Don't we have enough trees?

Well, my mid-week weekend has begun.  For some reason, I seem to get more accomplished on a Tuesday and Wednesday then I did when my weekends were the standard Saturday and Sunday.  Perhaps the idea of not working has become so ingrained with those 2 days I usually end up frittering away the hours rather than get anything done.

One the things getting done today is a trip to the bank.  I closed out an old 401K I'd had with the orange retailer I work for, and the check arrived Saturday.  The taxes have already been taken out, so it will be deposited into the regular savings account.  Since taxes are always going to be deducted, I figured the Federal Government might as well get their money now.

Another thing I need to do is call the Vet and make an appointment for Biggie.  He needs his wellness checkup.  I was going to put that off until November because they want him to fast (like that's really going to happen) so they can check his sugar.  But yesterday morning he developed a dry cough and since he is approaching his senior years, I want to get him check out.

I found a better picture of Max Sullivan, the namesake of the smartass in my books.  It's old and grainy, but it's easy to see the smartass in him.  

And, of course, we had a bumper crop of Trump horseshit yesterday.  He wants a 'master' to review the documents he stole for espionage's sake.  This is what he's done his entire life, sue to stop or delay the proceedings, or to simply just attack.  Media outlets seem to have finally understand they need to call his lies... well, lies.  Calling them unsubstantiated falsehoods is one of the definitions of failure.  One thing that is fascinating about his lawsuit, is that it's Per Se, which means he is going to argue the case himself rather than have his attorneys in front of a judge.  Either they didn't want to touch it, or he believes himself to be a more convincing liar.  Also keep in mind, this will also endear him even more to his MAGA base.

Also, McConnell sort of, well, kind of went on the attack saying there was no election fraud, or rather he said the was very little election fraud.  This was after Florida taxpayers spent $3.9 million so Ronnie De Santis could give them 20 instances.  Keep in mind, those incidents did not include the Republican fraud that happened in The Villages.

And, finally, this bit of political hilarity.  From the Washington Post: Which Republican candidate is the worst?   Who do you think?  While many believe Oz is the most incompetent?  "His across-the-board incoherence remains unmatched," says a lot.  And I do believe this was before Walker, talking about Climate Change, said "don't we have enough trees?"

Betrayal

Yes, this is it, my late entry.  I slept in... and then I putzed around doing little chores, like emptying the dishwasher; non-thinking things.
I haven't heard anything back from my readers yet.  I am curious as to whether they will like The Body in the Well, or not.  I would like to get a partial 'thumbs up' from at least one of them... you know?
And I saw the Idiot Jerk in the White House held some sort of press conference last evening.  I didn't watch.  Basically, he calmed the fears spreading among his base with lies.  They do love his lies.  He said something stupid, like the country is a low risk because he, himself, is stupid.  He only wants to believe things that make  his fat, little heart go pitty - pat, pitty - pat.  He avoids bad news like the... plague.  He also put Pence in charge of our National Response...  I sent my brother a text this morning regarding this, how I thought it funny the Idiot Jerk was setting Mike up to be the 'fall guy.'  Of course, I got no response.  Evangelicals love Mike.  They don't understand that when COVID-19 starts spreading across the country, the Idiot Jerk is going to point at Mike and say "he's in charge!  That's his failure!"  He will betray his Crazy Christian base rather than take any responsibility. 
For those who don't know, the Idiot Jerk has been quietly dismantling the CDC.  Like all conservatives, he sees the institution as a waste of his tax dollars.  He would rather invest those dollars in the... oh... shit!  Don't Look At Your 401k!  This has always been the problem with Conservatives, they have always thought first of their pocketbook, or their wallet, or their bank account.  Common Sense has never been a priority.  Greed has always been at the top of the list.  Now the country is going to pay the price... and so will they.  When this thing kicks in, can you just imagine what it's going to do to attendance at all of those Mega-Churches?  I wonder how long it will be before his base realizes their very beliefs have betrayed them.

The Axiom... repeated.

Today is go back to work day for me... I'm not excited.
Yesterday I checked my 401K.  Once a year I'm allowed to transfer funds tax free into a safer place, where the stock market will have little to no effect on my savings.  No, I don't convert it to cash and hide it in my mattress, if that's what you're thinking.  Interestingly enough, while everybody is crowing about how great the stock market is, since April, my 401K is down 2.26%.  The only funds there are the ones being deducted from my paycheck.  Matching funds from my company have all been lost.  Okay, so what's wrong with this picture?  Maybe the economy isn't quite as good as Republicans say it is.  Sure, unemployment is down, but where's the money!  Show me the money!
And, of course, the Idiot Jerk in the White House is doing flaming cartwheels over Bob Woodward's book.  Can we talk about salty nuggets which leave you wanting more... and more.  I might actually buy it, you know?  As I was reading little snippets yesterday, all I could do was laugh.  If this thing is even halfway true, it makes dysfunctional look downright normal.
At the same time, I was horrified at how reprehensible the Republican Party has become.  They support this monstrosity of humanity simply because he gives them what they want.  Their hatred for America has never been so obvious.  They want a Republican dictatorship, and he is only too happy to oblige.  Except he, very, very unpopular.
For those who have never heard it, I'm going to repeat Dave's Axiom..  "A popular president can move the country to either the left, or the right and the public will go along with him.  An unpopular president, trying to force the country to either the left, or the right, will move the public in the opposite direction."  His disapproval rating pretty much sits at 60%.  Almost 2/3's of the country believe this Idiot Jerk is totally unfit to be president.  They want him out of the office.  Believe me, he will be gone sooner than you think.
On a lighter note, I started playing Skyrim again.  This is probably my fourth play through, though I don't know if I'll finish.  Mostly it's to hold me over until the next Assassin's Creed comes out.  From the reviews I've been seeing, that game is going to be simply spectacular.  They're saying the story is over 100 hours longs.  That's simply amazing.  Here's some game play with Alexios on the island of  Lesbos.

Hot, right?  Really Hot.  This is where he fights Melania, you know?   Chick with the snakes in her hair... wait, you're telling me Melania doesn't have snakes in her hair.  Then it must be that other chick... Medusa.

Safer

Well, it's Wednesday, which is kind of... but not really, my hump day.  I'm off Friday, but then I have to work on Saturday... and then I'm off Sunday and Monday.  Friday I need to gather up and brown bag the sticks, twigs, and small branches, also known as 'yard clean-up' because on Saturday the township sends a truck around to pick it up.  They'll do this the first Saturday of every month until October.  Now, ain't that sweet?
I saw where China has put on their trade war gloves.  Supposedly there is a 60 day wait period before the actual fight begins.  Who will cave first?  My money says the Idiot Jerk in the White House.  The Chinese people will be forced to endure.  The American people, however, will soon start chanting "Lock Him Up!"  There will be a thunderous stampede of feet to the voting booths as the blue wave rises to immense proportions.
Evidently there was a big, blue surge in Wisconsin because whining Scott Walker is... well, whining.  Funny thing is that when you read the article he obviously is more concerned about his own political ass than anything else.  When he said "they will target me," I burst out laughing.  He's always been a selfish conservative scumbag.
This morning was free weight day. I did 28 sets of 314 reps and the total weight lifted was 6014 pounds.  My arms and shoulders are swelled.
This morning I also moved my 401K earnings to someplace safe.  I do this every year since the great recession.  I lost retirement savings then, and even though my 401K did recover, there's no getting back those dollars that disappeared.  It's much better to be safe rather than sorry.  This is especially important now that we have an Idiot Jerk in the White House.  While he might brag about the stock market going up, he won't say a damn thing when it drops.  There's no way to milk praise when the Dow goes down.  Remember, this is a fool who's filed for bankruptcy 4 times.

Portrait of Trump

So I had breakfast with my brother this AM.  When I told him I was moving funds from my 401K to more safer investments he looked rather blank, so I explained to him that I was worried about the stock market.  Right now that baby is bubbling like a champagne bottle that's been shaken (by DT) and, I suspect, maybe after his inauguration, the cork is going to pop.  My brother doesn't understand.  He thinks climbing almost 100 points everyday is normal.  He thinks DT is having a positive influence on Wall Street.  I don't.  I'm too old to have my 401K drop like a rock.  I'm playing it safe.
And this whole Russian thing is very funny.  You see DT doesn't understand politics.  The idea that Putin might see him a a dolt, a very rich reality star who believes saying "you're fired" puts the two of them on the same playing field, and he's wrong (of course).  DT doesn't understand world domination.  To him the idea that a foreign government, which has been our enemy much longer than our friend, might want to set him up to knock us down is ridiculous.  DT doesn't realize he's had to file for bankruptcy 4 times because of his own bad decisions.  The truth that DT is a bad man, a very, very bad man who will make us suffer for his own stupidity.  Will he make it through 4 years?  I doubt it.
Anyway, I went to visit my 83 year old Mom today.  She signed herself up for a painting class.  Once a week she goes and and paints a picture.  Spiders.  She's been painting spiders about as well as any 83 year old woman with slight dementia.  This is her portrait of Putin.

He has 12 legs.  If you look closely you can see she's written "not again."  I don't ask.  I took a picture of this one because she likes the blue background.  There are others.  All spiders.  Not all of them have 12 legs, some have 8, some have 6, and one has 10.  Or maybe it's not Putin, maybe it's Trump.  I mean, every time he turns around there's going to be a finger pointing.  Makes more sense, doesn't it?  Trump saying "not again."