The dark side of 'none of the above'

 Well, hello to a brand-new week, hopefully one filled with accomplishments.

If I have to tell the truth about yesterday, well, I was pretty much of a slug all day.  One of the bad things about living with dogs, who normally sleep 18 hours a day, is that they are ready to doze away an hour or so the minute you say the word nap.  I try to avoid taking naps on most days, not yesterday, though.

Loading the Rosetta Stone course for German into the new PC is the only thin worth mentioning.  I bought the course 11 years ago, back before Rosetta realized they could make more from subscribers than from selling a course with 5 discs.  Like most Rosetta language courses it's terribly weak because they give no rhyme or reason as to why things are done, however it is good for working your accent.

I did snap another picture of some of my tulips.

I saw in Le Monde this morning that, when it came to voting for either Macron or Le Penne, 3 million ballots were left blank, which is the same as saying "none of the above."  While indignant voters may believe this to be a good way to protest, it really says more about failure than anything else.  Had Le Penne won, she would have started making dramatic changes; a president can do horrific damage in just a few years.  Take NATO.  She hates NATO, as does Putin, as does China, as do most wannabe authoritarian governments.  This is not because NATO is bad.  Nope.  What most people don't realize that when problems arise, like the Ukraine, NATO joins forces and becomes the Largest Super Power in the World.  A united NATO has the largest GDP, they have the largest army, and... they do have nuclear capabilities.  This is why Sweden and Finland want to join NATO.  

Speaking of the Ukraine, I saw where  Russian ground forces are again running into problems.

And, finally, I saw that Kevin McCarthy is traveling south to the border today.  Why, you ask?  Because Kevin knows the MAGA base doesn't care if he is covered in shit as long as he feeds their hunger with tons of anti-immigration red meat.  With the rest of the country looking at him and saying WTF, he is desperately trying to hold onto the base.

That's fine with me

 Well, a happy Sunday morning to everybody out there.  I am starting 6 consecutive days away from work today.  If I were working fulltime, I'd call this a Staycation since I'm not going anywhere, however, since I'm a part-timer now, I'll just call it a a non-scheduled work week.  I'm scheduled again next Saturday, the same the Kid's Workshops restart.  Can you tell how excited I am?

The temps today are forecasted to reach the high 70s (F) to low 80s (F), so I'm betting I'll be turning on the window A/C units upstairs.  We might get a late afternoon thunderstorm, again, that's fine with me.  My outdoor plans as limited.  Tomorrow the temps are supposed to drop back into the mid 60s (F) for the rest of the week.  I can deal with that, too.

I'm thinking of extending the veranda by the side of the house.  That would be laborious, which means it's a good way to burn calories.  Burning calories is always good.

One of the things that I realized as I was moving files to the new computer was the number of pictures I have of Lily.  While I talk a lot about Biggie, the shots I have of her vastly outnumber the pics I have of him.  He was not happy, so I took this one as he shot me the stink eye while he brooded away on the futon. 

The French election is today.  Le Pen is close enough that she could swing an upset.  People will vote for her because they hate Macron and his mask and vaccine mandates.  The fact that Le Pen has some serious ties to Russia, and Trump's blow bro Vlad doesn't even cross their minds.  They aren't even considering that if she were to win, they might end up with some 'friendly' Russian troops stationed in France to 'help keep the peace.'  For them, the bright side is not having to worry about mask or vaccine mandates, and they are far worse than Russians in Paris.

We have the same problem in America; people not wanting to wear masks or get vaccinated.  That's fine with me.  We now know that unlike chicken pox or mumps, Covid has no lasting immunity.  Like the common cold, you will get it again, and again, and again.  I know of 3 people in my store who've had it twice, and for 2 of them the second time was worse than the first time they had it.  The one person who had milder symptoms the 2nd time had chosen to get vaccinated.  I'm getting my 2nd booster on Thursday, which is fine with me.  

Safe

Your Tuesday is my Monday.  I only have 4 days to work this week and it's going to be slow.  We will get those couple odd customers who will stop in to see what's on sale.  Yeah, we do have a Labor Day Sale.  Surprise, it's the same stuff we had last Labor Day.  What will be more interesting will be the coming price increases.  Yepper, they're going up.  They've already started.  We are in that Top Five list of retailers who are going to be slammed by the tariffs.
I got a nice ride in yesterday... inside.  It's the safety thing.  Sunday mornings are fine, the traffic is thin and safe, and once I'm get to Tower Road things are fine... it's just getting there.  Shady Valley Road (yes, that's its name) has become a major thoroughfare and I not only have to cross it, I have to ride along it for a half mile.  Damn.  While stats are still coming in for 2018, here's a link to the stats for 2017 regarding cycling accidents.  783 cyclists were killed as a result of auto / bicycle crashes.  The number of injuries, however, is the real eye opener.  There were 45,000 injuries due to cars hitting cyclists.  That's a lot of broken legs, and arms, and collarbones, and fractured skulls.  You see drivers are easily distracted.  There are lots of bumble brains who feel they can multi-task (drive and talk / text) at the same time, or they're fidgeting around with the radio because they need to find a song they really like, or they're fantasizing about the hot guy they saw at the club the night before.
And so yesterday instead of going out on the road, I found myself peddling up in Oregon... Warm Springs, Oregon to be precise.

Do you see that big hill?  That's about a mile and a half long.  And since I have Cyclops Magnus my legs felt every inch of it.  And because I have Rouvy the scenery moved past me, and this is what it looked like.

Now, isn't that a lot safer than chancing I might get hit by some bimbo talking to her BFF Grizelda about the great deal she got on a blue blouse at Boscov's?  And most surprisingly, on that ride, I only passed one vehicle... in the far lane.
In politics, the G7 is over.  The Idiot Jerk may have wanted to Grand Stand the meeting but, from what I've been reading Macron shrewdly outmaneuvered him.  Except for a few still shots our obnoxious asswipe of a president was fairly indistinguishable.  Of course, he did lie about trade negotiations with China.  Duh.  There is not going to be any real deal.  Nope.  The Chinese are going to continue tightening the screws.  You see, we have an election coming up... and they're going to make him Cave in a big way.

Interesting Times

I didn't go for a ride last evening - rest day, and it's always odd when I do that, the extra time I suddenly have on my hands.  Don't worry, I can always find something to do.  Like set up my new coffeemaker, which took all of about 15 minutes.  Yes, there was some assembly required.  This isn't one of your 'plug and pour' coffeemakers.  The old blue one is in the trash.  Normally, I'd set it out on the curb on garbage day for scavengers, however because of the 'programming' issues, that fact that it turns itself on at random times, I was concerned about the fire hazard it presented.  So, out in the trash it went.  Here's what the new one looks like on my counter.

I think the copper finish goes well with my tile.  I will have to figure out what to do with the electric cord, which is definitely more substantial then the power cord on the last coffeemaker.
So, I guess the Idiot Jerk and some of his minion, like Stevie Mnuchin, had planned on ending quite a bit of Foreign Aid - "too much fat," were the words they were bandying about.  For those who don't know it, this is what half-assed Corporate Greed looks like.  The deficit is rising at an astounding rate and, and like all true Conservatives, this administration tries to cut programs which help.  They are anything but smart.
And I saw Macron gave Boris some crow meat for that pie he and his fellow Brexiteers are going to be eating in a couple of months.  Boris' problem is that he longs for the 'old days,' when the UK was an empire.  Those days are gone.  The same thing is true for the Nationalists in this country who desperately want us to be the only 'super power.'  They don't understand their definition of 'power' is no longer valid.  Allies are very important.  The world learned that lesson from the two World Wars, however Conservatives don't like that definition.  They turn away from the idea that more allies you have, the stronger you are.  Evolution happens to everything;  species, politics, religious beliefs.  Unless you adapt, you will die off.  The old beliefs are entering their death throes.  Isolation is not the key to survival.  'I' and 'my' are not the correct pronouns.  There is no way to stop globalization.  Because of this we are living in interesting times.
Oh crap, I just dumped out my recycling can because there was a little opossum in it.  I have to make sure he gets away before I let the dogs out.

Sing this

Well, here it is... Wednesday and I get to go back to work after 15 days off.  Nice little vacation, eh?  Pretty much so, if you don't count that little surgery I had, and that's turning out to have been more of a nuisance than anything else.
Yesterday was fairly active:  While I didn't ride the bike, I did do 30 minutes on the elliptical, 1.2 miles, to the music of Eli Lieb.

I did do 20 minutes on the bike this AM but stopped when I realized the Kinetic app had failed to connect and I was recording nothing.  Well, I did get a new  Suunto Spartan and that recorded it, which was nice.

Yesterday I also talked to the Big Boy at my Mom's Senior Living Facility about the increase, and when I say Big, I mean Big - I'll bet that guy weighs in at around 380 to 400 pounds, he doesn't have rolls, he has waves.  Anyway, he was all apologetic, saying her increase was incorrect, and that I should throw out the letter I received because they were going to send me a new one.  Personally, I think most of his weight is bullshit, and that if you don't complain they don't reduce your rate.  

Personally, I think John Conyers needs to resign.  If we want to point fingers, we need to point them at everybody, not just the Roy Moores and the Idiot Jerk in the White House.  Why look, little Matt Lauer got canned this AM - now who would have ever thought that he was the frisky type?  What people really seem to be forgetting is the power of hormones - they rule our lives, whether we want to admit to it or not, both men and women, neither is immune, and I'm not just talking about sex here, nor am I looking for an excuse for Roy Moore whose predatory behavior was designed by his extremely social conservative beliefs.  No, I'm talking about the daily ebb and flow of estrogen and testosterone.  Let's be honest, I'm sure there a number of both men and women who would like to initiate a private duet with Eli (above) whether he wants to sing with them or not.

And I thought this was an interesting poll.  I can see where they're headed.  Bernie sees it too, except he's way, way too old.  We need a Trudeau or a Macron in this country, one individual whom the majority can get behind and support, one person to lead the way.  Every one wants to lead the chorus and not one of them can carry a tune and until that happens chaos will reign.

Cardio Junkie / Bastille

So, I saw a headline about Beyonce posting a picture of herself and her kids and supposedly the Earth went wild... if that's the kind of thing that gives your life importance, I can only wonder if your life is truly that shallow.
I didn't mow the lawn yesterday because we were supposed to have thunderstorms... which we didn't have... which we actually got this morning while I was at PF - torrential rains, you know?  The Three Caballeros weren't there, which is par for the course.  They seem to belong to that group more interested in putting in an appearance than in developing and maintaining and in failing to understand that simply going to the gym does not improve the quality of your life.  Me?  Well, I wasn't gong to do any cardio yesterday, it was supposed to be my day off... and I ended up burning away 50 minutes on the elliptical - about 560 calories.  Increasing the ramp level increases your heart rate and as I raised it for the 4th time I wondered if I was turning in a Cardio Junkie.  Wouldn't that be a hoot, now?
And I did bake a loaf of bread.

Used a cast iron dutch oven.  It looks grand but tastes a bit bland, so I may have to look for a different recipe.
Also interesting to note:  Today is Bastille Day, a turning point in the French Revolution.  And the Idiot in the White House was invited to attend the festivities by President Macron.  I do not doubt that the relevancy of the moment will be lost on the Idiot, that he will even come close to understanding that during the French Revolution very, very many of the French 1% lost their heads.  He will totally fail to see any correlation between himself, his family, and his billionaire cabinet and the noblese of that time.  But then, what else would expect from the Idiot in the White House.

Froggy Trump, and other things.

So, it's Saturday and I have to work.   Of course, I'm then going to have off for 2 days which is a nice thing.  The weather's been shitty: overcast, rainy, drizzle and cool.  People are not stopping in to buy carpet, or blinds, or flooring.  On a bright note, the woman who's unmarried and pregnant with her 4th is moving to another department, one where she's going to be on her feet for her 8 hour shift.  Bet that's going to change.  She sold carpet to 2 customers last week who opted to change the color prior to their purchase.  And she never updated the color change in the system.  And the installers showed up ready to install carpet that was... the wrong color.  And she did it not once, but twice.  Hhhhmmmm
I saw where Macron's campaign was hacked.  Of course.  I'd read that the American Far Right was pleased as punch.  For them the word Global is a curse.  They want another Brexit, except that's not going to happen.  Like I said, these people want things to back to the way they were.  And, of course, they're going to fail.  They hate the wonderfulness of Democracy.  They love the Idiot's Executive Orders because it's the closest they've ever been to a Republican Dictatorship.  When he squeaked into the Presidency through the back door they all danced around with glee because it's not just that they want to tell people how to live their lives, they dominate, and dictate, and say 'bend over buddy.'
I've nearly completed my play through of Mass Effect Andromeda - while there are some moments that are good, mostly it's lackluster and uninspiring.  Character Creation was dismal.  Usually when I play through an RPG I make myself hotter than hell - in Andromeda they didn't give you enough options.  Bioware touts the fact that you can have 'same sex' relationships - but there were some serious limitations here.  The Forums are filled with players and fans complaining about... well, everything.  I much preferred Fallout 4 where you could dress your companions up or dress them down, where there weren't any bad CGI cut scenes with CGI characters to constantly remind you it was a game.
And evidently some ingenious, creative person out there realized that the Idiot looks great with a Froggy face.

He looks so real, doesn't he?  As though this is how God wanted the Idiot to look.  Of course, maybe this is the way he paints his face when he goes to war.  I'm sure that after his supporters get a gander at this, they too will want to have their faces painted as well.  Here's a link if you want to see the animation of Froggy Trump.  And I would be surprised if the didn't start chanting 'Bud.... Bud... Weiser."