Lancing Elon

Surprise!  Yesterday's high did not climb into the low 80s (F) as the forecast had been predicting.  While the temp scooted around 79 (F) for most of the afternoon, there was a wind.  Now, I'm not talking about the occasional breeze.  Nope.  We had winds from the west that did a good job of keeping the gnats at bay;  I only got 2 bites.

And I did spend a bit of time outside cutting up branches yesterday afternoon.  My neighbor across the street is letting me borrow a teeny, tiny Ceepuy chainsaw that's about 6 inches long.  Let me tell you, that sucker is great for cutting up cleaning the branches so I can shove them into my wood chipper.  Looking out the window from my writing desk, I can say with certainty that a dent was made in cleaning up my... well, cleanup.  I have some chores to run this morning, but I'll be out again this afternoon.  

I did postpone the ride I had scheduled for yesterday afternoon; too many other jobs are taking precedence.  I'm only planning on doing the short upper-body workout this morning.  I want to get this clean-up complete as soon as possible, and that means spending more time out back this afternoon.  I texted this to my trainer, who replied that I'm probably getting more exercise doing this than if I were doing my full routines.  I'm going to agree with him on this.

Everyday I'm harvesting more tomatoes.  Today I'm going to make a pasta tomato salad which, hopefully will cover meals for today, tomorrow, and Sunday.  Oh, and I'm also going to be making bread pudding.  Yum.  Yesterday's harvest.

I was not surprised when I read that Elonia  Musk is going to be trying to buy Republican wins during the midterms.  Like the Orange Anus, he has his fan boys who believe he's a genius.  Like so many other billionaires, he suffers from a god complex.  He believes he's wealthy enough to make people do whatever he wants.  In fact, he is really nothing more than a large, puss filled boil ready to burst.  Tesla stock is dropping because, after all of the promises he made, the company is still not profitable.  His Space X stock?  Buyers beware, that stock is crashing faster than one of his rockets.  Making things worse for him is that both Japan and China now have reusable rocket engines, something he had a monopoly on.  I suspect one of the driving forces behind his throwing so much money into the midterms is that he realizes that, when Democrats take back power, many of his government contracts are going to be canceled.  I don't doubt that some time soon, Elonia will lanced, and amazingly enough, the world will survive.

Hoax

We're going to be having a bit of a warmup this afternoon when temps reach the mid 40s (F) here in Central Pa, but fear not, they will drop overnight as a cold front rushes over the state.  We're also supposed to be getting a coating of snow.  After tomorrow, forecasters are predicting more seasonal temps will return.  Daily highs are expected to be in the mid to upper 40s (F).  Right now, however, the sun his hidden behind a thick blanket of clouds and temps are in the low 20s (F)

I did some shopping yesterday morning, hitting both BJ's and my neighborhood Giant supermarket.  I will have to return one of my purchases to BJ's.  I bought a set of sheets, however, someone must have inadvertently put a set of Twin Size sheets in the box labeled Queen Sized sheets and I purchased the wrong size.  I work in retail, so I should have known better.  I know how often a customer will pick up a product and then return  it to the wrong place on the shelf.

Yesterday, I was supposed to ride the bike, but instead I spent that time finishing up the assembly of my new gym equipment.  I have one more thing to screw in place today and then I'm finished.  I thought the pulley system was going to be tricky, and was pleasantly surprised at how easily the wheels, sprockets, and wires went into place.  Why... they practically strung themselves.  I rescheduled the ride until next Thursday, rather than canceling it.  

Of course, yesterday I had to laugh at this:

 

Orangie, and everyone else in that meeting was wearing cowboy hats.  His hat was the only one with white strings.  Cowboy hats don't normally come with strings.  They are on little kid's cowboy hats, though, so they can be tied to keep them from falling off of their little heads.  

More Epstein pics were released and as usual, Orangie's administration said they were a Democratic Hoax.

Maria Barti (something or other) went on Fox Entertainment and said that affordability was a Democratic Hoax.

In fact, hoax now appears to be the word of the day, week, and month.  Every Republican out there is now calling every bit of bad news out there a hoax.  I suppose that will keep the cultists happy for the time being.

Accountability

 And, of course, it's another cold, windy day here in Central PA.  When I let Howie out to do his morning business, the temp was 18 (F).  That's cold.  An hour and a half later, the temp has climbed up one measly degree.  Forecasters are saying that our high today will be in the mid 30s (F), and tomorrow it's predicted to be a tad bit warmer, however, tad is such a generalization, isn't it?

I was pleased with how many chores were accomplished yesterday.  Laundry is up to date.  Cardio was finished.  The Greek lessons were reviewed.  Oh, and 2 more chapters in the final draft of The Body in History were completed.  Today, more will be accomplished (hopefully).  I need to clean the first floor, or, I guess, as just about everybody in every other country of the world say ground floor, though it's actually about 3 feet above the ground.

According to Garmin, I got over 7 hours sleep last night, which is odd, because for the longest time I though I was awake.  So, I guess I was having one of those waking dreams.  Still, they gave me the "Sleep Savant" medal, whatever that is.

And I thought we all could use a brief respite from what's going on, and there's a lot going on.

Of course everyone now knows that Justice Alito accepted a call from the Orange Anus a short time before Orangey asked the Supreme Court to stop his sentencing for his election interference.  Of course, Alito lied and said the subject didn't come up  but then you have to remember it's easy for him to lie, he's a Christian.  A Catholic.  All he needs to do is confess his sins to the priest in his pocket and everything will be forgiven.  That's one of the biggest problems with the religion, it allows for simply horrific people to get away with... well, murder, as long as they believe and ask for forgiveness.  That's a big gripe of mine, that you have this major religion which allows you to pray away your guilt.  Wouldn't it be nice if there were some serious rules that withheld Forgiveness?  I would simply love it if Alito stepped into the confessional to ask for forgiveness and the priest said, "good luck with that, Sammy."  Sorry, for Christianity to hope to survive it needs to bring back accountability in a big way.  It's a shit show as long as Sammy can do whatever he wants and get away with saying a few Hail Mary's.

Living in a Haze

The skies are overcast and we have light rain showers outside.  Temps are predicted to climb up into the low to mid 60s (F) today.  That will be nice.  Tomorrow, however, they're going to tank, though the definition of tanking is relative when you take into account how warm it's been this winter.  For us, the mid 40s (F) means our temps are tanking.

Rather than riding the bike, I've been spending a lot of time on the treadmill.  Usually I keep the speed at a fast walk, between 3.6 and 3.8 mph, but I've been increasing the incline to over 5% so I'm walking fast up a continual hill.  Believe me, you don't need to run to get a good cardio workout.  An interesting side effect is that my Garmin Fenix 6 tracks that incline as a staircase, so a 2.5 mile walk will show me going up 45 flights of stairs.

Milky Chance released their first song of their next album.  That will be available in June.  Here's the song, Living in a Haze.  Can we talk about versatility?  They go from singing about smoking pot in Colorado to wanting to be a disco boy in this song.  Enjoy.

For those who didn't see it, and I'm one of those, Merrick Garland was testifying yesterday in front of some Republican hack committee trying to prove one of their conspiracy theories.  I did watch a clip where that buffoon Ted Cruz accused the DOJ of leaks regarding to photos from the Mar a Lago raid.  When Garland pointed out that the photos Cruz was using as a reference hadn't been leak, rather they had been part of a press release, the buffoon quickly played his 'no further questions,' card.

Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries sent a letter to Rupert Murdoch asking that Fox not air their re-edit clips of the January 6 attack on the the capital in order to avoid further violence.  I don't doubt that Rupert is not in a happy place right now.  With that letter being publicized, should Fox go ahead and air anything that incites violence, they will be to blame.  They may shriek Freedom of Speech, buy any and all public disorder will be laid upon their doorstep.  And, of course, there is the Dominion law suit.  You can that's going to play into old Rupert's decision, he's already on record as saying Fox out and out lied about the election.  I hope he's enjoying this haze he's put himself into and wonder if all he really wants to do right now is be a disco boy.

 

Late!

Today's entry is late because... no, not because of my planned bike ride, that has been delayed because... after eating breakfast I decided to lay down for another couple of minutes and was out like a light... for 2 hours.  Hell!  And when I did get up (late!) I decided to take the dogs for a walk in the park.  It's cool out, mid 60's (F).  While there, we were stopped by a woman who commented on Biggie's size.  As I've said before, he's very big for a Boxer.  And it isn't that he's fat, it's just that he's big.
I'm off today and tomorrow... on the legit, scheduled days off, in other words.  Since I missed my window of opportunity for a ride this morning, I've rescheduled for tomorrow, though later in the morning.  This morning my route was going to take me over to Highmark, but there will be a lot of traffic that way tomorrow so I'll shift back to my old route up Tower Road, fewer cars, less chance of getting bumped off the road by some asshole talking on his / her phone.
I guess the Idiot Jerk is at G7.  I just had some sort of news flash where there was screen shot of him dozing off next to the Japanese Prime Minister.  I guess he agreed "in principle" to sign some sort of trade deal.  Translation:  Don't count on it.  This fool has a terrible record of following through on commitments: he thinks contracts have as much value as toilet paper.
Yesterday I rode halfway through the 27 mile Bow Tie ride, in other words 13.59 miles.  I stopped because my butt was beginning to hurt.  I'll ride again this afternoon.  It's gotten to the point where I'm riding almost every day of the week, which is fine with me.  I changed the battery in my HRM and readings are back to normal, no more sections where it says my heart is beating 230 times a minute.  Right now I'm averaging between 124 and 133 which is not bad when you do it for 45 minutes.  It's not going to be an option this afternoon.  Nope.  Lily was 6 years old on August 19 and today we're going to celebrate with cake and ice cream.  Yum.

The Snit List

Friday, and for many the work week is ending... mine is just beginning... at least for the next 4 days.  As you might guess, I'm not ecstatic.
Yesterday was foggy in the morning but turned nice and sunny as the day wore on.  I mowed my lawn, did some weeding, painted my little kitchen table... well, everything except the feet.  I need to turn it upside down to do that and I want to make sure the paint cures before I do that.
Today's a non-cardio day.  I've done 4 in a row, so today's going to be easy.  I'll start up again tomorrow morning.  Maybe this evening I'll set up a new playlist.  I did check out those Amazon offers for free... I'm sorry, I don't listen to Ariana Grande.  I am not a pop music person.  I don't have it playing as background music when I'm cleaning, or doing dishes.  Background music is either classical or rock... and sometimes jazz.  For years I've been a big David Sanborn fan, especially for background music.
And, of course, Democrats in the House ate chicken yesterday to celebrate Billy Barr's refusal to show up.  I had to laugh.  I'm sure that must have galled the Idiot Jerk in the White House to no end.  Calling one of his henchies a coward is tantamount to call him one, but then the Idiot Jerk has always been rather gutless, relying on legal teams for exacting revenge.  His is the credo every MAGA head stands by:  "I'm going to make you pay."  His trouble is that America is fed up with him.  More and more are starting to say "just shut up."  He hates that.  I mean, he really does hate that.
At least one, maybe two more Democrats announced they were running for the presidency yesterday.  I do wish they would stop.  They are creating a diversion.  This wouldn't be happening if the Idiot Jerk weren't such a walking, talking shitfest.  Sure, it will look good on their resumes, but the GOP is counting on them going for each other's throats.  We do not want that to happen.  If they start attacking those much higher in the polls in order to achieve some level of name recognition they will, quite possibly, do damage.  This must not happen.
Finally, I understand the Idiot Jerk spends a lot of his time trying to think up snitty little names for people he doesn't like.  I'm not just talking about politicians here.  Everybody is fair game if he doesn't like you, or if you disagree with him, or if you speak out against him.  Isn't that funny?  The Idiot Jerk in the White House has a snit list.

Rate this

Today is the first day of Spring!  Right now, the Temp outside is 29 (F).  That's a chilly -1.6 (C)  Of course, let's be honest, 29 (F) is still a bit too cool to be running around in a T-Shirt and shorts.
I got a really good cardio in yesterday.

You might have to touch it with your mouse to make it grow

Having some free time yesterday, I did a little digging into the declining approval ratings of the Idiot Jerk in the White House - I was spurred on by his claim that he was at 52%...   Sean Hannity must be feeding him numbers again from the bullshit grading scale.

Gallup has him sitting at a solid 39%.  That's not as low as he's been, that was an approval rating of 37%.  Yet he says his approval ratings are high... I mean, can we talk about fake numbers here?  The funny thing is that back in January even Faux News was ringing the alarm bell.  Of course, in his world of superfluous bullshit those numbers can't be right.  In his mind, people love him.  Keep in mind, he is mentally ill.  He has some sort of narcissistic specialty disease which cause him to constantly lie about how important he is even in the face of the truth,

An interesting statistic these polls point out, even the one from Faux News, is that his base is eroding.  His approval rating from Evangelical Christians has dropped from 78% to 69%, and they are the highest group of religious supporters.  Only 30% of Catholics approve.  This might be one of the reasons he went to church this past weekend.  However, I suspect sitting in a pew and being scolded by a minister on 'hate speech' must have burned his ass.  He no doubt thought his ears were going to ring with praise.  Oh, dear me, was he disappointed.

As for me, I have to go to work today.  Five days in a row.  Shit.  And then I have Jury Duty for at least one day. 

Oh, and I saw where USC is not letting those students who bribed their way in register for classes.  Boy, that must really piss off the Loughlin clan.  They didn't spend half a million in bribes to be treated like everybody else.

Spicy!

Okay, so it's Monday, my 2nd and last day off for a whole week.  Sometime this morning I'm going to have to rekey my calendar and fix my faux pas of dates... my 3 day weekend is next week.  Now, ain't that disappointing.
I did 45 minutes of cardio yesterday.  If anybody wants to see the results, here's the link.  This is the new Suunto app.
I am making my chickpea fritters today.  I know everybody is waiting for the pictures... I will oblige, of course.  I made the sauce yesterday - cucumber, dill, and plain yogurt... tasty stuff!  My friend Betsy said it was also good on scrambled eggs, and then went on to say "actually, it's great on just about everything."  We'll have to wait and see how it sits on a Chickpea Fritter.
I also ordered dog steps for the bed... for the dogs, or, I guess I should say Seig since he's the big one.   He sometimes finds vaulting 118 pounds up the the 33 inch bed difficult.
And, of course, yesterday morning the Idiot Jerk in the White House sent out his minions to drum up support for his racist wall.  His supreme immigration racist, Stevie Miller didn't do so well with Chris Wallace on Fox.  His responses were dodgy.  When asked to cite an example where a president had over-ruled Congress to declare a National Emergency he failed... totally.  You have to remember, he is as racist as his two-bit, wannabe dictator boss.  This whole episode is not sitting well with the country.  While his minions love him, the Idiot Jerk's approval rating continues its decline.  One funny article I saw claimed he was hoping his meeting with Kim Jung Dumb was going to bolster his approval rating.  Shit!  That's bad. 
And what about the McCabe interviews?  I found the the little tidbit about Putin telling the Idiot Jerk not worry about North Korea since they could "never hit the coastline with a ballistic missile," really spicy.  I'll bet that's going to sit well with Little Kim.  Oops!  Ah, well, not to worry, Kim learned a long time ago the could lie through his teeth to the Idiot Jerk and get away with it, as long he peppered the fool with praise.  We all know that's what Vlad does in between the beef stroganoff and the cheap sex.

Digest This

It's Friday the 15.  I get to go to work.  One of my fellow associates in Flooring did something stupid.  Now we are all waiting to see what the fallout is going to be - there is the possibility it might very radioactive for one of us... not me.  I'm one of those people in the stands with a front row seat.  This is how life goes, you know?
I did my 40 minutes of cardio this morning and realized that my Sole 95 was tracking my mileage wrong.  Yesterday I did 2 miles and it only racked up one.  That sucks.  My Suunto Spartan tracks it differently, always a little less than the elliptical.  Outside it tracks your mileage through GPS but on a stationary piece of equipment is relies on arm movement since most people swing their arms when they walk.
Since my diet is, fore the most part, Mediterranean I decided to buy a cookbook.  That's right, I rarely eat red meat, mostly chicken and fish.  Of course, like most cookbooks, the recipes here have been created in a kitchen, which means I will dumb some of them down by skipping some of the ingredients, like pine nuts. 

We shall see what happens.
Oh, and both the Senate and the House have approved the funding bill.  And the Idiot Jerk is going to declare a National Emergency to get funding for his racist wall, the one his white, Evangelical base deems necessary to keep out all those brown Catholics from Central America.  I think Nancy said it best when she cited 'gun violence' as a National Emergency.  Their terror of a brown threat is causing part of the white to open a Pandora's Box.  Do they care?  Hell no.  They seriously believe they are in a 'do or die' fight to save 'white America.'  They can't understand evolution has decided that battle a long time ago when the gene for brown skin became dominant.  Of course, they don't believe in evolution either, since that would make them neither superior, or chosen.

Characterize this

Wednesday... and I get to go back to work... for 5 days in a row.  Next week I only work 32 hours, which is fine with me.  Weeks like that will increase as we move closer to the end of this year and into the beginning of next year.  People don't like to do home improvements during the winter months.
I saw where that racist Hyde-Smith won down in Mississippi.  She may be the last white person elected in that state, the same goes with Florida and Georgia.  Will the Republicans understand?  Of course not.  All they see is a white win.
Oh, and I had breakfast with my brother yesterday.  He loves Trump.  One of the things he loves to say is that "the future will look back and decide."  I suspect a rough translation is that he subconsciously knows this is a shit show.  Everything that's not on Fox is fake news. 
My cardio is already done for today.  That's right.  I got up at 0400, which isn't that much earlier than usual, in order to get 45 minutes in... and I'm feeling good.  I don't have the energy when I get home from work to put in a workout, and then write, and then kill some things in a video game.
And speaking of the writing, the next project is moving along nicely.  Being honest, I have to say the first book was a bit messy.  I have an editor now who's going to clean things up.  Since things are going so well, I thought I'd give you the character list.

The Body in the Tower

Characters

Eli Zinneman-Myers

Max Sullivan

Canada Howard

Walker Beresford – Canada’s daughter

Henri D’Eauville – Walker’s fiancé

Felix Rios – Writes security software – Casper

                Vander – his assistant (female)

Bobby Tussel

At the Louvre

Gerrard Blanchet – Curator Twelfth Century Christian Antiquities

Saba Blanchet – Gerrard’s wife – Early Franco / Roman History Forensics

Florien Diamante – Mouse’s assistant

Mousierre Centee (Mouse) – Decoratic Arts Forensics

Portia Whitecastle – Public Relations for the Louvre

Welsey Smith – Security

Georgette Pampidou – Lead Guide

Rosario Avella - Gift Shop Clerk

Paris Police

Gilbert Rolland

Jules Laurent                      Giselle, wife (deceased)

Randall Abrams – American cyclist

These names are subject to change... like Welsey Smith, too English, you know?

Tell me Everything

So, it's Sunday morning and a lot of you are sleeping in, or have already slept in and may be just getting up... and I don't doubt there are some who are still sleeping.  Ain't it great!  This is my first of 2 days off. 
After finishing The Body on the Lawn, I told myself I was going to wait 3 - 4 months before beginning another project.  Of course, that didn't mean I couldn't make some notes about characters and plot lines and motives for murder.  Then, yesterday when I gave Cori her personalized copy, I told her I'd been reading it and found 3 typos.  She smiled at me and said, "Dave, let it go.  It's time to move on.  Start something new."  When I got home, I began looking through my notes.  Then, booting up the writing laptop downstairs, I wrote the first 3 words:  "Dis moi tout."  For those who don't speak French, that translates to "Tell me everything."

It's time for the cardio to begin.
I saw the approval rating for the Idiot Jerk in the White House has gone up to 41%... that's his second highest rating.  That's funny.  His disapproval rating hasn't gone done, that's still high.  Some of those fence sitters are just falling off in his direction.  They cite the economy as the reason.  This is even funnier.  They point to low unemployment numbers, ignoring Obama in order to give the Idiot Jerk all the credit.  What they don't point to is personal debt.  Consumer debt will hit $4 trillion by the end of 2018.  Americans are wallowing in debt.  The retail industry loves it.  Economists greedily smile about how good things are...   They don't mention that in about 2 years those extra buckos the average American has in his / her paycheck are going to disappear.  Most don't understand that when they go away, those debts are still going to be there.  They will have to make those credit card and mortgage payments with less money.  Wait... that can't be true, can it?  They don't realize the extra $50 a week they get in their paychecks is going to vanish.  Their debt will not.  Holy Shit!  And you can bet corporations are not going to suddenly give out big raises to compensate for that loss.  No Way!
And you can bet the GOP, especially the Idiot Jerk in the White House is not going to tell you everything.  No, they slyly smile.  "Ain't it great!" they say out of the side of their grin, thinking not about you, or your family, but about your vote and only your vote.

Recovery time

First of all I'd like to give a biiiiig thanks to Anne Marie for her shout out yesterday!!!
Secondly I have to tell you I slept like shit last night.  No, no, no, not because the government's shut down...  Full blame lies with the.... dogs.  For some reason Big Seig decided to slip stretched out, vertically, on one side of the bed and Big Seig is... big.  Forty Three inches from the tip of his nose to his rump (no, his little stumpy tail is not included) is a lot of bed space to lose.  And Lily, even though she's just half his size, was stretched out horizontally along the foot of the bed.  As a result I ended up with... oh, let's be generous... about 6 square feet of bed.  Anyway, around 0200 I roused them up, moved them off the bed, and situated myself comfortably.  It is my bed, after all, isn't it?
And what about the government shut down?  Hysterical, isn't it?  You should be laughing if you aren't. You see every time they take a Centrist plan to the White House and the Idiot Jerk rejects it... well, he's the one who looks bad.  His problem is that he's politically stupid, and because he's a numb nuts, he's relying on Miller and Kelly and their ultra-conservative views on immigration.  Their sole purpose is to force their narrow minded viewpoint on the rest of the country.  They evidently don't know Dave's political axioms so here they are:
The country is Centrist.
A popular president can nudge the political viewpoint to either the left... or the right, but only temporarily because... the country is Centrist.
However, an unpopular president, trying to force the country to either the left... or the right, will fail.  Not only will he fail, he will actually end up nudging it in the opposite direction.
This means our next president will probably be a liberal, female who will kick conservative ass.  Oh, and it won't be Oprah.
This morning, in spite of my lack of sleep, I did manage to get in 58 minutes of cardio - really good cardio, and according to my Suunto Spartan, my recovery time is 20 hours.

Oh, and in case you're wondering, that's not me.... I don't have a beard.

Sing this

Well, here it is... Wednesday and I get to go back to work after 15 days off.  Nice little vacation, eh?  Pretty much so, if you don't count that little surgery I had, and that's turning out to have been more of a nuisance than anything else.
Yesterday was fairly active:  While I didn't ride the bike, I did do 30 minutes on the elliptical, 1.2 miles, to the music of Eli Lieb.

I did do 20 minutes on the bike this AM but stopped when I realized the Kinetic app had failed to connect and I was recording nothing.  Well, I did get a new  Suunto Spartan and that recorded it, which was nice.

Yesterday I also talked to the Big Boy at my Mom's Senior Living Facility about the increase, and when I say Big, I mean Big - I'll bet that guy weighs in at around 380 to 400 pounds, he doesn't have rolls, he has waves.  Anyway, he was all apologetic, saying her increase was incorrect, and that I should throw out the letter I received because they were going to send me a new one.  Personally, I think most of his weight is bullshit, and that if you don't complain they don't reduce your rate.  

Personally, I think John Conyers needs to resign.  If we want to point fingers, we need to point them at everybody, not just the Roy Moores and the Idiot Jerk in the White House.  Why look, little Matt Lauer got canned this AM - now who would have ever thought that he was the frisky type?  What people really seem to be forgetting is the power of hormones - they rule our lives, whether we want to admit to it or not, both men and women, neither is immune, and I'm not just talking about sex here, nor am I looking for an excuse for Roy Moore whose predatory behavior was designed by his extremely social conservative beliefs.  No, I'm talking about the daily ebb and flow of estrogen and testosterone.  Let's be honest, I'm sure there a number of both men and women who would like to initiate a private duet with Eli (above) whether he wants to sing with them or not.

And I thought this was an interesting poll.  I can see where they're headed.  Bernie sees it too, except he's way, way too old.  We need a Trudeau or a Macron in this country, one individual whom the majority can get behind and support, one person to lead the way.  Every one wants to lead the chorus and not one of them can carry a tune and until that happens chaos will reign.

Some things are... Magic

Well, today is Tuesday and I go back to work tomorrow.  Yippee...  Yesterday my surgeon ran his forefinger up my incision and said "this is healing very nicely," and then he gave me a note saying I couldn't lift anything more than 10 lbs until 12/26, which is what I was expecting.  As I gave that note to the scheduler at the store she asked, sounding like an out of tune cowbell, "shall I put you on the schedule for the rest of the week?"  When I pulled out my phone and showed her she'd already had me scheduled for the next two she said "oh," clang, clang. 
I also got a notice from Greenfield, my Mom's Senior Living Facility, informing me that on 2/1 her rate was going to be increasing by $800 per month.  They've added a 5 tier program of what they are calling Personal Care, however they don't provide any information as to what defines that care or what requirements need to be met to put one resident in one level as opposed to another.  Oh, and they also said heating costs have gone up 10% in the last year... that's bullshit.  There are over 100 residents at Greenfield, and if all of them have similar increases, that facility is growing its revenue by about $80,000 per month.  Right.  What will happen is that the residents will have to hit up Medicaid, which means Greenfield is making the Federal Government pay for their greed.
And I see that the Republitwats (now, isn't that catchy) are struggling with their selfish Tax Overhaul with at least 2 Senators saying they have issues - those are the ones who are speaking out publicly, I suspect there are more.  Oh, and they need to refund the government because the Idiot Jerk conspired with the Democrats to put that legislation off until December.   Those were some very smart Democrats, because now the Republitwat plate is simply overflowing with... shit, and that's not including the Roy Moore shit that's been slapping them silly - can you imagine the party of 'family values' even considering that pederast as a legitimate candidate?
Anyway, yesterday my Dr said I can start working out again - cardio mostly, until 12/26 at which point I can begin my strength training.  As a result I clambered on board my scales (yes, I have 2) this AM and let loose with the "shriek heard round the world!" well, maybe around my neighborhood.  Since my hernia was diagnosed I've gained 12 pounds.  Shit.  Later this morning I'm going to climb on board my elliptical for about 30 minutes of easy cardio... and then this after see if I can do about 30 more minutes on the bike.  I'll be using my new Senso Activbuds which work super well.  Sadly, they were delivered by a rather robust US Postal Worker rather than the gent in the ad.

But, as I said, they work really well - Bluetooth, which means I'm no longer attached to the music source, almost like magic.

From the first French Grand Prix

Today is Friday and it is the 3rd day of 6 days in a row.  I didn't sleep well last night, kept wondering if what I was feeling in my lower groin could be classified as pain, or just pressure.  Mostly, it's just pressure because everything being held back by my abdominal muscles is trying to push a way out through the bulge, which is in my lower groin, just about as far down as you can go.  This is what I can look forward to for at least 19 more days.  Shit.
Anyway, since I can't go to the gym and my Cardio is limited to gentle peddling on my bike, I've decided to do a little work in my dinning room.  This morning the drapes came down.

That's right, I have a lot of windows, and since I also have a southern exposure on that side of the house, lots and lots of sunlight all year round.  In the winter, with the leaves off of the trees, the brightness is almost unearthly.  At one point there was a window seat there, but at some time in my homes 112 year history someone thought it would be a good idea to get rid of it.  This is fine because it adds square footage to the dinning room.
First off, the raspberry trim is going to go, replaced by Toasted Sesame, the same color as the trim in the living room.  Oh, and the boarder along the ceiling is going to go.  In my crazier, younger years, I thought grapes and grape leaves would go well with the color of the trim... not so much now.  And that coat rack on the left?  That's going to be history.  I went through my coat closet and sent a lot of my jackets and coats to Community Aid so there's plenty of space.
To the right of the futon you'll see the curving top of an old, wooden hat box.  Think of it as an antique.  I don't know when it was made, but it was originally used by a woman who could afford to wear one of those large hats popular in the early 1900's.  There are several inked stamps on the lid, mostly in German, with dates.  One of the dates you can read is from the First French Grand Prix, which means this hatbox is most likely older than my house.
Isn't life amazing?

Sweat Storm

So, here it is... Monday, not the first day of my work week since I started back yesterday.
My cardio this AM was anything but optimal...most likely due to a couple of things, the most important being that I chose music that didn't have the right beat.  Music is very important, for the first note of the first song is what sets the tone, and, unfortunately it was an old Fall Out Boy album that I tuned in and the first song eased into an oozing repetition, not what I needed.   Another thing was my phone - the S8 has a Health App that actually has an elliptical tracker, so this AM I chose to use it... bad choice, every 5 minutes this female elevator voice whispered my total time and calories burned into my ear.  Last time that App gets used.  Even still, I managed to get the ticker going fast enough to turn myself into a sweat storm.

Aftermath of sweat

And I'm also having a little war with Garmin right now.  Back in February I bought myself their Fenix 3 HR and all was right with the world, until I bought my S8.  Connectivity disappeared instantly which means all of the bells and whistles I paid for no longer work.  So I've been complaining.  Other sport watches have updated their software, Garmin still has yet to do so.  On last Friday's email they told me that it takes "extensive testing with a new phone" before they release an update, to which I listed some of their competitors who had already completed their testing and released an update.  

I saw that Ann Coulter had started some sort of Tweet War with Delta.  Ann Coulter... what can I say, every time I see her I think of Elton John's song "Dirty Little Girl."  

Oh, and the Idiot in the White House was golfing again this weekend, or maybe he was just at golf tournament.  Now, I've never been a golf enthusiast.  In fact, I've always thought of it as one of those pretentious sports because it's expensive, and because people who play it, like the Idiot, seem to think that they're special.  Let's be honest here.  How many of you watch the Golf Channel.  Yep, there is one.  And if you've ever watched a tournament you know the commentator always talks in a low, quiet voice since a normal voice might ruin the golfer's concentration.  Give me a break!

  

Cardio Junkie / Bastille

So, I saw a headline about Beyonce posting a picture of herself and her kids and supposedly the Earth went wild... if that's the kind of thing that gives your life importance, I can only wonder if your life is truly that shallow.
I didn't mow the lawn yesterday because we were supposed to have thunderstorms... which we didn't have... which we actually got this morning while I was at PF - torrential rains, you know?  The Three Caballeros weren't there, which is par for the course.  They seem to belong to that group more interested in putting in an appearance than in developing and maintaining and in failing to understand that simply going to the gym does not improve the quality of your life.  Me?  Well, I wasn't gong to do any cardio yesterday, it was supposed to be my day off... and I ended up burning away 50 minutes on the elliptical - about 560 calories.  Increasing the ramp level increases your heart rate and as I raised it for the 4th time I wondered if I was turning in a Cardio Junkie.  Wouldn't that be a hoot, now?
And I did bake a loaf of bread.

Used a cast iron dutch oven.  It looks grand but tastes a bit bland, so I may have to look for a different recipe.
Also interesting to note:  Today is Bastille Day, a turning point in the French Revolution.  And the Idiot in the White House was invited to attend the festivities by President Macron.  I do not doubt that the relevancy of the moment will be lost on the Idiot, that he will even come close to understanding that during the French Revolution very, very many of the French 1% lost their heads.  He will totally fail to see any correlation between himself, his family, and his billionaire cabinet and the noblese of that time.  But then, what else would expect from the Idiot in the White House.

Voter suppression... and other things.

So, I switched things up doing my Cardio today rather than strength training.  Here the link if you want to see today's cardio.  I think this will work better for me.
I spent about 2 hours yesterday with a very nice couple who are a bit... out of touch with the real world.  They want to get new carpet installed in 4 bedrooms, there's nothing wrong with that, however they want each room to have a different color which translates into mucho buckos.  Most carpet comes in rolls that are 12 feet wide and rooms longer or wider than that require seems.  Normally, installers will use the remnants from one room to fill in the space in another room; different colors in each room means there's no usable remnants so you need to buy more carpet.  They went home to think about it, which is good.  What's odd is that the colors were chosen for specific children, all of whom moved out a long time ago... maybe they're expecting them to move back.
Oh, and I see that the Idiot in the White House desperately wants to prove that there were millions and millions of fraudulent voters during the last election... supposedly because he can't believe he lost the popular vote.  That last bit I can totally understand - the ego, you know.  The fact that he can't correlate his low approval ratings with that vote is... more than a little pathetic, but then, of course, those crazy conservatives don't believe those either.  In fact they are so mired down by their need to point their fingers and label everything as "fake news" they wouldn't know the truth if it hit them on the head.   Which is... going to happen.  Codifying the last 4 digits of the voting public's Social Security numbers, as well as their voting records... well... the Idiot must have gotten that idea from the Russians.  The best way to eliminate your enemies is to find exactly who they are and where they live, and for Republicans the enemy is anybody and everybody who didn't vote straight party ticket.  I wouldn't be surprised if this was Steve Bannon's idea.  I mean it sounds like his mealy brained bullshit.

Well, it's off to work.

A day like any other?

Well, today is Monday and it's my first day of work this week, but then I have tomorrow off, and then I get to work for another 3 days, and then another day off.  This is how life is in Retail.  It's worse if you're in management, I know.  They have some overnights coming up, all of them, for overhead bay maintenance - that's when you get on an Order Picker or Electric Ladder and lift yourself up into the overhead to see what's hiding up there.  I no longer have to do that, which makes me soooo happy.
The Supreme Court is to let loose with some rulings today, which should be interesting.
Oh, and the Health Care debate is going to be heating up.  In a sad sort of way I'm hoping that the GOP gets the votes and passes this hate festival.  You know that when the Koch brothers say it doesn't go far enough when it comes to dismantling medicaid millions upon millions of people are going to be hurt.  Maybe when Conservatives have to start spending their own hard earned dollars in order to keep Granny in the nursing home they will learn.  Of course, the Do Nothing Party will most likely keep doing what they don't do best and do nothing.
I did another 48 minutes of cardio this AM - interesting how, when you're speeding along and your heart beating about about 95% max, odd things seem to pop into your head... well, they pop into mine at least.  Like this morning I started thinking about religion and wondered what if Jesus was not whom everybody thinks he was, I mean in the Jewish faith he's a wise man, maybe a prophet, and I think the same thing holds true in the Muslim faith.  But what if he was actually more like the embodiment of Brahman?   Of course my endorphins were pinging in and out of my little gray cells like little rockets at the time, still this might be one of those imponderables.

Maybe it's a good thing I only do cardio every other day.

Fall Out Boy / another Trumpcapade

I spent 33 minutes on the elliptical this morning with Fall Out Boy - it was a bit crowded, but fun.  Back in 2006 Fall Out Boy looked like this:

Now they look like this:

Needless to say, their music has gone from Pop / Indie to Alternative - this is called maturing.  They have a new album coming out in September - "Maniac" and I'm sure it will be great.

On the 'funny side of life,' I saw that the Idiot in the White House has volunteered to testify before the Senate and be '100%' honest.  Get Out!  Do you have any idea how funny this would be?  I mean, be serious.  This butter head couldn't tell the truth if his political career depended on it.. oh, it would.  Picture it, peppered with hard balls from the Left and lobbed slow pitches from the Right.  Can you even imagine him being put on the spot, and staying seated, not walking out?  Not in the least.  The things that would come out of his mouth.  That would be so great.  Of course, it's all bluster just to keep the Trumplodite hoards in check, he knows it will never happen.

We can only hope!