Horrific Blunder

 Saturday, the shortest day of the year is here.  It's still dark outside, and the temp is around 32 (F), that 0 for those of you, which is the rest of the world, using Celsius.  Tomorrow it is supposed to be a tad colder, but not much, and then the warm-up begins.  Our temps are expected to zoom back up into the mid 40s (F).  Now, won't that be nice.

Yesterday was.. well... I ate a frozen pizza, so I'd guess you have to say it was one of those days. I also managed to get a number of other things accomplished, including cleaning the tank in the living room.  While I didn't dehydrate anything, I did buy cilantro that I'll pop into the dehydrator while I'm at work.

Last evening, after I told her about my dehydrating food stuffs and buying bulk quantities of rice, she said "you really are taking this seriously."  Well, of course I am.  It never hurts to be prepared.  The food isn't going to go bad anytime soon, so I can eat it anytime, even if prices don't go through the roof.

I'm also spent a bit of time working on the final draft of The Body in History.  I did some changes to chapter one, read through the changes, and then changed them back to the original version.  The arrival at Delphi needed to be changed because I'd written before actually being in Delphi, and Delphi is different from other cities.

Of course, extending the budget has been in the news a lot, and because of it, America has realized that Elon Musk own the Orange Anus.  Supposedly this hasn't been photoshopped, however.... let's be honest, we all know that Elon Musk has a big head, but I doubt very much if it's this big.  

Musk's biggest problem is that he expects everyone else to bow down in front of him.  As I said, he wants to be Emperor of the World.  What he needs more than anything else is to have his ass taxed to the max.  When you read that he, and Bezos had dinner with Trump you need to understand that Orangey is only the tool they believe will help them leverage their power in the United States.  Trump has command of the military, something neither of them have.  This is why he wants to put Hegseth in charge of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines. Hegseth is the nut job they need.  And if you're concerned that I left out Zuck, don't be, he's as much a part of this as the other billionaires Orangey wants installed in his cabinet.  The only way this will work, however, is if Americans stay complacent as the Billionaires Club starts stripping them of their rights. Being rich doesn't keep them from being stupid.  The arrogance of their own wealth has taken them so far from reality, they can not conceive of the horrific blunder they are stumbling towards.  

Oddly Impressive

 Here it is, Friday, the temps are below freezing and forecasters are calling for snow.  Not a lot.  Maybe an inch?  I would like maybe three or four inches so he could have fun running around and discover snow fun, though I doubt that will happen.  After this weekend, long range forecasts are calling for temps to warm up, and rain is in the forecast, not snow.

And I did work yesterday.  Jon, the PT who's been giving me advice for the PT aspects of Max's character in the books is back from his unpaid internship.  I was surprised that he had to pay for 4 months of training.  You'd think he'd at least get a stipend, but nope, his diagnosis and labor was free.  I think that's sucks.  He's looking forward to meeting Howie.  

I did sell some blinds to one of my customers and I sold a flooring measure.  My supervisors stopped by and told me that the store was really hurting on leads and signing people up for credit cards.  As just about everyone in the known universe knows, if a customer brings up the credit card application, I will sign them up, otherwise I'm silent.  As for getting a lead on an installation?  This is not the season for leads.  No one wants to deal with construction in the winter.  Besides, I do believe many people are growing leery about making large ticket purchases with the Elonia Musk, and his puppet, the Orange Anus, taking control of the country in 3 weeks.

And, speaking of Elonia and Orangey, I think this is appropriate.

Of course, the incompetent Republican party is going to shut down the government 5 days before Christmas because Elonia Musk didn't like the budget.  You have to remember, Elonia was born wealthy, and raised wealthy, and as such has no concept of a reality other than that of a spoiled twelve-year-old child who doesn't need to stamp his foot to get what he wants.  No Democrats voted for Plan B, and now Plan C is in the work.  Part of the problem is that Republicans hold the most miniscule of majorities in the house and so believe they can exclude Democrats budget creation process.  Another big problem is that Elonia and his broken marionette of man Orangey, want the Debt Ceiling gone in order for them to give themselves another big tax break. And, as Chip Roy, a Right Wing Extremist, railed against it yesterday shouting loudly that doing so was going to add another $5 trillion to the deficit in 2 years.  

And there was a bit of humor yesterday.  Just about everybody, except Republicans, new this new administration was going to be a shit show, however, as Rachel Vindman put it, "to have it start so early is oddly impressive."

The Donny and Elonia Show

 It's Thursday.  Outside temps are in the mid 30s (F), and they're predicted to rise in to the lower to mid 40s (F).  Tomorrow night they're calling for snow.   Not much, a bit, possibly half an inch.  A little more than we had last time.  Some people are all excited.  Honestly, it doesn't phase me one way or the other.  I don't mind shoveling snow, for those of you who don't know, snow Nature's way of giving us all free cardio!

Yesterday was a fairly good day.  I moved onto the second Greek lesson while I putting in almost 2 miles on the treadmill.  Since this was the first time for this chapter, most of it went over my head.  I'm going to need to go in and do the flashcard that are part of the course.  I usually write them down, since the written word is very important.

I also had lunch with 2 friends I haven't seen in about 10 years.  Our conversation was lively; we share a keen interest on a number of subjects.  Conversing has always been one of the joys of my life... probably because I'm a "talker."  Being able to converse with intelligent people who can opine without opinionating is simply wonderful.

Oh, and I finished The Body in History last evening.  This morning I want to print off those chapters not already printed and begin the rewrite.  Do I always work off of a hard copy?  The answers are yes and no.  I like the ability to pick up the manuscript and make notes, but I also enjoy the convenience of sitting at my writing laptop recreating my original vision.  The final draft is always a combination of both.

For those living under a rock, Elonia shot down the government spending package that was designed to insure our men in the military would continue to get paychecks, at least until March.  Sorry, Elonia is not First Lady yet, and needs to be put in her place.  Main Stream Media is reporting that Trump shot it down at the urging of his allies.  I wonder if they're afraid of putting blame where it belongs.  One of the reasons it was shot down was because Elonia wants another tax break, that's the only reason he Trump wants the debt ceiling raised.  For those dense Conservatives out there, the government has not paid for Elonia's last tax break.  And it's not as though Elonia cares, none of the billionaires the Orange Anus wants in his cabinet care.  America is growing more and more angry, except for that minority group who desperately want to worship Orangey, not that either he or Elonia understand that.  They are of the mind, like every Conservative out there, that all they have to do is yell "shut up!  I'm in Charge!" and America will just roll over.  Sorry guys, it ain't gonna happen.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

 Yesterday turned out to be nice.  The sun did come out in the afternoon and temps warmed up, so the forecast wasn't far off.  Today, however, clouds are supposed to be moving back into the picture and, again, this afternoon we're supposed to have shower.  Temps will be cooling down until Sunday, when they'll be stuck in the 20s (F) all day before they zoom back up into the high 40s (F) and low 50s (F).

Even though the day did nicen up, yesterday was still a bit of a meh day.  Howie and I went for a walk.  I worked on the book.  This denouement chapter is going to be long, maybe the longest I've ever written.  How well it will go over remains to be seen.  I have shared the first chapter with some people (it's very different).  Their reactions were pleasantly surprising.

I also bought and downloaded the new Indiana Jones and the Great Circle game.  It's a Machine Works game, and they are owned by Bethesda.  Every game has a tutorial section in the beginning where you learn which buttons do what, since every game is different.  For this game, the tutorial section is the opening sequence from Raiders of the Lost Ark, you know the one I'm talking about, the one with the big ball that nearly crushes him.  I got crushed once.  Having seen the movie many times, I thought it was a lot of fun!  The tutorial, however, is just a flashback, and the story jumps ahead a year to the time after the Ark incident.  And yes, if you're interested, you do need to use the whip.

So, if you live in America, how are your food prices?  Mine are going up.  Eggs are 8 cents higher.  Here in Central Pa, a dozen large eggs is going to set you back $4.07, they're going to blame it on Bird Flu.  Roma tomatoes?  2 months ago they were $1.99 a lb., now they cost $2.49 a lb., and it ain't because of the Bird Flu.  I went grocery shopping yesterday and mostly what I did was look at people's faces.  No one was happy.  There were a lot of seniors in the supermarket and I felt really bad for them, many live month to month on their Social Security, and God knows how many Christian Conservatives hate Social Security.  These people are going to have a rough time ahead, especially if our morally degenerated president succeeds in privatizing Medicare.  People who don't have to pay for insurance, should never be in charge of creating legislation that forces others to pay for the same benefit.  I have to admit that I do find it more than a little satisfying that health care stocks across the board are experiencing a down turn.  What a joy for so many rich people to lose money.

Crudité

Tuesday.  The skies are overcast.  Temps are in the mid 40s (F), and they're predicted to get warmer.  Supposedly the sun is going to be coming out later this afternoon.  I am waiting.

I got almost 2 miles in on the treadmill yesterday.  I was pleased, but I didn't come close to getting in over 15,000 I walked on Sunday. 

Today feels like a low energy day.  There are things that need to be done, like laundry, and cleaning the aquarium in the living room, and I know I'll get them completed, but it's going to take a bit of oomph.  Is it the lack of sunshine?  Perhaps I should put special lighting throughout the house so it looks summer.  In less than a week we will have passed the shortest day of the year.  I can not wait, then days will start to lengthen and, hopefully, there will be more sunshine.

Yesterday was fairly meh at work.  Time passed slowly.  Left over appetizers from the previous night's store party were in the refrigerator, including salamis, bolognas, and cheeses, so I snacked away a lot of the time.  You'll notice I said appetizers.  That was the popular word when I was young.  For a number of years people would add cut up veggies so they changed the name to crudité.  Now they call it charcuterie, which is just another name for appetizer.  No one wants to call them hors d'oeuvres any more, though at one time that, too, was the stylish lingo.  The first time I saw hors d'oeuvres I pronounced it whores divorce, and was asked why a whore would want a divorce.  Here's a pic of... well, you can call it whatever you like.

And I saw that another Democrat judge has unretired.  Of course, this flips out the Republicans.  There's no way they can force their authoritarian government upon America if Democrats refuse to retire.

Also, the Orange Anus gave some sort of rambling press conference... yesterday?  The press is still sane-washing whatever he says, even though it makes no sense.  He talked about the drones over New Jersey; now isn't that a great title for a super hero movie?  And he talked about his beloved tariffs.  And there were other things mentioned that simply don't need to be mentioned because his ramblings are simply that, totally lacking substance.

Up in Canada, Trudeau got a smack in the face as his finance minister suddenly resigned.  From what I understand, she was furious that he went to Mar a Lago so unprepared to deal with the Orange Anus.  I might have quit, too, if I were her.  The only thing Orangey understands is power, so, when the first word out of Trudeau's mouth was "hey," Orangey and everyone else at the table treated him like a fool.  I'm not doubting that Trudeau thought he was going to be treated to charcuterie, and what he got was crudité. 

Yellow Snow

 Good Morning World!  We had snow most of the day yesterday!  Most of it melted because the temps were just not cold enough.  It was a dreary day, so it was a good thing that I worked.

Yesterday was a little more productive than the past 2.  I got 30 minutes in on the treadmill and, thanks to laps at work, I managed to get in over 15,000 steps!  Wowza.  

We had our store holiday party last evening.  There were about 40 people there.  For the amount of time I was there, it was enjoyable, but then I only go for the food.  They had  a DJ who did a fine job, he was a store employee with somewhat eclectic tastes in music, which turned out to be fine.  The main reason I had for not staying any longer was the fact that I have a 4 and a half month old puppy who desperately needed to go potty outside.  I was so proud of him!  He left no presents waiting for me when I got home, and that was after leaving him alone for over 7 hours!

Here he is tinting first yellow snow.  Here's picture of that momentous occasion!  And this morning?  He made some more!

One of the things people need to keep in mind is that for a $1 million for a billionaire is "chump change," so when these billionaire give the Orange Anus $1 million, they're not bending the knee, that's just a token to him for letting them participate in turning America into an Oligarchy.  A good crash on Wall Street will send them all reeling.  The last time we had a good crash, millionaires jumped out of windows when they realized they were now worthless individuals.  The American economy depends totally on American's buying power, reducing or stopping Social Security reduces that buying power of senior citizens.  Privatizing Medicare and raising rates for health care will limit that buying power.  Of course, conservates have always been stupid.  There's an old adage that says "give them enough rope, and they'll hang themselves."  Because they believe their stupidity makes them smarter than everyone else, they feel that adages no longer apply.  They will ignore the sage advice "do not eat yellow snow."  I don't think Zuck, or Elonia, or Bezos will jump out of a window when they find themselves broke, but they will eat the yellow snow.

The Dark Ages, (part 2)

 Here it is, Sunday morning, and it's cold.  Temps are in the 20s (F), and today's high, like yesterday is only predicted to top off in the mid 30s (F).  Don't forget, winter is still a week away.  Will it be a cold one, or warm like the last two.  So far our weather pattern is repeating itself.  Only time will tell.

For those interested, the barley for breakfast is going well.  I boil up one cup of barley in 2.5 cups of water, that's gives me 3 cups barley which I then refrigerate.  It's a grain, so it has a very mild nutty/wheaty flavor.  Cost wise, it's about .35 a breakfast, or if it were boxed, like Grape Nuts, it would cost about $2.10 a box.  That's something you can take to the bank.  On top of that, there are absolutely no preservatives, meaning I'm not ingesting chemicals whenever I eat it.

Yesterday was one of those, I'm not doing anything days.  It was cold, I stayed home.  I wrote.  I had thought about working out with dumbbells, but that came to naught, as did the desire to put in some time on the treadmill.  I did spend some time examining my bands, but beyond the examination nothing happened.  

I played some Dragon Age.  I'm at the point where the final Boss fight is just around the corner, unfortunately, the game itself doesn't feel complete, and sadly, I am ready for it to be over.  That says more about the writing than anything else.  Most of the companion stories just are interesting enough, that's because their quests tended to be lame.  I'll probably finish it over the next few days and then download the new Indiana Jones game.  It's from Bethesda, and everybody I talked to loves it.

For dinner last evening I cooked some of my homemade pasta.  The pasta was good, the meat sauce, however, left a little to be desired.

And, of course, a large part of the reason yesterday was one of "those" days were the thoughts I had about our incoming president, and how bad things are going to get.  When I tell people that the shooting of the United Healthcare CEO was just the tip of the iceberg, I know many don't understand.  Conservatives expect Americans to just sit there and eat every spoonful of the shit they want to hand out and that isn't going to happen.  Both Canada and Mexico are going to tell Trump to go to Hell (you can bet they're talking to each other as we speak) and that will begin the Chaos that Wall Street hates.  The Orange Anus is going to put out a slew of Executive Orders on day one, and though many will have to work to work their way through the court system, they too will rock the country.  His cultists have no idea of the evil they have potentially unleashed.  Is the world heading into another Dark Ages?  That's possible.  Things that will not survive if we are:  Conservativism, Christianity, Wall Street, Billionaires.

A Pox on both your Houses

 So, here it is Saturday, and it was 20 (F) this morning when I got up.  For those using Celsius, that's below 0 and that's cold.  Temps are predicted to climb up into the mid 30s today, that's nice.  I'll be able to go outside and clean up the frozen poop.

And, what's really surprising about today is that I am not scheduled to work.  I will work tomorrow, however, and then Monday.  I'm only scheduled for 15 hours this week, and next week, that's fine with me.  After that it appears that I'm going to be back on my 20 hour a week schedule. I just got a small award for being the top salesperson in the department, so I will probably not get my hours cut like the other part-timers, or, if I do, the cut will not be as drastic as theirs.

I did get 30 minutes in on the treadmill yesterday.  It's a great place to work on the Greek language course I signed up for with Pimsleur. I also made some homemade pasta, some of which will be dinner this evening.  The only bad thing about making pasta is that eggs are used in the process, and that means it needs to be either refrigerated or frozen.  My Pa Dutch grandma used to make eggless pasta.  I'll have to see if I can dig up that recipe, that way I'll be able to make it, dry it, and store it for future use.  Here's a pic.

One of the most laughable things I've seen today, and let's be honest, absurdist events and statements will be the meat and potatoes of this incoming administration, was CNN stating that most Americans are satisfied with their Health Care.  I have to be honest, I actually saw this in a Rolling Stone Commentary.

That's because CNN's website is filled with ludicrosities.  That's not an actual word, but it should be, the plural of ludicrosity: a piece of stupidity so unrealistic only a MAGA cultist would believe it.

And for those who didn't see it, RFK wants to get rid of the polio vaccine.  When I was looking at that ludicrosity I saw that some individual was wondering if Elon Musk had bought an iron lung factory.  This is pathetic.  I suppose the only thing that will change people's minds about vaccines is when their children start dying of measles again.  Or chicken pox.  Perhaps people need to understand how terrible the curse "a pox on both your houses" is.

Power and Money

 Wow, we got a cold one outside!  23 (F).  Yikes.  In fact, we've got a few days of coldieness ahead of us, but then this is to be expected, we are only 9 days for winter.  I'm interested to see if this year continues the trend of cold Decembers and early Januarys and then a warm-up into much more moderate temperatures. 

Yesterday was sort of a meh day, and yet it wasn't.  A bag of tomatoes and a half bag of onions went through the dehydrator.  My house smelt like a tomato salad.  It wasn't bad.  I did some writing.  A leg workout was done, though now my quads are a bit on the sore side.  Rather than ride today, I'm going to be putting some time on the treadmill.  

I also worked.  It was fine.  Slow.  No departments are making plan this week.  I'm don't work until Sunday.  That's right, this is one of my 15 hour weeks.  I have one next week as well.  However, Christmas week I'm back to my regular 20 hours.  This is a good thing because Howie's initial visits to the Vet are $$$.  After this round of shots is over, they'll become less expensive.  Sadly, they are already trying to get me to buy treatments he doesn't need, such as a very expensive heartworm  med, that needs to be administered monthly and costs $180 for 3 months.  Heartworm is a serious issue down south.  Up here in Central PA, not so much because this parasite is passed to the dog through a mosquito bite, and where I live, mosquitos are a season issue.

They also push pet insurance, and this meme is so very appropriate.

The same thing applies to pet insurance.  In fact, it applies to all forms of insurance, and it isn't just United Health Care.  There was a time when insurance was a good idea, when it was affordable, when it actually paid for claims, whether they be health, home, or vehicle related.  At some point, though, their value began to decline for those being insured.  In most states, car insurance is required if you own a car.  When I hear what young people have to pay for car insurance, I am flabbergasted.  That's corporate greed.  Health insurance is even worse.  When I was fulltime, I was paying $165 a month and that was for bare bones coverage for a single individual.  I stopped paying that when I retired (7 years ago).  That cost has gone up.  Family coverage is far more expensive.  And, if you do need to file a claim, there is that inevitable deductible that needs to be paid first, and then you find out your insurance is only going to pay a percentage of your bill.  Is it any wonder Americans are upset? 

And for all you stupid cultists out there:  The Orange Anus said that there's good possibility that prices are going to go up.  I wonder how long it will take them to realize he doesn't give a shit about them.  The only things he cares about are power and money.

Funny Things

 So, what all happened yesterday?  Well, it rained.  All day it rained.  Over an inch of rain fell as a cold front moved into the area.  Today it is going to be cold, with out high temperatures only climbing into the mid 30s (F).  That same thing is going to be true for tomorrow, and Sunday.  On Monday we're supposed to be warming up again.

Where as Biggie and Lily hated the rain, Howie has no problem with it.  He has no problem with puddles either, and, if the puddle is located in the right place, he soon turns it into a mud puddle.  He thinks digging in a puddle of water is a really fun game.  And when he comes in we play "Let's try and dry off the wet puppy!"  I did end up laughing because the game is fun.

I finished dehydrating the bag of potatoes yesterday.  Tomorrow, I'm going to do tomatoes and possibly onions at the same time.  I'm sure the house will smell wonderful.  Otherwise, I did nothing yesterday except work on The Body in History.  I had no desire to really do anything, no doubt the result of the cloudy skies and constant rain.  I do like sunny days.  We need more of them.  Wouldn't it be nice if it only rained at night, while we are sleeping?

And now for a bit of dark humor:

The funny thing about that was if there were a lethal strain of Covid killing off Americans, soooo many of those anti-vaxers would suddenly start whistling a different tune.  I honestly believe that the biggest problem we had with the last strain of Covid was that Trump got it and lived.  Had he died, so many things would have been different.  Christians want to believe God kept him alive to give them what they want.  They evidently don't know that Evil works the same way, unfortunately so many of them are presumptuous enough to believe they know the will of God.  Can you hear me laughing?

As if Orangey's packing Guilfoyle off to Greece wasn't amusing enough, he's going to put Kari Lake in charge of Voice of America.  According to their website, they claim to reach 354 million people around the world.  To put that into perspective, there are over 8 Billion people in the world, so Voice of America is reaching .00000004% of the world's population.  I'm hoping that she realizes how big this insult is after spending so much time in Mar a Lago, probably doing abhorrent sexual things with the Orange Anus.  

Finally, no one should be surprised that there are hitlists springing up online and posters being spread with the names and pictures of Healthcare CEOs.  As I said, the shooting of the United Healthcare CEO was just the tip of the iceberg and no one is going to fix the problem with the American health care system.

Gladiator II

 Hello, people!  We have rain.  Lots of rain is coming our way.  In fact, it started last night and has been steadily raining since around midnight.  The temps are warm, in the 50s (F), though they're predicted to drop and by later this afternoon and evening it's supposed to be cold enough to snow... a tad bit; basically flurries will arrive and depart.

My shower was installed about 17 years ago, it's fairly spacious and has a seat which I used when I was experiencing back issues.  About a year ago, I noticed that the door was beginning to stick at the bottom.  No problem, I just had to lift the handle a little and the door easily opened, until 2 days ago when lifting no longer worked.  So, I had to give it a push, and the metal frame along the bottom of the door came loose.  Kneeling to examine it, I realized that the screw that was supposed to hold the frame in place was missing, so 17 years ago the door was installed improperly.  Damn.  Since this late in the game there was no way of fixing it, I took the door off and put in a shower curtain on a tension rod.  It looks better than the door, and is just as functional and is a lot less expensive then spending $7 or $8 thousand on a new shower.  The old, glass door will go out in the trash next week.

I went to see Gladiator II last evening.  It was very good, though, thanks to improvements in CGI, much more violent.  What Ridley Scott has given us is far more realistic to the blood sports which used to take place in the coliseum.  And, even though everyone is talking about the hotness of Paul Mescal, it was Denzel Washington who easily stole the movie.  I can see a supporting actor nomination heading his way.

And I have to say, I feel so terrible for the people of Greece now that Kim Guilfoyle has been named ambassador to that great country.  This woman is dumb as a brick.  She's an embarrassment. Her clown face is befitting the clown circus the Orange Anus is building.  The more I see things like this happening, the more I see the fall of the Republican party.  You can see the signs in all of the cracks that are appearing.  In the shooting death of the United Healthcare CEO, in Elon Musk's ascendancy as the evil emperor of Earth, and in the election of the Orange Anus himself.  You can see it in the desperation of Christians who have embraced Orangey.  There is no benevolence in this party, only greed and selfishness.  The Republican party thought the NRA and the 2nd amendment would arm their party, what they've done instead is arm the American population, and at some point, out of fear for their own lives, Republicans will attempt to take those guns from the hands of Americans.  I suspect their fall will be swift, and probably painful.

   

Consequences

 Fog.  Yes, we have fog here in Central PA.  The temps are in the mid 40s (F), however, we do have fog... and warnings about the fog.  And drizzle.  We have drizzle as well.  The day is not supposed to clear, and tomorrow our forecasters are calling for rain.

Yesterday was slow at work.  I did sell a small job to a customer for a runner on a staircase.  Still, our department was close to making our daily plan.  The store, however?  Well, customers were lacking.  That meant that I got in over 10,000 steps.  

Other wise, the day was meh.  I didn't get a ride in.  I didn't do free weights.  I did work on the final chapter of The Body in History.  I already know there are going to be some changes, but my main goal is to get the first draft done.  The first draft is never the final draft.  Changes happen.  Trying to perfect it as though it were the final draft is a waste of time simply because you'll see all these things that you thought were perfection when you put them on the page suddenly need fixing.

Howie has a vet appointment at 0930 to get some booster shots.  Since his vet is half a mile from the store, he and I will visit.  Many people take their dogs into our store.  It's a great way to socialize them, in fact, a lot of the departments have biscuits to give as treats.  

I posted this on Facebook this morning.  I usually don't get a lot of likes when I post these.  I don't really care.

This will piss off conservatives.  They do hate the truth.  American has always relied on immigrants to get the work done, you know, those menial tasks no one really wants to do.  When you get rid of the immigrants, prices go up because no one wants to pick grapes for minimum wage.  You see, conservatives denigrate types of people to generate anger and hate, and then they use that anger and hate to win elections, unfortunately, their are always consequences, and they never think that far ahead.

Another example relates to the very soon to be folk hero who shot the CEO of United Healthcare.  Instead of realizing how angry America is with the pay for treatment healthcare system they have pushed upon the country, Conservatives are ignoring that problem completely and vilifying the young man, but then Conservatives have always been stupid, they have never considered consequences.  For example, in order to get gun owners to vote for them, they constantly pushed the rights of the 2nd Amendment.  Thanks to that constancy, America is basically armed to the teeth.  Authoritarian governments really don't want their citizens armed to the teeth.  Guns mean trouble if someone disagrees.  Conservatives are about to learn that it is going to take much more than just saying "shut up, we're in charge," and oh, so many of them are as spineless as the Orange Anus they just put into the presidency.

Empress of Earth

 Here it is, Monday, the temp is 39 (F) outside and the skies are overcast.  Rain is on the way.  Not much.  Still, autumn is usually a rainy season.  For those looking for a white Christmas, odds are rapidly stacking up against it happening, but then in this part of the country they are almost as rare as hen's teeth.  

Yesterday, the weather was wonderful, it was a terrible shame that I had to go to work.  The temps got up to 60 (F).  Howie and and I played frisbee before I had to leave, and for a moment, I thought I might call off.  But I didn't.  As a result, I wasted a super nice Sunday afternoon by sitting at the flooring desk.  On top of that, management cursed us by bringing in soft pretzel bite.  For those who don't know, a soft pretzel is a big doughy pretzel, and a soft pretzel bite looks like a little loaf of bread that's about as long as your forefinger.  In fact, a Lebanese who works in my department asked why they were serving us little loaves of bread.  Being a carb addict, I over consumes, so there's no stepping on the scale for me this morning.

My back is achy, so I took two Advil.  I was vaccinated for the flu, but there are several variations, so I'm hoping I'm not coming down with one of those that's not covered.  Of course, it could also be that I picked up Howie yesterday and I'm estimating he's up to around 40 pounds.  I'll find out tomorrow.  He needs to go back to the Vet for some booster shots.

One of the people I read is Stephen Beschloss, and this morning he was talking about how Cultists may have thought they were voting for a president, but in reality were voting for an oligarchy.  Cultists are not known for their intelligence.  Anyway, he used this picture, and while there isn't a caption, if there was one it would certainly be The Walking Dead meets the Terminator.

Elonia has definitely had quite a bit of work done.  At one time in his life he used to look like a balding doofus, now the scar tissue runs deep, and I wouldn't doubt that he's having the same procedures Michael Jackson used to make himself look... special.  As for the Orange Anus?  He's only going to grow more and more decrepit.  

Orangey was on Meet the Press yesterday, and... well... he did what he does so well:  Lie.  Though, there were those slim glimmers of honesty, like when he said he never promised to reduce prices.  All of those fools who voted for him because of this are in for one terrible surprise that is going to hit his them in the pocketbook super hard.  They're going to learn that he doesn't care if they starve.  Elonia doesn't care either.  I suspect that all Elonia wants is to be Empress of Earth.

Bashar Assad

Holy Moly!  Today's temps are predicted to go up into the low 50s (F).  That's exceedingly warm for this time of year.  They will, however, be dropping down into what is considered unseasonably warm for the rest of the week.  In this case, unseasonably warm means temps in the mid to upper 40s (F).  

I got a nice, 9 mile ride in on the bike yesterday.  I felt good afterward.  Today, rather than ride, I'm going to be doing my dumbbells and bands.  Upper body.  

Work was okay yesterday.  I sold a measure to a woman who is never going to purchase an install.  After living in their home for 9 years, they're moving and she's going to be in the cheapest carpet possible.  She'd been to our blue competitor and received a quote which she said was too high.  So, after picking out the cheapest carpet we install, and the cheapest padding, I did a quick manual estimate:  $3800.  She paid for the measure, then told me our competitor had been less expensive.  She showed me their quote: $3082 and then tapped our brochure where we claimed we would match prices.  So, I tapped the sentence under that stating the price matching would be for any comparable carpet.  The carpet she chose from us was $1.89 a square foot, and it's crap, plus the cheapest pad possible, .84 for a total of $2.78 a square foot.  The quote she showed me was $2.24 a square foot, padding a carpet combined, which means it's worse than crap.

This also happened yesterday.  Our fire sprinkler system developed a leak and we had to evacuate the building for about half an hour.  It was cold standing outside, and while interesting, not exciting.  This is evidently not the first time leaks have happened.

Bashar Assad has left the building.  Or, if you're to believe Russian media, he has left Syria.  Or, if you're to believe Adam Kinzinger, there is a very good likelihood that he was killed last night.  This is a serious blow to the Orange Anus' blow bro Vlad, since he's been backing Bashar (I hope he doesn't mind that I call him Bashar) with a military presence in Syria for over 7 years.  In fact, the Russian military has also left the building.  No doubt, they're on their way to the Ukraine where they will sacrifice themselves on the alter of Vlad Putin's ego.

In case you haven't noticed it, the Blow Bro Vlad is having problems all over the world.  His puppet regimes are falling apart everywhere.  Romania has annulled an election that would have bound their ties with Vlad because of Russian influence.  He's having to use North Korean troops in the Ukraine in attempt to keep the Russian death toll from reaching 1 million.  Wow!  His authoritarian government is getting flushed down the shitter fast.

 

The Tip of the Iceberg

 Well, is everybody having a happy Saturday morning?  Right now our skies are overcast here in Central PA, and the temp is either 30, 31, or 32 (all F) depending upon which weather app you're using.  Nice consistency, eh?  If you can't be specific, provide a range from which to choose.

Yesterday was a good day.  Much was accomplished.  Half a bag of potatoes was dried.  I cooked up a cup of barley, and while that doesn't sound like much, barley expands when you simmer it for 25 minutes, so that one cup easily turns into 2.5 cups.  That's easily enough for 4 breakfasts.  The aquarium in the living room had a thorough cleaning; filters need to be ordered since I'm on my last. I got a nice ride in a nice ride on the bike.  And I've started the last chapter of The Body in History, except for that teeny, little wrap up chapter I always end my books with.  It's the 45th chapter in the book, and it's called The Song of Apollo.  Now, ain't that nice.

Otherwise, the only notable thing to happen yesterday was Howie ripping off the small tail of his Crackle Chicken toy.  For some reason, that delighted him to no end, and he ran around the house with that little bit of fabric hanging out the corner of his mouth as if it was the greatest toy on earth.

And wasn't it interesting to find out how obtuse the health insurers are when it comes to how poorly the common man in the United States thinks of them.  If it isn't already there, this books is probably going to hit the #1 best seller list.

The police recovered 3 bullet casings after the United Healthcare CEO was shot to death, and written on each was a single word:  Delay.  Defend.  Depose.  The fact that so many people sent his family Republican Thoughts and Prayers says a lot, much more than the health insurance industry wanted to hear.  You see, for them, this is just a job.  Human pain and suffering do not enter the equation.  To get a good review in this industry, I'd be willing to bet that these Executives need to proved a total of $$$ they have saved the company by denying claims.  They do not go to the funerals for those who believe their insurance was going to help them survive.  And evidently United Healthcare was using a AI algorithm they knew was seriously flawed, that it was denying 90% of all claims.  I do not doubt their Executives were not concerned one wit about all the pain and suffering they were causing, rather I'm sure they were bantering among each as to how much money they were saving the company, and that the stockholders were going to be overjoyed.  Someone said that this shooting might well be the tip of the iceberg.  That may well be. 

Ugly

 Well, it's still cold out and we're still under a wind advisory.  Looking from my window, however, the branches of the river birch in my yard are barely moving.  Today the temps are not expected to make it out of the 30s (F), but starting tomorrow they are going to rise.  If the long range forecast is even close to being correct, we'll be warming up into the mid and upper 40s (F) by Sunday.  Rain, rather than snow, is also supposed to be on the way.

I did get a small leg workout in before going to work, this is new.  Before my bike was always my go to for legs, but I've added some dumbbell squats and lunges.  At my age, it's all about maintenance. \

Work was boring yesterday.  One customer showed up who wanted needed blinds designed.  There was a time when I would have enjoyed that, however about a year ago the large home improvement retailer I work for decided to change the software.  Prior to the change, if someone else sold a measure for blinds and you designed them, you'd get credit.  No more.  Now, an associate can spend 5 minutes with a customer and sell them a measure, and you can spend 2 hours designing their blinds, the associate who sold the measure gets all of the credit.  There is no longer any incentive to design blinds another specialist's customer.

Evidently associates were also told that according to corporate part-time hours were going to cut.  This usually happen after the New Years, never in December.  The store is actually making a lot of money.  On Black Friday we did almost half a million $$$.  So, this is really nothing more than corporate greed.  Prices are going to go up and hours are going to go down in all companies.  I suspect that pay increases will be lower to this year.  

And I think America is finally waking up to the fact that this man is a real problem.

He bought Trump for at least $250 million, not that Trump unwillingly sold himself into indentured servitude.  Orangey will have no problem kowtowing to the richest man in the world as long as he gets to stand besides him in pictures.  I've said this before, and I'll be saying it again, and again, and again.  Billionaires are not beneficent, in spite of what Conservatives want to believe.  Their own personal bottom line is the only one they are interested in, you and I do not exist.  Musk is false.  Even his face has been artificially constructed and built into the image above.  Where as Trump is a genius at the Con, Musk is not.  He was smart enough to purchase Tesla, a company built by other much smarter men, and has slowly been driving it into the ground.  I do not doubt that he bought Twitter in order to show the world his profundity and has, instead, proven that all his plastic surgery did was mask the fact that he's a selfish, incompetent brat with no integrity.  This man is Ugly, and he is going to attempt to assert his ugliness not only upon America, but upon the world as well.

Deny. Defend. Depose.

 It's snowing!  Sort of...    I guess I should say that snow is falling, however the temps are in the mid 30s (F) so it's melting on sidewalks, and streets, and all of those pavers in my backyard that I call my veranda.  Basically, we have a dusting.  That's it.  We're also under a high wind warning because there's a front moving through; today and tomorrow will be cold, but then temps will be warming up with highs in the high 40s (F) and low 50s (F).  

Yesterday turned out to be pretty meh.  I don't know if it was because the skies were overcast all day or not.  I finished off this weeks laundry and sliced up a bag of green peppers and put them in the dehydrator.  My house smelt greeny for most of the day.  I'm off tomorrow and I have a bag of potatoes, so I will probably slice those up and dry them for future use.  When the potatoes are done, I'm thinking of buying chicken and drying that.  Also, the 25 pound bag of barley arrived.  I work today, so while at the store, I'm going to pick up a 5 gallon food safe bucket and lid for storing it.  I suppose, in a way, you could say that I'm becoming a prepper of sorts.  Better safer than sorry.

And I went to see Wicked last night.  It is, as everybody is saying, very good, probably better than the stage show since the camera gives the audience close-ups.  There are some very touching moments in it.  Some people live for reviews, I don't, and knowing this was probably going to be a BIG movie purposely avoided anything and everything about it.  It was very good, and so apropos for our current times.  One of the few things I did see, was a comment by someone who said that it took him over 28 years after first seeing the Wizard of Oz to realize who the real villain was in the story.

And the United Healthcare CEO was shot to death yesterday in New York City.  The gun casings found at the scene had three words written on them:  Deny.  Defend.  Depose.  So, the shooter planned on shooting 3 times, a Holy number.  The CEO was shot in the back, which many may see as being symbolic of the way Healthcare in this country treats a majority of patients; their denial of a claim or procedure is just like shooting the patient in the back.  Shortly afterwards, the United Healthcare website removed the names of every one of its board members.  Right now, United Healthcare denies about 1/3 of all claims (32 %).  They are not going to change their policies because the company is focused on its own greed.  Conservatives are not going to do anything to try and change the way healthcare works in America, they, too, are totally focused on greed.  One can only wonder if Americans are waking up to the fact that billionaires are not now, nor have they every been, beneficent.  They have only been interested in making more money, not matter what the cost in human suffering.

The Grand Stupidity

 And we're starting off today with an outside temp of 23 (F) and, unfortunately, it's not supposed to get too much warmer, with a high barely climbing up into the mid 30s (F).  Drat!  Next week, however, if the forecast is correct, we should be in the mid 50s (F) for a day or two before we cool off.  Then, and again if the forecast is correct, our afternoon highs should be in the mid 40s (F).  Not warm, but getting there.

Yesterday was sort of a day of accomplishments.  I spent too much time rearranging the small appliances in the kitchen to make room for the dehydrator only to realize I was going to be using it periodically best.  There are certain foods I want to dry and store, but many I'll continue to buy, unless they go up in price too much.  So, after an initial period of use, it's going to be stored away.

I did have a cranky moment with Rosetta Stone.  Since I am anticipating going back to Greece, I've been learning the language slowly.  At one point, you could buy the full language course from Rosetta Stone, but that has changed and it's now a subscription service.  My 3 month subscription renewed a little over a month ago.  Well, yesterday when I went to sign in all I got was a spinning dial.  Their server was evidently down.  Irritated, I searched for "best online learning app for language," and found out that Rosetta had dropped from the number 1 service to number 3.  Ouch.  So I signed up with Pimsleur, it's less expensive, and when the Rosetta site becomes available, I will cancel my subscription.

Guess who's big enough to get up on the bed?  Shame he had to leave his pink octopus on the floor.

As the Orange Anus' second term approaches, holes are beginning to appear, as if we didn't know that was going to happen.  Even though those of us who are smart are preparing for the chaos to come, there are many who don't, and the sad laughs will be on them. Do not despair completely, there will be levity along the way, like Kash Patel being hacked by Iran.  This guy's a joke, and now Iran has all the dirty on him.  Blackmail him much?  Then there is the drunken wife and girlfriend beater Pete Hegseth.  You know it's bad when your own mother publicly calls you a scumbag, however, this is the sort of character reference the Orange Anus looks for in a candidate.  Gaetz and some other dude who's name is totally forgettable have already removed their names from consideration.  

There is this grand stupidity about the Republican party that will never change.  They will never overcome their inability to understand that they cannot bend reality to their will.  When I think of them, I quite often think of the Jeff Goldblum line from Jurassic Park:  "no  matter what mankind does, nature always finds a way."  No matter what the Orange Anus does, he will always lose.

Cry Harder

 So, here it is, Tuesday.  I don't work.  I'm happy.  It's a bit on the nippy side, with temps in the mid 20s (F), though they're expected to rise into the mid 40s (F).  For the next three days we are under a snow flurry warning.  That's right, no snow is expected, but flurries can swirl around us at any time.  Wow.

I did work yesterday and it was pretty meh, except for a couple who want a backsplash installed.  Wait, that's wrong, they want us to design a backsplash.  I had talked to them a while back and he had explained to me that they want back splash for two sections of countertop, but behind their stove they want a different type of tile with a special tile border.  I told him we don't do that, we do not design.  So, he went to another associate who told him the same thing, but went ahead a set up a measure because the customer wanted to be measured.  Yesterday this customer showed up with a list of different types of tiles expecting me to put each one into a graphic display so he and his wife could see what they looked like.  Once again, I told him we do not have that capability, that we are not designers.  What he's trying to do is get us to design a backsplash for him on the cheap, rather than pay the $$$ to a designer.  It is not going to happen.  

With all the backlash regarding Biden's pardoning his son, I have to tell you, this is how I'm feeling.

For those who haven't realized it yet, the biggest problem with the American people is that most of them are simply dumb.  The number of anti-vaxers grows because they have not experienced a measles epidemic, have not dealt with the fact that the kid down the street died of measles, or chicken pox, or mumps.  The last time there was a bad outbreak of one of those "childhood diseases" in which children died was back in the late 1940s.  So, of course they don't understand the benefit of vaccines.

Because Americans have never had to deal with an authoritative regime, their patently ignorant.  Too many of them feel they are so far removed, are so caught up in their own tiny little worlds, they do not understand how such a government will easily ruin their lives.  We are a very dumb people.  Too many are enamored with influencers they cannot tell the difference between honesty and deceit. They prefer non-thinking to reasoning, because thinking hurts their brains.

Justin Trudeau flew down to Mar a Lago unexpectedly thinking he might talk to the Orange Anus about tariffs, and how terrible they would be.  He found out Orangey has absolutely no idea how tariffs actually work.  I would have thought that Justin would have realized by now that for Orangey will never admit to ignorance.  He is never wrong.  He's also dumb as a fucking brick. It's my understanding that Trump, as well as those at the the table, thought Justin amusing.  Hopefully, Justin has now realized that the only way to deal with Orangey is to take a page from Claudia Sheinbaum's playbook.

Sit on it and Spin

 The outside temps are anything but balmy.  22 (F) is cold.  Nights are going to be cold from here on out, or at least until they begin to modulate next week when daily highs will be in the mid to upper 40s (F).  Today, we're supposed to hit the upper 30s (F), but according to the forecast every day is supposed to be just a little bit warmer.

Yesterday the retail world in flooring and decor was steady.  We had been busy during the past week.  In fact, as of yesterday, our department was not only number 1 in the store, but number one in the district (9 stores), as well as number 1 in the region (90) stores.  Why so busy?  Well, I don't think it's because Christmas is approaching.  Nope.  It's either one of 2 things, either the Biden economy is booming, or people realize that Trump is going to trash the economy.

And, it's one of those days.  My neighbors had a loud argument this morning, there were so many F bombs exploding I'm surprised there are still walls standing.  Normally, he leaves for work around 0600 but this morning he didn't leave until after 0700, so what ever the problem was, it caused him to be late.  While Mike and Karen (the previous owners) had loud arguments, they were pretty much a rarity, maybe once a year.  My current neighbors?  They seem to have one every two weeks or so.  She hates Enola (she's told me that), and they both hate the house.  It was staged to look like a much more expensive house than it was, and when the realtor took out the staging they discovered problems that a simple home inspection would have red flagged.  I used to feel sorry for them.  Not any more.  Both of them are in their 50s, and where a younger couple would have been able to roll with the punches, they're too old and too set in their ways.  Their son is at Temple University in Philly, and the last time I talked to her she hinted that they were deciding what they were going to do when his school year was over.

And then there's this.  The Orange Anus wants this man to run the FBI.

For those cultists who think the Orange Anus care about America, I've got a surprise for you.  He doesn't.  As one of my friends said, "now that he's elected, he doesn't need them anymore."  He will try and tear it down because his hate is so great.  He won't succeed, mostly because he's stupid.  The only thing he was successful at was taking people to court for long enough periods of time to bankrupt them.  Those days are gone.  In spite of Main Stream Media's attempt to sane wash him, things aren't going well.  His cabinet nominees are a cluster just waiting for the fuck to begin.   When Orangy lied about what the Mexican president said, she, in a very politically polite manner, told him to sit on it and spin.  Trudeau flew down to Mar a Lago for a chat, and the only words coming from the Orngy's team is that the talks were promising.  Translation:  in private Trudeau told him to sit on it and spin.  

And, on top of that, Orangy's blow bro Putin is dealing with shit shows all over the place.  His cozy guy Assad from Syria fled to Moscow because the powerful rebel army is on the brink of taking the country away from a Russian sympathizer.  There are massive riots in Georgia (the country) because Putin sympathizers there are trying to keep the country from joining NATO.  And multiple European countries are allowing the Ukraine to use it's biggest and best weapons against Moscow.  It seems as though many countries in the world are telling Putin to sit on it and spin.

December Morning

 This morning started off brisk, that is if your definition of brisk is 19 (F).  Yepper, it was that cold when I climbed out of bed.  The skies are overcast, though weather forecasters are calling for partial sun later today, with the temps popping up into the mid to upper 30s (F).  And it's not yet winter!  Of course, and I'm going to repeat, so far we are experiencing the same weather pattern we've had for the past several years: nights with temps down in the teens, and days when the temperature has barely hit freezing.  And then in early to mid January, things warm up and daily highs are in the mid 40s (F).  We shall have to see if the pattern holds true.  If it does, this is another example of climate change.

Yesterday, the day after Black Friday, the store was busy in the morning.  I missed that, since I didn't start to work until 2 PM.  I have the same schedule today and tomorrow.  This was my schedule back during Covid, except I was working 5 days a week.  Now it's either 3 or 4, and as we get deeper into winter the number of days is likely to decline.  That's fine, too, unless, of course, the Orange Anus decides to screw around with Social Security.

I'm trying something new for breakfast, cooked barley.  I've been eating Grape Nuts for years now, and I've decided that it's time for a change for two reasons:  Even though it's supposed to nutritious, I suspect it's probably closer to eating cardboard than anything else, and it's expensive (but than so is every breakfast cereal).  It's also part of the Mediterranean diet, not that I follow one diet plan, but I've always been one to try and eat as healthy as possible.

And if you don't own a Bible and don't mind buying into blasphemy, there's this:

It's leather bound and is, in case you didn't notice, the official signature edition, for just $1000.  Most Bibles have two simple words on the cover, Holy Bible.  This one?  The Orange Anus needs his name and title on the cover in what's known as the Top Billing space.  He is... basically, taking credit for the Holy Bible.  This is what every Evangelical has prayed for:  Donald J. Trump destroying Christianity.

Oh, and he wants Kash Patel to run the FBI.  Republicans refuse to understand that a majority of Americans will not stand for an authoritative government.  They will have to be taught a lesson, won't they.

Dry This

 Well, it's cold outside.  I've been up for 2 hours and the temp is still frozen at 27 (F).  For those of you with Celsius, that's below zero.  The weather forecasters are rumoring that the high temp today will actually be in the upper 30s (F).  I'm going to wait and see on that one.

Any my Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, was pretty much nondescript. This doesn't mean that I did nothing.  In other words, I didn't lull around, passing the hours by scrolling social media on my phone.  Nope.  The big tank got a good cleaning, including one of the Greek statues which had growing rather bearded with all the algae.  Now he's mostly bright, clean, and white, with just a little algae providing the needed chiaroscuro. 

Of course, I wrote.  I'm approaching the denouement for The Body in History.  I needed a way to get from point A to point C, and while thinking of what's considered one of the greatest films ever made, Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo, I came up with transition point B.  Suddenly, everything is like... Wow.  That's makes perfect sense.  When writing, you should always begin with the ending.  Thinking of everything that goes between the first word and the last chapter is all the fun, or as some writers might tell you, all of the work, though for me, because I always have a resolution chapter, it's always the 2nd last chapter.

I ordered a food hydrator yesterday, so I suppose you could call that my big Black Friday purchase.  Why?  I have this feeling certain food stuffs are going to be getting pricy, and this is one of the ways I can prepare.  Instead of pay rather exorbitant prices for fresh fruit and veggies, I'm going to be drying some while produce is still what we'll one day consider inexpensive.  It's a Cosori, the same company that manufactured my air fryer.

I see Trudeau flew down to Mar a Lago to talk to the Orange Anus about tariffs.  That was yesterday and so far Orangy had not posted any lies on social media about how the Canadian Prime Minister has caved to his demands.  Perhaps everything depends upon whether or not Musk is in the room during these chats.  I'm suspecting he will be since he owns the new phony president's ass.  For those who were lucky enough to have missed them, there were several videos of Thanksgiving down at the Swamp Resort with Elonia seated besides the dementiated Trump clapping and singing along to YMCA.  I saw 2 versions and thought they both looked more than a little stagey: no chairs or place setting on 1/3 of the table so as not to block the view for everyone wanting to get a video.  It was almost as though people knew they needed to put on a happy face for the cameras.  Anyway, if Musk was by Orangy's side for that, I'm betting he's next to him in every meeting Musk might consider consequential.  So, the longer we go without a Trump lie on social media, the implications are it's not going the way Musk had it planned.

President Sheinbaum

 Happy Black Friday!  So far, it's a bright and sunny day, however that's going top change as a cold front begins moving through the region.  This afternoon there will be showers and snow showers, or what they're calling a "wintry mix" across Central PA, and tomorrow's high will be much colder. As I've said before, this is the same playbook we've had over the past number of years.

Yesterday, Turkey Day, or, as some people call it, Thanksgiving was very quiet.  Just me and the pooch.  I had a nice call from my sister.  My brother was vigilantly silent.  He can't remember my birthday, so well wishes on the holiday would have been extraordinary.  

The coconut pie was delish, but then I tried something special when baking it by spreading chocolate across the pie crust before pouring in the coconut filling.  Voila, a Mounds Bar... almost.  The corn pudding was almost too sweet and very rich, a lot of that went into the freezer.  There was a problem with the bird, however.  I have a large electric roaster that I've used for years (too many, in fact).  After nestling the turkey onto holding rack and placing it in the roaster, I set the temp and walked away, expecting it to be cooked in about 4 hours.  That didn't happen.  The roaster got warm enough so you could smell the turkey, however it didn't get hot enough to cook it.  When I checked on it, I discovered this, muttered a few curse words, and cranked the heat up high, so instead of 4 hours, it took 6 and a half to be fully cooked.  Howie and I hard are first nibbles of turkey around 5 PM, not the anticipated 1:30 PM.  Still, all is fine with the world.  

This doesn't mean there wasn't excitement yesterday.  Mexico's president Claudia Sheinbaum, took Trump to the mat and embarrassed him world wide.

It began with the Orange Anus posting a lie about Mexico promising to shut down its border with the United States after he talked to President Sheinbaum on the phone.  She was having none of it, and went on record in a very public manner.  In case you haven't realized it yet, his lies are always going to make him look like the super authoritative president he thinks he is; they never touch upon the truth.  She claims they touch upon the borders in the conversation, but they were not a priority.  I believe her.  She says most of the conversation was about the tariffs, and, from various sources, it appears this 78 year-old loser was trying to shake her down... and she was having none of it.  One of the things she reportedly told him was that if he puts tariffs on Mexico, Mexico will retaliate and the United States will lose 400,000 jobs.  This did not go as Don the Con planned.  In a very polite, public way, told the Moral Degenerate to eat shit with a rubber spoon.  I suspect more world government leaders will follow President Sheinbaum's example, and in a very public, professional way, embarrass the Orange Anus.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving!

A holiday that is rapidly loosing its meaning.  Fifty years ago it was quaint when the president pardoned a turkey.  Now, no one really cares.

I am going to be spending the day at home, with Howie.  There's a 13 pound turkey in the refrigerator that will shortly go into the roaster.  Home made corn pudding and potato filling (stuffing) is also on the menu.  I made desert yesterday, a coconut pie (not cream pie) and have already had a small slice or two.  It's tasty.

May you all have a happy holiday.  My usual commentary will return tomorrow.

Financially Comfortable

 So, yesterday turned out to be sort of a day of accomplishments, and sort of not.  Chores were finished, however, my morning was pretty much wasted.  Usually, I go to my local VA clinic for my Covid and flu shot, however this year, because of scheduling (theirs is odd) that didn't happen, so I drove down to the Lebanon VA facility since they take walk-ins.  Unbeknownst to me, they ended their walk-in policy on Friday and you now needed to make an appointment.  This meant I needed to go to my Veteran's group (Liberty) on the 3rd floor, make an appointment, and wait 45 minutes.  What I was expecting to take 90 minutes ended up taking 3 hours.  Because of that waste of time, I had to re-evaluate, are adjust the chores I wanted to get done accordingly.  Some will now get done this morning.  

Oh, and my left shoulder is sore.

Temps are predicted to climb into the 50s (F), but then the bottom will dropping out off the thermometer and we will descend into very cold temps after an onslaught of rain and snow.  Right now, our total accumulation, if the weather forecasters are correct, is going to be around 3/4 inch, of course, they are weather forecasters and known for their inaccuracies.

I was going to go to the movies this week with my movie buddy, but we've pretty much put that on hold because of the holiday.  Too many children our on break from school, and that means lots of kids running around the movie theater.  Most are fine and realize they're paying there money to sit in a seat and watch a movie, but then there are those who completely fail to grasp the concept of "going to the movies."  They think they're at home, in their living room, who will go to the concession stand, and then 20 minutes go to the restroom, and then go out into the hallway to check their text messages.  So, we're going to wait until next week.

And, because it's Wednesday, here is the obligatory of Howie.  This one is called Howie in the leaves; Essential Action Photo.

And an old Navy buddy of my posted his version of FAFO on Facebook regarding the increased prices we're all going to be paying thanks to the American Voter.  I'm still in the process of increasing the size of my pantry, which looks like it might be called a larder because it's mostly my back porch which is unheated.  He got a complaint from a woman about his "throwing the fact that he was financially comfortable."  I chuckled.  Doesn't everyone want to be financially comfortable?  Isn't that why we work most of our lives?  

Potty outside

 Well, I got up late after getting up early.  Someone had to do his "potty outside" at 0430 this morning.  After his business was done, we both went back to bed and slept until nearly 0700.  That little "potty outside" break took about 20 minutes.  Oh, and it was raining rather heavily, which meant we needed to play "towel off the soaking wet puppy," for about 20 minutes.  I'm sure this might have made someone else grumpy, but not me.  There are far worse things happening in the world then having to house train a puppy.

Like having to deal with a self-serving customer, as I had to yesterday.  She has been in the store several times buying wire shelving which her "friend," Chris is assembling for her.  In her mid-thirties, indecisive and demanding, the shelving in her closet collapsed, with the brackets tearing out of the walls.  She has dealt with both myself, and a fellow associate who got to see pictures.  Yesterday, I cut a piece of wire shelving and had to tape the ends to keep them from tearing the leather interior of her car.  Nothing satisfied her.  Honestly, I'd rather get up at 0430 in the morning to take Howie "potty outside," than have to deal with her again.

I'm liking this late shift, only starting at 1 or 2.  Because this is Thanksgiving week, I don't work again until Saturday, which I'm simply loving.

And, speaking of the Howser, here he is yesterday in the leaves.

Of course, quite a few Americans are frustrated because the Orange Anus' court cases have all been put on hold until he is either impeached a 2nd time, or out of office.  And who are most American's blaming for this destruction of justice?  Merrick Garland, who's lament about not wanting Trump's prosecution appear political has led us to this point in history.  This failure will be the footnote he gets in history books.

Another big problem we had to deal with is that the Biden administration wanted to deal with this as though it was "the same as it ever was."  Wrong.  Nothing stays the same.  Everything changes.  While his infrastructure bill has achieved a lot, the pace for everything was the same as it was 50 years ago.  And now we're all going to pay the price... well, let me amend that, Americans who are billionaires will be paying the price.  I don't doubt for a minute that some will not survive.

There's no fixing stupid

 Can we say hello to a cool, crisp morning sun?  The outside temp is 34 (F).  I could see my breath this morning when I took Howie out for his morning "potty outsides."  Our high temps today are going to be in the upper 50s (F), and that's nice.  The warmer the days, the less money I have to pay to UGI (the gas company).  Less $$$ is good.

I bought the new puppy a harness so I could strap him in whenever he was riding with me in the car, whether to his vet, or to Adams-Ricci.  Well, it arrived yesterday and, as I should have expected, it was too small.  I followed the directions on the website to ensure I had the right size and... well, Hell, there was simply no way he was going to fit into it, so I'm returning it.  I'm not ordering the next size up, either.  Because he's still growing, I knew it wasn't going to fit him forever, but I really did want it to fit him for at least a few months.

A Real Pain is the story about to middle-aged cousins who travel to Poland to see their Grandma's house after she's died.  The trailer presents the story as a comedy with drama.  The movie's been getting very good reviews.  I liked it a lot, though it's much more of a drama with comedy.  Kieran Culkin is outstanding as a bi-polar man who is...you guessed it, A Real Pain.  How good is he?  Oscar caliber.

And I did work yesterday, and, as we've all heard that saying before "there's no fixing stupid," well, I got to experience stupid as it sat at the flooring desk.  There was this older couple who were pricing out vinyl plank flooring, and he asked if it was made in China.  I was honest.  Our planks are assembled in the United States, but all the products needed to assemble them come from China.  He turned to his wife and reminded her about the upcoming tariffs and her comment to him was, "well, prices are going to go up, but they'll come down, Trump's good at that."  Of course, I sat there silently.  Inside, I was laughing.  These are the people who voted for Trump because of, what people are saying, "the price of eggs."  They actually believe he has enough beneficence to force corporations to drop prices.  The truth may actually break their bank account.  The truth will break their bank accounts and I will not be sorry for their suffering.