Things Are Not The Way They Used To Be

 For some, the end of the work week has arrived.  I never work Friday, and I'm part-time so "end of the work week," does not pertain to me.  The weather forecast today is Sunny and mild, temps in the mid 70s (F).  That's something I can deal with.  In fact, that is the perfect invitation to spend time outside focusing on winter clean-up.  

I did work yesterday and scheduling was bare bones to say the least.  Flooring and Decor had a total of 14 hours scheduled, and while that may seem like a lot, it isn't.  No aisle associate was scheduled, so there was no one to bring down pallets of product.  This means we have to steal someone from another department.  I was told by my department manager that on Tuesday the department was over scheduled.  Our schedules are actually pre-built by corporate and downloaded Monday morning. The HR rep doing the scheduling should be able to adjust them by moving people around, that's what I used to do.  Frequently I would simply delete their schedule completely and write my own.  Unfortunately we are part of a corporation that likes to micro-manage hours, so her hands may be tied.  Things are not the way they used to be.

Here's an update on the seeds I planted.  The beans are sprouting like... well, bean sprouts.  The green peppers are coming along fine.  However everything else, including the tomato seeds?  Nothing.

Lots of things in the political mix today:

Little Marco says that the United States will pull out of the Ukraine peace talks because no one involved is kissing Donald's ass.  Now, I have to admit, that's not exactly what he said, but everyone knows it's the truth.

Senator Van Hollen met with Abrego Garcia down in El Salvador.  That's a crack in Orangie's illegal deportation policy.  His approval rating is constantly eroding.  This is not going to stop it.  

Lisa Murkowski, for the record, has said that Republican Senators are terrified of Trump, that's why they're not doing anything to stop him.  Lisa, this is a terrible message.  You were elected to represent your constituents, not bow down to the Orange Anus out of fear.

According to Bloomberg, the country is already in a recession.  Ouch.

And it seems that in these tariff talks, no one is bending the knee.  They all know that Orangie is a spineless blowhard and will cave, and then lie.  They are circumventing us.  They are going to punish us because of one man, and one political party.  We are going to pay the price because things are not the way they used to be.

Better Under Biden

 Ha!  The forecasters were wrong.  We did not drop below freezing last night.  Nope.  Howie woke up around 4:15 AM heeding the call of bladder nature and I checked the temps while he was outside.  At that time our low was 35 (F), which is still cold, but nothing was freezing.  Now, ain't that nice?  Today we start warming up. I'm fine with that.

Not a lot was done yesterday besides going to work.  I did a little putzing around the house before leaving to put in my 5 hours at the flooring desk, but nothing to mention.  Before heading home, I did pick up another pack of flooring for the workout / computer / music room.  The first pack I put down looked so good, I thought I cover some more of the old hardwood flooring.  

Today is garbage day an a large part of my treadmill is sitting out front in my garbage can.  Once it gets dumped into the garbage truck later this morning, I roll it to the back of the house and put the rest of it in for next Tuesday's pickup.  I did the same thing when I got rid of my elliptical.  I get asked why I didn't try and sell it.  No one wants the buy used treadmills, in fact, for most people, a purchased treadmill ends up being a storage unit.  The number of people who buy these things and then only use them for a week or two is vastly greater than those who use them regularly.  I am in the smaller group, but even I know when it's time to say goodbye.  This is what the updated room looks like so far.

Of course, there was no super crash on Wall Street yesterday, just the constant erosion billions of dollars.  One of my associates told me his wife looked at their retirement account and was surprised by how much it had dropped.  He said they're hoping it comes back up in 4 years, that's when he wants to retire.  I reminded him that there was a good possibility the stock market had not stopped crashing.  He groaned and said something derogatory about the Orange Anus.

Bloomberg has this really great video detailing how his tariff formula is poo poo.  It's my understand that those people in his administration behind the tariffs relied on AI to generate the formula.

It has come to my attention that a number Orangie's billionaire bros are more than a little dissatisfied with his handling of the economy.  They are losing money... lots, and lots, and lots of money.  That's fine with me.  One of the few things I find pleasing these days is the knowledge that many of that 1% who celebrated Orangie's victory by giving him a million $$$ are now finding themselves on the losing end of the stick.  Isn't it nice to know that hidden in amongst all of their frowns and complaints they're muttering, "hell, I was doing much better under Biden?"  This is what we call Karma.

Retail Crush

 Can you believe the weekend has arrived?  Forecasters are calling for snow here, followed by possible freezing rain, though in may end up just being rain.  Forecasters have us getting about one half inch of snow.  The freezing rain will total out at possibly .03 of an inch, which, if we were sitting on a donut, would be considered a very light glaze, probably so light you'd be embarrassed to call us a glazed donut.

I left my barley cook dry while I was making my breakfast.  Blame Howie.  I was busy throwing his new pink octopus and wasn't paying attention.  I ate one bowl and then fed the rest of it to the birds.   My house now smells like over toasted barley, or well maybe that's not right, possibly light burned might be a better description.

My sporting laptop shut down in twenty-two minutes into a ride yesterday.  I was not happy.  This has happened before, and every single time it seems to have been triggered by an update.  Yesterday 2 (one from Garmin and one from Microsoft) downloaded simultaneously.  When it shuts down like that, everything is lost.  Boo.  Hiss. 

And now for something light.  I'm playing through Skyrim again, and there are 20+ characters you can team up with, let's call them followers.  Each follower will add a bonus to your skills.  Many of them will only add that bonus up to level 30.  After lever 30 the benefits no longer have any value and so they just tag along making silly comments.  Except for one.  Roggi Knot-Beard.  His benefits are good up until level 60.  So, I'd like you to meet my new follower.

I am scheduled to work today.  I don't know how busy it's going to be, since we are supposed to get a dusting of snow, though I can tell you we have been slow.  Because our customer footsteps are down, I was not surprised to see this graphic in Bloomberg.  This past January, retail sales dropped.

Is it Trump's fault?  Off the cuff, I'd say that a damn good possibility.  Unless you have a lot of bouncing buckos in the bank, I would not purchase any big ticket items for the foreseeable future.  This is terrible news for all of those retail giants who toasted Orangie's win, believing they were going to get both a big tax cut and golden sales.  Ouch.

And, in case any of you missed it, Orangie's team fired over 300 people who maintain our nuclear arsenal... and then quickly hired them back once they realized what their zombie brains had done.  I'd put money on the fact that this stupid team is anything but Woke.

Lacking credibility

Well, I get to go back to work today... for another 5 days.  Ho-hum.
I did a 17+ mile ride in Greece yesterday, rather than the 6 mile climb challenge I need to complete.

This was the first route I've ridden in which the wildlife I saw was something other than birds or dogs (there are lots of dogs being walked).  About halfway through the ride a deer ran across the road in front of me.  I will admit there was a moment of surrealism.  Surprisingly, I missed the snake 4 miles farther down the road.  This was a fun ride.
I saw where the Watchdog group came out yesterday and said the FBI had not been spying on the Idiot Jerk's campaign... and Billy Barr was having none of it.  That was to be expected.  I'm sure the Idiot Jerk tossed him a fish since Billy's proving he's better then the trained seal he desperately wants to be.
One of the biggest belly laughs I got was from reading an article in Bloomberg Business Week, where author said that even while the Idiot Jerk is facing impeachment, this is the best of times for him... and he cited the November jobs report as proof.  He claimed the Idiot Jerk was solidifying his re-election because of... the November jobs report.  This nitwit has to be a superficial conservative.  Evidently the fact that the GM strike was over and thousands of people went back to work eluded him.  As did the fact that at this time of year there are massive amounts of seasonal hiring.  You know?  Christmas is coming?  UPS is hiring like it's going out of style... for temp jobs.  The same with the United States Postal Service.  And Amazon.  An associate of mine interview with UPS and was told flat out that in 3 weeks the job was going to disappear.  Anyone making a prediction from the November jobs report lacks total credibility... unless of course he's an Idiot Jerk henchie.
Last evening when I went up to bed I found Biggie already there.  Lilly was there, as well, but she didn't give me the look Biggie gave me, that 'you don't really expect me to move' look.  For some reason or other, he doesn't seem to understand that bed is mine... I'm just kindly letting them sleep on it.

He moved.

Vacation Entry #3

Ah, it's Friday, November 8.  For those of you who don't know, today's my birthday.  About 45 minutes ago I turned 67.  I find that number amazing.  Not because I've achieve it, rather, I have to admit I never really put much thought into getting old.  Now that it's happening it's kind of like... well... fuck.  I'd say "what do I do for an encore," but have chosen to save that line for when I turn 90.  A word of advice, if you have to get older, and most of us end up doing just that, it is a lot better to do so gracefully... and opinionated as hell.  I find a lot of joy in telling people what I think.
I rode 12.56 miles yesterday.  I was very pleased.  You see, the last time I rode that route it took a bit over 54 minutes.  Yesterday I did in just a tad over 48 minutes.  That's right, I knocked 6 minutes off my time.  The record is a bit over 24 minutes.  I will never hit that, but I would like to get my time down into the mid 30's.  We'll have to wait and see if I can knock another 11 or 12 minutes off my time.
And rather than buy a store bought cake from Giant like I usually do to celebrate a birthday, I baked one.  Most of us buy our cakes, and our cookies, and our pies; baking just takes too long.  Our palate has deteriorated to such a degree that when we taste store bought cake we say..."hhhmm, the icing is good."  While I did spread a light, peanut butter frosting on my cake, the real flavor buster was the cake itself.  Holy Crap!  I could not believe the flavor of that cake, all moist and deliciously golden.  Even the dogs liked it!
And yesterday, while I was letting the dogs out into the drizzle to do their business, I saw I had another rose.  On November, 7 my roses were still blooming!  I took a picture.

Now, wasn't that a pretty gift?
I saw where Michael Bloomberg is testing the waters for possible presidential run... without going debating one single person.  A word of advice to Michael: don't even think of sticking your toes into the water.  A run by you could well destroy the unity the Democrats have been building.  You're a businessman who thinks he can run the country the way he runs his business.  You're wrong.  We don't need another damn billionaire in the White House. 

Yesterday or Today

Monday, the beginning of a new seven day stretch.  Notice, I don't say week.  That implies having a 'weekend' which, for so many people, no longer exists.  Interestingly enough, the days of the week normally don't exist in our entertainment.  Oh, sure, they get a mention in music every now and then, but mostly to talk about the wonders of the weekend, or dismally having to get up and go to work on Monday morning.  They never get a mention in movies, or plays, or television.  No Marvel superhero is ever going to have the line "it's Tuesday morning and by my calculations Thantos will begin destroying the Universe on Thursday."  That would be too much reality, you know?  Complicating things even more is that some believe the week starts on Sunday while there are others who say it's Monday; they love their fixed work week.

I saw a humorous article in Bloomberg yesterday by a comedian who claimed the Idiot Jerk in the White House was on track to be re-elected.  He said polls tell you nothing.  When it comes to the ballot box voters will ignore everything else and vote for the economy.  He pretty much declares morals have no value, that people will always vote with their wallet.  No doubt, this was written by a Conservative, one of those flawed individuals whose life revolves around his portfolio.

Interestingly enough, there was another article in the NYT in which the author stated that the more the Idiot Jerk plays to and radicalizes his base, the less likely his chances of being re-elected become.  Plainly speaking, the more he alienates Independent voters, the less likely they are to cast their ballot for him.  By playing only to his base he not only ignores the Independents, but incites them to vote for someone less volatile.

And I saw Chris Wallace had a little chat with Kellyanne yesterday.  He brought up all of those closed door hearings Republicans had regarding Benghazi.  Here retorts was something like "well, that was different. they weren't trying to impeach the president."  All of that peroxide she uses to bleach her hair has done more than burn her roots.  In case you didn't know, that's how the Idiot Jerk plays to his base not the Independents.  At least she didn't say something really stupid, "like he's a great political genius."

Finally, I saw that the Idiot Jerk has waded into British politics.  He said things like "Brexit needs to go through in order to insure great trade deals," and "we will buy more from the UK than they sell to the EU."  If that's true, the British laborer is going to take a big hit.  We buy so much from Asia because they have cheap labor and prices are lower.  People in the UK, think about what this moron is saying.

The Bungle in the Jungle

Ah, where do I begin....
The desk will be delivered, though I don't know when.  I've sent Cymax an email regarding the 'unpacking,' stating that had they included the size of the box with the information they provided, I would not have bought this desk from them.  If the delivery agents do not take it out of the box, I have several strong backs lined up to do the heavy lifting.
Bloomberg was nice to the Idiot Jerk in the White House.  They said he capitulated.  Everybody else knows he crashed and burned... badly.  His approval rating dropped drastically. Those who thought they might give him the benefit of the doubt now understand that he, like many selfish conservatives, will easily sacrifice the livelihood of others in order to get what they want.  He just had his self-righteous smirk wiped off his face.  The Republicans lost big time in the midterms and they continue to lose. 

Roger Stone got arrested.  You know who I'm talking about, the asshole with the tattoo of Nixon on his shoulder.  Most telling was his comment about 'not turning' on the Idiot Jerk in the White House.  This guy is dumb as a brick.  If the Idiot Jerk in the White House was innocent, there would be no need for Roger to turn... or flip... or make a deal.  The problem for the Idiot Jerk?  Everybody knows Roger's a whiny sack of shit whose concerns over self-preservation overrule any thoughts of loyalty.

The diocese Covington belongs to issued the students and the school an apology.  They say the boys involved were verbally attacked by native Israeli Hebrews.  In other words, the Catholics of Covington are blaming the Jews.  This is what you expect from kids wearing MAGA hats.  What's surprising is that they didn't try and blame a Mexican who'd made it over the border because there wasn't a wall.

Evidently a number of those involved in Jared's Top Secret clearance objected on the grounds he might be easily compromised.  They were overruled by a loyalist who didn't seem to care about his issues with kiddie porn... oh... wait... wrong Jared.  It seems it was his flawed real estate wheelings and dealings which left him vulnerable to blackmail.

Very quietly Liberals have been turning into Lions and Tigers and Conservatives have been demonstrating incompetence on a grand scale.  They are definitely dumber than most of us Great Apes.  As I was thinking of this, a lovely little tune from a long time ago started dancing around inside my head.  Holy Shit, I thought, there really is a Bungle in the Jungle.

Better to Lose?

Well, it's Monday.  My hump moment has come and gone.  I have 3 more days of work before I get a day off.  Then, I'm only get one day off.  The scheduler split my week.  I hate that.  I want 2 consecutive days off, not one here and one there.  She also scheduled me to do a clinic in 2 weeks.  I don't do clinics.  I will tell her today, or tomorrow.   Mondays are usually busy, filled with meetings for Supervisors and Managers.  That's one thing I don't miss.
There was an interesting article in Bloomberg this morning on Susan Collins, how that 40 minute rationalization for her Kavanaugh vote was almost all hot air, how both testimonies meant nothing to her because she'd already chosen to vote with the 'old boys.'  The question is if she knew this was her way of checking out politically.  She may suspect so, but she will never admit so publicly.
And as the days go by, those statements about how this vote may have energized the base of fading away, scrubbed off the board to be replaced by questions about the midterms.  Have the GOP put themselves into a serious quandary?  Is this minority going to be put into their minority place?  The suspicion is that this is the case.  Oops, somebody shit in their pants.
And there are lots of discussions about Brett, himself, how every decision he's going to be involved in is going to be analyzed.  He said he's a 'fair judge,' but people are waiting to see if he's nothing more than a predetermined robot vote for the Right.   People are pondering the 'what ifs."  Say the House starts investigating the Idiot Jerk, and the Idiot Jerk turns to the Supreme Court to stop the investigation, will Kavanaugh recuse himself from the decision?  If he doesn't, what ever validity the Supreme Court has will be shit away as it proves it is nothing more than a rabble of right wing stooges.  People are watching. But then you have to remember the GOP has never really cared about people.  Nope, they are far too selfish.
Sometimes, you see, it is much better to lose in the short run.  The proof is coming in less then a month.

Lack of substance

Well, it looks like the weekend is here.  How do I know?  The Idiot Jerk in the White House flew down to Florida for a game or two of golf.  I, myself, have to work today, of course I do have tomorrow off.  For the next three weeks they have me scheduled 40 hours each week.  Sorry, but this is spring and there's things I need to do, so I've started requesting one vacation day per week; 32 hours per week is fine for me.
I have this new bike, you know, that I want to ride outside, in the sunshine, over hill and Dale...  well, maybe not Dale, I don't know anyone by that name.
One of the many things I need to do is plant the new Itoh peonies I bought.

That's right, they're yellow.  My garden seems to be filling up with roses and peonies, which is fine with me.  Oh, and tulips and daffodils - I've got a boat load of each blooming every year.  There's also wisteria around the front porch which I'm probably going to rip out, and a holly bush down at the end of the sidewalk in need of some very serious trimming. 
And didn't the Stock Market like... well, tank yesterday?  Bloomberg has called it a horror week.  Oops.  But then what more could you expect from the Idiot Jerk.  He has lost several fortunes because of his flawed business principles.  His ethics are geared towards his personal greed.  For whom will a Trade War be most beneficial?  The country... or the Idiot Jerk.  What you really need to do is examine who's going to come out better financially.  Oh, and also keep in mind the Idiot Jerk has no sincere concern for the average American.  They are little more than fodder.
Time is running out and that Crazy Conservative group of minorities is totally clueless.  They've fudged the numbers so many times their fiction is now their preference.  Fiction is not solid.  Flexible words are easy to spin when they have little weight, or substance to ground them.

Blood Bath on Wall Street

My, wasn't yesterday interesting? 
I got about $1400 in sales at work - they track our sales figures, we don't work on commission, but we still have a weekly sales goal we need to reach.  I did well last week, over $11,000 in sales - they were happy.
Oh, and I understand that Faux News broke into their normal programming to give the Idiot Jerk in the White House a slap in the face.  You know?  About the Stock Market... dropping. At one point it had dropped 1600 points, the most it had ever dropped... ever... in all the recorded history of Wall Street.  According to Bloomberg, there was a period when the trading floor was a virtual 'blood bath.'

And, from what I've been reading, this is far from over.  But then, this was to be expected.
To complicate things even more... the government runs out of money on Thursday.  The House, of course, is pushing another temporary measure since that's the only thing these losers can do...  which is going to have a negative effect on Wall Street.  Ooops.  They also need to borrow $959 Billion to pay for the wonderful Tax Cut they gave to corporations and to the wealthy.
For those who don't know, the two overriding principles of Republican economics are Greed and Selfishness.  This is why every time they managed to get a majority in both Houses, and an Idiot Jerk in the White House, the economy always ends up going to shit.
Anyway, we'll have to wait until the end of today to see the markets are sitting, if this is a simple correction you should expect them to drop a total of about 10%. 
Keep in mind that all of this doom and gloom is even worse for his supporters - just imagine their horror as the 'big bucks' he promised are not going to come rolling in.  Think of all of those ultra-conservative Mom and Pops who dumped their savings into the Stock Market because they believed his lies.  It's a shame that they'll lose so much, but then they shouldn't have been so gullible, shouldn't have let their hatred guide their vote.
Anyway, for the rest of the week I work a day, and then am off a day, work a day, and then am off a day, and next week I'm taking vacation.
I downloaded a nice ride for tomorrow - almost 13 miles long.  I can't wait.  Soon I'm going to start working on hilly rides - can you hear my legs screaming in anticipation? 
Oh, and don't check the financial news unless the sight of blood doesn't bother you.

When the Squeaking Stops

Well, it's Wednesday and I have to go to work today.  My daily work schedule is... shall we say rather exotic right now.  I work 2 days, then I'm off a day, I then work one day and am off for 3.  This doesn't really bother me since I'm only working 32 hours per week.  That will change soon enough.
I disconnected my Steam controller from my upstairs TV this AM since I never use it.  The original idea for the purchase had been for me to be able to play PC games downstairs on the big TV, however Big Seig chewed up the wifi dongle.  The only way the controller would have worked downstairs would have been for me to run a direct line from the TV to my router... well, that wasn't going to happen.
And, speaking of Biggie, his Christmas beaver stopped squeaking so he's cast it aside in favor of a Purple Squirrel.

I guess this is his way of saying beavers are no longer fun when they stop squeaking.

And I was reading this AM on my Bloomberg Technology feed that if your PC or laptop is over 5 years old, they are recommending that you update it with something newer, not because it's outdated (even though 5 years old is pretty old), but because the patches that are going to be coming out to fix the Intel chip problems are going to slow it down... a lot.  They suggested a Lenova laptop which starts at about $1300, which is a bit squirrely if you ask me.  There's no way I'd spend that much.

There was some other squirrely news this AM - evidently there have been a number of other people form the Idiot Jerk's regime that have already talked to Mueller; something that's been kept under wraps, so to speak.  Now we know why Ultra Conservative (and bad hair of the year nominee) Trey Gowdy 

Now wouldn't he look so natural in a Nazi Uniform?

is trying to shut down Mueller and his team.  Desperation, you know?  Because this loser is so squirrely, I'm wondering if Biggie would play with him, or just take a big chunk out of his ass before he sends him running home.

Bits and Pieces

Since it's Saturday, I thought I just throw out some random bits and pieces.
This is the first Saturday in January which means we're going to have our Kids Workshop.  According to Accuweather the temp this morning, during the workshop hours, is going to hover in the very, very low teens (think 13 F), and you can bet there are going to be parents to bring their 3, 4, and 5 year-old children, not because they have a lot of fun, but because they get something for free.
Interestingly enough, even thought the Idiot Jerk and other high ranking Republicans are calling "Fire and Fury" nothing more than a pack of lies, lies, lies, the basso profundo undertones in their song are singing truth, truth, truth.  Remember their idea of Damage Control is to attack anything and everything that laughs at them.... so start laughing!
Here's a sad little puff piece in Bloomberg written by Anousha Sakoui which uses a photo of Jack Black to head the article, but then completely fails to mention him, or give him any credit for Jumanji's success, instead those kudos are given to Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart, two comedians who evidently need to have their egos petted by Sony Pictures.
The Golden Globes are this Sunday - a lot of people will be watching them, I most likely will not be one of them.  Not a big award show person here.  Oh, and the Producer's Guild announced their nominees yesterday - 11 films are nominated... including "Wonder Woman."  "Get Out" got a nomination, too.  Many of those titles will get Oscar nods as well.  Last years Oscar winner "Moonlight," was a finger in the eye to Social Conservatives every where, and wouldn't be surprised if the Academy didn't do it again by giving the Best Picture award to the  inter-species love story, adult fairy tale "The Shape of Water."

I stretched my scar tissue doing crunches with a 12 lb medicine ball yesterday and now I'm a bit sore.  Shit.  Time to take an anti-inflammatory.

Squeeze this

So, I set the alarm for 0600 this AM as a start to getting myself back into a more meaningful regimen; this doesn't mean I'm not going to take a nap if I feel the need, just that I'm not going take them at the drop of a hat.  I'm at that point in my recovery where if I sleep too much during the day, well I'm not going to sleep all through the night - like last night, when I woke at 0300.
Anyway, I got up this AM at 0600, went downstairs, started a pot of coffee, and squeezed some orange juice.

Bloomberg has this really interesting piece where they continually the Idiot Jerk in the White House's rust belt voters.  The first thing you'll notice is that they're all white, which means no peoples of ethnicity voted for the Idiot Jerk in these 4 swing states.  Five of them are showing signs of disappointment at the Idiot Jerk, 2 of them are still in and Idiot Jerk induced stupor, and one demonstrates that he is certifiable (there's always one in every crowd).  And the one who's certifiable?  He's all about greed: his money, his taxes, selfish to the max.

My brother and his wife bought a pig yesterday, the first livestock for their farm.  Her name is Wendy.  That's right, they bought a 107 lb pig and named her.  Something tells me that sow will never need fear being turned into ham steaks.

Just like something tells me she will always be a virgin, never once being able to say "squeeze this."

Crossing the line

Well, I survived yesterday, of course, there were never any doubts.  Instead of repairing the hernia orthoscopically, my Dr did the old slice and dice which means I now have a 3" incision.  The bandage won't come off until tomorrow morning so I haven't had the chance to look at it yet.  They did paint me with betadine from side to side so my important parts are now Home Depot proud.  They also gave me a Tap Block which wore off around 0630, that's when I took my first Vicodin - they gave me 40 of the little white suckers, so I now have a bit of buzz.  Translation:  if I go to Amazon, I'm going to buy a couple of thousand dollars of shit I don't need.  I also got to where a cute, little bracelet with my picture on it.

I saw they ripped Jeff Sessions a new ass yesterday... and he didn't like it one bit mostly because he lied... no... wait... he didn't like... he forgot until yesterday.  You have to remember that this fool is a Social Conservative, not only does he lie and then ask forgiveness from his deity, he will excuse his lies saying they were done for his deity, to show his love and devotion to his deity.  The truth is that Sessions hates everything that falls outside of the narrow vision he allows himself.
And what about Roy Moore's women issues?  Evidently there have been rumors for years.  He's another one of those Social Conservatives who thinks that he's special.  While he's judged people for years, he, himself, hates to be judged.  Can't you hear him saying "I will be judged by a Higher Authority than you?"  This is because, like a professional scam artist, he sees nothing wrong with his behavior.  I mean, with faith as strong as his how could he do anything wrong?  Shit head.
Another funny bit this AM was John Schnatter's sudden about face.  You know who I'm talking about - he owns Papa Johns and blamed kneeling football players for lackluster sales.  That was until the Alt-Right said "yippee skippy, he's our guy," at which point he realized that Neo-Nazis buy a lot less pizza than... oh, say, political Centrists, or Liberals, or... black people, and changed his tune.  Will it help?  I doubt it.  This is what happens when you buy a house on Dick Head Way.
Then I saw this on Bloomberg this morning:  how those great Middle-Class tax cuts are only going to be temporary.   Corporate tax cuts are going to be permanent, however, as will the tax cut that John Schnatter's going to be getting.  Oh and their hatred for the Affordable Care Act has surfaced again.  Now, isn't that amazing.  Once again the 'Do Nothing Party' is going to do... nothing, mostly because they're doing it for themselves, not for America, and most assuredly not for Americans.
Finally, I can't wait to get back to the gym.  I need to get back to the gym... soon.  You see, I just realized that this scar is going to be above my Speedo line.

I don't know if that's a line I want to cross.

Lilly has a dry nose

That's right, she does.  I noticed her nose looked a bit funny, in a tiny, lumpy kind of way yesterday morning.  A quick check online identified the problem - dry nose.  Evidently certain breeds are more susceptible than others and Boxers happen to be one of those breeds.  There were lots of pictures of noses, some in really bad shape.  An order of Snout Smooth is being delivered tomorrow.  We'll see how well it works.

The lady Lillian

A little bit of balm will cure her problem, the Idiot Jerk in the White House?  He's a bomb of a different color.  Watching him in action is kind of like watching all the ingredients of hatred slowly being emulsified in a blender.  He speaks to a hate group and his ever shrinking group of supporters cheer.  I saw that some moron named Gorka, a sack of shit who used to be one of the Idiot's advisers... (he had something to do with the Idiot Jerk in the White House) also spoke to the same hate group.  Gorka evidently got kicked off the Idiot Jerk's staff because he was such an obvious White Supremacist, which tells you exactly where this particular hate group is headed.

Anyway, there was this  bit in Bloomberg about how the liberal media was kicking the snot out of the Idiot Jerk.  What what so beautiful about the article was the specific point on how his supporters are basically devolving into 'cult' status.  I liked the bit about how his base even cheers when he denigrates the First Amendment, but then what more could you expect from a group that has been breed for their loyalty not their intelligence.  The article is spot on.  Conservatives are not only trying to isolate America from anything which might lead to revolutionary ideals, they are fervently binding their own beliefs into a tight little knot which treats a majority of Americans not only as though they were fresh off the boat immigrants, but as illegal aliens as well.  They are desperately trying to anoint themselves as the only true Americans.

Where as on Monday evening I'll be able to rub some soothing balm on Lilly's nose, the only thing they're going to do is continue to explode in a confined space of their own making.

Particularly about: Bikes, customers, and Trump

Today's Sunday and I get to work a split shift.  That means I go in at my standard 10:30, work 6 hours, go home, and then go back to work at 8 this evening.  Today is our Success Sharing meeting, where they hand out our bonuses for the previous 6 months.  Mine's going to be nice, not nearly what it used to be, but still, for an hourly associate, rather nice.  I'm going to use it to pay off my Amex because I'm going to add a toasty bit to that account when I purchase my new bike.  As for the particular Cannondale I'm going to buy?  Well, I've pretty much settled, in my head at least on the Synapse Carbon Disc Ultegra.

As you can see, it's red.  Red is very important.  There's a Synapse that costs about $600 less, and that's very nice, but it's blue.  I'm not a blue person.  My eyes might be blue, and I might wear shirts that have blue in them, and blue jeans, but that's about it.  My favorite colors are red and green, mostly red, the color of Mars, the god of War...  what can I say?  Maybe it's because I'm a Scorpio.
So, I had a particular customer yesterday.  I knew she was particular because she told me so.  "I'm very particular," she'd said, as she jostled the baby swaddled to her bosom.  She had another sitting in her shopping cart and right of the bat that she was showing her particularity by being as racially diverse when it came to having children.  When her mother pointed out to her that the carpet she particularly liked would cost over $7000 she sighed and said "but it's what I like."  Her parents need to get her off of her meds and into counseling as fast as possible if they don't want this particular person to have life that's totally screwed.  I mean, I can't even imagine her attempting to raise children.
And I saw this interesting opinion in Bloomberg this AM, on how the Idiot Jerk in the White House is on the verge of selling out his base.  And, of course, I had to laugh.  While the media was reporting on his treatment of contractors, how he reneged on contracts, and sought legal action when contractors fought back, his Trumplodite Bonga Wongas listened only to his Tweety words consistently trumpeting 'fake news.'  And now the Idiot Jerk says "the wall can wait."  The EU says he's shifting on his Paris Climate Control opinion.  Oh, and maybe immigrant children should be allowed to stay.  They are throwing up a crazy shit storm on John Kelly, Trump's Nanny, or at least that's what some are calling the White House Chief of Staff.  Of course, they didn't want to believe the truth.  They wanted to believe the Idiot Jerk, a turd of a human being who has only one true loyalty, and that's to himself.

Bobo's Fantasy World

I read that Brexit is running into some problems.  I saw on Bloomberg that the Pound has dropped 16% in value.  I feel bad for those who voted against it.  In the UK, as here in the US, puddleheads carried the day.  This just goes to prove that Dumbfuckistan stretches way beyond the American boarders.  What's really sad is that these Trumplodites (here in America) are totally clueless.  They don't chose to educate themselves.  They actually believe America is in a sad state, that the economy is horrendous.  It isn't.
On a daily basis, I have to deal with several Trumplodite cashiers.  One, whom I shall call Bobo, believes that on January 20th "heads are going to roll."  That's right, Bobo said that.  He also said that on January 20th "we're all going to start making money again."  For the record, Bobo is 65, his wife is retired.  By career, he is a Physical Therapist whose full time position with Pinnacle Health went part-time about 2 years ago (that's why he got a job as a part-time cashier).  Bobo believes everything DT says.  Bobo thinks that on January 20th his full time job is going to come back.  Bobo is a fool.

Bobo is angry because Pinnacle Health made a business decision that effected him personally.  The fact that he makes money from a private physical therapist practice doesn't play into his thinking.  He wants his job back.  And DT said that as president he's going to bring jobs back.  DT lied, and Bobo believed his lies.  Reality is going to be very difficult for Bobo.  He most likely will never really understand just how foolish he has been, that he'd been suckered into this fantasy world by a man who's an expert at schmoozing fools.

Fox News is killing the Republican Party

Democrats are ecstatic and Republicans are devastated.  What else can you say about the recent election?  I'll also go so far as to say most Republicans now find themselves in a quandary; how to regroup and proceed when statistically they alienate women and minorities.  I actually work with an associate who was claiming in the break room that Obama won "because the Democrats were loading people into vans, registering them, and taking them to vote."  When I started listing voter polling results he claimed "that's all from the liberal media, who lie," though I'd actually seen the information on number of websites from the Washington Post, and Bloomberg, to MSNBC.  Oh, wait, I'm wrong, there is a bastion of Conservative Honesty on the airwaves and it's called Fox News.  As soon as this associate said that I knew Fox News would kill the Republican Party.  Why?  Ratings!

I'd first read, a number of years ago, the Republican Party playbook was based on the ancient television show Leave it to Beaver and that the family values represented by that fictional family were those they wanted all Americans to aspire to; it doesn't work.  There was a time when the Republican Party was, like the Democratic Party, more centrist.  This is where the majority of Americans sit, leaning a little right here, veering a little left there, but never really straying too far to either side.  The Democrats get this, the Republicans don't.  Fox News doesn't either.  They mistakenly believe, based on high television ratings, that the American People accept Fox as an authority.  While some, like the associate I work with, might, most Americans vote their gut instincts, not the way some news organization wants them to vote.  We are not sheep, well, most of us aren't.

As for the Republican Party?  They've sutured themselves to Fox and as a result are in a terrible dilemma.      They have shut out most Women, Black, and Latino voters because they did not fit in with their Leave it to Beaver playbook.  And, things are only going to get worse for them.  During this past election Puerto Rico voted to apply for statehood.  When this gets ratified there will be even more Hispanics the Republicans will need worry about.