The Ultimate Disloyalty

Our temp dropped down to 51 (F) overnight.  Good sleeping weather.  Today's high is supposed to, once again, be in either the high70s (F) or low 80s (F).  No rain is in the forecast.  Looking ahead, the only change is expected to be a slow decline in temperatures.

I worked yesterday.  Business was booming during the morning hours, however, the instant I punched in we began losing customers.  This meant that I got my steps in early.  Staffing was low, almost all part-timers; this is normal.  Some full timers worked 40 hours and got  8 holiday hours, most worked 32 hours with their holiday pay.  You want to give your full time associates a holiday off.  This helps with your payroll expense.  Food was also provided: pulled pork or chicken, and mac & cheese.  No beverages, no salty snacks like chips.  There were leftovers, so I brought home some pulled pork and mac & cheese.  Howie got most of the pork.

Speaking of Howie, he has an ear infection so I'm going to have to take him to the Vet.  I truly dislike taking him to the Vet because like any other retailer, they like to fill your shopping cart to the brim.  They will pump your pet full of what they have decided are now "standard" medications that in reality are completely unnecessary.  They get angry when you refuse "standard" meds since that takes revenue out of their bank account.

And I learned yesterday that these pretty white flowers growing along my fence Sweet Autumn Clematis and they are an aggressively invasive plant.  So this means trimming and pruning every fall.

And they're giving away free tickets to Orangie's midterm convention.  The MAGA brand has become so toxic no one wants to attend.  If you do decide to go and you want to stay on the cheap side rather than splurge, you can have your picture taken with JD Vance and it will only set your bank account back $25,000.  Since this is JD we're talking about, you might get a bit of a discount if you bring along a loveseat.

Evidently the official White House Labor Day video, one that wasn't AI slop celebrating the Orange Anus's fantasies, was of a pen being put together on an assembly line.  Not a single human being was in  the video.  Basically, they celebrated Labor Day by showing that machines do things better than people.

Rumors are swirling that Kegsbreath Hegseth's head may be on the chopping block.  This is not because he's doing a horrific job, rather the horrific job he's doing is making the Orange Anus look bad, and that is the ultimate form of disloyalty.

Testosterone

We had no rain yesterday.  None last night either.  Right now, the sun's shining and we have a temp of around 71 (F).  According to some forecasts, our high this afternoon will be in the low 80s (F), according to others we'll be in the the high 70s (F).  I don't really care about this afternoon's weather since I'm working.

Yesterday was rather meh.  I did a little cleaning, baked a blueberry thingy by dashing a number of ingredients into a bowl, stirring briskly, and than baking the batter in the oven.  I ended up with something like a cakie cookie that will be going with me to work this afternoon as a snack.  

And sometime yesterday I realized that Friday was the beginning of a holiday weekend.  Some people will have a 3 day holiday, others 4 days.  Being my age and semi-retired I'm on a holiday most of the time, so all this holiday means to me is an extra 4 hours holiday on my check.

I'm also celebrating (not the right word) 18 years with the orange retailer I work for.  That means as of midnight last night, I have 80 hours of paid vacation on the books just waiting to be taken.  Yes, I earn vacation pay.  I'm also still accruing personal time.  I told management I should get a cake for my anniversary.  That ain't gonna happen.  

 Here's a picture of the blueberry thingy.

I see that Kegsbreath Hegseth's mandatory testosterone testing for all military personnel over 30 has been changed to voluntary testing.  Testosterone therapy is also on a voluntary basis.  I'm sure this must aggravate Kegsbreath to no end, since he believes masculinity is defined by screaming testosterone levels.

Keggie's also having senior military personnel take polygraph tests in an attempt to find out who's leaking all the bad news about him.  Leaks like the letter detailing his incompetence signed by a number of high ranking members of our military.  Maybe, instead of a testosterone test, Keggie should just take a competency test.  Of course, you have to remember he was put into his position, not because of his experience as a 2 Bronze Star officer, but because he and the Orange Anus are driving down the same lingo lane in the land of delusion.  Both seem to believe that a loud voice and a good coat of face paint will cover up their ineptitude.

The Announcment

 Well, September is off to a nice start weatherwise.  Our days here in Central PA  have temps climbing up into the upper 70s (F) and nights are simply grand for sleeping.  This is our forecast for the next several days and I have no problem with that.  By Thursday, however, skies should be clouding up and the threat of rain enters the picture.  We do need the rain, so I'm not complaining.

And, being that yesterday was Labor Day, I have to say that I did labor... somewhat.  We did have customers in the store, but most of them steered clear of me, and I did talk to a few, cut some blinds, and did odd things, but nothing that was going to make management proud of me.  They brought in food, so I grazed.  Rollups: ham and turkey, as well as some odd cheese and veggie ones.  Later in the afternoon they brought in pizza.  I only ate 2 slices.  I'm proud of that.  But, to be perfectly honest, way more calories were consumed while way, way too many calories were not burned.  I did get in my steps yesterday, so at least that was one box I could check off.

Today is going to be busy.  My first load of laundry is in the washer.  Several more will be done, including pants, though pants get dried in the dryer.  They get all wrinkly if you hang them out to dry and not about to pull out the old ironing board.

One of the things that did get done last week was the hanging of my 8th book cover on the wall.  Even though a few of the frames are the same size, a large number of them are not, and because they've not been arranged consecutively, the look is... artistic.

And Orangie has announced that there will be a big announcement this afternoon at 2 PM.  Speculation is running wild since he hasn't spoken publicly in a week.  The few times he's been seen, Orangie has supposedly been getting into his car.  During this time the official White House Press Pool has been kept at a distance, usually around 1000 feet (305 meters) away.  His administration has released a number of still pics of him claiming he was golfing, but those pics have been easily identified events that happened several weeks ago or earlier.  This means everything his team has been putting out has been bogus.  Some think he died, not me.  Had that happened, Vought and the rest of his Project 2025 team would have quickly moved Just Dancin' Vance into the White House faster than shit goes through a goose.  Did he have a stroke?  Possibly.  He might say he had a terrible stroke, the worst possible stroke there ever was and God saved him, and told him that he is the next Messiah.  There are enough dummies in America who would believe that, and bow down before him.  What ever happened, we'll get some sort of clue this afternoon.  Will he resign?  Don't make me laugh.  He will stay in office as long as there are others with enough breath in their lungs to praise him.

Appearances Can Be Deceiving

 And we have a holiday!!!  And I get to go labor!!!  With food provided by the great orange home improvement retailer I work for!!!  As if to celebrate, our temps warmed up a little overnight, but just a tad.  When I left work yesterday our outside temp was 78 (F) which was just a few degrees short of the projected high.  That's fine.  There is no precipitation in our long range forecast and there is not supposed to be a lot of variation in our daily temps.

So, I have a Hewlett Packard ink jet printer (as well as the new, snazzy color laser printer) that has also been having problem.  I get a print head error as soon as it is turned on.  One of the techs at Hewlett Packard decided the problem was with the ink cartridges, so sent me new ones for free since it's still under warranty.  I installed them yesterday and got... a print head error.  I'm thinking the problem might be with the printer itself, rather than the print heads.  I will contact Hewlett Packard tomorrow.  As I said, it still is under warranty, but what does that warranty cover?  Your guess is as good as mine.

And I did work yesterday.  My long shift.  I sold just enough product to hit my sales goal for the week, but missed everything else.  One of the three women with hajibs came back and bought the vinyl she'd wanted on Saturday.  She brought her husband and her son and evidently tied the vinyl to the roof of their car.  It was inexpensive vinyl, I hope she's happy with it.

Howie has begun to bark.  Not a lot, maybe once every few days.  Usually he barks at odd things, like a puppy cookie lying on the floor.   Yesterday, he was sitting on the futon and barked at me for some unknown reason, so, I took his picture.  That seemed to satisfy him.

And the intrigue regarding the Orange Anus continues.  I saw this morning that scheduled interactions between Orangie and others where the press corps is present have been canceled for today.  That means no public appearances.  I think Keith Olbermann says it best.  Oh, and am I the only one who thinks that the hat this supposed Orangie is wearing looks odd?

Trump Avoids (?) the Press

 The temp in the writing room is a cool 68 (F) this morning.  Outside, at least according to Accuweather, Howie's running around in 53 (F) weather.  Skies are clear, and are predicted to stay that way.  Our high will climb into the mid 70s (F).  A warming trend is in the forecast for this coming week, though how warm is questionable.  Will we hit the predicted 80 (F)?  I guess I shall have to wait and see.

And we are in the middle of a holiday weekend.  This will be the last holiday until Black Friday rolls around.  Up until yesterday, our store has been hitting our forecast as far as sales, but then things slowed down. It's anybody's guess as to how busy we might be today since this is the last holiday when people can have cookouts and barbecues until next spring.

I did deal with three women in hajibs yesterday who were buying vinyl sheeting.  Their English was not the best and I one point they wanted us to deliver a fairly large sheet of rolled vinyl, however, they thought it could be delivered at a specific time.  That costs a lot more.  After about 15 minutes, one of them told me that they would return today with a bigger vehicle.  One of them was a bit frustrated, but the other two, like me, seemed to find the conversation amusing.

And, being retail, I found this amusing.

And as far as any of us know, the Orange Anus still breathes.  Yesterday was fun though, wasn't it?  Waiting for breaking news of his demise made the world giddy with excitement.  As more than one person pointed out, if the administration wanted to prove that Orangie was still stinking up the land of the living, they could have done so with him make a personal appearance.  Let's be honest here, normally the man would have no problem walking over dead babies to get is mug on TV.  Yesterday, that didn't happen.  The Press Corp was kept about 1000 feet away (305 meters) at all times.  Even the pictures and video of him getting into his car were taken from quite a distance away.  They were again kept at a distance when he (supposedly) left his golf club in Virginia.  They were told that he just didn't want to talk to anybody yesterday... now wouldn't that be a first?  Another thing is that people who claim to live near his golf club commented that normally when he golfed at that club there are usually a number of security helicopters in the air, and that police cordoned off specific roads, and that didn't happen yesterday.  Orangie's next scheduled meeting is on Tuesday.

The GOP's Black Hole

 This morning our outside temp was 53 (F) , while the inside temp was 69 (F), so I'd say it's a bit cool here in Central PA.  The sunshine is plentiful, however, and there is zero chance of any form of precipitation.  The whole weekend looks to be nice.  If the long range forecast holds, our daily highs should be back in the 80s (F) next week.  We are only 3 weeks from Autumn and these cooler temps should not be a surprise to anyone.  However, and that's not a big however, we always get a warm spell (as opposed to heat wave) towards the end of September, so prepare to hear the anguished whines of those who will never be satisfied.

We are heading into the Labor Day weekend, an American holiday where I, being in retail, will always have to labor.  The actual holiday is on Monday.  This means many will have long weekends.  Not me.  I always work Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, but then I will have four consecutive days off which means I'm not really missing out on anything.  Of course, working on a holiday weekend means I will have to endure an endless stream of people asking "what's on sale?"  As always, my answer will be, "check in appliances, they have sales."

And I did get a really good upper body workout in yesterday.  I've upped the dumbbell weight to 25 pound per arm for some of the exercises.  Believe me, no one should be surprised that I'm actually growing little muscles.  

And Howie got an ice cube yesterday.  He likes ice cubes.

And evidently Zitter, or as some call it X, is lit up like a Christmas Tree, or at least what I've read because the Orange Anus has not made an appearance since his blowhard celebration of a Cabinet Meeting on Tuesday.  There have been posts to Truth Social, but many have pointed out that correct punctuation was used in many of them, something Orangie rarely does.  Someone said they have the earmarks...?  eyemarks?  of ChatGP.  I don't know, I don't use AI.  Personally, I think this is just hyper-anticipation on the part of many.  As I pointed out to one prematurely happy influencer, there has been no steady stream of vehicles to the White House, and more importantly, Lyndsey Graham has not shown up to try and get back his tongue.

If something untoward does happen to Orangie, there will be a great silence at first, and then slowly chaos will erupt like a series of boils waiting to be lanced, as things begin to collapse as the GOP swirls around the event horizon of a black hole of their own make.

   

Weenies

 Well the long weekend is over and it's back to work for many, but not me.  I will never be scheduled to work on a Tuesday because I'm simply not available to be scheduled.  The same goes for Wednesday.  Ain't it nice?  

The weather forecast for today is hot again, with our expected high to be around 96 (F).  That's toasty, not nearly as warm as some of the temperatures many of you have been experiencing this summer, so you all have my condolences.  I have to admit I do find it rather amusing that this late in the Summer, or perhaps I should say this close to Fall, we are dealing with our warmest temps so far this year.  My A/C is finally doing what in previous years it did throughout late June, July, and August.

Business was slow yesterday, at least around the Flooring desk, other departments in the store were busy, but we weren't.  There were weaners and hamburgers from the grill, and chicken, too, but I stuck with the burgers and weaners.  And I didn't graze.  I'm rather pleased about that since I need to take off a few pounds before November arrives.  

What was selling was our Halloween decorations.  Oh, my, my, my, were they flying out of the store.  I snapped a few pics to give you all an idea of what that set-up looks like.  The Jack Skellington is 18 feet high, something almost overwhelming when you're standing right next to him.

I find it fascinating that the crowd at Burning Man is finally beginning to disperse, though the mud is still deep.  Why fascinating?  Because conservatives jumped all over that festival blaming the torrential rains on everything conservatives hate, while the attendees, themselves, are saying the experience was amazing.  Sure, there may be one or two gripers, the ones whose cars will be stuck in the mud because they tried to leave early.  For many of those people this will be their Woodstock, with the great music, of course.  Let's face it, right now Republicans are looking for dead horses to kick in their attempt to take media attention away from the Spawn of Satan.  What they really need to do is sit back and enjoy an good weenie... well, we know that will never happen.

The Spawn

 Well, we are halfway through the Labor Day Weekend.  The temps are supposed to be quite warm, meaning in the mid 90s (F) and that means my Central Air might actually have to work.  That's fine.  I don't mind if we have a few warm days.  

Business was fairly slow yesterday, and it will be even slower today.  Tomorrow? it's anybody's guess simply because there is this mindset out there that holidays equate to big sales for everything.  For appliances?  Yes.  For flooring? No.  Now that doesn't mean online products might be reduced, corporate does that sometimes, they just don't drop them in the stores.  As you might expect, with the kitchen redo coming up, tomorrow I'm going to be purchase my sink and dishwasher, though I'll have to check.  Sometimes you can't get your military discount if there's a big sale going on, corporate sees that as double dipping.

For dinner last evening I had a 3 bean salad with Romano cheese.  Tasty!

And there was a bit of a rumble yesterday as Donald, the Orange Anus, Trump threw his son Eric, the dumb, under the bus.  I do believe the infighting in the Trump family is going to be horrendous.  Anyway, during deposition for his New York trial, the OA said that Eric was the one who  had "ultimate decision-making authority" with the Trump Organization's business decisions because the OA was far too busy doing other things. This makes Eric the front man and the one totally responsible for all of the lies and deceit.  So, will Eric fight back?  There is a possibility since he is the spawn of the spawn of Satan.

Labor Day

 Fresh coffee from my new Krupps coffee maker!  The old Mocca-Master has been stored away, since it still works, at least for the time being.  Eventually, unless something happens to this coffee maker, it will be given away or tossed out.

Cream, no sugar

Today is a holiday.  Rain is in the forecast, so I don't mind working it's only for 5 hours.  I do get holiday pay.  They're also providing pulled pork and pulled chicken for eats.  The only problem will be customers showing up with the expectation that the Flooring Department is going to have sales.  We don't.  I send them to appliances if they want to buy something on sale.

When I got to the store yesterday, I found out that most of our rolled carpet that we cut for customers had been marked down to .01 in preparation for our remodel.  Penny products get thrown out.  The rolls of carpet that are staying are pricier; there's no need to sell cheap carpet that barely pays for its cost.

I saw where a Newmax loser put together a video comparing the size of crowds at Biden speeches with the crowd up in Wilkes-Barre.  Biden's crowds were smaller, but then there were no confederate flags, or Nazi flags, or pictures of people holding their cans of beer.  No one goes to a Biden speech wearing a funny costume, or outlandish hat, or carrying signs perpetrating The Big Lie.  People go to a Biden speech in order to hear the truth.  Those who go to a Trump rally are there to hear him tell them how Mark Zuckerburg went to the White House last week in order to kiss Trump's ass.  I wonder what Markie thinks about that lie?

The Snitch site

 Well, a week of workdays will begin today.  The thought of calling off is strong... however, policy stipulates the loss of holiday pay if you call off on your next scheduled work day after.  That's a bit of a bite.  This is one of the last holidays I will be paid for 48 hours and only work 40.  After Black Friday, full-timers will be scheduled 32 hours + 8 holiday to get them to 40 hours.  In a little over a month, all of these hours will come to an end.  I can't wait.

My new keyboard arrived yesterday.  Not only is it wireless, it has a rechargeable battery.  It'll be interesting to find out how long the charge lasts for me since I'm not constantly writing.  I did have to set it up, which was one of the many labors I accomplished on Labor Day.  That, many loads of laundry, as well as setting up an Echo +.  That's right, Alexa has entered my house.  Does this mean the silence, other than barking dogs, present in my house will disappear?  Who knows.  Change is good.

I've learned all sorts of things while researching The Body in Repose.  One of the most startling has to do with the music of New Orleans.  Everybody thinks Jazz.  However, in the French Quarter, while there are a few bars that play jazz, most play classic rock.  This has to do with the tourists, many of whom, not familiar with jazz prefer to listen to something recognizable.

On Sunday, I did get together with my sister and brother at his farm.  These little gatherings are fun since we all remember things differently.  For those interested, here we are.

I saw where that whistleblower snitch site in Texas was taken down... again.  This is what happens when a group of zealots write a piece of fascist legislation that seems to have been taken straight from the playbook used by a group of Germans in the mid 1930's.  Anonymous tips were welcome when it came to reporting not only Jews, but those who might be sheltering them.  And so the snitch site is down again.  We have rights to privacy in this country, thank you American Constitution.  This legislation is an attempt to rip those rights away.  They want you to secretly point a finger, and are encouraging spineless cowards to blame others.  This is so horrifically un-American.

Free Range

 Well, it's Monday, Labor Day, and a paid holiday, and not only that, I don't have to work.  There will, however, be unpaid work done here.  Laundry is stacking up.  I need to drive to my local Giant Supermarket for a few food necessities for the up coming week (veggies).

I was at my brother's for a small get together yesterday.  It was drizzly.  I think that's a new word.  I say this because I've just used it in The Body in Repose and Word highlighted it for spelling.  I like it, so I'll let it stand.  Anyway, during the conversation, some of his free range chickens entered the picture, literally.  

Biggie gets Carprofen, a doggy NSAID, because like me, he has a touch of osteoarthritis.  My vet would rather I purchase his med from them, rather then through Chewy, however Chewy is much cheaper.  A tip of my hat to my sister in law (Jacquie (sp)) for giving me a work around for this problem.

And since it is a holiday, the news is slow.  Usually nothing politically groundbreaking happens on a holiday.  So today, in spite of the chores I need to do, will be spent relaxing, especially since I didn't get much of that yesterday.  Tomorrow, I'll be posting a family picture.  Now, won't that be nice. 

Hosts

This is such a weird weekend.  Not until I overhead someone talking about this being a holiday while at work did I realize we're supposed to be celebrating Labor Day.  This isn't to say I wasn't aware it was approaching, for some reason I just didn't realize that for some, this is going to mean 3 days off.  I get my 3 days off next weekend.  That's the way the schedule worked out.  And, oddly enough, I am off tomorrow, which is the holiday.

Last evening, as I was working on The Body in Repose, my wireless keyboard died.  At first I thought the batteries had run out of juice.  However, after replacing them, I realized the batteries were not the problem.  I'd power it up, the green indicator would light up, and then a few seconds later, that light would go off.  So, I did what seems to come naturally to me these days, I ordered a new one.  The reviews are mixed.  As long as it does what I want it to do, I'm fine.

And that portable heating pad I ordered?  Well, it's not portable, but it does massage with heat.  Woah.  I plugged that baby in last night and almost fell asleep in my chair.  And this morning?  While I'm still stiff, I'm not dealing with serious back spasms.  It's the things we don't think of sometimes, like massage therapy.

Let's take a moment of silence for Willard Scott.  He may not have been the best weatherman on national TV, but he was entertaining.  I'm one of those who can claim to have practically grown up with Willard Scott. He was your perfect host.  This is what aging is, for those of you who don't know, leaving familiar things behind.

And what about that Cracker Jack Crazy Jose Oliva?  He's that loony Florida representative who called women 'hosts.'  I don't know about you, but when I hear host in regard to another life form, I think of parasites.  True, the word host has many definitions, but Oliva wasn't talking about hosting a Tupperware Party, or, if you want to strain for an analogy, the eucharist.  Nope.  He was talking about women who host another lifeform in their womb.  I think of movies like Alien.  And tapeworms.  Not babies.  I think that's rather degrading of women.  You do know that in his mind, women will never be anything more than hosts.

Treats and Bait

 So, my day off came and went.  The lawn was mowed, the trim was fixed, laundry was done, words were put into the computer, and I rode 12 miles in Burgundy - this is how I spent my holiday.  Now I'm starting into another 5 day stretch. Of course, after that I'm going to have 3 days off - another long weekend.

My friend Betsy called last evening a little distraught.  She works with people who have disabilities.  While she is only assigned to one individual, there are several others in the group.  Yesterday afternoon she received a call from one of the managers to let her know one of the group members has tested positive for Covid.  Betsy is now in quarantine.  She checked into getting tested and discovered they only test if you have active symptoms.  Now, isn't that the shits?

Speaking of the shits and being on a certain list, I went to my neighborhood Giant supermarket yesterday and forgot to pick up Pupperoni for the dogs.  For those uninitiated, this is what I'm talking about.

And since yesterday was a holiday, we got a brief respite from the vomitous spewed by the Idiot Jerk in the White House... well, kind of.  I guess he did some sort of press conference.  These things are never anything more than lie festivals.  His propaganda network (Fox) was the only one to carry it live.  This is what you call desperation mode, in case you didn't know, and is designed specifically for his base.  He is grasping.  Like a bad fisherman, he has no idea how to bait his hook.  He casts his line and those tiny morsels intended to lure in the big fish draw only suckers.  Or else they get caught in the bullshit rushes because he's too deep into the swamp.

His Law and Order message, like so many of his other messages, is not resonating throughout suburbia, except for his base.  He is warning about a pandemic of violence which in reality is closer to what he thought was going to happen to Covid.  His words harden only his base, and they really are a minority group.  We need to treat them the same way they treat other minorities until time has made them nothing more than a bad footnote in the history books.

Just call me Simple

 For many Americans, today's a holiday.  Labor Day.  They don't have to work, either from home or at the office.  To be honest, I didn't even realize today was a holiday.  I don't have to work either, though that's because this is the only day I have off in a string of 11 days   There's tons of shit I need to get done around the house.  Nope, no real holiday for me.  No relaxing.  The lawn needs mowing, new trim needs to be put around the new / old back door, my supermarket shopping needs to be done, and I want to get a ride in, right now I'm 18 miles ahead in my goal of riding 2500 miles this year.  Oh, and the Tour de France needs to be watched on TV.  Oh... and there's laundry.

I went to the movies last night.  Everything was super safe.  You needed to keep a mask on unless you were eating a snack or drinking a beverage.  Every other row was closed off.  There was hand sanitizer everywhere.  As we were leaving there were 2 associates waiting with a sprayer to go in and disinfect.  Personally, I felt far safer there then I do going to the store everyday where hundreds of strangers walk through the front door daily, no small number without masks... and touch everything.

And what film did I go see?  "Tenet."  Think time inversion.  The kid at the concession stand said "there are times when you really need to think."  That was an understatement.  A number of words are.. taped together to form a semi-cohesive thesis revolving around entropy.  Since most people know nothing about entropy, you might just was well say the film is about throwing cooked spaghetti against the wall and seeing how long it sticks.  As with Christopher Nolan's other 2 mind bending films, "Memento" and "Inception,"  the audience is there for the eye candy and the special effects.  No one is buying a ticket for a lesson in physics, it's a screenplay, remember?  Me?  Even though I liked it, I found parts confusing.  Of course, the only reason I bought my ticket was for a chance to go to the movies... and the special effects... and the eye candy.  Just call me simple.

Scrumptious

Here it is... Monday, not really Labor Day since that holiday used to always fall on the first Tuesday of September... does anybody remember that?  For about half of the American workforce, it doesn't make a difference since their positions are service related.  I'm one of that group.  While some of you are working 32 hours and getting paid for 40, I'm working 40 and getting paid for 48.  Holiday pay, you know?  I'll bank the extra cash... that's what I usually do.
One of the things I did while lazing around this morning was watch the UCI Mens Downhill Mountain Bike Races from up near Quebec.  They cover about 3.25 miles in a little over 5 minutes riding through places like Le Bois Sans Nom and through boulders and at one stage over a 15 foot cliff.  These guys are nuts.  I didn't watch the women's race, but I can tell you they're just as crazy.
I was down in York, PA yesterday visiting my friend Betsy.  We had lunch at one restaurant but had desert the Lyndon Diner.  It's owned by Greeks and they make their own pastries.  Simply delicious.  I had a scrumptious pastry with an even more scrumptious cheesy filling doused with some sort of liqueur. 

As we were eating, I said to her that most Conservatives considered Greeks a minority group simply because of their dark complexion.  That's odd if you think about it, since they gave us Democracy.  We also talked about how Conservatives keep talking about bringing jobs back to the USA without understanding prices would have a drastic increase for that to happen.  They balk at a $15 an hour minimum wage, hell, people are going to want way more than that if you expect them to start putting iphones together in this country.
I guess Dorian has dropped down to a category 4 but has also slowed down.  He's trying to decide where to go next.  Maybe he's waiting for the warm waters to build up his strength. 
Well, it's time for me to get my ass in gear.  I've got to hit my neighborhood Giant so I have fruit for my lunch next week.

Truth

Here it is Sunday and I have the day off.  I was going to sleep... dogs, however don't understand days off.  Nature calls, usually at the same time every morning.  I decided to make good use of my time.  The 2nd load of laundry is in the washer.  My cycling shorts, and shirts, and socks have been gently washed and hung up to air dry.  That's the best way to handle their delicacy.  There are a few more chores on my agenda before I head down to York around 10 AM.
Instead of a direct hit on Mar Lago, it looks as though Dorian is going to slowly tear his way up the eastern seaboard.  I suspect destruction will abound.  And if I remember correctly, the Idiot Jerk in the White House has decided to pull $150 million from FEMA to help build his racist wall.  You do know, don't you, that the government is going will need to borrow more $$$ to cover disaster relief?
More of the Idiot Jerk's tariffs are kicking in today.  I understand there's no grace period, meaning that if the products have shipped they will be immune from price increases.  Nope.  Last night at midnight prices began climbing upwards.  I don't know how much flooring is going up, I do know that for the past three weeks we've received quite a number of pallets of vinyl planking.  Be prepared to say "oh... shit!"
And there was another mass shooting down in Texas yesterday.  Five dead, and 21 injured.  In Texas.  I do believe that state now has the most liberal gun laws in the country.  Be prepared, like the prices, the numbers are going to be increasing.  2nd amendment people actually believe that in situations like the one that happened yesterday, these incidents happen too fast even the most skilled person to think "gee, I should pull out my gun and fire back."  Especially when the shooter is driving around in a vehicle targeting random people.  They don't even have enough time to think "oh... shit."  They don't understand that bullets are moving at a speed of 1400 - 1500 feet per second.  That's faster than the blink of an eye.
"The Body in the Well" is moving along quite nicely.  I'm approaching the halfway point in the first draft.  I'm already thinking about how I'll vary the beginning, since it's one of the most important chapters.  "The Body in the Tower" began with a celebration of cycling.  "The Body in the Lawn" had that ominous first word paragraph, Darkness.  "The Body in the Well"  also begins with a one word paragraph which is totally dependent upon what you believe, what you've taken to heart as being certifiable.

Truth.

Holidays

Well, it's Friday... for me.  I'm off tomorrow and they're calling for rain in the evening, that's fine.  I have plans for the late morning and afternoon, but should be home by then.  I'm off on Monday, too.  No plans.  I'll be honest, one of the things I don't understand is why so many Americans feel the need to do something on a holiday.  It's like:  Okay, it's a holiday, do something to celebrate: wow, being able to not do anything means you need to do something.  Whatever happened to just taking the day off?  Not doing anything?  In today's work environment the number of people who do not get three day weekends to celebrate is growing, almost exponentially.  Oh, sure, some can think of it as a holiday, but if you work in the health field, or service field; if you're a nurse, or a police officer, or a waitress, or barmaid, or sales clerk, you're probably going to be working.  So, if you do have the day off, remember to be considerate to those who are working otherwise they may tell you that you're not really that special.
And speaking of special: It's that time of year.

Halloween is probably the only holiday I enjoy.  Nothing terrifies the little trick or treaters than 180 lbs of barking dogs!

More tariffs are kicking in... so be prepared to pay even more.

And what about Dorian?  I saw where the an ex Prime Minister apologized for saying Mar Lago was its target.  The truth is, they don't know exactly where it will make landfall, if it even does.  I mean, think about it, we don't really want it to hit the Idiot Jerk's summer palace.  Think of all of those legal immigrants working there who'd lose their jobs.  For them, it would be anything but a holiday because you know he'd fight their unemployment claims.

Labor Day, Anonymity, and Adam Jensen

Well, today's Labor Day and, as I said yesterday, I'm going to be working.  Yepper, I'm going to be closing out the store meaning I should be home by 2230 - hopefully.  The only things that make working on a holiday half acceptable are the fact that we're going to be fed, and that I can use my DD214 to get a 10% discount on all of my purchases.  That's right, I'm a Veteran.  Yippee!  I'm going to be repainting my living room and will need to take down the wallpaper boarder along the ceiling so today I'm buying a steamer at... you guessed it, 10% off.
Recently John over at Going Gently has been dealing with someone commenting anonymously.  I have a very low opinion of people who do this believing they are spineless, gutless and haven't the balls to give their voice a name.  I can only presume this person to be a Republican since they only seem to speak out when they're huddled together like a mass of hyenas howling at some Trumped up moon of an asshole.
Deus Ex, Mankind Divided has just come out and, of  course, I'm playing it.  The main character is an augmented man named Adam Jensen, augmented meaning he's pretty much a cyborg, sort of like the $6 Million Dollar Man.

In the shower

This is a stealth game rather than a shooter.  You get more points by sneaking up on the villains and knocking them unconscious then you do by just shooting them.  In fact, one of the things that makes this game so difficult is you need to explore and find alternative routes in order to avoid those people who want to kill you (or Jensen).  The stealth bit is actually a lot of fun.

I bought it on Xbox One, though it's available on PC and PS4... oh, and it has an adult rating because there is violence, language, and some nudity (so far just Jensen in the shower with a lot of steam).

Laboring through work, and Trump and....

Well, here it is... the Labor Day weekend.  While I do have off today you can all rest assured, I am working tomorrow.  I get to close the store.  This is a bit of a bitch because I have an Ophthalmologist appointment at 0720 Tuesday morning so they can dilate my eyes, which means I'm going to get between 5 and 6 house of sleep.
I saw some of the pictures of Trump in that black church looking all smug and I thought "holy shit, he's so phony."  And what's so sad is that all of his Trumplodites saw the same pictures.  In their racist minds they saw him offer an olive branch, which goes to show just how out of touch these people are, and you can bet they'll hold a terrible grudge against anybody and everybody who doesn't vote for Trump, most especially black people.
And what about that pro-Trump Latino and his comment about "taco trucks on every corner?"  You know, I read about that and realized that he's one of those people who, when asked to classify his ethnicity, will always check the box marked 'Caucasian / white' because he wants nothing to do with either his culture, his heritage, or his people.  No doubt he lies to himself every time he looks in the mirror, saying "hey, I'm not Latino, I'm just dark complected."
Anyway, I do have today off and I've got a lot of chores lined up.

And hopefully I'm also going to get a chance to do some fun stuff.  The weather is cooperating.  The temperatures are cool and so I have the backdoor standing wide open; the dogs are chasing each other in and out of the house having a grand old time.  Earlier I caught them eating tomatoes right off the vine.  Bad dogs... so bad I had to laugh.