At the Ellipse

 Day two of the current heat wave.  Yes, that's what I'm going to call it.  Today our temps are predicted to climb into the mid to upper 70s (F).  That warm for this close to November.  Tomorrow, our thermometers are supposed to top off well into the 80s (F).  Tomorrow is also Trick or Trich night in my neck of the woods.  That means I'll have the porch light turned off and the curtains closed at a very early hour.  I don't work tomorrow, so there should be no problem with that.

So, I had my plumbing issue fixed yesterday.  It was pricey, but that's how things are these days.  The plumbing group I use is less expensive than Pronto, who I used to use.  The plumber was a bit on the creepy side, very soft spoken, think of a white Michael Jackson.  He was only here for an hour, but I was glad when he drove his truck away from my curb.  Because it was nice and sunny, Howie and I spent most of that time out working in the yard.  As a result, he was a very sleepy puppy last evening.  

As soon as the leak was finished, I began doing laundry.  

I had a bit of a cranky belly last night, so I suspect that fluey thing is still not completely out of my body.  What a pain this has been.

And Kamala had a rally on the Ellipse last evening.  Wowza!

Here's a pic of the overflow crowd at the Washington Monument.

I'm betting MAGA world is worried.  Over 75,000 for a closing rally!  So, do you think they're worried?  Yeah.  Laura Loomer, who was no doubt much happier being Orangie Anus's side piece, was shrieking that people were bussed in.  Duh.  Any even in DC that draws that many people will rely on buses to a certain extent.  What terrifies MAGA world is that these people were bussed in from Maryland, and Virginia, and Pennsylvania.  Over 75,000 voters is a lot of voters, and that's just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak.  This makes me happy.  You can bet your bottom bazooka that Donnie's team is worried, too, and that makes me smile. 

It would not surprise me in the least is when the polls start coming in on November 5, if Donnie J tried to make a beeline towards an awaiting plane.  If that happens, I'm hoping the Feds are waiting for him.  In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if he has several waiting in different locations.  He'll be in Mar a Lago, however, and that does limit his access to air travel somewhat.  

On a side note, as of yesterday afternoon over 350,000 subscribers had cancelled their subscriptions to the Washington Post.  Jeff Bezos condescending letter evidently failed miserably.  The time has come to make billionaires accountable.

Plumbing the Issue

 Well, it's Saturday which means it's a workday.  Will it be busy?  I've no idea.  What college football games are on TV this afternoon.  If Penn State is playing business will be off since this is Penn State country.  Also, we'll have the weather to contend with: rain.  That's right, it's raining again.  Temps are supposed to go from moderate to chilly as autumn continues to creep into the picture.  This week's high are predicted to be in the mid 60s (F) and next week's in the mid 50s (F).  Of course, who knows what's actually going to happen with the temperatures since we're coming off of the hottest summer on record.  

The plumbing in the kitchen renovation is fine... except for the cold water tap.  Down in the basement, those Pex pipes and Sharkbite connecters are busy drip, drip, dripping away.  The hot water's fine, and so's the drainage, it's just the cold water where there's a bit of a leakish problem.  Biting the bullet, yesterday I called Bowman Plumbing and a nice young man drove here to give me an estimate.  I pointed to the dishwasher and told him he might want to add that installation into the quote.  A few minutes later he handed me the quote.  I smiled, and nodded kindly, saying "that's nice," to be polite.  The cost for installing the dishwasher alone was $652.  I pointed to it, saying "that's awful pricy," and he said, "well, there may be issues," so I told him I have a friend who can do it for free.  With the dishwasher charge removed, the cost was still $1250.  I told him I'd think about it.  I want to have a small section of pipe fixed, not to have most of the copper piping replaced.  I feel bad that there are people out there who would have simply said "Okay," knowing that price might be creating a financial burden for them.  Don't put yourself in debt because the plumber or electrician you call will charge you as much as possible because they know most people will simply hand their credit card to cover the expense.

Here's an updated kitchen pic taken before they added the trim around the window.  That's a sample of the marble countertop sitting there on the temp countertop.

And, of course, the Republican shit show continues in the House.  First they were going to have an informal thing on Fox TV, I guess sort of a Meet and Greet the Fascists, and then they weren't.  They've been forewarned that putting someone farther to the Right (notice I'm not saying Conservative) into the position will get them nothing.  Will they listen? Gimme a break.  We're talking about Republicans here.  A majority of Americans are not buying their pseudo- authoritarian, wannabe regime oriented politics.  Ouch.  Let's be honest here, has that ever stopped them before?

Kitchen

 Yesterday was warm, the temps climbing to 86 (F), heating the house to point where the Central Air kicked in.  That's okay.  It was only for a few hours.  This early into autumn, I can live with that.  Rain is in the forecast for tomorrow bringing cooler temps to the area; highs in the upper 50s (F) are expected.  Time to break out sweat shirts and pants and pack away the shorts and Ts.  

My new neighbors are not happy with their house.  The first time I met her she talked about the new appliances, so I think for her and her husband that was the main selling point.  Do Not Buy a house simply because it has new appliances.  Now her complaint concerns the lack of wall outlets.  "Only 2 in the living room," she's griped about every time I've talked to her.  She also voiced her opinion that they weren't told about things like that, and I thought she should have realized that was her responsibility.  When most people buy a house, they walk through the rooms and picture where their furniture is going to be, so if they decide their TV is going to be on one wall they usually check to make sure there's an outlet.  They are going through what may be a very expensive learning experience.

And the kitchen is proceeding nicely.  All the cupboards and cabinets are in place, all the drywall has been hung and every hole covered.  Late yesterday afternoon I installed the drain pipes and this afternoon I will install the fixtures.  Tomorrow?  Probably the dishwasher.  Once that's done, I can begin painting.  There's some tile work I need to do around the stove.  And, of course, there's the floor; that will make these creaking bones ache.

The disarray and chaos in the House of Representatives continues.  Republicans are upset that they forced McCarthy to add a rule which allowed one sole congressman to have him fired.  Sorry, bobo brains, you are the ones who voted for that rule and no one was holding a gun to the head of their first born.  A number of them are saying that they'd like to expel Matty Gaetz, but we know that's not going to happen, that would cost them a vote.  Remember, these people are Republicans, for them it's not about corruption, it's about being in charge.  They accept any evil as long as it gives them the power they crave.

"Winging it"

 So, I'm writing this entry from the writing laptop down on the desk, rather than the gaming PC.  The weather outside is nice, temps are supposed to climb into the upper 80's today.  We have a 2% chance of rain.  This is a good thing because the drywall for my kitchen renovation is outside.  I really didn't want it taking up space anywhere inside; 4 x 8 foot sheets take up a lot of space.

Demolition is supposed to take place this morning.  I make that sound as though it's going to be a major even.  In reality, the current kitchen cabinet is going to be ripped out.  Drywall is going to be screwed onto the wall behind it, and the new cabinets (including the space for the dishwasher) are going to be installed.  The sink cabinet is a priority, so I can do the plumbing for the new sink.  The dishwasher installation is probably not going to happen until next week, after everything else has been completed.  The flooring installation will be the last thing I do.  I haven't even ordered it yet.

I did take a picture of the pipes beneath the current sink after I'd cut them last evening.  

So, what will I be doing while the contractors are hard at work?  Sitting at my desk working on The Body in Motion.  

Of course, Kev McCarthy got fired yesterday by his party.  Anybody who didn't know this was going to happen when he was elected Speaker of the House is way too naive; this was predictable, except for the obtuse.  The chaos that has ensued is amazing, and adding to this, the Republicans have decided to take the rest of the week off.  That's right, they need to take a break to... try and focus?  Perhaps.  They don't seem to have a plan, so I guess this means they'll be "winging it" until 2024, when a number of them will be voted out of office.  

I did have to laugh at how many Republicans were blaming the Democrats for not saving McCarthy's ass, this was after McCarthy was corrected on CNN on Saturday when he claimed that Democrats had not helped in passing the stop gap measure to keep the government from shutting down.  Like most Republicans, he lied, it was every Democrat voting for that piece of legislation which got it passed.  Maybe if Republicans just stopped lying, instead of being in constant attack mode.  Of course, they've been in attack mode for so long, I doubt if they know who to do anything else.

Grumpy Trumpy

 So, when my alarm clock went off this morning, I shut it off and went back to sleep, until 0700.  That's so late for me?  Of course, I woke up at 0238 and began researching plumbing / drainage on my computer.  After finding out what I wanted to know, I climbed back in bed.  This is what happens when you do the plumbing yourself.

The weather yesterday was nice, with the temps climbing up into the mid 80s (F), of course, people being people, I did hear from several customers that it was sooo hot outside.  A month ago they'd have been calling it a wonderful day, but the instant we rolled into October 80 (F) and above became too hot.  Today's temps are going to be a repeat of yesterdays, with tomorrow being slightly cooler.  I'm fine with that.  My Central Air is off for the year and the ceiling fan in the bedroom works fine.

My new neighbors moved in yesterday.  The real estate agent I talked to was wrong when she told me they were a young couple just starting out, that is unless by young she meant early 40s.  The couple I saw a few months back with the 2 teenage kids?  They're the ones who bought the house.  They were real chatty.  Seemed nice from the first impression.  So far they've been quiet.  My parents moved when I was a teenager in order to upgrade houses and I can tell you, having to make new friends while going through puberty is not the best thing to force upon an adolescent.

And, of course, I had to save this picture from yesterday:  Grumpy Trumpy!

I remember "nay-sayers" whining that this was never going to happen.  Impatience is not a virtue.  From my understanding, the Orange Anus is even more grumpier than usual because his legal team, for some reason known only to them, chose not to have a jury decide guilt.  Perhaps they gambled on getting a lenient judge, or perhaps Grumpy told them that no sitting judge would ever convict an ex-president.  Either way, his organization was found guilty and now he has to sit through the penalty phase.  From what I've been reading, appeals are useless during this phase.  The Trump organization is going to be dismantled.  Stop cheering!  This is just the beginning.

And that dumb ass Matty Gaetz began the process to oust Kev McCarthy.  People are wondering if the Democrats are going to step in and save his ass.  Nope.  The demands they will ask in order to get them to save Kev will be too great for any Republican to bear, so they will let this Republican shit show continue.  Believe me, very shortly, the GOP is going to be screaming three-ring circus!

Plumb This

October has arrived.

Sunday has arrived!  The temps are supposed to climb up into the lower 80s (F).  I don't doubt there will be those out there calling it the beginning of Indian summer.  Wrong.  Indian summer happens after the first frost, which is when the temps drop down to around freezing, 32 (F).  That's probably not going to happen for at least a month... if it happens then.  Climate change, you know?  If this year is similar to the last 2 we're going to have a bit of a deep freeze in mid-to late December, possibly another 2 weeks of really cold temps in January, but the rest of the winter will be mild, at least for Central PA.

For those who don't know, today is Homemade Cookie Day.  Guess who is not going to be making any cookies?  I did completely debox the dishwasher this morning, and it looks as though I might be doing that install myself.  Yippee!  And it also looks as though I'll be doing the plumbing for the sink, as well.  I figure, if it can save me $400 why not.  I have done plumbing before.  I also have a somewhat Ace in the Hole, as Jon, the PT who's giving me PT advice on The Body in Motion, is also a plumbing specialist.  I guess I'll find out just how good he is.  At his suggestion, I've already bought some supplies.

And, as you all know, Congress avoided the dreaded shutdown again.  This was after Mitch McConnell said the Senate Republicans would not vote for the 45 day extension.  What is telling is that in the House of Representatives, Republicans voted with the Democrats to move this piece of legislation forward.  90 Republicans voted against it, including Green and Gaetz, voted against it.  When push came to shove, Centrist Republicans pushed back against the shoving crazies.  Their party is in disarray.  Chaos reigns.  Will these hardliners learn their lesson?  Nope.  These are the diehards of the "just say no," party, the ones who so desperately want to say "shut up! we're in charge."  Their end is nigh, brought on by the Spawn of Satan, Donald Trump.

Needing Special Forces

 Thursday.  Fixed workday.  The temps are barely supposed to hit 70 (F).  The skies are overcast and there is a 25% chance of rain.  

I was supposed to go see Downton Abbey last evening but cancelled.  I was not in the mood to sit through 2 hours of costume drama silliness.  Instead, I ate ice cream (lots of ice cream) and played Elden Ring.   For those interested, the little white Speedo is gone; I'm now wearing brightly colored clothing.

Mike (the plumber) came back yesterday morning are replaced the old, cracked cast iron piping with brand, new PVC.  It took him about 3 hours.  He was not talkative.  I spent most of the time outside with the dogs, who were very excited someone was working in the basement.  Now and then, I'd take them in.  They were very good: laid on the floor waiting to hear his feet climbing the stairs.  He seemed fine with them.

I'm not a big one for having strangers in the house and even though he'd been here on Tuesday to do an assessment, I was pleased when his work was complete, and he finally packed up his gear and headed out to his truck.  For those interested, here's a picture of what $1700 of new PVC piping looks like:

And of course, the country is still reeling from the Tragedy in Texas. For those who missed it, Beto O'Rourke challenged Governor Abbott of Texas in a press conference.  Beto challenged him, saying he was doing nothing.  Republicans were not happy.

Abbott is scheduled to speak at an NRA convention in Dallas on Friday.  When asked about his scheduled appearance last evening, Abbott refused to answer.

Mitt Romney is under fire for his standardized 'those families are in our prayers,' comment.  People began noting that over the years he has received approximately $13 million in donations from the NRA.

The security at Robb Elementary was top notch, and the shooter still managed to gain entrance.  There was at least one-armed officer he managed to get past.  The shooter shot and injured 17 other people, including police officers because he was using an AR-15, something they were not prepared for, and it took a special force team to actually stop him.  Think about that.  A special force team.  This was an 18 year old who just recently purchased 2 AR-15s.  Needing a special force, armed border patrol team to take him out says a lot about the problems of letting 18 year old kids buy automatic rifles.

Bullshit

 For some reason, I thought today was Thursday, and went into see if my schedule had been updated.  I was wrong.  We're only into Wednesday.  The updating will come sometime this afternoon.

Yesterday was a no-go as far as everything that had been expected.  Mike (the Plumber) showed up but had to take his truck in to get inspected.  He took pictures, and a video of the bad pipe, and gave me a quote.  Very high $$$, but I'm going with it.  This is the same reputable company I've been dealing with for some time, and I can afford it, however the truck inspection took longer than expected, so he'll be back this morning.

I did drive over to World Class Ski and Cycle to pick up the check for selling my X6 Cannondale.  The first check they'd sent me got lost in De Loy's screwed up postal service.  And then, of course, 19 days after the first check was mailed, the carrier dropped off the first check last evening.  A black sharpie had been used to scratch off the first delivery bar codes on the envelope, indicating the check had been delivered to the wrong address and that person had returned it to the Enola post office, which sent it back to the Camp Hill post office so it could be processed a 2nd time.  The bicycle shop put a stop payment on the first check and issued a 2nd.  This is almost the height of postal incompetence.

My roses are beginning to come in.

There was a terrible tragedy down in Texas yesterday.  Many children were shot to death.  Chris Murphy, the Democratic senator from Connecticut has said enough of the bullshit!  He is right on the money.  President Biden said, "we need to stand up to the gun lobby."  He is off.  It is not the gun lobby, rather it is the Republican party that needs to change.  They won't.  Any form of gun control would cause them to lose the votes of 2nd amendment assholes.  Lose votes?  Conservatives are so craven for power they will accept any form of gun violence.  They do claim to pray a lot, but I suspect those prayers are mostly hoping that the majority doesn't finally turn against them.  As expected, Ken Paxton, the corrupt Attorney General from Texas, and Ted (I would rather be in Cancun) Cruz suggested putting armed officers in schools.  I will tell you that from the deepest part of my heart, I do not believe our founding fathers envisioned the need to have armed officers in schools when they added the 2nd amendment to the Constitution.  Anyone who believes that is full of bullshit.

Cracked

 The first day off of my mid-week weekend and the weather is cool and overcast.  We'll be lucky if the high hits 70 (F) today.  

Usually, I begin my weekends playing the part of the Laundry King.  Not today.  Hey, I haven't even sorted the whites from the colors, and the towels are still hanging on the rack.  Am I changing up my routine?  Nah.  I have a plumber (expensive) scheduled for this morning.  You see, I have a crack in my pipe.  Now, I know that sounds bad, and it will be if the pipe breaks, but that's not likely to happen.  There are still a few, small sections of caste iron pipe still remaining in the house.  This section, which is about 5 feet long, is attached to the PVC drainage piping put in decades ago.  Water from the bathroom, kitchen, and washer drains through this pipe.  Today the pipe is getting replaced, and I'm not kidding myself, it will come with a hefty price.

My peaches are the size of walnuts already:

An interesting turn of events is happening in the Pennsylvania GOP primary.  Dave McCormick, who is losing to Oz, the seemingly impotent, by less than 1000 votes is suing to have mail-in ballots counted.  What makes this so very interesting, is that McCormick is one of those candidates who has been pushing the The Big Lie.  Yep!  He's hoping those voters who mailed in their ballots will now save his phony political ass.  At issue are those ballots which don't have a hand-written date on the back of the envelope.  That little bug-a-boo kept ballots from being counted during the 2020 presidential election.  Ouch!  Isn't it funny ho0w that endorsement from the Orange Anus didn't automatically Oz, the impotent, directly into the winners circle.  Mail-in ballots?  Who'd have thunk?

And it appears that an endorsement from Trump isn't nearly what it's cracked up to be.  Take Georgia, in which David Perdue is expected to lose badly.  Now, let me be perfectly clear, there is no way I want to see George go red again, but having the opportunity to watch the Orange Anus and his endorsement basically used as shit paper by Brian Kemp is... somewhat pleasing.  It's kind of like watching him stick the pointy end of the ice cream cone into his eye repeatedly.