Independence Day

Our outside temp is a balmy 79 (F)!  That's nice.  Even nicer is the fact that our high this afternoon is only going to be in the mid-90s (F).  Thunderstorms are also on tap for this evening.  I'm fine with that.

I do work this afternoon.  They're bringing in food.  Chicken.  This sort of means I'll be spending the afternoon grazing... but only sort of.  I'm scheduled to work in the paint department this afternoon.  I like working in paint.  Because it's a holiday, most of the customers coming in looking for deals will hit the store early; cookouts are planned for this afternoon.  

Yesterday afternoon I took a ride in the Netherlands.  Very flat.  For 10 miles.  My trainer was happy, so was I because my left knee was working fine.

Today we celebrate our independence, the day we officially separated ourselves from England.

Today we are also living with an old authoritarian president who believes the best way to win is to divide and conquer.  While that tactic is not outdated, it is totally incongruent with what is happening in the United States.  He would need to be seen as being successful by a majority of Americans for that tactic to work.  This man is an abject failure.  On a day when a majority of Americans are going to be celebrating their independence, he's going to be holding a political rally to support his tactic of divisiveness.  It's my understanding that the military is requiring personnel to attend dressed as civilians to make it look like there's a crowd.  I feel sorry for them.  This is not the way you create loyalty.  The only thing he is doing is notching up another failure, but then his entire life has been failure, after failure, after failure.  There is truth in saying that everything Donald Trump touches dies. 

Super Girl

Well, yesterday was a scorcher here in Central PA.  My upstairs would have been unbearable without the  air conditioning.  When I left the house to go to work at 1 PM, the outside temp was 100 (F).  When I took the on-ramp to 81 West, the temp had climbed a degree to 101 (F).  By the time I took the exit ramp to get to the store the temp outside my car was 102 (F).  And it got hotter.  The air conditioning was on in the store, however they dimmed the lights to offset the electrical expense.  As a result, there was no power to the machine we use to cut blinds.  C'est la vie.  When I drove my car out of the parking lot to go home, our outside temp was 104 (F).  That's hot.

Right now our outside temp is 81 (F).  The high this afternoon is expected to be cooler than yesterday.  We're only supposed to go up to 100 (F).

And work was slow yesterday.  I did get a measure, just before I left.  This doesn't mean we weren't going to be hitting our plan.  We were making buckos galore thanks to everybody coming in to buy a window A/C unit.

Even though today's going to be another scorcher, there are things that need to be done.  I have to go to the post office, buy groceries, and put gas in the car.  Hopefully, I'll get all of these chores done before the temps get too hot.  

I went to see Supergirl.  I thought it was decent.  It's doing okay at the box office, but not great, I suspect because audiences were expecting a variation of Superman.  You know? Fighting for truth, justice and the American way?  Kara, Clark Kent's cousin, was well into her teens when her parents sent her to Earth, unlike Clark who was sent as a baby.  Supergirl is not the "all American girl," though she does fight evil.

And the Fourth is upon us.  I work.  I'll be honest, I'm not happy.  Most people I see and talk to are not happy, unless they're a MAGA cultist, and they don't care how bad things are as long as they are in charge.  The Orange Anus justified insider trading on an interview and they shrugged away the corruption, they don't care, as long as they are in charge.  J.D. Vance laughed at the idea of Nixon resigning because of Watergate, saying it would never happen today.  The corruption runs so deep with this administration.  Anything and everything goes, as long as they can steel a buck.  What they don't understand is that voters are growing more and more angry.  They don't care because they're in charge.  They don't govern, but that's okay as long as they're in charge.  They are the worst possible human beings in the world, and they don't care, as long as they're in charge.

The Body in 4/4 Time

 So our real feel temp yesterday was 113 (F).  Today will be a repeat.  How hot was it?  A cheap hose I bought from the orange retailer I work for ruptured because the water inside got too hot.  I'm guessing I lost about 100 gallons, almost 400 liters, before I went to leave Howie out and discovered I had a small pond in my backyard.

Needing milk, I  ventured outside around 1 in the afternoon and, if the thermometer in my car is correct, the drive to my local Giant supermarket was done 98 (F) heat.  If the forecasters are correct, today is going to be even warmer.  I am scheduled to work this afternoon, so, once again I'll be driving around in the danger zone.  I'm not expecting the store to be busy, so basically, I'll be getting paid to sit my butt down at the flooring desk, and, get my steps in.

My left knee's been a bit rusty over the past few days, so my trainer and I've decided to cut back on the squats and the leg extensions.  I don't think there's anything actually wrong with it, just a little old age and a little arthritic inflammation.  Just one of the normal aches and pains we feel as we get older.  So, for the next week or so I'm going to be focusing on strength training for my upper body.  

And since The Body in 4/4 Time is now available for purchase, it's time to reveal the book cover.  My cover artist, Cori, has once again done a brilliant job.  Originally, I thought that perhaps the musical notes should be swirling up and off the sheet of music.  She smiled, nodded several times, and then said "no."  As always, she was right.

Of course, Orangie's politicized state fair is still failing to draw crowds.  As a reminder, everything he touches dies.  This includes the Republican party, The Heritage Foundation, and all of those businesses he and his spawn have ventured into.  They think they're immune.  They are not.  He and his cultists have punch drunk on his ephemeral grasp on power they fail to understand they are living in a land of delusion.  They are too busy dancing around with their hands in the air singing, "look at how rich we are, look at how rich we are," to even begin to understand that, just like our outside temps, the anger against them is constantly rising.  These people have never had a good grasp on reality.  Self-awareness has never, ever been one of their strong points.

At the 2 Paths in the Yellow Wood

Our 3 day heat wave starts today.  Daily highs are predicted to breach the 100 (F) degree mark.  That's toasty.  For those living in the scorch zone, make sure you stay hydrated.  This is not the day to start digging that swimming pool in your backyard.  This means you should limit what you do outside, no matter what your age.  Dehydration can be  a killer.

Yesterday was definitely the meh day of the week.  I could have done much more but I went to my local Giant supermarket in the morning.  One of the unnecessities that I purchased was a frozen Tombstone pizza (supreme) which Howie and I shared.  It was all downhill from then on.  Unfortunately, Howie is always up for a quick snoozer.  All you have to do is say the word nap.  So, that's what I did yesterday.  Ten minutes here.  Ten minutes there.  One would have thought that all of that napping might have ruined getting a good night's sleep, but no.  I got a full 7+ hours of deep sleep with plenty of REM, at least according to my Garmin watch.  Mostly, I'm blaming the chaotic times we're living in.  We are constantly being bombarded that fritters away at our brains, ruining our normal sleep habits until there's nothing left for us to do but nap away the day and sleep away the night.

As I'd said earlier, I've been playing around making little videos to announce The Body in 4/4 Time.  I'm somewhat pleased with this one.  Those who know their Robert Frost will find this familiar.  It's a very good way to talk about a broken heart.

Of course, our failing Supreme Court released the rest of their decisions for this year.  They saved birthright citizenship,   With his 91 paged dissent, Clarence Thomas, black man, proved he has the heart and soul of Ku Klux Klansman.  No matter how much he hates minorities, he, himself, will never be white.  He is a traitor to the constitution.  So is Sammy Alito, a man who is himself a birthright citizen.  The attempt to destroy the 14th amendment is based purely on racism.  Social Media was filled with vile Republicans denouncing this decision, some calling for the sterilization of immigrants.  One said women should not be allowed in this country because they might have a brown baby.  One woman shrieked about Haitians giving birth to over 60,000 babies.  And these people call themselves Christians.  They are a scourge upon this country.

A Convicted Rapist

Our outside temp is 71 (F).  We're going to get a 20 + degrees warmer today, but I am pleased to announced that this mini-heat wave that's descending upon Central PA is not going to be as hot as originally predicted.  Rather than have highs of 106 (F), we're only going to heat up to 101 (F).  Now, isn't that cool?  I can did that.

I got a nice workout in yesterday morning.  Today I have a bike ride.  I also don't work today.  I did yesterday.  They seem to have, at least temporarily fixed our sewage issue.  The question is how long will it last. I was told that the plumbers ran water down the line for a long time.  There's a difference between water and waste products.

Work was actually busy.  We dealt with a number of customers, some had made set up their installs online, and one who had set up her up with one of our flooring specialists. That last one?  That one required me to have a conversation with the specialist.  He just turned 65 and, even though he claims he's going to work fulltime for another 2 years, he has, for all intents and purposes retired.  He's decided he's not going to include a product when setting up the measure.  As a result, no quote gets built.  We don't build quotes at the store level, so I needed to contact our measurements services and provide them with a carpet.  She was not happy that there was going to be a 3 hour wait to get a quote.  After she'd left, I told him that he needed to key in a product, it doesn't need to be the one the customer is going to purchase.  He admitted that he should have put in a product, however, I know that in his mind he is already retired and he's going to do less and less.

We had a nice sunrise this morning.

So our not so supreme Supreme Court handed down several decisions yesterday.  With one, they gave the Orange Anus more power, edging him closer to being a dictator.  There were 2 other decisions that countered that evil step.  One was that states can still count mail-in ballots that are postmarked on election day if they're received after the election.  And they refused to hear his case against E. Jean Carroll meaning he's still a convicted rapist.

And it shouldn't come as a surprise that Orangie wants to hang a Nazi symbol at the White House.

The Body in 4/4 Time - the video

Good morning!  We have 67 (F) outside and fog for miles and miles.  The sun is attempt to shine through and I don't doubt that very soon it will.  We have a lot of humidity.  No showers are in our forecast, just higher temps.  By Thursday we should be able to cook an egg on the sidewalk, unless you have a dog named Howie who will eat that sucker up before it has a chance to sizzle.

Work was slow yesterday.  Our store did not make plan for last week.  The dreaded lead table was not set up.  Maybe they realized, as Treaders suggested, no one was really going to sign up for a $10,000 home improvement project just to get a hot dog.  I'll be interested in whether or not they decide to set it up for next weekend.  It's a holiday.  Historically, traffic is not heavy on the Fourth of July.  Too many people are having cook-outs and barbeques.  Besides, the temperature is going to be around 102 (F).  The only ones showing up are gong to be those believing we're going to be running special holiday sales.  We do run specials, but they tend to be at the end of fiscal months, fiscal quarters, and halves, and at year end.

So, I've been toying around with making a short video introducing The Body in 4/4 Time, and the results are... okay.  If I had spent more time, I might have been able to emphasize a downbeat, or played around with the subtitles, which are gone in the blink of an eye.  Still, the beat is there, though I guess for some the question will be "is this 4/4 time?"  After all, it is really all about the beat.

And Orangie's great Freedom America fair continues to fail.  This is like his failed military parade.  He so desperately wanted it to be like his Blo Bro Vlads, whose parade this year was extensively toned down because he was afraid the Ukraine would blow it up. Things are so bad in Russia, that this past week when Vlad addressed the Russian congress and told that that the country had difficult times ahead.  He's losing the war.  It turns out that the great authoritarian government he bragged about to the world was nothing more than propaganda.  All of those authoritarian conservatives, like Jim Jordan and the rest of his ilk who dreamt of creating an American version are now finding out that they fell in love with smoke and mirrors.  It seems as though the Ukraine has all of the cards, while Vlad doesn't even have enough talent to pull a rabbit out of a hat.

The US Supreme Court is set to release 8 decisions today. That's right.  Today we learn if Alito, and Thomas, and Roberts cement their positions as the worst, most despicable, anti-democracy members of the court in the history of this country.  I'm betting they do.

We're going to be cookin'

The skies are overcast here in Central PA.  We had a lot of drizzles yesterday, but nothing even coming close to a steady, soaking rain.  The  clouds are supposed to clear this afternoon.  Temps are supposed to begin warming up.  Boy, are they supposed to begin warming up.  By the end of this week our temps are going to be stinkin' hot.  When I looked at the long range forecast, I had to take a moment.  Trying to remember, I don't think I've ever seen a forecast with highs this... high.  We've already had a heat wave with temps grazing around the 100 (F).  These temps are going to be even hotter.

I got a decent workout in yesterday.  I also finished the first chapter of The Body in the Words.  Style-wise, more changes are going to be happening with this book.  

I also worked yesterday.  They've started doing what they call a "lead table" again.  Yesterday they were trying to bribe customers with a hot dog.  If they sign up to have someone talk to them about having a major home improvement done, they got a free hot dog.  Basically, you're wasting an hour of your time standing there talking to no one.  Still, someone in corporate thinks this is a good idea.

And for those wondering, here's our long range forecast.

And one of the things I find particularly sad is that conservatives, so desperate to force a conservative authoritarian government on America saw Russia as a good example of how they should do it.  And now Russia is falling apart.  Imagine, believing Putin's line of propaganda for 26 years only to find out that it was nothing more than horseshit.  What are conservatives going to now?  Why, fail of course.  They've always been failures as human beings, and now they're going to do it in a spectacular fashion on the world stage.

To end on an amusing note.  A lot of people are beginning to believe that Mitch McConnel has died and they're keeping a lid on that fact.  If it were made public, Andy Bashear, the governor of Kentucky, might replace him with a Democrat.  Ouch!

Stay Tuned

 Good morning world!  Here in Central PA we've got thick clouds overhead.  The humidity is even thicker.  Rain is on the way.  Our daily high will only be in the mid 70s (F)  One good thing about this weather is that I'll not have to water my raised garden.

Speaking of the garden, I've got lots of tomatoes on the vine and even tiny cucumber or two.  So far there are no peppers.  I will be disappointed if I don't get at least one Poblano.  The eggplant has lots of leaves, but so for no blooms.

My movie buddy Patty used to be a dental assistant, so she and I spent a lot of time texting after yesterday's dental fiasco.  It turns out that the dental work they billed me for is the work that's supposed to be done in November.  I paid for work the invoice lists as being done on quadrants 3 and 30 and those are on the left side of my mouth.  There was a serious communication breakdown.  Because this was their mistake my visit in November will be free.  If they try and charge me, I'm going to have to raise my voice.

Otherwise yesterday was fine.  I was in Bavaria for a nice, if hilly bike ride.  Then I putzed around for a bit before playing Balder's Gate 3.

Since the next book is taking place near the town of Ballymoney, County Antrim, in Northern Ireland, I thought it fitting that I should be listening to Irish folk music.  Right now, this is playing.  And no, there are no Irish dancers in the book... yet.  Maybe when they get to the Iris pub.

Of course, the American State Fair is off to a rocky start.  Honestly, who in their right mind would even think that anything done by the Orange Anus would be a success.  Ten states are not involved, and those that did send something?  Let's see... Alaska sent an area rug.  Illinois sent a small display about corn.  Basically they have a Ferris wheel, boring booths, and no funnel cakes.... Wait!  They're having a state fair with out funnel cakes?  Looking at the pictures reinforces the fact that everything Orangie touches dies.

And it appears that Orangie's blow bro Vlad is having a rough day in Russia.  His military is not happy with him because he took a large part of their air defense away from them so it could be used to protect those military targets the Ukraine keeps blowing up.  Their running low on gas thanks to Ukrainian drones.  Skyrocketing inflation is pissing off the people. And Vlad?  Any change in his plans would mean his calculations were wrong, that he made a horrible mistake. Will there be a coup?  Lots of whispers are swirling.  If there is, will Russia go through a civil war?  Stay tuned.

Simple Genetics

Oh, my, a late morning post courtesy of a dental appointment.  

Right now we  have 70 (F) outside and we have drizzles on and off since I rolled out of be this morning.  Temps are supposed to climb into the low 80s (F).  If the forecast for tomorrow is correct, we will be having rain on and off for most the the day.

Yesterday turned out to be sort of meh day.  I postponed my workout until Saturday because I just didn't feel like doing it.  What truly made it a meh day was my going in to work and discovering that I wasn't scheduled.  Even though I'm part-time, my schedule is fixed... until it isn't.  Because my work days never change, I never look at my schedule.  This week I should have looked at it.  In fact, my next 3 Thursdays are off.  I was told I could stay if I wanted.  🤣😂🤣 So I came home and started working on the next book.

And the dental visit this morning?  What was intended to be a routine cleaning has turned into a fiasco for the dentist.  As I sat down in the dental chair, the assistant told me that my cleaning was scheduled to broken up into 2 visits because it was a "deep scaling," and that we were going to do the right side today.  After cleaning the right my teeth on the right side, the assistant checked to see when I'd be coming in to get the left side cleaned and discovered I was only scheduled for one appointment.  Can you see where this is heading?  Of course, the receptionist affirmed that my dentist had wanted both sides of my mouth cleaned at the same time.  What makes this fiasco even worse is that they cannot schedule me in to clean the left side until November 13.  That's almost 5 months away.  The receptionist is going to talk to the dentist on Monday.  Here's what my teeth looked like before the cleaning.

Of course, yesterday the white conservatives on the Supreme Court once again highlighted their racism.  They really do hate Haitians and Syrians.  Actually, the truth is that they hate everyone who isn't white.  White conservatives have this delusion that they're special.  The white Christian Nationalists believe they are the chosen race.  They totally ignore the fact that white people are a serious minority in the world.  I find it fascinating that these people, who are supposedly Christian, and who believe that God created man, don't understand that if their beliefs are true then God made brown skin the dominant skin color.  I'm not talking heavy duty genetics.  In fact, it is all rather simple.  If a white person and a brown or black person have a baby together, that baby's going to be either brown or black.  White Christians have always had a problem with science in that it gives them answers they don't know how to deal with.

These are Good Things

We have a toasty 67 (F) outside.  If the forecasts are correct, we're going to be adding another 20 degrees onto that before we reach our afternoon high.  Skies are clear right now, but the clouds will not roll by, but begin to pile up overhead.  Showers and possible thunderstorms are on the way.  I work, so it's not a really big thing to me. 

I had some internet issues with the laptop this morning; it loses connection every now and then. As a result, some people may have gotten 2 emails because Outlook wasn't sending anything.  When this happens, I turn it off for about 5 minutes, then turn reboot to reset.

Yesterday was sort of a meh day.  Many things were accomplished: household chores, laundry, a very good workout, but interspersed were several short naps.  It doesn't help having a dog who, when you say the word nap, beats you to the bed.  I don't doubt he does this because he needs to claim his own sweet spot.

Publication continues.  I  reduced the cost of all of my pasts e-books and some of the paperback versions are no longer available.  The Body in the Well is once again available.  I'd removed it from publication after a scathing review that had nothing to do with the content, rather it was Max's career change from a registered nurse to a physical therapist that infuriated the reviewer.

So the Orange Anus kicked off his 250 Freedom celebration with a speech.  After all of the musical acts pulled out, he turned it into a rally.  Actually, it was always supposed to be a rally.  This is the rally that someone foolishly texted me an invitation to (I'm still laughing at that).  Why did I get that invitation?  Well, the crowd was small.  Many of those in attendance began leaving after listening to him whine and complain for 30 minutes.  This is a good thing.

The reflecting pool is still in the headlines.  This is also a good thing.  It's a constant reminder of how incompetent both he and the Republican party are, they have turned flailing into an artform.

Flu shots are once again mandatory in the military.  Petey, the low IQ Secretary of Defense had shut this down because... well, I suppose he thinks that real men don't get the  flu.  This is false.  After almost 300 sailors, soldiers, and air men got sick with the flu in a two week time period, mandatory flu shots were reinstated.  This is a good thing.

After passing legislation to restrict the Orange Anus and his war with Iran, 2 senators flipped, Cassidy and Paul, to reverse this legislation.  In a sad way, this is a good thing, because over 80% of Americans hate this war.  Taking Orangie's ineptitude out of the equation would be have also been a better thing and a win for the Republicans, however his ego would not let that happen.  So, instead of having a better thing, we have a good thing which may, in the end, become a better thing because it's another reason for Americans to hate this man.

Disclosure Day

For those of you living in Central PA, we're going to have a beautiful day.  Temps are going to be in the low 80s (F).  Humidity is going to be down.  Tomorrow?  Probably not so nice.  We've got a 59% chance of rain, possibly in the form of a later afternoon thunderstorm.  So, if you're not working, go outside and have a blast.

Yesterday was interesting.  I had breakfast with my brother.  That was interesting.  Despite being polar opposites when it comes to politics, we get along well.  When I got home, I finished and the posted my blog.  And then, I began the publication process.  This is usually an easy process.  Everything was going along ducky until I got to the cover art.  The scanned copy needed to have 300 DPI (dots per inch) and mine only had 195.  Well, hell.  I've never had this problem before.  So I made several attempts at increasing the DPI, including downloading Photoshop.  That only raise the DPI to 212.  I decided to rescan the artwork and lo and behold that's where my problem was.  The Xerox printer/scanner I own allows you to select the level of DPI, either 200, 300, 400, or 500, and I had originally scanned it in at 200.  I rescanned it at 400 and voila!  No problem.  

I went to see Disclosure Day last evening.  I liked it.  A lot.  Some people are having a problem with the last 30 minutes.  Quite probably this is because they were expecting something akin to the ending of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, neither does it have an ET ending.  Perhaps the film is too cerebral for some. The ending is, instead, provocative.  Emily Blunt is outstanding, so is Josh O'Connor.   I will watch it again when it streams.

For those of you who are paying attention to the incompetence surrounding the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, things have gotten worse.  Not only has a fence been erected around the pool, but overnight blue tarps were hung from the fence keeping the public from looking at and possibly taking pictures of the algae growth.

The primaries in New York have rattled a lot of old school Democrats, and well they should be.  Their 1960s playbook has not worked in a long time.  Fresh faces with new, aggressive ideas are needed.

And, of course, we all know that desperate times call for desperate measures, but honestly, I didn't think the GOP would be this desperate.  Last evening, when I got home from the movies, I checked my texts and was surprised to find this in my inbox.  Let's be honest, they must be truly desperate to send this to me.

Dropping as I type

Outside we have 66 (F) and drizzle that's supposed to last another hour or so, and then the sun is going to slowly break though the clouds.  For the foreseeable future, our daily highs are going to be in the lower 80s (F).  That's fine.  It would be nice if this were to last, but it won't.  There a serious heat dome moving into California and since the planet moves in a clockwise direction, that which is east will move west.

I'm pleased to report that they have cleaned up all of the sewage at work.  Aisle 11 is clean and dry.  Our restrooms are still closed, but they have brought in Porto-potties.  That's a good thing.  I used one yesterday, rather than go behind the pallets stacked at the back of the building, and discovered the bad thing.  Some moron had been smoking in the one that I used.  The stench was terrible, so it looks as though I'll be wandering back to the pallets at the back of the building until the restrooms are fixed.  What they're saying now is that the blockage was caused by calcium deposits that have built up over the years. Yesterday, standing over one of the 3 drains in aisle 11, I looked down to see the plate moving as the floor vibrated; the plumbers were grinding away at the deposits.

Later this afternoon, I will be starting the publication process for The Body in 4/4 Time.  Then I will finally be able to begin work on the next chapter of Eli and Max's lives.  Changes are afoot as they travel to Northern Ireland when they travel to Northern Ireland to solve a murder at the Hygia Wellness Clinic.  They have a saying at Hygia:  "Some people can, most people won't, be the one that does."

And in case anyone is keeping score:

I saw some of the idiot's conversation with the press yesterday about his screwing up of the reflecting pool.  Someone needs to tell this fool that he's talking about blue paint on granite and that there is no pool liner involved.  There cannot be a gash.  I was glad to see that there was pushback from reporters.  We need to have more of that.

And if you were foolish enough to buy stock in Space X... well, good luck with that scam.  It's dropping like a rock, the same way both the Orange Anus and Elonia Musk are dropping in the polls.

Sewage

Good morning people!  We have shower and thunderstorms on the way.  Predictions are that we may get a half inch of rain, possibly more until this storm system has passed us by.  Outside temps are in the upper 60s (F).  They'll get a few degrees warmer.  Our expected high is in the mid 70s (F).  There is, however, a thick blanket of humidity lying over all of Central PA.  This means we'll all be suffering from the sticky-ickies until this system moves off the eastern seaboard.

Yesterday was a sludge... literally, and it was in the aisle right behind my desk at the orange home improvement retailer I work for.  There is a problem with the waste water line running from the restrooms to the sewer line outside the building.  Approximately four weeks ago the pipe ruptured and, as time went on, became more and more clogged.  Yesterday, the stoppage was complete and we had to deal with raw sewage bubbling up from 3 access drains in the aisle behind my desk.  Because of the severity of the issue, it has been escalated to a Divisional level.  This is not a job for Roto-Rooter.  Of course, there were a number of associates who want the store be shut down until the problem is fixed.  These people simply don't understand that if corporate decides to do that, some will be assigned temporarily to other stores, and those that aren't will have to use their personal or vacation time if they want to be paid.  Even our acting store manager was advocating this.  I sat there listening to him and thinking that this man will never be a store manager.  Corporate wants problem solvers in management positions, they do not want non-thinkers.  Instead of looking for ways to solve this serious issue, he's simply throwing his hands up in the air in defeat.

So, I got the cover art for The Body in 4/4 Time yesterday, and, as usual, here's a tease.

A new poll by Franklin & Marshall College, a conservative Central PA college, has, as they say, the Orange Anus bleeding away support.  According to their numbers, he has a 29% approval rating.  That, in case you're wondering, is the Republican party of Central Pa, with a few extra idiots thrown into the  mix; people who live for UFC cage matches.

And his screw up of the reflecting pool is still making headlines.  He's blaming everyone except those involved, the contractors he hired, because that would mean he made a bad choice, and we all know that never happens all the time.

Apparently the US and Iran have once again reached a decision to set up the framework for a possible ceasefire.  Basically, this administration wants to repeat everything that was done previously.  The sticking point is, again, Israel, or, perhaps I should say Netanyahu's refusal to stop a war.  In case you haven't realized it yet, conservatives are the cause of most of the evil in this world.

Revenge

Good morning world!  We have a comfortable 61 (F) outside, here in Central PA.  Last night we were doused with some very heavy rain as I was going to bed.  I don't know whether that was the reason on not, but I slept very well.  Today's forecast will be a repeat of yesterdays, temps in the low 80s (F) with sunny skies.  Since I work, I'll be sitting at my desk inside the great orange box retailer.  Tomorrow, however, we'll have a shadier forecast, high humidity and thunderstorms.

Retail yesterday was slow.  I did get a measure, so I met my measure goal for the week.  In fact, I hit all my goals except sales.  We shall have to see what today is like.  One of my customers might be coming in to purchase a tile installation.  They'd been in on Friday and there was an issue with the stone tile that they had chosen, they were looking for uniformity.  There is no such thing as uniformity when you're dealing with natural stone.  I once had a customer sit on the floor for over an hour going through box after box of marble tiles.  She wanted them all to be alike, unfortunately most of them had either a shade or a hue that did not meet with approval.  The poor thing left feeling rather frustrated and no doubt any wiser.

So, one of our hardware associates agreed to read the first few chapters of The Body in 4/4 Time.  He asked me how many pages and I told him about 8, 2 of the chapters are short.  He made a little face, and told me he really likes to read using audio books.  I smiled to myself.  In the fall, he's going to be starting at Penn State University as a finance major and he has no idea how much boring drivel he's going to have to actually read... in a book.

And this headline is important in so many different ways.

The whole world knows that the idiot in the White House has now made Iran a much stronger entity, a state that funds terrorism around the world.  Not only did he lose the war, he and his Secretary of Defense made the worst possible blunder possible:  they bombed a children's school killing 158 little girls.  No matter how much money this asshole throws at them in his surrender, that bombing has gashed a hole in the heart of every Iranian.  As a result, at some time in the future one of Iran's terrorist cells will take revenge upon the United States.  Will it be a school?  Possibly.  Or possibly a sporting event.  One thing is certain, they will exact their revenge.  Anyone who thinks otherwise is most likely a Republican.

Tomatoes!

Well, our temp is in the mid 60s and we have sunshine.  It's supposed to be a very nice day outside.  Isn't it a shame that I have to go to work?  According to the long range forecast, we're going to be stuck in this weather pattern for the next 3 weeks (at least).  This would be decent summer weather.  These middle of the road temps make things delightful.

Yesterday was a good one.  Many chores were completed, including a mowing of the lawn.  I prepped the wheelbarrow/planter for painting.  The garden was fertilized.  That's a first for me this year, using fertilizer.  Since everything is in containers, I decided that might not be a bad idea.  It has made quite a difference.  Last year the cucumber plant was scraggly, this year it's taking over the backyard.  

The only fly in the ointment was my neighbors.  Around 0130 they decided to play their stereo.  At first it was loud, then their addled brains realized that the volume might be a problem, and they turned it down a tad.  An hour later, they turned off the stereo.  I wouldn't be surprised if that side of the house was haunted, as my old neighbor Mike would occasionally get drunk and play his guitar very loudly for about 20 minutes in the middle of the night.  Oddly enough, the new neighbor's name is Mike, too, so he might be Mike 2.

As I said, my container garden is doing well.  Here's a pic of some of my Italian tomatoes.

In case you missed it, the Orange Anus revealed his Qatari gift plane yesterday, refurbished by hundreds of millions of tax payer dollars, I might add.  This was a personal gift to him from the Qataris, which means he's planning on taking it with him when he leaves the White House.  This got me to thinking about what happens if he not only gets impeached for a 3rd time, but there are enough votes to remove him from office?  Can the government put a lien on his assets as a way of compensating the country for all of the money he's stolen, like the tax payer dollars he's used to fix up this jet?  I don't know.  If we can, how about the government also slapping a lien on Donnie Jr's drone business, the one that borrowed $620 million from the DOJ?  And wouldn't it be great if once the Assholes are out of the picture the government started canceling all of those Starlink contracts?  Maybe we should follow Brazil's lead.

The Art of the Surrender

Okay, so our outside temp is purportedly 67 (F).  I haven't been outside yet, so I'll take that with a grain of salt.  We had some showers yesterday, and then a lot of wind.  For the foreseeable future, our daily highs are supposed to be in the low to mid 80s (F).  This is fine.  It keeps me from spending too much money on the A/C.

So, yesterday's workout was short and I'm blaming Howie.  When I was changing up the weight machine, he walked into the room and asked, "hey, wanna take a 5 minutes nap?"  And since I'm always up for a nap, I agreed.  Well, 5 minutes turned into an hour and 15 minutes.  That meant the workout had to be done in quick time in order for me to leave for work on time.  At least I was well rested when I pulled into the parking lot.

And work was meh.  I did have a $3000 sale go through.  And... as I should have expected, the customers who I sold that tile flooring installation to showed up with questions.  They only want to talk to me... shit.  Anyway, I had to explain that the glaze on their matte finished porcelain tile was not going to make the floor slippery.  There's also an issue with their sink and their toilet.  They want to replace their old toilet with the new toilet, that's not going to be a problem.  The bathroom sink is another issue.  Putting the tile floor under their vanity will raise the level of the sink, so a plumber will need correct the length of the drain.  It's an easy fix, but they will still have to pay for the plumber, our installers don't do that.

I understand that the Orange Anus is coming out with a new book.

I suppose someone finally got through to his dementiated brain as to what he really did when he signed that document in Versailles, because the "peace talks" between the US and Iran in Switerland have suddenly been canceled.  Of course, reality may not have set in and the talks might have been canceled because Israel is still bombing Lebanon, and ending the bombing is a provision.  That's right, Orangie signed a surrender agreement without getting the Israelis approval.  Let's be fair, no one should be surprised by this, as a demi-god he should be able to do whatever he wants. 

In fact, I understand he's been walking around telling people he's the most powerful man who's ever lived, comparing himself to Mao, and Stalin, and Hitler.  Well, this is how insanity works.

And finally, did  everybody get a chance to the pictures of Moscow burning yesterday?  I'm thinking that very shortly Orangie's blow bro Vlad is going to be staring straight into the eyes of a revolution.  Good for him!

Surrender

 Our outside temp is warm. 69 (F).  It's also very humid.  We're supposed to have showers and drizzles this morning.  They will extend into this afternoon, with a high temp in the upper 80s (F).  Things are predicted to cool down overnight, with tomorrow's highs in the mid 70s (F).  Evidently El Nino has arrived which means we might have a cool, wet summer.  That means a lot of mowing.

Yesterday was a fine day.  My Wednesday workout revolves around the machine with a lot less of a reliance on dumbbells.  It's a good change up.  The only exercise I do with dumbbell cs is the dumbbell thruster.  This is the same exercise that Pete Hegseth was failing so miserably.  I use 20 lb dumbbells and it's not unusual to get my heart rate up to 140 beats per minute.  This is a good thing.  Like all muscles, your heart needs to be exercised.

And I had a long lunch with my friends Tami and Ann.  They've been friends for decades.  Not all friendships survive the passing of time.

The Boroughs on Netflix has not been renewed for a 2nd season.  This does not surprise me.  Like Boots, it has an ending that doesn't a continuation of the storyline.  Unlike Widow's Bay, on Apple TV, which used it's 10 episodes to specifically guide you to a cliffhanger ending.  

And, I'm please to announce that there is a least one person in Washington DC who is happy with the green Reflecting Pool.

Don't you find watching Republicans scramble to try and defend the agreement Orangie signed to sit down and talk about a peace deal with Iran amusing.  There are so many who see this as the greatest foreign policy failure in our entire history as a country.  Orangie started a war and then surrendered.  Oh, wait, that's right, it was never really called a war.  What was it he called this attack on Iran?  An excursion?  Yep, that sounds a bit right.  And he signed this surrender in Versailles, surrounded by world leaders who hold him with much more disdain than you can even imagine.  Accountability is coming.  Not only for the  Republican Party, but the Conservative movement as well.  This is why you need to keep them as far away from power as possible.  They always screw things up.

The Copyright

This morning is a little warmer than yesterday, with our temp sitting in the low 60s (F).  Our skies are very  overcast and there might be rain on the way.  This afternoon should be warm and sunny with our high in the low 80s (F).  This is nice weather.  I wouldn't mind if this lasted all summer.

And yesterday was... well, not quite what I had anticipated, which was finishing the copyright process and a ride in the afternoon, followed by a movie.  Only one of those things happened.

I've been through the copyright process many times, but changes have been initiated over the past year that, while creating better security, have complicated things.  There was no problem using either Chrome or Google in the past, now, as the website says, results may not be optimal.  That's an understatement.  Now they recommend that you use Mozilla.  So I downloaded Mozilla FireFox, it gives you a free VPN, so that can be seen as a plus.  Then there was an issue with my email address.  My last name is in my email address and that simply doesn't work.  This meant I needed to create a new Google account in order to get a new email address that will only be used for getting copyrights.  It also meant setting up a new account with the Bureau of Copyrights.  This learning experience took about 4 hours and did involve some aggravation, but in the end I was rewarded with this.

Anyway, after everything was finished, I didn't feel like a bike ride, or a movie, so I ended up staying home and playing a video game so I could kill things.

And, if you don't know by now, the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is filled with algae because the bottom was painted blue.  It's green.  Yesterday, workers poured in hundreds of gallons of peroxide in an attempt to kill the algae, and it did... around the edges.  You see, the Reflecting Pool is not like some giant aquarium with a super, giant pump to circulate the water, so, all of that peroxide stayed around the edges.  Now we have a algae green Reflecting Pool with a blue boarder.

Dour Days

Well, today's going to be the last comfy day for a while with our high temp this afternoon climbing into the mid 70s (F).  When I climbed out of bed this afternoon, our outside temp was 54 (F).  This is what's called good sleeping weather.  It's also keeps the cooling bills... cool.  How nice it would be to not burn through my bank account in order to keep my house cool this summer.

Yesterday was good in the morning and then ho hum in the afternoon.  My workout went well.  But then I had to go to work.  And it was slow.  I have a commercial tile job in the works, and there's an issue.  The tile the customer chose has a PEI of 3 (PEI has to do with the durability of the tile).  PEI 3 tiles are good for households, kitchens, and light commercial use.  He wants the floor installed in a restaurant which is, if it's a popular restaurant, is considered heavy use, so he needs a tile that has a PEI of 4 or 5.  Those tiles are more expensive and he was looking to go cheap.  This means there's a good possibility he might simply buy the tile and then find a cheap, local contractor who will do the install.  The fact that in 2 or 3 years those tiles are going to start cracking and breaking is something he isn't going  to think about.

And I sold my other tile job.  It went well, except for one thing (key heavy dismay).  After working with this couple for over 2 years on various flooring projects in their house, it turned out that they signed up for their measure with another associate.  This means that even though they know my schedule, and came in to go over their quote and do the changes they wanted, the other associate is going to get the sale.  There was a time when that didn't happen.  Before we switched to the Order Up system, if you did changes for a quote you would get partial credit.  Now, those days are history.

According to an NBC poll, very few people are proud to be an American.  These are our Dour Days.

Only around 23% of the population are proud to be an American.  Everybody else is looking around thinking WTF.  After 9/11, pride in American soared, until we realized that George W. Bush was prime example of Republican idiocy, and then it crashed.  During the Obama administrations pride cruised along on an even plane until Fox News decided they would earn bigger bucks if they sided with the MAGA Cultists.  You'll notice the big crash in pride happened when the Orange Anus got his ass reelected in 2024 and since then pride has been basically in freefall.  Now, it's only  soulless conservatives and MAGA cultists who seem to have any pride in America.  This is probably because they get so much joy in ruining other people's lives.  They are an unforgiveable sour bunch who celebrate the destruction of compassion.  They are the  millstone around American's neck that can only be broken by their defeat and, in their ignorance, have no idea how fast their vanquishment approaches.  This will be a good thing, this end to the dour days.

Transitioning

Well, we did have storms last evening.  Not the serious thunder boomers we had been warned about, but steady rain for a few hours overnight.  We still have a bit of humidity hanging around, but temps are going to be cooler, with today's high in the mid 70s (F).  We should have this cool weather for the next 3 or 4 days.

I did work yesterday.  It was my long day.  Eight hours.  And it was slow.  I did have to spend about 15 minutes explaining to a woman what a square yard is.  You would be surprised at how many people have problems with square feet.  They simply can't wrap their heads around a very basic formula:  length in feet x width in feet equals square feet.  This is basic math... well, maybe a tad more difficult than addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.  Seriously, they will stand there with a phone in their hand and say  "you do it."  This is grade school arithmetic.  How do these people function.

Because it was super hot last Thursday and there was a heat advisory, I called off.  When I checked my timecard this morning, I saw that I was short 6 hours and once again they processed a "no call, no show" against my attendance.  So I sent an email to the store manager telling him that I would like the issue resolved by the time I get to work this afternoon.

Later this morning, I'm going to download Mozilla FireFox onto this laptop so I can The Body in 4/4 Time for copyright.  This is a minor pain in the butt.

So, Mitch McConnell is in the hospital.  I thought he was in for some possibly health related issues.  Then this picture leaked and I realized he was transitioning.  Honestly, this should not come as a surprise to anyone.

And the Orange Anus did have his white trash UFC even last evening, and again, this should not come as a surprise to anyone, he fell asleep.  Even though the administration released a video showing tens of thousands in attendance, main stream media is saying the number was around 4000 "Celebrities and military personnel."  Remember, tickets weren't selling so that "military personnel" is covering a lot of seats.

We also should have expected that the ceasefire Orangie announced is in all actuality nothing more than a "framework" for a ceasefire.  Even though he comes up with a lot of concepts and frameworks, the art of the deal very rarely puts in an appearance.  There is a fairly good likelihood that this framework will fall apart because it depends on Israel to stop bombing Lebanon.  And Bibi?  He can't do that.  Once pease settles down in the area his corruption trial will proceed, and the last thing he wants is to dress his ass up in an orange jumpsuit and spend the rest of his life in jail.

Best at Being the Worst

Well, today is starting off cooler than yesterday.  Currently  we're in the upper 60s (F).  However... we've got an hellacious increase in humidity on the way.  This will be topped off by wow! packing thunderstorms a front moves through the region.  This is the perfect day for floating around on an air mattress on a pool.  Just make sure you go inside as the evening approaches; lightening strikes can be fatal.

I did work yesterday.  It was incredibly slow at the flooring desk.  Staffing was minimalist.  Actually, that's an understatement.  I was the only one there.  Our aisle associate, the guy who's supposed to pack down product left without stopping by.  He's MAGA and they're suffering right now, which is a good thing.  My big tile installation stopped by, but they were in a large family group.  They told me that they'd be stopping in to buy on Monday.  That's fine with me, a sale is a sale.  Their son in law used the tile they chose to render pictures in ChatGTP (?).  He was very pleased with himself.  You can do the same thing by uploading pictures of your room to our website.  I said nothing, it is, after all an $8600 sale.

My store manager gave me some bad news.  He's been promoted.  Thursday will be his last day.  His replacement will either be a store manager who worked previously at our store as an assistant manager, or a store manager who's known to be a stickler and a hardnose.  If it's the aisle associate who's MAGA will quit, since she's the reason he transferred to our store in the first place.

And I went to file for the copyright for The Body in 4/4 Time yesterday and... DRATZ!!  They want submissions to be done using Firefox on a Windows OS.  Using another browser might present problems.  It did.  I kept getting error messages when I went to change my password.  Shit!

For those of you who don't know, this is what Elonia looked like before all of the plastic surgery and hair implants.  

And of course, Orangie's birthday celebration is today.  According to Fox Entertainment, only 31% of the Republican party approve of this travesty.  This administration has become an American embarrassment.  The corruption is on a scale never before seen... in the entire world.  The Orange Anus has never been an even adequate businessman.  Even though he will admit to 6 bankruptcies, in truth he has 8.  Remember his University?  He had to pay out millions in restitution because it's sole purpose was to defraud students who believed his lies.  This cage match?  This is SOP for him.  He is a stupid man who has blundered his way into being the most despised president of the United States.  He has always wanted to be number one, well, of all the other contenders in the world, he is best at being the worst.

The Happy Ending

Well we've reached Saturday.  I slept in a bit, so it's now 0912 and our outside temp is 76 (F).  Once again temps are predicted to hit the 90 (F) degree mark, though today forecasters are saying that our humidity is going to be oppressive.  Tomorrow's forecast is for the same with the exception  of the day ending with thunderbangers, high, possibly damaging winds, and rain.  Small reminder:  Washington DC is only 75 minutes south of my humble abode, and I'm so glad I didn't lose my sanity and purchase an overpriced ticket to a cage match.

And yesterday was sort of meh.  This doesn't mean that I didn't do anything, I did.  Grocery shopping in the morning, a little garden work, and then a bike ride in San Remo, Italy.  I like Italy.  I should actually visit.  I would like to see the colosseum in the early morning before the tourist busses descend upon it like a swarm of locusts.  

I do work this afternoon.  I have a tile flooring installation that's supposed to sell.  The customers are bringing their daughter because she has impeccable taste and she needs to approve their choice in tile.  If she doesn't like it, she'll pick the tile they're going to use.  Either way, the sale should go through.

And silently, under cover of darkness and a large curtain, Orangie's name was removed from The Kennedy Center for the Performing arts.  He didn't want anybody to see, or take pictures of his defeat, because that's what this was.  He lost.  Justice smote his ego... badly, and I'm really up for that.  However, pictures and videos are being published.  Here's a screenshot from a longer video put out by The Guardian.  I think this might be the removal of the P, since it's from the far right side of the scaffolding.  You can see the worker's hands grabbing onto the letter, and in the video, he just rips it off the wall.  Karma rocks.

This is Orangie's birthday weekend.  Let's see, the freedom concert thingy is gone and there is the possibility that his UFC cage match might end up being a lightening rod.  There might be something we can end up celebrating after all.

Oh, and Elonia is now, on paper, a trillionaire.  This man is so vainglorious he simply has no clue as to how anger and hatred he is generating around the world.  I don't believe he was ever destined for a happy ending.

 

Performance

So, here it is, Friday.  Our outside temp is 71 (F).  Once again the forecast has our afternoon highs in the 90s (F).  I didn't check to see what the "real feel" is supposed to be, but I can tell you I went out into the backyard briefly yesterday and it felt very hot.  I did use a personal day, rather than go in to work.  I used the excuse of there being a "heat advisory" to use a personal day.  There are times when age does have it's benefits besides having wisdom and authority.

So, what did I do yesterday since I chose to stay home in cool air conditioned comfort?  No yardwork, it was way too hot.  In the morning I completed my workout.  My trainer, who's in Portugal for the next week, sent me an "attaboy."  A lite dusting was done.  Most of the afternoon, however, was working on the final edit for The Body in 4/4 Time.  The words "final edit," are important.  There comes a time when you simply have to put the manuscript down.  I worked with a man who'd written a non-fiction book on autism and I watched as he spent literally years refining his manuscript.  He would bring it to work and sit in the lunchroom editing during his breaks.  He used yellow #2 pencils, and he'd read a paragraph, then scratch a line out, read some more and then make a note.  This went on for the 11 years I worked for International Paper.  To this day, I don't know if he ever had his work published.  At some point in time you need to put that baby to bed.  

And since I do workout regularly, I thought I'd post this snippet about our Secretary of Defense working out.  If you have access to social media, you should watch some of the videos the Department of Defense is releasing of Kegsbreath working out with Marines.  They prove how badly his neural transmitters are... transmitting.  I do not doubt for a second that he believes his performance is exemplary.  The thought that the world is laughing at him never crosses his mind.  Here's a picture of him doing a dumbbell thruster with 15 pound weights.  Thrusters are a great cardio/strength exercise.  I do this with 20 lb dumbbells.  Notice how his wrists are bent back?  That's what I call swishy wrists.  Your wrists are supposed to be straight.  In the video, he only does a half squat (wrong) and his thrust is herky jerky.  I do not doubt that in his mind his form is perfect.  As someone suggested, and I concur, is so he can shower with the Marines afterwards, you know, mano e mano, sort of like they showered in Heated Rivalry.

Where are his biceps?

And finally, today is the day that Orangie's name is supposed to be taken down from the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.  While it has already been removed from the website, it is still on the building and... this should come as no surprise, his allies running the Kennedy Center have decided to fight it.  How humiliating to have his name removed 2 days before his birthday.  He is going to get a healthy serving of humiliation much sooner than he thinks, and his ego will not be able to survivie.

Blind to the Real World

We're going to warm today.  We're also going to be humid.  Our outside temp is a balmy 74 (F), and yes, we are under a heat advisory.  While the afternoon temp is supposed to top off at 94 (F), the real feel is predicted to be around 103 (F).  This is what I call stinky winky weather, where I get the urge to run around the backyard like a rather inhibited satyr for all of the world to see.  Don't worry, it'll never happen.

So, I had my physical yesterday.  I'm healthy.  I've reached that stage of life when I have to take off my shoes and socks so they can poke my feet to prove I don't have any neuropathy.  I'm fine.  Orangie has to deal with 22 specialists while I get one doctor who thinks I'm funny.  He did tell me that I don't look my age, which was nice.  My sugar's a tad too high, so we're going to up my metformin.  He told me that besides helping my glucose levels, this might also help me lose weight.  Believe me, I'm all for that.

I get to go to work today.  Yee Ha!  With the impending high real feel temps, I momentarily did think about taking off, but then decided that getting paid to sit on my but my be a better use of my time.  Of course, I do have more than enough time on the books and there are things that I can do around the house, like vacuum up the Howie hair.  Honestly, I've never had a dog who sheds as much as Howie does.  Of course, I do have to take into consideration that Heat Advisory.

And I went food shopping on Tuesday.  Yowza!!  Inflation is the highest it's been in 3 years.  This was quite noticeable while I was filling my grocery cart.  Whole milk is up to $5.02 a gallon.  That's the New Low Price.  Last week the Old Low Price was $4.99 a gallon.  There are now so many items in every aisle with New Low Price stickers.  This is a family pack of hamburger with 20% fat.  The total cost is $32.66, and this is before the price of beef goes up because of screwworms. 

I was surprised that the Federal came out with the news that inflation had increased.  Knowing how this administration is rife with deceit, I'm suspecting that the 4.2% is on the low side.  Oh, and the trade deficit hasn't been this wide in 30 years.  That's almost as long as I've been living in my house.  Shit.  And things are going to get worse.  

A vast number of Americans believe that Orangie's UFC Cage Match in the front lawn of the White House is a bad thing, that's according to an IPSOS/USGov poll.  This is something that this administration, as well as the Republican party, simply fail to understand.  Their only concern is about being in power.  Instead of taking this into consideration, they're dancing around singing "We're in charge!  We're in charge!"  They are blind to the real world.  They've have living in a delusional world for decades.  Reality is going to do more than bite them in the ass.

And in case you're keeping county, Orangie has claimed that a peace deal in on the table with Iran 34 times.

The Good and the Bad

This is going to be quick since I have to leave shortly for my annual physical.

Showers and thundershowers are in the forecast for this afternoon.  Good.  Temps in the mid 80s (F).  Good.  Humidity is supposed to be high.  Bad.

The wheelbarrow needs a little spruce up spray paint, otherwise it looks fine.  As I said to Maddie, now I have a moveable garden.  The Weber will probably be done sometime this weekend.  Then I'll post pics.

Yesterday I bought a stromboli.  And ate it. And then felt to bloated for my normal Tuesday bike ride.  Bad.

Here's a pic of me when I was in 3rd grade.  Even at that age you can tell that I'm going to be both opinionated and judgmental.  Good....  Ba....  Good.... Very Good.

Nancy Mace lost in her bid for governor.  Good.

Graham Platner won up in Maine.  Very Good.

The Iranians shot down one of our expensive Apache helicopters.  Bad.

Orangie is still breathing. Bad.

A Good Thing for the World

 The sky stayed overcast yesterday even though the forecast was for sunny skies.  Temps did stay low, with a high in the upper 70s (F).  Today seems to be a replay, except temps are predicted to  climb into the lower 80s (F).  I'm planning some yardwork for this afternoon, so it's nice the weather is cooperating.

I'm thinking of repurposing my old Weber grill into a planter, I haven't used it in years.  Occasionally I think of getting myself a gas grill, but when I compare the expense to how infrequently I'd end up using it, I always change my mind.  I also have an old wheelbarrow that I'm going to repurpose. 

Yesterday was boring in the specialty retail world.  I did sign up a customer for a shutter lead.  It will never go through.  He's probably a senior in high school or else just graduated.  His father and grandfather were with him, with the grandfather the one telling him to go ahead.  The probably $2000 price tag is going to be a deal breaker.  Of course, you never know.  If he's the first born grandson he might get whatever he wants.

 Something I never knew was that tomato plants are self-pollinating.  That's right, their bi.  If you don't have enough buzzy bugs in your yard, at least according to Google, all you need to do is tickle the flowers.  So, every morning my little, yellow tomato flowers are getting a tickle, tickle.

And, as everyone should have expected, the Orange Anus fell asleep at the Nicks game last night.

The man sitting next to him is James Dolan, owner of the New York Nicks.  Jimmy's a billionaire and a big supporter.  Evidently no one told Jimmy that everything the Orange Anus touches dies.  With Orangie sitting next to him, one can only wonder if he actually thought that his team was going to win?  I wouldn't be surprised of Orange had placed a bet on the Spurs to win, and then put in an appearance just to jinx the Nicks.  Anyway, with all the noise of a playoff game, the screaming fans, the booming voices of the announcers, Orangie decided it was a good time to take a nap.  Oh, and he later posted on his Truth Social account that he was cheered, not booed.  Chees!  Even Main Stream Media aired clips of him being booed.  As for billionaire Jimmy?  You can bet he's going to be blaming everybody else for his team's loss.  

Every time Orangie pulls a stunt like this, he alienates even more voters.  He will continue these stunts.  To do otherwise would mean admitting that he's at fault.  This is a bad thing for Republicans and a good thing for the world.

Lulu

 According to the forecast, today's afternoon high is predicted to be cool, at least that's what they're calling a temp in the upper 70s (F).  Me?  I call that early summer weather.  We'll have to wait and see if we're going to have a day where our temps didn't climb up into the 80s (F).  

And since I worked yesterday, it was pretty much of a meh day.  Management will be happy, I got 5 install measures, which brings my total for the week up to 7.  The big problem with having so many measures is that you need to deal with them.  After the quotes have been built, you need to call the customers and try not to sound like a used car dealer.  I do this by only call them occasionally.  There are also times when I send notes to our measurement services telling them to not harass the customers.  Believe me, this does happen far more often than not.  I could regal you with horror stories of customers who have received email, texts, and phone calls every other day.  In my opinion, this makes us look desperate.  Sadly, I realize that when greed is involved the sounds of desperation get little consideration.

I've mentioned before how people like to bring their pets into the store.  Over the years I've had the chance to meet snakes, raccoons, one blonde skunk, and many, many dogs.  On Saturday, I got to meet Lulu.  She's 27 years old.  Her owner told me that when he got her 2 years ago she'd lost most of her feathers because of stress.  She's in a much less stressful environment.  She said "hello."

Of course, everybody was talking about the ugly meltdown the Orange Anus had yesterday on Meet the Press.  Social Media was flooded with videos of him seething at Kristen Welker.  Even the Washington Post, usually very soft for Orangie, did not try to sane wash the moment.  Their headline:  "Trump walks out of interview when challenged over his false election claims."  Some were saying he stormed out, but they were quickly reminded that at his age his storming days are done and that what he really did was toddle out.  I will admit to being quite pleased, in fact I was cheering her on.  One of the things that did surprise me was that this interview was recorded on Saturday and the decision was made to keep his meltdown in, rather than edit it out.  Could Main Stream Media be learning that they'll get more clicks if they show his vile side?  

And tonight?  If he actually does go to the Knicks game, prepare for him to be booed mercilessly.