Waiting to Die

 Well, it's Friday!  For some of you it's the end of the work week.  I've changed my availability so I don't have to work on Fridays.  Was it because I hate working on Black Friday?  Somewhat, though the retail Black Friday for the large, orange, home improvement retailer is not what it used to be.  They discovered that they make more money have pre-Black Friday sales for several reasons.  One is that you have to pay attention, either go to their website, or actually stop in at the store to see what the special is, so they may do a deal on a very inexpensive shop-vac, but you've got to go to the store to take advantage of the sale.  I truly hated that crazy circus atmosphere because I, for one, would never, ever go out shopping on Black Friday.

Today is the first day that my lower intestinal tract issues seem to be gone.  Since the entire episode took around 3 days, I'm betting that I was suffering through a case of Food Poisoning.  I say this because I took Imodium, it's supposed to be the best, and only worked for a few hours.  Years and years ago I had something similar and that med cleared it up fast, this time it took 3 days.  Of course, with Food Poisoning, you immediately start thinking about what made you sick.  Well, surprise, surprise, it usually takes a few days for the bacteria to multiply enough to make you sick; it's not something you eat and four hour later you're sick.  In fact, for some cases of Food Poisoning it can take up to a week before symptoms show up.

Howie doesn't want me to carry him up the stairs.  Since at his age, that's the only way he gets up to the 2nd floor, it looks like he'll be spending a lot of time down on the first floor.

I took this pic yesterday when Howie and I were outside.

The wife of one of my Navy buddies posted this long, whiny complaint in Facebook on how she thought Trump was going to win, and how she couldn't understand how Americans could be so stupid and unsympathetic.  I was going to respond, and didn't.  When her husband retired, I asked if he was going to get a part-time job and he told me, "absolutely not, I've work my whole life, I'm not going to work anymore."  So, I don't doubt for a second the two of them are sitting home, watching cable news, to do anything else would be too much work.  Today, he posted a picture of a back brace and said "I'm getting old."  He's 71, though he has gained a lot of weight.  I was going to tell him to get off his fat ass and start walking, but he'd simply ignore me.  He's worked his entire life, and now he's going to sit back, gain weight, and wait to die.

Safety Net

 Okay, so it's Sunday. Temps are going to soar into the mid 60s (F).  There is absolutely no precipitation in the forecast for the next a2 weeks.  That can change.  We all know how wishy-washy the weather can be.  

Yesterday was extremely slow at the store.  Not that there weren't the occasional customer, they just weren't interested.  I had to talk to a manager from another store because the major software update the orange retailer rolled has lots of bugs that are need of being fixed.  There is also the problem that this new software system was thrust upon thousands of specialists who received no training.  

And, of course, this week is Black Friday.  Our aisles are jammed packed with clutter, a mish-mash of name brand (Milwaukee, Ryobi, DeWalt) tools that are usually not available for sale because they are made for one day only... Black Friday.  This doesn't mean that because they're cheap they're not going to last, but that possibility does exist.

The one bright spot yesterday was I gave away my old TV!  One of our student associates is home for the holiday and when I mentioned that I was getting rid of my Sony Bravada, his eyes lit up.  Because I had planned on dropping it off at the recycling center on Wednesday and didn't, it was in the back of my car.  He's happy, and it saved me the $40 I was going to have to pay at the recycling center, getting rid of flat screen TVs is not that easy.

Back when I was in the Navy, during down times when we weren't launching jets, the flight deck was most ours to do with what we wanted.  Some men worked on their tans.  Not me.  There was no way you'd have gotten me out into one of the wire safety nets.

This week's going to be slow politically.  The Republicans of the House chose to all go home rather than do anything constructive, a word they really don't understand.

Of course, some idiot judge took off Trump's gag order, and the Spawn of Satan began spewing out loathsome hate, towards the judge and his law clerk in the New York Trial.  From what people are saying, Trump does this in hopes of inciting the judge to say something the legal team for the Orange Anus can use to shriek for a mistrial.  I doubt very much if that's going to happen.  Erogan, and his clerk, are just going to sit back and when the time comes, drop Trump's ass into a deep fryer that will cook away all of his assets in seconds.

 

54

 Well, the weather outside is soon to be drizzly.  The skies are overcast without so much as a hint of sunrise.  With the rain, which is supposed to be on and off showers that will sometimes be mini-soakers, comes a drop in the temps.  This coming week is made for sweatshirts and sweatpants, which will be the house fashion for the next five months or so.

I did work yesterday and it was slow.  Pre-Covid, we used to say that people were waiting for the deals of Black Friday.  The massive orange retailer I work for, however, has pretty much obliterated Black Friday in its search for sales revenue.  They will advertise some super duper sales on Black Friday, but most of our big sales are already on display, and those sales?  They are not going to be the bargains most people are expecting.

On Matthew Perry's death?  I feel bad.  I'm not a sitcom kind of guy, so I rarely watched Friends and didn't build up the attachment so many did to his character.  I can remember friends saying they simply had to be home in order to watch the latest episode.  In many people's minds, no matter what was happening in his personal life, he was and still is Chandler Bing.  54 is such a terribly young age to die.

Here's a pic of my algae eater cleaning of the thermometer in the smaller tank.

And, stunning as it may seem to some, Mike Pence has ended his campaign for president.  Stop laughing!  Perhaps if he had demonstrated ethics, and values, and been toady to the most corrupt president in American history he might have had a chance.... Nah.  Mikey's campaign was cooked before he even threw his hat into the ring.  He was a non-entity before he became Vice President, and is back doing what he does best: disappearing into the woodwork.

Hard Candy Christmas

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Menu, wickedly saucy

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

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

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

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

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

Two Unarmed Gay Men

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

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

I worked yesterday and it was oh, so slow.  

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

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

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

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

 

49 years ago

No work today, not scheduled, but rain is... again.  After today, we're supposed to dry out.  We need a little time for the grass to grow.  Temperature wise, we're forecast to top off at 50 (F).  This is definitely sweatshirt weather.  

Yesterday:  Boring.  People were walking around in the store wearing coats and, of course, I was sitting here is a short sleeve shirt.  One of the really bad things about this 'remodel' taking place in the flooring department is that customers will ask for a product that has been moved to some unknown location.  We have lots of empty racking.  And how long is this disruption going to last?  Right now they're planning on being finished the week before Black Friday, which is what?  7 weeks away?

The plumber is coming today for my water hook-up.  That sounds a bit kinky, doesn't it.  The last time the plumber was here it cost me $1700, this expense will be much cheaper.  The electrician is going to costlier, ;but then, once he's done, I'll be set.  I'm estimating the new washer and dryer should be hear before Christmas.  I will be buying them from the store.  I tell people, if you need a new appliance, wait until the Black Friday sales.  Those are the best sales of the year.

One thing I've noticed in the transferal of my slides to jpegs is that the photos stand up a lot better than those printed on paper.  Take this picture of me standing on the bow of the USS Albert David, a destroyer.  It could have been taken yesterday, rather than 49 years ago.  I spent some time on the Albert David in order to experience life on a destroyer.  The aircraft carrier behind me?  That's my ship.  The Connie.  If you blow up the picture, you can see a helicopter taking off from the flight deck.

Any guesses as to how long Liz Truss will remain Prime Minister?  I'm suspecting not too long.  She's a conservative, that means in her mind the only way to fix a failing economy is by giving the wealthy a tax break, which she did.  Holy Freaking Ouch!  Boy, did the British economic elevator drop.  And, sadly for Liz, because she's a conservative, the tax break card is the only one she has to play.

Oh, and Donald J. is suing CNN for defamation of character.  Stop Laughing!  Now.  I understand he's also planning on suing the January 6 committed for the same thing.  There are other groups on his list, too, though I won't mention them because... well, the absurdity is amazing.  His base will eat this shit up, providing his ego with a boost.  This is really just an attempt by him to change the facts, to say CNN has lied about everything.  This will fail.  Remember, everything he touches dies.

Finally, news broke that Hershel Walker paid for one of his girlfriend's to get an abortion.  Prepare yourselves for a word salad from hell... with absolutely no dressing.

Versatility

So, I begin a 3 day mini-vaca today, if that's what you want to call it.  I will be back in the store on Black Friday, from 11-4... selling appliances.  That's a safe time.  Our appliance sale has been going on for a few weeks now; no Black Friday specials.  We tell customers that so they don't hold off on buying their next stove or refrigerator.  

I walked over 12,000 steps yesterday, about half of that on the treadmill at 2 miles per hour.  The back is feeling better.  I'm anxious to get back on the bike and start riding again.

The Xbox Series X is arriving today.  I've got to reset the Series S.  It didn't take long to find a buyer, since they're like hen's teeth.  I work with a woman who's a collector.  She has a number of vintage gaming consoles, some over 30 years old that are now worth a fortune.  If I had realized back then that my Nintendo would bring big bucks today, I'd never have thrown it into the trash.  Of course, we never think: "hey, if I hold onto this, in 30 years I can sell it and rent a chateau in France for a month."

Yesterday I posted a video of The Band Camino and Sixpense thought they sounded similar to Kings of Leon (they don't), here's another video by them which demonstrates their versatility. 

I saw where Loser #45 has had his Super Pac polling states regarding a second run by him for president.  Will he or won't he?  Is this just a way to welch more cash from the brainless MAGA hoards?  And just think, we all know how faulty polls are close to the election, how bad can the be 3 years out?

 

Climate Change

 So, the new work week begins today.  I'm scheduled for a full 8 hours.  Of course, I only work 2 other days this week, Wednesday and Sunday, so I guess I'll survive.

And yesterday was steady at work.  I will tell you, for all the griping about the economy, we are busy as hell.  They may have started some pre-Black Friday sale-a-thon I'm not aware of, but customers were packing in through the front doors until late afternoon.  

And I'm kind of not dealing with a customer from California over the phone.  He wants to have in-stock blinds installed.  We don't do that for several reasons, the biggest being there's a good possibility we're not going to have the proper width blinds in stock.  I told him this when he set up the measure.  I've repeated this several times and he keeps saying, "we've got to figure out how to get the blinds at a lower price, it's a rental."  If he wants in-stock blinds, he will need to send his maintenance person, if he has a maintenance person, into the store to buy them, and then install them.  Maybe he should have thought of this before buying an investment property 4000 miles away.

And now a bit about Climate Change.

Everybody except Conservatives and certain religious groups understand this is happening, they deny because of their greed, or their preference of scripture over science, or both.  Because of this group, the coming changes will be devastating for some.  Besides droughts, floods, storms and fires, one of the things Climate Change will do is spur Evolution.  Those who can better survive the heat will adapt and thrive.  The same is true for animal and plant life.  Greed may be tempered for a while.  What will definitely go extinct is the life we know of today.  Religious beliefs will also either evolve or die off.  The weak Climate Accord over 200 countries signed will slow this process down, but not stop it.  This is good in that the longer we have, the number of species that can adapt and survive will increase.  What will we look like in a couple hundred years?  I would not be surprised if the Sahara blooms again.

Consternation

 So, it's Wednesday and for some reason I keep thinking that it's Thursday, probably because I'm anticipating having Friday off.  In case anyone is wondering, I have every Friday off.  I'm unavailable on Fridays.  Well, I am, but I'm not, if you know what I mean.

The Black Friday clutter is beginning to take hold of the store again.  Happens every year.  They advertise this as the Pre-Black Friday, however not much is going to change for retail's holiest of holy days.  Well, they will bring out more junk.  Things the never sell, like toasters, and bar stools.  The dog beds are already out blocking the aisles.  Sorry, I would never buy a dog bed from Home Depot.

I had to relocate one of my fish yesterday, a red mollie.  He was in the teeny 5 gallon, now he's in the big tank.  Mollies are very good community fish, but this guy has a bit of an attitude.  He kept going after a golden lyre tail molly, so now he's with the green mollies.  He's also in with the angels and the golden barbs.  We'll have to see how well he adapts.

My neighbors had to put down their corgi last week, and asked if I wanted the food.  I said, sure, I don't like really mixing foods.  Two nights ago she brought over a big bag of Hill's Science Diet.  This morning my dogs each had 2 cups.  My God!  You'd have thought I'd been starving them for weeks. So I added a large bag to their Chewy's autoship.  A bit pricey, I think.

I understand there's consternation among the Republicans in regard to Biden's infrastructure bill.  McConnell has gone so far as to say it will be a godsend for Kentucky.  I suspect this bill is also going to be very well received in other less financially secure states, like Alabama, and Louisiana, and Arkansas.  These are states where for far too long the GOP has focused on putting the Ten Commandments back in classrooms, rather then high speed internet, or crumbling bridges.  States like Michigan where they tried to shove the issue of lead pipes under the carpet because to fix that issue they might have to increase taxes on the wealthy.  Yeah, the wealthy, those people who live in areas where they don't have to worry about lead in their water pipes.

Tomorrow I will get up when my alarm goes off

 I slept in the morning but didn't.  Time slip.. change... the falling away from daylight savings and springing forward to a temporary loss.  That's what I thought this morning, looking at the alarm clock and thinking to myself that in the reality of 2 days ago it was only 0700.  This is what the new sleep-in costs.  There is always a bit of disorientation when we change times.  This year it's not worse, but is is more aggravating.  Tomorrow I will get up when my alarm clock goes off.

Yesterday was busy, but not nearly as bad as Saturday when our store's sales were 50% + over our budgeted plan.  We were comparing it to a mini-Black Friday.  I understand we have only so many lawn tractors coming in to sell - the result of the pandemic, also, I think a change in an approach to merchandising.  Holes on your shelves mean customers will buy option #2 and you'll still get a sale.

The Grammy's were last night... I'm not one who cares.

The Oscar nominations came out this morning.  I didn't see a lot of movies last year, so there isn't a lot of interest there.  I did Joe Jonas and his wife were announcing the nominations.  In the one picture I saw, he was wearing a gold suit which was rather interesting.

Sometime today I will disassemble the Winter Tree.  Spring is just around the corner, you know.  Then, after a good dusting, I will begin decorating the tree.

Now, I'm going to go make a very late breakfast.  There's much to do today.

The Recount

 Good Morning People!

Black Friday has come and gone.  There were no big crowds, though Garden (Christmas) and Hardware (Tools, Tools, Tools) did a bang-up business.  My department was on the slow side.  This is normal.  Most people don't go carpet shopping on Black Friday.  This doesn't mean we didn't get questions about what we had on sale.  Lumber gets them, too.  Like who in their right mind would actually think we'd run a special sale on 2 x 4's?

Grace the Spider has disappeared.  Does anybody know what happens to spiders in the winter?  Do they hibernate?  I'm off tomorrow, so I'll broom away her web, it is rather voluminous.

I'm at that point in The Body in the Loch (around 60,000) words where there is a moment of importance, an occurrence which kicks things into a higher gear.  In The Body on the Lawn it was a trip to a dance school in Baltimore.  In The Body in the Tower it was a candy incident.  So what is the moment of dramatic intensity unfolding in Dun Adair, Scotland?  You'll have to wait and see.  Oh, and for those of you wondering, I'm at Day Four.  Eli and Max always solve their murders in 5 days, so they are ready to hurtle towards the denouement. 

My 80 something reader is retiring, so I'm in the market for a third party to help with the proofreading.

And here in Pennsylvania a Republican judge, appointed by the Idiot Jerk in the White House no less, handed the Idiot Jerk another plate of shit yesterday.  The Court said they are not going to throw out several million Pennsylvanian votes on groundless conspiracy theories.  Of course, Giuliani and his minxy little Cracker Jack Christian cohort shrieked they were going to take the case to the Supreme Court.  The longer this continues, the more absurd the Idiot Jerk looks.

Oh, and that recount the Idiot Jerk paid for in Wisconsin?  They found more votes for Biden.  Ouch.

And my dusty Christmas Cactus is once again bursting into bloom.

Just Deserts

 Well, I hope everybody had an enjoyable Thanksgiving.  Mine was quiet.  Just me cooking and napping.  Relaxation with out any concerns is a very good thing.  It was sort of like being on solo auto pilot, if you get my drift.  Not having to cook for more then myself, my celebration of peace and quiet was accomplished in waves.  Even though I hadn't planned on a desert, that tasty treat came first.  More than a pumpkin pie than a cheesecake, I didn't know if it would turn out well or not... it did.  There's a buttery, flakey crust on the bottom and the sides caramelized in the pan.  And it turned out to be quite tasty.

Of course, the turkey, and the stuffing, and the side veggie were also cooked, but sometimes it's the deserts we look forward to most.

Today is Black Friday.  We have none of the extraneous bullshit products we normally proffer to our customers; no pink or blue rocking horses, no child size motor scooters, no glow in the dark art kits are on sale.  Our Black Friday display has been set for almost 2 weeks.  There will be some significant price drops on some items, that's the lure.  And no, just in case you thought of asking, there are no sales in flooring.  People need to stop equating 'special deals' with 'just deserts,' they're totally different.

Last evening there was the flashing headline that the Idiot Jerk would leave the White House if the Electoral College gave the election to Joe Biden.  Someone should tell that dumbshit he doesn't have a choice.  I find it amusing that Republicans are beginning to whisper how this little voter scam he's trying to pull are going to ruin his legacy.  Someone should tell them his legacy will be immortalized in his inability to deal with Covid 19.  He also implied he may not go to Biden's inauguration.  That will be rather difficult since he's most likely going to be having brunch with his blow bro Vlad.  You do know that in his mind, that alone will be his 'just desert.'

N7

 Saturday... ahhhh, the prelude to my long weekend.  Four days, jam packed with chores that needs to be done.  The temps here in Central PA will be in the low to mid 70's (F), if the weather forecasts hold true.  Wednesday, my final day off, we should be having rain... Eta, I believe.  

Yesterday the store was busy.  Lots of people were spending money.  Not too many flooring sales, but appliances?  Busy with a capital B.  Since nothing else has been normal this year, our Black Friday has been mutated.  We're now having a Black Friday Event... which has already begun.  This means we are filling our aisles with lost cost, high mark-up merchandise geared for the impulse shopper, buyers who believe the deal is a real steal... when it isn't.    Always remember:  buy cheap... get cheap.  Quality does have cost.

Another thing I will be looking forward to over the next few days is not having to do my daily health check before going to work.  Not that taking my temperature and filling out an online survey is complicated, but doing so is a constant reminder of what's happening out there.  Our heartland is on fire with the virus, as is our nation's administration.  I saw where Mark Meadows is now infected.  And people are beginning to wonder where Mike Pence is.  Evidently he hasn't shown his face in 3 days.  Is he simply lying low while trying to find a life preserver as his boat ride to a future in politics sinks?  Or could there be some other ulterior reason?

Business Insider reported that his aides had to school their leader on vote counting, how stopping the count would guarantee his loss.  Why is it this doesn't surprise me?

Biden is now winning Georgia by over 7,000 votes.  The higher, the better since it eliminates and surprises in their recount.

I don't watch any of Rupert Murdoch's propaganda outlets, but according the The Guardian they are turning on the Idiot Jerk in the White House, telling to accept defeat with grace.  For those who are expecting him to concede, forget it.  That will never happen.   They are telling him his legacy will be that of making the courts conservative.  However, the minute Amy Coney-Cumquat evokes her religious beliefs in a ruling, she becomes a political hack.  In fact, this is the same reason the Supreme Court is going to maintain a very safe distant from the decision making process of this election.  

And finally, today is N7 day.  For those who don't know, and there are many of you, N7 is the yearly celebration of one of the most popular, groundbreaking game franchises of all time.  Mass Effect.  You could play the main character, Sheperd, as either male or female, that choice was up to you.  You could make him black, or brown, or white, with tattoos or without, you could make him look which ever way you wanted. And you could have same sex relationships.  Social Conservatives shrieked loudly in anger... to no avail.  The expectation is that today Bioware is going to announce a remastered edition, updated, and with some changes.  The gaming world is... excited.  Here is Commander Shepard.

Straight for the Gutter

 Can you believe it?  Today's Friday.  For me, it's Thursday.  Tomorrow is my Friday!

I got the new external hard drive yesterday and am in the process of slowly transferring things from the old drive.  Excruciatingly slow.  As I'd said, the old drive is dying.  It's starts transferring, and then stops, and pauses.  Sometimes it continues, but more often then not it locks up.  Son of a bitch.  There's no problem with smaller files, but movies and games?  I'm either going to have to find some other way to do the transfer, or write them off.

We were slow at work yesterday.  Translation:  I'm doing things in the aisles to keep busy.  You know?  Physical labor.  I'm making things look nice.  We're not doing a Black Friday this year.  That doesn't mean they're not cluttering up our aisles with... stuff.  Dog beds went out yesterday.  I know a lot of people who own dogs.  One of our associates was talking about buying one for his cat... that's right, his cat.  Before I got my dogs, I had cats.  He's wasting his money.

I understand the Idiot Jerk in the White House hit the airwaves last evening... briefly, before the networks started shutting him down.  MSNBC was the first... after something like 21 seconds.  I'll bet that pissed the Hell out of him.  He doesn't take losing well, which is why he cheats.  This man has been cheating his way through life for far too long.  Like many cowards who cheat, he will run away rather than crash and burn.

The fact that Biden has now flipped Georgia is pissing off a lot of Republicans.  Pennsylvania is going to flip sometime this morning. And the Idiot Jerk?  He's like a freaking pinball heading straight for the gutter.

Anyway, the whole thing should be over today.  The MAGAs will be furious that they've lost their liar and thief.  The Republicans are only beginning to understand how the Idiot Jerk has tainted their party.

Believe me, things are looking up.

The dogs were all excited when the learned they were going for a walk this morning.  They don't remember they go for a walk everyday.  Keep in mind, they're much smarter than your average Republican.

Bidin' their Time

 So I start my 6 day work week today.  I'm wondering how slow things are going to be, we're at that time of year, that fall lull in sales before Black Friday.  Oh, and we are having a Black Friday, however the sales are not going to be deep discounts they way they've been in the past.  No super duper specials.  Though they're still bringing in junk to clutter our aisles.  This will be interesting since that will be in the heart of Flu and Covid season.

And I did get my flu shot yesterday.  Hopefully that tick of one thing I might catch this fall.  

Speaking of Covid, the governor of Missouri has it... so does his wife.  She had symptoms first.  Cases are continuing to rise here in the states.  Temps are beginning to cool off.  The Idiot Jerk is continuing to lie about the severity of this pandemic.  His followers still believe the damn thing is just going to go away.  Well, they may not understand this, but it did go away in the summer about as much as it was really ever going to go away.  And now it's on its way back because they don't like to wear masks.  

Oh, and I guess that unless he wins the election, he's going to take his complaints to the Supreme Court, that's why he's trying to get this Cracker Jack Conservative installed on the bench as soon as possible, before election day is what he wants.  That would leave the Senate 35 days after the announcement is made on Saturday.  That might happen, but I suspect since Mitt Romeny said 'this year,' it isn't likely.  All most conservative Senators have wanted was a conservative court.  After confirmation, for many of them the Idiot Jerk becomes a handicap. I'm not saying there aren't a number of Right-Wing Nuts out there who desperately want a tinfoil dictator.  Many, I think, understand that chaos is only going to grow if he gets another term.  I many believe Biden's got this one in the bag, possibly by a landslide, and they're just bidin' their time.  I also think many of them understand that because of the Idiot Jerk, there's a good possibility they're going to lose the Senate.

And, if for some reason they do get a confirmation by Election Day, the Supreme Court has not been too friendly to the Idiot Jerk.  Perhaps because he calls them stupid.  When they don't give him what he wants he calls them failures. 

As for the Breonna Taylor decision?  Why would you expect anything else from a Conservative Grand Jury.

Finally, I made whole wheat flat bread yesterday.

The Next Part

Well, my Christmas week schedule is out.  Not bad, if I have to say so.  I'm off work form 12/22 -12/25, going back on the 26th.  The store will be decently staffed that day:  Returns.  That's when the dog beds, and Olaf pillows, and faux copper frying pans get returned.  Yeah, for a home improvement store, we sell a lot of crap on Black Friday.  This year, for a change, we did not sell pink and blue rocking horses, nor did offer kid sized motorcycles.  Yepper, for the past 4 years our Black Friday offerings included kid-sized motorcycles.  Now I know you're asking yourselves what kind of moron buys a motorcycle for and 8 or 9 year-old?  The same kind who voted for the Idiot Jerk in the White House. 
And, speaking of Christmas, in previous years Black Friday initiated the change in our canned music to Christmas carols.  That's all we heard, from the minute the store opened to the second we locked our doors at night.  Not so this year.  Except for our Crazy Christian associates, everyone is quite pleased.  Now we hear a carol, and then 3 or 4 non-holiday songs.  Now, I know there are a lot of you out there gasping in horror.  What's Christmas without Burl Ives?!  Knowing your addiction well, I got a clip for you just to ease your shakes and tremors.  If you're like me, you can skip to the next part.

The Next Part.

With Harris out of the presidential race, I know there are those out there wringing your handkerchiefs crying where's our diversity?  Where's our diversity?  Well, we still have a gay man running, as well as an Asian, an African American, and way too many septuagenarians.  Our most important goal right now is not to put the most liberal, diverse candidate into the White House.  The goal we must prioritize is the removal of the Idiot Jerk.  No matter how desperately some of you might be hoping the impeachment will do this for us... it ain't gonna happen.  Congress is going to let the voters do the dirty work.  That way they can say it was the judgment of the American People.  So, what we all need to do is put on our stompin' shoes.  We need to stomp them down so hard, so when the 2020 election is over they're not going to know what hit them.

Grazin' Time

For those of you who don't know, today, in America at least, it's Black Friday.  This is the day we celebrate rabid commercialism.  At some Walmart today someone is going to get punched in the face, or trampled.  In fact, that may have already happened.  There are so many Black Friday deals out there which aren't really deals, unfortunately Consumers have been trained like seals doing tricks for fish.  We have a laminate floor on sale for .49 a square foot.  People will buy it believing it' has at least somewhat good  quality.  It doesn't.  It's cheap.  It will sell because it's Black Friday.
My schedule is fixed so by the time I get to work most of the crowd will be gone.  There will be food, however.  Today will be a grazing day.  So much so, I doubt if I'll feel like riding when I get home.  I'll catch a ride tomorrow evening.  Today it's Mexican.  Yummy stuff.

Tomorrow it's going to be meatball subs.  Sunday is some sort of hot dog day.  I'm not working Sunday so I don't really care.
Evidently the Idiot Jerk in the White House showed up in Afghanistan yesterday.  Smart people will understand he needed to go, there's an election next year and his unpopularity is staggering.  Right now his party is struggling to hold on to their base, to keep them from sliding through the cracks.  What will hurt them in the election is a Conservative electorate which stays home.
Oh, and I saw where Obama is quietly dropping subtle warnings to the Democrats about moving too far to the left.  While there are a lot of Lefties out there, the country is overwhelmingly Centrist.  Stay in the Center.  Keep the majority happy.  Don't do what Republicans do.  The first they do whenever they get in power is tell you to "shut up."  This is always followed by "we're in charge," which is their way of saying "screw you" to the masses. 
And for a final bit of political humor, I saw where Boris Johnson has asked the Idiot Jerk to stay out of their elections.  Now, ain't that a hoot!

No President is King

Okay, I was wrong.  Management did choose to drape thick, black plastic over our Black Friday Specials.  Some people find this quaint.  Yesterday an older woman asked me about the black, low density polyethylene so I told her "Black Friday."  She smiled because she thought it was cute.  Go figure.
Yesterday was slow.  Not excruciatingly, but those days are coming.  The same thing happens every year.  Sales have always been cyclical.  Of course, corporate doesn't let that get in the way of setting budgets.  The Sales Plan does go down, but never as much as the plan from the previous year.  In retail there is always an increase.  We have to keep those stockholders happy.
A judge has ruled that the Idiot Jerk in the White House can not keep witnesses from testifying.  The line that stood out most to me was "the president is not a king."  The sad truth is that the one MAGA elected wants to be more than a king.  He wants to be a dictator.  You can bet this decision is going to the Supreme Court.  This is why he tried to put in as many Conservative judges as possible, to protect his sorry ass.
And once again Rudy Gazooty said he's not worried.  He has insurance.  I'm wondering if that might be a copy of the Golden Shower Tape.  If not that, then some other juicy tidbit detailing how the Idiot Jerk compromised himself with the Russians.  He evidently doesn't seem to be too worried, so maybe behind the scenes he's talking to the Democrats about becoming a State's Witness.  That threat would no doubt sent shivers down the the Idiot Jerk's corpulent torso, shaking all of that jelly from Hell.
My Marlowe has arrived.

I set myself up for a subscription.  If I don't like it, I'll just cancel.  This is how life is.
Finally, customers began buying live Christmas Trees yesterday.  They want them up for Thanksgiving.  Impress the relatives, you know?  Look!  Live tree!  In 3 weeks they'll be hearing dead pine needles falling to the floor.  You only need one to start a cascade.  And in 4 weeks their floor will be covered with them.  Live trees belong in the forest.

Riding On

Well, it's Sunday and I have to start off with a little bit of a correction.  Last evening I was informed that I have been pronouncing Demon Nunes last name incorrectly.  I was saying Nunes as nuns... you know, the ladies who used to wear black dresses but who now where frilly patterns?  Wrong.  His name is actually pronounce 'new - nez.'  Nez is the french word for nose.  Literally, you could say his name is Demon Newnose.  I just thought you might find that interesting.
At the store, our aisles are littered with Black Friday boxes.  There was a time when everything was kept secret.  Large swaths of 8mm black plastic were used to cover all of the 'special deals.'  Secrecy was important.  The idea was to make our customers curious enough to show up bright and early on Black Friday.  That is no longer the case.  We now open at our regular time.  That extra, earlier hour was not adding enough buckos to our sales to justify the payroll expense.  Now we let people know what our specials are going to be, though to be perfectly honest, nothing is a real deal, unless you're shopping for an appliance.
So, Rouvy added some new rides... in Switzerland... in the Alps.  This one looks really nice.  It's Sustenpass.  I showed it to a friend at work and he said... "Dave, that's a big f*****g hill!"  I corrected him of course.  "Nope," I said, "that's a mountain."  Here's a little video showing off the beauty and majesty of this ride.

I only have one question... I didn't know Sherlock Holmes fell to his death.