Rake This

 Well, it was cold enough outside this morning to chilly your willy off, a crispy cream 28 (F) cold, should you be foolish enough to have him face that freeze.  On the flip side, our temps are heading back up to 50 (F).  There's not a lot of rain in the long range forecast, however, and we sure could use some.  That soaker we had last week help a little but not a lot; one of those every week for the next 5 weeks would be fine.

I accomplished a lot yesterday, including the annual raking of the gingko leaves.  While some rake theirs out onto the road for the street cleaner to vacuum up, my get gathered around the base of my gingko tree because during the winter they break down and become mulch (sort of).

I do have to work this afternoon.  Mostly it will be to chat with my work friends, talk about Thanksgiving, and the approaching Holiday Party.  It's in January, so there are the usual whiners who are complaining because it's not a Christmas Party...  duh.  We're retail.  Our holidays, supposedly our busy season doesn't end until both holidays (Christmas and New Years) are over and it celebrates both holidays (Christmas and New Years).  But then some people have small minds, just like the Cracker Jack Crazies who put the retailer I work for on the shit list because  we use the word Holiday.  

Anyway, here's the ring of leaves.

And before I raked leaves, I took a picture of two of my roses still blooming:

And I saw that one of Derek Chauvin's fellow prisoners stabbed him.  While I don't wish for anybody to be stabbed (except possibly the Orange Anus, though for him I suspect I'd rather enjoy to see him pilloried better) this is Derek's Karma.  Killing a fellow human being by kneeling on his neck for 8 minutes is terrible thing to do, the fact that Derek though he was justified in doing this makes it all the worse.  They've reported that his injuries were serious but not life threatening, that's a good thing, I wouldn't want him to die, but I do believe there's nothing wrong with a serious scar to remind him of the evil of his ways.

Frankie the Chameleon

 I slept really well last night, making up for the night before.  According to my watch, I got almost 7 hours of sleep.  

My new plants for the tank arrived yesterday.  One of the Baby's Breath plants got tossed.  Before dumping it in the compost bin, I weighed it.  Over 12 ounces.  That sucker was big.  That one plant grew to be bigger then a basketball.  Amazon Swords now replace it, and the fish have more room to swim, and I clean the algae on the tank wall it was hiding.  The other Baby's Breath plant is going to go to.  What they do better then anything else is trap lots of uneaten food.

Those angel fish were the size of a quarter when I bought them a year ago

We're supposed to have snow flurries in a few minutes.  As a reminder to those who don't know, we have had some serious snow falls in Central PA during the month of April.  The one good thing about those is that they melt away very, very fast.  Today, we're not even going to have a dusting.

Scanning through the headlines this morning, I see Republican desperation growing.  That makes me smile.  Some of things that are popping out of their mouths can only make you question their sanity, especially when compared to their previous comments.  That stale, aging cracker Frankie Graham said, after the Chauvin verdict, "justice has been served."  I must say Frankie has really flip-flopped from what he was saying at the time of the protests.  Back then, however, he was a loyal ass-kisser of Loser #45.  Maybe we should call him Chameleon Frankie, since he finds it so easy to change the color of his comments.  Don't forget, underneath his 'justice' comments he's still a White Evangelical.

How the world turns

 Dearie Me... I slept in again this morning.  Not because I stayed up late.  Nope.  Actually, there are 2 reasons.  The most obvious is that my alarm is not set for Wednesday morning for some reason.  Number 2 is doggy bladders.  Biggie out off the bed twice before finally deciding he needed to go potty outside... at 1245.  Then it was Lily's turn.  At 0230 I was standing down by the back door waiting for her to do her after midnight pee run.  And that little lady took her time.  Long enough for me to eat a slice of cheese.

I'm set up to get a physical down at the Lebanon VA on 4/30 with Dr. Haverstock.  I'm staying with the Optometrist I have at the VA in Harrisburg, but all my other health care, which isn't much to speak of, is going to Lebanon.  I'm fine with that.  I grew up in Lebanon.  This place is big!  The building Center Left with the white roof is their YMCA - that's where I was vaccinated.  The building Top Center with the white roof is where I had my hernia surgery.  My new doctor is going to be in the large building in the Center, on the 5th floor.

And what a great day we had in America yesterday.  The hair stood up on my arms when I heard the Jury had reached a verdict.  Of course there was trepidation.  So many times before juries have sided with the police.  Yesterday was different.  When the verdict was announced I will admit a tear ran down my cheek.  And though yesterday's decision was a big step forward, in truth it was only a very small one.  Last evening the white, conservative pundits began raising their voices denying there is racism in this country.  Their fear is growing because they are losing their fight.  Evolution is winning.  It has always won.  This is how the world turns.

Visions

Saturday is upon us.  Two more days until my weekend begins.  I am approaching anticipation mode.

Yestrday we had storms come through - nothing more than rain for us, though farther north they had high winds which toppled trees.  Rain is good when it doesn't come in a deluge.  If you sit down and get comfortable in a lotus position, you'll realize that last sentence was profound.

I rode stage 1 of the San Remo route after work yesterday - 14 miles.  And once again my legs proved I was wrong when I said walking all day was a strain on them.  My speed increased by .7 mph and I finished the ride in 45 minutes (+ a few seconds).  This means my legs are getting stronger, and believe me, I'm long past 29 years of age.

The murderer from Minneapolis has been arrested, his wife's divorcing him, and the Idiot Jerk in the White House made a halfhearted attempt to define his racist Tweet.  The arrest failed to stop the protests, the wife is trying to save her own ass, and the Idiot Jerk?  Three and a half years of his Racists, White Republican administration are in no small way responsible for the anger.  Quite often, he has courted the whites of the far right because he thinks angry white people are the key to staying in power.  Boy, is he stupid.  He is totally clueless as to how many people, black, brown, and white, that video horrified and angered.  That's a video of the Idiot Jerk's America, not ours.  That's the ugly vision of a Cracker Jack Christian and White Republican America, it does not belong to the majority of Americans.  The time has come to take back America, to put it on the right path, to, as I read in another blog, crush these losers with the same rock that they crawled out from under.  It's as simple as that.

To try and lighten the mood, here are a couple of pictures of my roses.  I took them yesterday after I'd gotten home from work.

Now, wasn't that a nice and refreshing vision of beauty?

Flagged

Today is my Hump Day and it also happens to be a Friday... as well as Payday.  Wow... I forgot what that's like.  I did a bit of a double take when I looked at my bank account this morning.  There's absolutely nothing wrong with making money, however, there is also the cost: working 40 hours a week as opposed to 25.  Things that I've noticed:  after walking 14,000 + steps at work, my legs are a bit more tired when I get on the bike.  I'm also riding later in the day which leaves less time later in the evening for writing, video games, and working on my Greek.  

The Idiot Jerk in the White House signed an Executive order yesterday pertaining to Social Media.  If it ever makes it through the courts, which is highly doubtful because of the laws already in place, individuals will have to sue.  As a tinfoil dictator wannabe, this is how he vents when he gets smacked back.  Twitter smacked him back again last night when it flagged one of his Tweets regarding Minneapolis.  You can't see it unless you click on the little warning flag.  Now, the rest of the media needs to show a little common sense in reporting this.  Noting he was flagged and then show the Tweet in it's entirety is a total failure.  There's a reason it was flagged, of course, they're seeing it as a way to grab the readers eye.  You see, there's a group of very stupid people out there who desperately need to know what he said.

I feel bad for the people of Minneapolis.  Do not worry, Derek Chauvin will be arrested for murder.  I suspect that's the reason he was terminated so quickly.  Cities are learning, when horrors like this happen, act fast and prosecute.  That's the only way to begin to cool down a bad situation.  Show that justice exists and the police force is not exempt.

The new earbuds worked well last evening.  The difference in sound quality between them and the Senso buds is quite distinct.  I should have invested in a better earbuds a long time ago.

Finally, a picture of my peonies.  They're nice.  The pink ones are out front, this bush is by the side of the house.