The Cadre of Pedophiles

We have 4 (F) outside.  No wind chill, but that's still a bitterly cold temp.  Our afternoon temps are expected to clime in to the mid-20s with on and off again sunshine.  We've just begun a warm-up.  By Monday our afternoon high will get us just above freezing.  Forecasts are for temps to get a little warmer, but we are, after all, in the dead of winter, and our highs will once again be in the upper teens by the end of this coming week.

Yesterday turned out to be fairly good.  I did get in a decent workout, burning off over 220 calories.  That's a good thing.  

An new bread machine was ordered from Wayfair.  I don't use Amazon anymore.  Not surprisingly, it's a Cuisinart, the same model I used for years, though updated.  Because I'm letting Wayfair send me texts, I got 10% off.  After a bit of time passes, though not much, or if the texts are too frequent I will block them.

I also signed up for a new deal on Mubi.  $1 for thee months.  This streamer is not for everyone.  They focus on Art House films, and those indelible classics that we've all heard about, but have never had a chance to watch.  I saw Plainclothes on Mubi, as well as The History of Sound.  

More Epstein files dropped yesterday.  Within 20 minutes after they had been made public, the DOJ began deleting some of them.  Over a million pages were dropped.  Luckily for the world the minute the drop happened resourceful people began downloading.  One of the things most surprising was not the sexually graphic content, people expected that from our pedophile in the White House.  Nope.  What stunned a lot of people was that the names of the victims were not redacted.  In one instance they included a victim's driver's license.  I did grab a sample for those interested.

Some are thinking this drop may have been done by a leaker who had enough of Orangie's shit show.  Last evening I saw something that might be more than a little relevant.  Whispers in the FBI are saying the drop was either done by Israel, or someone loyal to Israel, in order to compromise Orangie.  We all know he's not very popular, so perhaps this is true.  Of course, that would mean they'd rather deal with Vance, and he's in way over his head with the simple job he now has.

Another thing that surprised people is that Elonia Musk is mentioned quite frequently.  He definitely wanted to be one of the "in crowd."  There are many, many emails between Elonia and Epstein.  It seems that the Ketamine Kid has a penchant for raunchy sex with girls.

And Nutlick Lutnick gets his share of mentions, as does Alan Dershowitz, and Stevie Bannon.  In fact, Bannon seems to have been in constant communication with Epstein.  And while Clinton does get an honorable mention, this whole cadre of pedophiles is overwhelmingly Republican.

  

Don Lemmon

 Right now our outside temp is sitting at 4 (F).  We'll be warming up to around 19 (F).  Tomorrow is expected to be about the same, though the overnight low might drop below 0 (F).  That's really cold if you're using Celsius.  Next week things are going to warm up a bit, out temps might even pop above freezing.  And just to add a little sweetener to this frigid pot, I got an email for  UGI, my gas provider, that they're requesting and increase in rates.  This is because Wall Street expects them to make a decent profit off selling natural gas.  The water, gas, and electric utilities seem to be requesting yearly increases now.  Their attitude that it's not their problem everything else is going up in price is a big problem they simply do not want to consider.

Yesterday, I left the house and went to the store.  The cold doesn't bother me.  One of the things I picked up was Starbuck's ground coffee at BJs.  I'll give it a shot, see how it tastes.  I did price it out at my Giant Supermarket to see how much of a savings I was getting.  At Giant Starbuck's is on sale, $7.99 for 12 ounces.  I bought a 40 ounce bag at BJ's.  That would be 3.33 bags at 7.99 or $26.60, and keep in mind that is Giant's sale price, it's normally $12 per 12 ounce bag.  I paid $22.49 at BJ's.  I consider that a decent deal.

I did get a good mini-workout yesterday and rode for another 6 miles in Scotland.  I really do like those Scottish rides. Fresh scenery.  Lots of verge. 

Howie brought an icicle into the house this morning.  I switched it out for a much smaller ice cube.

And the Department of Justice arrested Don Lemmon last night because he did his job as a journalist and recorded a demonstration in a Church.  This is a very bad thing, arresting journalists.  We can not go a single day without another Republican atrocity stacking on top of another Republican atrocity.  I'm literally dumbfounded as to how out of touch this regime is to what Americans are thinking right now.  They constantly seem to be patting themselves on their backs congratulating themselves on how special they are.  I do think the people running this administration still believe that massive numbers of Americans will suddenly bow their heads and accept this authoritarianism.  These people don't seem to understand that they're dancing around in this large pool of gasoline and there are lit torches all around them.  At times, it almost seems as though Orangie and his gang are going to push things until they get a pushback.  Stupidly, they don't comprehend how terrible that pushback is going to be for them.

A bit of a bright note was that Congress approved a spending plan that will run until September.  What makes this bright is that the budget of the Department of Homeland Security, which runs ICE, is not included.  Perhaps Congress is beginning to understand that Kristi Noem doesn't need any more plastic surgery.

The Quagmire of Deceit

Our outside temp is 5 (F).  Tomorrow we're supposed to drop below Zero.  Friday and Saturday are stacking up to be the coldest days so far this year.  Next week temps are predicted to climb into the upper 20s (F), so break out the shorts and T-shirts.  No precipitation is predicted, at least nothing that's going to add inches to what's already on the ground.  One good thing is that we're now one third of the way through winter.  Isn't it nice that February is a short month?

I didn't bake or cook anything yesterday.  Dinner was a hamburger made in the air fryer.  That doesn't mean I didn't snack.  I did.  But then I also managed to complete a decent workout with the machine and dumbbells.  I also used a 15 pound kettlebell for upwards thrusts.  Believe me, that gets your heart pumping.  

The only thing Howie likes about the winter is the ice.  It's hard and crunchy, so instead of bringing a stick or a stone into the house, he brings in chunks of ice, like mini-icebergs.  Since they have all sorts of detritus in them, I switch them out with an ice cube from the freezer.  Like me, he has no problem chewing on ice.

While I was putting dishes in the dishwasher two days ago, I banged my thumb up, one of those freaky little things where the left corner of the nail snagged the rack.  What made this so freaky was that I keep my nails short, it's how I was raised.  This doesn't mean that if I see a man with long nails my opinion of him drops... much.  Suffice to say it hurt, and it bled, and I kept a bandage on it until last evening.  Howie has found this whole thing interesting.  This morning he's inclined to sniff my thumb, and on occasion has tried to lick it, and I'm hoping he's not developing some sort of carnivorous fascination for it.

Is this the face of a thumb eater?

A headline that made me chuckle was a report that Tesla is going to stop manufacturing their X and S vehicles, the cars that moved them into the mainstream.  Supposedly Elonia will be focusing on robotic vehicles.  My take is that sales have tanked so badly on these models its cheaper to stop production than take the hit.  Perhaps if Elonia didn't have a billionaire's baby brain things might have worked out better.

And big change of ICE.  Evidently, there's been an "all caps" directive telling them not to interact with agitators.  According to NBC, it took several people over an hour to come up with the exact wording, that's a good indicator of this administration's lack of intelligence.

According to a poll by Fox Entertainment, 17% of the American people do not believe ICE is being aggressive enough. Since this is a pro Orangie propaganda network, that number has most likely been inflated, still that's a terrible amount of racists in this country.

And for someone who demands extreme loyalty, Orangie's discovery of how easy it is to lose those 2nd amendment people must really sting.  What's sad about this is that those people never realized that Republicans were saying they were pro guns just to get votes.  This party has a been a quagmire of deceit for quite some time.

   

Everything Trump Touches Dies

We have a lot of sunshine and 8 (F) outside.  Yesterday our high was supposed to climb into the upper teens and we got to the lower 20s (F).  I guess you could call that a warm spell.  The long range forecast has Central Pa warming up slightly after the weekend, with temps climbing into the upper 20s (F).  Not one day is predicted to be above freezing.  This is some really cold air that's coming down from the North Country.  My heating expense is going to go through the roof.

One thing that is apparent is how easily many people adapt to the cold.  We simply bundle up and go outside, at least I do. 

I did go for a bicycle ride yesterday.  In Scotland.  Tacx dropped a new series of rides.  Though I've never been there, I'd love to visit for the plaids and accents.  Today I get to work with the machine.  Mostly I want to work on my legs, the largest muscle group in the body.  And my core muscles because I must have twinged my back the wrong way while shoveling snow.  Yesterday, my right leg was sore, nothing that 2 naproxen didn't cure.  Believe me, stronger core muscles help, walking, too.

Dinner last evening was a beef and barley stew with tomatoes.  It was quite tasty and just the right meal for a cold winter's evening.

And Orangie's administration tried to pivot on Alex Pretti's murder yesterday, not because it was the right thing to do, but rather because Americans are infuriated by videos of an innocent man being shot 9 times in the back.  Don't think this is a change of heart of him.  Nope.  This is a sad political move that is too little, and way, way too late.  Even though it was underwater, his immigration policy had given him his highest rating.  Not any more.  Reuters/IPSOS reports only 39% of the country approves of his immigration policy, and many of those are racists.

The munchkin general Bovino, now in the process of leaving the picture, has dealt with discrimination charges in the past where he settled financially, rather than go to court.

One comment I saw that was amusing said "it's a shame Noem paid for all of that bad plastic surgery for nothing."

With Orangie in charge, the Republican Party is dying. Not that the party of selfishness and greed should have died a long time ago, but with him leading the way its demise is now supercharged.  The saying "everything Trump touches dies," is true, and he has two hands around the throat of the Republican Party.  He tried to touch America and is being rejected.  Susan (I'm so concerned) Collins has issued a statement that ICE needs to get out of both Minneapolis and Maine.  I do think this might be the first time that she has ever taken a stand on anything that goes even slightly against the grain of a sitting US president.  Any while I still tend to doubt her sincerity because she's up for re-election, at least she's spoken out... meekly.

National Strike

Outside, the temp is a cold 7 (F).  Our high today is predicted to reach 18 (F).  For the next 6 days our high is predicted to be the same, so we're in a bit of frigid holding pattern.  After that our daily highs should be up in the mid to upper 20s (F).  heating wise, this is going to be a very cold winter.  Honestly, if it weren't for the expense, I wouldn't mind winter.

I worked yesterday.  It was very slow.  Interestingly enough, last week was one of the best weeks the store has had in a long time... until Sunday.  Our sales on Sunday were a little over $4000.    I think 5 people showed up to work.  More showed up yesterday.  No one for the paint department, so I mixed a gallon or two of paint.   I also talked to a couple about putting carpet in the house they just bought.  Otherwise, the day was very quiet.

The old coffee maker I was using to replace the with the broken grinder appears to have lost the capacity of keeping the coffee warm.  I'll check to see if BJ's has an cheap one for sale.  My days of laying down a decent sum of money for a coffee maker have passed.  I only drink 2-3 cups a day, and those are in the morning, and that doesn't warrant the expense.

I've been getting comments from someone who seems bent on inciting violence in the United States.  I let the first one slide.  The comments yesterday were deleted.  Anonymous voices need to understand that words without a name are impotent.  Constructive criticism is fine, criticism just to criticize is not.

For those of you who aren't paying attention, this is coming up.  I believe the date is January 30.

Orangie's administration is concerned about this, but then so is Susie Collins, from Maine.  But then again we all know that Susie is always concerned, just before she voted straight down the party line.  She's going to vote for the Department of Homeland Security funding even though increased funding for ICE is included.  She's citing the fact the funding for FEMA is included, though she fails to mention that the Federal Emergency Management Agency has only been aiding states loyal to Orangie.  And those loyal states have found out that the aid has been chintzed down to nothing.

Greg Bovino, the munchkin major, is leaving Minneapolis today, as are several members of the Border Patrol.  Some are calling this a demotion, though its my understanding he's going to be retiring with full pay.  I suspect that life for the munchkin in the civilian world will not be easy.  Bribery suspect Tommy Homan is replacing him.  This is, as someone else said, shitting in your pants and then changing your shirt.

And evidently Orangie spent most of yesterday lamenting about his failure in Minnesota.  At least, that's what I've heard.  In truth, I don't doubt that the chief whiner is little Stevie Miller.

Snow Dog... Not

We did get snow.  Out totals are close to the final prediction of between 9 and 12 inches.  I'd say we got about 10 inches.  Snowplows have cleared a single lane down the middle of the street.  Our temps will be staying in the middle teens (F) for the next week, with our average daily high around 19 (F).  While being cold, we will have full sunshine on most of those days and that will have a melting effect.  Next week our temps will climb into the mid to upper 20s (F).  My hopes for this being a moderate winter are fading. 

And for those of you who were expecting me to tell you that Howie finds the snow a rousing delight, I'm going to disappoint you.  My character Eli, in my books, has a favorite word.  He says it frequently.  "Shit."  Well, that seems to be Howie's view of the snow.  Every time I open the door, he sits there staring out and by his look I can tell you he's thinking the doggy version of "shit."  You see, the snow has done that dastardly thing of covering up his sticks and stones.  I suspect he will despise it even more once the surface gets a crust.

Some of my neighbors shoveled themselves out yesterday.  I waited for this morning.  The temps have actually stayed the same, hovering at 16 (F), so it's not like it got colder overnight.

Most of yesterday I played a video game.  I also made salmon patties, similar to hamburgers but with salmon.  Big mistake.  Now the house smells of fried fish.  

And I do work today.  Right now I'm planning on going into the store.  This will be 6 hours of me getting paid to sit at the flooring desk.

Here's a pic of a snow covered Howie with a little stick he found.

I understand that the Orange Anus is revisiting the murder of Alex Pretti because...  half the nation believes Puppy Killer Noem and munchkin General Bovino are simply lying.  We've already seen the TACO effect in regards to his vile comments about Europeans fighting in Afghanistan.  That took a day before someone using his name put out a statement that NATO troops were honorable fighters in the war that wasn't a war.  Rumors are flying that Noem is going to be thrown under the bus, but not the munchkin general.  The rising anger in America is quite palpable.  While Orangie may shriek that he has the highest approval ratings ever, there are those in his administration who know the truth.  Republican Senators and Congressmen are beginning to know the truth.  So, there's a good chance they will sacrifice Noem in the hopes of stanching the flow of Republican voters.  These are amateur fascists at best and they simply do not know what in hell they're doing.

And for those who didn't hear, evidently Orangie is suing the NYT because they posted about his approval ratings being in the gutter.  

 

Republican Terrorists

We have snowfall!!  Our temp is 9 (F) and it's been snowing since around 1 AM.  They have updated our forecast and are now calling for between 8 and 12 inches.  Right now, a heavy snow band is passing over head so the white stuff is really coming down.  We have around 4 inches outside, so if this storm does continue into tomorrow, we will probably have more than 12 inches.

The neighbor with the pickup truck has parked it somewhere else.  The neighbors across the street who own 3 vehicles, have moved them up onto their yards.  It's only my neighbors, who have a lot of space on their lawn, and a driveway to boot who have left their cars front to be plowed in.  You really can't fix stupid.

And I did take a personal day today.  I knew this was pretty much a done deal yesterday.  Many associates were planning on calling off.  This will not be an historic snowfall, but it will be decent, so many are taking advantage of having a day off.  

What am I going to do today?  Well, I've got a load laundry in the washer and two more ready to go.  This afternoon, I think I might bake bread.  Oh, and probably work on the book.

The Guardian has an article this morning about the groundswell of anger rising in America.  I think groundswell might be an understatement.  The murder of Renee Good was horrific.  Yesterday's murder of Alex Pretti has compounded the rising tide of anger in the United States.  Instead of trying to alleviate this anger by throwing one of their own to the wolves, this administration is brazenly lying.  But then this is how Orangie has always lived his life.  Never doubt, simply lie.  The growing backlash is going to be horrific, and even his billionaire buddies are going to be effected.  As an example, here's the lead headline of the Washington Post, owned by Orangie loyalist Jeff Bezos.

While I didn't check all of the Main Stream Media outlets, those I checked have the same lead story, that the videos contradict the lies this administration is pushing.  Because Orangie has surrounded himself with idiot loyalists who have never been the brightest colors in the box, they will continue this tact.  The videos prove that Alex Pretti was not domestic terrorist,  that he was holding a camera, not a gun, and that he didn't charge with the intent of creating maximum damage.  Millions upon millions are watching that video over and over again.  It's on the front page of the Washington Post, slowed down so you can see every graphic second of this murder.  This is going to end badly for Orangie, for the Republican Party, and for the conservatives who so desperately want to dictate how Americans live.  It is they who are the domestic terrorists.  Soon, they will start to cut their losses and run because they have never had a spine.  They have always been stinking cowards.  

The Odd Neighbor

Here in Central PA we have a very chilly 7 (F)  outside.  This afternoon, we may hit a high of 18 (F)  Woo Hoo!  These temps are the reason why we are getting snow, while a number of states to our south will be getting Ice.  There!  I said it!  The Department of Justice wants weather forecasters to say "freezing rain" because ICE is getting such a terrible rap.  Awww.  As for how much snow we're going to be getting?  We are still in the MAJOR category with total accumulations between 10 and 18 inches.  I don't know about you, but when I see a spread that great I tend to think they're pulling these numbers out of their ass.

And, as you can seen, Blogger has fixed the Replies.  What was really screwy about that whole thing was that if I signed into Riding On through my phone, I could reply to comments, but not when I signed in with either my laptop or PC.  

There are four apartments in the blue house across the street, one of which is rented by a throuple.  One of the young men parks his pick-up truck in front of my house, so yesterday I told him that if we do get as much snow as they're predicting they will plow his truck in.  Plowed snow is difficult to shovel; with these cold temps it will turn to ice quickly.  I also tried to tell the wife of the loud neighbors next to me, and her response was... oddly rude.  As I started explaining about the snowplows, she cut me off, saying "You need to talk to Mike (her husband) about that.  You can't talk to me."  And with that she quickly went inside.  So, was she telling me I simply couldn't talk to her, or that I couldn't talk to her about the snowplows.  They park their 2 cars in front of their house.  If we get 18 inches of snow, they will be buried by the plows.  So it goes.

I work this afternoon.  The store will no doubt be busy with people buying snow shovels, salt, and snow blowers... oh, that's right, they want us to call them snow throwers because blowers might be construed as having sexual connotations.  This is what I use to take advantage of all of the free cardio.

There was a big walk out/shut down in Minneapolis yesterday.  Surprisingly, main stream media covered it... except for Fox Entertainment, and possibly what used to be CBS.  I suppose this is because while they believe that kowtowing to the administration will give them better access to the insanity, it's the reality of the terrible things going on which will get them the clicks.  You see, it will always boil down to revenue.  There is a growing contingent of Independent News Media out there and it's growing fast.  The only way for MSM to get those clicks is to compete and puff and fluff stories about Orangie just ain't makin' it.  For example, no one is buying tickets to the new Melanoma biography.  Perhaps if they had included some of bit about her sex work, tickets might have sold better.  Let's be honest, no one wants to sit through 2 hours watching an old Russian sex worker talking about everything except the one thing she was good at.  My understanding is that it cost Bezos $40 million to make, and it's going to cost him another $35 million in advertising.  Experts are saying that this piece of fluff propaganda might gross, let me repeat that, might gross $5 million worldwide.  Bezos should have known that everything Orangie, and Melanoma as well, touches dies.  Good for Jeff.

The Republican Achilles Tendon

Blogger is not allowing me to reply to comments, so something is apparently wrong: a glitch seems to have occurred.

And supposedly, we are getting snow.  There's a good chance we will be getting between 10 and 15 inches.  The white stuff is predicted to begin falling tomorrow night and continue until Monday morning.  Our temps are supposed to be brutally cold.  This means I will have to manage Howie carefully.  As an 18 month old Labrador, he is smart as a whip when it comes to fetching toys and knowing where his snacks are, but when it comes to cold he's as dumb as a 2 year-old child.  He doesn't understand that cold is bad.

Anyway, I'm all prepped for the storm.  I bought another gallon of milk yesterday, though I am running low on chunky peanut butter.  Since today's Friday and every media outlet is shrieking snowstorm, snowstorm, snowstorm, I'm betting my local supermarkets are going to be quite busy.  Tomorrow they will be worse as people stock up.

I'm scheduled to work this weekend, but... while I'm betting Saturday's going to be a sure thing, I'm also betting Sunday will be a snow day.  If the forecasts are wrong, and we only get around 6 inches, I'll go in late, and we all know forecasts are wrong all of the time.  I did check out the European weather models since they tend to be a little more accurate than the NOAA models, and their charts indicate snow should be falling at a rate of 1.5 inches an hour for about 8 hours with the heaviest starting around noon.

Here's what the WaPo is predicting.

And while I no longer subscribe to the Washington Post, I do check their headlines daily, they still tend to be more conservative than cultists, but not by much.  So, I was surprised to see several negative headlines regarding Orangie.  The one I found most intriguing has to do with his cratering popularity.  This was not a "how to fix it" headline, but rather a "why is he pissing so many people off," blurb.  Since I don't subscribe, I couldn't read the article, but let's be frank here, the reasons for his cratering are fairly obvious.  He's a pathological liar, a used car dealer who has sold American voters the worst lemon on the lot, and now blames them for not being happy with that lemon.  Except for the cultists that worship him, a vast majority of Americans now see him as a conman, a grifter, and thief.  Americans now understand that he's accumulating great wealth at our own expense.  His approval rating sits at 35% and there is nothing he and his party can do to change that fact.  Nor can they change the fact his unpopularity is continuing to grow as his approval rating sinks.  His presidency will flatline, probably before the midterms.  The Republican party gambled that Americans en masse would accept the dark side of authoritarianism, and they're losing badly.  They simply don't understand that most people are good.  That is one of their Achilles tendons.

Buried Alive

 Surprisingly, our morning temp is above freezing.  That's right, so I'll take 34 (F) for the win.  This afternoon we will see temps in the 40s (F).  Of course, beginning Saturday afternoon they're going to crater.  I've looking at a number of forecasts for the upcoming storm and while Central PA is going to be getting snow, apparently the heaviest is going to be falling to the south of us.  We might get a total of 8 inches till the whole thing ends late Sunday night.  The kid inside me wishes that we'd get 18.

Yesterday was productive.  I got a nice workout in.  Cleaned the aquariums.  Worked on my foreign language skills.  Fun stuff.  

I finished the Tick, Tock, Pop intermezzo chapter in the book.  That's the last one that deals with the events happening in 1983.  I've got three more chapters to go.  Right now I'm working on a chapter called Lullaby, and for those who've read any of my books, this is the chapter when the dots come together.  That sounds mysterious, but if you know, you know.

My nephew's wife was whining on Facebook yesterday about how much their insurance premiums have suddenly gone up.  She has a Crohn's disease, a pre-existing condition.  When the Republicans let the ACA expire (Obama Care), they eliminated the restriction keeping insurance companies from raising the premiums on individuals with pre-existing conditions.  She's a Republican.  She voted for Trump.  When I read her complaints, I laughed.  

Here's a pic of this morning's sunrise.

Yesterday the Supreme Court heard oral argument regarding Orangie's ability to fire Linda Cook from the Fed. They did not seem to impressed with Orangie's attorneys.  This is a good thing.  However, they have still not released their opinion on his ability to set tariffs.  I'm reminded of how much they delayed when it came to releasing their opinion on presidential immunity.  They ended up giving him basically unlimited power.  I have this sinking feeling that they're going to do the same thing with tariffs, not so much because he was in the wrong, but because the country would go through horrendous financial chaos should the government have to pay those tariffs back.  This entire shit show belongs to the Republicans.  They have dug themselves into a terribly deep hole, and they just keep digging.  They know that if they stop digging the walls are going to cave in on them.  Unfortunately, they can only dig so deep before the walls cave in.  Either way, they are going to be buried alive.

Davos Dipshit

With an outside temp of 10 (F), I can say that things are frigid.  We will, supposedly, warm up into the mid 30s (F) and tomorrow's high should be cracking open that low 40s (F) box.  However, our weather is predicted to take a turn for the worse starting Friday and lasting over the weekend as another Arctic Blast, or Polar Plunge, or whatever it is they want to call the incoming weather pattern, rides roughshod over much of the country.  If enough moisture moves up from the south we could end u with significant snowfall.  

Because Howie has the smarts of a 2 year-old, which is very smart for a dog, he has no conception of what the cold is and so wants to go outside all of the time.  Even though he has a nice, thick warm coat, his nose is bare, so I limit is outside fun time.  Yesterday he had one of his stubborn, I'm not coming back into the warm house moments.  Picture this:  me outside, wearing my coat, of course, chasing him around the yard to get him back inside, and him thinking this is a wonderful wintertime game.  Every time this happens I do pray that the neighbors are not recording me.

I did my Federal Taxes yesterday.  I use a service called OLT, which, as long as your Adjusted Gross Income is less that $51,000, is free.  I always do my taxes early because for some reason I always get a refund.  Last year that nice little sum of money was deposited into my bank account on January 31.  Much of this year's refund will go to paying off the principle of my car loan. 

And even though I know you would all like to see a video of me chasing Howie around the yard yesterday, you'll have to make do with him attempting to pass himself off as a sleeping angel on the chair.

Yesterday the Orange Anus gave a speech that ran almost 2 hours long.  His team no doubt thought this was a good thing.  Wisely, networks began cutting away after his first hour of "incoherent ramblings."  Those are their words, not mine.  Why does his administration let this happen?  Because his cultists will excuse everything he says.  They also know that using the 25th amendment to remove his insane ass from the presidency would put J.D. Vance in charge, and Orange's cult hates JD.  

Bovino, the loser supposedly, kind of, running ICE followed him for a Q&A and quickly cut that short when he was asked a question he didn't like.  He's a little guy suffering from a Napoleon Crisis.  When the cameras are on him, he walks with a weird strut, thinking, perhaps, that this makes him look taller than his 5' 6" stature.  He's another one of Orangie's failures.

And evidently Nutlick... I mean Lutnick, spoke, or perhaps I should say yelled at a dinner last evening in Davos accusing them of being weak because they didn't all bow down and kiss Orangie's ass... and they heckled, and jeered him, and walked out.  Ooof.

It's my understand that Orangie's speaking right now at Davos and that within 4 minutes of taking the stage he brought up Joe Biden and the radical left.  He is truly the Davos Dipshit.

 

Norway

I'm pleased to say that our temperature has gone up one full degree since I got out of bed this morning.  Right now we are sitting at a very, very chill 13 (F).  My furnace is running.  In three days we're supposed to be back up in the 40s (F), but only briefly.  The forecast is for our temps to drop again.  One of the weather headlines blurted out that we are experiencing a polar plunge, which, I suppose, is slightly different than an arctic freeze... perhaps.

I did work yesterday.  And I got a measure.  That should make management happy.  I also got to meet our new, full-time closing flooring specialist.  Isaiah.  While he has carpet experience, he also seems to have worked with 2D and 3D animation and got quite excited when I told him I'd downloaded Blender thinking that I might intro the next book with a bit of animation.  Of course, having worked in Human Resources, I'm well aware how often first impressions can be skewed.

And I also stepped on the scale yesterday.  Wowza.  I need to cut back on my caloric intake.  Squats have been non-existent from my workout since I paused Trainwell' they need to return quickly.

I also signed up for a year of Duolingo just to study Norwegian.  It's a lot less expensive than Babel.  

This is, I suppose, partly apropos since the Orange Anus is in Davos claiming that Norway, the country, controls the Nobel Peace Prize.  This man is so stupid.  It's frightening to know that there is a political party in the United States that stands behind his insanity.  They rationalize his dementia by saying things like "he's always been like this."  That, in itself, is a lie.  Orange is now cringe crazy.  He is only going to get worse.  Foolish voters believed his lies that he was going to help the economy, that isn't happening.  American consumers paid for 96% of Orangie's tariffs.  Those increased prices are not going to go down.  For that to happen, billionaires would need to take a voluntary cut in pay.  That's not going to happen!  One thing that is really telling is that 64% of Republicans would have no problem with the United States buying Greenland.   Do they not understand that their taxes would be paying for this, not the billionaires who hope to reap the rewards of the rare earths located there?  Sadly, I have to believe that Republicans are all that stupid, and they have managed to get themselves into a position of power that will only destroy them in the end.

Plainclothes

New week, new forecast!  Our outside temp is in the upper teens (F), which is cold.  We are expected to climb above freezing today, but that's not going to happen tomorrow.  As long as my furnace is running efficiently, I don't mind the cold.  I don't mind going outside.  When I do, I always end up thinking briefly about what things were like 200 years ago.  Their winters were just as cold before people had the luxury of insulating fabrics.  A good, expensive coat, would have been made of wool, a cheap one cotton.  Even though we still bundle up, todays bundling doesn't make us look 50 pounds heavier.  In general, people were on the heavier side because nothing beats a good insulating layer of fat.

Yesterday was slow at the store.  I did learn through a phone conversation with a customer that we have a serious issue.  Corporate really likes to see our installs for us, however, they don't check the details, and because of this they sold an install that was not ready to be sold.  The customer had her entire house measured and had chosen a carpet, however, she wanted vinyl in her kitchen and foyer.  She told corporate this on 1/12 and no one removed the kitchen and foyer from the quote.  On 1/13 corporate sold her the install with carpet still going into the kitchen and foyer.  Yesterday, she called with the vinyl planks she wanted installed, however, her quote is now closed, sold and paid in full... for carpet in the kitchen and the foyer.  Not only did they sell her too much carpet, it's been cut and shipped, and is now with the installer.  Ouch.

I watched Plainclothes on Mubi, (you can also rent the movie on Apple +).  Listed as a romantic thriller, Plainclothes tells the story of a young police officer who's job is to lure unsuspecting gay men into restrooms where the police will arrest them... until he develops a crush on one of his targets. While it does get intense towards the end, I say this is more of a psychological drama.  While Russell Tovey is good, Tome Blyth as the young police officer is amazing.

And saw that the Orange Anus is evidently threatening Norway because they didn't give him the Nobel Peace Prize.  Holy Crap!  He sent them a letter.  Maybe I should have said Holy Shit instead.  The more his dementia grows, the worse things get for the Republican party.  And they simply can not do anything to stop him.  The instant they do that, their house of cards will fall apart.  They have been so desperate for power for so long, they stopped caring about who was leading their party years ago.  If I were a devout Christian, I say he is without a doubt a Spawn of Satan.  I'm not, so I'll just say that Orangie epitomizes pure evil.  He's going to the Economic Summit in Davos this week, or at least that's on his schedule.  Those leaders are not going to welcome him.  This will be unpleasant for Orangie.  He is unable to deal with rejection.  I do not doubt he will leave soon after he arrives.  With a little luck, maybe he'll stroke out on the flight back to Mar a Lago.

Winter Wonderland

We have a bit of a winter wonderland outside.  About 2 inches of snow fell overnight.  Our temps are sitting just around freezing, so I don't think the stuff will be hanging around too long.  Our afternoon temps are supposed to climb into the mid 30s (F) and that's in the melting zone. The streets have already melted clear. 

People ask how Howie is in the snow expecting me to tell them he becomes Mr. Excitement.  He does not.  After answering the call of nature in 2 or 3 spots, he spends most of his time looking for sticks buried under the snow.  He doesn't dash around exuberantly.  

Knowing how foreign languages exercise the brain, I've also started a thing on Duolingo for Norwegian.  Supposedly this is one of the easiest languages to learn, mostly because there are so many ties to English.  It doesn't hurt to give it a shot.

Work was relatively slow yesterday.  I did get a measure.   That will make management happy.  And I do work this afternoon.  This is a short Sunday for me.  Noon until 6 PM.  And I'm back on the schedule for tomorrow.

Here's a pic of our winter wonderland.

And for those not paying attention, the tariffs continue.  Well, not only are they continuing, they're growing.  The Orange Asshole just increased them to the 8 European countries who are sending troops to Greenland.  There are times when I need to just clasp my head in my hands just to make sure the old gourd doesn't explode.  We have a 79 year-old man with dementia running this country who has surrounded himself with kiss ass enablers who are never, ever going to stop him.  Doing so would put an end to their own personal grift.  And these enablers are so stupid, I don't doubt many of them think they will be able to hold onto their ill gotten gains after he is gone.

Also, for those who haven't heard, the Supreme Court has yet to weigh in on Orangie's ability to set tariffs.  If they rule against him, these tariffs will turn into a maelstrom of shit.  And, if they rule for him?  Well, either way there is a good possibility our economy is doomed.  That, in itself, is going to doom the Republican party.

 

Trump is the World's Village Idiot

We have snow!  Free cardio has finally arrived in Central PA... well, kind of...  Actually, we got a dusting.  That's it.  Nothing more.  And while our temp is at 30 (F), this afternoon's highs are predicted to be in the upper 30s (F) to low 40s (F), so the little snow that we have will disappear.  

Yesterday was meh... again.  Perhaps I'm going through the winter blues.  One thing that is for certain is that without the morning notification from Trainwell, and a text from my trainer, I have all too easily found reasons to not workout.  Other, unimportant things suddenly become more important.  Don't think I don't do things, I do, but the things I do tend to not be beneficial.  There's truth in the saying that time wasted is not time well spent.  If there isn't a saying like that, then I suppose I just made one up.

I do get to go to work this afternoon.  We have a new assistant manager and I have yet to meet her.  The last one was not too special.  She tended to avoid being on the floor.  That was a big complaint, you could never find her when she was needed.  I remember 2 distinct times when I needed her to help deal with difficult customers and she chose to stay back in the office.  Telling someone how you want things to be done over the phone does not solve the problem.

Four chapters left to finish in The Body in 4:4 Time.

Here's a pic of Howie in the dusting.

In spite of everything the Republicans are saying about Orangie's state of dementia, like he doesn't have alzheimers, etc, every time he poses for the camera his dysfunctional brain distinctly expresses itself.  And the world is quite aware of his disability, and they are commenting.  Not that we don't have commenters here in the USA, but when some wonderful person in France writes "Nous savon ou vit l'idiot du village du monde entier," I have to laugh.  And these voices are not just French.  Every country in the world knows that Orangie is nothing more than the village idiot with too much power, and they are treading us accordingly.

Did you see how the Canadians went around the US and set up some really good deals with China.  They're just going to ignore the village idiot.

And Greenland?  The Village Idiot has become an international embarrassment.  And believe me, he's only going to get worse as the midterms approach, and the truth of how much he is despised by so many Americans becomes more and more apparent.  And there will be midterms, don't fret you minds about that.

Seven Dials

We have 20 (F) outside.  There's a lot of bright sunshine.  We're in the beginning of a warming trend that will peak tomorrow with temps in the 40s (F) and rain.  Then, our temps will drop again, climbing only slightly as we head into next week.  I had hopped we might be getting a mild winter, that does not appear to be the case.  This means I will have to spend more money on my heating bill than I would have liked.  Utility expense are continuing to rise.  I'm so glad we don't have one of those new data centers near me, otherwise I'm sure my electrical bill would have gone through the roof.

And I did do stuff yesterday.  No workout, though.  And I was supposed to get a ride in.  That didn't happen.  I did get a bunch of writing done.  And I also baked some drop biscuits that were ho hum, just okay.  Howie wasn't even interested, so maybe ho hum is being too kind.  Dinner was a stromboli from Al's pizzeria.  I was going to make pork stir-fry, but that didn't happen.  I'll cook that this evening, making enough for tomorrow's lunch.

Yesterday was another sort of nappy kind of day.  Overcast and cold all day.  Yuck.

I did watch Seven Dials on Netflix last evening, all 3 episodes.  Back when I was in the Navy, I was still a voracious reader and, lucky for me, the exchange store in Subic Bay sold paperbacks of almost all of Agatha Christie's mystery novels.  Even though she is most known for her famous sleuths Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple, she did write a number of books with other sleuths.  Tommy and Tuppence were 2 of them, and they were interesting.  The Seven Dials Mystery was a stand alone book, though Scotland Yard's detective Battle does show up in other Christie mysteries.  I don't remember being impressed by the book, though as I watched the series certain elements did strike a familiar cord, one of which she later used in one of her better known books Death on the Nile.  I thought the first 2 episodes were good, but in the 3rd, and what should be the most important, things began to unravel.  Instead of having me on the edge of my seat, the reveal was disappointing.

Yesterday Elena Marcado gave her Noble Peace Prize to the Orange Anus.  She is, I believe I'm putting this kindly, pretty much of a Twit.  She gave him her prestigious award because she believes he will look kindly on her.  She thinks he will help her become president of Venezuela.  I don't doubt she believes in a lot of things, possibly even the tooth fairy.  The Orange Anus has already called himself the "acting" president of Venezuela.  He is not going to give that up.  There's a pic of her leaving the White House with a red bag of MAGA swag.  I do hope she understands that's all she's going to get, unless she turns full MAGA and lets the US bleed Venezuela dry.

And there are whispers circulating that Orangie's team is in the process of looking at recalibrating Minneapolis, since a majority of Americans are rejecting the violence they see ICE pursuing in that city.  Sadly, that's not what Stevie Miller wants.  So, I have my doubts on any sort of change.

The Banishers

Below freezing.  That would be 0 for you who use Celsius.  For those of use who use the out of date Fahrenheit scale, that's how we say our current temp is 28 (F).  If you're living in Central PA, don't plan on the outside temps climbing more than a notch or two today.  We are day one into what might be a two day big freeze.  This will pass.

Things were done yesterday.  Chores were completed.  I was going to do a pork stir fry for dinner and ended up opting out for a much simpler bacon and eggs.  Sometimes easy peasy is best.

I did do a lot of what I call running around yesterday late morning and early afternoon.  I bought stuff, including new shoelaces for my sneakers:  $12!  For shoelaces.  Hells Bells!  I also bought another sweatshirt because we're approaching the dead of winter and I love sweatshirts.  I also wanted one that didn't have any stains.  My favorite yellow one was all blotched up when Howie ran into me while I was holding a glass of red wine.  

There was also a stop off at the store, not to purchase anything, but to see why my vacation hours hadn't been added.  Since I was shorted hours for the last 2 weeks, I decided to use some of my vacation pay to keep my paychecks balanced and those hours were not included.  An assistant manager found the forms I filled out (along with several other associate requests) and discovered they had never been entered into the system.  The problem is solved, however the woman whose job it is to enter requests is probably in trouble.

I did begin playing a new game.  The Banishers is about two people, a Scotsman and a woman of color, in the mid 1600s who banish spirits to either heaven or hell.  Of course, there's a twists.  She dies early in the game and he has to decide whether to kill people to keep her alive, or, in the end, send her to heaven.  I'm enjoying sending spirits to hell.

As we all should expected, couch fucker Vance broke the tie to kill the War Powers Act giving Orangie the power to send American troops into Venezuela.  As I said in an earlier blog, this is going to be Vietnam (pt 2).  The Republicans don't care if Americans die.  The truly terrible thing about this is that everything is being done to keep the Epstein Files secret, at least that's the primary reason.  Another reason that's in a very strong 2nd place is the need for Republicans to demonstrate their power.  They are the "shut up, we're in charge," party.  They desperately want to dictate how Americans live their lives.  In reality, they are only focused on their own selfishness and greed.  Conservatives are a flawed group.  They have always been like this.  The only way they will learn is if they are severely punished.  Our only choice is to vote them out, and prosecute them.  Those that don't learn, need to be banished to Hell.

   

Invection Point Dead Ahead

We have 41 (F) degrees outside and drizzles.  Though we haven't hit our high for today, I can tell that temp is right around the corner.  Next we will have the chills, followed by some snow showers as temps begin to drop.  So, what happened to the warming trend that began the week?  My guess is that sucker went south as a cold air mass pushed in from Canada.  This is how winter goes.  The good news is that we're almost 1/3 of the way through the season.  Even better news is that in about 8 weeks we'll be nearly halfway to aphelion.

Yesterday turned into my standard Tuesday.  I had a bike ride scheduled, and that didn't happen.  I was sluggish all day.  This doesn't mean I didn't get anything accomplished.  Nope.  Chores were done.  The problem was that every hour or so, I felt as though I should take a mini-nap.  I think part of the problem was that I started off early, a little after 0515.  Obviously, 5 hours of sleep doesn't work.

I did bake a bacon, Swiss cheese, and mushroom quiche for dinner. Can we talk about tasty?

And I did some writing.  I'm figuring I have about 4 more chapters to go before the first draft is completed.  I'm at that mental moment when I'm telling myself I need to wrap things up in order to begin book number 10.  I do have a working title that's just waiting for a decent story:  The Body in the Words.

I went to see Greenland Migration last night.  I streamed the first one, so I thought I might as well continue the series by buying a ticket for part 2.  I should have waited.  Gerard Butler is fine in the lead, and for the first 40 minutes or so everything is fine, but then they science gets short shrift.  In the first film, the comet that hits earth was supposed to be a planet killer, but many of the buildings in London are still standing, and there are quite a few people who survived the even without being in an underground shelter.  The impact crater is in the south of France, the entire eastern half of the United States is gone, but London still stands.  If you're interested, wait until it's on Netflix.

One thing I didn't do that much of yesterday, was follow the evil antics of Orangie and his minions.  This administration resonates with evil intent.  I can honestly say I never believed there would be a point in my life where I saw such a vile minority group wield such hatred against America.  They despise harmony.  I wonder what went wrong with these people to have such bitter minds.  These billionaires who want to rule the world?  They are not kind people.  In fact, one might wonder if they are indeed some broken mutation, their genetic degradation forged forged in the fires of selfishness and greed.  What's even more amazing is that so many of these people claim to be Christians without understand that with the compassion of Christ they are anything but... Christian.  To be Woke is to have compassion, to have consideration, and these people have none of those attributes.  They do not understand that they have set their sights on an invection point that will begin their own demise.

When Smoke Gets in Your Eyes

Our outside temp is sitting at 25 (F).  According to the forecasters, by this afternoon that number will have doubled.  That's right.  They're saying we should be in the low 50s (F) this afternoon.  That's a big increase to the original "low 40s (F)."  The long range forecast has our weather pattern to snap back to colder days sometime next week, meaning that the chilling event for later in the week has been put on hold.

Yesterday was a good day as far as accomplishments go.  I got a nice workout done in the morning.  Using both dumbbells and the new piece of equipment, they run about an hour..  Cleaning was done.  Several loads of laundry were put through the washer and dryer.  I spent time working on my Spanish.  Overall, I was pleased.

My Cuisinart combo coffee bean grinder and maker is in the trash and I'm back to using the Krupp's brewer I used for years.  I did keep the stainless steel, insulated coffee pot, however, to use as a carafe.  The first cup is always great, however, coffee sitting in a glass pot on a hot warmer will soon begin to cook.  Cooked coffee is bitter, so after brewing, I pour the coffee from the glass pot into the stainless steel, insulated carafe, where it will stay warm for hours.

I have a lot of vinyl.  While I did give some albums away over the years, quite a few remain and every now and then I will pull a record out of its dustcover and pop it on the turntable.  This morning I listened to Roberta, by Jerome Kern.  There are many versions, some sung, others simply instrumental.  Here's an instrumental version from the year I was born, danced by Gower and Marge Champion.  It's rather nifty.

And while the shit show in Washington continues to take place, more and more we're beginning to see Orangie losing over and over again.  His administration has always lost court cases, but here of late that number seems to have picked up speed.  Where his losses were happening once a week, now the courts seem to be ruling against him daily.  This is all very good, because Orangie hates to seen as a loser.  The more he loses, the more his anger twists and burns.  We are also beginning to see more Republican Senators and Congressmen stand up to him, possibly because we are in an election year.  Instead of comprehending just what they're doing wrong, they are bullheadedly plowing ahead.  The subpoenas against Jerome Powell by the 74 year-old wino Jeannine Pirro and one of Orangie's favorite fascists, Bill Pulte, have struck a nerve among a number of Republicans.  Wall Street was not happy.  Can you hear me laughing?  Remember, Orangie is a bad loser, and these nutjobs prove him to be just that, a loser.  Orangie is in the process of wracking up so many losses, and I'm betting that more than smoke is getting in his eyes.

Twinless

 The outside temps this morning when I checked was 29 (F).  While our afternoon high will not be hitting the 50s (F), our thermometers will be recording temps in the mid 40s (F).  Heading into the dead of winter, I'd call that a win.  Temps will slowly increase over the next few days until rain, once again, arrives in the region.  Then, they will drop once again. How low will they go?  Well, that's anybody's guess.

I did work my full 8 hour shift yesterday.  When I walked out of the doors on my way home, we had made plan for the day.  This is good.  Wednesday and Sunday were the only days that we hit our goal, all of the other days were misses.  We have a few weeks left in the fiscal year, and I'm guessing store management is hoping that we don't miss by $1 million.  In my 17 years with the orange retailer, I've never seen us be this far under plan.

We also had a not too bright customer attempt to make return.  A woman came up the the returns desk with an armful small pieces of molding, trim, and quarter-round, the longest being about 15 inches.  These were the leftovers after her project had been completed.  She was upset when she was told that in order to get a refund, she needed to return the entire 8 foot piece she had paid for, not the 15 inches she didn't use.  

Last night I watched a really good movie, Twinless, with Dylan O'Brien playing identical twins.  Rocky is gay, and Roman is straight.  After Rocky dies suddenly, Roman goes to a support group for twins whose other half has died.  The movie's listed as a comedy, but there are moments  of both laughter and grief as Roman learns to live without his brother.  And in case you're wondering, you do get to see Dylan's... pornstache.

Of course, nothing changed yesterday, we're still living in the same old shit show, or maybe I should say variations of the same old shit show.  

Orangie posted a picture of himself as the "acting president of Venezuela," on his Truth Social account.  I'm sure that's going to go over well the the paramilitary groups down there.  Everything he's doing is giving them one more reason to kill Americans.  One of my associates in flooring has a son in the Marines, so I asked him if his son had said anything to him, and I was told there are rumblings about sending troops.  I think this will be a certainty, rather than an option.  Orangie is pissed that the CEO of Exxon Mobile told him that Venezuela is uninvestable.  Since Orangie has no regard for human life, I don't doubt for a second he and his minions have decided to fix that.

Because Orangie wants the FED to drop interest rates again, the DOJ is attacking Chairman Powell.  Prepare yourselves, he is going to bankrupt the country.  That's the only thing he's really good at.

Venezuela is Vietnam (pt2)

Well, weather forecasters had predicted some serious rains and winds before our temps descended into the 30s (F).  They were right about the rain, not so right about the winds.  When I left work last evening things were a bit breezy, but the serious winds were definitely missing.  As for our descent into colder temps?  Hhhmm.  Now our daily highs are going to be hovering about in the mid 40s (F) instead of the 30s (F), as the forecasters had predicted.  Those colder temps?  They're going to be moving into the area next week, at least so our weather people say.

I did work yesterday.  The store was a few thousand $$ shy of hitting our goal when I left, so in all likelihood, yesterday was a greenback day for us.  Sadly, we are underwater for the week.  I do have a sale that's going to be going through today.  This is going to be another sale that gets a discount because the customer couldn't be measured before the promo ended, and they went to California for the New Years.  However, this markdown isn't going to be as hefty as the one I had to do last week.  

Otherwise, yesterday was not too eventful.

Today's going to be even less so, since I'm going to be at the store for a full 8 hours.  I will probably use my spare time sitting at the flooring desk to work on the book.  I estimate I've got another 9000 words to go before the first draft is finished.  

And for those of you who don't know what the country looks like, this is Venezuela.

For those of you who haven't heard, the State Department is urging Americans in Venezuela to leave because Paramilitary troops are setting up roadblocks to get Americans.  Believe me when I tell you that very soon Orangie and his administration will make the decision to send troops "in country."   That's right, boots on the ground.  This is going to be Vietnam (pt 2).  The main difference between that war (which wasn't called a war) and this war (which will not be called a war), it that we went into Vietnam attempting to try and set up a democracy.  Regime changes never work.  We'll be going into Venezuela because Orangie wants the oil.  Big oil told him the country is uninvestable, so Orangie is going to try and change that because his greed is one of the few things he lives for.  This will splinter the cultists even more, since very few of them will want their kids going off to fight and die for Orangie's Oil.

Bubbles

 Our temps are still in the low 40s (F) but that's going to be changing when the rain moves through the area.  Originally, the prediction was for us to have a period of long, soaking rain.  That has now been updated to showers.  Then the wind will begin to blow and the temps will drop.  Tomorrow's high is expected to be in the mid to upper 30s (F).

Some things were done yesterday, not nearly as much as I had planned.  I did get a nice workout in, almost an hour long, that burned off 223 calories.  Some people have no idea how good that is, but then they don't realize sitting down and scrolling through their social media burns about 6 calories for the same period of time.  Moving finger muscles do not burn up a lot of calories.  I expect to be a bit sore today, but that's fine.  Working your muscles is a good thing.

An interesting thing about Howie is that he has 2 food dishes.  Not because he eats so much.  One is his normal ceramic bowl, and the other is a Chinet bowl (stiff cardboard).  He has 2 because occasionally I will pour drippings (bacon, or beef, or whatever) onto his kibble.  The drippings go into his Chinet dish and when he's finished, I throw what's leftover away. 

I did get some writing done, as well as work on my Spanish a bit.  I had shrimp and rice for dinner.

Here's a pic of the tank in the living room.

Am I the only one who wonders just what in hell is going through the minds of all those Republicans sitting out and watching this shit show unveil itself more and more every day?  Do they even understand that only their cultist base watches Foz Entertainment, that the rest of America is watching, or getting their news, from some other media outlet?  Personally, I don't think they do.  I think they have isolated themselves in a little bubble of beliefs of their own making, and nothing exists outside of that thin delusional membrane separating them from fantasy and reality.  I think this is what happened in Minneapolis.  I think that when Jonathan Gross was confronted with the smiling face of Nicole Renee Good, who told him, "hey dude, I'm not mad," his bubble burst.  I think he was so enraged by the reality that she offered him a smile, rather than terror and fear, the only choice he felt he had was to kill her.  His is the soul of Donald Trump.

Oh, and prep for things to get worse in the Venezuela arc of Orangie's storyline.  The CEO of Exxon-Mobile told him yesterday that the country was uninvestible.  So, Orangie's going to try and send American troops there to change that, because he is in his own bubble, too.   

  

Blue Balls

Rain is coming.  Yepper.  The temps wee above freezing this morning.  Things are going to stay warm until this front passes.  That's means we will be getting rain and not snow.  We need the precipitation, so it doesn't matter to me if it's white and wet, or simply wet.  Snow does provide free cardio to hose of you so inclined to take advantage.

Yesterday was things were done, not just as many as I'd wanted.  The aquariums were cleaned.  Laundry was done.  Many words were written.  Still, it does seem as though I slacked off for most of the day.  I don't doubt some of this has to do with the chaos going through our country right now.

Today's my last day off for the week. To be rather frank, I'm not too wild about having 5 days off in a row.  One of the things that quickly became obvious is that I don't think about the days of the week; there's no difference between Tuesday and Wednesday.  I remember talking to a gent at the store and he tole me he loves that, not knowing or caring which day of the week it is.  Well, shit.  I like things better organized.  This is why I maintain a workout schedule, and a laundry schedule.  I have all sorts of little schedules.  On certain days I start writing at 2 in the afternoon, on other days I start writing at 4 PM.  Regularity in one's life is a good thing.

I had a subscription to Nuts.com for dried blueberries.  I canceled it this morning.  They reduced the bag size from 16 oz to 13 oz.  They also reduced the cost, however the per ounce price actually went up.  This is called a price increase.

And here's a pic of Howie with his blue ball.  I posted 2 different pics on social media and called them "blue balls."  It's a joke.

Within a few hours, the Supreme Court is going to release their decision on Orangie's tariffs.  Does he, like the despot he wants to be, have the authority to put them into effect outside of Congress.  Our constitution says that he doesn't.  If the court rules that he doesn't, this is going to be a cluster fuck on the grandest scale this country has ever seen.  How Wall Street will act is anybody's guess.  If the court rules against Orangie, do not expect our prices to go down much.  Corporations have already made adjustments to their fiscal plans to include the extra revenue they're getting by passing these tariffs onto customers.

And as expected, the administration swung into full lie mode regarding the murder of Renee Good in Minneapolis.  The only ones believe Orangie's side of the story are the hard core cultists who would, if directed by Orangie, eat shit sandwiches.

This should come as no surprise, but Big Oil is saying "now wait a minute," on sending their people to Venezuela.  They say the country is an unsafe environment.  But then, what's safety to Orangie, he's not going to work there, and he has no problem sending young Americans to go die there.  And Marcado offering to give Orangie her Peace Prize?  That woman is delusional and has absolutely no idea who she's dealing with.

Loyalty

We have another warm one outside.  The current temp on the veranda is 38 (F), and for this time of year, that's not bad.  The January thaw continues.  Tomorrow will be nice, too.  Then, just in time for me to go back to work the rain will set in.  They say we might get as much as an inch on Saturday.  Because we've had some warm days, most of that will soak in rather than run off and cause severe flash flooding.

I had planned on getting a workout in yesterday morning, but didn't.  A lunch was scheduled with my cousin and her husband.  Any time I have something scheduled for the early afternoon my schedule seems to go to shit, and of course that happened.  And, as should be expected, after eating a full meal all those carbs kicked and I didn't feel like throwing around the dumbbells when I got home.

So, I ate too much and did nothing else.  Well that's not entirely correct, we had a very nice conversation touching on a vast number of topics, even political, which we usually avoid.  You see, my cousin and her husband are Republicans and have been all of their lives.  Like many Republicans, and Democrats as well, they have been loyal to their party.  They actually had signs for Orangie in their front yard, however that's changed.  I don't know what precisely Orangie did to lose them, perhaps it was a number of things.  While they appreciated the capture of Maduro, everything else about Venezuela pisses them off.  As my cousin's husband, a Navy veteran, said, "this is Vietnam all over again." Orangie's talk of acquiring Greenland is another very sore subject.  Will they vote for a Democrat in the mid-terms?  I don't know.   I'd say they'd most likely not vote at all, rather than show support for the current administration.  

Loyalty to Orangie is beginning to fall apart on all fronts, except his most zealot cultists.  Coming home yesterday and hearing about the murder of an American mother by an agent of this administration set my blood to boil.  We are living in an age of chaos because many people loyal to their political party believed Orangie's lies.  They ignored everything he has done in his life simply because he spun a web of lies they wanted to hear.  Now those strands of loyalty are being sheared in two, sharpened by the blades of his reality, a world in which soulless people fester with hatred.  For those who have yet to figure it out, his cult hates everything that is decent and good.  They don't want your life to be easier.  They want you to hurt, and suffer.  Orangie is doing things that constantly test the loyalty of his cultists; their acceptance of his acts of evil affirm their worship of him, and this gives him great satisfaction.  The fact that he is losing his grasp on a much larger group phases him not.  If they're not loyal, they are of no use to him.  His winnowing of his flock saps his strength; they have never been the armor and shield he thinks they are.  Their loyalty is dying.

Going UP

 While not quite balmy, the 37 (F) degree temperature outside was nice.  That was when I first got out of bed.  We're up to 40 (F), and things are only going to get warmer.  I guess there are some out there saying that we're going through a January thaw, and that appears to be true.  Long range forecasts, however, to indicate are return to colder temps next week.  If the forecasters are correct, our daily highs should be in the 40s (F).  Still, that ain't bad.

Oddly enough, yesterday was really a meh kind of day.  Tuesdays have been like that for quite some time now.  I used to believe working the weekend and Monday were the cause.  Apparently, I'm wrong.  Tuesdays for me just seem to be me.  I mean things were done, just not as many as I would have liked, and I didn't waste time on social media.  I tend to do that when I'm at work rather than when I'm at home; now you know where I'm really wasting time.  

Two loaves of bread were baked yesterday, the old fashioned way, kneading by hand.  There's a mini-debate going on in my head as to whether I'm going to invest in another bread machine or not.  The machine is easier though slower.  For the time being I'll probably be using the age old method of standing at the counter and rolling, and folding the dough with my hands.  To be honest, there's something calming about that.

For those who don't see my social media posts, I call this Ball in his Mouth.  My cousin sent me a note telling me how cute Howie is, and I replied, "Yeah, 75 pounds of cute!"

Orangie was blubbering away yesterday at a Republican retreat and among the many threats that fell from his mouth was one regarding the mid-terms.  Some of the Main Stream Media outlets said he "quipped" about them.  For those who don't know, a quip is a short, witty comment that sounds spur of the moment.  This was not a quip, and even a Republican knows that.  Orangie is an extremely unpopular president who has lived his life lying and making unpopular decision that benefit on himself and his closest allies.  He knows, as does the Republican party, that the mid-terms will be the end of his regime, if they take place.  Their problem is that they are completely unprepared to deal with the consequences should they try and interfere.  They are the minority party, and instead of trying to grow their base, they are doing everything they possibly can to alienate themselves from the loyalty they need.  Insurance premiums for their voters are going up.  Food prices for their voters are going up.  They have removed subsides that help many of Orangie's supporters in red states to buy food.  As the number of hungry people goes up, so does their anger.  This is a lose/lose situation that Conservatives have never taken the time to think about.