The Man with the Glasses

 Rain is in the forecast.  The drizzle has already begun.  Temps are predicted to climb into the mid 80s (F), but the humidity will be high.  After today's rains temps will again climb back up into the 90s (F).  While the past 2 summers have been on the cool side, this warmth should have been expected.  The rest of the world is having very hot days, so why should we here in Central PA have to deal with the same thing.

I did have a nice conversation yesterday with my manager regarding the attitude I had to deal with from the other manager on Sunday.  He asked if I got the $4700 sale, and when I told him I did, he said, "that's what's important, making sure the customer is happy."  Of course, getting that sale made him happy.  From what I gather, none of the other managers have much respect for the one who tried to intimidate me, so I'm getting broad smiles and nods from them, while he seems to have made himself invisible.  

And, since it's raining, I'm using the dryer today instead of hanging my loads of laundry outside to dry.  

Also, after everything I've been posting about the Orange Anus, I thought this might be a decent little palate cleanser.  This is something to be proud of.  I tried posting the video, but NBC Sports has it locked down tight in YouTube, so watch him in action.  His name is Steve Nedoroscik.

Last night there was a zoom call:  White Dudes for Harris.  Over 175,000 men were on that call.  They heard a number of speakers and raised over $4 million for the Harris campaign.  That's a big finger in the eye of the Republican party.  Not surprisingly, the NYT posted an NYT/Sienna poll this morning implying that 75% of men likely to vote were pro Trump.  I hope the irony isn't lost on any of you, since the billionaire owner of the NYT has been pushing a rather obvious pro Trump agenda.  In case you didn't know, it's all about the tax cuts.  The same thing is true about that dufuss Elon Musk, who shut down the White Dudes for Harris Twitter account during the event.  The reason:  The account was suspended for trying to avoid suspension.  Musk wants his tax break, too.  

And evidently Leonard Leo, Clarence Thomas' sugar daddy, had a bit of a meltdown over Biden wanting to create forcible ethics rules for the Supreme Court.  I mean, what's a sugar daddy supposed to do if he can't spoil his favorite Oreo boy toy?

Dead Americans

 Say hello to a drizzly Sunday.  Yepper!  We're in the middle of a long, soaking rain which will continue throughout most of the day.  Temps are moderate, cold enough on occasion for the heat to turn on.  Yes, that's right, unlike some people, I didn't turn the furnace off for the season.  Last year, spring was cool and rainy, and it seems as though I've learned my lesson.  Also, for the past few years, we've received more rain in May than we did in April, even though April showers are supposed to bring May flowers.

I got loads done yesterday, including another 11 mile ride on the bike in San Remo.  One thing that's different with my bike rides is that I no longer listen to music.  Instead, I've started listening to lectures.  I made the attempt to listen to podcasts, but could get interested two or three people having a conversation about a subject I didn't find interesting.  I don't have that problem with lectures.  Perhaps it's the eternal student in me, always finding interest in learning new things.  Right now, as some of you might suspect, it's a series of lectures on ancient Greece.  

This morning my narrators sent me chapters 2 and 3 to listen to, unfortunately I do have to work today, so I'll have to listen to them this evening when I get home.  There have been a few changes that I've suspected, but not many.  His pacing is quite good.  The Body on the Lawn, even though it has less words than The Body Under Ice, will no doubt be closer to 8 hours in length, 3 hours longer than The Body Under Ice.  This has all been a valuable learning experience.

And I thought this to be very funny.

And that is not Mike Pence holding the sign

Evidently, Trump had a private fund raiser last evening and during his ramblings likened the Biden administration to the Gestapo.  He has already stated that he will not accept the results of the 2024 election if he loses.  This rhetoric should frighten you, because in his mind it is all about saving his ass.  He needs to win in order for him to have full immunity from all of his charges.  This is really about saving his ass, and if he needs to goad his cultists into starting a war to do so, he will.  I'm sure he will be quite pleased if his cultists give their lives in order to sustain his freedom.  He is a businessman, after all, and dead Americans would be a small price to pay for him to be the ultimate CEO.

Destined for Failure

 Outside there is a constant drizzle.  It's a rainy Sunday, so I slept in a bit longer than usual.  This happens sometimes.  The weather is not supposed to improve until sometime later this afternoon.  I work, so that'll happen when I'm sitting at the flooring desk.  

I worked yesterday.  That's when the drizzles began.  When I got to the store at 1 PM, the store was relatively busy and thought, "gee, this is what the day's going to be like," and it was for about an hour.  My first customer was difficult.  A man in his late 40s, possibly early 50s, who was replacing the carpet in his bedroom with cheap vinyl planks.  He'd been in last Sunday and dealt with one of my fellow associates.  The reason he was replacing the carpet?  His girlfriend was angry that he spilled wax on the bedroom carpet.  I heard that line last week, and I heard it again yesterday.  Right.  He felt it was important for me to know that the carpet was in his bedroom, and that he'd spilled candle wax on it (doesn't come out), and that he was doing this for the "girlfriend."  He asked many of the questions he'd asked last week.  Wanted to know why the installation might take 2 weeks (his transition piece needed to be ordered), and why we no longer stored everything in massive warehouses.  Every explanation I gave him got the same response, "well, I just don't understand why it's not done this way," or "that doesn't make sense to me."  In the end he purchased, and since his installation was small, one room, I had him take most of the product he needed when he left.  Except for the transition piece, so I told him to call Tuesday, when I wasn't working, so we could give him an ETA on that piece.

Every now and then my fish do things that are interesting.  Here's my algae eater doing his job on the thermometer in my tank.

So, will America end up having a religious war?  There are times when I feel both the Conservatives and the Christian Nationalists want one.  In a weird way, both of them seem to think they have God behind them, and that's got me to thinking.  Have Christians ever actually won a war for Christianity?  All you need to do is look at the Middle East today to see that the Crusades were a terrible failure.  And it doesn't take a push coming to shove for them to fight other Christians, look at Northern Ireland.  Maybe someone should just sit them down and tell them to cool it because no matter how hard they believe, they're destined for failure.

The Time has Come

 Well, can I get a bright hello to a drizzly Monday morning?  Humidity, showers, and possible thunder showers are in our forecast.  Whatever we get, you can bet it is going to make the grass grow.

Work was slow yesterday, up until the last half hour, then I signed up 2 couples for measures and possible installs.  That should make the big boys happy.  They're always looking for sales.  I don't mind selling measures and installs, as long as I don't need to work too hard.  Semi-retired, you know?  The Gung-Ho days are long gone.  Not that I was ever really Gung-Ho about any of my jobs.  I did them well enough to get decent pay increases, but I was never a 'do or die' loyalist to management.  Being in management was nice, but I never felt to need to keep climbing.  Maybe I'm just not greedy or selfish enough.  

I work with an associate who's like that, has a 5-year plan.  He, however, sees managers as being that group of people who do less and have others do more.  Hah.  He wants the authority without demonstrating the require work ethic.  We did just bring in a new assistant manager... who walks around wearing a small backpack.  Yesterday, as I was leaving, I saw the wannabe sporting... you guessed it, a small backpack.  

The latest book cover is now on the wall.  Next up, The Body Under Ice.  

Of course, we had that horrific shooting up in Buffalo and, of course, we have crass Republicans desperately trying to be more vulgar than the next.  I saw where that white supremacist Wendy Rogers said it was a 'false flag' thrown up by the Feds.  Someone needs to start punching her in the mouth every time she blurts out her stupidity, not that she'll learn anything, but at least someone will have the pleasure of punching her in the mouth.  

In fact, we, as a party, should have started punching back a long time ago.  Remember when Michelle Bachmann used to claim there was a war on Christianity?  Well, we should have started bopping her upside her head back then, rather than play Mr. Nice Guy.  All you have to do is look around to see where being nice has gotten us.  A minority group has managed to squeeze themselves into the power seat and their hatred of everything that isn't, by their standards, socially conservative, is under attack.  Over time, they will only get worse as they attempt to rule.  The time has come for bopping them upside their heads.