Wobbly

 Our temps are in the upper 50s (F) and it's drizzling.  We did get a whopper of a storm last night.  Hefty winds brought down a number of small branches and... our power went out.  Total Blackness.  For some reason, I woke up just before it went dark.  I was lying in bed looking at the small light on a surge protection when it went off, so I got up and went to the window to see every light in my neighborhood was off.  Things are very dark when there are no streetlights.

This morning, a little after 6, the power came back on.  I did check with PP&L  when I got up an hour earlier to see how large the outage was and it was just in my nook of the world.  What seemed so significant was not the lack of light, rather it was my disconnection from the Internet.  I was glad my phone was charged.  According to my power provider there were1514 homes in my area without power, though we were not an isolated incident.  A bigger map showed many isolated incidents within an 80 mile radius.  Another surprising fact:  storm warnings were not issued.  Usually we get all sorts of warnings: high winds, heavy rains, lightening in you area.  Last night we got nothing.  

Elonia showed up at the Oval Office sporting a black eye yesterday.  He blamed his meat shield.  Only Muskovites are buying that story.  Some few thought maybe Stevie Miller's knuckles gave him a kiss, but Stevie's soon to be ex-wife is apparently cheating with a different Doger.  Many believe he got his shiner from a Ketamine high fall.  Supposedly, he's been using the drug so heavily he has problems peeing straight, which means he's wobbly.

And Orangie said he's going to raise steel tariffs up to 50%.  In other words, the countdown has started to the next order of TACOs.

Orangie is also touting the US Steel/Nippon Steel deal.  For those who need a translation, that means American workers are going to suffer.  You see in his mind, it's all about the look of the deal, the appearance of success, and one or two of his billionaire cronies will reap  the rewards, but the American worker, those people who toil and sweat in the steel mills, (what few there are left)?  Well, they are a minor, necessary loss.

The Art of Falling Apart

 Good morning people!  Our outside temps are actually in the low 60s (F), now how nice is that.  We also have sunshine!  I don't know if today is going to be glorious or not, but it's starting off rather nicely.  This is, unfortunately, just a brief respite from the rain.  Late this afternoon clouds will again be rolling into Central PA and the drizzles will once again commence.  As we move into June next week, the weather does look to be more summery, with consecutive days of sunshine.

I worked yesterday, but not as a flooring specialist.  Nope.  When I got there I was surprised to find out that I had been scheduled to work in the Paint Dept.  Nice.  I like working with paint.  Colors are great. I always find it amusing that so many people believe you need to have a neutral wall in order to hang and present art.  I suspect too many designers take their inspiration from galleries where shows and exhibits are only for public consumption for few weeks or months at a time, where white or neutral walls make quick changes easier. These designers have evidently never, ever been to the Louvre. 

And, of course, today I need to get back to the chaos which is the Trump Administration, and chaos might be too light a term to describe this shit show.  This whole thing has become a bubbly stew of fecundity, a soupcon of salaciousness.  

Let's see... the fascist Stevie Miller's wife, the mother of his 3 children, is leaving him for a DOGE hacker.  

The tariffs were off, then on, then off, and then... maybe on, though they maybe illegal and so they're on again while an appeal makes its way through the courts.

And, it turns out, that now everyday is TACO day.  I do hope I don't have to explain that to anyone.  

Orangie verbally attacked the ultra conservative Leonard Leo because it was one of Lenny's pet judges that shot down the illegal tariffs.  For those of you who don't know, Lenny is Clarence Thomas' sugar daddy, so by attacking Lenny, Orangie maybe have thrown a bucket of cold water on his chances of getting the Supreme Court to give him what he wants.

At this point, I think it's safe to say that things will continue to fall apart for Orangie and his cult, the Republican party, in fact, one might say the GOP has turned falling apart into some horribly abstract piece of art.

The Body in History

 Well, the rain has stopped... until late tonight when it will start up again for my day off.  Temps are in the mid 50s (F).  They, too, are predicted to warm up slightly this afternoon, but again, they're expected to drop overnight.  Next week our average afternoon temps are supposed to be in the 70s (F).  We shall have to wait and see.

I rowed for over 5000 meters yesterday, so my upper torso is a bit sore today.

And, of course, I have to talk about this: The Body in History is now available through Barnes & Noble, as well as Amazon.  Here's a bit from chapter 1: Awakenings

************

“Eli?”

That was Max.  He sounded different.  Whispery.  Quavery.  Frightened or relived.  I’m an early riser, and it was way too bright.  Even with my eyes closed I could tell.  With a deep sigh, I groaned.  Something was not right.  Slowly, I opened my eyes.  And there he was, sitting on the bed, so close, so concerned.

“I thought I’d lost you,” he whispered, his words catching in his throat as a tear rolled down his cheek.

“What?” I asked, my voice was so quiet I could barely hear myself and not having a clue as to what he was talking about.

“You were hit by a car,” he said, squeezing my hand tightly.  “On the way home from EZM Cyclery.”

Hit by a car? On the way home from my bike shop?  I had no idea what he was talking about.  I let my eyes wander past his face and realized I was in a hospital room.  Lots of flowers.  I didn’t know people did that anymore, send flowers.  Most patients are in and out so quickly nowadays.  “Hit by a car?” I asked, still trying to make it make sense.  The crash must have been serious enough to put me in the hospital.

He nodded, wiping another tear away with the back of his hand.  “A woman named Sybil.”

***********

You might want to join them in Delphi, Greece, where mythology, mystery, and murder crash into one another.

If you want, you might try reading this while eating your favorite type of Tacos.

Full Bloom

 Not surprisingly, we have rain.  We also have rain in the forecast.  Temps may climb up into the high 50s (F).  That's not very warm.  Nope, we're back to sweat shirts and sweat pants weather.  Next week, if the forecasters are correct we should warm up into the 70s (F).  That will be nice.  And... we're even supposed to get more than two days of sunshine.

That very old Logi keyboard I was using, the one that replaced the two other keyboards that died?  Well, it too died this morning.  I'm now using the laptop keyboard which works.  My immediate reaction was to plan on rushing out to buy a new keyboard this morning, but I think I'll hold off.  I just paid off the four new tires that I had put on my car and a new keyboard is not inexpensive.  

Yesterday was sort of an odd meh kind of day.  I did some cleaning, got a really good dumbbell workout in, but I also didn't want to do anything, so I did take small naps on and off throughout the day.  I know the workout was good because I've a little muscle soreness today.  The naps?  I took those mostly because I was feeling bored.  With this crappy rain, today might be a redo.

Yesterday morning, when it was still sunny, I went out and took a picture of my roses.  So many of them are in full bloom.

Wow, how unprecedented is it for the president of the United States to go through two very crushing breakups in public?  Elonia is fuming, at least on Zitter and in Legacy Media.  He's wailing about Congress not taking DOGE seriously enough to pass legislation, I think that's for the cultists and some very naive Republicans.  DOGE was less about cutting waste and more about finding funding for the tax breaks Elonia and the other 1% want.  And don't forget all of those regulators who'd been hassling Elonia who were fired, and the contracts he signed, and all of the personal data he filched.  Don't doubt for a second that Elonia didn't make a killing.

And then there is the Putin putdown.  I don't doubt for a second that Orangie thought he and Vlad were going to be ducky dandy forever.  Hah.  Rather than being Prom King, Orangie's finding himself used and abused.  He whined about helping Russia so much, only to find himself playing the cuck.  This is what his desperation for being important has gotten him, and it wasn't even Vlad who did the jilting.  Nope, it was a lesser evil, Medveded (sp) who was dispatched to put Orangie in his place in a press release to the world.

Memorial Day, again

 Well, it's 50 (F) outside with the prediction that we should warm up into the 70s (F).  The original forecast had rain moving into the area sometime this morning and than hanging around until Friday.  That forecast has changed.  Skies are supposed to be overcast for much of the day, with the rain beginning to soak us tonight.  That's really the only change to our forecast; the rest of the week will be soggy.

I worked yesterday and, it being Memorial Day, they served us up food:  burgers and hotdogs.  As usual, I grazed... but not nearly as much as usual.  I'm attempting to cut back on the over ingesting of calorie high, non-nutritional snacky things.  The only thing cookies are really good at is growing your waistline unless, of course, you're an exercising dynamo.  While I do workout, I'm not burning up thousands of calories at a time.

Surprisingly, there were a number of customers in the store yesterday.  I got a measure.  Corporate did initiate a new policy which I'm not fond of': every hour on the hour our shoppers are informed that if they charge at least $300 on the orange credit card, they will get interest free financing for 6 months.  The more you charge, the longer the financing period.  While management is sticking to the line that these are just friendly reminders, I few these announcements as a not too subtle coercion.  

While I was folding laundry yesterday morning, Howie caught a fly.  I was just as surprised as he was.  He was quite pleased with himself as he jumped onto the bed with his little trophy, until... he opened his mouth just the tiniest of bits and the fly flew out onto the quilt.  He stared at it with a WTF look on his face for a second or two before it flew away.  

And for those of you who don't know, this is the Adyton at Delphi.  It might, perhaps, make a good place to hide.

And yesterday, being Memorial Day, the Orange Anus posted a hate message on Truth Social, all caps, of course.  Surprisingly, a few hours later is was deleted.  He evidently gave another rally shriek to celebrate memorial day.  Most Legacy media outlets no long carry his rants.  Fox does, but then Fox is pleased as shit that they're part of his new reality TV show:  The Prez.

I saw where Kristi, the Puppy Killer, Noem is somewhere is Arabia.  There are pics of her riding around on a camel looking rather Sheikish.  I don't know about you, but I suspect she's checking off every item she has on her bucket list.  Grift millions of dollars for a new plane?  Check.  Cosplay sheik?  Check.

Finally, one of the funniest things I saw this past weekend was Orangie's blow bro Putin told the world that Orangie is going through some Emotional Overload.  The jilt is in progress.

Oh, and a PS.  Elonia posted something about getting out of politics, that none of his suggestions are being enacted by Congress, that he too is being rejected.  That's bullshit.  This is what he really meant to say.  "I've stolen as much information as I will ever need, including all of your social security and nuclear information, and your government has signed so many deals and contracts that in reality I will be running your country forever."

Memorial Day

 The outside temp is 48 (F).  It's cool.  I going to take Howie for a walk.

It's Memorial Day.  Take the day off, make a hamburger on the grill, or watch a movie, and spend a few moments thinking about those who have given so much so we can have what we have.  The fight starts again tomorrow.

West Point Tradition

 According to Accuweather, our current temp is 49 (F).  We have a lot of sunshine, but it's a bit cool for Memorial Day weekend celebrations.  There is a very minor threat of showers, but temp wise we're supposed to be staying on the cool side.  This afternoon, if we're lucky, we might hit the very low 70s (F), not that these temps are going to stop people from celebrating.  

My neighbors were celebrating for a bit, or at least I think she was.  At one point there music was turned up quite loud and I do believe she was dancing for a few minutes, or possibly doing jumping jacks because the vibration were shaking my floorboards.  When she (they) get loud, I counter by going louder.  While I don't know for certain, I suspect this pisses her off.  One of the first things she said to me after they moved in was "we're loud." a non too subtle warning if I must say so.  Shortly after my volume gets louder hers goes down.  If she got a pair of headphones or earbuds, she could play her music as loud as she wanted, but that would mean she'd need to learn to think, and I doubt if that will happen.

When I got to work yesterday things had already begun to slow down for the day.  We're not going to make plan for the week; the flooring department will.  I expect that this morning we'll be busy, but because the weather's nice, even if a bit cool, more people will be interested in in celebrating rather than spending their hard earned money.  

I took a screen shot of Orangie's bitcoin grift-off.  Can you imagine spending a million buckos on this uninspiring food?  

And the Orange Loser held a rally at West Point yesterday.  He was actually supposed to give a commencement speech, but... well, we have to be honest here, Orangie has absolutely no idea what a speech is.  Instead, he ran through his standard rally riffs.  He talked about trophy wives.  He said not one congratulatory word.  He did complain about Obama.  He bragged quite a bit, repeating his usually set of lies.  There are an abundance of videos out there of him looking like a complete ass.  One in which he is saluting the graduates, then he stops saluting, and then realizing he's the only one who's stop, once again salutes.  At the end of his ramble, he told the cadets he had to leave to take care of China and Russia and the laughed at him.  It surprised him; he turned to his right and asked "what's that?"  And then he left... early, without so much as a handshake.  Shaking every hand of the graduating class is tradition, but what's tradition to Orangie when he could be driving around in a golfcart?

One final note.  As far as I can tell, the only network to carry this embarrassment live was Fox Entertainment.  Other networks had short excerpts, and some were even critical.

Crypto Whales

 Golly, gee whiz!  Here we are starting off the Memorial Day weekend, one of the biggest weekends for some retailers, and our outside temp is 51 (F).  The sun is out, though, so I guess that counts for something.  Don't worry, though, showers are in the forecast for later today.

I switched out the Dell keyboard I was using for an older Logi model this morning.  The Logi had been gathering dust upstairs, and the Dell?  Well, it had gotten very sticky.  Some times you needed to hit the space bar twice.  The mouse is still good; it's now attached to my sporting laptop.  The keyboard is in the trash.  However, if something happens to this Logi keyboard I'm going to have to buy another.

Yesterday was a busy, not busy and sometimes nappy type of day.  I did a load of laundry and put it out on the drying rack since the day started off sunny.  However, a few hours later, that load was brought in and thrown into the dryer because rain began falling.  A lot of cleaning was done.  It used to be my practice that when I was working on a book, I'd have a framed photo sitting on my desk, for example, I had an 8 x 10 glossy of the Tholos of Athena when I was writing The Body in History.  Honestly, it just added to the clutter on the desk, so that practice has stopped.

I baked a nice loaf of cinnamon raisin bread.  Delish.  I like to eat it toasted, with lots of butter and sugar on top.  Did I tell you it was delish?

So the Orange Anus had a crypto dinner and Northern Virginia golf club yesterday.  Honestly, this pic doesn't make it look like the classy event he bragged it up to be, does it?

Rolling Stone implied this was just another one of his cash grabs in which investors overpaid and got nothing in return.  Here's a bit from their article.

 But while the 25 biggest $TRUMP whales were treated to a more exclusive reception with the president, it seems the rest forked over that cash for little more than one another’s company, a reportedly sub-par meal, and generic remarks from Trump, who didn’t even stick around to meet anyone before catching a golf cart back to his helicopter.

I had to chuckle that they used the word "whale."  For those of you who don't know what a whale is, and I'm not talking about the sea dwelling mammal, a whale is someone who owns a large amount of Crypto who can move the crypto market significantly by either selling or buying large amounts of crypto.  Since crypto is a scam, these are wealthy scam artists who have no problem stealing investors money.  I find the fact that Orangie scammed those people who have invested heavily in his $Trump scam rather amusing.  They deserve everything they didn't get.

Groveling for Trump

 According to the weather forecasters, the rain is supposed to slack off slightly today.  We only have a 40% chance that the drizzles will continue.  At present, it's just cool.  When I look at Accuweather there's a half cloudy icon, but there is also a drizzle with that percentage posted beneath it.  So it appears that whether I like not, rain is still in the forecast for today.

I did work yesterday.  It was okay.  My pesky supervisor who seems to have time management issues called off, as did our aisle associate.  In fact there were a number of call-offs.  Flooring has been crushing it and the store would have made plan if it hadn't been for a big return in Millwork, and I mean big.  Windows are expensive and one of our customers decided to cancel an install.

The big tank is going to get a bit of a cleaning today.  I've discovered that the best way to control my algae problem is to not keep the aquarium lights on all day.  Instead of getting of having it on for 15 hours, it's only on for about 5.  That is evidently enough to keep the live plants growing.

There is much to do today, even a dumbbell workout, possible.  Shortly, I'm preparing to bake a loaf of bread in the machine.  I haven't baked bread for a while.

And, speaking of baking, look what New York did in a special election.

Amy Coney Barret recused herself from a case involving the separation of Church and State, and her decision led to a deadlock causing the challenge to fail.  I was impressed that she recused herself, that shows she has character.  Neither Alito nor Thomas, the billionaires lackey, would do such a thing.  They have an agenda to fulfill.  This means that Christian Nationalists are going to be hating on Amy.

And the Orange Anus has evidently amassed an extremely large war chest, over $600 million.  This is one of the reason the Republican party is so bent on kissing ass; they want him to use some of that cash to help them win the midterms.  Hah.  My first thought that his greed will make it super difficult for him to part with that cash.  I honestly don't see that happening.  His dementia may trickle out a little but not much.  Besides, he enjoys making them grovel, it makes him feel more like a dictator.

Storms

 The temp was 48 (F) this morning when I got up.  The skies were then, and are still, cloudy.  A constant drizzle is falling which will last into the afternoon.  Even though I've pretty much had enough of the rain, I know that soon it will disappear and Summer will only give us the occasional shower until hurricane season arrives.

Yesterday was a rather slow day.  I did do things:  3 loads of laundry, however I had to use the dryer since it was drizzly, rainy outside.

I had breakfast with my brother this morning.  His contract expired on his job and it was not renewed.  He's rather happy about that since his immediate supervisor showed bi-polar tendencies.  While working in the tech industry can be rather lucrative, it's my understand that this tends to quite frequently be the case.  Deadlines present themselves and since these people are salaried, every waking hour needs to be applied to the project.  It is definitely a field that I would not want to be a working in right now.

I get to work this afternoon.  Joy.

And... wow, did you hear that low rumbling?  I do think that there's a thunderstorm approaching!  Historically they were blamed on the gods.  There are, no doubt, some alive today who still believe we are living in that history.

The House of Representatives passed Orangie's big, beautiful bill which is geared to punish the average American while rewarding the 1%.  

One of the things included in this shitty piece of legislation is "no tax on tips."  Well, that's not exactly what it is.  This bill provides a nonrefundable tax credit of up to $25,000 on tips claimed during the year.  Keep in mind, this is a credit, not a refund.  In order to get a percentage of this credit the tipped associate needs to claim their tips in order for the employer to deduct the correct amount of taxes on each paycheck.  The Federal minimum wage for a tipped employee is $2.13 per hour.  Minimum Federal wage is $7.25 per hour.  This morning I gave our waitress a $10 tip.  If she claims that full $10, she will pay taxes on all of it, however pay taxes on the amount she claims, say $4.  Many tipped employees do not claim the full tip since they will play less in taxes and have more money at the end of the week. From what I've seen this tax credit is not like a EITC, which will give you money back at the end of the year, it will simply reduce your tax so you will not have to pay anything in to the IRS.  I'm sure there are those out there who will dance around singing "no tax on tips," and in an odd way they're right, they're just not going to get a bigger refund when they file their Federal Income Taxes.

Puppy Training

 It's a chilly 55 (F) outside and we have a steady drizzle.  Rain is expected today.  If the forecasters are correct we should be accumulating about 3/4 of an inch.  Looking at the Accuweather map, I can see that most of the heavier precipitation is to our north, still being overcast and cloudy with steady drizzle does not help when there is yardwork to be done.

Yesterday was busy.  Much of the morning was eaten up at the Firestone dealership where I sat for an hour and a half while they put new tires on my car.  I believe I got a deal on the tires, however, the two agents I dealt with a had used-car dealer approach to growing their sales.  The first had to do with my wheel alignment; it's off slightly.  Should I choose, I could pay an additional $520 to have that fixed.  He then added, "if you don't it might void your warranty."  Idiot.  The second tried to get me to sign up for a Firestone Visa card and unwanted pressure was applied.  There are two rebates available, he said, but I "lost one because I didn't sign up for the card."  The orange retailer does the same thing, if you sign up for a credit card you can get a coupon for up to $100 off your next purchase.  Idiots, both.

The new printer is set up and ready to go, so let the printing begin!

And this showed up in my Facebook account this morning.  A memory.  It's been 14 years since I stood at the base of the Eiffel Tower and took this picture.  It was a cool, breezy day in November since I was there to celebrate my birthday.

You know, I honestly wish we could go at least a day without there being a shit show in Washington.  Did everybody see that clip where Orangie finished talking to the press and turn to walk into a wall?  Here it is in case you missed it.

More people need to be talking about this and spreading the word.  When you're on Social Media and one of the Main Stream Media outlets posts a lie, give them a negative comment.  Learn how to use the algorithms to work against them, not for them.  Remember almost everything the MSM posts has a pro-Orangie bias.  They want access to him, to his shit-show. so never click on an article they might post. Go somewhere else, like Meidas Touch, these 3 brothers are great.  This is so much like puppy training.  You don't want your puppy to shit in your house, so you train him to take his shit outside.

Finally, is anyone out there truly surprised that Kristi Noem does not know what Habeas Corpus is?  Supposedly, she shed a tear because of her humiliation.  Nah, don't believe that for an instant.  That was her hidden rage that a sitting Congressman would humiliate her so bad in public.  I'm betting her maturity level is right down there with Nancy Mace's, who yesterday showed some sort of silhouette of her supposedly naked body in an attempt to humiliate her ex-boyfriend.   Dear Lord, what is wrong with these people?

Buy now, Save later

 Wow!  the sun is shining brightly, that's nice, however the temp is a crispy cool 48 (F).  Clouds are going to be rolling in later this afternoon.  Hopefully, I'll be able to get my little lawnmower out and hit the front yard, otherwise the grass will be growing for another week before it gets a trim.

I found a dead mouse floating Howie's water bowl this morning.  This is the second time I've found one and for the life of me I don't know how they can climb up the sides of a shiny, porcelain bowl to take their final swim.

Work was interesting yesterday.  Mondays are usually a slow day, and we had steady foot traffic in the flooring department.  I got a measure, a credit card, and had over $5000 in sales, and I was not alone.  I have no idea why so many are having things done.  Perhaps it's because things are going to be getting more expensive.

In a way, I'm doing the same thing by buying a new printer.  Prices are going to go up and I don't want to pay a higher price.  Later this morning I'm going to be having 4 new tires put on my car.  I believe that May, 2025 prices will hurt my bank account less that July or August prices.  Since I'm going to need new tires for my car to pass inspection, I'm buying them now.  It's those stupid tariffs, you know?  The ones where the American consumer is going to be screwed over so the wealthiest people in the country can get a tax break.  And, in case you're wondering how many trade agreements have been signed since the tariffs were announced, I have a small graphic which will explain everything.

Of course, they do have concepts of deals, and concepts of frameworks for deals, but when it comes to the signed, sealed, and delivered, signature on the binding document deals there is zilch.  Nada.  Not a single deal.    At first Orangie was spinning the lie that countries would pay for the tariffs, but, after Walmart told the world they were passing those tariffs onto the consumer, he started shrieking how corporations, not countries, were going to have to swallow those extra charges.  Those prices should be apparent to his cultists by the end of the month, a short 11 days away.

Orangie's also going to push for the cuts in Medicaid because the 1% need a tax break.  Their belief is that because they employee so many others who are paying taxes, they, themselves should not have to.  I'm starting to see articles shouting out the warning that these cuts will be suicidal to the Republicans.  Instead of understand, however, they're hell bent on giving the 1% whatever they want.  Remember, the Republican party is the party of Selfishness and Greed.

Credit Dilemma

 By the time I left work yesterday the wind had picked up and was busy blowing away the warm weekend weather and leaving space for cooler temps to rush in, and rush they did.  When I got up this morning our temps were hovering in the mid 50s (F) and the skies are overcast.  The temps might make it up to 70 (F) if we're lucky, and the cloudy skies will remain as rain will be moving into the area for the next few days.  If the long range forecast is correct, our temps will not rise above 75 (F) for the next 2 weeks.  So, is summer going to be cool?   We shall have to wait and see.

The flooring department was busy yesterday.  Two big ticket installations were processed, one of which was mine for over $10,000.  Wowza!  My customer put that charge on 2 different credit cards, something I'd never do.   There was an actual sale going on when she was measured which would have reduced this cost by almost $1000, but she chose to wait, possibly because she knew she was going to be putting it on 2 separate cards.  I feel bad when I see people doing things like this since it tells me they're not balancing things well as they go through life.

My new printer arrives today.  I'm excited.  I'm going to be moving some things around in the writing room.

I gave Howie a walnut this morning.  He played with it for a long time but never ate it.  I also took a picture of him out walking by one of my Itoh peonies.  I'm glad he stayed red, I was concerned he might end up a yellow lab.

I watched a clip of Scottie Bessent on some talky show yesterday attempting to blow off America's downgrade by Moody's.  Scottie's not too happy.  The words he was spitting out didn't come close to matching the look on his face.  This downgrade happened on his watch and he knows in the end, unless we get an upgrade shortly, he will be blamed.  He's learning that you can not run the country as if it were a business.  Because of that downgrade the stock market is going to drop today.   This is the Republicans fault.  They are the reason the country is so deep in debt.  In a way, they're like my customer who wants that carpet so bad she's going to put the total cost on 2 credit cards.  Orangie wants a tax break, and so they're going to borrow more money in order to give it to him.

On Joe Biden's cancer diagnosis:  Prostate cancer is one of the most curable forms of cancer.  It is very slow moving.  For his cancer to have reached this stage, metastasizing and into his bones, quite likely he's known about it for quite some time.  In fact, this may be the real reason he dropped out of the presidential race.  It is a sad day.  He's given a lot for this country, and I feel bad that he has to suffer towards the end of his days.

The Supply Chain

 Well, it looks like we have a sunny Sunday in store for Central PA.  Temps to climb up into the mid 80s (F) with nary a cloud in sight, at least for the time being.  Yesterday was quite similar, until the clouds rolled in.  There was a tiny threat of a thunderstorm, but it passed without so much as a single drop falling.

Yesterday was one of those days.  Work was pretty much meh.  We might have made plan, though that's doubtful.  This past week has not been good.  I did learn that during Covid the orange retailer I work for began buying components for the products assembled in the US from a number of countries other than China, though still buy many from China.  This means we shouldn't have supply chain issues with more of our products.  That "most" however does not apply to our holiday merchandise, all of which has one country of origin: China, so Halloween and Christmas, if things continue, are going to be a bit bare.

A young boy came up to me yesterday and asked "does this store sell La Bubus?"  Never having heard of it, I told him no, and then searched to see what a La Bubu was.  It's a small, trendy doll that reminds me of the gnomes they used to sell when I was in high school.

And, when I left work I discovered that the left rear tire on my car was flat.  Well, hell's bells!  Since I haven't changed a tire in what?  50 years?  I had a young friend change it for me.  Back when I had the car inspected, I'd been told that I was going to need new tires if I wanted it to pass inspection again and the plan was to buy 4 new ones in June.  Well, that's been changed.  I'm getting the new tires on Tuesday.

I've started taking lots of pictures of my roses.  Here's one.

So, one of them any questions out there is:  will Walmart cave?  From the indicators I'm seeing, they're going to tell the Orange Anus to sit on it and rotate.  While his cultists might blame Walmart, many more Americans will blame Orangie.  This is a good thing.

Orangie also seems to be hitting the Lava Anger stage with the Supreme Court.  Their decisions are foiling his attempts at being a dictator and that's pisses him off.  I understand that he's threatening to relocate terrorists near their homes.  The John Robert's court is the reason we have this shit show.  They're the ones who granted him immunity last summer.  Some day we might find out what their reasoning was behind that bad decision.

And his threats are also being directed at ABC News; they keep bringing up that Qatari bribe and Orangie wants people to stop talking about it, or at least someone on his staff does.  Every time that plane gets mentioned he looks bad and with his approval rating continuing to sink, looking bad is not an option.

And finally, a lot of people are blaming Biden for Orangie's victory.  People want to put that infamous responsibility on one person and, unfortunately, Biden was the one who chose to run for a second term.  Because of that decision, there were no Democratic primaries.  That fact alone put Harris at a disadvantage.  Primaries are when the candidate goes from state to state introducing himself to the American people.  Without the primaries, Harris had to waste valuable campaign time doing that very thing.  There are a number of reasons why we have what we have today in the United States, but Biden's choosing to not be a caretaker president is a big one.

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.

Comey's Numbers Game

 We're supposed to be under a fog warning.... No fog.  There is a possibility for thunderstorms this morning as well; more rain that we don't really need right now.  Weather forecasters are saying that this weekend should be nice, but I work.  They're also saying that next week is going to be a repeat of last week with a daily chance of showers and thunderstorms.

Things were slow in the home improvement retail world yesterday.  I did set up a measure for a carpet installation in a rental property.  The owner's putting in really cheap carpet.  The owner told me she's going cheap because the tenant that moving out did some serious carpet damage.  She didn't say what, but most of the time the damage is pet related; they have a cat that doesn't always go in the liter box.  Otherwise the day was slow.  I got in lots of steps.

I will have to try and get some lawn work in today.  The grass in the backyard needs to be wacked.  Hopefully, if there are any thunderstorms in the area, they will skirt my house.  

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is getting so many great reviews, I'm thinking it might get Game of the Year.  It was developed by Sandfall Interactive, with a small of team of between 20 and 30 people.  At present, I've completed 17% so I've much more to play.

My Itoh peonies are starting to bloom, and yes, they're yellow and peach in color.

Walmart is raising prices.  That shouldn't surprise anyone.  The Walton family needs more money, so does the Walmart corporation.  They need to keep Wall Street happy, so rather than take a tiny hit, and for them the hit would be rather small, they're going to pass those price increases onto the consumers.  There are a lot of Walmart shoppers in both Blue and Red states, so all will pay, but Red states tend to be poorer, so it will hit them harder.  What will cause Walmart to actually consider taking that hit?  Consumers curtailing their spending.  This will happen automatically as inflation kicks picks up speed.  Unfortunately for most shoppers, billionaires are unaffected by these price increases, so they will try and sit this out.  My advice to anyone who needs to make a purchase, by now while the savings are hot.

Has the Orange Anus completed his giveaway trip to the middle east?  What an asshole.  He's dealing with countries that sponsor anti-Christian terrorists.  While he, himself is in no way shape or form a Christian, there are many Americans and Europeans who are and his gifts are going to keep growing the hate.  Also keep in mind, those billion dollar deals Orangie loves bragging about very rarely come to fruition.

Finally James Comey did something with seashells that has the Cultists running around like their hair was on fire.  For those who missed it, he used 8647.  In slang, 86 means to get rid of because it's no longer necessary.  If we have a white subway tile that's no longer in stock and not coming back, we will 86 the sku number.  So, in a roundabout way, Comey might have possibly said we should 86 the 47th president, i.e. Orangie.  There are a lot of ways to 86 Orangie:  impeach him again; arrest him: make life so difficult for him he flies home to Mother Russia.  The cultists are, however, choosing a different meaning because they are extremists.  Personally, I'd rather have that asshole sitting in a jail cell.

Trump Bends Over

 We're under a flood warning.  Overnight we've had between 1 and 2 inches of rain, with possibly another inch on the way.  Today was supposed to be partially cloudy and warmer.  That forecast has been put on hold for the time being.  Right now the outside temp is 62 (F) and a drizzly, misty rain is falling.  Wonderful.

Yesterday was kind of a meh day.  That doesn't mean that I didn't do anything, I did.  I had lunch with my cousin and her husband.  Mexican.  I had a chicken chimichanga.  It was delicious.  We all had fried ice cream for desert.  I've had it before, and this was... not quite as good as I remember.  There was less crunch and not as much cinnamon.  We're planning on hitting a Russian restaurant next, some place called Tatiana's.  I will have to do a search and see what their menu looks like.

For some reason, perhaps boredom, about 2 hours after I was home I ate 2 large pieces of that pizza I made.  That was not a good idea.  Immediately afterwards I felt bloated, and that bloat hung with me for the rest of the evening.  Now my shoulders are a bit achy and there's a crankiness in my stomach.  Crap.  Was it something I ate?  I've had this before.  The crankiness as well as a pain in the upper left side of my chest and down my left arm.  Of course I thought the worst and made an appointment to see my doctor.  It turned out I was developing an ulcer, one that was not caused by the Orange Anus.

So, when I checked my bank account this morning, I discovered the great orange retailer is popping a special $$ into my account tomorrow, a day that isn't a payday.  I'm impressed, how about you?

The shit show was truly on display yesterday, from the Orange Anus kissing up the Saudis, to Kristi Noem being lectured, to Robert Kennedy Jr saying that people should not take advice from him when it comes to vaccines.

Noem was thanked for taking out from her constant costume changes and photo ops to come in to testimony.  She was totally unprepared to be questioned and looked like a petulant 14 year-old who's already had way to much plastic surgery refusing to answer, and when she did, she lied, and her lies were obvious and thrown back in her face.

There were outbursts during Kennedy's hearing, one happened when he was asked why he had stopped funding research for children's cancer.  Of course he denied doing so; I'm sure his brain worm must have cringed at the outburst.  He also denied saying that there were millions of dead fetus parts in the measles' vaccine, and there was another outburst.  His brain worm simply doesn't understand that everything this man says is recorded, and reported, and there is so much proof that he's lying.

And a funny thing about that Qatari jet; it seems as though they've been trying to sell it for 4 years and have had no luck getting a buyer.  Perhaps it's because no one wants to buy a flying, golden whorehouse.  Or maybe no one wanted to spend hundreds of millions of dollars refurbishing it.  So, basically what they did was dump it into Orangie's happy hands.  They know how to play this fool.

The truly funniest thing, however was Pete Buttigieg saying, "I may be gay, but Trumps the one who keeps bending over." 

Mud

 And the rain continues.  The temps hovered in the low 60s (F) yesterday, and today is going to be a repeat.  The forecast called for showers this morning.  What we're really getting is periods of steady rain, with the occasional moments of light, misty rain.  Looking out the picture window in my writing room, I feels as though Central PA has been relocated to the Northern Pacific, somewhere just east of the Olympic peninsula.  Weather forecasters are calling for an end to the rain tomorrow, and Friday is supposed to be nice.

One thing all of this rain does bring is mud, I can vouch for the veracity of that statement because I have a 9 month old Labrador, a water dog, a breed that enjoys digging in the dirt, or, when we have steady rain for 2 days, the mud.  Howie was a real mess this morning; cleanup was both interesting and messy.  One of the smart things I did was buy a large, washable area rug with a brown pattern for my kitchen.  My neighbor, on the other hand, choosing to try and be stylish rather than practical, put a white area rug in her kitchen.  Her family has a Golden Doodle, another breed that given the chance will dig, so I'm suspecting that by now that area rug is fifty shades of mud.

I made a pizza for dinner last evening, or maybe I should say that I made the pizza dough from scratch.  I used to make pizza rather frequently, and as I was putting on the toppings I reminded myself how versatile a meal pizza can be.  You don't always need tomato sauce and pepperoni for toppings.  Anyway, I dumped on too much cheese, but then I like cheese.  My toppings were:  black olives, mushrooms, and pepperoni, and, as I said, a lot of cheese.  Here's what it looked like when it came out of the oven.

So, the Orange Anus is going to keep the plane he's getting from the Qataris.  It's going to cost the tax payers of America a billion dollars to refit it, and he doesn't care because in his mind he deserves everything he wants.  Ben Shapiro is freaking out; this shows how easily the Orange Anus can be bought.  A voice so many cultists listen to is Laura Loomer, she's freaking out.  In a way, this is amusing.  The Qataris knew exactly how upset many Americans would be by their gift.  They want chaos in the United States.  While Americans are focusing on the havoc the Orange Anus is creating, they're running around do what best suits them.

Orangie also signed some sort of weapons deal with the Saudis.  This is the same country that sent most of the attackers on 9/11, of course, it was also announced he was building a Trump Tower there. He's weak, he caves, and he is easily bought off.

Elonia was in Saudi Arabia, too.  He signed some sort of deal with the Saudis to cover their land in Starllink.  Elonia's ketamine junked brain rattles thoughts of him being shrewd.  The Saudis know exactly how his douche brain works.  They know what kind of information he's going to try and steal from their people and they're going to let him do it.  When he's done, they'll shut him down the way he's been shut down in so many other countries.

And, finally, the Republican House is planning or raising the debt ceiling by $4 trillion dollars to pay for a billionaire tax break.  They don't understand that they, themselves, are going to be broken for this.

 

Cutting Carpet

 The rain has returned.  For today and tomorrow, my days off, of course, steady soaking rains are in the forecast.  Temps will hover in the mid 60s (F), so that means another return to sweatpants and sweatshirts.  Our future forecast doesn't look much sunnier.  Showers and thunderstorms are scattered throughout the long range forecast.  All of this rain we're getting is coming up from the south, so while we here in Central PA are dealing with the persistent showers, those down south are dealing with heavy rains.

Work was interesting.  When I got there, the full time associate had already left for the day; he'd mentioned taking his granddaughter to see Thunderbolts on Sunday.  Our aisle associate called to say he was coming in late; it was a beautiful sunny day and he doesn't like to work.  So it was me... any my supervisor.  Ten minutes after I sat down at the flooring desk a customer showed up wanting 16 linear feet of carpet.  Cutting that much carpet is a 2 person job and I was by myself.  As I stepped out into the middle aisle to see who was available, my supervisor returned.  When I asked her to help cut the carpet she said, "I can't.  I have to go to lunch.  I have a meeting," and walked away.  Hell's Bells!  She's in charge of the department and she's prioritizing her lunch over customer service.  So I reported her to the Specialty Manager.  I do believe she has time management issues.

Here's an updated pic of the Greek Oregano I'm growing on the windowsill. It's coming along nicely.

So, during my boring moments at work I look at social media on my phone.  Yesterday there was a lot of chatter about the $400 million jet that the Qataris are giving the Orange Anus.  From some of the clips I saw I'd have to say he is not happy with all of the questions he's getting ask.  I truly enjoyed the clip where he snapped at the reporter from ABC news.  Wow! the anger in his voice.  He was furious at the sniveling audacity of a news reporter to ask him about the legitimacy of accepting gifts from foreign countries worth millions.  And, as everyone should have expected, he lied.  He said that the plane was a gift to the US military when in reality it is a gift to him; when he leaves office that plane becomes the property of the Orange Anus presidential library, which means it is his.  He owns it.  And he's not going to let it go.

Oh, and he signed an Executive Order reducing the prices of drugs.  Don't believe it.  Big Pharma is going to take that order to court and years from now, when they've won, they will take that piece of paper and use it to wipe their asses.

Selfie #4

 It looks like there is another nice day in store for Central PA with temps in the upper 70s and clear sunny skies, and of course I do have to work today.  I am off tomorrow and the forecast is for overcast skies and rain.  In fact, the next few days rain is expected daily.  I suppose this has something to do with that rainy weather pattern that's going to be soaking the southeast moving north as it moves out over the Atlantic Ocean.

And I did work yesterday.  It was slow.  I did, however, get a measure.  An older woman's middle-aged son brought her in for a measure.  They picked out an nice middle of the road carpet for the master bedroom, and a cheap carpet of the rest of the bedrooms.  Now, when I say cheap, I mean cheap; $9.90 a square yard.  In fact, this carpet was so cheap we don't install it.  This led to a dilemma, with him telling her that it taken her so long to pick out the carpet.  When he went to pick out another carpet that was of similar color, she turned to me and said, "he can be suck a prick."  My personal opinion is that he's a bit frothy in the brain.

Even though I did work yesterday, it was a short day.  Usually I work 7.5 hours, but yesterday I was only scheduled for 6.  That hour and a half difference is so nice, I might have to change my availability, at lest for the summer.

I'm playing a French game right now, Clair Obscur; Expedition 33 and last night one of the main characters died.  I have never played a game in which this has happened, companions have died, but never one of the main characters.  Complicating things even more, a new character was introduced, an individual who was part of the first expedition, Expedition 0, 67 years earlier, and this character hasn't aged.  You also find out that there are other members of that first expedition alive, some who will let everyone else die in order to remain young.  This may go down as one of my all time favorite games!

And, from time to time I attempt to take a selfie with Howie.  Here's selfie #4.

So, I see the Orange Anus caved on the tariffs again.  Main stream media isn't putting it that way, though, they're saying that there appears to be a mutual agreement between the China and the United States.  Did anyone of them say that on the first day, the Chinese walked out after about 15 minutes?  I don't think so.  Well, they did.  I heard that they went into the talks and asked for 2 things:  respect, and a pause in the tariffs while negotiations were in progress and Orangie's team said no.  So they walked.  Realizing that this was going to make Bessent and his team look like the biggest douchebags in history, yesterday Scottie and his team caved.  The Chinese are respected and the tariffs are paused for another 90 day.  One really needs to check to see which Republicans snapped up stocks on Friday, because now Wall Street is doing firecrackers!

Retail

 Well it's Sunday morning, the temp is in the mid 50s (F), and the day is predicted to be nice.  I have a 7 hour shift today, so I'm really too concerned about the weather.  Tomorrow is supposed to be a repeat of today and I only work the late afternoon shift, so I plan to get out my weed wacker.  Tuesday?  My first day off?  Rain is in the forecast.

The store did gangbusters in sails this last Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, but then sales began slacking off.  I suspect we made plan yesterday because of garden.  This past Wednesday in flooring?  Wow!  Sales were through the roof.  Over $31,000, however only about $6000 was in installations.  A large majority of that was in walk-in sales.  Customers were walking in and buying pallets of vinyl plank flooring.  This was so massively unusual, we flooring specialists put our collective heads together and decided this was the result of the tariffs beginning to show up.  Prices are going to go up, and while they might come down a little once this tariff tax is over, they're never going to come back down to where they are now.

The neighbors were loud again last evening, but only from 10:30 until 11:00, then the music was turned off.  Their kid is home from college, and I guess that Dad goes to bed at 11:00, and there's no consideration for the neighbor. They don't seem to understand I can be just as loud as they are.  This is how it goes.

And my purply bush is blooming again.

Orangie's blow bro Vlad gave a speech last evening, made everybody wait and hour, and then was pretty sour.   I suspect old Vlad is bigly mad.  Europe is uniting in way he never considered.  They talking massive sanctions, which is not what Vlad wants.  He thought his blow bro Orangie would save the day except it turns out Orangie has fumble fingers in his brain.  He ain't got no respect.  Orangie's approval rating is in the toilet, not only in America, but around the world.  Our allies of old ignore his buffoonery.  Sadly, the main stream media, desperate for access to his mental decline, is soft pedaling his dementia.  They're actually lying for him.  Here's an example:  The Washington Post had a headline this morning saying that Orangie's brokered peace deal between India and Pakistan was falling apart.  The funny thing about that peace deal was that both India and Pakistan said the Orangie was not involved, that they had negotiated among themselves.  And now that their peace deal is falling apart, Orangie looks bad because he tried to take credit for it.  Boo Hoo.

Stromboli

 Well, chill my bones, the outside temps was 47 (F) this morning.  We also have a bit of breeze, meaning you'll have to calculate in a chill factor if you want to know how cold it really feels outside.  Today is supposed to warm up into the 70s (F), but right now, with the temps lower than 50 (F) my heat is on... in May.  Cheesh.

I do get to work today.  Fun stuff.  With the weather looking to be nice, I'm sure our Outside Garden department will be busy; people buying patio sets that will really never be used as much as their inside furniture.  This either says they have a lot of disposable income, or they're trying to impress the neighbors.  While enjoy sitting out in a comfortable lawn chair on occasion, I'm not one to sit out everyday.  I own both a lawn chair and a recliner, both only get used occasionally, that's why they were both cheap.

There was some excitement here yesterday.  Howie brought a bird into the house.  I didn't know what it was when I first saw it sticking out both sides of his mouth.  When I realized there were tail feathers sticking out the right side of his mouth and a bird's head out the left side, I spoke French.  Luckily it was dead, otherwise it would have been difficult to pry his new toy away from him.  As it was, he opened his mouth quite readily for a puppy peanut butter cookie, and the dead bird was quickly dispatched over the fence so nature can run it's course.

I made a stromboli for dinner yesterday.  It was okay.  I was lazy and used Pillsbury pre-made pizza dough.  Big mistake.  Being lazy is neither smarter nor better.  The dough had some sort of sweet bread-like flavor, which is not what I'm used to tasting.

I was talking to my sister yesterday about the new Pope and, as usual, the Orange Anus came up in our conversation, my brother in law is a big fan of Orangie.  Anyway, she told me that she couldn't understand why he needed to be on TV every single day, so I explained his appearances had to do with his ego.  When he's on TV people talk about him, and he desperately needs to have people talking about him.  She went even farther by saying, "Dave, he doesn't make sense.  He just talks and you don't even know what he's talking about."  So, I told her that's his dementia speaking.  His handlers know that his cultists love to hear him ramble through inanity after inanity, and believe me, he does have handlers; they're the ones who are actually running the government.  Because of this, he's going to be signing a televised Executive Order everyday simply for his own benefit.  

Pole Leo (IVX, or something like that)

 Say "hello" to a chilly, rainy day.  I have my thermometer set at 68 (F) which seems downright toasty when compared to the 48 (F) it is outside.  In case you're wondering, it's not going to get much warm, with the high today only reaching the mid 50s (F).  Oh, and by rainy, I mean that so far we've had steady rain, with occasional downpours.  Our weekend might be warm and sunny, but I work.

And, speaking of work, I sort of did that yesterday.  I sat in a chair at the flooring desk and talked to... oh, maybe 3 customers.  Our sales were good, but they're all online orders.  Sales figures for the specialists are all down.  In spite of this, the store has done booming business so far this week.  The spring buyers are coming out.  This is a yearly event.  Sales will continue to build until we reach Memorial Day, then they will again slack off.  

And just like that, the Orange Anus is no longer the most powerful American in the world.

Several thoughts:  First, this was quick, he was chosen on the 3rd vote, and 3 is a very Christian number.  Second, they say he's a moderate, but his views definitely have a liberal bend, so I expect him to continue to expand the inclusiveness begun by Pope Francis.  Third, this was a political move to counter Donald Trump, especially in America.  While Evangelicals are loud and shrieky, there are a lot more Catholic voters in America than there are Evangelicals.  For those unaware, the Orange Anus setup  an Anti-Christian Bias Committee helmed by Pammie Jo Bondi.  In a speech last week, Pammie Jo said that the committee already had the FBI looking into several parishes because of their corruption.  So, I suspect this is much bigger deal than just having an American Pope.

One of the great things about yesterday's announcement of a new pope was that it sucked the life out of the Orange Anus's pseudo announcement of a trade deal.  In reality, it's not really a trade deal, but more of a concept of a trade deal.  I follow a gent named Justin Wolfers who is an Australian Economist who, besides being right on the money, is also funny.  He originally predicted Orangie's concept of a Trade Deal would be a single page with 3 headers and several bullet points.  He apologized yesterday for being wrong.  In reality, Orangie's concept of a trade deal was a page and a half long, though still only had 3 headers and several bullet points.  

And finally:  Jeanine Pirro, also known as the Ms. Box of Wine, is leaving Fox.  Honestly, I think that's more important than the position she's supposed to be taking up, just another hatchet attorney for Orangie.  If Orangie keeps staffing his administration with Fox Entertainers, it might go off the air.

Bucket Garden

 We have sunshine for the time being.  The outside temps are in the mid 50s (F), so this morning was cool, but nice.  However, clouds and showers are on the way.  They should be arriving sometime this afternoon, but that's okay, I'll be at work.  Tomorrow, however, is another story.   If the forecasters are correct we should have showers and thunderstorms throughout the day, and temps are supposed to drop.  The nighttime low is predicted to fall into the 40s (F), and that's cool.

I'm pleased to say that yesterday was a good day for getting things done, including a mowing of the yard.  My bucket garden is complete.  Laundry was done, thought I used the dryer for the bed linen, the wind blew the drying rack over onto its side the last time they were dried outside.  I got in a nice 25 minute rowing session, and cooked a nice chicken/veggie soup for dinner; leftovers will be dinner tomorrow, when we have a rainy dinnertime.  

Before I go to work, I'm going to mow the backyard.  It's small and shouldn't take long, but Howie will need to be in the house.  He loved yesterday.  I've said this before, and I'll say it again, fencing in my backyard was one of the best things I've done since moving into this house 32 years ago.  He wants to be outside all of the time, and that's fine with me.  And he has started lifting his leg to pee.  Biggie rarely did that.  I had to laugh the first time I saw Howie do it.  He wasn't next to a tree, or a bush, or the fence.  Nope, standing in the middle of the yard, he just lifted his leg.

And instead of posting a pic of Howie watering nature, here's one of my bucket garden.  Some of the buckets I bought at the store; I get a military discount.  There are 13 tomato plants, 2 green peppers, a zucchini, and a cucumber.  Here's hoping I get to harvest some veggies.

And Orangie is going to announce some "super, great, stupendous" tariff deal with the UK this morning.  He does love those glorifying adjectives, doesn't he?  While the details have not been released, I'm betting there's not much difference between this trade deal and the one that was in place two months ago.  Of course, his cultists will gleefully dance around shouting "see! see! he's such a great negotiator!"  All the while ignoring the fact that we have yet to sit down at the negotiating table with China.  Those products we need most do not come from the UK, but from China.  So, while his cultists will be kicking up their heels in joy, a majority of the country will be waiting to see what kind of deals his administration strikes with our Asian trading partners.

Thunderbolts (and Bob)

 Hello sunshine, my old friend... well, for today and tomorrow at least.  The rains are going will return on Friday and, if the long range forecast is correct, next week will be another wet one.  We have bourgeoning flora everywhere.  I will need to mow my lawn today, otherwise I will have a field.

I got a nice band/dumbbell workout in yesterday.  I increased the weight on my bands to 50 lbs.  Nice.

My neighbor's son returned from college yesterday; he goes to Temple University in Philadelphia.  When the house was rehabbed, the contractor drywalled the attic, however there was only one electrical outlet and no heat.  Still, they decided it would make a great bedroom for him.  There was an additional problem in that the roof has a steep pitch which decreased the amount of actual living space; he's over 6 feet tall.  Last evening they moved his furniture down into an empty bedroom on the 2nd floor (1st floor for my European readers).  There was a lot of angry cursing, swearing, and bangings late into the early morning hours.  

And last evening, before I had to listen to my neighbors, I went to see Thunderbolts.  A while back I'd heard that Marvel Studios was going to be taking a much darker approach to their films after they realized they had a hit on their hands with Wandavision.  The mood is not darker, superheroes without the glitz.  The move was smart, dealing with suppression and repression.  These heroes are not super, they have problems which are prioritized, and at times, the movie is very dark.  I can see Florence Pugh getting a nomination, her performance is that good.

Of course, Prime Minister Carney from Canada had an uncomfortable sit down with the Orange Anus yesterday, he did not try and hide his distaste.  Surrounded by the press, Orange stayed true to form, at one point beginning to ramble about Obama building his library in Chicago and how badly it was going.  This as an almost 5 minute demonstration on how Orangie's mind wanders.  Wisely, Carney chose to give his public comments back at the Canadian embassy, rather than stand next to Orangie in some tackily gold drenched briefing room.

In other shades of this shit show, Scotty Bessent admitted that there were no negotiations going on with China on the tariffs.  Intermediaries for both countries are supposed to meet in Switzerland next week.  First it was 90 trade deals in 90 days, now it's 17 or 18 countries they are supposedly negotiating with, however they're keeping the names of those countries secret, which means Orangie is probably giving away the store to the Saudis and the Ruskies.

Finally, a bit of humor.  Linda McMahon, the Secretary of Education, who's far more ruthless than she is smart, sent a letter to Harvard University.  They edited it for her and posted their correction on social media.