The Happy Ending

Well we've reached Saturday.  I slept in a bit, so it's now 0912 and our outside temp is 76 (F).  Once again temps are predicted to hit the 90 (F) degree mark, though today forecasters are saying that our humidity is going to be oppressive.  Tomorrow's forecast is for the same with the exception  of the day ending with thunderbangers, high, possibly damaging winds, and rain.  Small reminder:  Washington DC is only 75 minutes south of my humble abode, and I'm so glad I didn't lose my sanity and purchase an overpriced ticket to a cage match.

And yesterday was sort of meh.  This doesn't mean that I didn't do anything, I did.  Grocery shopping in the morning, a little garden work, and then a bike ride in San Remo, Italy.  I like Italy.  I should actually visit.  I would like to see the colosseum in the early morning before the tourist busses descend upon it like a swarm of locusts.  

I do work this afternoon.  I have a tile flooring installation that's supposed to sell.  The customers are bringing their daughter because she has impeccable taste and she needs to approve their choice in tile.  If she doesn't like it, she'll pick the tile they're going to use.  Either way, the sale should go through.

And silently, under cover of darkness and a large curtain, Orangie's name was removed from The Kennedy Center for the Performing arts.  He didn't want anybody to see, or take pictures of his defeat, because that's what this was.  He lost.  Justice smote his ego... badly, and I'm really up for that.  However, pictures and videos are being published.  Here's a screenshot from a longer video put out by The Guardian.  I think this might be the removal of the P, since it's from the far right side of the scaffolding.  You can see the worker's hands grabbing onto the letter, and in the video, he just rips it off the wall.  Karma rocks.

This is Orangie's birthday weekend.  Let's see, the freedom concert thingy is gone and there is the possibility that his UFC cage match might end up being a lightening rod.  There might be something we can end up celebrating after all.

Oh, and Elonia is now, on paper, a trillionaire.  This man is so vainglorious he simply has no clue as to how anger and hatred he is generating around the world.  I don't believe he was ever destined for a happy ending.

 

The Bromance Breakup

 Today is Sunday, a day of work.  This is also a day when our afternoon high temp is predicted to be in the mid 90s (F), that is until the storms arrive... if they do.  If the weather forecasters are correct, this should be the last 90 (F) degree day we have for a while.  Erin's is going to be crawling up the eastern seaboard and the cloud cover she is brining will keep our skies overcast for the next week.  That will cool things off.

I did work yesterday, otherwise I didn't really do much of anything.  Howie got his Frontline for the upcoming month.  He doesn't care.  

The coffee maker I have grinds and brews, but here lately the grinding seems to be a bit off, the coffee is not as strong as I like.  I have a coffee grinder that decades old and still works, so I've started grinding them myself.  The coffee is so much better.

And, as should be expected, the world is still talking about Orangie's and his blow bro Vlad's date, if that's what you want to call it.  Certain things didn't happen.  The fancy luncheon?  Nixed.  The golden desk statue, and American eagle?  That was never given.  There is truth in the saying that a picture is worth a thousand words.  Take a look at this one.  You'd almost think that Orangie and Vlads bromance is over.

Notice how Vlad has a chirpy little smile on his face, while Orangie is looking more than a little disgruntled.  Someone should tell him he needs to take that frown and turn it upside down.  What makes him such a gloomy Gus?  I'm betting Vlad teased him with the promise of a possible ceasefire in the Ukraine.  However, Orangie's face tells me Vald said, "sorry, babe, that card ain't on the table."  You know, I'm suspecting Orangie has just realized he's holding none of the cards.

When I heard that Zelensky was scheduled to meet with Orangie tomorrow, I will admit I was a little concerned.  So many reporters from around the world noted how everyone from Orangie's team was ashen faced when they entered that press conference.  It was almost as if they knew something really bad was going to happen, and I'm not just talking about Putin taking charge of the press conference.  So, I will admit to being relieved to discover Zelensky is being escorted by the Prime Ministers of Germany, France, Italy, and the UK.  All four will be sitting in that room beside him.  And you know they're all going to tell Orangie to pound sand, at which point Vlad will probably start dropping the dirt he has on Orangie since he is now a useless tool.

The National Humanitarian Award

 The new week has arrived!  For those impressed by such things, this will be our first full week of Autumn.  The temps are cool at night, but during the day they're forecasted to climb up into the upper 60s (F).  That's fine.  Soon the leaves will be changing colors as they prep to fall from the trees.  This means, at some point, I'll be posting a picture of my golden ginkgo.  

Lunch was fun with my friend Betsy.  We talked quite a bit about politics, and then more politics, and then a bit about The Body Under Ice, about how gossip, in itself, is almost a character in the new book.

My neighbor's lawn is looking more and more like a field.  They have a problem, I suspect, that being they've decided to sell the house 'as is.'  They have a contract a potential buyer would need to sign excluding them from anything and everything.  I haven't seen it, but my neighbor across the street has, (his mother's a real estate agent), and he pulled out of the deal.  I gather the contract implies there are major problems, meaning even a house flipper is going to wait until their asking price hits rock bottom.

President Biden honored Sir Elton John with an award this weekend.  The National Humanitarian Medal.  Good for Elton.  I will admit that watching this clip did bring a tear to my eye.

Not a lot happened this past weekend in the political arena.  On Friday, the House GOP revealed a veiled commitment to... well, nothing.  E. J. Dionne, as well as many others have called it horseshit (my word).  They listed a Republican laundry list of what they claimed were problems without providing a single clue as to how they were going to solve them.  This really was nothing more than empty bluster.  How do I know?  They did it on a Friday.  Politicians, in particular, prefer to have bad news released on Friday because they know the weekend tends to dilute the issues.  You don't release good news on Fridays, that happens on a Monday when the news cycle has 5 full days to glorify it.  These Republican dumb shits knew this was going to go over as well as a soggy pancake with everyone except their MAGA base.

Finally, because on 64% of all the Italians eligible to vote actually did vote, the country now has a female version of Donald Trump.  From what I know of Italian politics, that's not going to last too long.

Roll this

Oh my gosh... it's sooooo early.  I  got my creaking, old but out of bed at around 0415.  No, no, no, I wasn't anticipating the New Hampshire primary results, I went just went to bed a little earlier than usual.  I have a bit of a sore throat, well mostly a swollen gland on the left side, so there's some sort of infection.  Or maybe it was just the fact that I've got to go back to work today (cue my favorite words).
My schedule has been posted for 3 weeks out and again I've been given split days off.  That doesn't make me happy in the least.  I have a plumbing issue which will need to be taken care of, so that will fix the scheduling issue.
I've been focusing on finishing the book.  Cycling has been put on the back burner.  I have 80 pages to go and I'm ready to put this baby to bed.
I made egg rolls yesterday.  Scrumptious.

I'm taking some to work for lunch.

Oh, and Bernie pulled one out of his ass last night in New Hampshire, in case you didn't know.  I'm sure that old man ran around shrieking "we're on a roll!  we're on a roll!"  That old fool is not in the least bit scrumptious.  Buttigieg picked up more delegates and is still in the lead.  Two more candidates dropped out, Yang and Martin.  I saw where Tulsi Gabbard (sp) held some sort of election night fete where they gave her a lei. She wants to  be a spoiler, you can tell by her arrogance.  Personally, I think she's a little to brittle to roll with the punches.

And then, of course, there's Roger Stone.  The Idiot Jerk in the White House wants to cut down his toadie's jail as much as possible.  And Billy Barr's doing everything in his power to make it happen.  Isn't Billy and Evangelical?  You know?  That sect which believes you can do whatever you want as long as you believe and ask for forgiveness?  

And finally... Hello Italy!  Here's a big shout out to all of you wonderful Italians for reading my blog!

Climb

And my weekend begins tomorrow!  Who knows what today will bring.  The weather is going to be dreary with rain, sometimes heavy at times.  At the store, all of those special buys are being condensed faster than lies slip from the lips of the Idiot Jerk in the White House.  Let me tell you, that's pretty damn fast!
I wasn't going to get myself anything 'big' for Christmas this year.  With that being said, I can tell you it arrives next this coming Thursday.  I scheduled myself an emergency vacation day.  Golly.
Cori, my cover artist, and I had a nice long chat yesterday.  This one was similar to the conversation we had about "The Body in the Tower," when I said "you know, I think bullet holes would be neat."  That's how it works.  I make a suggestion and she counters.  This back and forth continues until we settle on something both of us like.  I will give you one detail: no people are going to be on the cover.
There is one more cycling challenge I need to accomplish before I move to the higher level.  I need to ride Passo Giau, in Italy.  This is what I rode yesterday.

That's right, I climbed 1,112 feet in altitude.  That 3.6 miles is over half of the ride... and it never levels out.  Interestingly, my heart rate does not go up much, usually sitting at between 116 and 125 beats per minute.  My legs weren't bothering me at all.  Another 2.7 miles and I'd have hit the top and completed the challenge.  For a while I was concerned the challenge might be too much.  Now I'm not.  Hopefully, during my 4 day mini-vac over Christmas, I will plunk my ass in the saddle and finish this sucker.
And, of course, the impeachment comes ever closer.  Word is out that the Idiot Jerk is in a very volatile mood.  The whole world is watching our tinfoil dictator being humiliated.  Doesn't that make you feel good?  It should.  And the Idiot Jerk wants to drag out the impeachment trial as long as possible... because he believes he will prove his conspiracy theory correct, and at that point people will start feeling sorry for him.  He will never understand he's about as sympathetic as a turd in a toilet bowl.  The longer he drags this out, the longer Republicans try to turn this into a dead horse, the more Independent voters he loses.  The GOP will not realize until it is way too late that he was sent to destroy their party.

The jockish side of me

Holy Crap!  It's Saturday, the first Saturday in December and today is Kid's Workshop... and I forgot to ask off.  Son of a bitch!  Now I'm going to have to go listen to hundreds of little hammers pounding for 3.5 hours.  Sometimes they do painting projects instead of building projects, that's quieter but clean-up for the store can be very time consuming.
My new clock comes today.  I ordered it specifically for the shelf in front of my Cannondale.  When I'm pedaling away, I just want to be able to look up and see what time it is.  And speaking of rides, Rouvy introduced 2 new ones yesterday, in Italy.  Unfortunately, they're group rides, meaning they're only at certain times of the day and you have to connect with a group of riders.  Well, the times these rides are offered are a bit on the inconvenient side, and I like to just climb on the bike and ride.  Rats!  Since I wanted to ride in Italy, I did a ride search.  There are over 100 routes to choose from.  I selected a ride from Zevio to Verona, about 15 miles, fairly flat.  Monday I'm planning on riding up a long hill in Italy.  That should be fun.
Today is my parent's 68th wedding anniversary.  That's right, they got married on Pearl Harbor Day.
I don't know if it's part of the aging process or not, but a while back my toes began moving back and forth inside my shoes.  I suspect my cycling may have something to do with it.  Or, perhaps it's the arthritis in my lower back.  Anyway, when I'm walking around at work, my socks rub them and on more than one occasion I thought I might be on my way to getting a blister.  So, I bought some Kineseology Tape.  You know, the sort of things jocks wear?  And I've started taping my toes.  All of a sudden, no problem.

Mine is red, one of my favorite colors.  The water polo player was not included in the box.
I read where the Idiot Jerk in the White House and his administration are refusing to get involved with the Impeachment process.  This was to be expected.  The Democrats need to send the articles of impeachment to the Senate as fast as possible.  Throw the ball in the the Republican Court.  Believe me, the Republicans are going to vote it into the history books as fast as possible.  There will be no, long, drawn out trial.  While they would love to attack, attack, attack, they're know such a thing would do more to hurt the Idiot Jerk and help Biden.  Having a trial would cut their open for the public to see and hear.  A lot of them are already scared shitless.
Oh, and I see Duncan Hunter's is going to resign which means there is going to be one less Republican in the House.  Oh, now isn't that a shame.

The Changing white population

The US Census bureau released some information that a number of Americans no doubt found staggering:  that by 2043 white people will be a minority group.  I'd read something several years ago which at that time suggested racial integration in America was picking up speed.  Back then it was suggested those people who call themselves white my reach minority status in the 2050's.  That  data must have been wrong, or else it has been continually re-evaluated. Actually, this is no surprise to me.  Genetically darker skin is the dominant gene.  This is life, which makes me laugh at the thought of all of those white supremacists who saw that press release and shit a brick.  I wonder if, with their numbers slowly dwindling, they might at some part consider a Black Nazi Party.  What a hoot that would be!

Five years from now this picture will be different

I did some research and discover defining 'white' is not as easy as it sounds, unless you're from one of the southern tier states.  Some people view Spaniards as white and others don't.  There are a number of Latino families out there who consider themselves white and yet they are darker then Marco Rubio.  Speaking of him, one can only wonder what he calls himself in his heart of hearts.  I suspect he thinks of himself as white.  In some of the Central Balkan countries religious ethnicity seems to take a big part in considering if one is labeled dark or light white, irrelevant of the actual skin shade.  Believe me, this gets really complicated.  Take a trip to Italy and you'll find a lot of dark skinned people who, if they lived in this country, would call themselves white even though many of the residents of Tulsa would call them Latino.  Of course being 'white' doesn't really mean anything. Boy, is time proving that to be true.  If you look at all the children under 5 in this country, 49.9 % are considered minorities.  This year or next that number is going to change.   This is how it goes.