Me being Serious

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

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

My Christmas Cactus is still blooming.

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

The Devil went down to Georgia

It's a bit chilly willy this morning, with the temp sitting around 28 (F).  There's some form of precipitation heading into the area tomorrow, which is a day off for me.  I'm not anticipating a lot of lawn work being done.

Yesterday was rather slow at work, this is normal.  Slowdown time.  Are installers are evidently booked through Christmas, so anyone trying to impress those friends and relatives foolish enough to visit over the holidays are out of luck... maybe in more ways then one.

Covid is breaking records all over the place... as predicted by the men of science.  Record infections, record hospitalizations, record deaths.  The White House Task Force released a statement saying we were in a dire time.  Okay, can someone tell me who exactly is running the White House Task Force?  Wasn't it supposed to be Mike Pence?  He's been awfully quiet here of late.  He must be sitting in some back room planning his 2024 campaign.  I know both Birx and Fauci have been talking to what Republicans call the Lame Stream media, but I suspect their orbits are too far outside that of the Idiot Jerk in the White House to hold any weight with his crumbling government.

And I guess the Idiot Jerk in the White House released some sort of 46 minute lie-a-thon video yesterday which I'm sure many of his base will cherish.  There's concern about his upcoming visit to Georgia.  Can anybody hear shades of Charlie Daniels?  People are worried it might incite violence.  Do you really think he'd care if people get hurt?  Nope.  Everyone, everything is expendable in his craven need to maintain his grip on power.  You see, in Russia this would work.  Not here.  Americans actually like their Democracy.

Oh, and Ivanka Danka was deposed yesterday.  I wonder how much of the money supposedly spent on the Idiot Jerk's inauguration ended up in her bank account.

And finally, something to brighten your day.  A picture of my Christmas Cactus in full bloom taken this morning with the sunlight shinning brightly through the front window.

A shapely muscle group

Friday!  My new week starts today... kind of, since I only work 4 days before I have my next day off.  That's right, I'm off on Super Tuesday, not that we're voting here in PA.  Our Primary is on April 28.  A number of states jumped on board the Super Tuesday train, they want to be among the first voters to help choose our next nominee.  What that really does is give the candidates a smaller time window to visit your state.  Instead of being able to spend time in your state, they fly in and fly out.  They hold a rally and move on.  Voters need to rely on the either the Internet or the media to find out about their potential candidate.  Sound bits are a poor way of educating oneself.
I went for another ride in the Dolomites yesterday:  Passo Pordoi.  I rode a smidgin over 3 miles in 45 minutes... all uphill.  Hills are great.  Afterwards I could feel it in my quads and my buttocks.  Yeah, that's right... my buttocks.  For most of us, buttocks are a fairly large muscle group.  They are not just a wobbly slab of fat you sit on to watch TV.  Next time you see a cyclist, check out his buttocks if you want to see a shapely muscle group.
And, of course, Wall Street did a bit of a crash dive yesterday.  I wasn't really following it, so I was fairly surprised when, after finishing my ride, I checked out my Bloomberg app.  Son of a Bitch!  I really feel sorry for people with 401k's...well, except for Republicans, they deserve the pain.  By the looks of it, the markets are not going to stop their free-fall quite yet.  Not enough damage has been done to the MAGA heads yet. 
On a much brighter note, I took another picture of my Christmas Cactus yesterday.  I think I'm going to start calling it the Crimson Bloomer.

(Awe...)

Can you believe it? Saturday... and it seems as though only yesterday it was Friday... Oh... I guess it was.  Oh... sorry for my calendar faux pas. 
My little Spanish customer was back in the store yesterday.  She  needed to pick tile for her bathroom and, because of floor problems, vinyl sheeting for her laundry room.  She had seen that if she applied for a credit card she could get $100 off her charge, and so wanted to apply.  This is done by keying information into the credit card key pad.  She needed to give me her driver's license so I could verify her address.  Dear Me... she's 87 years old... and wants to have new flooring put in her bathroom... and she confused the first 3 digits of her social security number.  She told me "I haven't had to give this out in years."  In the end she was denied (awe...), though I will admit to being relieved.
And I don't know about you, but I had to laugh when I read Bernie was warned that the Russkies were trying to get him elected.  (awe...).  That's right, they want either he or the Idiot Jerk in the White House in 2020.  No wonder the Idiot Jerk was furious when both Democrats and Republicans in the House were given this information.  You see, the Russkies don't  really care who's President, as long as that individual is a disruptive force in American Politics.  What a slap in the face to the Idiot Jerk that must have been.  They don't really like him (awe...).  For them, having an egotistical, self-centered, white supremacist, misogynist in the Oval Office is an asset.  And because of Bernie's crazy, socialistic tendencies, they see him as being just as disruptive (awe...).
Another little tidbit that came out on... Thursday, I believe, is that the White House is considering an additional $26 billion in aid to America's farmers.  The Idiot Jerk's trade policies were born to fail... just like him.
Finally, I thought I'd give you and updated picture of my Christmas cactus.

Look at all of the little, red buds...  (Awe...)

Frankie's Failure

Sunday, and winter is now half over.  That sounds like I don't like the season, the cold and the snow.  I do, the only problem is this year, here in Central PA, winter's been rather lackluster.  No decent snow falls.  We'll have a day when the temps drop, but the next day their back up in the mid 40's (F).  The long range forecast is predicting we're going to have pretty much the same weather until we hit spring, at that point winter will probably kick in.
I saw where Frankie Graham was shrieking his gay hate because of Pete Buttegieg.  This is to be expected since Frankie is an extremist.  That's right, he's a religious fanatic, slovenly drunk on his own religious interpretation of Christianity.  We all know what fanatical extremists do with their hatred, they fly planes into skyscrapers.  You may not believe me, but it's true.  Frankie doesn't deal with rejection well.  He got hit with a whole bunch of rejection a week or so back when Evangelicals in the UK called him out for being what he is... a fanatical extremist.  What really happened is that Frankie was given a Sign.  He was warned.  That pissed him off.  How dare people tell him he is crazy?  And nothing fires up his hate more than gay people, though I suspect brown, immigrant Catholics are probably not too far behind.  Frankie needs to be taken off his soapbox.  This is beginning to happen.  That rejection from the UK is a good start.
On the lighter side of things, my Christmas Cactus is still blooming.

I thought this was like a season thing.  Evidently it's not.  Does anybody know how long it will continue to bloom?  I mean, it started before Christmas.

Welcome to 2020

Welcome to 2020.  We are entering a very visible year, filled with foresight, and hindsight.  This is the year we begin to see clearly... you know?  2020 vision.  For some of us, this is going to be a very good year.  For other, like the Idiot Jerk in the White House, this will be the worst year of their lives.  This is the year when we will get to see the true effects of Karma. 
As for me?  I slept in this morning.  Mostly because this is my first day off after working 6 in a row.  I get to go back to work tomorrow.  And I'll be back in the store again on Friday, but then I get 3 off in a row.  In fact, my schedule for the next 2 weeks isn't bad... but then I crash into another 6 day stretch.  I really hate those long weeks.  I will have to endure them for another year... until my car is paid off.  After that, I'm thinking of cutting back on my hours.
Now that we're in a New Year, I've decided to set a goal for myself in cycling - to ride over 2,000 miles.  That means 800 more than I did last your.  This, I think, is very do-able.  A challenge for me would be 2,500...  so maybe I set that as my goal. 
A couple of books on Scotland have been ordered - for research purposes.  I like doing research.  The moment I stop filling my head with information will be a sad day, indeed. 
I'm still getting flowers on my Christmas Cactus. 

There are at least more buds waiting to open.

On Christmas

Well, it's Christmas Day.  Ho Ho Ho.  I hope everybody out there is having a wonderful, relaxing day.  Remember, don't sweat the small stuff.  This is a holiday.  Enjoy.
The dogs have not, I repeat not, been given all of their presents yet because... they're dogs.  Their toys will be divvied out during the day.  They will look at them and decide if they're going to be 'forever toys' or 'forgettable toys.'  Children are the same way, they either love their toys or they don't.
As a lot of you know, I was stationed on the USS Constellation while in the Navy.  One of my buddies posted this picture of the flight deck this morning.  This gives you an idea of how big an aircraft carrier is:

Touch football on the flight deck

I'm planning a ride, maybe in Turin, for this afternoon... after I eat some ham.  I will give the dogs the fat, part of their Christmas day celebration.  This is supposed to be a day of celebration, you know... after the harvests are in.   This is the time we prepare to cozy ourselves into our warm houses during the sleepy time of winter.

One of the many bright spots in my own little abode this season is my Christmas cactus.  It's blooming:

Now, ain't that nice?

And I've just given the dogs their first toys.  Lily is almost in rapture over her green, squeaky inchworm, and Biggie is laying on his orange, squeaky squirrel... that way Lily can't play with it.  Ah, the joy of dogs.