Where Were You on 9/11?

Today's weather looks to be a repeat of what we had yesterday, though the forecasters were wrong, thunderstorms did not strike.  Around 10:15 PM, I left Howie out for his final pee and there did seem to be a slight drizzle falling... possibly.  The very light rain, if that what was falling, was evaporating before hitting the ground.  Anyway, today's going to be much of the same thing.

Work was really slow yesterday.  Customers were buying, but not in the flooring department.  I'm fairly certain that I lost a sale because our installers took too long to get back to us on a simple question.  To be honest, the installers weren't the only ones to blame.  My customers wanted to put our top of the line vinyl plank flooring over a ceramic tile floor.  The flooring they chose has no problem with this, however, when the quote was built an expensive charge was added to rip up and haul away the tile.  This is not what the customer wanted.  Instead of getting back to us in a timely manner, waited... and waited, until finally sending us an email officially telling us there was no need to rip up that tile.

Today, is the anniversary of 9/11, 2001.  Hundreds of millions of Americans can pinpoint the exact moment when the tragic news broke.  I was working in the accounting department for International Paper, and I found out when my mom called me at the office.  The first thing she said when I answered the phone was "David, a plane just flew into the World Trade Center."  International Paper had a distribution center directly across the river from the World Trade Center and many of the associates working there were out on the loading dock watching the tragedy unfold.  Since we were the accounting hub, someone was always on the phone with us.  Shortly after the 2nd plane hit, our trucks were told to return to the distribution center.  Drivers were stuck in traffic.  People on the phone to us were crying.  Someone had a small black and white TV in their car and brought it in, and over 50 associates stood silently watching the horror unfold.  That's where I was on 9/11.

And Trumpaloozza's over.  While a vast majority of Americans are remembering 9/11, the Washington Post's headline was not about that horrific moment, rather their lead story was about JD Vance taking over the mantle of the GOP.  This should come as no surprise.  Bezo's propaganda rag will always bend in the direction of another possible tax cut.  How badly did Trumpaloozza fail?  Only the super, hardcore cultists showed up and many of them were surprised at how empty arena was.  Their lack of numbers is a message they will never understand.

It's in the Words

 I have a 3 day weekend beginning today.  Now, isn't that nice.  I suppose you might say my Labor Day has arrived a week late.  Of course, you could also say that because I don't have a non-retail job, this is how my schedule gets written.  I will admit, I do tend to have more 3 day weekends then many of my readers.  I have no problem with that.

Also, as of today, I have less than a month of full time schedules ahead of me.  I did add another vacation day in order to have one less day to work.  If you're counting, that's 19 days, unless I happen to feel like taking a personal day. I am so full of anticipation.

I want to set up a lighting routine for my new AI toy, Alexa, and I'll be perfectly honest, in a way it truly is a bit like a toy.  Currently, I have to specify individual lights I want turned on or off.  A routine will let me group lights together, so I only have to say "Alexa, lights on," or, if I wanted to let the Bobby Tussel come out in me, I could set up the routine so I only have to say "turn on the fuckin' lights."

People who read my books think I'm a lot like Eli, my main character, because I write in first person.  The truth is that while I don't dance, and don't run a porno website, in a lot of other ways I'm a lot like Bobby, my use of inappropriate language  being one.  Unlike Bobby, I have learned there is a time and place for every four letter word.

Where's the profane category?

Because I worked yesterday, I only caught bits and pieces of the 9/11 memorial services held around the country.  We saw a lot of pictures and heard a lot of words.  What surprised many was the speech by George W. Bush, not one of our better presidents.  His comparison of 9/11 to domestic terrorism, while not mentioning January 6, caused a bit of a furor.  I'm sure the skin of many Republicans burned with the criticism.  But don't worry, I'm also sure many of them easily sloughed it off, after all, the orange anus was hosting, or commenting at a boxing match last evening.  I believe every other living president, except the very senior Jimmy Carter, gave a televised speech.  Not that the OA didn't meet with some first responders, but only to get the media involved so he could spread another lie.  Isn't it a shame that this man will prostitute a national tragedy just to feed both his ego and the Big Lie.

strapped for cash

 Tomorrow's the end of the week for me.  That makes more sense since specifying days doesn't really, what with working in retail.  Business is slowing down.  A Specialist I work with suggested that maybe people are starting to run out of money.  We have one of the largest Navy supply bases on the East Coast (essential), we are the state capital (essential), we have the University of Pittsburgh medical, Geisinger, and Penn State Medical Colleges (all essential), so lockdown here, except for the whining Republicans, was not bad.  Now, however, financial incentives companies were divvying out to their associates are beginning to dry up, unemployment is stuck in the 'red zone,' and store shelves are filled with non-essential items to hide their holes.  Money is getting tighter.  In my store, our foot traffic is slowing down.  Don't get me wrong, sales are still great, but cracks are starting to show.  Blame the Republicans who want to tell you how to live, but have no clue how to run the country.

I saw where Michele Bachmann was running her mouth again.  She exemplifies the biggest problem with Conservatives, their need to shriek their narrow minded beliefs over the sane voice of reality.  While I agree with going high while "they go low," sometimes we need to tell losers like Bachmann to just shut the hell up.  Remember when she shrilly shouted how war was being declared on Christianity?  That was a lie.  Evangelicals were declaring war on everything they couldn't control.  We need to begin calling these people and their lies out.  We need to just tell them in a very forceful voice to "shut the hell up."

Nineteen years ago 9/11 united the country and almost immediately afterwards the Republicans starting dividing it with lies about 'weapons of mass destruction.'  This election, we need to teach them a lesson.  

And don't you think it's funny that the Idiot Jerk, who likes to claim he's a brilliant businessman, has a campaign with financial difficulties.  Evidently they're cutting back on TV advertising in order to have a workable cash flow during the last 30 days of the campaign.  I don't know about you, but this is a terrible reference to put on a resume if you want to be re-elected.  Don't doubt for a second that he and his party will renege on their debts, especially when he loses.  I can already hear his attorney's saying "why should we pay you, you didn't help us win?"

And, finally, my zinnias are still blooming.  Here's a snap.

Under-performance by and Idiot Jerk

Well, it's Sunday and I get to go to work.  In just a few hours I will find out if I'm going to be wearing a mask.  I have one hear at the house, but I'm saving it for special occasions, like when I go to the supermarket.  I don't have any snazzy handkerchiefs I can turn into face masks.  If I get really desperate I can pull an old T-shirt up over my nose.
Yesterday I mowed my front lawn for the first time this year.  It needed it.  My mower's battery powered so there was no need to go fill up the gas can.
I also baked bread, again.

And it is out of reach of doggy paws.
Of course, you've have to be in a coma to not understand the reason the Idiot Jerk in the White House uses his daily updates as a campaign platform.  Normally, this would lead to a surge in his approval ratings.  Remember George W after 9/11?  His approval went through the roof.  I knew, when I saw him standing on the ruins of the Twin Towers there was no way he wasn't going to get re-elected.  That was W's presidential moment.  That hasn't happened for the Idiot Jerk in the White House.  People tune in to his briefings for 2 reasons:  Birx and Fauci, the only 2 people on that stage who don't lie.  Who is it that people are paying attention to?  Governors and Mayors across the country who give daily updates have approval ratings that are soaring. Those who side with the administration are not doing nearly as well.  The governors of Florida and Georgia?  Not so good.  And not so for the Idiot Jerk in the White House.  He got an itty bitty bump.  That's it.  And that little bump is already fading away. 
And the Washington Post had this really snarky piece on Jared Kushner.  This guy should be flipping burgers at some seedy, greasy spoon, not standing at the podium in the press briefing room.  After the next election, I'm certain he will self-quarantine on some little island where he can grow grapes and raise chickens.
And finally, the last song whose lyrics made it into "The Body in the Well," is little gem by Dan Fogelberg.  This is the extended version, not the one on the album.

Rock and Roll, you know.  

Censored!

Here it is, Tuesday, my 2nd day off and the rain has not stopped.  Oh, yeah,  it's only a drizzle right now... but then it was only a drizzle most of yesterday... and it's supposed to be only a drizzle until sometime Thursday.  Oh, and don't think Thursday's supposed be clear and sunny.  No way, the forecast is for heavy clouds and high humidity... and then it starts to rain... again.  The eastern seaboard of the United States is turning into a rain forest, no doubt the result of global warming.
I had to email a copy of my POA for my Mom to Pinnacle Health yesterday so I could get her billing address changed.  They mailed a $1750 bill for her last hospital vacation to her senior living address - I got page 2... yep, only page 2.  That's pretty good when you take into account she's 85 and has dementia.
"Fear" comes out today.  For those who don't know (?) "Fear" is a tidy, little expose by a gent named Bob Woodward who has made quite a career of gathering nuggets of truth about presidents and their administrations.  He provided tasty morsels on George W which provided much insight into how a feeble minded, Crazy Christian struggles to survive.  Yeah, that's the tome in which W says he "talks to his higher Father."  Oops.  Of course, we know the Idiot Jerk has no 'higher Father.'  There is no one being in the known (and unknown) universe who is smarter than he, which is why Crazy Christians love him so much.  He has become their surrogate deity.
Today we honor those who died during the attack on the World Trade Center.  Many died in those attacks.  Many, many more died afterwards in a war 'W' chose to wage against a poor, Muslim country.  None of those attackers came from Iraq.  Fifteen of them came from Saudi Arabia, a very wealthy Muslim country, which, interestingly enough, is not part of the Idiot Jerk's travel ban.  When money talks, the Idiot Jerk listens.  Think of him as this fat, ugly pole dancer with orange/yellow plastic hair.  Your average Joe watching him might get a jiggle of cellulose, he only rolls down his G-string for the big tippers, like those high rolling, Saudi princes and kings.

PICTURE OF IDIOT JERK IN A G-STRING CENSORED

On a lighter note, I did buy 2 new throw rugs for the dining room.  Originally priced at $99 each, I bought them when they went on clearance:  $25.03 each.

The pattern is a bit unattractive, but the quality is fairly good.  At that price they're throw-a-ways, good for maybe 3 or 4 years (big dogs, you know).  They're nice, though I will admit the color palette in the center is not one I'd have chosen:  black, and red, and gold, and grey, and some sort of off taupe color.  Still, a deal's a deal.  

15 years ago

Today is the 15th anniversary of 9/11.  People ask each other "where were you on 9/11?"  I was working for International Paper.  We had a distribution center in Weehauken, New Jersey, right on the river.  After news of the first plane hitting the towers, I called them.  From their back loading dock, those associates watched the 2nd plane crash into the World Trade Center.  Shortly after that I was told they were only taking phone calls from drivers who were making deliveries in Lower Manhattan that morning.  Everything became so surreal.  And then a plane flew into the Pentagon.
Looking back 15 years later, I am amazed at how totally unprepared our government was, I mean let's talk about getting caught with your pants totally down.  That was our arrogance.  Recently released information shows just how incompetent our leaders were, I mean we went to DEFCON 3 and were ready to deploy bombers with nuclear warheads without actually knowing what was happening.  We were so close to World War III because those in power failed to follow the rules.  Communication lines fell apart.  They couldn't even talk to each other.  It was Condoleeza Rice, from a bunker in Washington, who finally got through to Moscow because they thought we were ready to launch.  We were really close to Armageddon.

9/11 needs to be remembered not only for its horror, and its tragedy, but also because hatred came close to changing the game, to dictating the rules, to initiating a reaction which would have altered the lives of billions of people.  Even though it happened here, we need to remember this was an attack on the world.  It was not the American Trade Center, or the United States Trade Center those planes flew into, it was the World Trade Center, and if anything like it ever happens again, we damn well need to be better prepared.

A saucy vacation & Trump buffoonery

Well, yesterday was the first day of my 7 day vacation.  I always take a week off in August because on September 4 is my anniversary date and all of the vacation I've been accruing for the past year rolls over.  Yippee.  I've already scheduled 2 days for September - my friend Betsy is coming up and we're going to see Elton John.  Yippee!
I managed to get quite a lot done here on day 1.  Two need cabinets installed in the kitchen, and I made tomato sauce with my very own tomatoes - the ones the dogs didn't eat.  They love their fresh vegetables and fruits.  I had to fence in my pepper plants because they love green peppers, even the hot ones.

Adding white wine to the sauce makes it delish!

Of course there was a big uproar because Giuliani, seeking Trumplodite knighthood, bragged that there had been no Islamic terrorist attacks in the US before Obama.  I wonder if dementia is a requirement in the Trump campaign since ol' Rudy tried to skid his way into the White House using 9/11... which happened in W's first year in office.

And I read about Donald's "extreme vetting...."  Did he like.... well, buy a ticket to boohoolaland?  He didn't say who's going to be in charge of this process but I'm sure he'll have no problem setting up his version of the Gestapo... nah, that's probably a bit too harsh, he'll model his secret police force after his buddy Vlad's, they'll be Putinesque, you know?  I mean, they're already paying for his campaign, aren't they?

Anyway, I'm going to see if I can mow my lawn this morning.  We've been having thunderstorms daily, torrential downpours included, so it's very, very wet, and still very, very green, which is odd for the dog days of August.