Great News

Our temps did not drop below freezing last night.  This is a good thing for this time of year.  The forecast for the next three days, however, is for drizzles.  That's right Spring showers have arrived early.  At least sprinkles are better than the cold that brings with it snow flurries, or snow.  Spring never promised to be warm and sunny.  

And yesterday was a good day... a very good day.  The HVAC from Berkheimer arrived early, around 0740.  He spent about a half hour down examining my furnace, doing testing and taking readings before coming and telling me there is absolutely nothing wrong with my furnace.  There is nothing wrong with my heat exchanger.  He told me that a candle puts more carbon monoxide into the air than my furnace does.  And on top of that, they did not charge me for the service call.  For those of you who live in the area, that's F.M Berkheimer.

So, what did I do with this Great News?  I filed a complaint against Bowman HVAC with Home Depot, and I was told that their contract as a service provider  will end in about a month.  This is not because of all the complaints Home Depot has been getting, rather it's the fact that Bowman has been acquired by a much larger group who only wants to work in larger urban areas.  Servicing rural customers does not earn them enough money.  Fortunately the large, orange home improvement retailer I work for understands the importance of building up brand loyalty among those who are more than 30 minutes away.

Of course, the Debby Downer is the Orange Anus in the White House and his drunken fratboy Secretary of War defense.

According to them, the war in Iran will now last 2 months.  They know this because Hegseth found that number on one of the pages of his Christian Nationalist Bible.  That number is also in one of his White Supremacists tats, and nothing can refute the truth in the ink.  Of course, he's also telling people that Jesus anointed the Orange Anus, and even though Orangie's not the least bit religious, he loves believing he's been anoionted.

In other Great News, primary season has begun.  Democrats are soaring while Republican candidate after Republican candidate is in run-off elections because the GOP is splintering.  Talarico won in Texas, Cooper in North Carolina, while Crenshaw, an Orangie boot licker, is out.  MAGA cultists couldn't decide which hate monger to vote for, so Cronin and Paxton will be in a run-off election, so will Congressman Gonzales, he's the one who had an affair that ended in a staffer's suicide by immolation.

Evacuation Orders

Well, we're dealing with a wintry mix.  Well, that's not quite right.  Mostly we're dealing with a drizzle.  The temps are borderline freezing, but that 1/10th of an inch of ice has yet to put in an appearance.  This doesn't mean there isn't a glaze on the windshield of my car, there is, but is it 1/10th of an inch thick?  I'll find out later when I go to the store.

Yesterday, retail was slow.  The store didn't make plan last week, but was on track to hit our $$$ goal when I left.  So, mostly it was a lap day.  I did get in my steps, and that's about all I did.  We did cut some indoor/outdoor carpet for a young man who was going to put it in his Jon boat.  I had no idea what kind of boat that was, so after he left I Googled it.  A Jon boat is a flat-bottomed boat with a shallow draft that is used in streams, rivers, ponds and lakes where the water is flat without waves.  The Jon boat doesn't like waves.  Consider this your bit of boat studies for today.

A tech from Berkheimer should be here shortly to evaluate my furnace.  Update coming tomorrow.

And I work with an associate who was born in Lebanon, the country, but who grew up in Kuwait.  His wife owns an apartment in Marrakesh.  Usually once a year they will go there for at least a month.  This year they also took a quick jaunt to Istanbul.  He was surprised that I've never been there.  I kid him about not bringing back souvenirs, and this year he brought one back.  It's pretty and hangs on the wall.  He knows the man who makes these, so if you have any interest in purchasing one, let me know and I'll put you in touch with him.

And thanks to Marco Rubio we now know that we initiated the war with Iran because Netanyahu convinced the Orange Anus that if Israel attacked Iran, that Iran would then attack the United States.  As so many people have already said, Orangie is not the brightest color in the box, nor is he the sharpest tack.  The US government is waring Americans to leave 15 countries in the Middle East. so I guess this means that a trip to Istanbul is off.  But this does go back to what I've said before on Orangie being so easily manipulated.  

And, of course, Orangie did was supposed to about America's servicemen and how terrible it was that we had already lost a few lives in this unnecessary conflict, and after a few moments change the subject to something more near and dear to his heart, his ballroom, the cost of which has now ballooned up to $400 million.

Finally, the videos of both Hillary's and Bill's depositions were released yesterday.  Talk about taking no prisoners!  They both realized the GOP was doing nothing more than kicking dead horses.  The bit where Hillary learns that Brainless Boebert took a picture of her and had it posted on line is simply priceless.  Both Comer and Boebert can be heard babbling in the background as Hillary slices and dices.  Why are Republicans so stupid?

Trump is so Easily Manipulated

 We've got a super mini cold front starting to pass over Central PA.  Today's high will be in the low to mid 30s (F).  That's a lot better than 19 (F).  Tomorrow morning the sky is going to spit of bit of sleet and rain that might be up to 1/10th of an inch thick, and the precipitation will only fall for a few hours.  Then the freezing drizzle will stop and things will begin to warm up.  I can live with this.

Retail yesterday was slow.  We definitely missed our plan last week.  Whispers are circulating that supervisors are going to be moved.  I'm hoping this means that our current supervisor is assigned a new position where she will not adversely effect sales.  The words "qualifying the customer" do not exist in her vocabulary.  Yesterday there were 2 sets of people in the department, a husband and wife were looking at rolled carpet, and a family were looking at vinyl plank flooring.  Both had been greeted.  Both had said they were browsing.  She walked into the department, looked at them, and said, "those are 2 sales."  When I explained that we had already talked to them, she frowned, and repeated, "those are 2 sales."  She will never understand.

And this morning I'm starting my first workout.  It should run around 50 minutes.  I should have more than enough time to finish it and still get ready to go to work.

And this is very important.

I see this morning that the war in the Middle East is expanding.  No surprise there.  Three of our fighter plans were shot down by friendly fire by Kuwait.  This makes me wonder if they are really our allies.  The Orange Anus originally said this was going to run 4 or 5 days.  He's now saying 4 to 5 weeks.  Tell, are those going to be famous last words?  I saw that Netanyahu left Israel for safer ground.  He's another gutless sack of shit.  Whispers are saying that for the past several weeks both Netty and Prince Bubble Brain of Saudi Arabia have been plying Orangie's ears with manipulative praise.  Sadly, this makes more sense to me than the fact that he might have initiated WWIII because of the Epstein Files.  His ego lives for praise.  World leaders know that all they need to do is tell him he's the greatest thing that's every happened to the world and he will drop to his knees faster than a two bit whore.  He lives for the Fool's Gold.  Sadly, many innocent people will have to pay with their lives.  

Trainwell

 So, our overnight temp did not drop below freezing.  This is good when you want the snowpack to melt.  It's also a very good sign that spring, which is only 19 days away, is going to be here sooner rather than later.  That doesn't mean we here in Central PA are going to have cold spots, in fact we are going to have 2 today and tomorrow when our daily highs will not get out of the mid 30s (F).  However, by next Tuesday and Wednesday we should be up in the low 70s (F).  Since I don't work those days, I plan on getting a little yardwork in.

And I did manage to sell 3 measures yesterday in spite of how slow the store was.  We are well over $100,000 under plan for the week.  I will be hitting my sales go and my measure goal, however, that should keep management happy for a while.  I also get to work today.  I'm hoping it will be another slow day.  I have no problem spending 8 hours getting laps in.  Steps are good.

Since we're starting a new month, sometime later this morning, possibly when I'm at work I will be reactivating my Trainwell subscription.  What the past 2 months have proven to me is that I do need those daily notes, and texts reminding me that a workout needs to be completed.  I don't know if it's my age, but I do seem to be becoming a rather lax individual when it comes to working out. 

And the Iran issue continues to be the headline attraction for Orangie, and he has, momentarily pushed the Epstein files onto the back burner.  However, it's quite possible he's jumped from the frying pan into the fire.  One thing that has changed is that now Orangie is telling the world the attacks on Iran were for regime change.  This is coming form a guy who's constantly lying about tariffs, and who's failing to convince the American people that other countries pay them.  Regime change has never worked.  History proves this point over and over again.  But then Republicans and Conservatives have never been too smart.  They think all that they need to do is say "shut up, we're in charge," and the people will listen.  They are simply not prepared for the consequences.  I saw where the Netanyahu's government has said there will be no "boots on the ground."  Well, we all know that's horseshit.  The only way that would happen if the Iranian Army would suddenly start shouting "Yippee!  Skippy!  We're glad you're here."  They are already forming another hardline government.  The GOP and the Israelis just don't understand that those Iranians are just like the parties that are in power in both the United States and Israel, though the Iranians don't have people who suffer from bone spurs in charge.

Tiny Little Putin

We're above freezing and our high this afternoon is expected to be in the low 60s (F).  Tomorrow night another cool front is going to be moving through Central PA.  The original forecast had us receiving about 2 inches of snow.  That has now been changed to rain, with smattering of ice late Monday night into Tuesday morning.  After that, temps are going to zoom upwards.  There are actually a few days in which we're expecting to breach the 60 (F) barrier.

And yesterday was one of those, hhhmm, lets get this done sort of of days.  I set up the dehumidifier in the basement.  Thinking that my basement was rife with humidity, I set it up to run nonstop.  This morning, I reset it, taking it off nonstop and setting the humidity lever at 45%.  I also did some research online.  Most of my humidity problems will happen during the spring and summer, not the fall and winter.  This means the new dehumidifier will probably be sitting in standby mode until April or May.  That's fine.  

I also managed to get a little workout in using the new piece of gym equipment.  Tomorrow I'm going to activate Trainwell for another 3 months.  I need to.  I've gained weight.  My trainer and I will have to re-evaluate my workouts since I've changed my hours.  This means I will have to put the rowing machine back together.  I may rearrange the workout room while I'm at it, or maybe not.  

One of the things I did yesterday was back a chocolate olive oil cake... from scratch.  Most recipes are for vanilla or lemon flavored cakes but I was craving deep, dark chocolate, so that's what I made.  With a peanut butter drizzle frosting.  Yum.

So, I guess everyone knows that the Orange Anus, in conjunction with Israel, has started a war with Iran.  This is not a good thing.  It's also the ultimate distraction from the Epstein files, especially after they realized questioning the Clintons was a non-starter.  You can only kick a dead horse so many times before the village idiots begin to lose interest.  That's one of the many things the GOP has never learned.  Keep in mind, Iran and Russia are Best Friends Forever.  It's my understanding that Iran supplies many of the drones to Russia for their war with the Ukraine.  Vlad thought his puppet Orangie would play by Vlad's rules, however Orangie doesn't want the Epstein files to come out because it would be catastrophic for the family business.  If you want to look for a source for all of the shit going down in the world, you need look no further than Vlad Putin, a failing dictator who no matter how grand he sees himself in his head, is really nothing more than a tiny little man, at least this is how history will portray him.

Tkachuk

 It's cold this morning.  22 (F).  This afternoon, however, our temps will again be in the mid 50s (F), and tomorrow in the low 60s (F).  The snow is disappearing.  I have no problem with that.  Both Howie and I are ready for the yard work to commence.  

Yesterday was rather good.  I got a mini-workout in.  Edited 2 chapters of the book.  Ordered a dehumidifier for the basement, that was delivered last evening.  Played Expedition 33.  All in all, I'm pleased so much was accomplished.  And I think that today is going to be pretty much of the same thing.  

One thing I didn't do, which I need to do regularly, is fill the humidifier in the bedroom.  Now, how's that for a mini-paradox, a dehumidifier is going into the basement and a humidifier in the bedroom.  Over the past few years my sinuses have gotten drier and drier.  Every morning I wake up with a sinus headache, and then, about an hour after I'm up and about, the drainage begins, think Niagara Falls type drainage.

I pulled out the paperwork for my furnace from my filing cabinet so I can go in later this morning and see if I can check on the warranty.  In 2012 it was considered a top end model and I paid... are you ready for this?  $5480, and that figure includes the installation.  In the quotes I've been given, that figure is for a low end furnace.  The top line models today are almost triple that $$$ amount.  Now that's what I call inflation!

And speaking of inflation, though now people want to call it affordability, this is from Bloomberg.

And I saw where Brady Tkachuk complained about an AI video the administration pushed out on TikTok in which he calls Canadians Fucking syrup eaters, or something like that.  At a moment in his life, in the lives of all of those on the men's hockey team who went to the White House, when they should be shining stars, they are discovering there's more to life than hockey and sex.   Someone who is as divisive as the Orange Anus will weaponize everything he can to hurt as many as possible.  Orangie doesn't like Canadians because they don't kiss his ass, so Brady became a tool in more ways than one.  The future prospects of Brady, and the others who chose cheeseburgers over anything else, have dimmed.  Brady got punched in the face last night by a Canadian hockey player during a game.  Ouch.  I'm suspecting he's learning how easy it is to hate Donald Trump.

And Hilary had her hearing yesterday.  From what I'm hearing, those stupid Republicans were unprepared, and she ripped them a new asshole.  Bill's up today.  He's is far more intelligent than anyone in the room, and he's is going to smoke them. 

Warranty!!!

 Our temps are sitting just below freezing, but don't worry, they're going to warm up as the day moves on, finally ending in the mid 40 (F) range.  I'm fine with that.  By Saturday we should be sitting in either the upper 50s (F) or low 60s (F).  This is a good thing.  Spring is a good thing.  Of course, there is the possibility of a snow dusting the surrounding region on Tuesday, but I can live with that.

And yesterday turned out to be... well, possibly happily surprising.  I had a furnace appointment with F. M. Berkheimer for around noon, so I wasted the morning thinking about my heating unit problems and that I was going to be dealing with a rather large unwanted expense.  Berkheimer deals with Carrier HVAC products and both and furnace and A/C units are Carrier.  I showed the rep from Berkheimer the video I'd ben sent from Bowman HVAC and he was unimpressed.  He then told me my furnace was quite likely still under warranty.  After looking at my furnace, he told me he doesn't think there is anything wrong with it.  😲😲😲 The Tech from Bowman red flagged my furnace because carbon monoxide and couldn't wait to set up a meeting with their sales rep.  The sales rep from Topline, when first looking at my furnace leaned forward and said, "so I smell gas?"  Followed by his comments about my "wanting to live dangerously," and "wanting to change my will."  So, Berkheimer's going to send out a tech to do another check.  Even if the heat exchanger needs to be replaced, it would be far, far cheaper than buying a new heating system.

After that, my day just seemed to get better.  I began playing Expedition 33.  There's a reason it's really Game of the Year for everybody.  Even the French government has gotten into the act giving the equivalent of Knighthood to the 22 people who designed and wrote the game, which is a first for any game, ever.  Here's a stunning example of how a video game can be an artform.

The fallout continued yesterday from Orangie's failed State of Union speech.  Only about 28 million people watched it.  For those of you wondering, that is probably the sum total of his supporters, including not only the Republican party, but anti-vaxers and the Christian Nationalists, as well.  To be honest, the State of the Union speech has never been one to draw a massive crowd, though that 28 million number is the lowest it's ever been.

And what about those members of the US Men's Hockey Team who went to the White House at Orangie's invitation.  I wonder if they've realized yet he was going to treat them like 2 bit whores.  I mean, as has always been the case, he fed them MacDonalds.  As someone mentioned, there was a time during his first term that his MacDonalds schtick was considered amusing, but now the entertainment value has worn thin.  On the opposite end of the spectrum is the US Women's Hockey Team who are being treated like royalty by just about everyone except Republicans.  The GOP isn't dying in the dark, they're doing it in broad daylight for everyone in the world to see!

Bingo

Good Morning People!  Our temp is sitting right on the freezing mark.  This is a good thing.  Slowly, but surely, the ice and snow are melting.  This afternoon our temps are predicted to climb into the mid 40s (F).  We have the same forecast for tomorrow and Friday.  This is good.  Spring is a little over 3 weeks away and I can not wait for it to be Sprung.

Yesterday was... interesting.  I had meetings with 2 HVAC people.  The first was with Wilbur Plumbing and Heating.  That went very well.  The rep was in my house for a little over half an hour.  Forty minutes after he left, I received an email with four different quotes.  I was impressed.

Around noon the rep from Topline showed up.  He was an overweight older man with bad knees.  I know about the bad knees because it took him almost a minute to go down my basement steps and he told me his knees were falling apart.  It took him just as long to climb back up them.  Did I tell you he was overweight?  He talked about the size of my furnace and basically told me 3 times how much he knew about furnaces.  After the basement excursion, he went out and sat in his car for 45 minutes and built 2 quotes.  After building the quotes, he wanted to sit down and go over them with me.  With an obvious lack of enthusiasm on my part, he began, not with the a description of the furnace, but  with a rubber cuff that wraps around the hoses coming into the house which keeps mice out... and I'm thinking, that's his selling point?  Anyway, he left shortly after that, and he's supposed to be emailing me those quote. 

And for those of you who are interested, you can rent the Shane / Ilya house for only $1000 Canadian a night, however you can't use the fireplace.

Of course, Orangie had his State of the Union speech last evening.  I didn't listen.  He broke a record.  His was the longest State of the Union speech on record.  He also went into it with the lowest approval rating of any president in history.  I didn't watch it, but I know there were those playing State of the Union Bingo.

The Meidas Trouch counter programing had over a million viewers.  I haven't checked to see how many Americans tuned in to listen to the Orange Anus lie, not that it matters.  He will claim it was the highest rated speech in history.  From what I'm seeing, however, no news service is being kind to him except probably Fox and Newsmax.  He desperately tried to play the part of the king by giving out awards to undeserving people, like the Presidential Medal of Freedom to a hockey player.  Many are saying this was basically a rehash of his rally speeches, the only thing missing was his jerk-off dance at the end to YMCA.

Heated Rivalry

 We're cold again.  Back down into the mid 20s (F).  Over the next few days temps will be warming up.  Right now we have full on sunshine, however, the prediction is for it to disappear.  Saturday we will be in the high 50s (F) to low 60s (F), but that temp, too, shall pass.  A week from now we will once again be in the mid to upper 3s (F).  Spring can't get here fast enough.

Yesterday was a work day.  I was number 1 in the department for last week in sales.  That won't happen this week, not that I care.  Within the next week or so I should be getting a pay increase.  That's what's important.  That and the fact that if I last another 2 years in the part-time position, I'll be getting 2 and a half weeks of vacation pay to use in whatever way that I want.  I'm happy with that.  And let's face it, the 20 or so odd hours I spend each week at the flooring desk are not going to break my social calendar.  I'm still doing my lunches, and movies, and video gaming.  As you get older, the idea is to stay busy, not sit back and wait for death to come snatch you away.

Two different HVAC companies are coming today to give me estimates on a new heating system.  To impress upon them the fact that I have connections in the home improvement industry, I'm wearing one of the my Home Depot sweatshirts I've been given over the years.

So, I finally watched Heated Rivalry.  Some parts were very good, like the Scott Hunter bits, and other parts were weak.  The show was overwhelmingly popular with women, mostly because you  could have made the Shane Hollander character Jane Hollander and it would have played out like a straight romance, except with men.  I think a few homophobic slurs in the locker, or even a little more misogynistic sex talk among the players might have given the show a bit more realism.  There would have been a frightening reason for remaining closeted.   However, the representation on national TV was without a doubt the best thing to happen to the gay community in like... forever, even if it did have that Spielberg ending.

And Orangie's first State of the Union speech is this evening.  I'm going to be joining millions of Americans and not watch it.  All he's going to do is lie.  Tonight will be a repeat of everything we've seen over the past year.  He will glory in the attention, all the while spewing deceit, after deceit, after deceit.  No president in history has had a lower approval rating at this point in his presidency.  He is like the our current temperature, the only difference being that our temperature will rise.  That's right, we will heat up while Orange slowly dies in the dead of winter.  

From what I'm hearing, Orangie's going to be kicking at least 2 dead horses, one called Biden and another called Obama.  It's also quite possible he kicked around the lies about election fraud, so that might be a 3rd dead horse.  I also expect him to be seriously medicated, probably a fresh transfusion of young, virginial blood to keep him from soundowning.

Snow

Well, we did get snow. I thought we'd get about 3 inches.  We got a tad bit more, for fell short of the 4 inches forecasters were predicting.  Temp wise we are sitting right at the freezing point, with today's high to be in the upper 40s (F).  Tomorrow our high will not get as high, rising only into the mid 30s (F).  On the bright side, we a little over 3 weeks until Spring officially arrives.  Believe me when I tell you that people here in Central PA are ready and waiting.  

Things were very slow yesterday in the world of home improvement retail.  One of our aisle associates was wondering why, so I told him this is what it's always like in mid-February.  There may have been 5 customers in the store when I left at 6 PM.  When I was a part-time cashier, over 17 years ago, I was lucky if I was scheduled 4 hours a week.  

So, what did I do to pass the time?  Well, I printed off Chapter 6, called B Flat, and spent some time editing and rewriting.  Three new characters are introduced in this chapter: Tsung Park, Violet Murgatroyd, and Netty LaRoux.  She's a cook.  I find her name amusing since there are so many people who have no idea what a roux is.

And, as I said, we did get snow.  Here are some pics.  It sure does look pretty, doesn't it?

And yesterday morning the US Men's hockey team won.  That was great.  Only one thing put a damper on the victory and that was the drunken idiot Kash Patel dancing around with the team, shouting "I won, I won," while on the phone with the Orange Anus.  I don't know about you, but I'd rather a the Director of the FBI demonstrate just a smidgen of dignity rather than chug beer like some over-the-hill frat boy.  Now, I'm not on Zitter, or Twitter, or what ever Musk's social media platform is called, but from what other people are saying, MAGA cultists are not happy with Patel's jig-jigging around.  These people actually thought that the Orange Anus was going to drain the swamp.  Now, they're beginning to realize he is the swamp.

And the State of the Union speech is on Tuesday evening.  For some odd reason I thought it was on last night.  Not that I have any intention of watching it.  Those who do should prepare themselves to hear many lies, not doubt the latest being that Orangie single handedly stopped a drug war in Mexico.

Blizzard of Lies

So, a combination of drizzle and snow is falling, mostly drizzle, a wintery mix their calling it on Accuweather.  We are under winter storm warning.  Two weeks ago we were in a similar situation.  Back then they forecast up to 16 inches of snow and we got about nine inches.  The forecast for today is between 4 and 8 inches, so I'm betting we're going to be on the shy side of 4 inches.  The Jersey shore?  That's another matter.  I do suspect they're going to get hit.

At work yesterday I had a nice hardwood installation go through.  My sales goal for the week is a done deal.  I need another measure to hit my goal.  I'm not even going to attempt to sign someone up for a credit card, as I said before, that's just not in my nature.

My neck of the woods, meaning Mechanicsburg, Camp Hill, as well as Enola, is under a water restriction.  We're supposed to use between 10% - 15% less.  There were a number of comments by dissatisfied customers on Facebook.  One stared with "Ima," not I am or I'm.  Usually, people who use trendy slang do so because they're something in their nature which requires them to be... well trendy.  Slang comes and goes, believe me.  Rarely does it ever become part of the language.

The Orange Anus posted this on his Truth Social account.  Someone needs to tell him that both US Nave Hospital ships, the USNS Mercy and the USNS Comfort, are in drydock down in Mobile, Alabama.  Nobody knows what this is about.  This is what dementia looks like.  

The State of Union speech is tonight.  I will not be watching.  Apparently there are going to be a large number of Democrat no shows.  There will be Epstein survivors in attendance.  I hope they all carry some sort of placard with the words Release the Files.  With his approval rating as low as it is, I don't think this speech is going to matter one bit.  In fact, looking back on this rage speech after the Supreme Court handed him a defeat, I would not be surprised if he doesn't do more damage to himself.    This year's State of the Union speech may go down in infamy, mostly because it will be nothing more than a blizzard of lies  I will wait until afterwards to look at the comments.

And whether true or not, it seems as though Orangie may have called into a CNN talk show using his alias John Barron. He's been known to use this name in the past.  CNN wisely cut him off.

Trump's Bloody Nose

Good Morning, People!  Here in the outer fringes our current temp is 40 (F).  Fringes, you ask?  Why yes, we are on the almost extreme fringe of the possible, and even probably Nor'easter that will be blanketing the easter seaboard with slushy snow. While accumulations down around Philly(Philadelphia for those of you who don't know Pennsylvania) are predicted to be anywhere between 8 and 15 inches, here in central PA there's a 28% chance we'll get 2-4 inches.  There's also a 22% chance we'll get between 1 and 2 inches, and a 19% chance we'll get barely an inch.  Our temps are fairly warm here, so how ever much we get will be slushy.

And yesterday was kind of crap.  I had an appointment yesterday morning to have my furnace checked out by a tech from Bowman HVAC.  Back when I was doing my kitchen redo, a different tech from Bowman came in to give me a plumbing estimate.  That quote was through the roof and I ended up going with Wilbur Plumbing and Heating.   My furnace is over almost 13.5 years old, my basement is damp (120 year old stone foundation) and the tech gave me a doom and gloom report.  He also told me their new heating/cooling systems run between$13,000 and $17,000.  They're sales person asked if I was in a rush and I said "no," so he's going to email me quotes.  I also have 3 other HVAC people coming in next week, one of whom is from Wilbur.  I'm thinking maybe in August or September I'll have the new equipment installed.  

And of course yesterday the Supreme Court ruled against the Orange Anus on his tariffs.  The Guardian said it gave him a bloody nose, so to speak.  Gorsuch implied that the Court treated Orangie different then Biden.  If you saw any of the clips on TV you know how pissed off the bitter, old man was and still is.

He gave the world, besides the 10% Global Duties he now wants the US to charge on every import, so many soundbites, from "I don't have to work with Congress," to "I can destroy any country," that can be used against him.  And if you thought he was bad yesterday, you ain't seen nothin' yet!  His State of the Union speech is coming up on Sunday evening.  Let me tell you, his training wheels are off.  The scab has been ripped off.  Prepare for the most unhinged hour and a half that has ever been televised from the Halls of Congress, unless he's medicated from here to Hell and back.  Oh, and lies.  Get ready for a constant stream of lies.  One funny thing is that Fox Entertainment has worked very hard to make the Cultists glorious as normal as possible.  Now, he's  going to take them down as fast as he takes down the Republican party.  What a joyous moment that will be. 

Board of Peace Grift

Here in Central Pa, we've had steady rain throughout the night.  It was quite heavy at times.  Our current temp is sitting at 36 (F).  Our thermometers should be climbing about another 10 degrees today.  Tomorrow temps will be warmer and  we should have sunshine.  That's good.  We need a chance to dry out a little, since there's more rain heading our way next week.

And yesterday was kind of a meh day.  I had lunch with my reader Don.  We went to Black and Bleu.  They used to specialize in seafood, but seem to have migrated their menu to more of beefy burger, chicken, and pasta.  I had one of the chickeny pastas with smoked gouda.  It was delicious when I ate it, however, four hours later when I was still tasting the gouda, I realized I'd made a poor choice.  Even the prescription Omeprazole I take didn't work.  I took some of my lunch home thinking I'd eat it later.  Nope.  Even Howie didn't find it interesting, but then he's a very picky eater.

My sister called to tell me she saw that RFK Jr semi-naked non-sexual tryst with Kid Rock on TV.  She's horrified that she may never unsee that ice bath.

I did get another chapter finished in the book, but otherwise it was a relatively quiet evening.

And thought I show you the copies of the Wine Spectator magazine I'm getting.  I've already put them to good use in regard to the new book since Eli and Max are basically wine connoisseurs.  That sounds better than saying they're winos.  Believe me, they would never stoop so low as to drink Gallo.

And in case you're wondering, the world is desperately looking forward to see all the FBI and DOJ files the United States has on aliens and UFOs.  I don't doubt the administration was expecting to use bombing Iran as a distraction, unfortunately, they've run into a bit of a problem.  You see one the airbases they like to use is jointly owned by the British and the Brits are saying that this is a no go.  Ouch.

Another not so nice thing the Orange Anus did yesterday was volunteer to give $10 billion in American tax dollars to his Board of Peace.  Now I'm certain that there are those in his cult who are cheering wowza! wowza!  However, this is just another way for him to steal money from America.  Believe me, Orangie has no problem with that.  He's been a thief all of his life and he's not about to stop now.

Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die

 Once again our overnight temp did not drop below freezing.  Right now we're sitting at around 37 (F).  Cloudy skies are in the forecast, however, and they will keep our afternoon temps down.  Still, after 2 weeks of not cracking the 20 (F) this is downright balmy.  By Saturday, we should be up in the 50s (F), but only briefly.  Temps will fall.  We are, after all, still in winter for another 29 days.

And yesterday was meh, not because I didn't want to do anything.  My eye exam, however, put the kibosh on doing a number of things.  Overly bright and blurry meant I couldn't read or write until mid afternoon.  As for my eyes?  They're the same as they were last year.  Nothing has changed.  As proof of this, the glasses I wore to the exam were over 2 years old.  This is a good thing.  

This doesn't mean that I didn't get any editing in, I did.  

There was also a surprise.  When I checked my mail I found 2 print copies of Wine Spectator.  Now, I will admit to enjoying the leisurely glass of wine every now and then, but there's no way I would spend $48 for subscription.  Still, when I checked the mailing label the subscription is good unto 12/26.   While some of the wines listed are expensive, there are quite  few that are quite affordable.

Since the dilation period was over by mid-afternoon, I went to the movies last night to see Good Luc, Have Fun, Don't Die, which is kind of an action, comedy, sci-fi thriller about AI taking over and destroying the world.  Except, there's this guy who comes back in time, he's done it 117 times already, to stop the AI.  I liked it.  Sam Rockwell is good as the unnamed protagonist.  The visuals were at times mesmerizing.  

And, for those of you living deep inside a cave, Prince Andrew, i.e. Randy Andy, was arrested this morning in conjunction with the Epstein files.  The charge is for misconduct.  Apparently UK authorities believe Andy was giving Epstein secret government information.  There will probably be a trial.  Of course one of the difficult questions is whether Randy did this willingly, or if he was being blackmailed by Epstein because of earlier dalliances with under age women.

Unfortunately, this arrest increases the chances that the Orange Anus will launch an attack against Iran. With so many other countries in the world taking down sultans, and princes, and people of government, except the United States, a big distraction is called for.  Orangie has no problem putting American lives in jeopardy, in sending them off to their deaths, in order to save his own ass.  I don't doubt for a second that he and his best friend Jeff were two of a kind.  The Evil runs deep in his soul.

The Save Act

So we're at 36 (F).  That's not a bad temp for sunrise.  We do have some extensive cloud cover and a bit of rain is on the way.  There's nothing wrong with that.  At some point things will begin drying out as well. This is my way of saying that my back yard is muddy.  Lucky for me Howie hasn't decided to dig any holes.

Yesterday was rather uneventful.  I cleaned.  I did laundry.  I worked on the book.  What I didn't do was my Tuesday workout.  Tuesdays are supposed to be ride day and instead of climbing onto the saddle, I ate cheesecake.  That's right, when I did my grocery shopping I picked up a cheesecake. By the end of the day all of those fat calories were nestled comfortably in my stomach.  As a result, I'm not going to be stepping on the scale this morning.  

My Wednesday workout is going to be delayed because I have an eye exam this morning.  This happens every February.  This is the time of year I buy myself new glasses.  Last year I keyed in my prescription wrong and had to throw the glasses away.  This means that the glasses I'm wearing now have a prescription that's 2 years old, and I see fine.  In fact, I switch off these glasses off with the ones I bought 3 and 4 years ago and don't have a problem.  I guess this means that my eyes are changing much as I get older.  I will have to go through the dilation process because I do have borderline glaucoma.  I have that for almost 10 years now and nothing has changed.

RFK Jr and Kid Rock posted a semi-nude faux workout video yesterday that ended with one of them wearing pants sitting in a hot tub drinking raw milk.  RFK Jr was the one in pants, and the kid was wearing shorts, the clothing was to insure no one thought the two men were boning each other.  So many people reposted screen shots and the video, itself, in disgust I had trouble scanning Threads without being grossed out.  Instead of posting any of those disgusting pics or videos, I'm offering a pallet cleanser.  Howie running around with a bath towel.

The Republicans have the 50 votes to pass the  Save Act thanks to Susan Collins, a failed woman who has spent her entire political life struggling to a member of the Republican boy's club.  The Democrats are going to play the filibuster card which means this aberration of a law will need 60 votes to pass.  Susie's going to be voted out after this term.  Susie should have been more concerned about representing the people of Maine rather than being accepts as part of the Republican establishment.

CBS is saying the reason they didn't want James Talarico on Colbert was because they'd have to give equal time to his opponents.  The truth Republican candidates are unpopular since all they do is parrot the Orange Anus. That and the fact that they might be questioned and put on a spot makes them bad guests. 

Talarico Censored

When I got up this morning, our outside temp was 36 (F).  That's fine.  This means that the snow pack continued to melt all through the night.  For the next 3 days our highs will be in the 50s (F).  This is a really good thing since spring is only 31 days away.  Our future forecast calls for rain, not snow.  Those freezing days may be gone for another 10 months.  Nice.

I worked yesterday and had my review:  I meet expectations.  That's fine.  My days of over achieving are long since past, and when I did over achieve it had more to do with my enjoying the job rather than eyeing the next rung up the ladder.  I get an increase sometime in March.  Every penny is nice since it helps me buy finer bottles of wine.  The review was written by my supervisor, she has aspirations of climbing up onto that next rung.  Management, while getting paid a bit more, is expected to work at least 50 hours per week.  She also just had a birthday.  She's 67.  For her, I'm fairly certain that ship has long since sailed.

Otherwise, yesterday was pretty much meh. 

I'm planning on reactivating my Trainwell trainer for another 3 months.  I've changed my schedule and that's going to effect the days that I train.  Monday I now go in earlier so I can earlier.  

My phone is 5 years old, so I'm also looking at updating that.  I'm actually considering a flip phone.  I have this unique ability to turn on my phone when it's in my pocket, that's why I it's kept in a leather case. This is how it's been with every phone I've owned, and I'm hoping a flip phone my alleviate the problem..

And what about the FCC refusing to allow Colbert to air an interview with James Talarico?

Talarico a Christian Democrat who's drawing massive crowds in Texas.  The Republicans don't like him because he doesn't bow down and kiss Orangie's ass.  He is very popular, so the FCC, showing total ineptitude blocked the interview.  As a result, Talarico is getting far more press coverage this morning than if they had permitted Colbert to air the interview.  Basically, they cut off their nose to spite their face.  In doing so, they are pushing Orangie's approval rating deeper into the negative territory.  Of course the Republicans are beginning to get desperate.  They've hitched their wagons to a dementated, old nag.

While Talarico is on one end of the spectrum, Randy Fine, the Congressman from Florida is on the other end.  I don't doubt he is the fattie from middle-school who, instead of going to the gym, chose to gain weight and grow bitter.  He epitomizes every reason for having stereotypes of Jewish people, and you can  bet he doesn't care.  He's going to rub his hateful racism in your face every chance he gets.

 

Pissing off Americans

Today our high is only supposed to climb into the mid 40s (F), however tomorrow, and for Wednesday and Thursday as well, we will be enjoying the balmy 50s (F).  The snow and ice are disappearing in my yard.  You can see the delight in Howie's eyes as he can now find his beloved sticks.  It's also nice to know that overnight, our temps did not drop below the freezing mark.

Yesterday I worked.  In the flooring department, slow was an understatement.  I did sell some unfinished hardwood to a customer.  But that was really all the activity we saw.  Foot traffic through the store was down.  This is normal in February, and even though the temps are gong to be warming up, in the middled of the second month of the year, no one rational person decides to have flooring installed.

I went into the store scheduling system this morning to request a Sunday off so I could drive down to York for lunch with my friend Betsy.  To my surprise, there were only four reasons I could request off:  Jury Duty, LOA, Military, and Bereavement.  The standard "request off," or "personal day," was not listed, so I chose military.

Cori, the artist who does my book covers, has the preliminary artwork for The Body in 4:4 Time.  I had to explain to her what a time signature was and why there were 3 quarter notes per measure.  It will be interesting to see what she's going to do with the drum beat that's in 16th notes.  Oh, yes, there is a drum beat, kind of like a heart beat.

And this is the Colonial Theater in downtown Lebanon, or I should say this used to be the Colonial Theater.  I saw so many movies there while I was growing up.  When I was 15, I saw Bonnie and Clyde there, by myself, since no one, absolutely no one else wanted to go see it.  Of course, Bonnie and Clyde became a bit hit launching quite a few careers.  In 2000 the city of Lebanon chose to tear down this landmark building rather than invest.  Twenty-five years later, it's an empty lot.  Might the Colonial show up in my next book:  The Body in the Words?

And not only was yesterday Sunday, there was a bit of a lull in the Orange Anus's chaos.  Supposedly he's golfing in Palm Springs.  That doesn't mean that the ugly head of his administration didn't raise its vitriolic head.  Discussion regarding the Epstein files is everywhere.  Cultists are upset because they were told repeatedly that it was the Democrats running the sex trafficking ring and that all their names would be made public.  Now the Republicans who are in charge have decided no more files are going to be released, and even foolish cultists realize what's going on.  Orangie's lies are beginning to fail more and more.  This is a good thing.

They're also a growing movement called NIMBY:  Not In My Back Yard.  This has to do with Organtie's government buying up old warehouses to use as detention centers for immigrants they're round up.  Even Republican senators and congressmen are realizing how bad this looks, so they're saying they don't want these centers in their back yard.  Orangie's group bought two in PA and our governor says they're not going to get the necessary permits.  That doesn't mean that Orangie is going to listen.  If he doesn't like the law, he ignores it.  This, too, is pissing off Americans.

36 Approval Rating

So, our temps went up to 50 (F) yesterday and the snow cover is is retreat.  Over the next few days, our daily highs will be up in the 40s (F) before the once again climb into the low 50s (F).  This is a good thing.  Temps today will be in the mid 40s (F) and there is rain in our forecast. Rain will help to melt the snow, we just don't need a lot of rain while much of the ground is still frozen.

And I did work yesterday.  I got a measure from customers who already have their flooring, they just need it installed.  I only needed to get one measure for this week, so it works for me.  Otherwise my workday was rather boring.  My biggest disappoint was that instead of them having candy for the associates, they pulled out the popcorn machine and made popcorn.  Now, I do like popcorn, but let's be honest here, on Valentine's Day candy would have been better.

The neighbors weren't home when I got home from work, however, when they did get home they once again began curing each other out.  

And how unpopular is Orangie?  Very.

People across the country simply hate him.  Only 9 states are satisfied with his performance.  This is not a good thing for him.  I was texting my brother and told him as simply as possible, that most Americans just want to see accountability.  Orangie has never, ever want to be held accountable.  Every bankruptcy he's had to deal with was always someone else's fault.  It's always the other guy who's to blame.  Orangie never makes a bad decision.  This is why so many of his start-up businesses fail.  During his first term he had people in his administration who acted as guardrails.  This time, Republicans were so gleeful he was elected, they let him do whatever he wanted.  Now his approval rating is a 36 and dropping.  Instead of providing the slimmest sliver of accountability, we were told to be joyous that the Dow was a 50,000.  The people running American are in a delusional world and don't realize that the sky is starting to crash down around their ears.  The fallout will destroy them.

Valentine's Day

Today's high is predicted to be in the mid to upper 40s (F).  This is a good thing.  Our snow cover needs to begin melting away so I can clean up the yard.  Forecasts are saying daily highs in the upper 30s (F) to upper 40s (F) are supposed to be the norm for the next 2 weeks.  That doesn't mean another arctic bomb, or whatever they want to call it can't come swooping down from the far north.  If that does happen, the one thing you can count on is that it will be short lived.

Yesterday turned out to be this week's meh day.  I blame it on the neighbors who's fight woke me up in the morning.  After the ruckus was over, I should have gone back to bed, but didn't, and so I was draggy tired the rest of the day.  They, themselves, took a hiatus from scrapping for about 6 hours, however, they started up again mid-afternoon.  The loud spats lasted until around 6 PM, then quiet seemed to be restored.

This doesn't mean that things weren't done, though more things went undone than I would have liked.

I bought a copy of Beginner's Norwegian from Teach Yourself that comes with free audio, so I'm using that as well as Duolingo.  Yesterday, I only did the Duolingo.  Mostly because when the neighbor's fight, I try to hear what they're saying, not so much to be nosey, but to listen for any threats of physical violence.  That's a terrible thing to say, if that happens I'll call the police.

And today's Valentine's Day.  I also work.  This means they'll most likely have lots of candy out for the associates to consume.  Having a granger type personality, I will grange.  This is not Howie, but I can tell you he did get a valentine's bone this morning.

Orangie gave a low energy, campaign style speech at Fort Bragg yesterday.  Both his racism and dementia were visible when he said that the Abrams tank had been named for Stacey Abrams, the Georgia State Representative.  He waited for a laugh after that one and got silence.  He also told those troops present that they needed to vote for him because Democrats are liars, and cheaters, and... well, you should know his hatred routine by now.  His approval rating is at an all time low, 36%.  Don't worry, it's going to continue to drop.

Thomas Massie, the Republican pushing for the full release of the Epstein files posted a Thread saying that he's not suicidal.  He's also said that he has a copy of the full Epstein files.  I posted about that.  I'm sure he's already made several copies.  I'm wondering if today might not be a good Valentine's Day for the Republican party, because I'm not doubting that if something were to happen to Massie, all those files would suddenly be released.

Republicans Were the Party of Family Values

Baby, it's cold outside, though warmer than it was a week and a half ago, in fact, our current low of 26 (F) would have been considered super warm.  If the forecast holds, we will hit the mid 30s (F) today, and tomorrow the mid to upper 40s (F).  This coming Tuesday we should be cruising through the low 50s (F).  This is a good thing.  The snow and ice need to melt so I can clean up the yard.

Yesterday was fairly good.  I got a really nice ride in yesterday afternoon.  New Zealand.  I only rode for 7.5 miles, but the ride was filled with steep hills and low valleys, and when I say steep, I'm talking about a 10% grade.  According to Garmin, the ride is considered Extreme, and I'll admit to not doing the most difficult section, but the hills are good for the legs.

Now that I've watched this season's Fallout, I'm going to be canceling my Prime.  Maybe I'll sign up for HBO Max and watched Heated Rivalry.  Maybe not.  I'm slightly intrigued by the show, but suspect it's really has a not too compelling story wrapped around a lot of soft-core porn.

My neighbors were so quiet yesterday, the silence was almost surreal.  And then this morning a little after 4 AM they had a loud fight.  He's a mail sorter.  My cousin's husband worked for the US Postal service for a number of years once he retired for the Navy.  He told me every one starts off a a mail sorter, but that most people try and move out of that position as fast as possible to get better pay.  My neighbor never chose to move out of that position, so I guess that says something about him.

And the Washington Post has been using AI to research and probably write articles about Americans.  Even though I canceled my subscription, I usually scan the headlines.  This morning there was an article with a graphic about where the lazy people in America live.  It should come as no surprise that they live in Republican states.

Of course, yesterday the Orange Anus reversed the regulatory part of the clean air act. The Guardian said he did it to satisfy billionaire polluters.  I agree with The Guardian.  His plan is, no doubt, to make the richest people even richer.  Of course, he could have also done that to distract from the fact that Dr. Oz is also in the Epstein files.  Remember when Republicans used to call themselves the Party of Family Values?  For those of you who don't remember, that was their kick-off slogan when they started their culture wars.  Now it seems as if you can't get a job with Orangie's administration unless you got at least one visit in to Epstein's island.  Now Orangie is whining about the fact that no one is moving on from the files.  He doesn't like the fact that no one is listening to him.  Was he working with his best friend Jeffrey to traffic little girls and boys?  Every day the answer to that question becomes more and more likely yes.  The Epstein files are breaking apart the GOP.  If I were more religious, I'd say this is a sign from God that Judgement for the party of Family Values is eminent.

Pammy Jo's Burn Book

36  days until Spring.  This is my way of saying that the temp here in Central PA is 29 (F).  The day is supposed to be partially sunny, with a high temp in the mid 30s (F).  This is not bad for mid-February.  Temps are predicted to slowly, but continually rise.  This is a good thing.  I turned my thermostat back down to 70 (F), and in a week or so I'll be setting it at 69 (F).  

And yesterday was a good day.  Much time was spent editing about 3 pages.  I like to think of this as an enhancement stage.  Some details get added, other dropped.  The first two chapters take place in Rumplestiltskin's which was a bar located in Hummelstown, PA.  They had live music on weekends.  Sadly, the bar was torn down to make way for a strip mall.  I couldn't find any existing pictures of Rumpelstiltskin's but I do remember the dance floor. 

I got a good workout in yesterday morning.  A loaf of bread was also baked.  I didn't work on the aquariums as much as I wanted, that will happen today.  

Here's some not so surprising big news:  Zuck is moving to Florida because California is going to pass a 5% wealth tax.  He's not alone, and you know, I'm thinking that having so many billionaires located in one place might not be such a bad idea.  He'd rather spend $250 million on a beach front property in a state that gets devastating hurricanes than pay 5% to California.  Just because people are wealthy, doesn't mean that they're smart.

And this also happened yesterday:

For those who don't know, that's Pammy Jo Bondi testifying before Congress yesterday, though testify is not the write word.  Standing behind her are some of the victims of Epstein's sex trafficking ring.  She refused to acknowledge them.  She lied and Ted Lieu, a Congressman from California called her out for it.  Ted has the receipts.  She had what's called a burn book with her.  A burn book is a binder with tabbed pages containing insults, a reference book, if you will, that allowed her to personally attack every Congressman in the room.  For example, she called the granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor and antisemite.  This is so much like something Orangie would do.  The only one to praise her was Gym Jordan.  He kissed her ass.  To paraphrase Pammy Jo, that hearing should have been used to praise Orangie and talk about how high the Dow and the Nasdaq were instead of focusing on Epstein's child trafficking.

And the El Paso airport is open again.  Evidently the Department of Defense shot down a party balloon because they thought it was a drone.  The stupid is truly beginning to bubble.

Disapproval Ratings

Can you believe it?  Our outside temp is sitting at 37 (F), which is quite warm when you consider last week we were lucky if our daily high made it out of the teens.  This doesn't mean that our nightly lows are going to be be... well, low.  They are.  The long range forecast has them still dropping down into the 20s (F), but this is a nice beginning to the end of winter.  

Much was accomplished yesterday.  Shopping was done.  So was laundry.  I got a very nice 10 mile ride finished.  Editing is proceeding.  Over all, I'm quite satisfied with yesterday, and today began early.  0500 found me working on the edit.  While some might same I'm editing, this is also a period where I rewrite.  Things get moved around.  Some points are enhanced.  Details get added.  Words get dropped off.  The Body in 4:4 Time is in a flux of variations.  Fundamentally, everything stays the same.  This period is actually a lot of fun.

I will be baking bread this afternoon.  Ah, the smell of freshly baked bread.

Today, among other things, I'm going to need to work on the aquariums.  The algae problem seems to be returning.  The fish don't seem to mind.  I'm thinking of replacing the 50 gallon tank in the writing room with a 20 gallon, within the next month or so.  I'd combine the two tanks into one, but the one in the living room as Barbs, and they're not good with other fish.

I needed a pic for this morning, so I just ran upstairs and took one of Howie on the bed.

And the shit show continues.  Airspace around the El Paso, Texas airport has been shut down for the next 10 days because of security reasons.  As someone else pointed out, the last time airspace was shut down was during 9/11.    Back then America knew what was happening.  Is this Orangie just causing chaos for the sake of chaos?  Could this, perhaps, be another attempted distraction from the Epstein files?  Personally, I think that's more likely.  Both Congressmen and Senators are able to review the unredacted files and except for the few wack job, cultists, most are stunned, some visibly.  There's a video of Lauren Boebert leaving the building.  Her comment was that Ghislaine Maxwell deserves more time in jail and in a harsher prison.  Bobo was very upset.  An hour ago Senator John Thune was call for a full release of the unredacted files.  Oh, and did I tell you that the airspace of El Paso has been shut down?

According to NBC, this is where Orangie's approval rating sits.

And his Bureau of Labor Statistics just released the jobs report for January.  Don't believe it.  They're saying that 130,000 jobs have been created.  He needs this lie to back-up the lie that the economy is doing great.  He and his administration are not renowned for either their honesty, or accuracy.

The Very Good Thing

Well, we're starting off the day at a chilly 23 (F).  The good news is that for the foreseeable future our daily highs will be in the upper 30s (F) to mid 40s (F).  We have 38 days days until spring arrives.  Personally, I don't think this is too early to begin a countdown calendar. 

Work was terribly slow yesterday.  When sales associates complained, I reminded them that they are still getting paid.  If they wanted to, they could claim they were sick and leave, but then they'd have to use personal time.  These people don't understand that they are being paid to be bored.  There are things they can do to occupy their time, but that would mean having to... work, possibly.  So these people do have a choice, it's just that they prefer complaining about how bored they are.

The first load of laundry is in the dryer and the second is in the washer.  The dryer gets used much more in the winter since the drying rack, while economical, takes too much time.  When the weather warms up, I'll be using the rack more.  

One of the problems with people is that they so quickly forget cultural moments that were at one time very popular.  I'm betting that not one of these haters deriding Bad Bunny remember America celebrated an entertainer who sang in Spanish.  Now, I'm sure some of you readers might remember a certain Cuban whose character's catch phrase was "Oh, Lucy, I'm home!"  Most people don't understand how much of a ground breaker Desi Arnaz was.  Have you any idea how many baby boys were named Desi?

And an amusing moment from yesterday at work.  One of our new hires, a rather quiet man, was at the flooring desk listening to our conversation, when suddenly, in a sadly silent voice asked, "when will the chaos end?"  Well, shit, I do wish I'd have an answer, but I don't.  It's constant.  A day doesn't pass without hearing about last night's rage posting.  I do hope this is tormenting the hell out of his dementated brain.  At this point the scales have tipped terribly against him and so many people in this country simply want him to suffer.

Orangie's ballroom is a no go, a Federal judge has evidently put the kibosh on it, however this is after he's already torn down the east wing.  Of the $400 million he claimed to have raised, they think $200 million was never received, and the other $200 million appears to have disappeared.  Well shit, that sort of implies that Orangie stole $200 million.

While the Europeans are doing everything they can to investigate the Epstein files, Republicans in this country are doing everything they can to cover up them up.  They were supposed to allow members of Congress access to unredacted files yesterday, and that didn't happen.  Many of the victims names were unredacted, however the pedophile perpetrator's names were still hidden away.  This makes it appear that many of these child rapists were either Republicans in office, or big $ Republican donors the GOP desperately wants to protect.  This is not going to end well for them, and that's a very good thing.

Benito Breaks Records!

The warm-up begins today, though you would know that by our outside temp which is sitting at 6 (F). In spite of our current temp, the cold wave is indeed moving away.  Our high today is predicted to be in the upper 20s (F), tomorrow we should be cruising into the mid 30s (F), and by Wednesday we will be sailing in the mid 40s (F).  Since we are still in the season of Cold, temps will fall again, but they will not crash they way they've done over the past month.  This is a good thing.

On Sundays, I always work a full shift.  While I did talk to 3 or 4 people yesterday, mostly I got paid to do laps, and sit on my butt.  Having both the Winter Olympics and the Superbowl on the same day is a retail sales killer.  This was fine.  They did bring in pizza for everyone working.  Being the grazer I am, more than 2 slices were eaten.  I have yet to step on the scale for my Monday morning weigh in.  When I do, I'm sure those of you withing 1000 miles will hear wails of horror.

Mondays mean retail.  My shift starts earlier, at 12, this means I get to leave at 6 PM.  This is fine with me.

And, of course yesterday was the Benito Bowl.  You do know who and what I'm talking about, don't you?  I don't subscribe to Peacock, so I had to watch the record breaking halftime show in snippets.  Believe me when I tell you there were thousands of them, of course nothing beats watching the entire show.  

Turning Point USA did counter program with show that was pre-recorded and lip-synced, but the, would expect anything else from phony Christians than a phony half-time show?

Orangie didn't like the show, but then he hates everything that doesn't kiss his ass.  I was surprised that the Washington Post said the show was filled with "family values."  

There was a time when the Republican party was always singing those two words, "family values."  Now with a probable pedophile in the White House, that phrase has been scrubbed from their vocabulary.  

I saw this morning that the crook Tommy Homan (he's now running ICE since Noem proved she's nothing more than an ugly face in cosplay), said that Orangie's tough immigration policies will fail if American support for them continues to waver and fall.  This is a lesson the administration should learn, but of course to do that they would have to admit they have made a mistake.  Failure will continue.

Epstein's Death

At 9 (F), our outside temp is not nearly as cold as we were told it was going to get.  Several forecasters had been predicting negative temps.  They didn't happen.  And the warm-up begins today.  Our afternoon high should be in the low 20s (F), and tomorrow we should break that freezing barrier and end up with temps in the low 30s (F).  Rising temps are something we can all appreciate.

Work yesterday was ugh.  We have an Indian customer with a recurrent cellular blind problem.  Recurrent, because the blind breaks.   He's used the warranty process once, about a year ago and the manufacturer replaced the blind.  He showed up yesterday wanting to use the warranty for the replacement blind.  If it were a blind located in a different room, then there might be a warranty issue, however, this is the same window.  He told me that the manufacturer told him there's nothing they can do.  I caught him in lie, after lie, after lie. Hopefully, this customer will learn a lesson this time.... probably not.  He'll just switch his business to our competitor.

Otherwise, yesterday was pretty meh.

I'm scheduled for a full shift today, so it's going to be another meh day.

The editing process has begun and so far I've cut out... a lot.

Lindsey Vonn crashed out of the starting gate at the winter Olympics.  She tore her ACL ten days ago, so I don't feel sorry for her in the least bit.  I do feel sorry that she took up a spot on the Olympic team from someone younger and healthier.  I hope this sits poorly with her conscience, that her desperation to win another medal completely overrode her common sense.

Apparently the last Epstein file drop by the DOJ included a rather incriminating awkward piece of information.  Evidently they released a letter announcing Epstein's death on the 9th, however, he supposedly didn't die until the 10th.  So, was this press release a dry run?  Were they actually prepared for him to die on the 9th?  This is making headlines the Republican party hates.  I've heard the Epstein scandal is going to be bigger than both Watergate and the Iran-Contra scandals.  I don't doubt for a second that this will terminate forever the GOP.

Also, there was another special election yesterday, this one down in Mississippi, and once again large numbers of Republicans voted for the Democrat.  This goes to show that there are decent Republicans.

 

Trump and Racism

Today's high is not going to make it out of the teens.  16 (F) is the predicted high.  And we have blustery winds, too.  After that, things will begin to slowly warm up.  Honestly, I'm looking forward to warmer days.  For those counting, Spring is 40 days away.  Mark March 20 on your calendars.  

I'd say yesterday was pretty much a meh day, but that isn't true.  I finished the first draft of The Body in 4:4 Time.  This morning I will print a copy off and begin reading through the manuscript.  I suspect this will be the longest book I've ever written.  That's because there are two stories being told, one in the early 1980s and the second in the present.  Things will happen in the past that will effect things that are happening in the murder investigation, things that only the reader will know.  

Otherwise, most of yesterday was spent on rather mundane stuff.  I'm changing out the caulking around the shower, so I worked on the for a bit.  I made some chicken and potato stew, that will serve as lunch tomorrow when I work a full day.  Today I will finish of the rest of the moussaka.  

And yes, I do work today.  Joy of... well, let's just say I'll be sitting at the flooring desk for 6 hours this afternoon.  Today, being the first Saturday of the month means our lumber department will be taken over by around 300 kids; today is Kids Workshop.  Though with the brutal cold, there might only be 200.  You see kids get a small apron and a little project for kids to build and there are those parents who will take their 4 and 5 year-olds out in any weather if they know they're going to get something free.

And so much was happening on the political stage yesterday.  The Winter Olympics began.  If you watched the ceremonies live, you got to see the American team getting cheered, however, JD Vance was jeered from an International crowd of spectators.  

Orangie was hit hard by the critics for posting a racist video of the Obamas as monkeys.  Rasmussen College and it's conservative polling group, put out a daily poll.  Being conservative, they have always given Orangie higher ratings than other polls.  According to yesterday's poll, which was taken prior to the release of the video, on 27% of the country strongly approved of Orangie's job performance.  That number represents the hardcore Republican haters.  That number includes the White Supremacists, and the Christian Nationalists, and every other racist hater who wants to bow down and kiss Orangie's ass.  Like Orangie, these people are weak.  They will TACO every time he does.  They will sit in the shadows and brood about things like pronouns, and skin color, and the shrinking white American population.  They have always been in existence.  Orangie's hatred allows them to wear their prejudice as if it were a badge.  They do not understand they represent a weakness that can easily be dispatched.