Taller, blonder, and boobier

 It seems as though Ophelia is going to be hanging around until tomorrow sometime.  We're in a band of steady rain, with occasional strong gusts of wind.  According to Accuweather we're in the 2 - 4 inch zone.  As long as my basement doesn't flood, that's fine with me.  The thermostat indicates that the temp on the first floor is 68 (F) so I am tempted to turn on the heat a bit and the forecasters are saying it's not going to get much warmer until Wednesday, when it's supposed to climb up to 69 (F).  If I do, I'll have to change the filter in my furnace.

As expected, retail was slow yesterday.  It will probably be slow again today... and tomorrow.  There will be some customers, but not the sort of big spenders corporate wants to walk through our front doors.  

We're celebrating our "Success Sharing," this weekend, that small bonus corporate pays us.  It's a little big of extra money that I can always spend.  There's also food!  Yesterday we were supposed to be making S'mores on a grill out back but... well, Ophelia put a damper on that, so they order pizza in for everyone.  I'm find with that.  I'd taken lunch, but ate pizza instead.  Today is supposed to be Trail Mix day.  Yep, we're going to be able to mix our own trail mix.  Can you read the excitement in my words.

The house next door has been Sold.  I was talking to the real estate agent, she told me a young couple just starting out bought it.  I've decided that I'm not going to mention any of the problems to them, unless they ask.  This could be a bit of an adventure.

The release of Dune has been delayed until March to the disappointment of many, so, as a sort of balm, I thought I'd post a pic of Lego Dune to help with those sad feelings.

And Bob Menendez was indicted.  This Democratic senator from New Jersey has had run-ins with corruption before.  This time his wife, Nadine, has also been indicted.  She's taller than he is, blonder than he is, and has bigger boobs.  She's also Lebanese by birth and a registered Republican.  Democrats are calling for him to resign and he's refusing.  This is to be expected from a man married to a Republican.  he needs to go.  Sadly, Bob's taking his orders from a woman who is taller, blonder, and bobbier than he is.

Audiobook Reality

 Tuesday, and my four day weekly weekend begins.  I did miss this schedule.  Not that I don't mind changing things up now and then, but I found working over 29 hours in one week disruptive after almost a year of 20 hour work weeks.  

There's a good chance that the weather today will be drizzly and rainy.  That's okay.  The only place I'm planning on going to is my neighborhood Giant supermarket.  I'm out of bananas.  Lily and I share one everyday and that's a routine I like to keep.  

I do believe the house next door has been sold.  While the large Iron Valley real estate sign is still in the front yard, the small red "For Sale" sign is gone, replaced by one that give the name of the listing agent.  I find this amusing since the owner bragged that he didn't need to go through an agent because he knew the right kind of people.  Besides listing it with an agent, he had it professionally stage which no doubt cost him quite a bit with rental furniture.

I posted a little video about why I waited so long to put the audiobook The Body Under Ice on Audible... actually, it's not there yet.  It also takes forever before it shows up in their store.

And, of course, Trump's first trial date has been set:  March 4, 2024.  As expected, the Spawn of Satan spewed fire and brimstone because his Judgement is coming far sooner than he had been expecting.  Can you hear me chortling loudly?  I am.   I find it truly funny that he and his attorneys are shrieking that his trial is supposed to begin the day before Super Tuesday.  For a man who brags about being so far ahead in the polls, his trial date should create no problem.  In fact, it might be a blessing in disguise because all those brain dead MAGA cultists are going to go out and vote for him.  But then again, he may realize that all of those Centrist and Left leaning Republicans are going to sit out the primaries the same way they're going to sit out the General Election.  

And now the Pope has come out speaking against Trumpist Catholics.  Of course, a lot of American Catholics don't really pay him much attention.

Bits

 We did not get any rain yesterday.   The temperature peaked at 90 (F), and to hear people coming up to the paint desk, you'd think it was well over 100 (F).  I so much wanted to tell them that 90 (F) is warm, not hot, but I did the professional thing and simply nodded my head and said, "is it?"

Yesterday, he real estate agent handling the house next door had an open house.  I have no idea how busy many people stopped by to actually view the property.  So far 626 people have looked at the property on Zillow and 48 of them have saved it, which is probably a good sign.  However, seeing it up close and personal is a lot different than looking at rooms professionally staged.  The temps were in the high 80s (F) during the open house so they would have needed to have the ceiling fans going.  There is no ceiling fan in the attic, so temps up there would have been scorching.

I'll be going down to that Fish Place in Lancaster in about an hour.  I've got a 30% off coupon.  That's good.  I need to get more plants.  The one I put into the big tank is thriving, so it's time to add more, as well as the naked marble statues.

And even though the weekend is usually quiet on the political front, yesterday was not without it's bits of excitement.  CNN releasing a information that Fani in Atlanta had texts and emails showing that orders for breaching election machines had come straight down from the top (that means the Orange Anus probably gave the order).  However, we all need to keep in mind that Trump rarely DMs or texts, it's almost always done by an aide in order to put blame where he wants it to go.  This means he will surely say the directive did not come from him, and that everyone else was acting outside his wishes.  You know?  It was everyone else's fault and he's just an innocent lamb.

And Zuck texted that it was time to move on, that there was not going to be any kind of match between he and Musk.  This should have been expected.  What it does is paint Musk to be an even bigger buffoon people thought, and a lot of people seen him as nothing more than a bloated windbag.  I'd liked the bit where Zuck claimed Musk wanted to have a trial match in Zuck's backyard.  That was hooting hilarious.

The Truth is Coming

 Well, we come to the end of the work week and I am off, but then that's normal, I never work on Fridays.  I will work the weekend.  There's nothing new about that, but I'll be by myself most of the time.  As I've mentioned, the 2 full time associates are on vacation this week.  So's Jon, the PT whom I bounce ideas off about the next book.  

I bought a new desk light.  It's a blue glass Tiffany style.  There's a nightlight in the base and it doesn't work, so I had to email the company for directions on how to replace the bulb.  It's an irritation.

When I pulled into my driveway yesterday, I saw something that surprised me:  a For Sale sign in front of the house next door.  The guy who'd bought it said he wasn't going to go through a realtor to sell it.  "Commission is lost $$$" he told me, "and if you know the right people a real estate agent is unnecessary.  Evidently he doesn't know the right people, or that first showing he had was a big wake-up call.  I've checked, and so far it hasn't been listed on the realtor's website.

I understand that the Spawn of Satan, Donald J. Trump is livid over Jack Smith's setting a trial date of his January 6 indictments.  He was already spitting out turds regarding the hearing this morning at 10 AM, the fact that Judge Chutkan told his corrupt attorneys to pound sand is weighing hard on his black soul.  This is so entertaining.  Accountability has reared its honest head to watch as Karma slaps the Orange Anus silly.  Not only did the Moral Degenerate lose the election, he's lost over 60 legal attempts to overthrow the election, and my use of the word legal is vague to say the least.  Everything he touches dies.

Even that conservative bimbo Ann Coulter is warning the GOP.  She should have learned long ago they're never going to listen to her.  Women have their place in the Republican party.  They should not be telling the men how to run their politics.  

Shut up! You're not in Charge

 Thursday is arriving with a thump.  Rain is in the air.  Buckets will be arriving in the form of showers, drizzling on and off.  I mowed my lawn yesterday so I'm not concerned.  This does mean that most likely I'll be mowing it again next Tuesday or Wednesday.

So, the house next door is off the market.  Most of yesterday there were two women there, one driving a Mercedes and the some sort of boxy, orange car.  I'm fairly certain that they are staging the house to make it more attractive to buyers.  While I was mowing, I saw one of them carrying in 2 snake plants and while I was making dinner I heard them talking out back next to the windows on my enclosed porch.  I glanced at them as one of them pointed up.  I'm hoping they convince the guy running the show to put in a section of privacy fence between our 2 properties; that would save me the expense.

My back is still recovering from my kettlebell experience.  A lesson is learned.  I can do the exercises, but not with a 15 lb kettlebell, at least not to start.  I have some individual 5 lb weights, so I think those will be substituting until those lower back muscles build up some strength.

And, of course, the voters in Ohio spoke out and rather loudly told Conservatives to shut up!

That's right, they told the Republicans to stay out of their lives, that they were not in charge.  That vote has the GOP in disarray.  Very conservative Kansas did the same thing a while back, told the conservatives to stay out of their lives.  I've seen a number of articles questioning how the GOP could have become so out of step with America.  That's a rather stupid question if you think about it.  They're not out of step at all.  Nope.  The truth is that they just don't care what a majority of Americans want.  Not at all.  Conservatives want an authoritarian government where they get to say "Shut up, We're in Charge."  In both Ohio and Kansas, Americans have shouted back "Shut up! You're not in charge!"

And isn't Ronnie 'meatball' DeSantis a real dick?  His are cratering, he's laid off many of his campaign staff, and replaced his campaign manager with one who is more... crazy might be the word.  Is this moron learning anything?  Absolutely not.  He just replaced a legally elected state prosecutor with a loyalist.  Instead of understanding that his extremism is only good at turning off voters and that he needs to move closer to the center, he's racing even farther to the right.  He is catastrophically destroying not only his own campaign by his stupidity, but his governorship as well.  People in Florida are already looking at him and shouting "Shut up!  You're not in charge!"

Yippee

 So, it's Wednesday.  The weather is supposed to be nice, which means I'm going to have to mow my lawn.  We're heading into the middle of August, the time of summer when lawn mowers sit idly by while spiders spin webs from the handles down to the tires.  Lawns are never lush and green at this time of the year, except for this year.

I'm paying my taxes later this morning.  Yippee.

I made an appointment with the electrician to come buy and give me an estimate on some work that needs to be done. He won't be here until the 24th.  I'm betting he's going to sock me for another $1500 to move 3 wall sockets, do 2 light repairs, and install a hood range over my stove.  Once that work is done I can bring Lyndsey, the drywaller back in to finish most of the kitchen redo.  I will be repainting the cabinets.  Yippee.

The house next door got another showing last evening.  Two women.  They were there for about 40 minutes.  The owner spent most of the time outside talking on his phone.  If they're interested, I'm sure they'll make a counter-offer that's much lower than he's expecting.  This is most fascinating.  Update.  I just checked and it is off the market.  I don't know if that means they've made him an offer or whether he's going to put some more work into it.

Popped another video up into my YouTube channel yesterday.  

So, the Orange Anus got bad news yesterday.  His doofus legal team tried to get an extension until sometime next week to sit down with the prosecution in order to decide what he could and couldn't say publicly about the evidence he'd been given.  Judge Chutkan shot him down, so he's shrieking about not being able to get a fair trial.  He's really pissed that his standard tricks aren't working.  By 'fair trial' he means he can't dictate and delay as much as possible.  They're meeting this Friday morning whether he likes it or not (he hates it), and a speedy trial date will be set in accordance to law, which will put him on public display around Thanksgiving.  

And in Ohio voters stood strong against an authoritarian GOP that also wants to dictate and control.  This is another big time loss for Republicans.  They are discovering that Americans are not the sheep they want them to be.  Yippee!

Price Drop

 For those who missed the news, we had bad thunderstorms and torrential downpours yesterday afternoon.  In DC, the Federal Government said it was fine for people to leave work early.  That didn't happen for us.  Then again we weren't in DC.  We had a few minutes of gusty wind, a bit of thunder, and then steady rain for about an hour and a half.  Everything was done by the time I got home from work.

I did 14 sets of Kettlebell exercises yesterday and my L1 - L5 rather impolitely reminded me that they're slowly fusing together.  Naproxen does wonders.  So does a heating pad.  This means I will have to work the exercises in slowly, possibly into other workouts.  Maybe a set or two when I do arms, and a set or two when I do chest.

Twenty-four hours after the house next door was listed, there was a price drop from $185,000 to $179,900.  This was after one showing, so obviously it didn't go as well as the owner thought it was going to go.  I've talked to him several times, he thinks he's a shrewd businessman and that all potential buyers are stupid.  They aren't.  Not with the prices of homes today.  They do their research.

Remember my cutting back my peach tree?  Well, this is what it looks like today, not at all like the nectarine tree which is pretty much dead to the world.

Because today's Tuesday, and down in Atlanta the Grand Jury usually meets on Tuesdays, there's a good possibility more indictments are going to be handed out.  Trump's indictment dance card must just about be filled by now, so I guess he will need to flip it over and start listing them on the back.  

For those not paying attention to the details, yesterday his attorneys whined that they had needed more time to come up with a delaying tactic that would sound good to Republicans as a response to his stupid comment, "you come for me, I'm coming for you."  They claimed first amendment rights, that he was allowed his freedom of speech.  Jack Smith shot that down, saying his comments had nothing to do with freedom of speech.  Ouch.  The DOJ is having none of his bullshit, which means he must be going through cases of ketchup.  People are not only saying "no" to him, they're spicing it up with a silent "screw you, loser."