy 22.6 boxes of flooring.  As long as the customer isn't sitting impatiently beside you, it's an adventure.  If they're waiting to pay $5000 for an installation, you look like an untrained amature.

Orangie's slush fund appears to be taking a momentary vacation.  The administration said, and remember how much they lie, that they were not going to push for it.  Knowing how deceitful Orangie and his cohorts are, I'd have to say that this is just another... well, for lack of a better word, lie.  Their greed is too intense for them to let go of that prize.

And Orangie's saying he doesn't care about the midterms.  In his dementiated state, he may not.  It could be that he is only focused on his own ego.  The only thing that satisfies his ego lust is having his name on as many things as possible.  This is why having to remove it from the Kennedy Center was a crushing blow, and even though he's supposed to be taking it down, don't hold your breath.  He and his team of cronies are going to delay as much as possible.  However, the more he loses, the deeper the gashes to his ego, and this is a very, very good thing.  A large majority of Americans do truly want him to suffer.

A Most Humiliated President

Our outside temp is 57 (F).  With a blanket, this is cool and comfortable sleeping weather.  Not all of our nights need to be hot.  Our afternoon high is supposed to be in the low 80s (F).  This is fine, too.  Afternoon highs for the coming week are predicted to be in the mid 80s (F).  Summer begins in 3 weeks to this is fine.  I like summer.

As I expected, work was slow yesterday.  Also, as expected, my customer purchased her install.  Mid-afternoon 2 men came in to purchase some rolled vinyl sheeting.  He handed me a sample of the vinyl they wanted.  I looked at it, and then told him that the sample was from Lowe's, our competitor, and that it was not a brand that we carry.  He looked a bit confused, and asked, "you don't have this?"  I said, "no, it's from Lowe's."  He nodded a few times, then turned to his friend and said, "I guess we have to go back to Lowe's."  Seriously.

Since it was so boring, I spent some time making notes for the next book, The Body in the Words.  A new character has been added:  Mrs. Porridge, she the receptionist at the Hygeia Wellness Clinic.

This is going to be a busy week for me.  Blogs may be delayed.  Tomorrow I get my car inspected.  On Wednesday I go for my year blood draw.  How many vials will they fill?  Four or five?

And I couldn't get into Crimson Desert.  There were so many things about it that I didn't like, including mini-games and very minor quests that needed to be completed just to advance the main story.  So, last evening I downloaded Baulder's Gate 3.  This is a more traditional RPG.  

And, since this a new week, we already know that Orangie's administration is going to be serving up a fresh, new platter of horseshit.  I expect there to be more about the failing UFC cage match he planned to hold on the front lawn of the White House to celebrate his birthday.  As someone pointed out, we all need to remember the parade that the world laughed at, this might be worse.  His brittle, little ego is being smacked silly, so prepare for him to lash out.  The failure of his Freedom 250 event created a blistering boil which he publicly lanced on his Truth Social platform.  Ready yourselves, this is going to be worse.  

As for his failing cage match, evidently some of the fighters are now withdrawing.  Just as no one wanted to sing for him, except for Vanilla Ice, no one really wants to fight for him.    And all the while, he's stealing America blind.  Every little rejection is another burning poker to his brain. In the end, he's going to be the most hated, most humiliated president America has ever seen.

Pummeled

 Our outside temp is 49 (F).  That's chilly.  Our afternoon temp is supposed to climb up into the high 70s (F), possibly hitting the low 80s (F).  I work today, so the outside temps, whether its sunny or not, don't phase me.  I work half a day tomorrow, and then I'm off for 2 days.  On those days, the temps are supposed to be comfortable and our skies will be partially cloudy.  This is good.  There is yardwork that needs to be done.

Yesterday was a meh sort of day.  I didn't really do anything in the morning, other than loll around the house waiting to go to work.  Retail in the flooring department?  It was so slow.  Our garden department is still busy, most likely because the weather is nice.  I think a lot of people might be planting small gardens this year because food prices keep going up.  

There was a time when we could change and add products to installs before they were sold.  Then corporate decided a measurement services team could handle the job better, and hired a large number of people to work from their homes doing exactly what we were doing.  Well, they've decided that idea wasn't working, or that they weren't getting a big enough bang for their payroll expense, so they've shifted that process back to the specialists.  To do this, they gave us new software.  For training, they gave us a printout. So, what we're now doing is wingin' it.  And all of those people who they hired to work from home?  Most of them seem to have been let go.

Howie brought in a bunch of sticks this morning.

Yesterday the wacko in the White House was shit posting from Hell, at least it seemed like that.  This should come as no surprise since he's being forced to take his name off of the Kennedy Center.  Orange is red with rage.  This is a good thing.  His ego deserves to be beaten to a pulp.  And to add insult to injury, everyone one of the performers, except Vanilla Ice, who were going to be part of his Freedom 250 propaganda event have pulled out.  Many are saying that they didn't realize it was going to be political, but let's be honest.  But let's be honest, everything Orangie does is politicized to praise the living Hell out of him.  Rejection is beginning to pummel him from all sides.  This is a very good thing.  We like to see bullies getting pummeled.  

 

I am a Rare Bird

So, it's Saturday.  Temps dropped a bit overnight.  Today's high will only be in the high 60s (F).  We do have sunshine, though, and there is more than a bit of a breeze blowing.  While temps will warm up this coming week, the high temps will barely be scratching the low 80s (F).  These temps are fine.  They could stay this way all summer.

Yesterday was fairly productive.  I spent some time summerizing the house, i.e. I washed and store blankets.  They will sit out the summer store in a tote until the Autumn weather arrives.  I did some house cleaning, as well.  And in the afternoon got in a 9 mile ride in Corsica, which is becoming one of my favorite rides.

I found out this morning that I'm a rare bird, so to speak.  I am one of 2.7 million service members (US Navy here) to serve in the Vietnam War Zone.  Of that 2.7 million, there are between 610,000 and 850,000 of us who are still alive.  And every day there are less of us.  But then this is how life is.  Time never stops.

Today, when I go into work, I'm going to have a talk with management.  On Thursday, one the specialists said he was going to lunch and was seen driving his car out of the parking lot.  When I took my break 2.5 hours later, he was trying to punch in at the time clock.  We are required to take a full half hour lunch break.  If we try to punch in early, the time clock buzzes and tells us how many minutes we need to wait before punching back in.  He got the buzz when he tried to punch back in, and the message he needed to wait one more minute.  This means that he left the property 2.5 hours earlier, came back, and then punched out for his lunch.  Why are people so damn stupid?

As a palate cleanser, here's a pic of Howie.   See how he smiles.

And I guess the only artist who's still performing at Orangie's Freedom 250 concert is Vanilla Ice.  He posted some sort of rigmarole saying it was an honor.  This should not come as a surprise since he has already performed several times at Mar a Lago.  He also plagiarized the bassline in Under Pressure, a case that was settled out of court in which his record company was forced to pay Queen and David Bowie $4 million.  Being that his bona fides include crook and thief, I'm sure he will feel right at home  performing to cultists.

And yesterday was not a good day for Orangie.  He has to take his name off of the Kennedy Center.  A hold was put on his $1.8 billion slush fund.  And his $10 billion suit against the IRS was reopened because it has the stench of corruption.  Oh, and the White House released the report of his physical and everybody laughed.  The bruising on his hands is still being caused by his frequent shaking of hands.  He's still 6 feet, 3 inches tall, and still weighs in at 230 lbs.  This should surprise no one since he has always been bad with numbers.

Thiel flees to Argentina

Holy Crap, can you believe it?  We made it to the end of the week with only 3 days of rain!  Don't get too happy with this dry weather, though, showers are on the forecast for next week.  Daily high temps are supposed to be hovering around in the mid 70s (F).  That will be nice.  I have a feeling this summer is going to be stinkin' hot, so enjoy the comfortable temps while they last.

Yesterday, in spite of having to work, was a fairly productive day.  My workout was almost superb.  I got my heartrate up to 146.  This is actually good.  I'd like to sustain it for more than 3 minutes though.  Five would be nice.  8 would be even better.  Numbers are funny, in case you didn't know.  According to style manuals, you should never use a digit to start out a sentence, the number should always be spelled out.  Yet in current literary fashion, there are writers who do just that.  I do it occasionally.  I guess that makes me a rule breaker.  Eight comes across softer than 8, and seems to have less emphasis.  Sentences don't always need to start with words that can be capitalized.

Work was boring.  I sold an install to our store manager's mom.  She was quite nice.

I have a bike ride scheduled for this afternoon.  I think I check and see if there are any routes in Sardinia.

And the Republican regime has become totally untethered from reality.  Who in their right mind thought that a trailer trash UFC Cage Match on the front lawn of the White House was a good idea?  You can bet that someone on Orangie's team is going to profit greatly from this, since this is a "for Profit" administration.

The big news yesterday, even though it didn't get much of a headline in the Main Stream Media, was that Peter Thiel, JD Vance's mentor from Hell, has fled to Argentina. 

Many on social media were quick to point out that 80 years ago a number of Nazis also relocated to that country.  Perhaps he moved because inflation in Argentina is still historically severe and he wanted to use his billions to help improve that country's economy.  He did blurt out something about America's political future being bad.  This might imply he's worried that he might have to pay taxes.  Or it could be that, as John Gray occasionally says, he knows things are going to go "tits up" in this country and wanted to get out before his bacon got tossed in the frying pan.  Since he's a billionaire coward, I'm thinking the latter.

Then, of course, there is that Freedom 250 concert (?) event.  Orangie wanted to throw a birthday bash for himself and I have to admit, that idiot is killin' it... literally.  Of the original list of performers, the only one  who came close to be considered a minor headliner was Martina McBride and now she, like so many of those others listed, has pulled out.  In fact, the only artist who hasn't canceled is Vanilla Ice.  Vanilla who, you ask?

Trump's No Flight Zone

According to the forecast, we're in a bit of a cool down and our daily highs are going to be in the mid 70s (F).  I don't know if I'd call that a cool down since those temps pretty much define my comfort zone.  The long range forecast doesn't have a single day where the high  heat will be approaching the 80 (F) degree mark.  Keep in mind, we are still in Spring.  We're a little over 3 weeks out before the commencement of summer.

Yesterday turned out to be a very good day.  Many chores were completed.  I finished recording all of the snippets of video I'm planning on using to introduce The Body in 4/4 Time.  I hope this thing looks presentable.  Originally, I had thought of doing something with animation, but a friend of mine just happened to have a metronome that he let me borrow.

And I do get to go to work today.  Memorial Day is over so I suspect it will be a fun, lap filled day.  I know that I have 2 customers I'm going to need to call, since sales are important.  We are heading into that summertime zone when the kids are home from school and plans are just starting to be made for the family summer vacation.  Though things might be different this year with prices continuing to go climb.

I made chicken marsala for dinner last evening.  It was quite tasty.

I saw an interesting posit about the Orange Anus.  Let's start of with Don Jr.'s wedding, which was in Bermuda.  Orangie said he was too busy to attend.  Then Orangie had his physical, after which he stood in front of a column and talked about it for approximately 3 minutes. Some people thought he was diaper dumping.  But sometimes when people get bad news, while they don't always talk about columns, they will do something, anything, to stop thinking about the bad news.  Then he moved his cabinet meeting from Camp David, about 60 miles away, back to the White House because of the bad weather.  Bad weather?  We had rain showers.  By helicopter, Camp David is only a 30 minute flight away.  There are a number of serious health concerns that would keep Orangie from flying.  So, did his doctors put Orangie into a no fly zone?  People are waiting to see how it is before he flies back down to Mar a Lago.

Snake Bit

Well, we got drizzles.  Our high temp for this afternoon was supposed to be in the low 80s (F), now, however, it appears we'll only be in the high 70s (F).  That's fine.  I'd like to save on the cooling expense until it gets hot enough to be essential.  I also see that the mini-heatwave we had last week has now arrived in the UK.  These weather anomalies are going to become more and more frequent as the climate crisis continues to grow.  

Yesterday was very productive.  My lawn, front and back, was mowed.  Shopping was done.  Gas was bought for the car.  $46.00!  And that was with 30 cents off of every gallon.  I got a nice 9 mile ride in on the bike in Fausto, Italy.  It was so boring.  I will never ride in Fausto again.  In the evening I played some Crimson Desert.  It's interesting.  I'm not impressed with the combat.  That may change.  

The Bluetooth keyboard I use with my writing laptop stopped working.  Actually, it might still be working, I just couldn't get the Bluetooth to connect.  I tried a 2nd keyboard and had the same problem.  It might be the drivers.  I may spend some time putzing around with it this afternoon, but not much, the laptop  keyboard works just as good.

And since my roses have started blooming, I thought I share a pic of the peach colored climber I have by the front porch.

In today's segment of "aren't numbers fun":  Of the 18.7 million registered voters in Texas, only 855,00 showed up to vote Paxton or Cronyn.  Think about that.

And on Orangie's 3rd physical in 13months?  Seniors with serious medical issues are going to have frequent physicals because they can go downhill so very fast.  They are desperately trying to keep him alive for as long as possible since there's no one as charismatically evil to run the cult.

Yesterday, RFK Jr put out a video of himself playing with snakes. This is video without relevance.  He was bitten, and that grinning sack of shit stood there... grinning.  I had to laugh because you do know that so many of his followers, the ones that drink the raw milk, are going to run out and try the same thing... and get themselves snake bit.  And some of them might die.

Memorial Day Rant

Well, the sun came out yesterday.  It wasn't supposed to, but it did and the temps climbed into the upper 70s (F).  And people went ahead with their cookouts.  This meant that they stayed away from the store.  Sales were not glowing yesterday, but the sun was.  We're going to have the same today, with temps climbing into the low 80s (F).  We have the same forecast for tomorrow, though an occasional spritz of showers is also in the forecast.

All this rain has worked wonders on my raised garden, except for the dill.  (heavy sigh).  The dill didn't make it.  I checked this morning and the few slender stalks that were growing were laid flat and dead to the world.  Well, hell.  I have to go buy a hose this morning, so maybe I'll buy another pack of seeds. I also need another tomato cage.

Work yesterday was boring.  I did get 2 tiny sales to start off the week.  Management grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, and there were tons of cookies for desert.  As a veteran, they also gave me a bag of candy and a nice T-shirt with our logo on it.  I get a T-shirt from them on Veteran's Day and on Memorial Day.  One of my little quirks is that I don't wear shirts with logos in public, I'm not being paid extra to advertise, so I wear them around the house or as an undershirt when I go out in public.  

I went out this morning and took a few pics of my roses.  Here's one.

Of course, what would Memorial Day be without an unhinged rant from our pedophile in the White House.  he continued overnight.  The more he rants, the more he hurts the GOP.  He and his allies believe that every Republican will vote Republican, that there is some intrinsic loyalty built into them that no matter what he says or does, in the voting booth they will, without thought, simply vote Republican.  Of course, this is a lie, but then desperate people will grasp onto any lie rather than even attempt to understand the truth.

One of the things he tweeted said that for peace to exist in the middle east, all countries need to accept Israel.  To be truthful, I think most countries would as long as there was also a Palestinian state, however that runs contrary to Netanyahu's expansionism, so that's a non starter.

And it's run-off election day in Texas, Paxton vs Cronyn.  Orangie likes the corrupt stench of Paxton, who, if he loses, will shriek election fraud.  You see, with Republicans, rather than admit they're horrific candidates, they will always place the blame on someone or something else.

On Again, Off Again

Holy Moly! Our temp is up to 61 (F), though we still have the rain.  If the forecasters are correct our high on this drizzly day will be in the low 70s (F).  We are heading into a warming period, something that's a bit closer to seasonal.  June is less than a week away.  I do want to remind people that our recent cold period does mean this summer is going to be cool and damp, in fact it might be quite the opposite.  The latter, I think, might be what we are in for.

And retail yesterday was slow.  One of my customers stopped in about 45 minutes before I was supposed to leave to get quotes on her carpet installation.  Unfortunately, we need to call our measurement services to have quotes built, and when I called them I got a message saying that my hold time might be less than 15 minutes.  That means I could have been on hold for 20 -25 minutes, so I sent them emails asking them to build the quotes.  This afternoon I will follow up to insure that the quotes were built and sent to her.  They have a problem of only building only one quote.

Otherwise, the day was boring.  We were served breakfast all day, which was nice.  The sausages were fine.  However, they decided to make chocolate ship pancakes.  I love pancakes... plain pancakes.  I might be a grazer, but I'm also a very picky eater.

I finished watching The Boroughs last night.  I enjoyed it.  The cast is almost entirely made up of late middle aged and younger senior actors.  It's good to see actors I grew up with still working their trade.  Geena Davis and Alfre Woodard are simply terrific!  And when was the last time you got to see Alfred Molina singing Bruce Springsteen's Thunder Road?  On the surface, The Boroughs is a senior living facility, where older people go to spend the rest of the lives in cul-de-sacs.  Except there's something off in The Boroughs.  Something seems to be hiding in the dark.  This series is a freaking hoot!

And the Orange Asshole's on again, off again war is... well, who the hell knows.  Supposedly he was going to give away the store until the details leaked, and then the deal he was claiming was good was not to his satisfaction and was off.  It also turns out that this is actually not a deal, but the concept of a deal, a memorandum with some bullet points, nothing more.  It also seems as though Iran is the country in charge, dictating what they want the terms to be and the OA is so desperate to end his failed war he will accept anything.  You would think at at least one of his advisors would let him know that the instant terms are signed, the world is going to know just how badly he caved.

Evidently Orangie has another visit to Walter Reed Hospital on his schedule... possibly, though not necessarily likely, at least not one in which the results are going to be made public.  I suspect that this bloated bag of shit is leaking from so many seems, right now they're struggling to keep him from exploding.

That Ship Has Sailed

Well, it rained all night and I feel as though I should add "the day I left," but that would mean I'd have to break out the banjo and sing a chorus of Oh' Susanna.  Big problem, I don't have a banjo, which might be a good thing.  Outside, the drizzles continue.  The overcast skies are still hanging close to the ground, and that will help keep our temps cool.  We might get up into the mid 50s (F) today, but that's about as high as it's going to get.  When I left for work yesterday afternoon our outside temp was 48 (F).  Needless to say, the heat in my house was on.  

And work was slow.  When I got to the flooring desk, I had to complete a carpet install that had been started by our aisle associate.  The measure was made on line and the customer hadn't added a carpet.  The sale was simple enough, the only problem was that the customer had doused himself with some god awful cologne that was so sweet and over powering it felt as though it were torching the life out of my nasal passages.  What a good thing it was that the sale only took about 10 minutes, otherwise I'd have had to tell him to stand back at least 10 feet.

Otherwise, the day was boring.  I easily got in my steps.  When I got home, I played the new game I bought.  It's okay.  I have to get used to the differences.  I'm still in the tutorial stage, and I will admit to being tired: must have been all those steps I got in earlier.

Here's another picture of my roses.  This time of year, my yard is awash in color... as well as rain.

 

Evidently Orangie's Secret Service shot someone near the White House yesterday.  I think it is interesting that so much of the online chatter indicates massive number of people believe this to be another False Flag, meaning the administration is attempting to use the incident to drum up Orangie's approval ratings.  It ain't gonna work.  That ship has already sailed.  At this point, nothing is going to improve his terrible status with the American people.

And right now I'm seeing details on the peace deal Orangie's floating as a way to get out of the stupid war he began.  He is, and this is me being as concise as possible, giving them the kitchen sink... and the cupboards, as well as their choice in appliances.  Remember, his best seller, The Art of the Deal was written by someone else.  I understand that part of the "deal" is for us to pay a toll to the Iranians on every ship passing through the Strait of Hormuz.  The ship that sailed?  It's going to be expensive.

The Memorial Weekend Begins

So, here we are on Saturday morning, the first day of a three day weekend, a holiday weekend, and our outside temp is 49 (F), and we have a steady rain.  Folks, I don't want to be the bearer of bad news, but here in Central PA, it ain't gonna get much better.  Our high temp might be in the low 60s (F).  I'm not talking about a patch of rain, nor a swath of rain, I'm talking about an enormous sheet of rain covering almost the entire northeast of the country.  The skies are not going to start clearing up until sometime on Monday.   Tuesday's going to be nice.  That's a good thing.  I don't work on Tuesdays and I am definitely going to have to mow the lawn.

Yesterday was sort of busy.  I didn't cook anything special.  Dinner was ham salad.  That was the last of the Easter ham.  I did some grocery shopping.  I bought a ham hock so perhaps on Tuesday I'll make bean soup.  I have tons of dried beans, some wrinkly old potatoes, so I'll probably stop off at the supermarket on my way home from work tomorrow and pick up a carrot or two.  

I am scheduled to work this afternoon.  I'm not expecting it to be busy.  It is the holiday weekend.  Those who do show up will only be doing so because they're looking for the Memorial Day sales.  In the flooring department, we're doing a free install on specialty carpet.  Up until about 8 months ago, all of our carpet installs were free.  Then they began charging so could see an install charge on their quote, however, to offset this they lowered all of the carpet prices.  Then, 3 months ago, they repriced carpet according to density and... if you guessed that 70% of our carpets went up in price you'd be right.  And that increase was more than the amount they deducted to offset the install charge.  Remember, it's all about insuring that the customer pays as much as possible. It's all about greed.

And here's another picture of some of my roses.

What about Tulsi Gabbard quitting?  She's always been seen as a Russian asset, so I'm suspecting Putin has more important issues for her to attend.  I'm suspecting that perhaps her resignation was a mutual decision by both her and Orangie.  In his mind women are good for one thing, and one thing only, and diplomacy is not that one thing.  I also suspect that Orangie's blow bro Vlad is not too happy with Orangie's performance.  One of his main objectives, after all, was to insure that Ukraine capitulated.  Now that Ukraine is kicking Vlad's booty boy ass in so many Russian cities, it must be obvious to Vlad that Orangie is too untethered to be any use at all to him.  Even the real estate goons, Witkoff and Kushner seem to have disappeared form the negotiating stage, and both had some serious ties to Vlad.  I'm suspecting that Orangie's abysmal approval ratings have turned him into the biggest political anchor the world has ever seen.

Gas Prices will be going up

Well, our temps are back in the 50s (F).  Today's high is expected to possibly reach 61 (F).  That's what I call cool.  And, as I said yesterday, this drizzly weather is going to ruin a lot of Memorial Day cookouts.  Looking at the weather map, you can see that this is not going to be an isolated event.  I work the weekend, so I don't have to worry about any plans getting rained out.  T

They will be cooking hot dogs and burgers for us at the store this weekend, so exercise will need to be adjusted.  I'm going to have to figure out a way to burn more calories.  Because of the weather, I doubt if the store will seem much in the way of last minute grill purchases, and with temps barely in the 60s (F) there sure as hell ain't gonna be a big rush for window A/C units.  After Memorial Day, curb appeal purchases are going to fall.  While there are always those individuals who will splurge on an expensive project, I do suspect the retail industry, as a whole, is going to get very idle.

And I'm thinking of painting the writing room.  It's been a grayish teal for a number of years now, so something lighter, perhaps.  I've always had a fondness for greens.  I picked up a few paint chips when I worked on Monday.  Now I'm at the point where I'm thinking I might want to invest in the purchase of a paint sample.  

And yesterday's latkes were delicious.  I will make them again sometime.

Being the Memorial Day weekend, both Congress and the Senate have adjourned until June, and once again we've seen Mikey Johnson bowing his head low to the Orange Anus.  The Senate passed a war powers act, putting an end to Orangie's war with Iran.  They sent it to Congress and Mikey, knowing there were enough Republican and Democratic votes in the House of Representatives to pass the legislation, never brought it up for a vote.  In fact, he sent Congress home.  I find this pathetic, his need to bow down, to so easily acquiesce to his leadership to the pedophile in the White House.  It's almost as if he feels this war with Iran is essential.  Ignoring the fact that it's unpopular is not wise.  Americans are heaping so much blame on the Orange Anus for... well, everything.  The Republicans do not want America to snap, because they will be hit with the shitty end of the stick.

Finally, our gas prices are high.  They would be much higher if it weren't for the fact that Orangie's administration is releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.  At present that reserve has dropped to below 400 million barrels of oil.  Here in the US, we use, on average, around 20 million barrels a day.  This means we have about 20 days of oil on reserve.  Higher gas prices mean an angrier America.  Without an end to this war, that reserve is going to get lower and eventually gas prices will go through the roof.  I'm very much in doubt if Congress will do anything to stop Orangie, so prepare yourselves.

The Reds Have It

Well, the heat is gone.  A front moved through the area and we've been left with cloudy skies and drizzles.  If you're in Central PA and had plans for a big Memorial Day weekend bash, they're going to be washed out.  the rain will be hanging around until Monday.  Temps will not climb into the 70s (F).  We have returned to sweatshirt and sweatpants weather.  I have no problem with this. The hot days of summer are going to be here soon enough.

And yesterday sort of fit into the pattern of the last few Wednesdays.  I did chores: laundry, dishes, and some yardwork, but mostly I did nothing.  I did spend a lot of time thinking, something I enjoy doing regularly.  Too many people don't think.  They don't like to ponder.  I do think that too many would rather subsist than participate.  They prefer a life filled with the doldrums, where the slightest breezy thought might make them consider something.  Thinking might actually be rapidly becoming a lost art.  The don't like news that upsets them, so what they do watch or read has been candied down into something less substantive than salt water taffy.  Me?  I'll take the peanut butter brittle any day.

I am scheduled to work today, but to celebrate the autumn-like weather, I've decided to stay home and fry up some latkes.  

I took this pic on Tuesday.  As you can see, all of my reds are... well red; the rose in the foreground and Howie in the background.  

Just because yesterday was a slow day doesn't mean that I spent the time scrolling endlessly through social media.  I did do some research on primary elections, and who can and who cannot vote.  In PA, we have a closed primary.  Democrats can only vote for Democrats, and Republicans can only vote for Republicans.  Those registered as Independents can't vote at all. This means that 1.4 million Pennsylvanians can't vote in the primary.

The same is true in Kentucky... somewhat.  Registration is cut off a month before the primary and you can't switch parties.  So, if you're registered as a Republican and you hate what's going on in Washington, you're still going to have to vote Republican.  The 11% who are registered as Independent or nonaffiliated could not vote for Massie.

And Georgia is different from both Pennsylvania and Kentucky.  

So, primary elections are not the bellwethers that some believe them to be.  For example, we'll need to wait until the midterm in Kentucky to see if those 45% who voted for Massie and the 11% who couldn't vote, will vote for Orangie's personal choice.  Primaries provide us with the candidates, they do not give us a hint as to who's going to win in the General Election.

Primary Positive

So, our temps didn't get up to 98 (F) yesterday,  they only hit 95 (F).  This afternoon, they might hit 90 (F) before the storms move in and cool things down.  For those Memorial Day party people, it looks as though we're going to have a drizzly holiday, at least on Sunday.  By Monday, things should be warming up again, though not into the 90s (F).  

Yesterday was sort of good, sort of meh.  Things got done, and some things didn't.  My bicycle ride in the afternoon was delayed because of a Microsoft update on my sporting laptop.  Usually updates take about 2 minutes, this one took almost 5.  After the laptop finally restarted, I had to close the tab that was going to show me all the new and wonderful things the update was giving me.  About those new and wonderful things, I have checked them out in the past and none of them have ever improved my computing experience.  And, of course, I couldn't sign into the Tacx training app.  There was no screen for me to log in.  So, I turned the laptop off, and then back on, and still had the same problem.  There were other issues, as well. When I finally did get to the log in screen, it timed out before the connection could be made.  Over 40 minutes later it got sorted out and I could finally get in my ride.

I've been working on a short video to introduce The Body in 4/4 Time.  YouTube advertises an editor, however it's only available on mobile, which is not what I want.

On my 3nd playthrough of Expedition 33:  I am approaching the end.  Last evening it took me 25 minutes to kill one of the bigger bosses.  It was so great!  I was so pumped!  Still, I do know that very shortly I'm going to need to start looking for another game to play.  This looks interesting:

Yesterday was primary day in a number of states.  I had been hoping that Massie, from Kentucky, might pull a victory from his hat.  Allies for the Orange Anus spent upwards of $30 million to defeat him, and MAGA cultists did what their demigod wanted.  Massie got 45% of the vote, his opponent, Ed Gallrein got 55% of the vote.  Gallrein is a Netanyahu support, in case you were wondering. The cultists are dancing around like this was the 2nd, or 3rd, or 4th coming.  Massie has 7 months left in office, prediction markets are saying that he's going to take a flamethrower to the GOP.  You have to give it to the cultists, they sure do know and embrace their stupidity.  They actually believe that the 45% of voters who supported Massie are actually going to bow their heads and vote Republican in the primary.  That 45% is just as pissed off as Massie is.  Come November, they will either stay home, or vote Democrat.  The way Orangie's approval rating keeps dropping, many of those voters might actually be voting Democrat for the first time in their lives.  The cultists simply do no know how much America hates Donald J. Trump.

The $1.776 Billion Dollar Theft

Our outside temp here in Central PA is 72 (F).  Last evening, on my drive home from work, the temp was 94 (F).  Today was supposed to just as hot, but now, maybe not so much.  The forecast is for temps to be just shy of 95  (F), which is just a mite cooler than yesterday.  Tomorrow, we should be topping off in the mid 80s (F).  Then we're heading back down to more seasonable temps.

Before going to work yesterday, and after my workout, I did begin to seasonize my house for summer.  The little window A/C unit is now in the training room.  It's a Media which gets good ratings, however, I need to run it on high for it to work well.  Why put a window unit in the workout/computer room?  Because that room has a shared vent with the big bedroom.  Because of the way my vents are set up, the Central Air in my house is super great downstairs, not so great upstairs.  I blame the installer who was more interested in selling an install then in upgrading the venting.  My return vent on the second floor is on the floor.  That does absolutely nothing when it comes to circulating the air.

Flooring was slow yesterday.  After 1:30 PM, I was the only sales specialist at the flooring desk.  There was also an aisle associate, but when I left at 7, it was just him, and him alone.  Needless to say, sales were not good, so the staffing was not needed.  We did do good business in window A/C units, however.  

And yesterday this happened.

It happened just before I went to work, before it became a raging inferno of anger.  This morning, all I could do as I scanned through burning headlines, and scrolled down through the searing comments on social media, I could only wonder at the overwhelming stupidity... and greed, of this president.  And if the theft of tax payer dollars wasn't bad enough, nestled in this agreement is a statement saying that neither this president, nor any member of his family, nor his companies, can ever be audited again.  If this is allowed, he and his children will be allowed to steal and grift for all of eternity.  To say this is not sitting well with the American people would be an understatement.   Some think he's going to use this money to set up his own private army, not me.  That would mean spend money.  He only spends other people's money, never his own.  I think he and his advisors know the midterms are going to be brutal, that he's going to be impeached a third time.  I suspect that this $1.776 billion will be moved someplace safe.  After the Republicans lose badly with the midterms, I think he's going to create as much chaos as possible, and then take the money and run.  This is what he's done in the past, with his bankruptcies.