Louisiana

 Outside the temp is a comfy 71 (F).  Even though we're still under a heat advisory, it is just that, an advisory.  Most of the high temps will be passing to the north of us, or, as is most often the case, to the south.  While there's no rain in our forecast, a new tropical storm has it's eye on Texas.  

As expected, I received a voice mail / text from Andersen yesterday telling me that if I called they could get me a substantial discount on my windows.  This shit pisses me off.  It tells me that Andersen can offer windows to customers at a more affordable cost, but chooses not to because for them high sales are far more important than fair sales.  Companies like this you want to avoid at all costs.

I've been looking into marketing the audio version of the The Body on the Lawn.  Audible presents certain opportunities as well as several recommendations, one of which is to get a reputable review.  This doesn't discount the other reviews individuals leave, however, having Audiofile give it a thumbs up seems to carry a lot of weight.  So, probably Tuesday of next week I will submit it to them.  It would be nice of if they choose to review it, if not, well, that's okay.  There are professional reviewers out there, but being professional they charge, sometimes quite a lot of money.  They don't guarantee a good review.  I can't imagine the disappointment of paying someone bunches of buckos, only to have them say your book sucks.

And then this happened yesterday.

For those of you living under a rock, this should have been expected.  There is this great fear among Christians, one of the reasons for Christian Nationalism, that their religion is failing.  It is.  Mostly because of what I think of bad translations based on bad translations, based on bad translations.  The "all you have to do is believe and ask forgiveness," is a great recruiting tool, but a religion without accountability will always fail.  By accountability, I don't mean cherry picking verses to be judgmental, heavens knows, many Christians do just that.  Rather, I'm saying that if your a Pastor and you molest a 12 year-old girl, there's going to be a price to pay.  The idea that prayer will wipe the slate clean is just wrong.  This is one of the reasons by the number of Christians in the world is decreasing.  And, in case you're wondering, it will happen to Islam, too.  This is the way things are.

Weeds

Well, the heat dome has arrived.  The toasty temp outside is 74 (F), with the high expected to climb into the mid 90s (F).  The heat index will pop that baby up into the low 100s (F).  I'm not planning any yardwork outside today.  Tomorrow morning, I may mow the lawn.  I shall have to wait and see if the grass starts turning brown.  And, even though there are those who think these temps are going to portend our summer, remember, spring was not spring-like until 4 weeks ago.

And management was happy dappy at work yesterday because I got both a lead and and measure.  They see that as potential revenue.

Decades ago, I worked in the accounting department of a Marriott Hotel (that's where my accounting career began).  One of the people I worked with has decided it would be nice to have reunion dinners.  I made it to one.  The last 2 I bailed on because something more important came up (Lily was really sick for the last one).  Several dates were given for another get together, and I let them know the dates I was available.  Well, out of the blue, there was a group email letting us know it's tomorrow night... and I work.  There are 2 people who I'd like to see, but the rest?  Hhhmm, not really.

I have 2 window quotes coming today, one this morning and one this afternoon.  This should be fun.

Okay, so it's finally here. The Body on the Lawn is now available on Audible. Click the link if you want to hear the teaser.  I'm learning about marketing and promotions, so I'll probably run something in a week or so, I'll keep you updated.

And I snapped a picture of this in our parking lot yesterday.

Aren't American politics funny?  The Republicans are going full steam ahead as if they're going to be running the country forever, and the Democrats keep getting things accomplished.  This has been a problem for quite some time, especially for the Republicans, who only seem to pass legislation that restricts a woman's health, or provides a tax break for the wealthy.  They definitely want a female serving class, one that never turns down their sexual advances, and is happy to raise a brood of children, all the while working a part-time job to help pay for those children.  I once posted about this on Zitter, and someone responded saying women shouldn't complain if their spouse didn't get a well enough paying job.  Think about that for a while.  Especially if you're a blue collar worker.  Trump's cultists may think he speaks for them, the truth is quite the opposite.  He's more like the pederast saying "you want a piece of candy, little girl," and they fail to understand what type of lollipop he's talking about.

Toasty

 It's sunny, for the moment.  Later in the morning they're predicting winds, though no storms.  And, of course, beginning Monday, we  will be under the Heat Dome, as will much of the eastern United States.  Texas will be dangerously hot.  I feel sorry for those who understand there is such a thing as Climate Change, but have to suffer because their leadership runs away form science.

Yesterday, I did summerfy my house.  That means the window A/C unit is in the bedroom and the standpipe is in the hallway for my Central Air, in fact I turned it on.  It's always set at 74 (F).  I find that comfortable.  The temp upstairs was 79 (F), which is warm.  And yes, my Central Air relies on a standpipe.  This is because when I had it installed all those years ago, I was naive and thought Zimmerman Plumbing and Heating was doing the right thing.  They didn't.  The put the return vent for the second floor in the floor.  Well, since hot air rises, that doesn't work.  The standpipe basically raises the return vent to 6 feet off the floor.  Small businesses don't always have their customer's best interests at heart.

Anyway, when I went up into the attic to get the standpipe, I was stunned to see sunlight shining in around the front window.  That's right, around the window, as well as through it.  Well, damn.  I'd been putting off having the windows replace, now it looks like that's not going to happen.  So, I went down to the computer and filled in the necessary forms and within seconds I began getting phone calls.  I didn't answer any of them, but now I have their phone numbers and will start calling installers later this morning.   

The Dome.

One thing that I'm glad to see happening is more and more people, even media outlets, are calling out other news outlets, like the New York Times, and the New York Post, and the Wall Street Journal (the last 2 just happen to be owned by Rupert Murdoch) for their deceitful coverage of Biden.  Sinclair Group is another group of faux news stations that have been lying about the president's mental health.  Sinclair grew very upset when it was pointed out that its new stations were repeating almost verbatim from a article in the Wall Street Journal.  These outlets don't like this.  They want to be seen as the voice of conservative authority and, well, the truth hurts.  Isn't ironic that the fake media Trump's been shrieking about for so many years are those conservative networks and news shows?  I think so.

"Take a Felon to Work" day

Holy Moly, the temp was 70 (F) when I got up this morning.  According to the forecasters, we've got one of them heat domes heading our way.  For the past 2 years they've been missing us, moving either to the north or south, but not this week.  I'm not doubting Mother Nature had this entire thing planned, since it's arriving right when summer begins.  

This means window air conditioning units will be a hot commodity.  Sorry, I just had to do that.

 Actually, our temps are only suppose to clime into the mind 90s (F), with the real feel being around 100 (F).  Still, it means I'm going to have to turn on the A/C if I want the upstairs to be comfortable.

And, speaking of the weather, how about Florida?  All that rain?  All that heat?  If those people down there thought insurance rates were high before this summer, I'm betting they're going to be flipping out by the time hurricane season ends.

And I did work yesterday, and, as expected business was slow.  However, when I checked my sales somehow I managed to rack up over $11,000.  Wow!  I also got to work in paint for a bit, which is fun.  

I also changed my availability, knocking off one of the mid-week days.  As of 7/12, I'll no longer be working on Thursdays.  When I get back from Greece, I'm going to change it again so I'll only be working weekends and Monday.  Three days on and four days off.  Sounds good to me.

The writing room is beginning to come together.  I've decided to hide the file cabinet and printer behind the victrola.

And for those who didn't know it, yesterday was take your felon to work day.  How do I know?  Because the Orange Anus was back in Washington speaking to the Republicans of Congress.  One of those present in that closed session said it was like listening to your drunken uncle.  Afterwards, he spit out a short word salad speech and then left, which was rather unusual for him.  

As expected, the Senate voted against in vitro fertilization.  Someone asked why, if these people claim to be pro-life, they can be against IVF.  Well, a lot of it has to do with their Cracker Jack Crazy religious beliefs.  They believe babies should be made the natural way, and not rely on science.  Yep, that's right.  Science is the big bugaboo here.  In order for there to be science, people would need to ask questions, and questions are verboten. For them, it's all about belief.  Sort of like the dark ages, you know?  

Adaptability

 Today the weather forecasters are calling for on and off showers and thunderstorms.  Yippee!  I'm off, first of 3 days, so it's going to be a lazy, laundry, cleaning day.  My real weekend begins tomorrow.  

Right now the skies are overcast and the temps are sitting at 75 (F).  After today, a heat dome is supposed to position itself over the center of the country.  We here in Central PA are close to the edge, which means our temps are predicted to be tolerable.  

This afternoon, I do plan on climbing onto the bike.  I need about 7 miles to hit my 55 mile goal for the week.  A ride through Amsterdam should do the trick.  Here is a list of my favorite Rouvy rides.  I've downloaded them, so I'm wondering if I can move them over into the Tacx App.

I see where Biden's approval rating has dropped.  People also don't see the country moving in a positive direction... because infection rates are rising all across the country.  Honestly, what did people think was going to happen?  You have a specific group who refuses to get vaccinated.  Because of this, more and more of them are going to get infected.  Some will survive, others will not.  The rising infection rates are causing the economy to stall.  What did people think was going to happen?  This is what happens when you have one group of people who are bent on destroying everything they don't like.  I suspect we're in for a bit of a rough ride.  I also suspect that the variants are just beginning to roll out.  Covid will mutate regularly.  This think isn't going to go away because people don't like it.  Adaptability is the answer.

The same thing is true with the approaching high temps. I think few, if any, ever thought we'd be living in an age when Darwin was going to be proved right so frequently.