Moody's Ruling

 At present, out outside temp is 66 (F) and we have some seriously overcast skies.  Things are predicted to clear up for this afternoon, but I work.  Our forecast for the next 3 days is for partially sunny skies and some what warm.  Yesterday our temps climbed up into the 80s (F), and we had severe thunderstorms, at least as far as the torrential rains, no winds, but my oh my did we get the rain.  Inches fell.  So much, we were placed under a flash flood warning.  

On the plus side, I got yardwork done before the storms hit.  The backyard was weed wacked, I got the trellis hung for my grape vine along the front fence.  There were a lot of young spotted lantern flies, and since I didn't have a pesticide, I sprayed them with a Clorox cleaning product.  That probably wasn't too good for the vine, but most of the bugs are gone.  I will have to pick up a pesticide from work when I leave this afternoon.  

And, since prices are going to go up (and don't think for a moment that they're going to be coming down) I ordered myself a new color laser jet printer from Staples.  I've been using an Epson super tank for the past 4 years, but for the past 8 or 9 months there have been printer head issues.  The life expectancy for an Epson laser jet is 3 - 5 years, and it was worked hard.  It was expensive, but is way past the warranty date and it didn't seem worth the expense to have it fixed.  The new one is an HP and is less expensive and has the same life expectancy.

Here's a pic of one of my yellow Itoh peonies.

I see that Moody's has downgraded our credit rating from AAA to AA1 because of our accumulating debt.  Excuse me... but where is all the month DOGE is saving?  Shouldn't that be driving down our debt?  Oh, wait, maybe all of those savings are being spent to buy Kristi, AKA Ice Barbie, Noem a new $50 million dollar jet to make it easier for her to fly from Cosplay event to Cosplay event.  Or perhaps all those savings are covering the golfing trips to Mar a Lago.  Orangie seems to enjoy throwing ass-kissing parties for corporate executives where they may pledge to spend millions of dollars, but it is we, the taxpayers, who are paying for all of those Big Macs and Diet Cokes.  

In reality, what this downgrade does is make it more difficult for Republican lawmakers to borrow money to pay for Orangie's tax break to himself.  It also puts us one step closer to bankruptcy.  Wowza.

And, finally, Orangie is furious with the Supreme Court.  Except for the two fascists, Alito and Thomas, the Court is keeping on hold Orangie's deportment problem.  They should have realized he was going to pimp that immunity ruling from here to hell and back.

In praise of Episodic TV, and other things.

Wednesday!  That's for those who don't have a calendar.  I have one hanging on the wall next to my desk.

Yesterday the temps here hit 95 (F).  We usually get that hot in July, and at times even hotter.  Thanks to all of the rain everything is lush and green.  For those who don't know, green is one of my favorite colors.  I spent a lot of time outside in the heat, mowing the lawn, spraying the hell out of those little bugs I talked about yesterday, and yes, they are spotted lantern fly nymphs.  Rather than go the insecticide route, I went au Naturale, and no, that doesn't mean I was running around naked.  Vinegar kills lantern fly nymphs.  Vinegar is fine, though there was a bit of a back breeze now and then so when I finely came back into the house, I smelt a bit like a fresh garden salad. 

I watched episode 4 of Star Trek, Strange New Worlds last evening.  That show is damn good.  I understand it's a hit, probably because it's episodic. Part of the problem with a series that is dependent upon a story arc is that everything needs to relate.  Minor characters may have mini arcs, but they are never prioritized and too often come across as simple filler to cover a 50-minute time slot.  Being episodic, this show lets writers bang out individualized scripts that do not need to depend upon continuity.  

  I also watched the first 2 episodes of the Obi-Wan series on Disney.  That show is okay.  Where The Mandalorian and a baby Yoda, this series has a little Leia.  In a few weeks, after a few more episodes have aired, I'll probably buy a bottle of wine and catch up.

Knowing that my roses are on the verge of dropping their petals, I snapped a pic to brighten the day.

I saw this article in The Hill yesterday and thought, this is something the Republican party never expected.  You know some of them are scratching their heads wondering how abortion rights and gun control could affect the midterm elections.  You have to remember, for Republicans it is all about the money.  They truly believe that a majority of Americans are more concerned about how thick their wallet is rather than children being slaughtered.  In their minds, women should have no problem being considered vessels, or baby banks, or whatever term they feel is appropriate.  For Republicans, it is now, and will always be about the money.  They will never work to help fix the problem if they see the problem as the means of putting themselves back in power.  Why investigate price gouging by Big Oil when it can help them in the midterms?  Baby formula shortage?  They see that as an asset even if newborns need to suffer.  Financially hurting families is a good thing if it leads to their being able to say, "Shut up, we're in charge."   Their economic ineptitude is the reason we have these problems.  So, the idea that Americans might vote for something other than the economy is downright alien to the GOP.  Will they learn from the midterms?  Absolutely not.  They are just like the moral degenerate the venerated and so will lie and cheat rather than attempt to understand failure.

The 2nd amendment

 So, the Memorial Day weekend is over.  Our garden department was busy.  That didn't mean we didn't have customers in the flooring department.  Surprisingly, I can't remember a single person asking me "what's on sale?"  2 of my installs sold.  That puts me at my sales goal for the week.   There was a cookout for the associates, I had a burger and a hot dog, some macaroni salad (I love pasta dishes), and ended up with terrible indigestion.   I do believe my grazing days are coming to an end.  That's fine.

I'm not scheduled to work for the next 4 days.  Plans are in the works.  Nothing extravagant.  I want to drive down to That Fish Place to get some snails and plants for the new tank.  The snails will help with the algae problem.  I'd like to get away from scraping down the sides every 3 days.

There are Spotted Lantern fly nymphs on my roses.  Not a good thing.  An unwelcome pest from South Korea, these pests are tree killers.  I'm going to try the non-pesticide route.  I will let you know if my concoction works.  

You know how the gun nuts run around shrieking a shortened variation of the last 14 words of the 2nd amendment, "the right to bear arms?"  Well, I do believe the time has come to begin shoving the first half of the amendment down their throats.  The time for cherry picking the definition they desperately want needs to end now.  For those who've never read the 2nd amendment, and a large majority of Americans haven't, the first half talks about a well-regulated militia.  However, the well-regulated bit hands the gun lovers a plate of shit, so they always ignore that.  Here is what the 2nd amendment to the Constitution says: