And Kash Patel drinks a little

The cold wave is upon us.  Storms came through the area last not, not a lot of thunder or lighting, but we did get some nice, steady rain.  As a result this morning's outside temp is s50 (F).  Clouds are supposed to hang around Central PA for most of the day.  Things will stay cool, with the high this afternoon expected to be in the mid 50s (F).  And, as expected, there is a freeze warning for Tuesday night.

And yesterday was okay.  Saturday and Sunday are no workout days, so I spent yesterday morning doing other stuff.  That includes editing.  Oh, and I also had to go to work.  I did managed to get a measure, so most of my goals have been met for the week.  Our garden department was rocking again.  Flooring?  Well, I managed to get my steps in early, and that's in spite of having to avoid the garden department.  I know flooring.  I don't  know flora.  The last thing I want a customer to do is wonder why a flooring specialist is wandering around the vegetable seedlings.  It's not a good look.

I do have to work today, too.  Right now we have drizzles.  The prediction is for us to have drizzles all day.  Business will be slow.  Perhaps I can go back to my original route through the garden department.

In case everyone missed it, under Jeff Bezos' ownership, The Washington Post has become a prolific sane washer of the Orange Anus.  They used to have a reputation for writing articles that provided a critical insight into the workings of Washington.  Now they publish puff pieces of Orangie and constant criticisms of those who disparage him.  With this in mind, I was more than a little surprised when they published this pic of him this morning in the Sunday edition. Even though the sharp edges of the article about his obsessing over his ballroom had been blunted, I was surprised that they would still used this very unflattering picture of him.  I mean, he looks like's he's eagerly awaiting life support.

The fact that Kash Patel is a drunkard should come as no surprise to anyone.  I realized this truth the minute those videos of him drunkenly jumping around with the American Hockey team at the winter Olympics were released.  The only reason he has that position is because he'll never vote to oust Trump using the 25th amendment.  Why many are saying he needs to be fired, don't count on it, or at least not in the way you think it will happen.  Orangie will do to Kash what he's done to both Bondi and Noem, create another department where he can still get paid his original salary and have access to the private planes he wants to jet-set around the country.  Patel knows too much.  

Martha Stewart

 Hello Tuesday!  Today's forecast is sunshine with the temps climbing up into the low 80s (F).  I can live with this.  And, of course, since this is Tuesday I am not scheduled to work.  In fact, for the next few weeks I'm only working weekends and Mondays.  

I did work yesterday and it was slow.  Very slow.  The orange retailer I work for is initiating a new policy regarding specialist, we need to make our measure goal and sales or we take the risk of being written up.  Yep, that's right, if you don't reach your goals you're going to be put on notice.  This is because sales are... not what they want.  They ignore the fact that you can't get measures if customers are not walking into the specialty departments.  I suspect what they want to do is turn us into the flooring version of a used car salesman.

I did look at Twitter yesterday, but not much.  It has changed so much.  Some of the people I followed have moved on to other social media platforms.  Others either don't seem to post as much, or are being blocked.  At one time, I posted regularly, now that rarely happens.  One thing, however did seem to trend for a bit and that was the discussion of Martha Stewart appearing on the cover of Sports Illustrated' s swimsuit edition.  She's 81.  Some people were very upset.  Here's the cover pic, evidently heavily airbrushed, and there's no telling how much makeup they lathered on her face for her to look like this.

I saw that Dunham's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election has been put to bed.  The GOP is upset because it makes them look like incompetents, as they are.

And Giuliani's being sued... big time.  Selling pardons for $2 million each.  Now tell me, is anybody surprised?  I'm not.  A day doesn't pass by when it doesn't seem as though more corruption bubbles to the surface.

The Stuff of Dreams (and nightmares)

 Finally, Friday.  Because I'm kindhearted, I voluntarily worked 6 consecutive days this past week.  Rousing myself from bed this morning, the likelihood of that happening again is rare.  Perhaps if 2 of the shifts hadn't been from mid-morning to midafternoon I might feel differently.  Those 2 days played havoc with my schedule.  Now it feels like I'm going to be playing catchup for the rest of the weekend.  That's catchup... not ketchup.

Weatherwise, the temps are predicted to be in the comfortably low 80s (F).  The outside temperature was 67 (F) when I got up.  That's nice.  Windows are open to let in the cool morning air.  We're almost halfway to autumn, and the changing of the leaves.

I watched the last episode of Moonhaven last evening on AMC +.  The show is a quirky, science fiction / mystery though I don't know if it's going to get renewed.  I also watched the first couple of episodes of The Sandman.  That I liked.  Lots of language.  Some violence.  And Tom Sturridge in the pivotal role.  I can only wonder if he's really this thin.

Of course, Merrick Garland told the world yesterday that he wanted the search warrant for Mar a Lago to be made public.  Rumors swirl that some of the documents Trump took involve our nuclear capabilities.  Laura Ingraham poopooed that suggestion, to show any indignation would show disloyalty to the icon of evil to whom she has sworn fealty. 

Then, after midnight, Trump ((or one of his minions) released a statement saying he wanted to search warrant to be released.  Keep in mind, there is a big difference between saying he wants something to be done and actually doing it.  He has until 3PM this afternoon to actually sign the papers.  Purportedly, his legal team is in discussion with the DOJ about...  something.

And then there's the 'mole.'  Supposedly the idea that one member of his inner circle (6 - 8 individuals) told the FBI not only what to look for, but where to look is something he can barely grasp.  Disloyalty.  If he dreams at all, this is the stuff of his nightmares, that someone might not have allegiance to his every command.  

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.

The Hot Seat

Well, it's Thursday, the last of my 3 days off in a row.  Where did they all go?  The weather has been nice.  I mowed my lawn yesterday... well, the first part.  The damn grass was so tall, I needed to recharge the battery on my mower.  The rest of the lawn will be finished this morning.  Good thing to, forecast for my next days off is... showers.  That's right.  We're going to get more rain.
And I had ordered a new computer / gaming chair for upstairs.  The X-rocker I purchased during Amazon's Prime Days just wasn't working out.  It sits too low to the floor.  I'm not a low sitter.  I work with people who like sitting as low as possible.  Me?  That's too much like squatting.  Also, I had an issue with the speakers.  They're in the chair, which seemed like a good idea, however you use your sound system's jack for them to work, which means there is no sound from your speakers.  Again, not a good thing.  So, the X-rocker is up in the attack.  The new chair is sleek, and black and red, and has a foot rest.

Notice the red and black theme...

And I see the Republicans are going to force a vote on Kavanaugh.  The Idiot Jerk in the White House claims the FBI can't investigate the claims... "Not so," says the FBI.  They just need the Idiot Jerk's approval. Well, we know that's not going to happen.  This shit bag is desperate to give his base a victory, even one so hollow as getting Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court.  That's all they want.  They are going to turn the Supreme Court conservative if it kills them... and it will.  Don't they realize these allegations are not going to go away?  Hell no.  Once the House turns blue and the investigations start, when the Idiot Jerk realizes his ass is in serious jeopardy, no one is going to be safe from the sacrificial alter.  If the Idiot Jerk believes an investigation in Kavanaugh's dirty past might keep him off the hot seat,  you can bet there will be three or four.  Republicans just don't understand.  The Idiot Jerk has always run away when the chips are down.  He has always filed for bankruptcy to get out of debt.  The only thing he really cares about is his own ass.  He will bloody the GOP with his own tiny hands.  This is what they get for sitting him behind a desk in the Oval Office.

When not to share

Of course there is some buzz out there about the new (most likely old) emails of Hillary Clinton.  There's also a lot of speculation about the timing of FBI Director Comey's letter, whether it was politically motivated.  What seems to be most apparent, however, is the fact that these new emails will have little or no bearing upon the election; that they're one more dead horse for the Republicans to beat.  What does surprise me more than anything is that Huma Abedin, with her close involvement in Clinton politics, would share a laptop with her husband, Anthony Weiner, or any husband for that matter.  I would have thought she'd have gone to Best Buy and bought herself a work computer.  There not that expensive so I'm sure she could afford it.  Why would they share a laptop?  I have a laptop, a PC, a phone and a tablet.  I mean, if I were working for Clinton and married to a perv like Weiner, I'd tell him to keep his fingers off the laptop.  I'd tell him to keep his pervy stuff on his own computer.  Evidently this is not what happened.  Is it just me, or do these people seem rather stupid sometimes?

Or maybe they're just clueless.  If I were Hillary, I'd hit her upside the head with a brick, or maybe wear a lapel pin "stupid me."  Sure, Abedin is married to Weiner and maybe he was a whiny Weiner and they shared a laptop to shut him up.  Or maybe she totally forgot about his history as a perv and decided it would be okay for them to share a laptop.  Or perhaps she decided it might be fun to access her email account from as many laptops, PC's and phones as possible.  But I suspect, more than anything else, she's just just too special to worry about having her email account hacked.

Rotten Apple

There's a lot of chat going on right now about Apple and whether the tech giant should help the FBI.  I can sort of see their side... but we're talking about terrorists here, and the message Apple is sending out to the world, to all terrorist groups is "you're data is safe with us."  Evidently with Apple's new encryption software the FBI has only 10 attempts to crack the code before the phone goes into permanent lock down.  If I were Tim Cook, I'd have done it on the sly, of course he didn't.  And it isn't just terrorist groups that now know their data is safe, hate groups too can now feel secure that their conversations are protected.  When I read this article my inner voice started chanting "this is not good."  Apple's had hundreds of requests for help and has denied every one.  To put this into some perspective, say you and your husband go out to a movie and stop off for a drink on the way back to your car... and say you are attacked by 4 homophobes with baseball bats and they beat the shit out of you... and the only thing left at the scene of the crime are your broken bodies and a battered Iphone.  Apple is not going to help solve this crime.  Nope, absolutely not.

This is just not the right message to send to the world.  If you're bad and you do bad things, you shouldn't be protected by Apple.