Air Quality Alert

 So, yesterday was nice.  We actually got some rain; enough so that I didn't feel the need to go out and water the flowers.  I'm going to spend some time outside today weeding, but probably not much since we are under an Air Quality Alert.  The Canadian wildfire smoke is upon us.  If the NYT is correct it should be what they term medium thickness.  I have no idea how they judge or grade the thickness.  Are they referring to it's density, or to the particulates that make up the cloud?

A number of audio files for The Body Under Ice were uploaded last evening.  The narrator sent me and email telling me to take notes and that corrections would be done after I've listened to the entire book.  So, thanks to the Air Quality Alert, my inside hours should be well occupied.  I can't wait to hear them cutting through the ice to retrieve the body.

Looking out the window, things do look a bit hazy.  When I take Lily for her morning walk, I will sniff around to see if I can smell.

:"We Don't Talk About Bruno" from the movie Encanto was a big hit for Disney.  One thing that has always bother me was my inability to hear all the lyrics at the end; there are so many different voices singing.  Last night I solved that problem.  I watched the lyric video.  Had Disney made the right choice and nominated this song it would have walked away with the Oscar for Best Song of the Year. 

And, of course, the Internet was abuzz yesterday because Mark Meadows has testified before two (2) Grand Juries in regard to the Trump investigations.  There were a lot of cute little videos of pancakes being turned over.  So far, I haven't seen and all caps commentary by the Orange Anus.  Don't worry, it will happen.

Ronnie D may be in some legal trouble for flying a 2nd flight of immigrants to California.  His campaign is hurting, hence the flights.  He wants voters to think he's doing the right thing.  His 2 hot button issues are evidently the illegal transport of legal aliens and wokeness, something he cannot describe.  And just think, the real Republican shit show hasn't even truly begun yet.

Survival

 Well a happy good Saturday morning to you.  Keep in mind, Saturday will always be a work day for me, almost; in two weeks I've been scheduled off.  That is so unusual.  My weekends, the days I get most of the essentials done, are Tuesday and Wednesday.  Now I'm going to have to find something to do on a Saturday, when everybody else is trying to get things done.

And we did have rain yesterday... and we will have it again today.  I've checked the map, it's all coming up from the south.  This weather pattern reminds me of the one I used in The Body in Repose, where the front extended from New Orleans up into New York state.  The was the first of 2 books in which weather played a part in the storyline, the second being The Body Under Ice.  

I started watching Ted Lasso last evening, just the first episode.  I did laugh out loud.  I find it interesting that  the Apple + which has won the Emmy for best comedy series for 2 years in a row is filled will language usually reserved a mature audience, but then I realized that most Appleheads, those who live for Apple TV, are, for the most part, adults.  

This morning, as I was reading through the Washington Post, I saw this article on Philippe Petit.  Back in 1974 he walked between the World Trade Center buildings on a wire.  Evidently, Phill is still doing the same thing, though not nearly at that altitude, and I do mean altitude; the rooftops of the Trade Center buildings were definitely at nosebleed heights.  What makes this really impressive, is that Phil is 73 years old.  Just sit back and let that sink in.  

A bit of delightful news was released yesterday, regarding Mark Meadows and... well, a whole bunch of Trump's allies.  A Federal Judge has ruled that they must testify before the DOJ's January 6 Grand Jury.  They are not allowed to use the 5th Amendment.  Oh, and one of his attorneys was forced to answer questions yesterday regard his stealing of secret documents.  Evidently there is enough evidence now that he used his that attorney, as well as others, to commit a crime.

The Orange Anus is also holding a rally today in Waco, Texas.  30 years ago there was a terrible siege at Waco between the Federal Government and a cult led by a guy name David Koresh.  He, as well as a number of other cultists, died in the ensuing battle.  Don't doubt for a second Trump doesn't want to incite his own cult.  He probably sees that as his only way to survive.

Barnes & Noble, finally

So, yesterday the store manager called and politely asked if I'd come in early.  I, just as politely, said yes since it meant I'd get to leave earlier.  However, I didn't get in my speed walk on the treadmill.  Rats.  Because my shift for today is scheduled to start at 10:30, I'll need to type this fast to try and get a couple miles in.  We'll see how fast that happens.

And work was busy in the morning.  I have more than enough measures for the week, and my sales are fine, too.

I did finally get an email yesterday from Barnes & Noble that my account has been approved and is ready to publish.  They seemed slow out of the starting gate right from the beginning.  The first problem was that they didn't accept digitally signed W9s and there was nothing in their instructions that noted this.  The sentence regarding signatures just said that my W9 needed to be signed.  It took almost a month of arguing emails between the two of us before someone told me that.  Interestingly enough, they now accept digital signatures.  And then the approval process to activate my account took forever, literally months.  Son of a bitch!

For those wondering, my daffodils are just about ready to burst into bloom.

Whether it was because I was too busy to pay attention or not, yesterday seemed to be politically on the quiet side.  The same conservative buffoons and blowhards were spouting out the same drivel.  People are still chattering about Dominion's release of the Fox emails.  That's one story that's going to have legs.  

The silence surround Mark Meadows is leading some to believe he's cooperating with the DOJ.  That wouldn't surprise me.  Like many Republicans, his loyalty has always been decided upon what's best for his ass and he's not about to let that ass fry.

And finally, if you think Republicans have decided to target Pete Buttigieg you're right.  He's far more intelligent than most of them and puts them in their place as frequently as possible.  They do see him as a serious threat.  His response so far seems to imply that he enjoys attacking their charges no matter how simplistic they may be.

Going Dental

 Short entry today because I have a dental appointment in an hour.  There's some leakage around a back filling making it sensitive to cold and hot... mostly cold.

Speaking of cold, the temp outside is a cold 24 (F).  Things are frozen.  Tomorrow we're supposed to get a combo of sleet and snow, maybe up to 3 inches.  If it's crappy when I get up, I might call off work.  Though, since I'm not scheduled until 1 PM, the roads will most likely be fine.  

Here's a pic of the new laundry room with the bar cart in place.  You'll notice it's on wheels.  I'm still going to be using the shelves for storage.  I'm going to be getting an area rug for in front of the washer / dryer.  That vinyl floor may look nice, but static electricity makes it a dust magnet.  I'm always wiping it up.

And, what about all those texts coming out?  The ones from Republicans to Mark Meadows telling him Trump should declare martial law in order for them to stay in power.  THIRTY FOUR  of them.  An indicator as to how stupid some of them are, is the fact that some of them didn't know the difference between martial and marshall, the latter not only being misspelled, but the wrong word.  These people are so craven for power they would have no problem destroying the United States.  These congressmen are still in the House and Senate, though mostly in the House, I believe.

The problem in America is that we have been far to politically benevolent.  Punishment for crimes is supposed to teach lessons, more often then not, our presidents have doled out pardons to offenders and always for political reasons.  Ollie North should still be sitting in jail.

The problem is that our newspapers and cable news networks try to be politically correct, softening the truth about lies, calling them falsehoods.  Being kinder and gentler when it comes to dealing with sedition is never going to work.

The skies are overcast

 Saturday: the skies are overcast, and we've got a 65% chance of rain.  woohoo.  The Accuweather map doesn't show a single drizzle in the area, though rain is coming east from Pittsburgh.  Showers will probably arrive locally about the time I'm ready to head off to work.

And, how busy will work be?  The busy side of the season is past.  Not that people won't be stopping by the flooring department, though for the most part all we probably see will be a Lookie Lou every now and then.  

I didn't get as much done yesterday as I had planned, and still, my accomplishments were not few.  The only thing that wasn't completed was a fast walk on the treadmill.  I did start, but the quads in my right leg got very achy.  Perhaps I should have started at a slower speed.  Or maybe it was my route.  For some reason I thought Saint Tropez was going to be different.

Am I like the only who's suspecting the Donald, or one of his spawn, had something to do with Ivanka's fall down the stairs?  There are a number of other investigations going on.  

I saw where a federal judge has rule against Mark Meadows.  He'd been fighting the January 6 subpoena and had countersued Pelosi.  Of course, many are whispering that he's just going to be another sacrifice, or, to put it more colloquially, Meadow's is going to get thrown under the bus.  

And someone pointed out that with the discovery of the Secret Service's missing texts from January 5 and 6, perhaps Mike Pence was being very smart when he refused to get in their car and take him for a ride.

The Order of the Moral Degenerate

 Hello Work Week!  Don't it just fill you excitement to know you're going to spend 8 hours today in a cube, or an office, or at a desk, dealing with issues, or people?  I know I get to go to work... for 8 hours and sit the flooring desk, and deal with customers.  I can honestly tell you that my excitability bucket is nowhere near to overflowing.  It's not even close to being full.  However, I just paid my quarterly garbage / sewage bill so today's hours will allow me to keep banking my social security checks while only working part-time hours.  

Yesterday, a day I didn't work, was a day of mostly accomplishment.  I didn't take a single nap!  The lawn was mowed, laundry was done, grocery shopping completed, and the dishes?  hand washed, not popped into the dishwasher.  And I still had time for a long phone conversation with a friend to set up plans for next Sunday and get some Super Special armor in Elden Ring.

I also spent some time dickin' putzin' around with my TV.  I can't sign into Google Play Store, which is why the Paramount + app didn't update.  Shit.  I rebooted the TV, the router, cleaned up the Paramount cache.  Nothing was working, so I deleted the app and signed up for Paramount + through Amazon Prime; .99 a month for 2 months before the 9.99 charge kicks in.  I can probably live with that.

Here's another picture during my glory days in the Navy.   The date is Sept 73, which means it was taken almost 49 years ago.  I was 22 at the time. The blue thing in my hand was a piece of cloth that unraveled.  A few of us gave it a name as though it were a pet, Cleetus, if I'm remembering correctly.  Soon after it was thrown into the trash.

Politically, yesterday was fairly quiet.  There was a bunch of banter about Bannon's bullshit.  While most of us are smart enough to know he never had Executive Privilege, I'm sure MAGA world must be spinning on its head: a loyal member of the Order of the Moral Degenerate has lost his protected status.  Son of a bitch!  Will Bannon squeal?  Well, the January 6 committee may have to delicately parse his words to find slivers of truth as he belches out his testimony.

And finally, has anybody heard from Mark Meadows lately?  Cassidy Hutchinson mentioned him multiple times and we've heard nothing from his camp.  Could it be he's crawled so far back under his rock that we'll never hear from him again?   Or is there something else going on?

Cinders

 So, the Fourth of July weekend has arrived.  246 years ago, when we declared our independence from England, there were those who wanted to crown George Washington king.  That mindset is still around today, however today we call them Trumpists, or MAGAs.  I'm suspecting this group has always been a thorn in the side of democracy.

Anyway, we had some excitement at the store yesterday.  Some accidentally, at least that is what the manager told me, pulled the fire alarm behind the Service Desk.  I have no idea how that happens 'accidentally.' but it happened, and we needed to evacuate the building.... five minutes before I was set to punch out.  As a result, I was paid to stand at the far end of the parking lot while a crew of firemen ensured that there was no actual fire.

The incident reinforced something I've known for quite some time:  there are a lot of stupid people in the world.  As soon as the alarm sounded, I slipped into my old manager mold and started moving people out of the building... well, most people.   Some didn't want to leave.  That's right, they wanted to continue shopping.  The alarm is going off loudly, lights are flashing overhead and people were talking about which unfinished base cabinets they wanted to put in their kitchens.  There was a complete lack of conscious effort to comprehend.  For one woman, the question was trying to decide which shade of green spray paint she wanted, and possibly getting her ass burned to cinders, or leaving the building.  One disgruntled customer yelled, "well, I guess I'm going to have to go to Lowe's."  My comment?  "Go to Lowe's."

I redecorated the training room.  

I saw where Clarence Thomas spit out some sort of word salad referencing the debunked lie about the Covid vaccine being made with aborted fetuses.  Remember, he married to Qanon Ginni.

The Guardian noted that it was an associate of Mark Meadows who warned (threatened) Cassidy Hutchinson about her testimony.  Sounds like an arrest warrant needs to be issued.

And, of course, the Supreme Court continues to shriek 'fuck you' to a very Centrist America.  Something needs to be done before these conservative monstrosities destroy America in their attempt to make a bastion for socially conservative religious crackpots.  

Is Mark Meadows a human slug

And here it is, Thursday.  Unless requested off, Thursdays will always be on my schedule.  With semi-retirement comes the need for regularity.  I am serious.  The temptation of idly sitting around wasting hours on the Internet is great.  As a result, I have set up my own schedules.  Certain chores get performed on certain days of the week.  Laundry is Tuesday.  Friday, I mow the lawn.  If I bake, it's always on Wednesdays.  I write during the afternoons I don't work, usually about an hour to an hour and a half, that's enough time for me to pound out 500 - 700 words.  This all works well for me.

Last night I went to the movies.  It was, for me, a really late show: 8 PM.  I was surprised by the number of people in the theater at that hour since this is a work week.  The film was R rated, so no kids.  Quite often I think studios dumb down movies to get a PG 13 rating.  Dialogue is less sharp because 13-year-olds don't have the same vocabulary as adults.  The dialogue was edgy last night.  Oh, and what movie did I go see?  The Black Phone.  A drama / thriller with a couple of jump scares.  The acting was top notch.  This is the best thing Ethan Hawke has done in years.  Originally supposed to be released in February, they wisely waited and made this a summer movie.

And, speaking of phones, I was pleased to see that quite a number of people noted how out of the picture Mark Meadows seemed on the days leading up to January 6.  Usually, a president's Chief of Staff is also an advisor, an individual the president turns to for an opinion, someone who not only manages the staff but also has the ability to say "hey, prez, that might not be a good idea."  I wonder how long it to Mark to realize that Trump didn't really want a Chief of Staff, that he was instead expected to be a combination lapdog, fanboy who submissively did everything he was told to do.  I don't doubt that shortly into his tenure he decided to just resign himself and accept that position, after all the job paid well.  For those who don't know, Meadows was Trump's 3rd Chief of Staff in less than 4 years, so I'm fairly certain he must have been well aware of his future boss's demands.  This, as well as Cassidy Hutchinson's testimony on his indifferent approach to January 6 pretty much prove he's nothing but a human slug... wait, I have to take that back, that's not being very kind to slugs.

Finally, and not surprising in the least, Ginni Thomas has changed her mind.  Remember when she said she couldn't wait to sit before the January 6 committee and set the record straight?  Now, her attorney is saying that such a sit-down would be irrelevant... oh, and he added that the Thomases are undergoing a lot of stress, death threats, you know?  What did Clarence think was going to happen when he chose to help upset the lives of a large majority of Americans?  I suspect God never told Clarence or Ginni that their future involved such a shit storm.  

The Biggest Loser

 Well, a golly good morning to you all, or afternoon, or evening, or whenever you happen to be reading this.

Yesterday, the sun came out.  The temps stayed cool.  The grass was dry.  I mowed my lawn.  I also weeded among the dahlias and the marigolds.  More is needed, almost daily.  I've heard it said nothing grows like a weed.

I like to use song lyrics in my writing to set the tone of a certain chapter, or to foreshadow what is coming down the road, or to give insight into one or more of my characters.  For example, in The Body in Repose a line from Grandson's song Dirty, "we might not make it till the morning,' did one, or more, of the above so lyrics from that song were used for a chapter that included an alternative music dancercise class.  I don't spend hours a day listening to music to find these lyrics, in fact my world is relatively quiet, though I will sometimes listen to German or Spanish folk music while I'm writing.  With that being said, I'm pleased to say the some of the lyrics from this song have made it into The Body Under Ice (snigger, snigger).  

And, of course, Cassidy Hutchinson provided testimony yesterday and a special January 6 hearing.  While many are saying her revelations were shocking, I have to admit to not being surprised, though I will admit to laughing loudly from time to time.  The throwing of his dinner against the wall?  When she mentioned about helping to clean the ketchup from the walls, I thought, holy Hell, this loser was sitting in a presidential dining room off of the Oval Office eating a Big Mac, and I couldn't help but wonder if his large order fries were on the floor as well.

Mark Meadows came across as being completely detached from reality, spending a lot of time sitting on his couch swiping his way through?  Twitter, maybe?  Or possibly Tinder?  Cassidy didn't specify if he was swiping left or right, so I guess will never know.  The fact that he couldn't personally join John Eastman and Rudy Giuliani in a meeting on the 5th in what was called the War Room is also significant.  

Also significant was that fact that everybody knew the crowd listening to Trump's speech was well armed.  His statement that "they're not here to hurt me," implies he knew whom they were there to hurt.  Knowing this makes his speech to the mob on January 6 nothing more than a call to arms.  The truth is he was willing to do anything to stay in power.  Overturning the election was the only thing he could think of doing.  It was the only thing capable of taking away the burning humiliation of losing the presidency on the world stage.  He has despised losers his entire life, and he was determined to do whatever it took to keep from becoming the biggest.

 

Perry will Plead

 Well, a happy middle of the week to everybody out there.  The weather here in central PA is clear and cool.  Temp is sitting around 47 (F).  Looking out the window in the computer / workout room, I can see a breeze is rustling through the branches of one of the river birches I have planted in my yard.  There is a freeze warning in effect for tonight. For me?  It will, as usual, be a 2-dog night.

Taken a few minutes ago

For a while yesterday, I thought accomplishments might be few and far between, but that wasn't to be the case.  Laundry was done, some yard work, a 12-mile ride on the bicycle, and I froze much of the cake I baked.  Had I not done that, I'd have been picking at it constantly, and by sometime this afternoon a majority would have been eaten.

Have you noticed that as the time approaches for the January 6 committee to begin public hearings, Republican governors and legislatures are ratcheting up their attack laws?  This is not by coincidence.  You see there is this little group down in Washington called the January 6 Committee and they've begun to publicly dot their cross their t's and dot their i's. Barely a day goes by without some news organization publishing texts or taped conversations.  In the darkest part of their hearts, the Republican party is beginning to realize they're on the road to failure.  There is so much anger and hatred being directed at McCarthy right now, it's only a matter of time until he flips.  

And Scott Perry of Pennsylvania?  His texts to Mark Meadows sing the sour notes of mental derangement's score.  The bit about the 'Brits controlling the election,' now, that is a real winner.  Don't tell BoJo that, he'll wonder how they could have screwed up such a wonderful opportunity.  And, how about the bit where he asks Meadows in a text 'why we just don't work with the Italian Government?'  For those of you who don't know, this is what an insurrectionist sounds like.  At present, Perry has refused to talk to the January 6 committee.  He will change his mind.  And when he does, he will plead the 5th over, and over, and over again.

Trailer Trash Royalty

My mini-vacation begins today.  Well, I suppose you could call it a mini-vacation.  I don't have to go to the store.  That's always a good thing.  Even though we're heading into our busy season, I will admit that yesterday, for a Monday, was very slow.  At one point, just like on a late Sunday afternoon, there were probably on 15 customers in the store.

Before I left work, I picked up some dahlias to plant out front.  They will be replacing the tulips.

The window A/C unit I bought for the workout / computer room will be arriving today.  The temps are forecast to stay in the 40's (F), so I'll keep it boxed until later in the week when once again they'll climb into the 50's (F).

And I have to ask, of all the losers who aligned themselves with Trump, am I the only one surprised to find out that Mark Meadows is Trailer Trash Royalty?

For those who don't know, this is the mobile home Mark (I'm really more trashy than I look) Meadows listed on his voter registration as his residence.  This is the North Carolina address he was living at when he voted in the General Election.  His wife was living here, too, when she voted in a run-off election as well as the General Election.  Of course, we know this isn't true.  Of course, being both a conservative and working for the Orange Anus, I don't doubt for a minute that Mark and his wife thought they were 'special.'  This is a terribly large problem with conservatives.  They don't really know their place in the world.  The fact that Meadows, being a crony of corruption, sipped from the Kool-Aid of voter fraud should come as a surprise to no one.  Every cohort of Trump is suspect.

West Side Story

 Well, I have to say my appointment with the UPMC pain management doctor was pretty much of a bust.  I had to wait 40 minutes for him to show up, (I really hate to wait) and when he did there was no 'how are you? where does it hurt? what makes it hurt?'  Nope.  The first thing out of his mouth was "epidurals work for most people."  He almost allowed me to explain what I have been doing to help with the pain before repeating the bit about the epidurals.  Other forms of pain management never entered the conversation.  The appointment taught me quite a lot about how he practices medicine, as well as most of the patients he sees.  I'm supposed to have a follow up 'video' appointment which I will cancel, no use wasting the governments money on this yoyo's horseshit.

On the much brighter side, I went to see  West Side Story last evening.  The movie was very good.  Back when I was in college I had the pleasure of directing the Phi Mu Alpha production, so I'm quite familiar with the show.  This adaption works quite well.  I'm not a big fan of Ansel Elgort, but he hits all the high notes and the part of Tony can be an average tenor's nightmare.  In the original movie version, the song "Cool" was moved to after the rumble.  Singing a song about staying "Cool" after 2 murders just didn't work for me.  In the Spielberg version, as in the show, the song now proceeds the fight and works much better.

My opinion on why it didn't tear up the box office its opening weekend:  Not everybody wants to go see a movie with a sad ending after living through 2 years of a pandemic.  There was also the Kentucky tornado tragedy filling the airwaves.  I do think those had a big effect on the box office.  That being said, sitting in the audience last night, attendance was high, between 40 and 50 for a Tuesday night showing.  My friend turned to me and said, "Dave, there's a whole shit load of people here."  Honestly, I suspect this movie is going to have very long legs.

And, of course, the House of Representatives has found Mark Meadows in Contempt.  I don't know which is getting more press, that little tidbit, or Liz Cheney's reading of desperate texts from January 6.  There are some who are upset that this information isn't being released fast enough, let me remind them that timing is everything.  Some... well, let me rephrase that, quite a few Americans have long term memory issues: they can't remember in November what they heard and read a year earlier.  A big info drop might end up being useless.  Besides, isn't it fun to slowly add salt to the Republican wound?

The 38 page Power Point

I got my haircut yesterday.  Different barber than last time, so there was no heart to heart with the gent who had been in jail several times.  This time a woman cut my hair.  When she found out I worked for the great Orange Box retailer, she launched into a tale of how her mobile home had caught fire:  her kitchen burned.  I smiled to myself as she told me she went to our store in Shippensburg (we don't have a store even close to Shippensburg), and how the employees permitted her use their discount to buy her appliances (we don't get an employee discount).  Thankfully, she was fast with the clippers which cut her story short.

While I was sitting at my desk yesterday, this little lady came up and sat down beside me.  My, isn't her muzzle getting gray?  And her nose is in need of moisturizing nose butter. Both she and Biggie had dry skin and so need to have 'treatments,' always with a biscuit or two.

For those of you who haven't been following the on again, off again relationship between Mark Meadows and the the January 6 committee, it's off... again.  Maybe.  Kind of.  Apparently, after they had officially broken off talks, Meadows handed over a 38 page Power Point Presentation describing in detail how they could overturn the election.  This document was circulated among the privileged Republicans fully supporting Trump.  And now everybody's talking about what's in the details.  In fact, one speculator went so far as to ask why Meadows would turn over something so incriminating.  Personally, I'm thinking that behind the scenes his team is working with the committee to work out a plea deal where he's going to turn State's Witness.  We should start preparing for the naming of names, I think.

This is an interesting complication for the Evangelicals.

Can you Imagine

Okay, today is the first day of the last month of 2021.  Time for me to flip the calendar. 

I walked almost 3 miles on the treadmill yesterday.  Fun stuff.  My mind gets really creative.  How do I know?  I had another one of my different dreams last night.  Very vivid at times.  Suffice to say that someone saying "the town is being invaded by naked robot men," indicates how memorable it was.

Okay, so how odd is this?  The evening I watched Journey to the Center of the Earth, Arlene Dahl, the romantic lead, died. She was 96.  

Yesterday Bob posted something about JK Rowling, here's my 2 cents.  Some people are furious she has not jumped aboard the trans train; they thought she was going to be an ally.  No matter how much it grates the cheese in your heart, she is entitled to her opinion.  It is a fact that three people were so outraged they posted pictures of her address on their individual Twitter accounts, pictures that were retweeted numerous times to who knows how many people.  It is also a fact that they are  being investigated by Scotland Yard.  As a not so gentle reminder, Mark David Chapman, an obsessive fan, discovered where John Lennon lived and shot him four times outside his Manhattan apartment.  Can you even Imagine the blowback the Trans community, and these 3 individuals, would feel if something similar was even attempted on Rowling?  The movement would be set back for decades.  Is that what you want?

On a lighter note, Milky Chance has released a cover of Tainted Love that is so twistedly good.  Sadly, no naked robot men make an appearance.

And finally, I see Mark Meadows is talking to the January 6 committee, albeit through his attorneys, but communication is happening.  I do not doubt for a minute this is because he now realizes the courts are going to give the committee all the communications from the day of the attempted coup.