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.

The Train Wreck is a'commin'

 Let the new week begin!

Yesterday was so, so busy at the store.  Because of call-offs, though, I spent the last 3 hours of my shift as a cashier.  Thanks to my previous stints in management and HR, they paid dearly for that 180 minutes.  Not that I minded.  Thirteen years ago, as International Paper was on the verge of shutting down xpedx, its distributary branch, I began my career with the orange, home improvement retailer as a part-time cashier.

When I checked my email this morning, there was a notice from Dell that my Alienware computer, due to arrive on May 12, was shipping early.  The new arrival date is this Friday, April 15.  Now, isn't it a good thing I'm scheduled off?  Usually I end up going into work late, or calling off when ever a big ticket item is getting delivered.

And even though the editing is going full steam on The Body in Repose, I'm also working on The Body Under Ice.  There are a number of lyrics used in The Body in Repose because there were numerous situations where they fit in.  Such frequent occasions don't arise in the new book, though I'm fairly certain there's going to be a karaoke night at Hennepin's.  Now, if you've read some of my work, you probably know Max Sullivan can not dance.  He doesn't even come close to having a sense of rhythm.  But can he sing?  You'll have to wait until karaoke night at Hennepin's to find out.  And what might he happen to sing?  How about this little ditty?

And, of course, Liz Cheney dropped a little bomb yesterday.  I'm sure the January 6 committee has so much shit on Trump.  At least 2 charges might be sent to the DOJ.  Will they actually arrest him?  Probably not.  He will leave before that happens.  Next month the shit the committee has gathered will start to float to the surface.  Where as the Benghazi hearings were nothing more than red meat for the Republican base, Americans across the board will find these hearings fascinating.  People like to slow down when they pass an automobile accident; they want to catch a glimpse of the morbid, grizzly details.  These hearings are going to be a demoralizing train wreck for the GOP.  People are going to look at the corruption leading up to the insurrection, and scratching their heads, and saying 'you've got to be fucking kidding me.'

It's so Big!

The title could also be "it's so long," but more on that later.
As you can tell, today's blog is late... very late, but don't think I haven't been busy with this and that.
I watched "The Greatest Showman," last night, it was okay.  By that I mean entertaining.  Zac Efron didn't take off any clothing, though he did sing...  He wasn't bad, though I think with a little less clothing he'd have been terrific.
The Supreme Court is going to take up LGBT discrimination.  This should be interesting.  We already know what corner Clarence Thomas will be in, the same corner every other black man who's desperately trying to be a white conservative goes to.
For Easter I dyed some eggs.  I have done that in decades... in case anybody is wondering.  They came out okay.  Later this afternoon I'll turn some of them into egg salad. 

Dell is sending me a wireless keyboard and mouse.  I had a credit and rather than lose it, they made a suggestion and I said "sure."  They even gave me expedited shipping.  I like Dell.  I write all of my fiction on a Dell.  There, wasn't that nice of me?  Giving them a nice little poke.
Which brings me to the subject of size, choose you 'big' or 'long' as you most favorite adjective, "The Body in the Tower" is pretty much complete.  The friend who's doing most of the editing will be getting his copy on Friday, as will my 2nd reader.  They will be given manuscripts and felt tip pens and I will just sit back and wait.  The hard part is over.  I do have some stats for those who are interested in size.  The total word count is 86,785.  I first began typing it into my "Dell" (see what I did?) laptop on 10/14/18.  So far I have spent 24,564 minutes typing the initial manuscript and all of the subsequent edits, that's about 409.5 hours, or 10 forty hour work weeks.  On 8 x 10, three hole paper, there are 181 pages.  The paperback edition will be much longer, which is why those who buy that version will most likely exclaim "it's so big!" 

A momentary bonus

Well, it's Friday and I'm off today.
I ordered the new laptop, a Dell Inspiron 5000, 2018 model.  I read a number of reviews, checked out a number of different websites, and debated with myself over the price point.  Some of the things I wanted were a touch screen and an SSD (solid state drive) rather than your standard Hard Drive, and wanted a screen size that was over 15 inches (since I'm getting older and don't want to squint).  Since most computers are approaching obsolescence after 6 years I decided to keep the cost to something less than $1000.  This one is quite a bit less than what I was willing to pay and fits my requirements.
They announced at work yesterday that because of this great "tax cut" everybody's getting a bonus.  Not everybody is getting the same amount, it all depends upon how long you've been an employee;

Less than 2 years: $200 bonus
2 to 4 years: $250 bonus
5 to 9 years: $300 bonus
10 to 14 years: $400 bonus
15 to 19 years: $750 bonus
20+ years: $1,000 bonus

Of course the press release only mentions the $1000 category and not the lower ones.  I've been with company 9.5 years so you can see where I sit.  Keep in mind that retail has a high turnover rate so the actual number of associates with 10 plus years is not that high.  Keep in mind that we had over $94.6 billion in sales last year so this total payout will have very little, if any, effect on their balance sheet, and while I'm glad to get a little extra money, I do wish they hadn't politicized it by linking it to the tax overhaul.  As we've all been told, this is a once and done payout; that tax cut is permanent.

In other hoo haa news:  Patrick Meehan, the socially conservative, Republican congressman who used office funds as hush money to keep an aide he had the hots for from talking, has announced "after much prayer and reflection" that he's not going to seek re-election.  In this bozos case "prayer and reflection" are synonymous with "Holy Shit... am I screwed."

Also, George Soros sees the Idiot Jerk as a threat to the world.  In fact, he had this to say:

“I consider the Trump administration a danger to the world,” the billionaire investor said in a speech from Davos, Switzerland. “But I regard it as a purely temporary phenomenon that will disappear in 2020, or even sooner.” He expects a Democratic “landslide” in the 2018 elections.

Well, now ain't that just a ducky thing to say? Don't you like the bit about 'even sooner.'  One wonders if George might know something.

And remember when I said there were 2 strikes against the Social Conservatives (Joel Osteen, failed Christian, and Roy Moore, sexual predator)?  Well the 3rd might have actually been Tony Perkins from the 'hate' group AFC giving the Idiot Jerk a pass on the porn star.  Talk about selling your soul to the devil.  But then all of this was to be expected.  Bad karma, you know?  And they thought getting the Idiot jerk elected was going to be a big bonus for them.