Hasan Piker's Hotter than UGI

Today's probably going to be a hot one.  Our outside temp is already at 73 (F).  We have a 55% + chance of a thunderstorm this afternoon, and then the temps begin to fall.  We are, after all, less than 2 weeks from the start of Autumn.  

Cooler temps will help with the utility bills... somewhat, but not much.  I heat with natural gas, and was always under the impression that they were lower than the national average because of the extensive fracking in Pennsylvania.  Well, I did some research yesterday.  I was terribly mistaken.  Heating by natural gas is actually higher here than the average cost.  Some states, like Wyoming and Nebraska, where you'd think natural gas bills would be higher, are more than a bit lower.  Why do we pay so much more here in PA?  Because the distributors, like UGI, tack on so many extraneous charges onto your bill.   For August, I'm paying $3.45 for the commodity, that's the natural gas, I'm also paying $3.61 for them to distribute the gas.  Those 2 charges aren't bad.  However, I'm also paying a $16.31 Customer Charge.  That's right, I'm paying to be a customer.  And that $16.31 is not a fixed rate.  The more gas I use, the higher my Customer Charge is, which is why, while being on the budget program, my average bill is $103 per month. The real problem is corporate greed.

I'll be working this afternoon.  I'm betting the store will be slow.  

And the GOP is having a midterm convention in Da Las.   Don't believe me?  All you have to do is look at their podium.

That's right, one of the Ls fell off, so the midterm election is no loner taking place in Dallas, it's been moved to Da Las.

And boy is that arena empty.  When Orangie talks about it being packed, he's talking about the first 27 rows on the floor.  Anyone who got a free ticket was moved to the floor.  I find it amusing that none of the "official" cameras are moving back past that 27th row.  There are thousands of empty seats.  So many loyal Republicans are staying home, just like they will in the midterms.

You know they're getting desperate when the put a picture of Hasan Piker wearing only a Speedo on the Jumbotron, though they didn't want too much definition, so they pixilated the Speedo.

And Orangie's going to send us all a $5000 check if Republicans win in November.  That's called bribery, and election interference, and I'm sure we'll get that check right after we get the Doge check for $5000.

Another Asshole from Texas

Of course everybody is talking about the shooting of police officers in Dallas and how the state's  'open carry' law effected how those police reacted during the time the sniper was shooting.  Now I know Texans really love toting around their deadly phallic symbols, but when I saw that 20 to 30 of those peaceful protesters showed up with AR-15's I did a bit of a jump back.  And, when the shooting started, all of those armed people started running around screaming like 12 year old little girls, well, maybe that's not totally accurate, let's just say they were over taken by mass panic.  As a result, the Dallas police were dropped into a totally alien situation: lots of hysteria, lots of guns, and police officers being murdered.  Now the mayor of Dallas says that perhaps 'open carry' doesn't quite work when there's a peaceful protest because, well, if something happens the result might be mass confusion.  And then this asshole opens his mouth.

CJ Grisham, asshole at large

CJ Grisham is president of the OCT (Open Carry Texas).  He says the police should know who the good guys are and who the bad guys are because the bad guys are the ones shooting.  Since Grisham was not in that crowd he is farting out his mouth.  I really get irritated when people who have not gone through the experience suddenly become experts.  This guy is more concerned with his ability to carry his weapon in public then he is the lives of police officers.  He says even his 14 year old daughter could tell the difference between a good guy and a bad guy.  The truth is that had Grisham been wearing a police officer uniform he would have been dead or  just as confused as confused as the police, and had he just been part of the protest, he'd have been one of those running like a 12 year old girl.  Of course in his mind that would never have happened because he an 'expert,' which is what makes him another asshole from Texas.

Steve Jinks makes it permanent

With last night's episode of Warehouse 13 Steve Jinks became a permanent member of what seems to be a slowly evolving ensemble cast for the SyFy show.  As the cast evolves, so it seems, does the show.  This is what the writers and producers attempted with the doomed Eureka, their problem was with all that extra talent the only thing they could think to do was focus on relationships; every body needed to banging somebody else, or that was all they could think about.  As a result it died a sad, lonely death.  This does not seem to be the case with Warehouse 13. where it seems they float "test" characters first before casting.  They floated Claudia for a while before she made the jump to permanent cast member, the first step in the show's evolution.  As a result you have minor characters who show up for a story arc ( like H. G. Wells) and then disappear and you have major characters who appear in every episode.

Welcome aboard buckaroo!

For years the linchpin for the SyFy Channel was the Stargate franchise.  It ran for years and had a number of incarnations long after the original was off the air.  Believe me, everybody wants to create the next Stargate, which is why I think the writers and producers have chosen to grow their show in a way where relationships, other then friendship, are not the focus of each and every episode.  They are working with mystery and intrigue.  Believe me, nothing builds an audience like mystery and intrigue.  One of the most famously watched episodes on television was the "Who shot JR" episode of Dallas.  The audience was not tuning in to see cast members fantasize about banging one another.  They were watching because they wanted that damn mystery solved.  This is the smart way to evolve.  This, I suspect, is what they're doing with Warehouse 13.