Memorial Day Rant

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Biker Bar

Well, today has started off a a chilly willy one.  We had a moderately cold 45 (F) outside when I clambered out of bed.   Ah, but don't worry, the thermometer will continue to slowly rise starting right now!  By next Thursday we should be in the mid 90s (F).  Yepper, we're going to be getting some nice July temps in May.  Let us all hope this is not meteorological foreshadowing.

Yesterday was for the most part a decent day.  After writing the blog, I got in a good workout.  I've increased the weight on the dumbbell thruster and hammer curls to 20 pounds.  As people age, they tend to go with lighter weights, I'm continuing to go heavier.  Muscle building is important.  I do not want to enter the age of atrophy until much later in life.

Using the last of a loaf of bread I baked last week, yesterday morning, I baked a nice bread pudding. It's delicious.  In the afternoon, I made moussaka.  It's tasty, but definitely not the best to come out of my oven.  I substituted fresh crushed tomatoes instead of canned, and there was a difference.  In fact, I ended up using many variations of the ingredients, including soy sauce.  As I said, it's tasty, but definitely not Greek.

In Expedition 33, I'm at the point where I'm just fighting boss, after boss, after boss.  Some of the fights take 20 minutes or so, and as long as I win without dying, I don't care.  There is more than a little exhilaration when defeating a much more powerful enemy.  And the reward is always... well, quite rewarding.  

And since we are in May and Memorial Day is approaching, I thought I'd post of pic of myself at a Memorial Day party in 1995.  Those red sweat pants?  I wore those into a biker bar once.  I was only there to pick up a 6-pack (beer).  If I'm remembering correctly, even the jukebox stopped playing.  I have to laugh about that now.  And don't I look pretty tiny for being 6 feet tall.  Must have been a really big chair.

So, Orangie, with a gaggle of oligarchs, is in China.  Some of his cabinet 1 percenters are with him.  As someone pointed out this looks more like a business trip rather than one concerned with politics.  Elonia is with him.  In fact, the 2 of them walked side by side down the red carpet.  Elonia is evidently substituting for Melanoma, who must have had better things to do.  His son Eric is along the for the wheeling and dealing.  I did tell you this was a business trip.  I doubt if anything productive will come of it that will help any of the middleclass in America.  Those on the lower financial levels can be totally guaranteed to get nothing of value.

The petition to recall Governor Landry in  Louisiana easily got the required number of signatures and has been filed.  He's the governor who shut down an election after votes had been cast in order to gerrymander.  Pardon my French, but this man is dumb as a fucking brick. He's done far worse than put on a pair of red sweat pants and saunter into a biker bar.

Memorial Day, again

 Well, it's 50 (F) outside with the prediction that we should warm up into the 70s (F).  The original forecast had rain moving into the area sometime this morning and than hanging around until Friday.  That forecast has changed.  Skies are supposed to be overcast for much of the day, with the rain beginning to soak us tonight.  That's really the only change to our forecast; the rest of the week will be soggy.

I worked yesterday and, it being Memorial Day, they served us up food:  burgers and hotdogs.  As usual, I grazed... but not nearly as much as usual.  I'm attempting to cut back on the over ingesting of calorie high, non-nutritional snacky things.  The only thing cookies are really good at is growing your waistline unless, of course, you're an exercising dynamo.  While I do workout, I'm not burning up thousands of calories at a time.

Surprisingly, there were a number of customers in the store yesterday.  I got a measure.  Corporate did initiate a new policy which I'm not fond of': every hour on the hour our shoppers are informed that if they charge at least $300 on the orange credit card, they will get interest free financing for 6 months.  The more you charge, the longer the financing period.  While management is sticking to the line that these are just friendly reminders, I few these announcements as a not too subtle coercion.  

While I was folding laundry yesterday morning, Howie caught a fly.  I was just as surprised as he was.  He was quite pleased with himself as he jumped onto the bed with his little trophy, until... he opened his mouth just the tiniest of bits and the fly flew out onto the quilt.  He stared at it with a WTF look on his face for a second or two before it flew away.  

And for those of you who don't know, this is the Adyton at Delphi.  It might, perhaps, make a good place to hide.

And yesterday, being Memorial Day, the Orange Anus posted a hate message on Truth Social, all caps, of course.  Surprisingly, a few hours later is was deleted.  He evidently gave another rally shriek to celebrate memorial day.  Most Legacy media outlets no long carry his rants.  Fox does, but then Fox is pleased as shit that they're part of his new reality TV show:  The Prez.

I saw where Kristi, the Puppy Killer, Noem is somewhere is Arabia.  There are pics of her riding around on a camel looking rather Sheikish.  I don't know about you, but I suspect she's checking off every item she has on her bucket list.  Grift millions of dollars for a new plane?  Check.  Cosplay sheik?  Check.

Finally, one of the funniest things I saw this past weekend was Orangie's blow bro Putin told the world that Orangie is going through some Emotional Overload.  The jilt is in progress.

Oh, and a PS.  Elonia posted something about getting out of politics, that none of his suggestions are being enacted by Congress, that he too is being rejected.  That's bullshit.  This is what he really meant to say.  "I've stolen as much information as I will ever need, including all of your social security and nuclear information, and your government has signed so many deals and contracts that in reality I will be running your country forever."

Memorial Day

 The outside temp is 48 (F).  It's cool.  I going to take Howie for a walk.

It's Memorial Day.  Take the day off, make a hamburger on the grill, or watch a movie, and spend a few moments thinking about those who have given so much so we can have what we have.  The fight starts again tomorrow.

The Holiday is Over

 We have sunshine!  How wonderful.  Temps are predicted to be moderate this afternoon, hovering around in the mid 70s (F).  I can deal with that.  Humidity might be a little high, but I can deal with a little sticky, sweatiness.  We have a higher chance for thunderstorms tomorrow, but I can deal with that, too.  What we really need is the sunshine to dry things out.

And I did work yesterday.  We had customers in the morning and none in the afternoon, no doubt because of picnics and cookouts.  It was Monday and seemed like Sunday, and was mostly boring.  I do get holiday pay (4 hours since I'm part-time) which is nice.  I did explain to a few associates what Memorial Day was, and why it was a National Holiday, but only one person at work thanked me for my service.  Food, of sorts, was provided: burgers, chicken tenders, and hot dogs on the grill, but that's it, none of the fixin's.  No deserts or beverages were provided, I was told this was because they didn't have enough money.  The orange retailer is punishing us.  They used to provide Fun Funds for holidays, and they still do, only now those $$$ are limited.  You can increase those funds by winning credit card contests: the top store in the district to sign up new credit cards, or the top store to get leads or measures.  To do either of those you need customers.

It seems as though no one went to the movies this holiday weekend, usually one of the biggest of the year.  Perhaps that's because 2 niche films were released.  The fact that someone, somewhere thought Garfield was going to be a hit tells you a lot about the lack of rational thinking in Hollywood.  Going to the movies has become super expensive because of Corporate Greed.  People need a reason to plunk down all those buckos.  Mad Max and Garfield provide no reason what so ever.

Here's a view of the writing room from the staircase.  The updating of the floor should be finished by tomorrow.

With the Holiday over, politically things should get back to their chaotic normal.  For those who missed it, Trump was photographed walking around a parking lot at some Naas car race waving, and gesturing, and saluting no one in particular.  While he looked zany, his team was filming bits to edit into crowd reactions to make it seem like he is extremely popular, something he needs to do after so many media outlets reported on his getting booed badly.  Remember, everything he does is staged.  Everything he says is a lie.

Thanking Those Who Served

 Happy Memorial Day to everyone who's celebrating here in the US.  It's one of those holidays that should be a holiday and would be if Capitalism taken control of the steering wheel.  It's no longer about honoring all those soldiers and sailors who died for America, rather, it's not about the deal to get the sale.  To do that, retailers work their damndest to get people away from celebrations and into their stores with sweet prices.

We dealt with the inevitable questions yesterday, and will have to deal with them today.  "What's your Memorial Day Sale?"  One woman with a toddler turned abruptly and walked away when I told her we had nothing on sale.  This is how it goes.  Business will probably be slightly busy this morning, but as the day wears on it will die off.  At some point people decide to fire up the grill.

The weather on this holiday is supposed to be humid, not as warm as yesterday, which wasn't really that warm, but with the threat of thunderstorms.  We had rain over night.  

They are bringing food in:  burgers and grilled chicken.  I'd rather have burgers and dogs.  I'm not wild about chicken on the grill unless it's dripping with barbecue sauce.  That ain't gonna happen.

Take a moment today and think about those who served.  Thank those young men and women who gave their lives for our Democracy.  We owe them so much.

Holiday Blog

Well, we're into the 2nd day of our holiday weekend and the weather is stormy... sort of.  Today the humidity is supposed to soar..  No thunderstorms are in the forecast, at least not for today.  We did have a few yesterday.  Lots of rain at times, drenching Central Pa.  More are predicted for tomorrow as this weather pattern moves through.  It will be here and gone in no time.  

Retail was not too good yesterday.  Our measure system was down making it impossible for us to sell a flooring measure.  Not a good thing on the holiday weekend, when customers do stop in during the early hours.  Afternoons and evenings are slow, since that's when the cookouts and barbecues start.

I saw this little review of Interview With a Vampire and thought it cute.  I was so disappointed in that movie.

And for those who missed it, Trump was mercilessly booed last evening at the Libertarian Convention.  It was more than joyous watching him get all red in the face.  If you get a chance watch some of the videos, one the best showed him leaving the stage looking rather dejected.  Simply Wonderful

 

For Generations

 So, how does the Memorial Day weekend begin?  With the forecast for thunderstorms today, tomorrow, and Monday.  Will storms put in an appearance?  Possibly. They were supposed to show up on Thursday and stayed away.  One thing I have noticed about the latest predictions is the use of the word "hot."  Today is supposed to be "hot," but the high is only expected to reach 87 (F).  To me, that's not hot.  97 (F) would be hot.  It's not hot until I have to turn on the Central Air.

Speaking of hot, has anyone heard if Florida and Texas are still super hot?  Boy, those babies will be cooking by the time July and August roll around.

I did get much accomplished yesterday.  The lawn was mowed.  I took the weed wacker into the dog yard (that fenced in area) and cut that back.  Now I'll be able to mow the entire thing with my lawn mower.  I worked on the writing room floor, mopping the entire thing with Murphy's Oil Soap.  Lying down on it, though, I think I could still smell a bit of dog.  I have some spray cleaner that should eliminate that, and, as a last resort, I can put down another layer of polyurethane.  

Swatches arrived with sofa fabrics, and I'm going to go with a brown velvet.  It will coordinate with the drapes and will pop on the yellow area rug.  It's also going to be great at camouflaging dog hair.  

Being a holiday weekend, things will most likely be rather quiet on the political front.  I'm thinking that might be a good thing.  Things are quite turbulent.  America is restless.  While growing up, I had been taught that history was broken up into 2 parts, BC (Before Christ) and AD (After Christ).  Well, that was changed a while back to BCE (Before Current Era) and CE (Current Era).  Christ was taken out of the picture since for a vast majority of peoples in the world he is irrelevant.  In the United States, I don't doubt we, too, will speak of eras, splitting our history into 2 parts: BT (Before Trump) and AT (After Trump).  He has become historically relevant, not because he is good for the country, rather it is the polarizing effect he creates.  He will lose the election this November and about 45 % of the population will be upset, and those losers, like those who loved the Confederacy, will be around for generations.

Turbulent Times

 Well, it's stinky winky humid outside.  You know what I'm talking about, when your clothing feels damp and sticky and clings like some sort of cotton cellophane.  The wind is also picking up.  Dark storm clouds are shortly supposed to let loose, the coming rain is supposed to reduce the humidity.  Sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn't.

Retail was slow yesterday.  I did manage to get a measure for blinds.  We have a very good sale coming up for Memorial Day.  Geez.  I can't believe the holiday is upon us.  Time does seem to be flying by.  Not that our sales are going to be improving anytime soon.  People seem to be, for the most part, simply fed up with the expense of home improvements.  This is how American capitalism is supposed to work.  People no longer pay the high prices and stop buying; businesses drop their prices to increase sales.  The problem all too often, however, has been that corporations are simply saying "screw you, buy or do without."  Still, it may be working.  Recently both MacDonalds and Target have announced they were going to begin reducing prices.  How much this effect overall pricing among retailers might be an economist's nightmare.

My new area rug arrives today.  The yellow one.  I did some prepping of the floor yesterday.  I'm excited.

I have to use a different format for listing the chapters in the audio version of The Body on the Lawn.  Rather than have to change format in my future books, I'm switching over now.  This is how the table of contents is supposed to look.

A quick update on the weather.  The rain we were supposed to be getting is moving north of us, so it looks like we're going to miss most of it.

And Nikki Haley told the world she wouldn't vote for Biden yesterday, and that she will vote for Trump.  Does that mean her voters will do likewise?   We're going to need to take a wait and see approach to understand how that effects the Republican protest vote.

Any day now the jury will be sent out in Trump's election interference trial.  Will they come back with a guilty verdict?  There is that possibility.  One thing you can be certain of, is that if they do the Orange Anus will file an immediate appeal in an attempt to stay out of prison.  And if they do reach a guilty verdict, how will that effect the November elections?  How turbulent will the times be?  Maybe we should all fasten our seatbelts.

As It Should Be

 I hope everyone who was celebrating Memorial Day had a good holiday.  As usual, I worked and was rather busy in the morning.  Business died out terribly in the afternoon because the weather was beautiful, temps in the mid 80s (F), full sun, so most customers went elsewhere to spend the day.

Today starts my stint of 4 days off.  This schedule, working the weekend with the week off seems to be hanging around a lot longer than I had expected.  The only downside is that when I do work, if business is slow, I find myself getting bored very fast.  

They did set up a rather nice buffet for us yesterday, hamburgers, hot dogs, and chicken, though because we were busy in the morning I didn't get to graze as much as normal.  When I stepped on the scale this morning I'd actually lost .7 pounds since yesterday's weigh-in.  Of course, with all the grazing I'd done on Saturday and Sunday, that .7 pounds barely put a dent in pounds all those extra calories had built.

Even though I cut the Hell out of my peach tree, I'm pleased to say that I still have peaches this year, not the bushels I had over the last few years, but enough to prove that the tree might be better off after the hacking I did to it.  I wonder if the same thing will happen to my nectarine tree.

One of the most amusing things politically that happened this past weekend was Peter Doocy asking Biden if he'd pardon former presidents.  Videos of that question popped up on many social media sites simply because of Biden's response.  Rather than give a yeah or nay answer, all he did was laugh and turn away.  The cult of MAGA was not appreciative.  However, a majority of Americans who saw the exchanged merely nodded their heads and thought to themselves, "as it should be."

Memorial Day

 Memorial Day is here.

I work.  Nothing new there.  I've gained 3.3 pounds so far and more ounces might be added today because food will be available at work.  Today, barbecue chicken is the main course, until they run out.  Then they will switch to hamburgers and hot dogs.  I'll eat either.  Honestly, I'm not one of those people who sees grilled chicken as being better than burgers and dogs.  It's all food and while each might taste different, my stomach is not that refined to really care.

One thing that is missing is the baked goods.  Usually there were trays of cookies, a large assortment which truly pleased the grazer in me.  Cookies don't seem to be on the menu.  They had small bags of Famous Amos chocolate chip cookies yesterday.  They were not what I was looking for.

Sales wise:  except for our Garden Department, we're tanking.

An update on the audiobook.  My narrator has the holiday off, but will return to the studio tomorrow. He's up to chapter 24 and expects to have the book completely recorded by the end of Wednesday, at which point he will begin editing.  

My honeysuckle is beginning to bloom.  I love the scent of honeysuckle.

And, being that it is a holiday, very little news is being generated for public consumption, so sit back and enjoy the quiet for a while.

This is How it Goes

 Well, we've reached the middle of the holiday weekend.  Weather predictions are for sunny, warm days, with temps climbing into the very comfortable upper 70s (F).  These days are nice.  Unfortunately, all of the rain we were getting earlier seems to have relocated to other parts of the country.  We are dry.  I water my flowers every day.  There is a 25% chance of showers later in the week, but unless we get a storm system moving up the eastern seaboard our weather will remain parched.

And, as expected, except for our garden department, our retail business, while busy in the morning, slowed down during the afternoon.  That did not mean we weren't getting what I like to call "full moon" questions, those asked by certain people and only during certain distinctive times of the month.  Take the woman who was doing a upgrade to her kitchen.  She was buying one of our pre-made butcher block counter tops and stopped by the paint desk to ask if she could mix an oil based stain with her food-grade mineral oil to change the tint.  She did not like the answers that most stains are now water based, and that an oil based stain might create lethal complications for the veggies, and meats that might rest on them.  Food-grade mineral oil is not compatible with oil paints and stains.  This is how it goes.

An agreement was reached on the Debt Ceiling.  I know there are those who thought those words would be a long time in coming, but really all they needed to do was look at the history of this issue.  An agreement has always been reached.  Each party always plays out the brinksmanship, but in the end, agreements are always reached.  This happens because no party wants to take the blame for the economy crashing, not that it would actually crash.  Sure, there will be some crazies in the House of Representatives who will do their shrieks, and moans, and vote against it, but their minority will be obvious.  I don't doubt that the few concessions Biden has made will hurt the Republicans in the long run.  This is how it goes.

Hacked

 For those of you celebrating a 3 day weekend, the fun should already be underway, that is if you plan on having fun.  For some of you I suspect this might just be 3 days of rest and relaxation.  For me?  Well, as with most holidays, I work.  

Historically, the Memorial Day weekend has always been one of the strongest for the orange retailer that I work for, but this year that's up in the air.  For my store, sales can pop over the $1 million mark over the long weekend, mostly from purchases made in our garden department.  Grills and curb appeal, that's what people buy, mostly grills.  Cookout season has arrived.  

I cut down my nectarine tree yesterday.  There were more dead branches on it than live ones.  

My only bit of really big news is that someone's been attempting to put charges on my debit card.  The first was for $132.95 from Agoda (something or other).  My bank shot it down.  They didn't get into my bank account, but they had my card number, which meant closing that number and getting another.  Of course that didn't mean the perpetrators were going to stop trying.  Last night someone tried to buy something from Dealsdirect, but the old number is now inactive.  I guess this means that at least 2 different individuals had that number.  Naturally, I started thinking about where I used that card.  The only subscription I have linked to it is Planet Fitness, so it's possible someone may have wormed their way into that database.  Two weeks ago I used it twice down in York, for lunch and then again at Dairy Queen for desert, so it's not like I use it frequently.  This is a curious thing, isn't it?

And, since this is the holiday weekend, predictably nothing political will happen.  Oh, sure, the debt ceiling talks will continue, but with both sides saying they're very close, nothing to worry about there.  Old Kev McCarthy isn't stupid enough to force the country into default just to satisfy the far right, mostly because he knows that in the end a large majority of the country will blame him and the Republicans.  

Oh, and evidently they have incriminating audio recordings of Trump and one of the witnesses in his NYC  corruption trial.  Ouch, that's must hurt... okay, you can stop laughing now.

This is Fine With Me

 Well, we are officially entering the summer season today... sometime.  

Here is sunny Central PA the weather is supposed to cooperate with the partiers, the barbecuers, and those still improved curb appeal more than anything else.  Me?  I'm off today, but the rest of the weekend I get to work.  Tomorrow I'm scheduled to spend my shift in the Paint Department.  Will it be busy?  However, there's no paint sale so that will hurt.

Yesterday, the temps were cool here, unable to climb into the 70s (F).  I know there are those out there who feel this portends to a cool summer.  A word to the wise, never attempt to predict the weather, you will always fail.  

The plexiglass arrived yesterday to fix the window I broke on the back porch.  This afternoon it will be installed.  

And because I was bored yesterday, I did 1.25 miles on the treadmill and then took a ride through Bavaria in the afternoon.  That's what happens when the temps are down and I don't feel like doing yardwork.

I made Spaghetti Carbonara, it was almost too cheesy.

For those who haven't realized it yet, the Republican primary is going to be brutal.  There are so many people lining up to run against Trump and each one has a sharp little knife in his or her hand.  This is what's going to take down the party.  They're going to destroy themselves from within.

\I know there were a number of people who complained that Biden didn't really campaign in 202, well, ;he's not going to need to campaign much in 2024 either.  A speech here and there and always a venue far from the splattering blood of the Republican candidates.  Of course, Trump will be indicted at least 2 more times and they will use that to bludgeon both he and his base.  This is fine with me.

Have a good holiday weekend.

The 2nd amendment

 So, the Memorial Day weekend is over.  Our garden department was busy.  That didn't mean we didn't have customers in the flooring department.  Surprisingly, I can't remember a single person asking me "what's on sale?"  2 of my installs sold.  That puts me at my sales goal for the week.   There was a cookout for the associates, I had a burger and a hot dog, some macaroni salad (I love pasta dishes), and ended up with terrible indigestion.   I do believe my grazing days are coming to an end.  That's fine.

I'm not scheduled to work for the next 4 days.  Plans are in the works.  Nothing extravagant.  I want to drive down to That Fish Place to get some snails and plants for the new tank.  The snails will help with the algae problem.  I'd like to get away from scraping down the sides every 3 days.

There are Spotted Lantern fly nymphs on my roses.  Not a good thing.  An unwelcome pest from South Korea, these pests are tree killers.  I'm going to try the non-pesticide route.  I will let you know if my concoction works.  

You know how the gun nuts run around shrieking a shortened variation of the last 14 words of the 2nd amendment, "the right to bear arms?"  Well, I do believe the time has come to begin shoving the first half of the amendment down their throats.  The time for cherry picking the definition they desperately want needs to end now.  For those who've never read the 2nd amendment, and a large majority of Americans haven't, the first half talks about a well-regulated militia.  However, the well-regulated bit hands the gun lovers a plate of shit, so they always ignore that.  Here is what the 2nd amendment to the Constitution says:

Rather Cute

 Well, here it is... Memorial Day.  For us in the home improvement retail business, this is our busiest day of the year.  People always find that surprising.  They believe Black Friday is the holiest of holies in the retail world.  Well, it is if you sell flat screen TVs and trendy fashions.  However, when it comes to gas grills and picture-perfect curb appeal, this is our day.  Now, I know you're asking yourselves who would wait until the Official start of summer to go out and buy a grill for a cookout planned for that very day?  The same people who bought illegal, Memorial Day fireworks two months ago.  Need I say anything more?

And I do get to work today.  We're having a cookout at the store, burgers and hot dogs.  The grill we are using was marked down at the end of last summer.  There's no way we're going to lose a grill sale today.

There are lots of little patriotic American flags being flashed around today.  I have one.  It's in the closet downstairs.  I don't usually fly it because the pole is very inexpensive aluminum that is unsuitable for flying a flag.  In fact, the only reason I have one is because my parents gave it to me as a gift.  If anyone asks about my patriotism, I tell them I voluntarily joined the Navy and went to Vietnam.  If the person happens to be a loser, I'll follow up with the question:  what have you done for your country?

Here, never before seen on the internet is a picture of me in my Navy dress blues with my mom.  As I scanned this into my computer, I thought "shit, I was rather cute back then."

President Biden went to Uvalde yesterday.  From my understanding, his presence was greatly appreciated.  Evidently Governor Abbott made an appearance too.  He was booed.  I find that rather fitting.  I'm sure his people are desperately trying to play that down because... well, they're more interested in his approval rating than they are the families of Uvalde.  

I find it interesting that this time the talking heads of the Republican party, those who continually cite only the last few words of the 2nd amendment, are getting a lot of smack-back.  They represent a small, loud minority of Americans, but God forbid they do anything to alienate one of those voters.  You would think they'd realize that by veering towards gun control they'd actually grow their voting base.  However, that will never happen.  That would mean admitting they are wrong... on so many things.  The more they try and splinter America, the more their minority shrinks.  In a way, they are doing their patriotic duty by continually eliminating the scourge of hatred their party depends upon.

Lessons

 Well, we are now halfway through the Memorial Day weekend.  The temps here in Central PA are supposed to climb into the mid 80s (F).  The Central Air is on in the house.  We are heading into a mini heatwave with temps predicted to rise into the mid to upper 90s for most of the week.  Since I'm off most of the week, that's fine with me.  My lawn needs to be mowed thanks to all of the rain we've been having.

As usual, they're providing snacky things over the weekend, today it's 'make your own sundae' and there's freshly popped popcorn.   There's a cookout scheduled for tomorrow: standard hot dogs and hamburgers cooked on a grill behind the store.  Covid ended the cookouts, now they're back.

Business at the flooring desk was slow yesterday.  We were fully staffed and most of us ended up pretty much pissing the time away.  Not that our specialty manager did show up from time to time urging us to find some busy work.  He wants us to be aggressive salespeople, so he looks good.  We gently ignore.  The decision was made to give free measures this weekend, they usually cost $35, but that's deducted when you purchase your install.  People weren't buying it, even for free.

Here's an old picture of Lily.  Ain't she just the cutest little lady?

A few days back I mentioned how the Republicans were again hinting that they might be open to some form of gun control, and that it was as fake as it ever was.  This morning, the Washington Post said the same thing, however they put the blame on McConnell.  The terrible truth is the Republicans have a base that will always vote Red as long as the GOP stops gun control in its tracks.  Those voters are a sure thing.  There's no way they are ever going to do anything to lose those votes.  That group alone, however, is not nearly enough to get Republicans elected to office.  The time has come to teach them a lesson.

Poll Science

 So, we're into Saturday of the Memorial Day weekend.  I work.  Only 5 hours this afternoon.  Most of our business is done in the morning to early afternoon.  Things should be heading into the slow down period as I pull into the parking lot.  That's fine with me.

If you're looking for an appliance, this is a good time to buy.  Or paint, we usually have a paint sale over the holiday weekend.  While I can't say for certain, since I only occasionally work in that department, I'm betting there's going to be a rebate coupon.  I can remember a time when there was an actual 'sale,' but then some smart guy from corporate realized that not everybody gets around to turning in their rebate coupons.  Translation:  If you don't apply for the rebate, you bought the paint a full price and they make more money.

Here's a blast from the past.  A picture of what my dining room ceiling used to look like.  Don't you just love the raspberry trim on the staircase and the grapevine border?

One of the things frustrating Democrats over the last elections cycles has been the inaccuracy of the information pollsters put out.  Predictions of victory have made us complacent.  A number of people didn't vote because they believed Hillary was a shoe-in.  Could those polls have been any more wrong?  While the polls aren't entirely to blame, they are one of the big reasons why we ended up with the Spawn of Satan, Donald Trump in the White House.  

Why do I bring this up now?  Well, this morning Newsweek sent me an article about Florida and how the polls were saying DeSantis had a large lead.  Double digits in some cases.  Of course, I'm smart enough to recognize conservative propaganda when I see it.  While one of the pollster's names was recognizable (FiveThirtyEight), the rest were not, and the data these pollsters were supposedly referencing was from back in February.  The article was meant to hearten Republicans and dishearten Democrats and I don't doubt for a second it worked for some individuals.

The truth is that most polls are bullshit because most people realize a political tool when they see one.  Here's some advice on how to use this tool.  If your phone rings, and you answer the unknown caller, and it just happens to be a pollster, lie.  Republicans have been doing it for years.  Tell the pollster you worship the holy MAGA worm.  You see all those pre-fascist Republicans will suddenly begin to pay attention to the polls once they believe they're winning.  Make them think red voters are going to take the midterms in a landslide.  And then go vote Blue and vote those dumbshits out of office.

Dog Day

 Day off! 

Outside the sky is overcast.  I woke up to a 'weather warning' from Accuweather on my phone, possible areal flooding from thunderstorms this afternoon, not that I was planning on doing any real yardwork.  The elephant ear I planted has been nibbled on and will probably not survive.  I live in bunny hell, remember?

Just before I left work last evening, a couple came up and began sorting through the area rugs we keep on a very large table behind the flooring desk.  They ask the same questions everyone else asks:  what size are they? (They are all 5 x 7), do they come in larger and smaller sizes? (No), and will they be going on sale this weekend? (No, they never go on sale).  People believe everything goes on sale for Memorial Day weekend.  It doesn't.  One of my fellow associates told them this and their disappointment was obvious.  When someone asks me if we're running any specials, I say, "yeah, in appliances."

Besides laundry, a bit of work on the next book, and possibly a ride on the bike, there isn't a lot planned for today, so I thought I'd post a pic of the dogs.

I saw Governor Abbott of Texas has chosen to cancel his speech at the NRA convention in Houston.  Instead of spending some quality time with his donors, he's going to put on his phony Debbie Downer face and visit the grieving town of Uvalde because voters are unhappy.  Beto made him look like dog shit.

Ted Cruz will still put in an appearance.  He knows which minority group butters his campaign bread.

So will the Spawn of Satan, Donald Trump.  No guns will be permitted on the premises while he's there.  He spoke at their last convention and the same rules applied.  I'm wondering if this year, besides outlawing guns, they also outlaw fruit.  I understand he now has a fear of pineapples.

My Newsweek feed sent me an opinion this morning on Herschel Walker's campaign.  The writer believes he has a good chance of winning.  I mused about that for a few moments.  This is a man who only speaks in coherent sentences when he's reading a teleprompter.  He will never debate.  And you can bet he will only take questions from his friends at Fox News.  Rather than respond personally to issues, Walker will let someone from his campaign speak for him. Warnock is going to play hardball, and that's the wrong sport for an aging Walker.

Gibberish

 Okay, so today's a holiday.  Memorial Day.  Think of it as a Veteran's Day on steroids.  Burgers, fireworks, and at a lot of parties, beer, or some other form of alcoholic beverage is on the menu.  Many people have 3 day weekends.  I work today.  They are bringing in an ice cream truck so we can all have a free Sundae.  They also provide patriotic beads, and glittery little patriotic hats, and sequined antennae, all in very patriotic red, white, and blue.  I don't wear beads, or hats, or antennae.  This is my 6th day of work and right now all I want is my 2 consecutive days off.  I may stop off on the way home and pick up a bottle wine to celebrate those 2 days.  Maybe.

The thermometer's supposed to climb to 74 (F).  Everybody is ready and waiting.  The recent fall-like temperatures have not been appreciated.  My heat has been turned back on and for the past 2 nights my wool blanked as once again found a home on my bed.  Hopefully, it will not get folded and placed in the cedar chest until September or October.

There are tomatoes on my plants.  They are the size of marbles.  And there are tons of peaches on the tree, and nectarines, hopefully this year the squirrels won't eat those.  The garlic is coming along, as is the eggplant and pepper plants.  I'm hoping for a better harvest this year then last.

a blurry, little eggplant blossom

And what about those Democrats down in Texas, walking out so there was no quorum?  And the Republicans down there who desperately want an authoritarian government?  They hate this shit.  They're trying to say this is only a speed-bump, of course their heads hit the roof so hard when they hit that speed-bump they almost bit their tongues off.  Now their lies are going to sound even more like gibberish, not that that bothers the Republican base.  They've been swallowing the same shit for years.