The Eggplant, The Rug, and The BBC

Our outside weather is a bit stinky winky.  We're looking at a temp of 75 (F) with very high humidity that's so thick your finest cottons stick to your skin.  Our high will be in the upper 80s (F).  There is the constant threat of storms, but nothing at all like what we had when the temps were in the upper 90s (F) and low 100s (F).  We are almost halfway through summer and, except for those 2 weeks of torrid temps and tornado like storms, the season has been relatively normal... at least  here in Central PA.

I got a decent upper body workout in yesterday morning.  We've added a few new exercises that I like and started doing leg extensions again.  No squats.  That's fine.

A lot of words were written yesterday, mostly because the threat of rain was to great for me to want to get my extension cords out.  All of my tools are either electric or battery powered.  I learned a long time ago, water and electric simply don't mix.

Tomato sauce is going to be made this afternoon.  This is a good thing.  Mine includes tomatoes, onions, spices, and a touch of wine.  

My schedule for the last week in August was posted yesterday.  I'm scheduled for 13.5 hours.  I had already scheduled the last of my vacation for that week, so I'll end up with 20 + hours.  That's fine.

And I know everyone wanted to see a picture of my eggplant, so here it is!  Impressive, isn't it?  Can you tell I'm very proud?

The only thing more impressive is the picture of Orangie's new rug.

I understand the color is Spun Gold.  And yes, he did wear this yesterday in Las Vegas, and no, this is not AI slop.

Even funnier than that thing on his head, is Orangie's lawsuit against the BBC.  He sued them, claiming their coverage of the January 6 riots led to his financial ruin.  The BBC. who know a shit bird when they see one, said "prove it!  Show us your financial records!"  He has until tomorrow to release the information and instead of doing that, he's running around shrieking and yelling as if that rug on his head was on fire, crying "no, no, no, you need to take my word for it."  And the BBC is having none of his shit.  I'm betting they're going to countersue because he actually did disparage and slander them.  Grab your popcorn.

Zeus's Law

 The current temp is 71 (F).  If you're in Central PA, you can plan for an afternoon high in the mid to upper 80s (F).  There are storms in the forecast, too, but I'm thinking they'll not be nearly as severe as those that most recently swept through the area.  The day time highs have not been scorching us with 3 digits of Fahrenheit, and so we're not sitting on a hotplate waiting for a cold front to smash to pieces.  Once the cooler air passes through, we will still have daily highs in the low to mid 80s (F).  Most of the summer might not turn out to be so bad after all, at least not  in Central PA.

I spent a full shift in the flooring department yesterday and business was exceedingly slow.  Other departments were busy, but mine was not.  Traditionally, installations slow down during this time of year.  For me the most exciting thing was sending a rather heated email to our measurement services.  I set up a measure for a hardwood installation back in late May and the customer was measured in early June.  The quote came in at a cost much higher than the customer was expecting, so the quote was canceled.  On June 27, someone named Michelle noted that the sale was "lost because of price."  On July 25, someone named Judith from our measurement services reopened the quote. In addition to leaving a voice mail for the customer, she sent 2 texts and an email to this customer.  So, I emailed measurement services and asked at what point does customer service end and customer harassment begin?

My wood chipper arrived yesterday and will be assembled after this morning's workout.

I have an eggplant!  And there's more than one!!  I can see a pan of moussaka in my future.  

So, ticket sales for The Odyssey have grossed over $639.  This is unprecedented.  This is in 2 weeks.  In the US the film has an R rating and films rated R never, ever generate ticket sales of this magnitude.  Why?  I suspect Elonia Musk's Nazi tirade about a black Helen of Troy may have started things off.  Another factor is probably a fascination with ancient Greece.  So many of the words we use, no matter what language you speak, have Greek origins.  Democracy originated in Greece and all citizens, as Bob likes to say, "went out and cast a damn vote!"  The Odyssey is an anti-war movie and I do believe now, more than ever, many, many people around the world are simply fed up with war.  And I can't forget to mention that the film is, as many conservatives shriek, Woke.  Anne Hathaway claiming, "I've been sitting on an empty throne for 20 years!" hits the audience like a sucker punch.  And, of course, the movie is about Zeus's Law, where all strangers are welcome.  What happens when you break Zeus's Law?  Maybe you should ask Polyphemus. Is this why Zeus stayed Poseidon's hand?

Let the Staycation Begin

 Ah, the joys of not having to go into work.  Having paid vacation is nice.   Five days in a row.  And in just 4 weeks I'm going to have 6 days off.  This is almost like working part-time... oh, hell, who do I think I'm kidding.  This isn't even close to working part-time hours.

Those weather guys, who can never seem to get their predictions right, are forecasting rain and thunderstorms today, and then some cooler temps for the rest of the week.  By cooler, I mean high 80's (F) and low 90's (F).  These temps are what would be considered normal for July.  Of course, we all know how inaccurate those weather guys can be.

I harvested my first eggplant, not so much because I was desperately hungry, but because it was resting on the ground and I didn't want a bunch of little critters making it into a meal.  The plant is for me, not them.  It's almost a foot long, but narrow.  Think how tasty this will be sautéed with a little olive oil.  Yummy.

I saw where Alan Dershowitz has flipped, and now admits that the election was not stolen.  He did try to soften his statement for the MAGAs by saying "no election is perfect,"  but then he continues.  Basically, what he's doing is calling Donald Trump, and the Republican Party, liars.  Of course, the far right can't handle the truth, so prepare yourselves.  More and more, you're probably going to hear them shriek, not about The Big Lie, but about the Big Brashness.  Also remember, these people are really bad losers, so they will get nasty, but like any rat in a trap, at some point they will begin to chew off their feet.

My eggplant

 Happy Fourth of July!

I don't work today, but I'm thinking of going to my local Giant Supermarket and buying enough ground beef to make a holiday meat loaf.  That's probably the only thing I'm going to do today, on my day off.  Most of my chores will wait until Tuesday, another day off.

Speaking of Tuesday, the temps here are forecasted to hit 100 (F).  That's very toasty, stay inside weather.

Last evening I watched The Tomorrow War on Amazon Prime.  Some of the action scenes in the future were well done, I found the storyline in the present rather weak.  There is a rollickingly big set-piece at the end, but...  (and this is not really a spoiler) but I kept wanting to see the intelligence of this alien species wiping out mankind.  They needed to prove they had the smarts to build a spacecraft capable of bringing them to earth... and that evidence was completely missing.

Since it's the Fourth, I thought I post a picture of my eggplant.  As you can see, it's getting bigger.

Tomorrow is the official day of celebration.  I work.  Not a big deal.  Many of you in America will have the day off work.  Enjoy!  Do something fun!  Burn a MAGA hat!

Sit back and wait

 Well, here it is Sunday and Sunday's are slow days.  The temps are to begin their 90 degree (F) run, which means all ceiling fans are running upstairs as well as the Central Air.  This is what happens when you have a very old house with limited venting.

Yesterday was 'cake' day at work.  Not sheet cake or layer cake, rather cate was represented by the Little Debbie, Ding Dong, Hostess Twinkie processed cardboard-fiber cakes complete with hydrogenated, sugary oil substituting for a whipped cream filling.  This doesn't mean I didn't eat any, it's just a notice that I did wreck havoc on my digestive tract.

Yesterday was also the day I learned we no longer have to do the 'health check' before we punch in; no more annoying buzzing sound from the time clock if we skip that step.  I am so happy about that.

And an odd thing happened.  Around 0300 my watch buzzed, waking me up.  It was a notification telling me I had an alarm scheduled for 0500.  That's never happened before.  I think I'll turn of notifications, because I dismissed the notification and the alarm didn't go off.  This means I'm running a bit late, but only a bit.

I'm planning on doing a 10 mile ride this morning as a nice way to end the week.  Yep, that's right, my weeks end on Sunday.  Some religious beliefs have the week ending on Saturday,  Working in retail, Saturday and Sunday might as well be Tuesday and Wednesday.  Most people don't know there was a time in our not too distant past when weekends didn't exist for most of the workforce.  They are a relatively recent luxury.

If that thought wasn't enough to brighten up your day, I have eggplants.  Here's a pic of one.

Finally, I saw Loser #45 had his super-spreader event in Ohio.  Hello, Delta Variant, make yourself at home.  From what I've read, this variant is so contagious you only need to be in close proximity for a few minutes.  By September, it's supposed to be the dominant strain, which is why it's not only going to be the GOP who's holding super-spreader events.  What we really need to happen, is for as many unvaccinated people as possible to attend these things, and then just sit back and wait.

Gibberish

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

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

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

a blurry, little eggplant blossom

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