Testosterone

So, it's Thursday morning, our outside temp is 76 (F), and today is going to be another stinker.  Yesterday was a cooker.  Our high got up to 99 (F).  I don't check to see what the real feel is because in my  mind 99 (F) is hot enough.  Today we're under an air quality alert.  Now, isn't that... nice.  The cool down doesn't start until Saturday and, of course, the temperature drop will arrive with showers and possibly severe thunderstorms.  So, are we going to have a replay of the July 4th storms?

Yesterday was a busy day.  I had 2 old laptops, a Dell Inspiron 5700 with Windows 7 (don't laugh), and a Samsung gaming laptop with 2 hard drives and about 1000 GB.  I fired them both up to see if they worked.  After spending about an hour on the Dell, restarting with a soft boot, I found only a few old pictures indicating I must have transferred the important stuff before I stopped using it.  The Samsung?  That has over 500 GB of memory, some associate reviews from 2014 and 2015, 2 HDMI ports, 2 USB ports, and a Blue Ray disc player.  And then I remembered the reason I stopped using it was because the keys kept popping off.  Well, there's an easy fix for that.  This means I have 3 functioning laptops, plus the large gaming computer upstairs.  Does this make me geeky?

This morning, I'm taking Howie to my brother's farm.  This is part of the socialization process.  He'll get to meet my brother, his wife, and possibly some chickens, goats, and one or two pot bellied pigs.  Then we'll come home and he'll sleep for the rest of the day.

Here's a flash from the past.  As Biggie's arthritis worsened, I bout him a bed with a heated mattress thinking it might help.  He hated it and only slept on it for a total 15 minutes.

And, as just about everyone know, the Orange Anus is planning on throwing a rally this evening on national TV.  If he were going to tell Americans that he was turning over a new leaf and planning on actually putting Americans first, he might help his ratings... a small bit.  That ain't gonna happen.  His dementiated worst is going to be on display.  From what I understand, China is going to get blamed for rigging the 2020 elections.  Here's a little tidbit about China.  That country is now more popular in the world than the United States.  Of course, the rigged election is a lie.  No one wants to hear his lies, not when plums and nectarines are $4.99 a pound.  I've read that a number of Republicans are dHegsreading this evening's speech, knowing the Orange Anus is going to be driving another nail into the Republican coffin.

And Kegsbreath Hegseth wants to start shooting our soldiers up with testosterone to make sure they reach maximum lethality.  For those who don't know, the Nazi's did that in 1935.

Kristi Noem kills dog

 Sunday.  Today's supposed to be warmer than yesterday, which topped off in the mid 50s (F), by many degrees. Over 30.  That's right, our temps are predicted to climb up into the 80s (F) this afternoon.  The same will be true for the next 2 days, as well.  And after that, it looks as though are afternoon highs will be sailing through the mid 70s (F).

And, as expected, yesterday the home improvement retail world was oh, so slow.  Blame the temps.  Blame the wind.  Blame the rain.  Rain?  We were only supposed to have spotty showers.  Well, that was not the case.  Forty-five minutes at a time, it rained.  Steady.  Soaking.  We needed it.  This morning we have fog warnings.  It's not thick, and will probably burn off by the time I head into work.

My new narrator and I have been emailing each other and right off the bat the rapport is different then with the first narrator.  This guy wants character descriptions.  He's asking what I want Eli and Max to sound like, of course, they're middle-aged jocks so I have to decided in my head what a middle-aged jock sounds like and tell him.  That's nice.  It's also nice that when I tell him that even though The Body on the Lawn is a mystery, it's more about family than anything else, about parents and their relationships with their adult children.  In fact, when I read through the manuscript prepping it for narration, I was surprised at how integral those sections of dialogue on adult children dealing with their parents to the outcome of the book, of Eli's father developing a sense of pride in a son he'd kept distant for most of his life.

And here is a picture of my dogs, because everyone is posting pictures of their dogs to protest Kristi Noem's shooting of a 14 month old puppy because it was untrainable at hunting, and she hated it.

Of course, social media went wild yesterday, with so many people posting pictures of their dogs.  Is Kristi Noem heartless?  Well, she's a Republican, I think that pretty much tells you everything that you need to know.  The fact that she bragged about shooting her dog, as well as a goat, in her book tells you quite a bit about her mind set.  This is not the first time Kristi's come across as being amoral.  There was that incident when she gave her daughter preferential treatment so secure a position as a state real estate appraiser.  Oh, and then there's her extra-marital affair with Corey Lewandowski, of course, that relationship is immoral not amoral, not that it makes any difference to Kristi.  Oh, and she wants to be Trump's VP.  Ain't that a joke?

Zinnias in the Rain

 And it's Monday, Funday for all of you out there who hate the start of the new work week.  Here in Central PA, we're under a steady drizzle with heavy, soaking rains to come later in the morning and early afternoon.  After they pass through, the temps are going to drop.  A frost warning is in effect for tomorrow morning, so it's probably time to pull my snuggly, wool blanked out of the cedar chest.

This morning, before I decided to get out of bed and get dressed, I thought about Biggie.  He was a really nice bedwarmer during the winter.  I will miss that.  He did, however, on occasion, walk up and look in my face and burp, but then he was a dog.  He would also snore loudly if he managed to roll himself over on his back.  Believe me, rolling a sleeping 115 pound dog over on his side is not the easiest thing to do.

Walking to work yesterday morning, I snapped a shot of one of zinnias in the rain.

Yesterday, politically things were rather quiet.  With Pence out of the GOP nominating race, things have quieted down somewhat.... sorry, I had to do that.  I did see where the Orange Anus said something about Mikey needing to go the distance.  Mikey was never one to put in the work, always being a step behind thinking that was enough.

Ronnie DeSantis is running into serious shit issues.  People are asking him the not too difficult questions and he's fumbling for the answers because he's always assumed everyone is a moron.  There was an interesting exchange on one of the Sunday morning news shows where he was asked about increasing gun mortality rate in Florida.  Of course, Ronnie D lied, saying it was decreasing.  Pushback ensued, something Ronnie D abhors because that brings his lack of accountability into focus.  Statistically, the number of people dying from gunshot wounds is increasing... a lot, like a percentage point a year, and last year it was up to 14 + %.  And Ronnie D's blubbery lips blubbered.  One of the consequences of loosening gun laws is that more people are going to die, but then when have Republicans ever thought of consequences.

Number 2

 Friday.  The end of the work week has arrived for some of you.  My work weekend is just around the corner.

I don't know if it's the drizzly showers we have right now or not, but the hazy smoke from Canada's fires is no where to be seen.  This is fine with me.  They're predicting we might get a thundershower this afternoon.  That would be fine with me, too.  

For about an hour yesterday, I did some more digging on the roots of that burning bush.  This my be a rather long process.

Biggie's urn arrived.  It's a bit bigger than I expected, though is much more impressive than the one is ashes were in.  It's very shiny!

And, for those of you who haven't heard the news, Trump is going top be officially indicted for a 2nd time on Tuesday.  Miami is probably not going to be very pleasant on Tuesday.  Purportedly part of his indictment has to do with the Espionage Act which might entail him actually being arrested, put in handcuffs, and sent to a jail cell.  While 62% of America would love this, I doubt if it will happen.  One of his attorneys said that he was going to fight this thing through and not run off to Scotland.  Personally, I think that's a very good possibility.  Especially if he gets indicted a 3rd time in Atlanta.

Republicans are in an uproar, at least publicly.  Privately I'm betting many of them are scared.  A majority of Americans can't stand their politics.  We are a Centrist country unfortunately Republicans don't really care.  All they want to do is say "shut up, do as we say, we're in charge."  They hate Democracy.  

Oh, and speaking of Democracy, the Supreme Court released a decision yesterday ripping Alabama's racist redistricting maps.  Ouch for the white Republicans in that state.  Not surprisingly, the angriest dissent came for Clarence Thomas who loves him his white sugar daddy.

Not your Standard Bush

 Temps today are supposed to break into the mid 70s (F).  I'm hoping the forecast is accurate since the past few days it has been what I call unseasonably cool.  Now, I understand we're right in the middle of the season, but warmer temps would be nice.  I'm anxious to get into my summer wardrobe of shorts and Tl-shirts and not much else.

I did get myself a pair of flipflops.  I don't do the sandal thing but flipflops are alright.  I also ordered a new belt, which arrives today, because my pants keep falling down and I'm too old to be a sagger.

Biggie came home yesterday.  Rather than put him up in the cupboard with Gertie, I took both urns downstairs and put them on the lower shelf of the sideboard.  Gertie's urn is much nicer, a small cedar chest; Biggie's was made in China, I think that's all that needs to be said.  I may buy him something nicer.

And, as I've said, my roses are coming in full.  I have a bush (es) out front that is two in one: a yellow climber and a red rose that is your standard bush.  I have no idea how the two have become intertwined, but they have, the result is both yellow and red roses that look as though they are the same rose bush.

If you live in Florida, you got some disheartening news yesterday.  Disney is not going to build a planned billion dollar complex in the state, but has chosen instead to keep it in California.  That's a big blow to the state's economy.  Ronnie D, in his whiny best, said their decision was political.  Now tell me, isn't that a laugh?  Especially since he was the one who initiated this fight solely for political reasons.  Little Ronnie seems to think he should be called Teflon Ron, but that ain't going to happen.  

And Nikki Haley welcomed Ronnie D into the fray, not doubt because she thinks that if she makes a good enough showing he'll offer her a spot VP spot on the ticket.  She's a dumb as he is, but then we've all known that for some time.

Par for the Course

 Well, Thursday has arrived.  The temps are supposed to be warmer today then they were yesterday, that'll be nice, and hopefully it won't be as windy.  Yikes, yesterday you really needed to hold on to your hat if you happened to wear a hat and went outside.  I'm not a hat person.  They make my ears stand out.

One of the things I find amusing about going to Planet Fitness is the individuals who walk around with large water bottles filled with either a protein shake or hydration drink (most likely water), especially the drinks since they're now way they're going to sweat out a quart of bodily fluid walking around looking at the exercise equipment.

I'm picking up Biggie's ashes this morning and later this evening I'm getting rid of that dog bed he never used.  People ask me how Lily's doing, if she's going through any grief.  Now and then she will stop and look around, so she knows he's gone, but I've been keeping her very busy.  Dogs do have time issues, that's why you can walk out the front door, stay outside for two minutes, and when you go back into the house they treat you as though you've been gone for years.

I do have peaches on those branches that are still on my peach tree.

Evidently Trump and his minions were told more than once about his handling of secret documents and, par for the course with him, he ignored what he as told.  This information is being sent to the DOJ and the Orange Anus has up until May 26 to file an appeal.  He will file, probably on the last day because that, too, is par for the course.  I also understand that the attorney in charge of this matter quit right after this information was made public.  People are wondering if it was because he got fed up with Trump lying to him, or just got fed up with not being paid.  Either way, he should have known this was par for the course.

Biggie's Rose

 Well, can we say hello to a brand new Monday.  For me, it is also a brand new world, sort of, now that Biggie's gone... except he isn't.  I have pictures of him on the wall.  He and Lily are the wallpaper on my phone and my computer, and he's going to stay there.  I have a problem with people who lose a friend and then surgically removed as much evidence of that life because it makes them feel uncomfortable or makes them sad.  So, Biggie may be gone, but he will always remain.

I'd like to thank everyone who commented or who sent me an email.  Your condolences were all greatly appreciated.  The outpouring of sympathy here and on Facebook took me completely by surprise and at times was a bit overwhelming.  

On Friday morning, while I was waiting for Companions of Peace to arrive and take Biggie for his last ride, I saw the first bloom of the year on one of my rosebushes.  I promptly dubbed it Biggie's Rose.

People have been asking me if I'm going to get another dog and so far I've been steadfastly telling them no.  I do want to travel.  However, since everybody knows I'm going to live to be 100, I don't think I can completely rule out that possibility.

Around the world, there were elections in Thailand in which the opposition lost massively.  What did they think was going to happen?  That the people were going to vote of a military dictatorship?

And in Turkey, Erdogan is hanging by a thread.  That makes Moscow upset.  Hopefully, someone's going to have a sharp enough blade to send crashing into defeat. 

Biggie

 Sad news here.  Biggie died last night.  He had Cushing's disease which pumps way too much cortisol through his system, which effected his stress response to so many factors.  Boxers are also susceptible to heart attacks, so the Cushing's would increase that problem.  I'll probably be off until Monday.  

So, let's also say goodbye to Biggie.  He was a good dog.

Reuben

 Rather than continuous rain yesterday, our showers (and they were just showers) were spotty throughout the day.  The temps were cool, but not cold.  Today we're supposed to get more sunshine, with the temps holding steady in the mid 60s (F).  Tomorrow, however, rain is again in the forecast.  

Biggie had a bit of an episode last evening which was, I suspect, related to his Cushing's Disease.  His most frequent symptom is an episode of heavy panting which last about ten minutes .  The vet told there's nothing wrong with him, this is just the result of his pituitary working just a little too much.  Still, it is a bit offsetting at times.

Yesterday was good for me at work.  Another $6,000 carpet sale and another measure.  I'm actually doing better than one of the full time associates.  Management is very happy with me.  

My new glasses have arrived. The ones with the clear lenses.  The pair with the yellow lenses will be used for backup purposes, should I need them.  They were, unfortunately, a waste of money.  

Dinner last evening was a Reuben sandwich.  Tasty.  I slow roast my corned beef until it's quite tender.  Yum, yum.

The Orange Anus had a rally yesterday in Waco, Texas.  Honestly, I just didn't want to take the time to find out what he was saying.  I did see some sort of horseshit that brain dead Ted Nugent was there spitting out some sort of lies that floated through the audience like over-buoyant turds.  The only thing of interest I did see was his failure to mention either Ted Cruz or Greg Abbott.  Those 2 have become political enemies since they now support DeSantis. 

Mostly people seem to be waiting for the New York Grand Jury to reconvene.  People are hungry for an indictment, even centrist Republicans.  I don't doubt many of them realize that the party will be torn asunder, however, it won't be until afterwards that the rebuilding can commence.  I don't doubt that the future Republican party will be kinder and gentler, and oh so very much weaker.   

  

Get out your Party Hats

Saturday.  I work 6 hours, standard shift, 12 - 6.  Temps are predicted to climb into the low 50s (F), typical late winter, early spring weather.  No rain is in the forecast.  Yesterday was on and off showery, with 2 or 3 short term soakers.  Funny thing:  one of my co-workers actually said, "we need the rain, it's so dry."  Wrong.

I started watch Foundation last evening on Apple TV.  I figure, since I have the free subscription for 3 months, I might as well use it.  I have Paramount +, which gives me access to Showtime.  Meh.  I surfed their menu last evening and nothing jumped out and said "watch me now."  That's why I ended up watching the first episode of Foundation.  I'd tried to read the trilogy a long time ago.  Asimov could be really boring at times.

My lower back started feeling a bit scrunchy yesterday afternoon.  Maybe I slept the wrong way, or it could possibly the fact that I carried an A/C unit out to the car.  Maneuvering it down the staircase was a bit tricky since I couldn't see where my feet were.  Anyway, I don't doubt it will be naproxen and heating pads for the next couple of days.

I'll be taking a selfie for the back cover of my next book this morning.  I'll probably share it with you Monday or Tuesday.  In the meantime, here's a picture of Biggie I took last night.  Sometimes he'll hot dog it when the camera is out, last night, not so much.  It was past his bedtime.

If you were paying attention to the news yesterday, then you know that the New York City district attorney will be meeting with various sectors of law enforcement on how to handle demonstrations when Trump gets indicted.  The operative word in that sentence, for those you don't know, is indicted.  And it's just a matter of days.  And it's the first indictment, other's will follow.  

One of the Moral Degenerate's attorneys has said Trump will go peacefully, in fact, having pictures of him being handcuffed and fingerprinted will galvanize his base..  I'm betting that Ronnie D. doesn't want this to happen.  Trump, the martyr, will steal the votes Ronnie so desperately wants.  In fact, Trump's getting arrested is the worst thing that can happen to Republicans.  Get out your party hats, and make sure you stand way back for the bloodbath is about to begin.

 

The Document and the Laptop

 Well, hello Saturday.  We are 38 days from Spring.  If the long range forecasts (meaning next week) are accurate, we will be hitting that season early.  Weather can be so fickle, though.  Still, if they're correct, we should be in the mid 60s (F) by Wednesday.  While the good temps have been good for the heating bills, one does hope they don't portend a stinkin' hot summer.  Of course, I have a new electric provider, so we'll have to see how that works out.

I haven't baked anything for a while, mostly because I've been busy with other things.  I also need to get back on the treadmill.  Instead of everyday, it's been every other day.  

Biggie no sleeps up on the bed, well at night he doesn't.  The minute I turn off the light he's heading down to the couch.  Interestingly enough, if I lay down to take a nap during the day he is on that bed faster than you can say "nap."  Also, since he's sleeping downstairs, he's no long getting up 2 - 3 times a night to go potty outside.  That was one of the reasons they thought he had Cushing's.  I'd say that was pretty much a missed diagnosis.

And I popped another little video onto my channel about the upcoming The Body Under Ice.  They're fun to do, and while I have an idea of what I'm going to say, mostly their ad-libbed.  I did have to re-record one because I said the title of the book wrong and that was followed by a stream of profanity that could have come straight from Bobby Tussel's mouth.

Our military shot down a UFO yesterday.  No, not one of those saucery shaped things the people from Alteres Nebulon fly to Earth.  Nope, this one was probably a surveillance drone of some sort.  Of course, they didn't say it was a surveillance drone, just that it was an unidentified flying object about the size of a small car.  It was reported on Twitter that it took Fox news 5 minutes to deride the shooting down.  They were slow on the trigger with that one.

I did see some posts that musky Elon was a little perturbed because his Tweets were just hanging there, not a lot of re-Tweets, and his usual number of bots hitting the like button.  I find it amusing that one of the richest people in the world's ego is being burned and it turns out he's a cranky as a 12 year old.

Finally, I saw where one of Trump's attorneys turned in another classified document to the DOJ... and also a laptop that had a copy of the document.  At least, I think it was the same document.  People were quite skittish about that.  A document on a laptop can be emailed.  There was also mention of a thumbdrive, too.  That would make the document so very much more portable.  People travel with thumbdrives all the time.  They carry them in their pockets.  This is not good.

Wrong Color?

Well, it's Tuesday and my first load of laundry is in the dryer.  My 2nd, sweatpants, will be going into the washer shortly.  Moving both washer and dryer to to the 2nd floor was a smart move, since the big PC is up here.  The only thing I don't like is the vinyl floor - it's faux marble, has a lot of white which shows up dog hair.  Holy Crap!  I had no idea there was so much dog hair floating in the air around me.  

We had a big carpet carpet install returned.  There are 7 rolls of  shrink wrapped carpet sitting back in receiving, each with the dimensions of a room written on the wrap.  Beaucoup Bucks $$$$.  The customer claimed it was the wrong color.  Well, that's a lie.  I can remember 2 times when the wrong color carpet was sold.  Both times, the installation was stopped before the installers cut a single piece of carpet.  I'm betting that in this case, wrong color means the customer didn't like the carpet after it was installed.  I don't doubt this happen more and more frequently because carpets are expensive now.  Two years ago, the same carpet would have run $3.25 a square foot, today it costs $5.37 a square foot.  American capitalism is destroying itself.

Back when the electrical work was being done for the laundry move, I used a small piece of plywood to keep Biggie at bay in the kitchen.  Believe me, he so desperately wanted to go hang around with the electricians.

You know, it doesn't seem a day doesn't go by without Ronnie DeSantis doesn't do something that heralds his turn to the far right.  Black people are furious about his attempt to whitewash their history.  Ronnie doesn't understand.  He desperately wants Florida to become the white Mecca.

The voters in George Santos' district are furious with him.  I would be, too, if he represented my district.  While Democrat and Independent voters want him gone, some Republicans, though still claiming to be angry, would rather he stay.  They don't want to lose his vote and they're worried that they'll do that if there's a special election.  They are totally clueless as to how badly this hurts them with the voters.

Republicans are also suffering from multiple identity crises.  A outstanding example of this is in Butler county, in western PA, where not two, but three different groups are claiming to be the true Republican party.   These problems are only going to multiply for the party of Trump.  I find this hysterical because this is happening to the Republican party across the entire country.  They are using their "shut up, I'm in charge" tactics upon themselves.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/24/us/politics/republicans-trump-pennsylvania.html

Republican Deja Vu

 Sometime last night a dusting of snow fell.  The morning sun is going to melt it away pretty damn fast.  That's fine.  Except for that Cyclone Bomb that froze our tidily winks off back around Christmas, this winter's been more temperate than usual, at least here in Central PA.  Everyone who pays a heating bill appreciates that.

Biggie has evidently decided he's no longer going to be sleeping on the bed.  He's also decided that the new bed I bought him makes a decent pillow.  Go figure.  My biggest challenge is sleeping on more than an eighteen-inch wide strip at the edge of the bed.  I'm making progress.

I baked a peach pie yesterday using some of the peaches I froze.  It's... okay.  I don't remember baking one before, and instead of looking at a recipe I sort of, well, winged it.  It's tasty, but it doesn't really have a peachy flavor.  I did mix in some walnuts because I like nuts.  I think I'll use my remaining peaches to make cobblers, they're easier.

I saw where Maggie Green has suddenly disavowed her Qanon roots in favor of a new hairstyle that no longer has that trailer-trash look.  Worry not, her new appearance belies the fact that she's still the hateful Margaret so many people detest.

And, in case you missed it, the fascists down in Brazil attempted their on January 6 event.  The major differences between Trump's fete du jour and theirs?  they chose coordinating colors, yellow and green, and whereas Trump sent his coup participants home with a blessing, over 400 were arrested down in Brazil.  And where was wannabe dictator Jair Bolsonaro while this was happening?  Why in Florida.  In fact, I do believe he's visiting that other wannabe dictator Donald, the Orange Anus, Trump.  How cozy.

The dysfunctional House of Representatives is set to vote on their rules and regulations today.  They need 218 votes to get them passed.  This is going to be interesting.  They can only lose 7 votes, I believe.  This is how you spell Deja Vu.

Finally, the State of Union is schedule for March 1.  I'm of the opinion the first (notice I say first, here) indictment will fall well before that date.  And the Moral Degenerate, Donald Trump, is not the only one who's going to be charged.  This is why Jimmy Jordan, and the rest of that group who wanted pardons, is desperate to set up a subcommittee to find out where all of the investigations stand, especially those regarding their own traitorous asses.

It's all in the Numbers

 Hello Saturday.  The temps outside are a cool 36 (F), and there is snow in the forecast for tomorrow.  The prediction is for about 2.5 inches.  That will be fine.  An easy shovel.  The long range forecast for for temps to stay around the same.  That's fine with me.  

My TV is fixed.  Not in a mechanical way, there was nothing wrong with the hardware.  Thinking there might have been an update that I didn't get, I spent some time on the internet yesterday morning researching why it was only connecting for Netflix.  On the Sony website, I clicked on Chat and shortly there after was talking to Steve.  He asked if he could remotely access my 7 year old TV and I told him he could.  About 10 minutes later the problem was corrected.  I watched what he did, so now, should this ever happen again, I know how to fix it.

I ordered a dog bed for Biggie since he no longer seems to like sleeping on the big bed.  It arrives today.  We shall see if it was worth it.

I saw this and had to laugh.  If you're praying to your deity for assistance in getting Kevin McCarthy elected as Speaker of the House, and it still takes 6 more votes, you're getting an obvious message from your deity, and it's not one that you probably want to hear.

And what about Kev McCarthy finally nabbing victory on the 15th vote?  I watched a short video, sound off.  I'm giving him 7, possibly 8 months.  All it takes is 1 member of the House to object to his performance.  At one point is was 5 members, then he made a concession and dropped it to 4, but in the end, his desperation forced him to accept 1.  Nothing will be accomplished, except for a number investigations into Hunter Biden's laptop.

George Santos was sworn in.  I'm giving him 2 to 3 months before he's arrested, or extradited.  Republicans are already discussing who they want to fill his seat once it's vacated.  I'm betting that since there's a Democratic governor, and the district Santos represents has for quite some time been Democratic, he will be replaced his Democratic challenger, the one who barely lost the election.

Finally, I have to touch on Matty Schlapp and his wandering hands, no doubt he just wanted to reach out for a lost member... of his flock.  I actually listened to the sound bite of the complaint.  Matty had been drinking.  So, is this devout Christian going to say he was drunk?  His victim is trying to sound traumatized, even though he chose to not say "no."  If he was truly unhappy about the unwanted advances, he should have just slapped Schlapp, instead he chose to make a public complaint.  I suspect this story might have legs.

A Joyful Noise

 Looking out the window of my computer / workout room, I can see the sun reflecting off the Susquehanna River.  Yes, I am that close.  No more than 3/4 of a mile away.  Being on a high hill has its advantages.  I tell people that when I finally sell my house, it's going to happen in the winter, when I can see traffic moving down Front Street.  That's on the west shore.

All I did was work on the book yesterday.  

Oh, and I took a ride in California through the redwood forests.  I'm so glad Tacx has started including rides in the United States.  Japanese rides are also now included in the package.  I did resubscribe for another year.

And I had mentioned before that I thought Biggie's potty breaks might not be as necessary as they seemed to be, well, I was right.  Instead of getting up every time he jumps off the bed to let him out, I've been letting him wander.  I don't think he's pleased that biscuits are no longer involved.  No more midnight snacks.  Sometimes he comes back on the bed, other times he doesn't.  Last night he slept for a couple hours in the computer / workout room.  Eventually, he moved downstairs to the sofa in the writing room.  He can sleep where ever he wants.

And then there's this:

Can you hear me laughing now?

McCarthy keeps making concessions to the insurrectionists without understand that's not what they want.  The man's an idiot.  And a weasel.  And spineless.  I don't think he understands that one of the goals here is to humiliate him straight to Hell.

Yesterday, while Scott Perry was speaking, someone shouted "order for the traitor."  Had I been in a theater, I'd have been rolling in the aisles.  At one point afterwards, I believe, he was caught on camera yelling that this whole thing was bullshit.  As a reminder, Perry was the one pushing a YouTube video about Italian satellites switching votes from Trump to Biden.

Personally, I'm saying more power to these 20 asswipes.  I can't think of a better way to sabotage the 2024 elections.

John Boehner, who was forced out of the Speaker position by the American Freedom Caucus, has said they actually have no true agenda, their main goal is to 'kick as much sand as possible into the gears, hoping to break the government.'  That sounds about right.

No matter what they want, the destruction they're causing to the Republican party is tremendous, so, let's stand back and make a joyful noise!

Republican Recession

 Holy Crap!  It's Tuesday, and I slept in, and not because I stayed up late killing vampires in Evil West, or because I was watching TV.  I hit the sack around 11.  I only got up once to let Biggie out.  He did decide to sleep upstairs last night, just couldn't make up his mind if he wanted to sleep on the bed, or on the floor.  The floor won.

Outside, it's foggy as hell and rainy heavily.  This afternoon the forecast is for breezy conditions.  Hopefully, things will dry up.  Temps are supposed to peak in the mid 60s (F) sometime tonight, and the start to fall into a more winter like patter.

And yesterday at the store?  I was busy, busy, busy: over $7000 in sales; I cut blinds for several customers, and cut carpet as well.  My shift was pretty much non-stop customers.  That's fine.  Busy makes time fly.  I have no problem with that.  Of course, yesterday was a holiday for most people.

Before work, yesterday, I took a ride around Lake Annecy, which I do believe is in Treader's neck of the woods.  Actually, I had to ride 4 miles on a bike route next to a highway before I finally reached the Lake.  

And, of course, today the Republicans take control of the House of Representatives by a very slim majority.  I laughed yesterday when I saw pictures of McCarthy's minions moving his desk into the Speaker's office.  And again, I chuckled this morning after I saw that it make take several days of voting before the Republicans manage to elect a Speaker.  During this time, the Democrats will wait, filing their nails, playing Wordle, and watching YouTube videos, as well as Unifying.  That's the important fact.  The Republican majority is so slim they will need Democrats to pass any sort of agenda.  The Republican party is in such disarray, they have no idea who deep a political recession they are in.

And, of course, there is the George Santos humiliation.  Brasil has reactivated the criminal complaint against him.  He is alleged to have written checks from a checkbook he stole, which is a crime in both Brazil and the United States, which means, should the Brazilian government ask him to be extradited, our government would comply.  Of course, this whole thing makes Republicans look terrible because they stayed silent; without his vote, their slim majority is even slimmer.  

Oh, and indictments are coming.

Death Wish

 Today is the 2nd day of 2023.  If you're of a certain state of mind, the days are going to get funner.  Some will have the sadz.  Some of the latter deserve what they get.  Karma.

Rather than climb the stairs to sleep on the bed, Biggie has decided to start sleeping down on the sofa in the writing room.  Surprise!  He didn't bark during the night for me to let him out.  No potty outside.  I did check to make sure he didn't toddle off like a sleepy two year old bleed his little weasel (old navy term) quietly in some corner.  I suspect this proves that all of his midnight jaunts downstairs to "go potty outside" had an ulterior motive: a midnight biscuit snack.

I've had my first big boss fight in Evil West.  Here's a tip for you all, shoot and roll, and then roll and shoot, and don't forget to use your gauntlet on the minions.  

Tomorrow I have to get a haircut.  I hate haircuts.  Someone suggest I shave my head, so I politely reminded them that shaving your head is just another form of getting a hair cut.

The only time I drink coffee is in the morning.  Sometimes I drink Maxwell House, sometimes Folgers, depending upon which is on sale.  I also, usually 2 - 3 times a week will make coffee from freshly ground beans.  Rather than purchase bags of beans from my local, neighborhood Giant, I'm been ordering them on line from smaller companies.  Some are very good, and some... not so very good.  This one is very good.

And the new political year starts tomorrow.  Today is a holiday for them.  From what I understand, Kev McCarthy is one of those with the sadz.  It looks like there will be several votes before they decide on Speaker of the House.  Kev, who's offered his soul to any and every demon who might help him win the coveted position is in a bind, not enough demons are on his side.  The American Freedom Caucus only have enough votes to disrupt, not control.  This is actually good for America.  The more they disrupt, the more the truth comes out about them, that they're in favor of a Republican authoritarian government.  The more this truth comes out, the weaker they become.  The weaker they become, the more repulsive they become.  This is how a political party dies.  Unlike the Phoenix, they will not rise from their ashes.

 

Drama

 Good morning, afternoon, or evening.  The good news for today is that the temps here in Central PA are supposed to top off in the mid to upper 40s (F).  This is so much better than those Christmas days when the temps bottomed out down near 0 (F).  

I've been thinking lately that some of Biggie's midnight bathroom breaks have more to do with getting a biscuit rather than the pressure of a full bladder, more of a bad habit than anything else.  Last night I put my theory to the test.  A little over an hour after he was on the bed, I felt the weight change (he weighs 116 lbs.) and the ker-thump of his paws hitting the floor.  Instead of getting up, I just lay there.  About 20 minutes later, he got back on the bed and slept through the rest of the night without any problems.  I'm suspecting my theory is correct.

There are certain loud voices complaining about Babylon's failure at the box office, claiming that audiences are more interested in going to see a Marvel film rather than a good drama.  While these people are somewhat right, they're missing the point entirely.  It's very rare for audiences to flock to the movies to take in a good drama,.  With all of the freaking drama around us, why would anyone spend money to expose themselves to even more.  This has always been the case.  If you don't believe me, spend some time looking over box office grosses for dramas for the past 30 years.  Dramas are simply not popular.

And, speaking of movies, rather than waste time at Babylon, I went to see Avatar, The Way of the Water last evening.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.  The movie is filled with eye candy that's simply amazing at times.  The story's good, there's even drama between two different fathers and their sons.  There's even a bit of a Titanic moment.  Three hours and 20 odd minutes went by very fast.  

And now, for the Drama.  Republicans were praying that the George Santos revelations, that he's a lying sack of shit, were going to go away.  They're getting worse.  His claim to being Jew-ish took a terrible turn yesterday when forms he sent to Jewish groups had him claiming to be a proud Jewish American, and this from a Catholic boy.  Even Tulsi Gabbard is questioning his integrity (stop laughing).  I'm guessing she knows how badly this is going to effect Republicans in the long run.

Evidently, on numerous occasions copies of confidential documents were made, and taken to the White House, and disbursed to members of the private sector.  People are wondering if these are the papers Mark Meadows was burning in his office fireplace.

Trump's taxes will be released to the public on Friday.  

More drama to arrive this afternoon.

Bombs

 I hope everybody had a nice, relaxing Christmas, that everybody stayed safe and warm inside their homes as frigid cold from Canada bombed America.  We did have single digit temps here on Saturday, the 24th, but no snow.  Yesterday things began to warm up, temps climbed into the low 20s (F).  Today they're predicted to reach 30 (F), and by Wednesday we should be a balmy 52 (F).

Here in Central Pa, Christmas day was quiet.  There was ham, corn, and mashed potatoes... lots of ham, that will be eaten as sandwiches and turned into ham salad.  Some will be frozen.  The dogs will have the juicy fat served up to them with their dinners this evening.

Oh, and Biggie and Lilly got cake and ice cream.  The dainty, lady Lily took her time, licking her ice cream the way you do an ice cream cone.  Biggie, who's head is the size of a personal watermelon, swallows things whole.  For him, it's not about the taste, it's about the consumption.

I watched Glass Onion, a Knives Out mystery on Netflix.  It was only released into around 700 theaters back in November, and only for a week or so before Netflix pulled it.  Reviews were middling.  I didn't like it.  Not one bit.  This was more of a bomb than a hit.  In Knives Out, Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) ask questions to solve the mystery, in Glass Onion rather than deduce, he makes statements; he tells the audience what they saw using different camera angles.  By the time the ending comes along, he is no longer the star of the movie, that honor goes to Janelle Monae.  I don't know about you, but I like it when my mysteries have a brain.

Besides Trumps ranting and ravings about the stolen 2020 election, other thing making the news this past holiday weekend, was Texas' governor Abbott sending bus loads of immigrants to Kamala Harris' home in Washington.  You don't need to excuse my lack of political correctness, but Greg Abbott is truly a cripple, both physically, and emotionally, and politically.  He shits on human beings in order to win approval from the MAGA Republican base.  There was so much outrage on social media, people quoting scripture, as though their words were going to punish Abbott.  They didn't.  Abbott doesn't care what Jesus thinks.  Abbott cares about Abbott.  In case you haven't realized it yet, he's running against DeSantis for president in 2024.

Oh, and Kari Lake lost her case in Arizona.  The judge actually told her, "you lost."  Of course, Lake has vowed to appeal because that's what her lord and savior Donald Trump would do.

May the Joy of the Holidays fill you with Happiness!

 The ham is in the oven.  Both Biggie and Lily are keeping guard, they know they'll be getting bones and hammy fat, and probably skin.  This afternoon both will also get cake and ice cream.  Biggie's 8 years old today.  

Here's hoping your lives are as full of happiness and contentment as mine.  

I'm also so glad I don't have to deal with this.

Stay warm.  Stay safe.  And may the joy of the holidays fill you with happiness.