Daily chores

 My day off is supposed to be filled with sunshine!  There is 0% chance of rain.  Some people in the Central PA region are on the verge of reaching ecstasy over this news.  Tomorrow, we're supposed to top off in the high 80s (F) and the chance of rain increases to 25%.  Of course, I'm scheduled to work tomorrow afternoon, so as long as it holds off until I've ensconced myself at the flooring desk I'll be fine.

Specialty retail was soooo slow yesterday.  I spent most of the time looking at styles of loveseats for my writing room.  Originally, I'd thought of getting something that was peachy colored, however, trying to picture that in my head wasn't working.  It never does.  Mostly I think with an inner monologue, meaning my thoughts are mostly taken up with words, not pictures.  So, I did the next best thing, I've ordered swatches and chose colors and fabrics that coordinate with the draperies that are already hung.  

On my schedule for today is laundry (there always seems to be laundry), some work on the writing room, floor, a ride on the bike this afternoon, and uploading files of the audio book to Audible.  How much of that will actually be accomplished is another matter.  Back when I was working fulltime, relaxing, unwinding, and recharging were all done on my first day off.  Those 3 things are not conducive to getting chores done and I honestly don't have time for them.

I just zipped out and snapped a picture of one of my Itoh peonies.  For some reason I didn't get a lot of buds this year, perhaps it's because we've basically had constant rain and cloud cover for so long.  I don't know.

And, isn't Florida a funny state?  I mean, not only does it have Disney, there are also millions of conservative senior citizens who moved to the sunshine state in total denial of Climate Change.   I don't know if you've been paying any attention to the temperatures down there, but they've been suffering under a heat wave.  In some places, daily temps are reaching 108 (F) which is hot, almost Death Valley hot.  That means super high electric bills to cool things down, which means senior facilities are increasing their rates because they need to turn a profit.  And we're not even close to the dog days of summer.  This is Karma, for those who don't know it.  

Trump's election interference trial had a dash of excitement yesterday.  His first defense witness caused the courtroom to be cleared.  Guy named Costello, who rolled his eyes and glared at the judge from the witness stand; a fool whom everyone believes made a terrible impression on the jury.  In other words, someone just like Trump.

Boots on the Ground

 The weekend is almost upon us, meaning I'll get to go sit at the flooring desk for 3 days beginning tomorrow afternoon.  Can you feel my excitement in the air?

The temps outside are on the chilly side, 28 (F) the last time I checked, however that was a bit ago.  They might be warmer by now.  Our high to day is predicted to be in the lower 50s (F), in fact for the rest of the weekend temps are supposed to climb.  Am I the only who thinks that these warmer winters portend to even warmer summers?  Possibly not here in Central PA, but down in Texas, and Florida, and the rest of those southern states?  I wonder how hot they'll have to get before the understand that Global Warming is an issue.

I didn't get any workout in yesterday.  Instead, I attempted to make a giant chicken patty and was not too successful.  The thing tastes okay, but isn't something I will ever cook again.  Lily doesn't care.  All the skin and things I don't want to eat are going to her, so last evening's and this evening's meals are going to be feasts for her.

The tank in the living room got a good cleaning yesterday.  The black algae is back, which means I'm going to need to start up frequent water changes again.  Not a problem.  I don't think the fish like it too much.

And did you know some people will do anything for a free pair of shoes?

I did see a juicy tidbit yesterday which might possibly explain the Supreme Court's decision in delaying Trump's immunity case, and, not surprisingly, it makes sense.  This means it's probably not true, and is just another conspiracy theory, but let's be honest, it sounds logical.  That tidbit is:  they are delaying the immunity hearing because they do really want Trump to win in November because...  Clarence Thomas, age 77, and Samuel Alito, age 73, want to insure that they are replaced on the court by Federalist Conservatives, something Trump would do to keep his orange ass safe.  This being said, I think this is more conjecture than anything else simply because lose so many perks when they retire, and for Thomas that would mean no more Sugar Daddy sweetness for his bank account.  And Alito?  He can do more evil sitting on the bench than anywhere else.

The Precedence of Legislation

 Okay, so yesterday we had on and off again clouds, mostly on.  The same is true for today.  Temps are going to hover in the low 40s (F) and, if the forecasters are correct, only drop into the mid 30s (F) overnight.  Later on this week, it might get a little colder, but then again it's also supposed to get a little warmer.  I haven't checked my heating bill, but I'm betting these temps are saving me a heap of money.  The same is true for my electric.  While I did use the Central Air last summer, we never had extended heatwaves, nothing like people did down south.  

And, speaking down south, I find it amusing that all of the conservatives and conservative seniors are moving to Florida because they don't believe in Climate Change.  The same thing goes for those Texans that want to secede.  This is how things work.

As for work yesterday, it was terribly slow.  Mostly I sat around making notes in Wordpad about future books, or if I want to be precise, the next one, which is called The Body in History, and also notes what might be book number 8, tentatively titled The Body in 4/4 Time.

I had breakfast with my brother this morning.  I got as bit teary eyed talking about Pine Grove, my parent's home town.  Because of my Mom's emotional problems, I spent much of my summer vacation from school with my grandparents.  For 3 months out of the year, I basically lived there, coming back to Lebanon for occasional weeks and so a lot of my childhood memories are based there.  So sometime in May, he and I are going to spend a few hours there in order for me to pass on an oral history.  We may even have to record some of it for posterities sake.

Here's the Pine Grove movie theater.  While I saw a few movies there, the one I remember most is Tarzan Goes to India, in 1962, (though I may have seen it in 63 or 64, my memory's good, but not that good) staring Jock Mahoney.  

With a brief hiatus of Trump's legal issues, Republicans are desperately trying to take over the Mainstream media spotlight with the immigration issue, mostly through their attempt to impeach Mayorkas.  Again, and as is always the case, they have no specifics, but then their base doesn't really care for details.  I find it fascinating that this group is more interested in revenge and retaliation than it is in legislation.  You'd think they'd realize that getting a Cabinet member impeached (especially if you can impeach a president) is not a priority for a majority of Americans.  While there are border issues, the fact that they refuse to do their jobs and legislate demonstrates their inability to define a precedence that America wants them to prioritize, rather than use as an election tool.

Uninstalling Twitter

 So, the temperature did not drop below freezing last night.  Now, isn't that nice for December?  And we're in for another day in the mid to upper 50s (F).  This doesn't mean that the rest of the approaching winter season is going to be the same.  Mother Nature might decide to nail us with winter storm, after winter storm, after winter storm, though as time moves on through Climate Change, those types of weather patterns seem to be fading in this region of the country.  Who knows?  In 200 years, Pennsylvania might be a tropical island paradise.

Some things were accomplished yesterday, but not as many as I had expected.  No matter how much I plan, this always tends to be the case after I work for a few days, not because sitting at the flooring desk is so exhausting, but rather because I've always struggled with procrastination, and as I get older, I find myself giving in to it more and more.

One of the chores on my list for this morning is to drive over to the store to pick up the necessary supplies for tiling the rest of the backsplash in my kitchen.  Also, the doorway into the kitchen is going to get primed.  

And just maybe I might bake some snickerdoodles, one of my favorite cookies of all time.  Now I know that for many chocolate chip cookies are the pinnacle of their cookie ladder, that's not the case here, and I am talking about American cookies here, not the British biscuits; snickerdoodles should never be chewy.

As have so many millions of others, I uninstalled Twitter from my phone.  There was a time when I enjoyed it, in fact there were even people who followed me and liked my smart ass comments.  Now I know that my removal of the app isn't going to hurt Elon Musk personally, but all those millions switching to some other app?  That's creating a financial headache for him, which is good.  I'm tired of getting notifications from hate groups and far right extremists.  I'm tired of having to block people who love perpetuating views that glory in hatred, or espouse the rule of dictators.  While I'm all for free speech, that doesn't mean I want to be harangued daily by peoples who's views are anything but free.  While Elon claims his new version of Twitter is all about free speech, he evidently didn't put much thought into the fact that if you dislike it, you can uninstall it, and that's happening.  Twitter's attrition rate is high.  Ad sales are way down; according to Bloomberg over $1.2 billion down since Musk bought the app.  Someone should have told Musk that Free Speech does not mean you can be forced to listen, or read the shit Twitter is now putting out.  Nope.  Not at all.  Believe me, it's quite easy to uninstall.

The Eyes Have It

 I get to work today, and of course the weather is supposed to be nice, climbing all the way into the 60s (F).  Tomorrow I'm off and rain is in the forecast.  If I'm remember correctly, this weather pattern is similar to the ones we've had over the past couple of years.  Whereas they saying is April shower bring May flowers, our rains have been starting more than a few days before April.  With the temps as warm as they are, my flowers will be popping out in April.  It's almost as if we're going through some sort of climate change 😎😎😎.

I had ordered glasses through Zenni since my prescription changed ever so slightly.  I gambled on a different kind of lens, one that has what they call Blokz, which is supposed to protect your eyes against UV rays.  Well, they arrived yesterday and I don't like them.  The Blokz adds a yellow tint to the lens to they almost look like very weak sunglasses.  After putting them on, I looked in the mirror and thought, oh, hell, I look like Sonny Bono.  Well, not quite, he was a lot shorter and had longer hair.  When I wear them, everything has a faint yellowish tint.  So, this morning I ordered a new pair, without the Blokz.  I will wear the old, new pair when I'm working in the yard, or planning on spending more than 5 minutes outside.

March Madness has started.  That has something to do with basketball, not the antics by the zany Republicans acting crazy in the House of Representatives.

There was an article in Newsweek this morning proclaiming that 1 in 4 Republicans believe the 2020 election was stolen.  That's actually down.  At one point it was closer to 1 out of every 2.  Time is dealing a harsh truth to the Republicans, something they will never understand.

Evidently there's a Trump appointed judge who will decide if one of the two medications used to provide non-surgical abortions should be taken off the market.  This is just one more example of how that minority group, the Conservatives, are jamming their middle finger into the faces of a majority of Americans.  They were hurt badly in the last election cycle because of their anti-abortion agenda.  They will never learn.  All they want to do is dance around singing, "Ha, Ha, we're going to force our beliefs down your throat."  Things are only going to get worse for them and I'm going to enjoy it.

We Call this a Veggie Tray

 Hello Wednesday, August 17.   We now have little over a month left of summer.  As Maddie noted on an earlier entry, the season has not been bad for us.  No scorching temps in the low 100s, (F) just a few days where they climbed into the upper 90s (F).  There were also a few days when the humidity was so sponge thick my T-shirts felt like clammy saran wrap draped over my shoulders every time I went outside.  But, other than that, the weather's been quite reasonable.  And lucky us, daily temps climbing into the low 100s (F) our not foreseen in our future, at least not for the 30 years.  However, a number of Republican held states do not appear to be so lucky.  

From the Washington Post

Yesterday was a day of accomplishments.  Grouting on the new tile surface in the kitchen was done, though not completed.  I need more grout.  Laundry was done.  Some yardwork was done.  I started a 5 hour walk through Pompeii; I had no idea the town was that large.  

And I resolved my issue with Rosetta Stone... somewhat.  Even though I have the discs I purchased some years ago, and even though Windows 11 has no problem running them, Rosetta Stone shut down the server my software.  Since my course is no longer functional, they gave me 3 free months.

I was sorry to see Liz Cheney lost her bid for reelection.  This was to be expected, however, since she's from a Cracker Jack Crazy Conservative state infatuated with authoritarianism. 

In PA, Oz is the brunt of oh so many jokes because he released a commercial in which he's shopping for veggies for a crudité tray.  The supermarket he is in is actually named Redners, yet he mispronounced it Regners, and his campaign aired the commercial.  Of course, Fetterman knows how to troll.

crudité?  We call this a veggie tray

So, you shouldn't be surprised to find out that the NRSC (National Republican Senate Committe) has pulled its funding for ads in PA.  Yepper, they're not going to buy ads for Oz.

The Weak Grip

 The heat Jennifer was talking about yesterday arrives in Central PA today.  We will, however, only be sitting in the low 90s (F) rather than be hitting the triple digit temps she is experiencing, of course, we have another week before summer officially arrives.  I will have to water my little garden, though.

Yesterday was a day of accomplishment!  

I tried something different during my 43 minutes on the treadmill: weighted spats.  I've had them for years, and years, and have never really used them.  The weight can be adjusted up to 5 lbs. per foot.  I started light, strapping just one pound on each foot.  Easy peasy.  Your legs are the engines of your body.  The idea is to make them work harder to make them grow stronger.  

I decided to put in some marigolds out front.  I planted seeds, but also picked up a pack of 8 small plants thinking they'd get a head start on the seeds.  Well, the seeds are going to town, while the plants are struggling.  They're struggling.  Here's a blurry pic of my dahlias.  They should be bursting into bloom any day now.  

The next January 6 committee public hearing was moved from today until next week, tomorrow's hearing is still on.  I work tomorrow, so I'll not be able to watch it with any type of consistency.  

There were primaries yesterday.  I find it fascinating that the media is so laser focused on Republican candidates, especially those endorsed by Trump.  Take Lombardo in Nevada.  He's backed by Trump, getting 38.4% of the vote.  That's the headline, rather than 41.1% of Republicans in Nevada voted for someone else.  If they're trying to show how strong Trump's grip is on the GOP, they're failing.  His candidates might win, but when a majority of Republicans vote for other candidates that grip is not nearly as strong as the media implies.  Trump's dinky little hands aren't nearly as strong as his MAGA base wants them to be.

Greed

 Hello sunny Sunday!  Slow day!  And a workday, too.  I'm scheduled to work tomorrow as well.  Rain is in the forecast.  This is how it goes.

I was talking about Climate Change with an associate... let me rephrase that, a conservative associate, who told me that there is not concrete evidence that the climate is changing.  His logic?  That Earth has been here for millions of years, has gone through so many different changes, and we as a people, have only been keeping records officially for a few hundred years.  When I pointed out that core samples taken from the ice provide an excellent record of past climates, he said, "but they were only taken in certain areas, they don't show what the climate was like all over the world."  There's not getting around stupid.  He also doesn't understand why we should take actions now when, as he says, "there's no definitive proof."  As a true conservative, he'd rather corporations make money that will he believes will 'trickle down.'

As some of you may have seen, Jack Dorsey is no longer the CEO of Twitter.  He wants to focus on Square, a financial services company.  Twitter management is in a bit of chaos, not because there are certain losers (I'm speaking of you, Loser #45), who would like to be reinstated, rather, they're trying to figure out how to monetize the social media platform.  That's right.  They want to sell more ads.  This is Greed in America.

Jack Dorsey, notice I chose a picture with him wearing a shirt

I don't know about you, but I'm really getting fed up with ads.  I have an Instagram account and I can remember where ads were sparse.  Not any more.  Instagram is owned by Meta, which is, as most of you know, Facebook, and Meta is monetizing the hell out of Instagram.  This is Greed in America, the Zuckerberg version of Greed.  Meta tracks the number of times people click on ads, so if people would stop clicking, eventually the number of ads would go down.  Of course, that will never happen because there are dumb shits out there who will see and ad for Quaker Oats and think, "wow, Quaker Oats, I wonder what that's about."

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.

Healthy

 Cool Sunday morning here.  That's fine.  We're heading towards winter so things might be getting a bit cooler.  Of course, winter's difficult to predict right now that Climate Change is upon us.  Last year old man winter was a little feeble.  We'll have to see if he's picked up any strength in the past 10 months, or if he's going to turn reclusive, at least in this part of the country.

I'm only scheduled to work 5 hours today.  No lunch break.  I'll take a banana and some snacks.  I bought a cantaloupe, so I'll probably take some of that.  Yesterday, while I was eating lunch, an older associate  asked "do you always eat healthy?"  Take a second and think about that question.  For breakfast I'm making my standard oatmeal:  almonds, walnuts, cinnamon and honey.  What will this associate eat?  Probably a frozen Jimmy Dean sausage egg biscuit, high in fat and sodium.  By the way, most people don't have a 2000 calorie diet, even when I'm active, riding about 10 miles every other day, I stay below 1800 calories.

There was a lot of commentary about Kevin McCarthy's silence regarding Gosar's violent anime, the one where he kills AOC.  The anime disappeared soon after it was Tweeted, having already fulfilled it's purpose.  All the while McCarthy says nothing... well, actually, he says a lot.  The craven stench for power surrounds him.  He will allow anything to happen if it helps him become Speaker of the House.  Don't forget, that position puts him just a few steps away from the presidency.  His hunger for power is so great, nothing is sacred to him.

  

Garden Party

Friday.  For some of you it's the ending of the work week.  For me?  Another day off.  Of course we have some delightful precipitation outside, which seems to becoming the normal.  If we had a bit of a wind, that breeze would stripping the leaves from the trees.  The air is still, however, they're going to have to rely on gravity.  Because we had a fairly wet summer, there are lots of leaves that will need to be raked.  The two previous years I didn't have to worry.  This year is different.

Yesterday was hectic at work.  One of my associates kept disappearing, so I needed to keep paging for assistance.  At one point, while I was designing blinds for a German woman, she mentioned 'your reclusive' associate.  I laughed, since the person in question isn't reclusive, just lazy.

One of my favorite game series is Mass Effect (except for the ending of the 3rd installment).  They studio came out with a 'legendary' edition, where they made some updates.  They put out a 4th installment called Andromeda, which didn't do well, so they put the game on hiatus for a few years.  Then suddenly 2 years ago there was a teaser trailer and the gaming world gasped in surprise at the glimpse of popular characters returning.  A few days ago, on November 7 (the day before my birthday) Bioware released a poster and the gaming world is a chatter.  Like many, I had to blow it up way out of proportion to scavenge for details.

A few interesting tidbits:  Among Americans, the only group who doesn't see climate change as serious are Republicans.  A lot of this is greed.  It's more important to make money than worry about the climate.  A lot of it is the effect of Loser #45, who many want to enshrine.  But a lot of it is also that they are stupid.  This group hates science.  They do not understand there is no way to maintain the 1950's status quo they so dearly love.  This group is going to be responsible for so much pain and suffering.

Another interesting bit is about Evangelicals.  Oh, wait, let me correct that to read White Evangelicals.  In case you haven't realized it, they proportionately dominate the Republican Party.  This group does not believe in systemic racism, since blame would fall mostly on their shoulders.  In their mind, their beliefs make them special.  They think their faith was chosen, as was their color.  If this group ever got into power, they would make the Spanish Inquisition look like a Garden Party.

In a Stew

Well, it looks as though we have another drizzly wizzly day outside.  Yesterday the sun was nice enough to shine down in the afternoon, but only for a few hours before the clouds began rolling in.  Tonight, temps are supposed to drop below freezing.  This is how autumn happens.  What winter will be like is anybody's guess.

Yesterday was rather uneventful.  Chore that had been planned were accomplished.  I wrote.  I played a video game.  Right now I'm playing through the Mass Effect trilogy.  The first time I played through it I thought it was great.  Now, well, I see problems.  Bioware, attempting to go bigger and better, kills off the main character in the beginning and then has him resurrected through science.  You get new companions and new game mechanics.  Meh.

I cooked the smoky leek and lentil stew yesterday.  The recipe ends up with much more than I was expecting, so I'll be having stew today.  I'm going to add a garnish of shredded swiss cheese for the warm-up since I'm not really wild about parsley.  Here's what mine looked liked.

Okay, so yesterday I saw in JMG that Frankie Graham posted more of his nonsense on his Facebook page (no link) on how Climate Change is pretty much the wrath of God killing people who reject his (notice the lower case) religion.  Evidently the fact that a number of these people who have already died by fire, and flood, and heat, and cold, and have been Christians is something Frankie has chosen to overlook.  Truthfully speaking, there's a lot of horseshit in Frankie's barn that he needs to clean it out.  That'll never happen since he's more interested in trying to prove he's a Cracker Jack prophet... something he will never, ever be.  This man knows the corrupting taste of power, and likes it.

Bummerland

Well a happy Thursday to you all.  Here in Central PA we have rain... lotsa rain.  In fact, we're stuck in a band of rain moving north, and while I'm not going to get another 7 inches, the possibility exists for at least 4 more.  My lawn continues to grow... fast.  Since I'm off on Tuesday, I'll have to drag out my little electric mower and once again shear it off before it becomes a field.  If I had a little more land, I might consider buying a goat or two.

Normally, as the weather gets colder the leaves begin turning colors... well, here they turn yellow.  The leaves on my river birch rarely change color, they simply fall.  And so far, while we've had temps down in the 60's (F) at night, there is no sign of Fall actually arriving.  With that being said, this article in the Washington Post came as no surprise.  One of our seasons is getting longer, while the other 3 are all getting shorter.  We may have celebrated the autumnal equinox, however when autumn will actually arrive is still in question?  late October perhaps?  

That's not me

And, as climate change continues to effect the world, remember, when things get to bad for people they will move.  Of course, the idea of a group of people migrating because climate change has made their lives impossible  is something Conservatives never consider, especially the faux Cracker Jack Crazies, mostly because what's happening in Guatemala is way outside their sphere of Consciousness.  Perhaps if they weren't so focused on their 'me' principle, you know what I'm talking about.  "If it doesn't effect me, it's no concern of mine."

So many don't realize we're getting very close to Bummerland.

Conservative Mantra

 Today's my Hump Day.  My schedule was updated, so I now know how I'll be working during the 2nd last week of my fulltime employment.  It is not good.  Six days in a row.  A bit of a frown slipped across my face.  I have personal time on the books, so I may have to break up that stretch.

The portable heating pad I bought didn't work as well as I was hoping because it creates this superficial feeling that everything is fine.  Bending too quickly will still trigger a spasm, I learned that yesterday reaching down for a faux wood blind.  Heat relieves the symptoms, but not the problem.  In fact heat does a really good job.  I have heating pads upstairs and downstairs.  Days off are fine.  Work days, however, even with the portable pad, are not, and I'm wondering how much of that might actually be short-timer's attitude.  Is the discomfort worse at work because I know in a few weeks I'm only going to be working about 25 hours a week?  Honestly, I think about that when there are no customers, writing out different schedules for myself.

We had another thunderstorm last evening.  There was still a drizzle this morning when I left the dogs out.  This is how we transition into a rain forest.  Climate change, you know?  I find it rather sad that there is a certain group out there who don't believe our weather patterns are changing.  Not surprisingly, these are the same people who think Covid is like the flu, they are the anti-vaxxers, and, as you might expect, the ones who treasure their little red hats, and worship the orange anus.  They are the ones, who, on their way to being intubated, will claim they don't have Covid, only bad allergies.  Cough.  Cough.

The unfortunate truth is that these people are having an allergic reaction to reality.  They will never be able to comprehend the actuality of the situation.  Denial is their daily bread.  For them, everything revolves around their conservative mantra:  Me, Myself, Mine.

Oh, and I saw where Kellyanne Conway had her ass fired.  What a sorry situation that a human being with that low an IQ should make it into any position of government or power.  She will always be, and never anything more, than the bottled blond from Hell.

Bulk Buy

 Well, yesterday at work was slow.  I was going to stretch the letters out so you might get some idea but decided against it.  Sometimes a simple, brief sentence says everything.  Boring is also a good word to describe yesterday.  This is how it goes.  

Two days left before my weekend.  The temps are going to be climbing into the upper 90's (F).  No rain is in the forecast.  We're finally hitting our normal August and I'm beginning to wonder if our seasons have some how been delayed by Climate Change.  The truth is, we have no idea how things are going to go.  This is all brand new to us and so many are completely unprepared.  At some point, we can expect those living in the areas effected most to move away, to migrate to cooler, safer climes, or the coastal flooding will get so bad they'll migrate inland as the coastline slowly changes.  This is what happens when a large group of individuals favor mythology over science.

So, I decided to buy my walnuts in bulk.  I could by the same brand of walnuts on Amazon as I buy at my neighborhood Giant, but there wasn't really that much of a savings, so I switched to Kirkland.  I'll find out how good they are later this morning.

And I saw that 2 of Loser #45's minions were doing their best to slow down the infrastructure bill.  One of them is from Tennessee, a poor state that could sorely use this bill.  Of course, they're not going to succeed, and more then a few Republicans will tout this bill when it comes time for re-election.  And the fact that this bill will be popular in Tennessee is going to hurt the minions when there names once again appear on the ballot.  And when this bill passes Loser #45 is going to throw a shit fit.  The only legislation he got through was a tax break for the wealthy.

Changes

 Well, it's Friday, or I guess I could call today my almost middle of the week Hump Day since I will still have 3 days to go when I clock out this evening.  After that, I'll have 2 days off, 3 days on, and then 6 days off.  I really wouldn't having a 3 day work week.  

Yesterday, I gave management the day I will go part-time.  October 11.  I even handed in a tentative schedule.  Of course my availability will change.  I just wanted to give them something to go on.  Amusingly, when my manager asked why, I replied honestly.  "I can afford it."  Believe me, those are four very nice words to be able to say.  For those who are interested, here it is.  And it is subject to change.

I was checking out the news from the Mediterranean.  Hot temps over there.  Greece is having scorching heat 107 (F)  The hottest it's been in 30 years.  That means at one point the temperature cranked even higher.  Here in Central PA, we're heading into some higher temps, but nothing that high.  For us, last summer was hotter, but so far this summer has been wetter.

Climate change is upon us and you can bet the Cracker Jacks will be going crazy.  You see, they don't believe Climate Change.  They don't believe in Evolution either, yet homosapiens have been changing.  We are getting browner by the day.  These two challenges, Climate Change and Evolution are creating horrific challenges for the Cracker Jacks because their belief system does not allow for either.  Unfortunately for them, there is nothing they can do to stop the changes.  We might be able to slow the climate down, perhaps burnt the severity, but nothing is going to stop it.  The same is true about evolution.  They don't understand the changes will make us stronger.  Creativity explodes during stressful times like these.  The future is:  the ice in Antarctica will melt and Florida will be underwater, for the most part, so you can say goodbye to The Villages.

Masterclass

 Can you believe it's Saturday?  So soon?  Days just seem to be flying by, don't they?  or maybe it's just me because in another 3 weeks I have another Staycation booked?  Time tends to grow painfully slow when we think about a group of multiple days off and we say things like "it can't get here fast enough."

I set the bread machine timer last evening and woke up to the smell of freshly baked Italian bread.  That is really nice.  Of course, I'm actually going to have a piece of peach cobbler for breakfast.  Yes, I know, it's loaded with fat calories and the carbs are stretching from here to hell and back but... well, somebody has to eat it.  I'll just have to put in a little more time on the bike... or the treadmill.  Easy peasy.

The central air just kicked in.  Outside the temps are sitting in the mid 70's (F).  They're supposed to climb towards the 90 degree mark today.  Beginning tomorrow, they're supposed to ride a wave of 97 (F) for several days.  That's hot enough to make Charo dance.  For those who don't remember, Charo was a popular cu chi cu chi girl who was married to a gent named Xavier Cugat for a while.  She was very popular on the late night talk show circuit.  What many didn't know then, and still don't know, is that she is considered a great classical guitarist.  Here's an example of what is considered 'masterclass' guitar.

And sometime this coming week criminal charges are going to be filed against the Trump organization, probably just the first of many such indictments.  Will the Orange Anus himself be indicted.  I someone don't think so.  He's always been smart enough to dupe others into doing all the dirty work, like that dufus Giuliani.  Of course, if Giuliani flips... well, then there's no telling how many heads are going to roll. 

Finally, I understand Loser #45 has his first super-spreader event this evening, at least I believe it's this evening, or it may be next Saturday.  I don't really follow his calendar of evil.  Anyway, if someone attends and gets infected by Covid and ends of dying, guess who's responsible?  Not that it really concerns the failed president.  The only reason he's doing this tour is to push The Big Lie to his base.  This is how you kill a party. 

E Ticket Ride

Saturday... Kid's Workshop... and I'm not working.  Now, isn't that a really good reason to celebrate?  The temps are forecast to go up into mid to upper 50's (F), unusually warm for January.  According to Accuweather, the warm winter temps will continue for the next 2 weeks.  While these temps will reduce my heating bill, they are a precursor, a terrible tease as to what climate change may bring to the region.  Central PA may end up turning into a tropical rain forest.

The first draft of "The Body in the Well" has been completed.  Right now it sits at 93,357 words.  Now the editing starts.  I was asked by one of my readers if he was going to find it riveting.  I told him I was aiming more for an E ticket ride at Disneyland.  Of course, I had to explain myself.

And by now, everyone knows the Idiot Jerk in the White House approved the assassination of very high ranked Iranian general.  His action teeters both the US and the mid-east into an all out war.  One of the women at work said "he did in order to get himself re-elected," the belief being we're not going to change presidents in the middle of a war.  Can you think of anything sounding more logical to a Republican?  Start a war to stay in power.  They have always been callously inconsiderate of human life that isn't white and American.  Their base revels in this, believing it demonstrates their superiority.  Every day they reveal more of their ugliness.

On a brighter note:  Here are Biggie and Lily with their T-Rex.

It doesn't squeak too much, does it?

Farming with the Jellyheads

The first day of my weekend starts today!  Oh, and it's a minor holiday.  Columbus day has been in existence since 1971.  I have no idea why.  I mean, he never set foot on the continental United States.  An Italian by the name of Giovanni Caboto landed in Newfoundland a bit later, which might be a bit north, but is still part of the Continent.  The Brits call Caboto, John Cabot, but he was anything but British.  Ponce de Leon set up the first colony... in Florida... a bit before the Pilgrims set sail.  Surprise, these guys weren't really white.  What Columbus did which is far more important than his discovering Central America is... prove the world was not flat.  You do know that if the Idiot Jerk had been living 500 years ago, he'd have called that 'fake news.'
I have chores galore planned for today.  The weather is supposed to be nice both today and tomorrow.  Wednesday... the day I go back to work, they are forecasting rain.  I have no problem with that.  We've had a very dry summer here in Central Pa.  Not like the the farmers out in Iowa, they've had rain issues.  Of course, like true Republicans and supporters of the Idiot Jerk in the White House, they are blaming the Army Corp of Engineers... not climate change.  No light bulb is going off in their heads regarding that topic.  Nope, instead of scratching their temples and asking "what's with all of the rain,"  they're putting the blame on human beings... because the climate can't change.  The fact that this is beginning to happen in their lifetimes is boggling their little gray cells to the point where the pectin is beginning to break down.  In a few short years they will have mutated into jellyheads.  Oh, wait, that can't happen, that would be evolution.
And yesterday, while I was cleaning up the dog doo in the yard, I saw I had a bloom on my white rose bush.

There's a touch of brown around the edge, but that happens.

The First Big Step

I start my split days off today... no work, and the dogs let me sleep in another 15 minutes. 
Montana had an early snowstorm.  The Southeastern states are having a rip-roaring heatwave.  As climate change continues to effect the world, people will begin to move.  Yes, even in the United States.  This is called immigration.  And animals, too, as their natural habitats grow too wet, or too dry, too cold or too warm, will head towards more habitable areas.  So many people in the world are totally unprepared.  Things like this have happened before in our billion years history.  The difference between then and now?  Someone is here to record the changes.  This will all become very interesting.  If you're thinking of retiring to some sunny trailer park in Florida, keep in mind that expensive mobile home may be underwater sooner rather than later.  Here's one projection:

The smart ones will prepare, the dumb ones won't.  You know who I'm talking about, those fools running around in their little red MAGA hats.  And then they'll shriek "how can this be?!"
So, what am I going to do on my day off?  Lots of little stuff.  Ride bike, of course.  I got 11.1 miles in yesterday.  I find that I'm not as sluggish if I ride.  Those 2 weeks when I was trying to do that 5 rides a week challenge screwed up my schedule for a bit.  You only needed 15 minutes a day.  That doesn't work for me.  I need to get between 45 and 50 minutes a day.
The Idiot Jerk in the White House had his Henchies throw a whine-a-thon yesterday.  Sadly, neither Stevie, nor Lindsay, nor Jimmy Jordan.  Jimmy had to deal with Jake Tapper.   Jimmy ended up his Crazy Christian head slapped silly.  And the rumor's going around Mickey Mulvaney's job might be in the shitter because he didn't have a working plan to deal with... impeachment.  This administration, this political party, is so out of touch with America.  They don't understand that the first big step towards making America great again is to impeach the Idiot Jerk in the White House.