At the Rainbow Bridge

 Well, if it's Black Friday and you're sitting here reading this, then Christmas shopping is probably not high on your list of things to do today.  Me?  I might buy a pair of slippers later; it's an image I'm trying to groom: old man wearing a cardigan sweater and slippers.

The weather's supposed to be nice today.  Temps are predicted to be in the mid 50s (F).  There's also a bit of yardwork in the forecast.  I need to rake my gingko leaves around the base of the tree.  Over the winter they decompose and I'm left with a nice, free, circle of mulch.  There's also an aquarium clean on my chore list, as well as laundry.  The first load has just finished.  My, aren't I the expeditious one!

Thanksgiving dinner was at my brother's farm.  Noah, his youngest, is in his late 20s, his oldest is nearly 40.  When they were younger, we didn't talk, I'm simply not good with kiddie-speak.  Now we talk.  We have discussions.  My one nephew is head union rep where he works, not something my brother's too pleased with, being the conservative that he is.  I was a little concerned about driving home at night and it turned out to be a non-problem.  In fact, I don't mind driving at all.  

Yesterday turned out to be pretty good, except for the notice I got from Bethesda telling me there was no way they could give me back my 28 levels of game play.  They sent me a survey.  I replied honestly.  I was hoping they'd be able to give me a magic bullet that would restore my character both his strength and prowess.  They can't.  So, very politely I told them I was extremely disappointed.

Breakfast this morning is spice cake with cream cheese icing.  

Now that Thanksgiving is over, the Republican circus is about to begin again.  Well, I'm a bit wrong on that since it never did actually stop.  Take Wednesday for example:  there was a fiery car crash up by the Canadian border and a number of Republicans (Ted Cruz perhaps the most prominent) began shrieking that there was Terrorist Attack at the Rainbow Bridge of all places.  Of course, these yokels were getting their info from Fox.  Many of them began backtracking after it was learned that there was no terrorist.  The driver of the car was a rather wealthy man, from an upscale community, driving a $300,000 car, who was a mite upset because the Kiss concert he had tickets for was cancelled, and so he and his companion decided to go to a Canadian casino instead.  Everybody quietly updated... except Cruz, who still has his terror post online.  It figures.

Barbie's Adventure!

 And the weekend is upon us!  I get to work (notice the lack of an exclamation mark).  It does pay for my movie going experience, as well as a lot of other things, so I suppose I really shouldn't complain.  And it's only 3 days a week.

Yesterday was warm, again in the low 90s (F), and there was the threat of a possible thunderstorm, which we got, but while there wasn't a lot of thunder and lightening, when it came to the rain this storm was on steroids.  The warnings went out for small stream flooding because we received 2 inches of rain in 45 minutes.  Yes, it was deluge time in Central PA.  Those raindrops were immense.

I drove over to PetSmart yesterday morning and picked up 3 snails.  Now that there are only angelfish in the big tank, I don't have to worry about them being eaten, and hopefully they'll work on eliminating a lot of the algae.  So far they seem to be quite at home gorging themselves until their little snail bellies are full, then they'll rest a bit, and then gorge some more.

And, of course, there was a major political controversy yesterday: Vietnam banned the Barbie movie! (notice the exclamation point!).  Seeing the potential of another dead horse to kick around, a number of Republicans, Ted Cruz included, jumped aboard the band wagon.  What's the to do all about?  Well, there's this small dotted line off the cost of Asia, notice that on the map is says Asia, not China, and evidently China has used 9 dots to indicate where their territorial waters end.  There are, if you'll count, only 8 dots here but, and I do hate repeating myself, Republicans, including Ted Cruz, need a dead horse to kick.  Isn't it sad how Republicans will do anything to waste America's tax dollars.

Finally, Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, gave Trump's legal team until July 13 to get the security clearances in place for his legal team to defend him over his theft of top secret documents.  This will cause delays, of course, all part of the plan, and all the while making it look like she's doing her job.  I can't wait until that Orange Anus is locked up.

It's in the stars

 And the weekend has arrived.  Today's weather?  Sunny, little if any chance of rain, and I get to go work.

Yesterday I had been going to mow the lawn.  Didn't happen.  Drizzles all day.  Every time the dogs came back into the house, they were raindrop fresh.  They don't mind going outside if it's only showers.  Steady rain, however?  Nope.  Ain't gonna happen.

Lady GaGa is bringing her Chromatica tour to Hershey, 13 miles away.  I will admit to having a little morbid curiosity, and so asked a couple of friends if there was any interest.  Nope.  Ticket pricing is high, starting at $290 for seats on the side in the Hershey Stadium.  Yes, Hershey has a stadium.  That's where I saw Paul McCartney.  U2 played there.  It's big.  Anyway, I watched some videos of her tour on YouTube and it's not so much of a concert tour as it is Performance Art.  She sings Bad Romance packed into something which looks like a cocoon with only her arms sticking out.  Definitely not for me.

As many of you know, I was in the US Navy a long time ago, stationed on the aircraft carrier USS Constellation, CVA 64 (at one point the changed the designation to CV 64).  Aircraft carriers are large; think of them as small cities.  Most people can't even conceive of something this big.  When we were on a WestPac cruise, it was not unusual for there to be over 4000 sailors on board.  Here's a picture of the flight deck.  You can tell we were not involved in flight ops because the planes are parked and there some dude walking across the deck wearing a pair of skimpy, white shorts.  

And, of course, the Republicans keeps rubbing themselves in shit because they believe it makes them more attractive to voters.  Take their voting against PACT, the legislation meant to provide medical help to Veterans.  While the vote was still ongoing, several Republican senators gathered and, knowing they'd screwed over Veterans, congratulated each other.  Ted Cruz even fist-bumped another senator. which is pretty much the same thing as giving him a 'high-five.'

This video has over 1 million views on social media.  Rubbing yourself in shit is not going to win you votes in November.

Bullshit

 For some reason, I thought today was Thursday, and went into see if my schedule had been updated.  I was wrong.  We're only into Wednesday.  The updating will come sometime this afternoon.

Yesterday was a no-go as far as everything that had been expected.  Mike (the Plumber) showed up but had to take his truck in to get inspected.  He took pictures, and a video of the bad pipe, and gave me a quote.  Very high $$$, but I'm going with it.  This is the same reputable company I've been dealing with for some time, and I can afford it, however the truck inspection took longer than expected, so he'll be back this morning.

I did drive over to World Class Ski and Cycle to pick up the check for selling my X6 Cannondale.  The first check they'd sent me got lost in De Loy's screwed up postal service.  And then, of course, 19 days after the first check was mailed, the carrier dropped off the first check last evening.  A black sharpie had been used to scratch off the first delivery bar codes on the envelope, indicating the check had been delivered to the wrong address and that person had returned it to the Enola post office, which sent it back to the Camp Hill post office so it could be processed a 2nd time.  The bicycle shop put a stop payment on the first check and issued a 2nd.  This is almost the height of postal incompetence.

My roses are beginning to come in.

There was a terrible tragedy down in Texas yesterday.  Many children were shot to death.  Chris Murphy, the Democratic senator from Connecticut has said enough of the bullshit!  He is right on the money.  President Biden said, "we need to stand up to the gun lobby."  He is off.  It is not the gun lobby, rather it is the Republican party that needs to change.  They won't.  Any form of gun control would cause them to lose the votes of 2nd amendment assholes.  Lose votes?  Conservatives are so craven for power they will accept any form of gun violence.  They do claim to pray a lot, but I suspect those prayers are mostly hoping that the majority doesn't finally turn against them.  As expected, Ken Paxton, the corrupt Attorney General from Texas, and Ted (I would rather be in Cancun) Cruz suggested putting armed officers in schools.  I will tell you that from the deepest part of my heart, I do not believe our founding fathers envisioned the need to have armed officers in schools when they added the 2nd amendment to the Constitution.  Anyone who believes that is full of bullshit.

Time

 Well, it's Tuesday and I slept late.  I stayed late, just in case you're curious.  I watched The Adam Project with Ryan  Reynolds.  Like a lot of movies on Netflix, it starts strong but then...  Time travel stories have always had problems and this movie has them in spades.  The greatest tenet about time travel is that you don't tinker with the past.  Well, the writers flushed that tenet down the toilet when they sat down in front of their computers.  They warn the audience about tinkering, and then they tinker like hell.  Relying on science is always helpful when making a science fiction movie.  Of course, I tend to think about things like that.  If you're one of those people who like to simply sit there and let the images flutter in front of your eyes, this movie just might be for you.

I'm picking up Biggie's med today.  He's getting a full month's supply of the gabapentin.  I'm buying it from the Vet pharmacy, which means I will have to grow another arm or leg, but then his next refill will be coming from Pet Meds.  He will be taking 2 pills every 12 hours for the rest of his life.  I am so glad he eats anything.  All I have to do is tell him it's a baby biscuit and it's down his throat.

Will Smith's slap is still reverberating across the country.  He apologized on social media.  However, the apology sounds rather trite after you watch and listen to the uncensored version.  Nothing bangs up respectability as much as publicly shitting in your pants.

And finally, of course, Donald (the Orange Anus) Trump got some more bad news yesterday.

His time is running out.  He, and the Trump crime family, need to sit for their public depositions within 23 days.

Time is flying fleetingly fast for Ted Cruz.  Connections are being made between him and John Eastman,, the corrupt attorney Trump turned to to steal the election.

There also turns out to be a time lapse, a full seven hours long, in the communication logs from the White House on January 6.  That's a ticking time bomb, you know?  Nixon had one, and now so does Trump.  

Faux French Cat House

 Today my 5th consecutive work day ends.  Tra la la!  And they're bringing in Mission Barbecue for our meal!  Part of our Success Sharing!  And tomorrow I have off.  I've already begun the laundry.  Nothing wrong with getting a bit of a jump start, you know.

The store was booming yesterday.  Warm sunny weather brings out the Spring shoppers.  In fact, we were so busy I spent about a half-hour on one of the garden registers.  Believe it or not, that can be a lot of fun.  Sure, there is always a chance you're going to come face to face with a legendary asshole, but that's how life is in general.  Most of the silly MAGA's have stopped wearing their hats.

Today, business will will be off.  Heavy rain is in the forecast.  In fact, the drops started falling just a few minutes ago while Biggie was out.  I toweled him off when he came in.  He loves that.  In fact, being briskly rubbed with an old, but still luxurious towel, is probably the only reason he will go outside in the rain.  That and a biscuit, of course.  I just bought 7 lbs of Gravy Bones, their favorite.

And I spent some time looking at old photos of old night clubs.  I was not impressed with The Stork Club, though back in its heyday it was the favorite watering hole in New York if you were a celebrity.  People were packed in like Sardines.  Ciros, on the Sunset Strip was more spacious, though all the draperies kind of give it that old faux French Cat House look.

And what about Debbie Birx now saying hundreds of thousands of lives could have been saved?  Guilt is a terrible burden.  Not being a particularly religious person, I don't know for sure but I'm thinking she believes simply being silent sold her soul.  Good.  Let her spend the rest of her days drowning in regret.

And finally, I understand Ted the Liar, went to the Mexican boarder and filmed some sort of mockumentary report... and all he did was earn people's laughter.  But then you laugh at fools and their mockumentaries, don't you?  Ted the Liar's future history was made when he decided to jet down to Cancun for a vacation during that horrific Texas Freeze.  Selfish, self-centered, and full of shit, this sucker's going down fast.

Loud Mouthed Failures

 Good Saturday Morning (Afternoon, Evening, or Night depending upon your location) World!  The sidewalks and streets are clear of snow and I'm going to work.

I'm also, maybe, growing a beard.  Shaving daily doesn't bother me.  A lot of our customers like to see a clean shaven man.  They believe this is a sign of professionalism.  I know first hand this is not the case.  Besides, I wear a mask every day... for over 8 hours.  Customers do not see my face.  Masks hide a lot.  However, if it ends up looking anything like this loser's beard I'm shaving it off.

Facial Hair... Weird?

Lunch today is going to be Shepherds Pie.  I made enough to last the week, however I'm going to freeze several portions.  I do like some variety in my meals.  

I saw where AOC raised a lot of money to help with the crushing disaster in Texas.  Being the curious sort, I began searching the Internet to see if any Republicans were doing the same thing, I mean, Texas is a big, red state.  Surely they'd be running to the rescue.  And I found... nothing.  So much for Christian Ethics. I guess they just don't care about their own.  Biden has stepped in and offered Federal Assistance to not only Texas, but the other states crushed by this arctic blast.  This is how you turn a state from red to blue: when they're down, you help them back onto their feet.  While not all voters will remember this when the go to the polls, many will.  Oh, and take plenty of pictures and videos so that when election time rolls around you can remind the citizens of Texas that Republicans are nothing more then loud mouthed failures.

Black Out the Sun

Surprise, it's Friday... and I get to go back to work tomorrow.  Yippee Ki Yi Yay! (For those not familiar with the phrase, those are Long I's).  And no, I'm not really excited, though I did set my alarm clock to get up at my normal time.... which is almost like staying at a Motel 6.

I jogged almost 3 miles yesterday.  Holy Shit, were my legs sore last evening.  I plan on climbing back on the bike this afternoon for maybe 10 miles or so.  Remember, your legs are the engines of your body, use them as often as possible.

That smaller computer desk I ordered?  Cancelled.  It was supposed to be delivered yesterday.  Well, with the snow I expected a delay.  Wrong.  I received an email stating it hadn't shipped yet because of problems relating to it's size.  No doubt the seller placed and order for the desk the minute they received my order and there were problems.  This is not the way you do business.

Here's a song that didn't make the lyric cut for The Body in the Loch.  My apologies to Darren Hayes.  I had thought about using some of the lines when xxxxxxxx happens, except that doesn't happen now.  Xxxxxxxx disappeared in the final edit.  It's still Black out the Sun is a really good song from an Out artist.

Shall I mention Lyin' Ted Cruz?  Nah, everybody else is.  That loser is all over the place.

And what about the late great state of Texas and their bumbling governor Abbott?  Evidently he's been giving ERCOT every piece of trinket legislation they're craven little hearts desire.  Fossil fuels make Texas Big, and because no one thought winterizing the power plants was a good idea, fossil fuels hit them with a sucker punch.  The truly sad thing is that they'll make the consumers pay for the winterization.  They're conservatives, remember?  They will always make someone else pay for their mistakes.

 

Hot or Not?

 I'm taking my temp as I type with the digital thermometer given to me as a Christmas Present by the largest home improvement retailer in the world.  In a second, we will all see the results.

So, am I Hot... or Not?

My normal temp is around 96.5 (F).  Oh, and I've drinking coffee, hot not iced.  

I got a 2nd holiday basket from work yesterday.  Not because I'm special, rather they made more than enough.  Not that I wanted the full basket, really, all I was after was the succulent.  Sometimes it's really all about the succulents, if you know what I mean.

Treat him right and he will grow

And yesterday was odd at work with many customers in the morning who really didn't buy much of anything, but who helped waste time... until around 3 in the afternoon, when for some reason everyone decided to go home.

I also ordered two pair of jogging shorts in bright colors, each having a different leg length: one is 5 inches, the other 3 inches.  I will have to see if there's a difference when I run.  As far as I know, the only real plus side for the shorter length is that I get to show more leg.

And what about that group of 11 Republican senators who plan on protesting the election?  Mittens Romney says their actions are egregious.  Everyone is a wannabe future two bit presidential candidate wanting to hook up with the Idiot Jerk's base.  Ted Cruz?  That man is so desperate to be an idiot in chief I can smell his stench way up here in Pennsylvania.  Someone should tell that loser his name was scratched off that dance card a long time ago.  He is not now, nor will he ever be hot.

  

Shit Ghost

 So, have everybody been working for the weekend?  If not, maybe a rather homoerotic video from a poufy hairband might get your gears going.

I will admit to having laughed since it's almost as embarrassing as my naked baby pictures.

One of the many nice things about getting the treadmill (which is not officially in it's destination city) is that it's giving me a good excuse to alleviate some space.  Today I'm getting rid of my keyboard, the stand, and the amp.  Tomorrow the weight bench goes.  An old table saw in the basement is going to go to my friend Justin, who's helping lug the 232 lb. box up my narrow staircase.  This is how it works.  You get a new piece and eliminate 4.  

Work is going fine.  I have some customer who have a sunken basement, down one step on each side, and they wanted to put laminate there.  Unfortunately, the way the both stairs project, laminate is not an option, so I spent sometime with them yesterday looking at other options.  Oh, and worked in Paint for an hour and a half.  We had an associate transfer and the scheduler never looked for associates who might cover those hours.  Actually, I didn't mind.  I like Paint.  

We also have a new timeclock that scans a QR code on our smart phones to let us punch-in.  Contactless.  You can still punch-in without a smartphone, but it is a very timely process and, as a result, there are a few who are not happy.

Oh, and have you seem how many ugly Republicans have jumped on board the Texas lawsuit?  The common consensus is that they're afraid of what his base might do to their political careers.  They don't understand that once the Idiot Jerk is gone, he's going to be gone, only to rise like some shit ghost to haunt their future political endeavors.  

Has anybody seen Ted Cruz?

Ouchy, Ouchy

 So, this is my weekend!!  To celebrate, I went to the gym.  My arms are a bit rubbery.  Translation:  good upper body workout.  I had to play around with my Gym Genius workout App to figure out which buttons on my watch initiated which actions.  It actually works better than I was expecting.

I cut my thumb a work yesterday cutting a headrail for a vertical blind.  Had it been with a knife, I probably would have been written up since we're supposed to be wearing safety gloves.  However, it was the aluminum edge did the cutting as I toggled an aluminum peg into the cutter.  It didn't hurt much, but boy did it bleed.  Ouch.

Yesterday the Supreme Court let sit a standing by the PA Supreme Court which gives the state the ability to count mail in ballots that up to three days after the election, they just need to be postmarked by November 3rd.  Personally, I don't think there are going to be that many, at least not enough to win the state.  I don't think that will happen.  Here's why: Pennsylvania Democrats have requested over 1,770,000 mail in ballots, while Republican's have only requests about 650,000.  Can we say ouch?

Also, I saw where that dumbshit Ted Cruz, and a few of his losing cronies, are planning to introduce legislation to amend the constitution to limit the number of Supreme Court justices to 9.  You can almost smell the stink of their desperation.  He represents the difference between and ouch and a whine. 

And there was this interesting opinion in the Washington Post by Dana Milbank.  What happens to the Republicans if there is No October Surprise?  They and their Russian compadres have been trying to a fiction bomb yet everything they've tried to spring on the unwary public has amounted to nothing more than a dud.  The Idiot Jerk is preparing to lob the Burisma grenade during the debate this Thursday hoping America starts shrieking ouchy!  ouchy!  ouchy!  I do suspect, however, it's going to be the Republicans who end up crying out in pain.

Another Watergate Bloodbath?

 Okay, so I guess we are officially in your weekend... not mine.  Monday is the first day of my weekend.  The weather forecast is rain...right now it's like 70%, and then 56% on Tuesday, the 2nd half of my weekend.  After that it's another 6 day stretch.  Of course, starting next week my shift is going to go later, which is fine for me.

I had my car inspected yesterday.  $146.  Ouch!  What did that all cover?  State inspection (once a year in PA), emission's inspection (one of only a handful of counties to require that), an oil change, and a tire rotation.  Labor alone was $110.  As I was sitting there editing Chapter 1 of The Body in the Loch, my 'attendant' asked if I wanted to add a 12 point maintenance check for $165.  Nope.  She showed me the air filter and said it needed to be changed (part of the $165) and again I said nope.  After she left, I pulled up, and watched a 1.5 minute YouTube video on my phone:  How to change the air filter in 2019 Crosstrek.  When I got home I ordered the filter from Amazon -  $18.98.

I also finished this:

If it looks a little crooked, it is; 115 years ago that used to be a back porch.  Oh dear, and you can see my reflection.

While I was at the dealership yesterday, Ted Cruz was whining on Fox Business (something or other) about how the Democrats were going to raise taxes and go for universal health care.   You know?  The shit that normally dribbles from his mouth.  This was his way of warning the GOP that November give them the same sort of bloodbath they experienced after Watergate.  He's not the only one beginning to mutter that the Idiot Jerk in the White House is someone the party is dreadfully going to regret.

Another Republican strategist said in the NYT that if Biden wins by double digits they will lose not only the Senate, but more seats in the House, as well as the Idiot Jerk, who will be forced to relocate to Moscow.  (I added the Moscow bit).

Finally, I was talking to my sister yesterday.  My brother in law is a rabid support of the Idiot Jerk.  I told her that the Idiot Jerk is not too popular.  That's when she told me that he had hung a blue flag from their upstairs window.  My niece is worried someone is going to begin throwing rocks at their house.  Then the both of us had a hearty laugh.

Carriers

After today I'll be halfway through my 4 day work stretch.  I will be celebrating by having a single, 1, uno, un day off.  Believe me, my excitement is percolating quietly in the background... and you though it was your tinnitus.
Yesterday was the first day I got home from work and we had extended sunlight.  I went for a ride in Amsterdam.  It was... interesting.  There were lots of cobblestones, and people, and a lot of cyclists.  I passed a lot of cyclists with dogs on their bikes, and kids, and groceries.  For a while there was a young gentleman riding in front of me whose spandex was quite... revealing, way too tight.  I wonder if he knows quite a number of people in the world have seen his buttocks bobbling back and forth.  I will have to remind myself to take a video of him for you.
Not surprisingly, 2 members of Congress have decided to 'self-quarantine' after coming in contact with an individual now hospitalized for Covid-19.  Paul Gosar, a Republican from Arizona, said he had extended contact (can someone define extended contact) with the person, and Ted Cruz, a Republican numb-nuts from Texas claims he had a brief interaction (?).  They, as well as many others, were exposed at (drum roll please) CPAC, that Crazy Christian Political Action Committee meeting held this year in Baltimore.  Can we talk about irony here?  Or just good old fashioned Karma.  Knowing these 2 gents side heavily with the Idiot Jerk in the White House, I'm sure both have tested positive.  They might not get ill, but they are probably both Carriers.  And, of course, you have to ask yourself how many others were infected at CPAC?  And CPAC was 2 weeks ago.  A lot of old Crazy, Christians attended.  I don't know about you, but I think this is rather humorous... Crazy Christians spreading the disease among themselves.  I think I've already mentioned this is going to be devastating when it hit their Mega-Churches, and we already know they're going to blame Bill Clinton.  And for those of you who don't know, this is what a Carrier looks like:

Thanks to the gentleman above, someone's granny might die.

Anyway, yesterday I worked with an very nice Hispanic couple who were having their bathroom tiled today.  That's right, the work is being done today.   And they came to the store the day before to start making their tile selections.  I wonder why their contractor hadn't told them this needed to be done ahead of time.  You see, sometimes (quite often) we only have limited quantities in stock.  We do not have a warehouse in the back.  We do not carry unlimited supplies.  Unlike Ted and Paul, we are not Carriers.

Trump's Pimp

Well, Fall is here.  That's fine with me.  I don't mind the cooler temperatures.  They're killing off all the mosquitoes.  That's doesn't mean things are beginning to dry out, though.  No way.  Every 3 to 4 days we get showers.  Almost as regular as clockwork is the hissing drizzle of rain on my window panes.
Anyway, I just threw a load of white wash into the washer.  I'm out of white socks.  I do own other colored socks, they're a poly-blend and I prefer cotton.  I've been planning on stopping off at Target and buying more, I just haven't had the chance.  Since there's no more K-Mart, or at least none within driving distance, I've been shopping at Target.  My sister is a cashier for one of the Target's on the East Shore, so I guess you could say I'm showing them some familial loyalty.
There was another debate last evening between Beto O'Rourke and Lyin' Ted Cruz.  Sadly, ol' Lyin' Ted may pull this election out of his ass.  People in Texas love their lyin' racists.  Cruz is the Latino version of the Oreo cookie, Latino on the outside and white on the inside, which is all you need to satisfy those racist Texans who don't understand their days are numbered.
Oh, and the Idiot Jerk's pimp has died.  Hos, I think his name was.  Or maybe that was just slang for ho's.  No, I'm wrong, his name was Hof, Dennis Hof.  Either way, they have a problem out in Nevada because he keeled over so close to election day.  There's not enough time to take his name off of the ballot.  Even if they could, there is zero time for any Republican candidate to campaign.  This is... well, you might say, the way Judgment goes.  Evangelical Christians had no problem with this man. who owned and ran several whorehouses.  I remember seeing a quote in which one of those holy believers said that Hof was "really just a business man," and nothing more.  As long as he supported the Idiot Jerk, he was okay.  And now he's dead.  Struck down by God no doubt.  These fools don't realize, there is a price for everything. 

And could the October surprise be something from Mueller's probe?  Anne Marie seems to think so (key evil laughter).  We'll have to wait and see.  Though, there are.... whispers.

Feeling cold and feverish

Well, it's Saturday.  At least that is what my calendar says, not that my calendar talks much.  I do look at it daily.  Some times more than once a day, because retail screw with your head.  Really.  Today seems like it should be Sunday and it isn't.
Since Tuesday I've been dealing with a rhinovirus.  I don't get them normally.  When I do, they usually last about a day.  Good immune system here.  About every 3 or 4 years I'll get one which is more intense.  I don't just get a nuisance runny nose.  Nope, sinus headaches, a sore throat, and a cough are all added into the symptom mix.  Oh, and there's the low grade fever.  These colds last about a week.  I have one of them now.  I went to work yesterday, not so today.  I have some chest congestion.  As a result, I'm going to call off work.  This will leave them short handed.  On a Saturday, normally the busiest day of the week, my department is not fully staffed. You are going to have these problems when your scheduling system relies on last year's sales figures.  Supposedly trending sales data is also used, but rarely is there evidence of that.  Yesterday one person was scheduled in Hardware until 1:00 PM.  Ooops.
There was a heated debate in Texas last night.  Lying Ted Cruz against Beto O'Rourke.  All the headlines say "they clashed."  Lying Ted, however, has spent most of his political career... well, lying, and misdirecting.  Beto pointed this out.  Lying Ted is in trouble.  He has gone from a "sure thing," to a toss-up, finally moving into the "too close to call stage," and he's got to struggle through another month and a half, and another 2 debates, until he loses....  Oh, did I just say that?  Bet he's feelin' rather feverish right now, pattin' himself on the back, and lyin' to himself about winning the debate.
And evidently most Americans are now seeing the great Tax Bill the Republicans passed for what it really is: a gift to the wealthy and big business.  Sure, right after the bill was first passed corporations pissed a little cash around, set-decorations, nothing more.  The truth is they're simply not coughing up the new jobs this bill promised.  And their revenue is increasing because of lower taxes.  Those $$$ are nothing to sneeze at.  Wall Street is joyous.  But, where are the pay increases?  Oh, wait, payroll is an expense.  Corporations don't like expenses, especially payroll.  So, what do they do?  In retail they rely on bare-bones scheduling, giving customer service the cold shoulder.  This is how it goes when your economy is based solely on greed.

Karma smacks Joel Osteen & the Texas Legislators

So, I'm skimming through headlines this AM and I see one regarding that horse's ass Ted Cruz.  He's now saying he was totally for disaster relief for the victims of Hurricane Sandy, but... he still voted against it.  Even though this moron is putting some spin on it, the truth is that not only did we have a Democrat in the White House, he happened to be black.  In fact, it wasn't only Ted Cruz who shit in his pants on that vote, so did every one of the Legislators from Texas.  For those of you who don't know, this is called Karma.  He claims there was too much 'pork.'  If you don't think those hateful Conservatives will attempt to pop as much 'pork' into disaster relief for Harvey, you don't know Conservatives.  I can see the Idiot Jerk in the White House trying to tack on funding for his 'wall.'
And how about that Christianist horse's ass Joel Osteen and his non-denominational Lakewood Church?  The key words here are 'non-denominational.'  That means he has no accountability.  He and his believers are their own entity.  And evidently, a Higher Order wasn't speaking to Joel, who totally ignored weather forecasting that Harvey was going to create floods of Biblical proportions, cancelled Sunday Services and... get this... kept the doors of his church closed.  Oh, and in case you didn't know, his Lakewood Church is in what used to be called The Compaq Center, the arena where the Houston Rockets used to play... where that team won 2 NBA Championships.  Yeah, you read that right, he kept the doors to an arena closed!

Now they're saying that even though his phony house of worship is high and dry, the flood waters are too deep to get to it, making it inaccessible.  Am I the only one who sees a parable here?  About the empty house on the hill and a sea of slowly drowning humanity surrounding it?
And finally, my hat goes off to Anne Marie of Philly who has 18" biceps!  That makes them almost as big as my thighs!  You Go Girl!

Dead Elephant in the Room

Well, the Republican Convention is over... as is the Republican Party.  That's right, there's a dead elephant in the room.  No matter how much they tried to and pretty up the smell with snazzy visuals and loud music, there were cadavers lying  everywhere.  Not that I watched any of it, the daily headlines said everything.  The word 'disaster' appeared quite a lot.  Instead of having legitimate speakers they had... well, nobody of any real importance, no one who had any  real political sway.  They couldn't even manage to get Clint Eastwood and his chair.  And still, the Trumplodites went wild.
Trump's pick for VP, Mikey Pence, gave a speech and might as well have been talking to the wall because everybody was talking about Melania's plagiarism.  That was really funny, a lot of verbatim phrases from Michelle Obama's speech, and they thought no one would be smart enough to pick up on it.  They think Americans are so dumb they didn't even run that speech through plagiarism software.  But then you have to remember, Trump didn't buy her for her brains, he bought her for her looks.
And then there was Ted Cruz....  Let's just key the theme from Psycho and leave it at that.

Caitlyn Jenner spoke... who cares.  Well, at least he spoke, of course it was during lunch hour and there were on a smattering of people in the hall.

So did Peter Thiel, who is an openly gay man.  He also doesn't seem to understand that if those people in the convention hall, sitting on their hands, ever truly got into power, they would not only pass laws to take all of his money, they'd pass laws to put him in a concentration camp with all of the other gay people in this country.  He doesn't understand that in their socially conservative view, he is the enemy.

In the four nights the Republicans were in Cleveland there was no unification of the party, and though they like to pretend everything is happy dappy, mostly what they did was stab themselves in the back, over and over and over again.  I am so glad I'm not part of the clean-up crew.  What a bitch it must be to find a dead elephant in the room.

Just call him Rafael, also Fallout 4 mods

I'm off... actually, I took some vacation time and... of course, I got a text this AM asking if I wanted to go in and work, and... of course, I said I was busy.  It's not that I'm not loyal, I just need some time off, in fact I haven't had more then two days off since September.
This morning I was checking out all of the primary election results in Pennsylvania and had a good laugh.  You see, I looked at both the Democrat and the Republican tickets.  When I looked at the Republican results I saw that Trump really won big time in PA, but then I see this other candidate named Rafael.  Rafael?  Who the hell is that?  I didn't know there was a Rafael running for president... and then I saw his last name:  Cruz.  What a joke. he doesn't use his given name.  No way is he going to be known as Rafael.  Nope, he's Ted (short for Edward).  Of course, his father's name is also Rafael so maybe they thought two of them might confuse people.  Or it could be that he thinks Rafael sounds too Latino for politics, especially Republican politics.  This guy is not only a phony, he's a joke.

They're here...

And finally, and even more funner then finding out Ted is really Rafael, Fallout 4 mods are here.  What are mods?  Bethesda is one of those rare game studios which release tools for fans to actually modify the game.  In Skyrim, for example, one of the mods put hot-tubs in all of the Inns.  Some of mods available for Fallout 4 let you turn all of the players into hot guys, or hot chicks.  There's one that turns the map you look at into a Google Earth image of Boston.  You can change the music if you want.  Imagine listening to an opera by Verde as you blow up super-mutants, or chop the heads off of feral ghouls.  Neat, huh?  Right now the mods are only available for those playing the PC version.  Ain't life great?

Elizabeth Warren and the Zombie Apocalypse

Right now the Republicans are running scared.  They believe they're in the middle of Zombie Apocalypse.  They're terrified the walking dead will soon be gnawing at their bones... except it isn't the walking dead, it's us... we the people: Democrats, Independents, Progressives, Moderates, a majority of the American Peoples.  Their Armageddon is upon them and they're going to go down fighting, no matter how bad they look.  Could Scalia's death be the final nail in their coffin?  Well, it could be.  When Elizabeth Warren, a calm, forceful presence, says they are debasing the Constitution by waiting, and praying, that they get a Republican President in the next election she makes them look as childish and petty.  Remember when Ted Cruz read Dr. Seus?  The GOP base loved it, while the majority of Americans thought "what a dick."  Well, out of desperation, they're doing it on an even grander scale.  They are crapping on the Constitution they claim to love so dearly, and they're doing it because when they look out their windows all they see are the walking dead.

What they don't realize is that it is they, themselves, who are the walking dead, stumbling through an election year praying the next president is a Republican.  And, well, if it does happen to be a Democratic president (again) they're all going to be eating shit sandwiches.  That's what stupid people do.  Can't you just picture Mitch McConnell's face as the server ask him "open-faced, with gravy on top?" 

I Got the Polling Blues

I was sitting here at the computer looking at the results of the Republican polls, and I realized that the later in 2015 we get, the more important they are since primary season is just a few months away.  Yes sir, primary polling is right around the corner.  This is the time when candidates are supposed to begin to slowly surge ahead of the wannabe front-runners, like Trump.  When I hear and read what he's been saying I'm reminded of a Tea Party candidate on steroids or Sarah Palin dealing with uninhibited PMS.  Carson is surging as well... well, he's going to go no where.  What he really needs to do is spend an afternoon reading all of those racist tweets the GOP base fired off when Obama won his second term. He needs to understand that no matter how popular his message is, in the end they're going to vote for the white guy.  And then there's Ted Cruz, who's turned into Donald Trumps number booklicker... need I say more.  If Jeb Bush really wants to win the nomination he's got to do more then just sit there like a baked potato waiting to be dolloped with sour cream and butter.

And then there's Huckabee who's gotten older and fatter since the first time he ran for president.  If you check out the Real Clear Politics polling website above you'll see he started off as an almost front runner but has been on the slow slide ever since.  I suspect he thought his involvement with Kim Davis would give him a boost in the ratings.  Haha, his numbers indicate his moment of grandstanding actually hurt him, except for all of the Krazy Kristians out there, you know who I'm talking about, the minority group who don't understand just how big a minority group they really are?  A while back someone foolish dubbed them the 'silent majority.'  Well, in actuality, they're anything but silent.  Perhaps if he pulled out his banjo and played a few bars of "I Got the Polling Blues," it might help.

On one of the polls I looked at I saw that Chris Christie polled 1% which was lower the the 2% None of the Above received.  Boy, that must be disheartening.