Weeds

Well, the heat dome has arrived.  The toasty temp outside is 74 (F), with the high expected to climb into the mid 90s (F).  The heat index will pop that baby up into the low 100s (F).  I'm not planning any yardwork outside today.  Tomorrow morning, I may mow the lawn.  I shall have to wait and see if the grass starts turning brown.  And, even though there are those who think these temps are going to portend our summer, remember, spring was not spring-like until 4 weeks ago.

And management was happy dappy at work yesterday because I got both a lead and and measure.  They see that as potential revenue.

Decades ago, I worked in the accounting department of a Marriott Hotel (that's where my accounting career began).  One of the people I worked with has decided it would be nice to have reunion dinners.  I made it to one.  The last 2 I bailed on because something more important came up (Lily was really sick for the last one).  Several dates were given for another get together, and I let them know the dates I was available.  Well, out of the blue, there was a group email letting us know it's tomorrow night... and I work.  There are 2 people who I'd like to see, but the rest?  Hhhmm, not really.

I have 2 window quotes coming today, one this morning and one this afternoon.  This should be fun.

Okay, so it's finally here. The Body on the Lawn is now available on Audible. Click the link if you want to hear the teaser.  I'm learning about marketing and promotions, so I'll probably run something in a week or so, I'll keep you updated.

And I snapped a picture of this in our parking lot yesterday.

Aren't American politics funny?  The Republicans are going full steam ahead as if they're going to be running the country forever, and the Democrats keep getting things accomplished.  This has been a problem for quite some time, especially for the Republicans, who only seem to pass legislation that restricts a woman's health, or provides a tax break for the wealthy.  They definitely want a female serving class, one that never turns down their sexual advances, and is happy to raise a brood of children, all the while working a part-time job to help pay for those children.  I once posted about this on Zitter, and someone responded saying women shouldn't complain if their spouse didn't get a well enough paying job.  Think about that for a while.  Especially if you're a blue collar worker.  Trump's cultists may think he speaks for them, the truth is quite the opposite.  He's more like the pederast saying "you want a piece of candy, little girl," and they fail to understand what type of lollipop he's talking about.

Why Trickle Down Fails

 Yesterday was nice!  Rather than the predicted clouds, we had sunshine and temps were quite comfortable.  Things have cooled off a bit, and the prediction for next few days is partly cloudy, partly sunny, and temps in the mid to upper 70s (F).  Of course, I have to work today, but tomorrow and Wednesday should be nice.

I went down to York yesterday and had an enjoyable lunch with my friend Betsy.  She's a bit older than me, and we often joke about our ages.  I understand that most of you probably don't understand the age thing yet, but you will.  When I was growing up, most people retired at 65 and then waited to die.  Nowadays, many still retain a part-time job.  For some, that's because they need the income to offset their Social Security, but for others it's a way to socialize, to get themselves out of the house.  We have a number of 80 year-olds working at the store, not one of whom is a cashier.  Nope, these people work in the aisles, pulling product from the overhead to restock the shelves, and provide customer service to shoppers.  That's part of the funny thing.

I got an email from Audible, they're having a site-wide sale starting June 17 and have paused the Q & A process for The Body on the Lawn until after that date.  If I want, I can have them push it through to take advantage of the sale, but I'm going to be running a promotion anyway after it comes out, so I'm just going to sit and wait.  The world is not going to end if it doesn't get released next week.

And rather than getting a loveseat for the writing room, I'm thinking a large chair might be better, something like this.  There's still enough room for myself and dog, isn't that nice?

I saw that Republicans are again going to push tax breaks to corporations and wealthy individuals as part of their election package for 2024.  For those who don't know, this is called Trickle Down Economics.  They've pushed through Trickle Down 3 times, and every single time it has started failing after a short period time.  It lasted the longest under Reagan.  By the time he was leaving office, however, it was well into its death throes.  While it does initially pop up the economy, neither the corporations, nor the wealthy, invest enough of their tax breaks to keep it healthy.  Payroll expense is a terrible thing for corporations, and when it comes to creating and keeping jobs, or hitting their financial goal, money's always going to win out. The problem is that all those people they hire don't spend enough money to keep the buckos rolling in, which means companies begin to slowly cut their workforce and cancel those orders for durable goods.  They're still getting their tax breaks, which is all they cared about in the first place.

Opinionated

 Well, as the forecasters predicted, we have sunshine.  In fact, not a single drop of rain is predicted for the next week.  Sure, some of the days are supposed to be partly cloudy, but, if there correct, we'll see nary a drop of precipitation.  That'll be nice.

Work was slow yesterday.  I understand it was busier in the morning, during that constant drizzle, but in the afternoon, after the rain had stopped, the customers dropped off.  The only bright spot was that I had my review.  The large, orange, home improvement retailer I work for had done away with reviews during covid, now they are coming back.  I'm evidently number one in the store in getting measures.  Everyone seems to attribute that to the fact that I'm a "nice guy."  I find that funny since I am surrounded by so many other people whom I think are much nicer.  Perhaps that's because I don't know what's going on in their heads, while I know very well what's going on in mine.  Are my thoughts bad?  Nah, but I am definitely very opinionated and if you rub me the wrong way you will get to hear my opinion.

When I finish here, I'm going to go downstairs to the writing room and download a program called Fotor into the writing laptop.  I began uploading the files for the audio version of The Body on the Lawn yesterday and discovered that the cover art needs to be perfectly square.  Fotor takes the rectangular art that I have and does just that.  I don't know whether to classify this as a learning experience, or a bother.

Here's what my writing room floor looks like with all of the area rugs out.  There's a spot where it looks like I must have spilled some sort of oil and it created a stain.  Whatever it was, it didn't create a strong enough memory for me to remember.  And, for those who are curious, the round thing is a hatbox that has stamps on the lid from the first Grand Prix in Paris in 1906, and that is a Columbia Graphinola dated to 1926.  Somehow, I seem to accumulate old stuff.

And, since it's the weekend, politically things are quiet; that doesn't mean I stop thinking.  One thing that occurred to me is how so many wealthy Christians want to believe that their wealth is a blessing from God.  This makes me wonder if they ever think about wealthy Muslims.  Not Christians, and yet some of them are the richest people in the world.  Or, do they ever consider Asian billionaires, again some of the wealthiest people in world, and definitely not Christian.  Aren't these people blessed, too?  Or is it that Christian billionaires have tiny, selfish, inconsiderate minds that can only regard themselves as being blessed?

Court Room Edition

 Monday.  I have to work a full 8 hours.  Outside, the weather is cool but not cold.  Overnight temps dropped down to 40 (F), which was better than what they had been predicting.  Yesterday afternoon I received a text telling me we were under a freeze watch... of course, a watch is better than a warning.

I paid off my trip to Greece this morning.  That's one less bill I need to be concerned with.  Now, all I need to do is save up the money I spent so my checking account is nice and plump again.

With The Body on the Lawn, I've decided that I'm going to deal just with Audible and Itunes.  This means I'm not going to go with Findaway.  While that was a good learning experience, it was just that.  And I'm still learning.  I've been watching educational videos at ACX University.  ACX is the publishing part of Audible.  They cover everything from pre-production to publication of the audio book.  Findaway made it easy, however there were glitches along the way, like The Body Under Ice only getting submitted to certain retailers, rather than all I had selected.  Findaway is now owned by Spotify, which is moving into the audiobook business.  

After listening to soooo many auditions, I've finally settled on a narrator.  An actor named Dermot, who's an Irishmen living in Madrid.  While I was happy with the work the previous narrator did, he was not open to suggestions.  He also managed to get cast in an Indie film and communications with him seemed less important, something he could get away with putting on the back burner.  Anyway, I'm thinking the audio version of The Body on the Lawn should now be out on Audible around the first week in August. 

And I saw this yesterday and thought it rather appropriate.

Today will be the actual first day of the Moral Degenerate's trial.  Opening arguments will be heard.  Donnie will have to try and stay awake.  You may not find this surprising, but I'm not the only person to have doubts about his not napping his way through the 4 years of his presidency. Maybe that was why conversations with him needed to be peppered with praise.  This is also probably the reason he doesn't read; after the first sentence he's out like a light.

Also, his rally in North Carolina was canceled because of rain.  I'm betting it wasn't because he was worried about his cultists, either.  Most likely he was worried his make-up might run

Shut Up, We're in Charge

Well, here it is, Friday already.  Seems like just yesterday it was Tuesday and I was starting my mini-midweek break.  I'd call it a vacation, or possibly a staycation because I wasn't working and didn't go anywhere, but I did do things.  Like hang a door between the kitchen and the back porch.  When I picked it up at the store, there was a white tail deer walking through the parking lot.  I'd have taken a pic but my phone was in my pocket.

I'm going to cancel my subscription to Adobe since I don't use it.  Originally the idea had been to use it to create the PDF files needed to publish paperbacks through Barnes & Noble, but since I'm moving into audiobooks the odds of that happening are slim.  And, speaking of audiobooks, The Body Under Ice is complete.  It's in the Review stage and unless problems are discovered should be available to purchase in 20 - 30 days.  It will be available on a number of markets, including Spotify.  It will be, however, on Audible because that platform require you sign a 7 year exclusivity contract.  They also take a bigger chunk of your royalties, so audible is out.

So, I'm adding bands into my workout routine.  Any guesses on how long it will take me to look like this?

Okay, so I saw this humorous article in The Hill about Senate Republicans and how they're worried that the Republicans in the House are going to screw everything up.  You see, those radical conservatives in the House are furious about the debt ceiling deal.  They saw their chances of gauging great holes in the Biden administration, and in Medicare and Social Security go up in smoke.  Remember, these the insurrectionists who all desperately want to shriek "Shut UP!  We're in Charge!" loudly into your ears.  Rather than take their defeat and move on, they're planning on retaliating, just like the Orange Anus.  They are writing smaller, sharper bits of legislation which they hope will hobble the economy to such a degree the Biden administration looks bad.  The Senate Republicans are smart enough to know this will lose the votes, however for those Crazies in the House bleeding away Republican voters is far less important than shrieking "Shut UP!  We're in Charge!"