Howie's New Toy

When I got up this morning, our outside temp was 71 (F), so we didn't get to cool off last night, and there supposed to climb into the low 80s (F) by this afternoon.  Also, thunderstorms are again on the menu.  A look at the weather map shows storms already beginning to pop up out near Pittsburgh.  And, since the earth spins on an axis, they will be moving east.  The guys who make a living predicting the weather say they should be arriving early this afternoon.  

A lot of cleaning was done yesterday.  Focus on the kitchen floor.  I installed vinyl plank flooring in my kitchen.  Because 80 + pound dogs don't get a lot of traction on vinyl planks, I have area rugs.  Some get vacuumed, some get washed, and yesterday, one of them became Howie's most favorite new toy.  Believe me, he was not going to let that thing go without a decent sized treat.

I started to watch Telemacas (sp) on Netflix last evening.   Elizabeth McGovern is one of the stars, but only in the first episode, after that she disappears.  The show is based on an Anne Rice novel (?)  While I liked the book Interview With the Vampire (I hated the movie), I'm not a big Rice fan.  About 2/3 of the way through the 2nd episode I realized the show was missing something, like interesting characters.  So, I'll not be watching the remaining 3 1/3 episodes.

I see where Rick Scott, the Senator from Florida, is blaming Ronnie DeSantis for the state's serious decline in tourism.  As a reminder, Ronnie's the one who said Florida is where Woke goes to die.  Now we know he misspoke.  He actually mean to say "Florida, where Tourism goes to die."

Last evening on Fox Entertainment, Laura Ingraham was shrieking about how the midterms were going to be devastating for Republicans.  Republican pollsters shouldn't be predicting doom and gloom.  Basically, she was telling them to lie like she does.  Laura doesn't understand she gets paid very well to lie, while those pollsters and their families are dealing with the higher gas prices, and higher food prices.  And they definitely can't afford to fly down to Florida to watch turism woke die.

 

Panic

 I was always an early riser, usually around 0530, though here of late that's been closer to 0630, which I'm certain many of you will still consider early.  The good news for me is that this morning I was back to my old schedule.  This works out better for me.  I like getting chores done in the morning.  For me, sluffing off things that should be done is so much easier later in the day,

The mini drama with Barnes & Noble continues.  They seem to have misplaced the email I sent them on 8/26 containing my W9.  They've told me they don't 'lose' anything, so, true to form, I've begun calling it my 'errant email' in all of our communications.  Oh, and I did remind them that if they somehow fail to locate my errant email, they will have, for all intents and purposes, lost it.  With KDP my account was set and ready for publishing the next day.  B & N is telling me that after they locate said errant email, it will take up to 10 business days for my account to be set up.  I thought they were better organized than this.

I made some sort of tomatoey, cheesy pasta dish for dinner last evening and ate way too much.

This might also be getting some use today.

Now I don't know about you, but I'm beginning to see quite a number of people wondering why the networks are spending so much time on the death of the Queen.  I don't watch TV, so have no idea how much time they're devoting to her funeral, especially with so much happening in American politics.

I don't know how many people know that a magistrate released more redacted information regarding Trump's stealing documents.  For someone who supposedly didn't like to read, he apparently made notes on some of the documents which have been recovered, or at least on the top of the folders.  What he wrote has not been revealed, but I suspect it's rather damning.

Lyndsey Graham announced that if the Republicans retook the House and Senate, they would work to create a national ban on abortion.  This was after Republicans said decisions on abortions should be left to the states.  This is, perhaps, an effort by the party to get evangelicals out to vote.  This does not appear to be a win, win situation for them.

And Mike Lyndell, the moronic pillow guy, had his phone confiscated by the FBI while he was buying dinner at an Arby's.  They had a warrant, so they didn't just snatch it from him.  When Laura Ingraham noted that it seemed as though everyone who had contact with Trump was having their phone confiscated, I had to laugh.  I'm sure panic among MAGA Republicans is spreading faster than a California wildfire.

From the Land of Dark Shadows

We had on and off drizzles yesterday, the temps were fairly comfortable, but there was humidity.  The forecast is the same for today.  The only difference?  I go back to work.

Here's a little irony.  I pay around $65 a year for NBC Sports Gold to watch cycling.  Yesterday, about 2 hours into the Stage 4 of the Tour de France, my TV went black.  Son of a bitch.  The TV was working, no problem there, so I went back into NBC Sports and got the following message:  "You have an update to this App."  Fifteen minutes.  I skipped the update since I had that option.

I put in a new threshold yesterday at the back door.  Easy Peasy.  Took me about 15 minutes.  Shame they couldn't have sent the notice about the update earlier.

Today's the first day I am required to do a Health Check before I can punch in to go to work.  I take my temp and fill out a survey while I'm at home.  Then, upon entering the store, I need to stand in front of a camera which will take my temperature.  If I have a fever of 100.4 (F) they send me home.  This doesn't bother me, though I'm fairly certain there are those Republicans in the building whom it will infuriate.  Good.

In spite of all the Idiot Jerk's machinations against mail in voting, his campaign is targeting his supporters, encouraging them to do just that.  Now the White House is saying it's only Universal mail in voting, where the states send out ballots to everybody, that's a problem.  He has no problem if his supporters vote by mail.  Excuse me, but didn't he just shit in his pants?

And what about the interview with Laura Ingraham?  Wasn't that a shit show?  I do believe the Idiot Jerk even surprised Laura with his decent in to Crazy Land.  Even she questioned his comparing the shooting of a man in the back by a police officer to choking on a putt in golf.  That was before she quickly cut to a commercial break in order to change the subject.  Maybe he was subconsciously vocalizing his belief that a putt is really nothing more than a mini-stroke.  Ouch.

And what about the Dark Shadows?  I sent my brother a text asking if, when the Idiot Jerk was talking about a plane full of thugs, (and now fascists), he was really talking about Barnabas.  Oh, dear Lord save us!  Was that unknown city Collinsport?  Was Roger Collins piloting?  Heaven help us if Angelique was one of the flight attendants!

Or, is he really dealing with dementia brought on by a series of Mini-Strokes?

 

Scary and True

Happy Halloween! I had a picture I was going to add here... but everything seems to be moving slower this morning.  Not enough sugar in the system perhaps.
Today is All Hallows Eve, a day in which the House will vote on the Impeachment Inquiry.  The GOP is shaking in their boots.  I guess Laura Ingraham has warned the racist right-wingers that if the impeachment proceeds there will be no GOP in 2020.  Or, to be more precise, it was more like "without the Idiot Jerk in the White House there will be no GOP in 2020."  That stupid bottled blond phony Christian wants Republicans to chain themselves to the anchor now known as the Idiot Jerk in the White House.  How's that for blind loyalty.
Here, in Central PA rain is in the forecast.  A soggy Trick or Treat night is planned for this evening.  Some communities chose to hold it last evening, others didn't.  I don't participate.  I don't have a cooking pot big enough for kiddies... ooohh, I didn't say that, did I?  I would never do that.  They never get close enough to the house.  My baying doggies keep them far enough away.
I'd like to thank Treaders for letting me know that some of the media in Europe is reporting facial recognition software was used to identify 20,000 of the booing fans in Nationals Park.  I know a little bit about facial recognition software.  Research, you know?  In "The Body in the Tower" facial recognition software is used in an attempt to discern the identity of the killer during the shooting at the Eiffel Tower.  Facial recognition relies on 5 - 7 points on a still photo to identify you.  You can unlock certain phones by looking directly into the camera, and those 5 - 7 points need to be in the same place. If you're laughing, those points move and it doesn't work.  If you're chanting "lock him up" some of those points are moving and facial recognition software doesn't work.  And, of course, those 5 - 7 points of your face need to be saved in a database which the software can access which is not too plausible at this time.  For the time being, identifying individuals in a crowd of moving faces is impossible.  It didn't work in "The Body in the Tower," and it's not going to work on those crowd videos from Nationals Park.
And since I can't give you a picture, I'll give you this:  the sound of every Republican heart in a America thinking about today's vote in the House.

Broken Tools

Saturday.  Yesterday was my humpday.  It was actually no different then any other Friday.  My new schedule is out and again my weekend is going to fall on a Monday and Tuesday.  I also have Saturday off that week - Kid's Workshop.  The following week I'm taking some vacation time.  I will enjoy it, and no, I'm not going anywhere.  There's too much to do around the house.
I saw where Jane Fonda got arrested.  Gimme a break.  She's older than Bernie.  I guess she's still trying to prove she has that fire.  Quite a few Vietnam Vets don't like her - she went to North Vietnam as a way of protesting the war.  Without understanding why, she became a tool for the North Vietnamese, which was not what she intended to do.  Personally, I think that was just rather stupid on her part... like getting herself arrested yesterday.
Shepard Smith is leaving Faux News.  I'm sure Laura Ingraham is spinning on her hate dildo with glee.  My feelings are that they wanted to use him to rope Centrists and Independents into their hate festival, hopefully to indoctrinate the unsuspecting into racists and white Supremacist beliefs.  He finally had enough, choosing to no longer be their tool.  Of course, they think he's broken, but as in everything else, they're wrong.
And the Ex-ambassador to the Ukraine testified yesterday.  The Idiot Jerk in the White House thinks she's broken, too, mostly because she didn't cave into his demands.  The State Department had told her not to testify and she gave them the finger. 
And what about the Idiot Jerk in the White House?  You know that at first his Blow Bro Vlad was delighted.  He now had his own personal, tool in America.  That tool was going to reshape the country.  Sentiment was going to go pro-Vlad.  They were going to be Buddies in Arms.  The Idiot Jerk, however was not the right tool.  He's too inept.  He couldn't grow his base.  His ego kept getting in the way.  And, his corruption kept bobbing to the surface like a dead fish.  Vlad had hoped the Idiot Jerk would help him regain control of the Ukraine.  Oh... Hell!  Piss poor planning by the Idiot Jerk and his Henchies started flushing that down the toilet fast.  I mean, Vlad should have known right off the bat.  Losing the popular vote and only getting into the presidency through the Electoral College is not a good thing.  And then the Idiot Jerk began his Mini-Me dictatorship, issuing Executive Order after Executive Order to please his base... all the while alienating more and more Independent voters.  In business there needs to be growth in order to succeed and the Idiot Jerk was failing in that department.  All he's proven himself to be is a badly broken tool

Armed and....

Well, it's Monday and I'm starting another weekend... retail, you know?  Our weeks swing different then yours.  And, of course, I slept in 0530.  Sleeping was odd last night.  Stormy weather hit the area, booming thunder and fireworks lightening spent about 3 hours time dazzling the area from about 10 PM on, though that didn't really bother me.  And the dogs sleep through storms.  What bothered me was my arm.  Arm, you ask?  Yes, my arm.  The right one to be precise.  You see, I decided that since I was going to have 2 days off, I might as well stop in at Giant and pick up some ice cream, maybe Cherry Garcia.  The wind was gusting badly across the parking lot as I walked towards the building, and just as I was about to step under their portico a stop sign they had anchored in a concrete base blew over... and hit me in the arm.  I'd like to see a video of the incident since I don't understand how it only hit my arm... which was at my side.  The customer walking up behind me said "Holy Fuck!"  As I turned, the sign was laying flat on the pavement and only my arm was injured.

It doesn't really hurt, but I will admit my sleeping was off.  I kept waking up, which means I'll probably nap today.
And Mayor Pete was on a Fox News Town Hall last evening.  The Idiot Jerk was not amused.  He shit out some angry Tweets.  On his part, Mayor Pete brought up not only the Moral Degeneracy of the Idiot Jerk, but also that of phony Christian, bottled blond Laura Ingraham as well as that White Supremacist Tucker Carlson.  As for the angry Tweets, people need to learn that if you squeeze the Idiot Jerks zit brain hard enough, it's going to pop.
And finally, a brief interlude from Joni Mitchell.  The song is about David Geffen, a very busy man, whom she saw quietly relaxing at a cafe on the Champs Elysees in 1973.  And, even though this is an interlude, it's also a bit of a prelude.

Balanced

Well, here it is Sunday morning.  I stopped taking the Mucinex at 0230 not because of any issues, rather my Dr said the torrential nasal drip symptom should be gone in about 4 days.  For the most part it is and now I'm left with that standard, run of the mill cold so many others get.  This viral infection thing?  I know 3 other people who have had it including my runner friend Steve who told me "it really knocked me out, I couldn't run for 7 days."  That's almost an eternity for him.
I saw a headline on my phone this AM from Faux News claiming Schumer was demanding the Idiot Jerk drop his wall.  Chuck did... back on 12/10.  That was before the American Freedom Caucus, soon to be a minority group, played hardball with the Idiot Jerk.  "Give your base the wall," they threatened, "or we will stop defending you against the Mueller Investigation."  Well, the Idiot Jerk popped a little turd, and then reneged on his word (something quite common), and the government was shut down.  We're getting to see their last gasping breath of racism before Democrats tell the members of the Freedom Caucus to do what they have been telling Democrats and Independents for years "shut up and sit down."  They know that in 10 days their wanna be Idiot Jerk dictator is going to pop another turd... actually, he's probably going to pop more than one.
On a much brighter note, if you haven't heard David Hogg is going to college!  Remember when Laura Ingraham mocked him on National TV because he'd gotten a few college rejections?  So David raised up his voice a speaking clearly and plainly to Laura's advertisers.  "I am a survivor of a mass shooting.  I have seen the violence of guns in the wrong hands and have waved a red flag.  Because of this she feels justified in mocking me, in trying to humiliate me on National TV."  Her advertisers looked down with disdain upon Laura and started pulling their advertising.  Faux News started popping little turds and sent Laura on a wee vacation.  When she returned, she apologized for her words, but not to David Hogg because she is too enraptured in her Conservative beliefs to ever understand.  Of course, Karma looked down and said "Laura, you're a phony blond, and a phony human being."  And then Karma looked down on David and smiled.  Karma balances everything by punishing and rewarding. 

David Hogg is going to college.

David Hogg is going to Harvard.

Heroes among us

It's Tuesday and yippie! skippie! I get to go back to work... for a week - 5 days in a row.
I only rode 10 miles this AM.  Around 6 miles into I had to stand up and retuck farther to the left, believe me, when you're going to be sitting on a bike saddle for more than twenty minutes the last thing you want is to be sitting on a stray fold... if you know what I mean.
Speaking of cycling, Taylor Phinney crossed the finish line in 8th place.  For those who don't know this is great!  Four years ago he crashed into a steel guardrail when an official on a motorcycle crossed into his path.  Compound tibia and fibula fractures.  That's right, the bones were sticking out.  Four years later he came in 8th at Paris / Roubaix.  This is the stuff heroes are made of.

Taylor Phinney, scars and all

On the other end of the spectrum is Laura Ingraham who's returned to pollute the airwaves with her Right Wing hatred.  She's been farting out turds, complaining Liberals are attacking Freedom of Speech.  What she doesn't understand is that Americans are beginning to hold Fox News accountable for their words and actions.  This is, however, what we should expect.  She is, after all, on the most least trustworthy of the major news networks.  

So, who trusts Laura Ingraham?  Small minded people who like their hate spit at them by a peroxide, blonde, bimbo.

Oh, and the FBI raided the Idiot Jerk's personal attorney... and the Oval Office had to endure another shit explosion.  There's shit in every nook and cranny.  That Mueller's turning into quite the hero as well.  No doubt the Idiot Jerk's terrified his personal attorney will end up turning State's Witness.  This is what happens when the only way you can get loyalty is to buy it.

In Control

Saturday.  Today is the beginning of my weekend which means it's time to catch up on the housework.  I've got one load of laundry (T-shirts... I go through a lot of T-shirts) in the washer and four more lining the upstairs hallway.  I need to pick up somethings at the supermarket and get gas before everybody else tries to do the same thing.  The yard needs to be cleaned.  I should do free weights today, but I might try to get another ride in since that's what kicks in the neurotransmitters.
Yesterday there was an indecisive family looking at vinyl plank flooring.  I greeted them and spent about 5 minutes with them before I left them alone with their inabilities.  This was obvious when the daughter started saying "this goes with my cabinets, but this color goes with my appliances, but this color over here would really go well with my walls."  When she started bringing up her friends, and using the floors in their kitchens as a comparison, I knew her brain had become completely untethered from reality.
And speaking of untethered... how about those advertisers running from Laura Ingraham... ain't that sweet!  She's decided she needs an 'Easter Break.'  If you ask her, I'm sure she'll tell you that eleven companies pulling their advertising from Faux News has nothing to do with her decision.  Nope, she'll explain how she's chosen this week to make room for her family, right in the middle of a boycott.  Ingraham is a prime example of how Conservatives totally fail to understand America.  A majority of people are telling her advertisers she's an asswipe, and those advertisers are listening because that majority is the group that buys their products.  When given the choice of losing revenue or telling Faux News that Laura Ingraham is an asswipe, they're going to tell Faux News she's an asswipe.  Will she learn anything?  Absolutely not.  She hates the majority.  Having them very publicly telling Faux News she's an asswipe?  That's like having millions of Liberal needles shoved up under her phony, conservative fingernails. She will hate the majority even more because they... are... in... control.
I just find this whole thing amusing as hell. 
Anyway, I seem to post more pictures of Big Seig than Lily, so today I'll leave you with one of the lovely Lady Lillian.

With just a glimmer of Biggie's back.