Primary This

Today is supposed to be nice.  Humidity is supposed to be low.  Temps should only climb into the low 80s (F), and forecasters are calling plenty of sunshine.   Tomorrow's supposed to be, probably, not so nice.  For those who are paying attention to such things, we have only a little over a month left of summer.  Then it will be onto autumn.  We here in Central PA know that the first few weeks of autumn can be just as bad as the dog days of late July.

Yesterday was a meh Tuesday.  I did get a nice bicycle ride in along a canal in France.  Very nice scenery.  But other than that nothing really happened.  No yard cleanup was done because we had a lot of rain on Sunday night and all those branches and limbs still waiting to be cut and chipped needed to dry off.  

I did talk to my dentists office about the insurance not covering the upcoming procedure and was told not to worry, I have no more out-of-pocket charges coming up.  I don't understand how this all works, because in America dental and health care are so terribly complicated.  Your dentist will charge you $500 for a procedure and bill that amount to the insurance company knowing they're going to have to adjust that cost down.  They do this because the insurance company needs to see a higher charge in order to compensate.  

I started a replay of Balder's Gate 3, not because I enjoyed beating the game.  Nope, I made bad choices, like having 2 wizards on my first play through which doomed any chance of winning the 2nd last Boss fight.  Now I'm a Paladin and I can melee with the best.  Good Stuff.  I'm sure Sixpence would love this game because, if you play your cards right there some hot M/M sex.

So, several states had primaries yesterday.  Mike Lindell lost badly and is refusing to concede because in his mind losing by 54,000 votes can only mean voter fraud, or as he is saying voter anomalies.  Francesca Hong lost a tight race in Wisconsin and unlike Mike Lindell gracefully conceded.  She will work with Crowley to insure Wisconsin gets a Democratic governor.  This is a good thing.  In Connecticut,  Democrats saw a generational shift with Luke Bronin beating long time incumbent John Larson.  

Did I mention that Mike Lindell lost?  Truthfully, that man needs to be institutionalized.

Finally, one of those left onboard the decoy Air Force One was our Secretary of State, Marco Rubio.  I wonder what he thinks knowing that the asshole he works for sees him as expendable.  Orangie took several close allies along with him into the catering truck.  No word yet if they celebrated his thinking they were important enough by enjoying a smorgasbord.

Expensive Smiles

Well, our outside temp is in the mid 50s (F) and it will warm up today.  Sometime this afternoon we should reach the mid 70s (F), then, however, the storms are going to roll into the area. Overnight the temps will drop back into what is considered more seasonal, with afternoon highs being in the low to mid 50s (F).  This is fine.

The new phone arrived yesterday.  Howie embarrassed me by jumping up on the UPS delivery man.  I apologized.  Howie's okay with most people, the he's always excited when the UPS man comes a knocking at the front door.  Yesterday was no different.

As for the new phone.  I thought I'd get it up and running in about 45 minutes.  Well, it took that long to transfer the data.  All the apps were there, however none of the apps recognized the phone.  This meant signing into every single one of them.  Some needed to uninstalled and then reinstalled before I could sign in because they were attached to the old phone's IP address.  Over all, it took me most of the afternoon.  I was scheduled to do a cardio and that got canceled.  I texted my trainer and his comment was that getting a new phone was as bad as having to change a credit card.  I haven't had to do the later, but I'll take his word on it.

This morning I went to the dentist.  I have a molar that cracked.  There's no help of saving it.  I can remember a time when, if you needed to have a tooth pulled, that would happen in the office.  Now I have to go to an oral surgeon.  He said I could replace it with an implant for around $4500.  I said no.  At my age I can think of much better things to do with my money than to pay for a molar implant.  He then said I use that tooth for only about 2% of my chewing anyway.  Why does everything have to be about greed?

And evidently Israel's Iron Dome is good when all it has to deal with are the small rockets shot at the country from a fairly close range.  Those missiles Iran is shooting at them?  A different story.  They are getting through.  Some of them have cluster bombs attached.  Even Fox Entertainment is reporting this.  Of course, Israelis are beginning to ask "where's Bibi?"  For those who don't know, 12 days ago he took a long flight out of Israel.  Some thing he might be in Florida.  Believe me, this spineless man is as far away from the war as he can possibly get.

Americas casualties are worse than Kegsbreath and his Department of Defense want to admit.  As of yesterday, the number of injured was somewhere around 150.  Even Karoline Leavitt admitted this.  But then she also said that the Orange Anus took us into this war on a hunch.  Just let those word swirl around in your brain for a bit.  Remember the saying Everything Trump touches dies?  Well, those things he touches are all hunches.  Oh, dear me.  I think we as a country should be very concerned.

From the Teat of Republican Hatred

Thursday.  Outside the temp is 31 (F) and we have freezing rain.  Supposedly, this is not going to amount to much.  A glaze, perhaps.  Looking out onto the veranda, there's a lot of shine, but it seems more wet than slick.  I'm not about to go out to see how slippery things are.  I am scheduled to work today.  If around10 ish the roads seem slick, I'll take a personal day.

I went to the dentist yesterday morning to have a filling replace; it was old and had started to leak around the edge making the tooth sensitive to hot and cold.  Well, that's fixed now, however, he wants to put a crown on the tooth.  Well, that's not going to happen.  He didn't like the fact that I'm switching to Blue Cross dental insurance, "they don't pay so we dropped them," he said, "and I'd hate to see you go to another dentist."  Maybe if he didn't charge so much that people need to rely on insurance, there might be no problem.  A really bad fiscal policy is to charge as much as insurance companies will pay.

I found this nifty! The sound of a wind devil on Mars.  This is what it looked like.  Someday we will be walking on this planet.

The Orange Anus is going to make some sort of big announcement today.  There notified the world of this big announcement with an animated video:  him ripping open his shirt to reveal large T (like Superman) while lasers shot out of his eyes.  I'm not posting it.  Very amateurish, possibly hoping to suck Marvel fans into the MAGA cult, some think he's going to announce that Kari Lake is his running mate.  Others believe he might be announcing his intention to run for Speaker of the House.  Still, others think he's going to re-announce his candidacy, since the first announcement floated like a turd in a public swimming pool.  Or, perhaps, he just needs a boost to his ego since recent polls shown DeSantis leading him among the Cracker Jack Crazies.

And then there's this:  Deep controversies in the Republican party are causing serious rifts.  Usually, after a stunning defeat in the midterms, a political party re-evaluates their positions, they pinpoint mistakes which need to be corrected, they understand the need for softening their rhetoric in order to appeal to more centrist voters.  This is not so for a majority of Republicans in the House.  Instead, they are gathering as many dead horses around them as possible:  Hunter Biden's laptop, Fauci's wisdom, disagreeable election results, and they are going to continue kicking them as hard as they can.  For them, this is survival mode; hold onto the base by giving them what they want.  Expect nothing less from the party which has suckled supporters on the teat of Republican hatred for years.  After Trump is indicted, these same people will be desperately searching among the ruins for survivors.

Ian

 Well, if you're living in Florida, today is going to be Wet Wednesday.  Tomorrow, too.  Up here in Central Pa, this morning was the briskest so far.  A chilly 47 (F).  Our high today might reach 66 (F).  And, right now, the dogs are still sleeping.  Not me, of course.  I already have a load of laundry in the washer.  

Later this morning, I have a dental appointment.  There was a time when I had my teeth cleaned professionally twice a year.  As I get older, that's dropped down to one single visit.  I have no problem with that.  My dentist will, as usual, talk to me about having two crowns and a bridge installed in my mouth.  At my age?  That ain't gonna happen.

And, even later this morning I will call and make an appointment for someone to put in a washer hook-up in what used to be a walk-in closet.  Not that it isn't going to be a walk-in anymore.  Things are just going to be re-arranged.

Yesterday, Ronnie DeSantis had an excuse of a presser to tell the world things were moving well ahead of Ian, making sure to emphasize that Biden hadn't talked to him.  At that time, Ian was expected to weaken.  That smarmy assed loser should have realized Ian had something else in mind.  Overnight Ian has strengthen to a very strong Category 4 (nearly a Category 5) hurricane.  The current forecast has him smashing into the state south of low lying Tampa and then slowly heading north through the center of the state.  Suddenly, this morning Ronnie had praise for the White House.  The fact that Ian might possibly tear Florida in half probably has a lot to do with his change of attitude.  Three hours ago, he had a sustained wind speed of 155 mph.  There go the mobile home parks.

For those who didn't catch it, Frankie Graham had a meltdown regarding one of his beloved anti-abortion protestors.  You see, this loser was arrested for breaking the law, and Frankie believes Christians are allowed to do that.  The Cracker Jack Crazies are blowing this way up and out of proportion because they believe they are special.  Can you even begin to imagine how frenzied they'll be in November if the Democrats win enough seats in the Senate to bypass the filibuster and pass a women's health care law?  Frankie's brain might just implode.

\

I was stoned

 The temps are supposed to rise into the mid-50's today (F).  Rain is in the forecast for tomorrow.  With the temps warming up, I need to start thinking of my flower planting this year.  Two years ago I did bulbs and bunches of zinnias across the front.  Last year, some of the bulbs came up (no tulips) and very few of the zinnias, so this year I'm thinking of putting in a row of dahlias.  Now, won't that be nice?

My dental visit turned out to be mundane.  I had a filling I felt was beginning to crumble, and it was just my curious tongue imagining the worst.  The filling's fine.   My next appointment is scheduled in September.

However, while driving from my dentist to my neighborhood Giant, a dump truck turned on to East Penn Drive and a stone (rock) fell off.  The truck was approaching me at probably 20 mph, and I was heading towards the truck at 45 mph.  This is the stone (rock).  It's about 4 inches wide, 1.5 inches high, and 1.5 inches deep.

And that little sucker took out my left front parking light... completely.  I actually found the stone (rock0 sitting inside the car.

And, I'm waiting for the Insurance Adjustor to call.  I was told by my agent this type of damage is usually covered by comprehensive, but some adjustors will occasionally say this was a collision because I didn't brake.

On the lighter side of thing... I saw a Tweet last evening which said, "Fox News can't seem to stop talking about Hillary, so Trump must really be in trouble."  Maybe someone should tell Fox News they're beating a dead horse... of course, they're always looking for a dead horse to beat.  Hillary had the decency to accept her defeat in 2016.  Now, Fox News, in their desperate attempt to keep the Orange Anus from either going to jail or relocating to Russia is bringing up Hillary Clinton... again.  In fact, she is the 'go to' victim every time Republicans see that roiling tsunami of shit heading their way.

Unreliable

 Well, it's chilly willy cold outside this morning with the temps sitting at a cool 15 (F).  Things freeze fast when it's this cold.  If you don't believe me, you can ask my dogs.

I have  dental appointment this morning.  I don't mind going to the dentist, usually only a cleaning is involved.  Today we'll have to make another appointment to have a filling fixed, part of it fell out.  My employer provides dental insurance for part-timers, $12 a month, which will cover everything, including the cleaning and the free toothbrush they will hand me before I leave the office this morning.

They had candy for us yesterday at work for... you know, Valentines day.  Euhhh.  Most of the good stuff was gone by the time I got there at 1 PM, meaning all I had were Skittles to hit my sugar fix.  Sadly, I did see quite a few Reese's peanut butter cup wrappers in the trash.  For those of you who don't know, I live about 13 miles from the Reese's factory, or what used to be Reese's.  Hershey Foods bought them a long time ago, and in case you're wondering, I live about 14 miles from Hershey.

For those who have interested in what the new tank looks like, here's a pic.

And what about the accounting firm Mazars, USA not only dumping Trump as a client, but sending the New York AG a letter none of the information they've provided her is reliable?  Son of a Bitch!  He's unreliable.  I do not doubt for a second this is going to come as a surprise to many of his MAGA followers.  This makes Loser #45 look like a conniving, lying, sack of shit crook at best.  Oh, and it wasn't specifically about him, but his organization.  Translation, he and all of his spawn are guilty.  If this was you or me, this would drop our credit score from 840 down to 10, or possibly 11.  Probably all of his loans will now fall due, not that he or his spawn will be phased, they'll simply default.  They've done it before.

Before the parade passes by

Well, I get to go back to work today... I'm not excited.
That dental work I had done?  Where my dentist smoothed out my front teeth?  I bit into a plum last evening and the right front tooth chipped.  Now it looks like it did before it was fixed.  I will have to give him a call.
As I was looking through my news feeds this AM, I saw a musical version of "Pretty Woman" has opened on Broadway.  While reviews are not scathing, they are not too kind.  One of the criticisms which seems to be dominant is the fact that if you're a woman, there are more important things than just being 'pretty.'  I was never that impressed with the movie.  I saw it a long, long time ago and realized it for what it was:  trivialized schmaltz.
Oh, and the military parade is off.   I repeat, the military parade is off.  They are claiming the $92 million price tag makes it too expensive.  I'm suspecting the Idiot Jerk's blow buddy Vlad not being in town in November might be the more obvious reason.  Let's be honest.  The only reason they were going to have it at all was for the Idiot Jerk to show off.  The parade was to be his way of preening in front of Vlad.
I went to see my Mom yesterday.  She was sitting outside in 90 (F) heat wearing a sweatshirt.  Her nails were painted gold.  My sister had called and warned me about them the night before.  I took pic so everybody could see my Mom.

If you look closely, you'll see the time on her watch is somewhere around 6:40.  She has no concept of time.  And her nails are gold.  She will not remember my taking this picture.  I suggested we go inside to her air conditioned room and she agreed.  An hour later, as I was leaving, she was headed back outside.  They do keep an eye on her, insuring she doesn't stay out too long.

Hell in a dentist's chair

One of the things that is now on my list of things to never, ever do again in my entire life, in fact it is quite near the top, is to go to the dentist while still recovering from a cold.  That's what I did this morning.  I thought everything would be fine.  Sniffles were gone, running nose had dried up, and I hadn't sneezed in days.  I felt fine.  As he numbed me up, I reclined back in the chair, listening to the inanities of the Today Show (that's right, there are TVs in every room).  Very rarely do I watch morning television so I was truly surprised by how much was geared for a 12 year-old mindset.  And he began to drill.  Things were going so fine... until I felt the need to cough.

And there I was, with Al Roker making chicken noises on the TV, and my dentist drilling away at the back molar nestled in the rear, roof of my mouth, using a drill sounding very much like one of those drills they use to dig subway tunnels, when something unmentionable slid down the back of my throat and caught on my Adams Apple.  I said "I need to cough," but it sounded something like "rwoar cahh," and my dentist said "Yeah, that Al Roker really is a card."  At which point the air pressure from my lungs burst up, past my Adams Apple, and out my mouth.  It was not pretty.  I do suspect that Dr. Glossner will long remember the day he said to me "tilt your head a little farther back.  Good.    Open a little wider... towards me."  Believe me, you don't want to start off your morning with hell in a dentist's chair.  

There ain't no gold in them there dental plans!

Another funny thing which happened to me when I was making my bi-annual dental visit was my dentists suggested I replace several aging fillings with crowns.  Now I will be the first to admit my teeth are old, and it's true some of the fillings my even be considered relics of some dental dinosaur period, but I'm and not about to fork over a boat load of cash to replace them.  You see, he first brought up the subject of crowns about two years ago when one of my molars cracked under the weight of a vintage filling.  Not being one to be easily snookered in, I said, "hhmm let's wait."  What I did do was check out my dental plan to see what was actually covered.  Notice I said 'dental plan' and not insurance.  Too many confuse the two.  What you purchase through payroll deductions is a plan and it is quite specific on what it covers.  The plan I purchase from Met Life has 3 levels that you could label 'good, better and best.'  I have the good plan.  It does not cover crowns.

Nor does it cover root-canals. It does cover fillings completely, as long as they're only on one side of the tooth, after that it only covers a percentage.  This means that if you have a little cavity that's mostly on the top of the tooth with just a teeny bit on the side, you're going to have some out of the pocket expenses.  I know this to be true since I had one.  

In my plan, crowns are covered at the top level, or 'best plan.'  Of course, you are limited to one crown. Also, at that level, you are required to pay a  hefty deductible, just like in real insurance.  Add the deductible ($1000) to the total of my yearly payments ($820) and subtract that from the total cost of the crown and Met Life's expense is between $50 and $100 dollars.  Now I know there are some who will argue something is better then nothing.  Horseshit.  According to my dentist I have 5 teeth that will need crowns, sooner or later.  Of course I didn't buy insurance, I bought a plan that is minutely specific on what is and what isn't covered.  My plan does cover extractions, which indicates to me Met Life would rather the tooth be pulled then fixed.  Now isn't that a sorry thing?

I had a dental appointment today to have my bi-annual teeth cleaning.  Honestly, I have no problem with going to the dentist mainly because my hygienist prattles away all the while shoving sharp, pointy tools deep into my gum line.   Her name is Theresa, and her subjects are quite diverse.  In fact, I often tend to forget the torture she doing in my mouth because you never know what's going to pop out of hers.  Today she told me she and her husband, Mike, had just gotten a new puppy, a Yellow Lab they named Mookie.  On previous visits she had filled me in on their previous dogs, a Rottweiler and a Black Lab, both of whom came to have sad, sad endings.  She had also filled me in, some time ago I might add, that she could not have children so their dogs became substitute kids.  Mookie, at fifteen weeks is evidently the delight of their lives.  I'm glad.  Dogs are fun.  One of the best things I've ever done in my life was get a dog.

A facsimile of Mookie

This morning, as she began carving the gum away from my upper left molars, she told me how Mookie had an emergency Vet visit last week: a lower tract disturbance as well as a UTI.  At that point I had no idea what a UTI was, little did I know I was shortly going to find out.  As she was detailing Mookie's ordeal, she said that the puppy, "has these long hairs growing out around her vagina and they seem to hold her pee.  I think that's why she had the UTI.  We wipe her with towelettes but I don't know if they work.  Does your dog have hairs growing out around her vagina?"  Her next sentence was "You seem to be bleeding quite a lot around these molars, are you sure I'm not hurting you?"  I didn't answer because my mind was still stumbling around the dog's vagina.  Now I've never been to Dental Hygienists school, but I'd be very surprised if there wasn't some form of course on the propriety of certain subjects.  You know?  Things to stay away from, like politics, and religion, and your puppies' vagina.  This is not to say I was offended, in fact far from it.  This was just one of those things you don't expect to hear in the dentist's chair, and I have to say, I've been laughing about it all day.