The Cross that Trump Built

Monday, and I work.  8 hours.  Though my shift begins at 0930, meaning I should be home by 6:15 PM.

More was accomplished yesterday than I had expected, including a 2.59 mile trek through Dana Point, CA, on the treadmill.  I did not do any laundry.  I did cook red beans and rice for dinner.  Leftovers will be lunch today.

Four solar lights I'd ordered also arrived yesterday.  They will light up the path from my driveway to my house on those winter evenings I work past sunset.  

I got an email this morning from the company I bought the bar cart from: they will be sending a replacement part within the next day or two.  That's rather pleasing.  It is Asian, and my bias tends to expect their customer service might not be up to par.  This is a complex problem I have since I deal regularly with a number of Asians at work and most of them are very nice people.  It could, in fact, be an online order bias since so many companies selling online are foreign.  Example:  I bought a cuckoo clock and the time mechanism was made in Germany, however the pine cones were made in Hungary, and the wooden housing in China.  Speaking of China, does everyone know they have space station?  They are launching 3 astronauts up to it tomorrow.

I know a lot of people are anxious for the indictments to fall.  Everybody knows it's just a matter of time.  The Georgia runoff election is tomorrow, results should be released probably tomorrow evening at the earliest.  By Wednesday morning, America should know who won.  The DOJ doesn't like to make political indictments preceding elections, since losing parties (especially Republican) will look to place blame on any and everybody but themselves.  The real question is if they will start to arrive prior to the Holiday and ruin Christmas for all those MAGAs?

Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, from Georgia, has said that Herschel Walker "will probably go down as one of the worst candidates in our party's history."  No shit Sherlock.

Trump called for throwing out the Constitution.  Did any Republican congressmen speak out against him?  Mostly I heard and read them frittering around with words and catch phrases, like "he says all sorts of things."  They made excuses.  The ugly truth is that all they have are Trump and lies.  Without those 2 things they are nothing, which means, for all intents and purposes, that right now the GOP is nothing.  Republicans are dying on the cross that Trump built.

Mow this

 Well, it's one of those early mornings for me.  Awake around 0415.  Crap.  I'll probably take a quick nap before leaving for work.  Thursdays, you know?  Permanently on my work schedule until I decide otherwise.  

Biggie went to the Vet yesterday for his blood work.  $165.  This is, supposedly, to ensure his doggy nsaid is not doing any harm to his liver.  One thing that his changing is how much gabapentin he's getting.  You see, his prescription ran out and they refused to give him a refill until after this bloodwork.  To my surprise, there was no significant change in what I interpret to be his level of pain.  None at all.  So I'm wondering if my concern for him fogged up my perception to the point where I was seeing serious suffering where there wasn't any.  I did get it refilled, but now that he's weened off, I'm going to take a wait and see attitude.

The cuckoo clock is on the wall.  It's loud, but not in a bad way.  

People ask me what I did when I got out of the Navy.  Well, I went to college, grew my hair long, and one summer I got a job at a summer camp where I got to drive around on a large riding lawn mower.  It was over this summer that I made my stage debut in a community theater production of How To Succeed in Business.

And what about Herschel and his 2nd abortion?  Can anyone tell me why this is not surprising?  I'm suspecting there are more, not that his rattled brain remembers them.  

One funny thing I saw on Twitter yesterday was Ronna McDaniel complaining that there were over one million ballots mailed in prior to Fetterman's debate.  She was rather livid, and all I could do was laugh.  Does anyone really believe that those voting for Fetterman are suddenly going to switch over to Oz?  Honestly, the number of complaints about Oz and his statement about women checking with their local politicians prior to getting an abortion far outweighed those against Fetterman and his stroke.

There was also a lot of commentary about Alito's whine that the leak was responsible for members of the Supreme Court getting death threats.  This man is really stupid if he believes it was the leak.  What kind of reaction did he think they were going to get?  Oh, wait, that's right, he's a conservative and we all know that they rarely think.

Pure Republican Horseshit

 Well, here we go, another Sunday funday.  For those who don't know, I work almost every Sunday.  This is fine.  The store is usually slow in the afternoon, especially when one of the local teams is playing:  Baltimore, Philly, or Pittsburgh.  Thank you football, a sport which fails to impress me.  A number of years ago, someone associated with 60 Minutes decided that they should do a segment about football, the idea being that if you knew about the game, first downs, goal to go, and shit like that you'd find the sport unbelievably fascinating.  If that were even remotely true, every sport would have zillions of fans.  My theory:  football's popularity has a lot to do with the amount of beer being drunk.  I went to see the Philadelphia Eagles play the team that used to be called the Washington Redskins and the lines to the beer vendors was constant.  After the game, as we were driving out of the parking lot, I reminded our driver that all those drunks are now on the road.

The temps today are supposed to climb into the high 60s (F), and I'm debating whether I should wear a long sleeve shirt to work, or just take a jacket.

This late in the year, it's only my dahlias that are blooming.  I still have roses.  This is the 3rd time they've bloomed this year.

Yesterday was fairly quiet, politically speaking.  Everybody was still a Twitter about Herschel and his badge, and his view that if you eat right you shouldn't need insulin.

Biden's approval rating continues to inch up.  This is good for Democrats and bad for Republicans, who are scared.  How do I know?    Well, when Republicans go negative, they go negative.  They're airing a clip of him standing behind a young girl with his hand on her shoulder.  They, of all people, do love to shovel the shit.  If it weren't for lies, they'd have nothing to hold on to.  When I see them on Twitter, I just give my standard response.  It works so well, believe me.  While some prefer wordy diatribes I like 3 simple words.  Pure Republican horseshit.  Every now and then I use a slight variation, Tom Fitton's Tweets for example.  For him, I always preface those 3 little words with Tommy Traitor's.  He never reads the responses, others do.  All Tommy Traitor, and Ronna McDaniel, and the rest of their Republican ilk care about are retweets. The more retweets they get, the happier they are.  This election season, are job is to make them unhappy.  We want them to lose.  

The Badge

 So, the temps are supposed to climb into the mid 70s (F) today.  And no, this is not Indian Summer, for those who are so hotly anticipating that warm spell.  As I've said before, we haven't had one of those fall heat waves in quite a few years.

Yesterday was rather meh.  Some things were accomplished, others were not.  A little sanding and spackling in the soon to be new laundry room.  I did a little work on the window.  It's old and is one of the few windows in the house that has yet to be replaced.  I'm putting a decorative film on the bottom half, the upper window will get a valance.  We sell decorative films, but they're a bit too salty for my taste.  Rather than spend $35, I forked out $12 for one I found on Amazon.

And I do get to go into work today.  It will be interesting to see how many more changes have been done to the flooring department.

As some of you know, I've been trying to start selling my books through Barnes & Noble.  There has been a major problem with my W9.  No matter how many times I've submitted it, their customer service kept coming back and telling me that it wasn't signed.  Yesterday, one of their customer service reps finally specified that they required a hand written signature rather than a typed signature submitted on a PDF.  So, I duly sent them information on the legality of typed signatures on PDF files downloaded from the Federal Government.  Their response:  We require a handwritten signature.  As you might be able to tell, I'm a little miffed.

Yesterday I took a pic of my fall dahlias.  Here it is.

Did anybody watch the Warnock / Walker debate last evening?  I don't watch debates.  No patience.  I have seen a few clips from last nights head to head.  Walker flashing his badge is one of reasons I avoid debates,  Let me be perfectly honest, I laughed loudly.  Another clip I laughed at was when Ralph Reed, a hard right Cracker Jack Crazy from the 90s tried to give his opinion of Walker and the only thing reporters were asking about was that badge.  Ralph got more than a little frustrated.  That was funny as hell.

Suckers

While I know a number of you out there are saying "finally, Friday," I also know there are probably just as many, possibly more, for whom Friday is just another day of the week.  For me, every other Friday is payday, but not this Friday.  Today I will be doing the same chores I do every Friday, with a few added.  My lawn needs to be mown today.  I'll also be rolling up my 100 foot hose and putting it away for the year.  For those who don't know, my property is 125 feet long, so 100 feet does everything I need it to do.

I'm going to start patching the hole today.

I watched the first 2 episodes of Interview with a Vampire last evening.  That sucker pops!  I read the book a long time ago and liked it.  I saw the Tom Cruise version when it came out.  Meh.  Perhaps if Tom Cruise hadn't been in it I might have appreciated it more.  When I was growing up, vampire movies were always gendered, where women were always the prey.  I never could understand that.  Blood has no gender.  This is why when you get a transfusion you don't get to choose between male or female.  In the serialized version on AMC blood is blood, it doesn't make a difference whose neck you're sucking it from.  

I've always liked Peter Gabriel.  Many don't know that a long time ago he was the front man for a little known band named Genesis.  He went solo and the band replaced him with Phil Collins.  On his own, Gabriel has been more than a little innovative.  I'm sure some of you will remember his delightful little ditty "Shock the Monkey," or if that doesn't ring a bell, he had another little hit with "Sledgehammer."  One of my favorite songs was Solsbury Hill.  Written in 1977,  this video, released 40 years later, is an amalgamation of clips from live performances and is rather eye popping.  

 And finally, back to Herschel.  Everyday there is a new word salad.  Christian Walker, whom Conservatives thought they could use to attack liberals, is slicing and dicing his father daily.  Walker's defense is... Jesus.  Son of a bitch!  When Newtie Gingrich begins talking about Hershel's love of Jesus being more important than anything, you have a really big problem.  Selfish, self-centered, with a football stadium sized ego, his neurotransmitters have been misfiring for years.   Herschel's actions have never been any where close to being Christian.  Antiabortion conservatives look bad.  They desperately want to turn Georgia red.  Well, that ain't happening.

 

49 years ago

No work today, not scheduled, but rain is... again.  After today, we're supposed to dry out.  We need a little time for the grass to grow.  Temperature wise, we're forecast to top off at 50 (F).  This is definitely sweatshirt weather.  

Yesterday:  Boring.  People were walking around in the store wearing coats and, of course, I was sitting here is a short sleeve shirt.  One of the really bad things about this 'remodel' taking place in the flooring department is that customers will ask for a product that has been moved to some unknown location.  We have lots of empty racking.  And how long is this disruption going to last?  Right now they're planning on being finished the week before Black Friday, which is what?  7 weeks away?

The plumber is coming today for my water hook-up.  That sounds a bit kinky, doesn't it.  The last time the plumber was here it cost me $1700, this expense will be much cheaper.  The electrician is going to costlier, ;but then, once he's done, I'll be set.  I'm estimating the new washer and dryer should be hear before Christmas.  I will be buying them from the store.  I tell people, if you need a new appliance, wait until the Black Friday sales.  Those are the best sales of the year.

One thing I've noticed in the transferal of my slides to jpegs is that the photos stand up a lot better than those printed on paper.  Take this picture of me standing on the bow of the USS Albert David, a destroyer.  It could have been taken yesterday, rather than 49 years ago.  I spent some time on the Albert David in order to experience life on a destroyer.  The aircraft carrier behind me?  That's my ship.  The Connie.  If you blow up the picture, you can see a helicopter taking off from the flight deck.

Any guesses as to how long Liz Truss will remain Prime Minister?  I'm suspecting not too long.  She's a conservative, that means in her mind the only way to fix a failing economy is by giving the wealthy a tax break, which she did.  Holy Freaking Ouch!  Boy, did the British economic elevator drop.  And, sadly for Liz, because she's a conservative, the tax break card is the only one she has to play.

Oh, and Donald J. is suing CNN for defamation of character.  Stop Laughing!  Now.  I understand he's also planning on suing the January 6 committed for the same thing.  There are other groups on his list, too, though I won't mention them because... well, the absurdity is amazing.  His base will eat this shit up, providing his ego with a boost.  This is really just an attempt by him to change the facts, to say CNN has lied about everything.  This will fail.  Remember, everything he touches dies.

Finally, news broke that Hershel Walker paid for one of his girlfriend's to get an abortion.  Prepare yourselves for a word salad from hell... with absolutely no dressing.

Don't we have enough trees?

Well, my mid-week weekend has begun.  For some reason, I seem to get more accomplished on a Tuesday and Wednesday then I did when my weekends were the standard Saturday and Sunday.  Perhaps the idea of not working has become so ingrained with those 2 days I usually end up frittering away the hours rather than get anything done.

One the things getting done today is a trip to the bank.  I closed out an old 401K I'd had with the orange retailer I work for, and the check arrived Saturday.  The taxes have already been taken out, so it will be deposited into the regular savings account.  Since taxes are always going to be deducted, I figured the Federal Government might as well get their money now.

Another thing I need to do is call the Vet and make an appointment for Biggie.  He needs his wellness checkup.  I was going to put that off until November because they want him to fast (like that's really going to happen) so they can check his sugar.  But yesterday morning he developed a dry cough and since he is approaching his senior years, I want to get him check out.

I found a better picture of Max Sullivan, the namesake of the smartass in my books.  It's old and grainy, but it's easy to see the smartass in him.  

And, of course, we had a bumper crop of Trump horseshit yesterday.  He wants a 'master' to review the documents he stole for espionage's sake.  This is what he's done his entire life, sue to stop or delay the proceedings, or to simply just attack.  Media outlets seem to have finally understand they need to call his lies... well, lies.  Calling them unsubstantiated falsehoods is one of the definitions of failure.  One thing that is fascinating about his lawsuit, is that it's Per Se, which means he is going to argue the case himself rather than have his attorneys in front of a judge.  Either they didn't want to touch it, or he believes himself to be a more convincing liar.  Also keep in mind, this will also endear him even more to his MAGA base.

Also, McConnell sort of, well, kind of went on the attack saying there was no election fraud, or rather he said the was very little election fraud.  This was after Florida taxpayers spent $3.9 million so Ronnie De Santis could give them 20 instances.  Keep in mind, those incidents did not include the Republican fraud that happened in The Villages.

And, finally, this bit of political hilarity.  From the Washington Post: Which Republican candidate is the worst?   Who do you think?  While many believe Oz is the most incompetent?  "His across-the-board incoherence remains unmatched," says a lot.  And I do believe this was before Walker, talking about Climate Change, said "don't we have enough trees?"

Dog Day

 Day off! 

Outside the sky is overcast.  I woke up to a 'weather warning' from Accuweather on my phone, possible areal flooding from thunderstorms this afternoon, not that I was planning on doing any real yardwork.  The elephant ear I planted has been nibbled on and will probably not survive.  I live in bunny hell, remember?

Just before I left work last evening, a couple came up and began sorting through the area rugs we keep on a very large table behind the flooring desk.  They ask the same questions everyone else asks:  what size are they? (They are all 5 x 7), do they come in larger and smaller sizes? (No), and will they be going on sale this weekend? (No, they never go on sale).  People believe everything goes on sale for Memorial Day weekend.  It doesn't.  One of my fellow associates told them this and their disappointment was obvious.  When someone asks me if we're running any specials, I say, "yeah, in appliances."

Besides laundry, a bit of work on the next book, and possibly a ride on the bike, there isn't a lot planned for today, so I thought I'd post a pic of the dogs.

I saw Governor Abbott of Texas has chosen to cancel his speech at the NRA convention in Houston.  Instead of spending some quality time with his donors, he's going to put on his phony Debbie Downer face and visit the grieving town of Uvalde because voters are unhappy.  Beto made him look like dog shit.

Ted Cruz will still put in an appearance.  He knows which minority group butters his campaign bread.

So will the Spawn of Satan, Donald Trump.  No guns will be permitted on the premises while he's there.  He spoke at their last convention and the same rules applied.  I'm wondering if this year, besides outlawing guns, they also outlaw fruit.  I understand he now has a fear of pineapples.

My Newsweek feed sent me an opinion this morning on Herschel Walker's campaign.  The writer believes he has a good chance of winning.  I mused about that for a few moments.  This is a man who only speaks in coherent sentences when he's reading a teleprompter.  He will never debate.  And you can bet he will only take questions from his friends at Fox News.  Rather than respond personally to issues, Walker will let someone from his campaign speak for him. Warnock is going to play hardball, and that's the wrong sport for an aging Walker.