Seven Dials

We have 20 (F) outside.  There's a lot of bright sunshine.  We're in the beginning of a warming trend that will peak tomorrow with temps in the 40s (F) and rain.  Then, our temps will drop again, climbing only slightly as we head into next week.  I had hopped we might be getting a mild winter, that does not appear to be the case.  This means I will have to spend more money on my heating bill than I would have liked.  Utility expense are continuing to rise.  I'm so glad we don't have one of those new data centers near me, otherwise I'm sure my electrical bill would have gone through the roof.

And I did do stuff yesterday.  No workout, though.  And I was supposed to get a ride in.  That didn't happen.  I did get a bunch of writing done.  And I also baked some drop biscuits that were ho hum, just okay.  Howie wasn't even interested, so maybe ho hum is being too kind.  Dinner was a stromboli from Al's pizzeria.  I was going to make pork stir-fry, but that didn't happen.  I'll cook that this evening, making enough for tomorrow's lunch.

Yesterday was another sort of nappy kind of day.  Overcast and cold all day.  Yuck.

I did watch Seven Dials on Netflix last evening, all 3 episodes.  Back when I was in the Navy, I was still a voracious reader and, lucky for me, the exchange store in Subic Bay sold paperbacks of almost all of Agatha Christie's mystery novels.  Even though she is most known for her famous sleuths Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple, she did write a number of books with other sleuths.  Tommy and Tuppence were 2 of them, and they were interesting.  The Seven Dials Mystery was a stand alone book, though Scotland Yard's detective Battle does show up in other Christie mysteries.  I don't remember being impressed by the book, though as I watched the series certain elements did strike a familiar cord, one of which she later used in one of her better known books Death on the Nile.  I thought the first 2 episodes were good, but in the 3rd, and what should be the most important, things began to unravel.  Instead of having me on the edge of my seat, the reveal was disappointing.

Yesterday Elena Marcado gave her Noble Peace Prize to the Orange Anus.  She is, I believe I'm putting this kindly, pretty much of a Twit.  She gave him her prestigious award because she believes he will look kindly on her.  She thinks he will help her become president of Venezuela.  I don't doubt she believes in a lot of things, possibly even the tooth fairy.  The Orange Anus has already called himself the "acting" president of Venezuela.  He is not going to give that up.  There's a pic of her leaving the White House with a red bag of MAGA swag.  I do hope she understands that's all she's going to get, unless she turns full MAGA and lets the US bleed Venezuela dry.

And there are whispers circulating that Orangie's team is in the process of looking at recalibrating Minneapolis, since a majority of Americans are rejecting the violence they see ICE pursuing in that city.  Sadly, that's not what Stevie Miller wants.  So, I have my doubts on any sort of change.

Blue Balls

Rain is coming.  Yepper.  The temps wee above freezing this morning.  Things are going to stay warm until this front passes.  That's means we will be getting rain and not snow.  We need the precipitation, so it doesn't matter to me if it's white and wet, or simply wet.  Snow does provide free cardio to hose of you so inclined to take advantage.

Yesterday was things were done, not just as many as I'd wanted.  The aquariums were cleaned.  Laundry was done.  Many words were written.  Still, it does seem as though I slacked off for most of the day.  I don't doubt some of this has to do with the chaos going through our country right now.

Today's my last day off for the week. To be rather frank, I'm not too wild about having 5 days off in a row.  One of the things that quickly became obvious is that I don't think about the days of the week; there's no difference between Tuesday and Wednesday.  I remember talking to a gent at the store and he tole me he loves that, not knowing or caring which day of the week it is.  Well, shit.  I like things better organized.  This is why I maintain a workout schedule, and a laundry schedule.  I have all sorts of little schedules.  On certain days I start writing at 2 in the afternoon, on other days I start writing at 4 PM.  Regularity in one's life is a good thing.

I had a subscription to Nuts.com for dried blueberries.  I canceled it this morning.  They reduced the bag size from 16 oz to 13 oz.  They also reduced the cost, however the per ounce price actually went up.  This is called a price increase.

And here's a pic of Howie with his blue ball.  I posted 2 different pics on social media and called them "blue balls."  It's a joke.

Within a few hours, the Supreme Court is going to release their decision on Orangie's tariffs.  Does he, like the despot he wants to be, have the authority to put them into effect outside of Congress.  Our constitution says that he doesn't.  If the court rules that he doesn't, this is going to be a cluster fuck on the grandest scale this country has ever seen.  How Wall Street will act is anybody's guess.  If the court rules against Orangie, do not expect our prices to go down much.  Corporations have already made adjustments to their fiscal plans to include the extra revenue they're getting by passing these tariffs onto customers.

And as expected, the administration swung into full lie mode regarding the murder of Renee Good in Minneapolis.  The only ones believe Orangie's side of the story are the hard core cultists who would, if directed by Orangie, eat shit sandwiches.

This should come as no surprise, but Big Oil is saying "now wait a minute," on sending their people to Venezuela.  They say the country is an unsafe environment.  But then, what's safety to Orangie, he's not going to work there, and he has no problem sending young Americans to go die there.  And Marcado offering to give Orangie her Peace Prize?  That woman is delusional and has absolutely no idea who she's dealing with.