Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

 Yesterday turned out to be nice.  The sun did come out in the afternoon and temps warmed up, so the forecast wasn't far off.  Today, however, clouds are supposed to be moving back into the picture and, again, this afternoon we're supposed to have shower.  Temps will be cooling down until Sunday, when they'll be stuck in the 20s (F) all day before they zoom back up into the high 40s (F) and low 50s (F).

Even though the day did nicen up, yesterday was still a bit of a meh day.  Howie and I went for a walk.  I worked on the book.  This denouement chapter is going to be long, maybe the longest I've ever written.  How well it will go over remains to be seen.  I have shared the first chapter with some people (it's very different).  Their reactions were pleasantly surprising.

I also bought and downloaded the new Indiana Jones and the Great Circle game.  It's a Machine Works game, and they are owned by Bethesda.  Every game has a tutorial section in the beginning where you learn which buttons do what, since every game is different.  For this game, the tutorial section is the opening sequence from Raiders of the Lost Ark, you know the one I'm talking about, the one with the big ball that nearly crushes him.  I got crushed once.  Having seen the movie many times, I thought it was a lot of fun!  The tutorial, however, is just a flashback, and the story jumps ahead a year to the time after the Ark incident.  And yes, if you're interested, you do need to use the whip.

So, if you live in America, how are your food prices?  Mine are going up.  Eggs are 8 cents higher.  Here in Central Pa, a dozen large eggs is going to set you back $4.07, they're going to blame it on Bird Flu.  Roma tomatoes?  2 months ago they were $1.99 a lb., now they cost $2.49 a lb., and it ain't because of the Bird Flu.  I went grocery shopping yesterday and mostly what I did was look at people's faces.  No one was happy.  There were a lot of seniors in the supermarket and I felt really bad for them, many live month to month on their Social Security, and God knows how many Christian Conservatives hate Social Security.  These people are going to have a rough time ahead, especially if our morally degenerated president succeeds in privatizing Medicare.  People who don't have to pay for insurance, should never be in charge of creating legislation that forces others to pay for the same benefit.  I have to admit that I do find it more than a little satisfying that health care stocks across the board are experiencing a down turn.  What a joy for so many rich people to lose money.

Yellow Snow

 Good Morning World!  We had snow most of the day yesterday!  Most of it melted because the temps were just not cold enough.  It was a dreary day, so it was a good thing that I worked.

Yesterday was a little more productive than the past 2.  I got 30 minutes in on the treadmill and, thanks to laps at work, I managed to get in over 15,000 steps!  Wowza.  

We had our store holiday party last evening.  There were about 40 people there.  For the amount of time I was there, it was enjoyable, but then I only go for the food.  They had  a DJ who did a fine job, he was a store employee with somewhat eclectic tastes in music, which turned out to be fine.  The main reason I had for not staying any longer was the fact that I have a 4 and a half month old puppy who desperately needed to go potty outside.  I was so proud of him!  He left no presents waiting for me when I got home, and that was after leaving him alone for over 7 hours!

Here he is tinting first yellow snow.  Here's picture of that momentous occasion!  And this morning?  He made some more!

One of the things people need to keep in mind is that for a $1 million for a billionaire is "chump change," so when these billionaire give the Orange Anus $1 million, they're not bending the knee, that's just a token to him for letting them participate in turning America into an Oligarchy.  A good crash on Wall Street will send them all reeling.  The last time we had a good crash, millionaires jumped out of windows when they realized they were now worthless individuals.  The American economy depends totally on American's buying power, reducing or stopping Social Security reduces that buying power of senior citizens.  Privatizing Medicare and raising rates for health care will limit that buying power.  Of course, conservates have always been stupid.  There's an old adage that says "give them enough rope, and they'll hang themselves."  Because they believe their stupidity makes them smarter than everyone else, they feel that adages no longer apply.  They will ignore the sage advice "do not eat yellow snow."  I don't think Zuck, or Elonia, or Bezos will jump out of a window when they find themselves broke, but they will eat the yellow snow.

Pigs in Shit

The first half of yesterday was semi-busy at work.  People have started the installation process for carpet.  Mostly, I think, using the stimulus checks handed out by the government.  Unfortunately, this is not what those funds were to be used for; one single purchase does not help grow the economy.  I sold measure to 2 couples, both seniors, both want Berber carpet within 5 minutes of each other.  Berber is not very popular.  It's not soft, is bad with kids and pets.  You can get pulls with Berber carpet.  Still, that's what they wanted.  Both senior couples were looking for durability.  Both are looking to sell their homes.  I wanted to tell them putting in Berber carpet limited their future buyers to older couples without grandchildren or pets... especially cats.  I didn't.

According to Governor Abbott of Texas. shutting down the state is a "last resort."  Hospital ICU's in parts of Texas are near capacity thanks to total mismanagement.  You see, they believed the Idiot Jerk in the White House.  He told them Covid 19 was going to go away when the temps warmed up.  They know he lies.  They also say "that's just the way he is."  They're going to crash their own economies.  Ouch.  Right now, the Idiot Jerk leads Biden in Texas by 2%.  That's going to change because... "that's just the way he is." (Can you hear my evil laugh?)

Biden is coming to Lancaster, PA this morning.  For those who are interested, we pronounce it Lank - Ester, not Lan Cast Er.  Boy, I'll bet that shocked your world.  Lancaster is pretty much the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch Country.  In Central Pa, they were hit really hard by Covid 19.  Without Obamacare, the Amish have no health care.  Of course, the Idiot Jerk in the White House and his Republican ilk have nothing against health care, as long as none of their tax dollars go to support it.  They're happy as pigs in shit as long as you can pay for your own hospital care.

This is why Biden is going to talk about Health Care in a community that was ravaged by Covid 19.

And every since Jennifer mentioned her school getting an aquarium, I've been toying with idea of setting one up again.  I've probably had active fish tanks for... oh, thirty years of my life.  Right now the question, if I get one, is size.  Do I want to go big?  Or bigger?

Out for Delivery - Health Care Fail

So, my new Garmin scale is out for delivery, it should be sitting on my porch when I get home from work this evening - then I'll have to set it up and climb aboard.

LOCATION	DATE	LOCAL TIME	ACTIVITY
Harrisburg, PA, United States	06/29/2017	3:36 A.M.	Out For Delivery
	06/29/2017	1:06 A.M.	Arrival Scan
Louisville, KY, United States	06/28/2017	2:29 P.M.	Departure Scan
Charleston, TN, United States	06/27/2017	11:46 P.M.	Origin Scan
United States	06/27/2017	11:55 P.M. (ET)	Order Processed: Ready for UPS

Something else that's most likely not going to be 'out for delivery' is the GOP Health Care turd that some aging white guys put together hoping that a lot of other white guys would vote it into existence.  Wrong.  And, if you spend a little time thinking about how terrible this piece of legislature truly is, you will realize that it was destined to become a failure.  Oh, wait, now they're talking about reaching "across the aisle."  Duh.  The real problem with this Conservative piece of garbage is that it's not meant to fix anything, the motivation behind it is purely political on so many levels.  Take McTuttle:  His constituents see him as being a damn good Conservative.  They see him as doing what he said he would... it's those goddamn moderates and centrists of the party that are screwing up his agenda, which is exactly what McTuttle wants, that and to be re-elected.  He can be as conservative as they want because he knows this horseshit will never make it to the Idiot's desk.  

Republicans have been playing this game for a long time, this political variation of bait and switch, and they all do it.  They pander to their base with proposed tax cuts that know will never, ever happen, and it's always... somebody else's fault.  They come up with a Healthcare plan that would force their constituents to eat shit sandwiches if it was ever passed because McTuttle, and Toomey from PA. and Rand Paul, and the rest of their ilk know it will die.  This means their constituents will never have to deal with the conservative hell.  This is how Republican politics works.

Weighing in on the GOP, boobs and all

So, I ordered a Garmin Scale yesterday which should be arriving tomorrow.  As for my Worthings' scale?  I'll probably give that away.  My biggest issue with that scale was the reliance on percentages for recording things like fat weight, water weight and muscle weight on the app.  Example:  you  have a great cardio and sweat like a pig (something I tend to do) and then you weigh yourself.  On the scale you're going to get the weight for all 3 in pounds however the app converts lbs to  % so at that point in time you water % can be lower but that's going to make either your muscle or your fat % higher.  If you're trying to build muscle and reduce fat, the only relatively clear picture you're going to get of your muscle weight is when you weigh yourself which makes the app useless.   I guess the Worthings (Nokia) scale and their app are fine if you're not really serious.

And I saw that McTurtle pulled his health disaster before letting it come to a failing vote.  Well, that was to be expected.  Brookings has a really good take on just how ugly that piece of legislature is... was.  And when those idiots come back in early in late July they're going to have to start working on the budget, which they booted way back when they didn't have enough votes to pass the wretched thing.  And if you think the Idiot in the White House and his boobs had problems with health care, wait until they try to start dancing through that field of land mines.  Can't you hear the Idiot now?  "Paul... Paul, walk over that way, see if you blow off one of your career legs... oh, and take off your shirt, if everyone's looking at your chest they might not notice you're missing one of your fiscal feet."  Just wait and see if this country doesn't run out of money.

Planet Fitness, Eggroll in a Bowl, & the Stock Market

Well, today is Monday, my 2nd day off in a roe.  Big Seig is standing on the bed barking out the window... he does that sometimes because he likes to bark.  He also barks when he's outside, in fact he will walk around barking at nothing in particular.
Anyway, yesterday was busy.  I started up my membership at Planet Fitness.  They just opened a new one in what was my old Giant Supermarket.  It's close. .8 miles.  As Timmy (that's right, attendant's name is Timmy) took me on a tour I noticed how the layout was very similar to the one on the Carlisle Pike with the only difference being that their locker rooms were along the back wall rather than the side wall.  There were also, as is to be expected from a newly opened gym, a lot of fatties there.  I'm not being derogatory here, just stating a fact, and the sad truth is that in 2 - 3 weeks they will stop showing up.  Too much work, you know?
Yesterday I also made Eggroll in a Bowl - which is pretty much the eggroll filling without the wrapper so it isn't deep fried.  However, instead of pulling out my Yang Can Cook Book, I looked on line....   Weird.  Who ever would have thought that so many very white, non-Asian women could come up with so many variations of the same Chinese recipe?  I mean it's just cabbage, carrots, ginger and garlic doused with a little soy sauce, yet there's a Paleo version, and a low carb version, and a high energy version, and satisfying version... and they're all pretty much all the same.

This is what mine looked like

And as I was checking out Bloomberg this AM, I saw that stock markets around the world a taking a hit thanks to the GOP's failed Health Care Disaster.  An interesting point is that here in the US that big, big rally was fueled not by savvy investors at all; rather it was caused by what they call Mom and Pop investors, mostly Trump supporters who know absolutely nothing about the Stock Market but believed that Idiot's message.  So they will be the ones taking the hit.  Tough Shit.

You will notice, too, that I totally ignored the fact that Conservative News Sites are crapping all over themselves because... Conservatives just failed in a very public, huge, huge way.  In fact their failure was huge it's probably going to smack the hell out of the Stock Market.

The Ultimatum

For those who don't know, the Idiot in the White House has issued an Ultimatum, sign the shitty legislation which most people will call Trumpcare, or else it's a dead subject.  I find this almost hysterical.  The "Do Nothing" party is being told to do something.  The problems with this are multi-fold.  For some the bill doesn't go far enough, some know think it goes to far, others realize that if they cave now they will lose all credibility as a governing body. And, I suspect, most of them know the end result of passing this legislation will allow the Idiot in the White House  to say that "he" ended Obamacare.  In fact, that is the only reason he's given his Ultimatum.  He doesn't care about the American People, about Health Care, about insurance and insurance coverage.  All he's interested in is feeding his ego.  The "Do Nothing" party created this monster with their years of hate mongering and now he's sticking them with their only little knives.
This is a minority party that consistently proves it should never be in a leadership position, have leadership responsibilities simply because they have no idea how to hold themselves accountable.

They like to call themselves the party of Lincoln, but honest Abe would never shit on the American People the way this "Do Nothing" party does.  This party has declared war on main stream America, attacking anything and everything and anyone who objects, who wants to clarify and make these haters more transparent.  And the Idiot in the White House has given this bunch of greedy hucksters an Ultimatum; he wants to be Hukster in Chief.  So, will they cave, or will the stand their ground?  This is the GOP failing in a very, very public way.  Good for them.  Let them eat turd cakes for a while.

Here... it... comes.

So, I guess we're now supposed to get about 12" of snow.  I'm off, so it doesn't bother me.  I suspect a lot of other people will be taking advantage of it and taking a day off.  This is how it goes.
Anyway,  I went to my new Weis this morning.  The aisles are wide, the fresh produce is arranged well and amply supplied, however I wasn't impressed with their frozen food section.  Their prices are comparable with the Giant across the road, with some being higher and some being lower.  There is much wider variety, however, of just about everything.  Giant doesn't give you as much of a selection.  I have to learn where everything is for right now.
And I saw that the Idiot in Chief has muttered something about being open to suggestions in regarding health care... people are pointing out he talks about health care, not insurance.  This whole thing is rather funny.  In fact there is so much funny going on.  Like the fact that those who are going to be hurt most by the repeal of the ACA are Trumplodites.  Of course, if you were to ask them who their primary care physician is the vast majority would look at you quizzically,  and then mutter something like "we go the the Emergency Room when we get sick."

And, of course, those boneheads in the White House have taken a cue from the Idiot himself and are making all sorts of rash promises.  No doubt this is because empty promises are enough to satisfy the Trumplodite hoards.  

Oh, and supposedly, according to John McCain, more shoes are going to drop regarding the Russkie influence.  Those crazy Conservatives, how like them to hate the Democrats so much they'd climb in bed with Putin lover.  

Anyway, off to work.

GOP health care is DOA

We have this Idiot in the White House because he has always managed to wag his crooked, little finger at the very things that incited his base:  Hillary, Obamacare, Mexicans.  He was the outsider who was going to make America great again, which actually meant he was going to remake America the way their hate dictated.  And he has always used his enemies to the full extent of their 'hate' potential.  They saw great value in his cheap words.  In fact, he hid his political stupidity behind these attacks. their served purpose to camouflage the fact that he was in way over his head.  Until now.
The Idiot in Chief has signed off on the new, American Affordable Care Act, not because he knows anything about it.  Nope, he promised his Trumplodite followers a health care act in 100 days and damn if he isn't going to give them one.  However, there's a problem... from the Right.  Not that the Left likes the plan, they don't, but the Right hates it.  In fact, many of them are not even going to consider this important legislation, rendering it Dead On Arrival.  The Idiot in the White House, being the political incompetent that he is, will do the only thing that's given him success:  he will attack.  Listen closely and you can already hear him fuming, "but I'm the president!  If I tell them to get behind it, they damn well better get behind it!"  And, of course, he's going to come face to face with a chorus of angry conservatives shrieking "Shut Up Stupid!"

His supporters will turn virulent, damning those elected officials they put into office because they're not backing the Idiot in the White House.

And you ain't seen nothin' yet.  Just wait until they get a gander at his budget.  The shit is going to fly so high you'll be able to see it in Kansas City.  The main reason the GOP is known as the party of "no" is that they've never been able to agree on health care, ever, nor have they been able to agree on immigration, ever.  In fact, shallowly enough, the only thing they have ever been able to agree on is their hate for everything non Republican.  If they can't hate it, they're lost.

Tea Party - Still lying through their teeth

So, I know there are a lot of people out there who believe the Tea Party is the best thing for this country since sliced bread.  They see it's leaders as honest, true patriotic Americans who are working only for the betterment of the country.  If you listen to them the Affordable Healthcare Act is worse then the bubonic plague; insurance rates will rise and jobs will be lost.  Personally, I think they are full of shit.  Yesterday I received my Benefits Annual Enrollment Guide.  Anxiously I ripped open the plastic sealers.  I needed to see how much my payroll deductions were going to be.  Would it be too much for my paycheck to bear?  Would I have to buy bargain basement dog food?  I prayed that they stay somewhere in the range of what I was already paying, just shy of $180 dollars a month.  But, of course, that was not to be.  To my gleeful surprise my monthly deductions was... falling... not like a rock, mind you, but enough to make a significant difference in my paycheck.  How much less will I be paying per month?  $39.00  As I did the calculations over and over again I could almost hear the rising tide of Tea Party voices wailing "This Can Not BE!"

Now I will be the first to admit that everybody else in the country is going to mirror me.  There are unscrupulous companies out there who don't give a damn about their associates.  I would not be surprised if there were several companies owned by Conservative Republicans which actually raise their employee rates.  You see, they don't care if they hurt their associates just as long as they get their point across.  They are going to make their political point no matter how much they have to gouge their employees.  Nothing is going to change them.

Boil in water for two minutes, then add milk and sugar to make palatable

So why all the clamor from the Tea Party about the Affordable Healthcare Act?  Well, for one thing, I've always suspected they really are nothing moer then bags with loud voices.  Secondly, this is legislation which was passed under President Obama and they hate him.  Thirdly, they are terrified that when all of the working class 'joes' who make up their core start seeing the benefits they might start saying "hey, this ain't too bad."  That would be terrible news for the Tea Party.  They might start losing elections.  I mean why would any sane person want to vote for a lying sack of shit.