We're having a trade war

Wasn't yesterday simply fantabulous!  (Herald in the cynicism).  The temp here in Central PA hit either 95 (F) or 97 (F) depending upon which weather app you were using.  My Central Air?  Never stopped.  When the mercury gets that high, Big Seig goes into instant lay down if he's outside.
The Idiot Jerk doubled down on his policy of separating children from their parents yesterday.  In case you didn't know, this guy really.... really hates Latinos.  Like most racist Republicans, he sees them as the greatest threat to white America.   He's a 72 year old scumbag who will never understand.   He, and the party he rules, are running head first down the path of extinction.  This is what happens when you fail to evolve.
Oh, and he's pissed about China.  You would think he'd  be happy after they gave he and Ivanka all of those trademarks.  No way.  This is what his art of the deal really looks like.  He is treating all of our trading partners as if they were contractors working on one of his failed projects, like the Trump Casino.  His organization filed for bankruptcy for that mistake.  He told his base he was just being smart.  Many suffered just so he could get out of his debt.  Asswipe.  I'm surprised he hasn't had Mnuchin dress up like Carmen Miranda and dance around singing "we're having a trade war, a dirty old trade war."

 And remember how he praised Brexit?  That's another shit storm preparing to blow up.
In case anybody is wondering, I did get a lot done yesterday.  No ride on the bike, that happens this afternoon, hopefully another hour.
My P90X dvds are now in the trash; part of my 'get rid of the junk' plan.  For the most part they were a well marketed, but useless extreme workout regime.  Exercises and a diet to make you look great.

The routine became very trendy.  My friend Brandon followed it to a 'T' and looked freaking awesome.  I tried it, but after about 2 weeks realized I was never going to be able to revolve my life around P90X, which is what everything boiled down to in the end.  There were more important things than P90X forever.  Oh, and my friend Brandon?  He boxed up the plan after about 6 months. 

Zero Tolerance Catastrophe

Monday, and the forecast is for the day to be a real stinker, hot and humid, which is why I'll do some outside chores, but mostly stay inside.  Tomorrow is supposed to be a bit cooler.
I rode 46 miles on the bike last week, plus got a workout in, which was pretty good.  Yesterday I rode for an hour - total 15.8 miles.  I was going to take the Synapse out on the road, but changed my mind.  I'm going to switch the pedals for the first time.  Yes, I have 2 sets of pedals.  One set is for the shoes, the other is for mountain biking.  Mountain bike pedals let you wear either specialized shoes or regular shoes.  The first time I take this expensive bike out, I'll be wearing my running sneakers.  Just a precaution.  I"m too old to go around crashing bikes.

mountain bike pedals

And what about that immigration shit storm hitting the fans in Washington?  How many ways can you spell failure?  We know the Idiot Jerk spells it:  Zero Tolerance.  Someone should have told him separating children from their parents is a dead end bargaining chip.  While his base loves this tactic, but then his base is filled with racists.  A majority of Americans find the program itself as intolerable.  They sent Jeffy Sessions out to mollify the Evangelicals with a Bible verse... and a majority of Americans said "What in hell are you talking about?  These are children!"  Yesterday some turd without a brain released a statement from Melanoma which essentially said, "it's bad, but we need to follow the law."  Like this cheap deal from The Bride Store is going to have zero impact.  Her idea of parenting is defined by nannies and tutors.  Every passing second makes the Idiot Jerk, and his base, look more and more inhumane.  But then he's never really been a people person, has he?

Should we have expected anything else from this failed sack of shit?  Will he cave?  Eventually, but not before he does a hell of a lot more damage.  As I've said before, we are watching the Republican Party die.  The sooner they are dead and buried, the better this country will be.

Silly moments

Father's Day 2018.  Everybody's talking about their Fathers.  Mine was a really nice guy.  He died 14 years ago from lung cancer.  He was diagnosed on my sister's birthday - how's that for a present?  The next 8 months were completely surreal. 
He had worked at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Lebanon, Pa, starting off as an X-Ray Tech, working his way up the ladder until he eventually managed the department.  He got me my first job, as a dark room attendant, back when they used actual film for X-Rays.  I was not the athletic son he'd hoped for though I did like watching baseball.  We were both big Philly Phans for a number of years, making the 2.5 hour drive 3 or 4 times a season to watch them play.
One thing my Dad like was going to the movies.  He and I went quite often.  Every 5 or 6 weeks we'd go and always to action movies.  These were good times.  There's a jolting moment in "The Bourne Identity" when a villain crashes through a frosted windows.  We both jumped.  I said something like "Holy Fucking Shit," and he laughed.  Silly little moment, I know, but life is filled with silly little moments.
He and my Mom chose to go with Home Hospice.  On December 12, 5 days after their anniversary she called me at work.  He chose to be cremated.  I can clearly remember sitting in the living room with my sister, my brother, and what seemed to be 500 other relatives, friends and neighbors when my Mom called out to me.  "David, is it okay if we put Daddy in this?"  Walking into the kitchen, she had moved a cookie jar onto the table, a present I'd given them a long time ago.  I shrugged, "sure."  So my Dad's ashes are nestled in a yellow, kitty cat cookie jar.  There's a blue butterfly on the kitty cat's nose. 

something like this

Real silly moment.

People are sitting up

Well, it's Saturday.  As an interruption to my vacation, I'm scheduled to work.  While I had considered taking the day as a personal day, I'm going to go work.  Not so much because I love working, but rather I don't want to lose a personal day.  Some don't understand that.  Personal days are a nice cushion just in case some important crops up and you really do need to take a couple of days off.  We can do that, you see.  We don't have sick days, we have personal days.  You don't need to be sick to call in and take the day off.
About 44 odd years ago, I picked up two wooden wall carvings in the Philippines.  For years they hung in the alcove where the window seat used to be.  When I repainted the dining room, they were replaced; moved to another wall.  However they were dated, as they say.  So yesterday I gave them a new finish, copper, which actually works better with the new wall color.

That's an eggshell sheen on the walls, by the way.  Eggshell is considered a warming sheen in that color and light will fan out rather than shine back.
And wasn't there a shit show at the White House yesterday.  In fact, the past 2 days have not been too good for the Idiot Jerk and his minions, what with Sessions citing the same Bible verse the Southern Baptists used for justifying slavery, and the immigration issue growing like some unstoppable turd.  And what about Kim Jon Dumb being a "strong leader" who had to make some "tough decisions."  The Idiot Jerk said the same thing about Saddam Hussein.  And Muammar Gaddafi.  These were strong leaders who had to make some difficult choices... and lots of people died.  Now the White House is saying the Idiot Jerk's commenting on how "people sit up" when Kim speaks was a joke.  Actually the real joke was when the Idiot Jerk talked about Americans ans though he owned them.  You know?  "I want my people to do the same?"  Well, people are sitting up alright, but not in the way the Idiot Jerk wanted.  Someone needs to tell this fool that the only people he owns are the ones who have sold him their souls.  The sooner this guy gets removed from office, the better things will be for all Americans.
On a lighter note, I've ridden 30.8 miles so far this week.  My legs were a bit cranky last night.  I want to take the bike out on the road early tomorrow morning.     

My Special Nut

Well, it's Friday and the 5th day of my vacation and I... slept in... until 0630.  Yesterday was busy.  Lots of accomplishments:  weight training in the AM, 11 + mile ride in the afternoon, lawn got mowed, grass around shrubs was trimmed, and one of my wisteria vines was cut down almost to the ground.  The one in front of the house was spared because of.... a bird's nest, with 3 little blue eggs.  Hopefully today will be just as fulfilling.
One of the things done yesterday that I'd been planning to do for some time was to put a coat of Helmsman on my special nut.  Now, I don't know about you, but I have a nut which is really dear to my heart. You see, a long, long time ago, in a state far, far away, I was born.  Florida.  My dad's parents were delighted.  I was their first male grandchild.  I would carry their genes forward... oops.  Anyway, because they could afford to do so, and because they wanted to see their true heir, they took vacation and drove all the way down to the land of Florida to meet me.  I don't remember any of this, now, so am forced to go on physical evidence alone.  But one day my grandmother picked up a coconut on the beach, sometime in mid-December, 1952.  She packed it into their car and brought that nut back to Pennsylvania.  And I still have it.  My Special Nut is going to be 66 years old this fall.  Amazing, the things we pick up in life.

And wasn't yesterday a shit storm for the Idiot Jerk in the White House.  New York is suing to close the family Foundation - turns out the most favored charity on it's books is DDI (Donald, Donny Jr, and Ivanka).  Of course he freaked out.

There was also the video of the Idiot Jerk saluting a North Korean Major General (or whatever he's called).  The video I saw included a North Korean announcer shrieking his excitement in a brittle falsetto.

Oh, and the Idiot Jerk said that Kim had to do all of those brutal executions because he needed to be a strong leader and.... what the fuck?  That's right.  The Idiot Jerk said 'Kim's a tough guy, but he needed to be tough."  Translation:  if the Idiot Jerk ever gets the chance, he will start executing.  

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to find a special place to put my special nut, a place where anybody and everybody can see it.

Gullibility

Thursday, the 4th day of my vacation, and I've finally managed to settle into some sort of routine.  The weather helps.  Yesterday AM was drizzly and cool.  The sun did break through until much later in the afternoon.
I went to my neighborhood Giant yesterday.  When I got home I discovered that someone who was Biggie enough had pulled the butter dish from the counter and licked that sucker clean.  Now, I wonder who that was?
And I only rode for a little over 8 miles yesterday - I stopped when the music stopped.  My ear buds weren't charged and lost the Bluetooth connection.  When riding on the road, you need to keep focused.  Music is essential, however, when riding on a trainer.
Today is nice and sunny.  This means I'm going to get so much more accomplished.  Already my writing table downstairs has been re-organized. At present I'm working through an upper body free weight routine.  My ear buds are charged so this afternoon I'll get another ride in.
And then there are the foolish Americans.  I'm a member for a group called the Tonkin Gulf  Yacht Club on Facebook which is for Navy Personnel who were in Vietnam.  Some foolish old Sailor actually wrote "now that the [Idiot Jerk] has negotiated peace with North Korea, we can bring our troops home."  There is no fool like an old fool... and the Idiot Jerk has a lot of supporters who happen to be fools.  Has gullibility ever been so strong in this country?  They see the stock market and say, "my isn't the economy doing great."  They look at their 401k's and shout "isn't this great!" without understanding both the stock market, and their 401k, can drop in a matter of hours.  Unemployment has dropped, but hire rates have stayed the same.  Pay increases are still piddly.  The gullible don't see this.  They are too blinded by the Idiot Jerk and his propaganda fireworks.
Economically speaking, this country will soon be in the place we were 12 years ago.  Dodd-Frank will be obliterated by greedy Republicans who never learn.  They always find it easier to point the finger at someone else.  And, of course, the Idiot Jerk is cheering them on.  And gullible Americans will believe the illusion.
Anyway, since it's nice and sunny, and warm, I'm going to push my lawn mower back and forth across my lawn.  I have some wisteria which will be cut back as far as I can cut it.  If tomorrow is as nice as today, I'll take the dogs up to the park in the early morning.  They love that!

This is from a walk last year

Ho Ho Ho and beyond

Well, here it is Wednesday which is sort of my hump day since I work on Saturday.  Of course, I'm off then until next Wednesday.  The temptation is there to all off on Saturday.  I'm hoping I'll be strong.... hoping.
I've been pondering the idea of stepping down from my Specialist position.  Right now sales goals are set.  I need to sell so many $'s to meet my goal.  Some weeks I surpass my goal, others I don't.  There's very little praise when I do but always a 'friendly' conversation when that goal isn't reached.
E3 is over.  Bethesda announced some really good games, but their Fallout 76, an online MMO failed to excite me.  There's no offline, single player mode.  This means every 'human' character you see will be another person playing the game.  Sometimes these players can be fun, but then they can also be 12 year old asswipes.
Ubisoft has a new Assassin's Creed coming out.  Odyssey, like in Homer's Odyssey.  And it takes place in the Greek Peloponnese during Greece's Golden Age.  You get to play as a Spartan, either male or female.  This is now a full blown RPG which includes crafting... and romance... with either gender.  One commentator said this is similar to the Role Playing Games Bioware put out before they were bought by Electronic Arts.  As you might guess, I've already pre-ordered.

And speaking politically, I got a real chuckle this AM while perusing Bloomberg.  There was a lengthy article about how the real winner from the meeting of the Idiot Jerk and Kim Sum Dumb was... China.  Didn't I already say that?  Oh, and there was another article about the North Korean propaganda machine and the version they are putting out.  Evidently, the Idiot Jerk sat down with Kim Sum Dumb because North Korea is now equal in its nuclear capabilities to the United States.   So tell me, do you really thing they're going to give up their nuclear weapons?  Make themselves weaker than the US?  This whole thing is going beyond Ho Ho Ho, and not in a good way.
As for me, now I'm looking forward to running around Greece looking like Alexios.

Now, how's that for a Ho Ho Ho?