The Sucker Elbow and other tales of Fisticuffs

 So, is everybody ready for Wednesday?  And it is Wednesday, I checked on my calendar.  Temps are predicted to hit the low 60s (F).  That's amazing when you consider we're only a month (and a few days) away from Winter.  The long range forecast, if it's even close to being correct, is more of the same.

Yesterday was one of those odd days because I kept thinking it was already Wednesday.  I have got to stop taking off Mondays since when I do, I'm a day ahead for the rest of the week.

The milkweed seeds arrived.  They're going to get planted today.  And my gingko leaves are going to get their first raking.  I'm not expecting it to take very long, even though there are literally hundreds of leaves, I'm a fast raker.  Some painting also needs to be done, though when it comes to painting the kitchen I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

And my new TV was delivered yesterday... evening.  Originally it was supposed to arrive in the afternoon, that got pushed back to late afternoon and early evening, finally set at sometime between 4 pm and 7 pm.  One of the reasons I bought it was because included with the delivery was set-up and haul away of the packaging.  Well the delivery guy rang the doorbell, I answered and signed for the TV.  Then I turned and made sure Lily was on the staircase.  When I got back to the open door, I watched as the delivery men drove away, leaving my new, fairly expensive TV on my front porch.  So, it was I who actually carried my new 65 inch TV, into the house, and I who unpacked it, and I who assembled it and put it on my great aunt's Hope Chest.

And the Republican Clown Car got all fisticuffs and elbowy yesterday, didn't they.  Now, I've heard of a sucker punch, but evidently sore loser Kev McCarthy sucker elbowed one of the hardline conservatives who voted him out of power, and in a hallway, no less, and, from what I've heard there was a bit of chase afterwards, but speedy Kev managed to elude his victim.  (Can you hear me laughing?)  And then Bernie Sanders, no less, had to step in to stop a potential fight between Republican Congressman Markwayne (nice name) Mullin and Sean O'Brien, the president of the Teamster's Union.  You see Markwayne (yes, that's his actual name) was upset because Sean Tweeted some snide comments his way, including a picture of Markwayne standing on a box so he appeared much taller than his actual 5 feet, seven inch height.  Yelp, that's right, Markwayne is just a tad taller than tiny Jimmy Jordan, and obviously both of them are assholes.

"Winging it"

 So, I'm writing this entry from the writing laptop down on the desk, rather than the gaming PC.  The weather outside is nice, temps are supposed to climb into the upper 80's today.  We have a 2% chance of rain.  This is a good thing because the drywall for my kitchen renovation is outside.  I really didn't want it taking up space anywhere inside; 4 x 8 foot sheets take up a lot of space.

Demolition is supposed to take place this morning.  I make that sound as though it's going to be a major even.  In reality, the current kitchen cabinet is going to be ripped out.  Drywall is going to be screwed onto the wall behind it, and the new cabinets (including the space for the dishwasher) are going to be installed.  The sink cabinet is a priority, so I can do the plumbing for the new sink.  The dishwasher installation is probably not going to happen until next week, after everything else has been completed.  The flooring installation will be the last thing I do.  I haven't even ordered it yet.

I did take a picture of the pipes beneath the current sink after I'd cut them last evening.  

So, what will I be doing while the contractors are hard at work?  Sitting at my desk working on The Body in Motion.  

Of course, Kev McCarthy got fired yesterday by his party.  Anybody who didn't know this was going to happen when he was elected Speaker of the House is way too naive; this was predictable, except for the obtuse.  The chaos that has ensued is amazing, and adding to this, the Republicans have decided to take the rest of the week off.  That's right, they need to take a break to... try and focus?  Perhaps.  They don't seem to have a plan, so I guess this means they'll be "winging it" until 2024, when a number of them will be voted out of office.  

I did have to laugh at how many Republicans were blaming the Democrats for not saving McCarthy's ass, this was after McCarthy was corrected on CNN on Saturday when he claimed that Democrats had not helped in passing the stop gap measure to keep the government from shutting down.  Like most Republicans, he lied, it was every Democrat voting for that piece of legislation which got it passed.  Maybe if Republicans just stopped lying, instead of being in constant attack mode.  Of course, they've been in attack mode for so long, I doubt if they know who to do anything else.

Why are Republicans so Obtuse

 The arrival of the weekend means I'll be working tomorrow.  That's kind of nice since I now have to recoup more than my kitchen redo expenditure.  

We are in the nice days preceding Autumn, days are comfortably warm and overnight temps are cool, what we like to think of as good sleeping weather.  No rain is in the foreseeable forecast, but Lee is heading up the east coast so we might get a few showers as he skirts on by.

I pulled the old door frame off the doorway from the kitchen to the back porch yesterday.  There will still be a door because it's still unheated.  That will be changed, and eventually a powder room will be installed.  That expense will be an asset.  Buyers like when there are 1 and a half baths.

On my agenda for today is work on the big tank.  I'm also going to move the stove and rip up the vinyl plank underneath it.  That will be replace with the new click-lock vinyl flooring I will install myself.  Now, how handy is that?

Last nights dinner was spicy Italian shrimp with rice.  Very tasty.  There's enough left-over to cover my lunch at work tomorrow.

I'll be honest, I really like it when losers like Kevin McCarthy find themselves in a "lose / lose" situation and it's even nicer when I see he's sharing that same ground with the GOP.  Being in their own little obtuse world, Republicans don't understand that what their base loves goes grates against American Democracy.  Because they've sold their souls to the Spawn of Satan, they are forced to have impeachment hearings without evidence.  They're going to try and shut down the government because they need to hurt the Biden administration simply because he's a Democrat.  This is the same party that wants to eliminate Social Security even though seniors use those monthly checks help to drive the economy.  How did they get so out of touch with America?  I don't doubt for a second it started with Reagan's re-election, when they began lying to themselves that America was silently conservative.  Unfortunately, they will never learn.

The Hippocampus and I

Well lets say a sunny 'hello' to March.  It is bright and sunny here in Central PA.  The temps are supposed to climb into the high 50s (F).  Spring is definitely on it's way... that is until Friday arrives, bringing up to 3 inches of snow.  Of course, they've called for snow a few other times this winter and we got none.

Cosori sent me an email regarding my replacement air-fryer.  They'll be sending me a tracking number.  Sounds good, right?  That's what I thought until I read that it can take 6 - 8 weeks for replacements to arrive.  That's not too good.  Over 2 million units are being recalled, so I guess they're shipping them out as fast as they can make them.

I stayed up late to watch the end of Invasion on Apple TV.  The series started off good but episode after episode it became more and more predictable.  That was just one of several problems.  Another was likeability.  You need to root for the heroes.  Of all the leads, only epileptic Casper was likeable, however when it turned out his epilepsy tuned him into the alien subconscious (?) I couldn't help but say "been there, done that."  

The Washington Post had a interesting article about the aging brain, something I find fascinating because mine is aging.  I do wish they would have delved into creativity a little more.  I have seen that doctors now believe we can go through several spurts of creativity as we age, a really big one when we're young adults, and then another one when we hit our 50s.  I'm no longer in my mid 50s, so I wonder if I might be just a little late on that one.  Another interesting bit was how playing video games seems to stimulate the hippocampus.  I don't know about you, but I had no idea just what the hippocampus does, so I did a little research.

What is the main function of the function of the hippocampus:

The hippocampus is a complex brain structure embedded deep into the temporal lobe.  It has a major role in learning and memory.  It is connected with the amygdala that controls emotional memory recalling and regulation (Schumacher et al., 2018)

I saw where stupid Keven McCarthy is coming under fire for giving that January6 footage to Tucker Carlson.  He claiming it's an exclusive.  Stop laughing.  Fox is, as Bob has said, a Republican propaganda machine.  Old Rupert's political ambitions are restricted in his native Australia, so he takes his ambition abroad.  He has no loyalty to America.  He doesn't care if Americans get hurt, or die, he just wants to tell Americans how to live their lives.  In Trump, he found a useful tool.  However, that tool's no longer giving Rupert the results his dirty, old heart desires.  In fact, that tool broke so badly, Rupert's been injured.  Let's all hope and pray that things turn out for the worst for old Rupert.

Hippocampus is a complex brain structure embedded deep into temporal lobe. It has a major role in learning and memory. It is a plastic and vulnerable structure that gets damaged by a variety of stimuliThat's your bit of science for today.

Dickin' around

 Friday.  I never work on Friday.  It's one of the 3 days of the week I can't be scheduled.  There's no particular reason why I picked this day.  At my age, days of the week and weekends really don't matter.  This doesn't mean they're totally unimportant, merely that there's no reason to prioritize them.

They working on the house next door again.  No one showed up for several days.  Maybe they decided to take a vacation.  Or, more probably, they were waiting for someone with more specialized skills, like a plumber, or an electrician.  They are planning on selling the house once they are finished, so I do hope the plumbing and electrical work are done by qualified, licensed individuals.  It will need to pass a house inspection if they go through a real estate agent.

My last royalty payment from KDP will be posted into my account on the 29th.  Kindle is a great place for fledgling authors who want to self-publish to get their feet wet.  However, care needs to be taken.  You see there are multiple ways to earn royalties.  You can earn royalties when someone purchases your book, that's either the Kindle, paperback, or hardback versions.  And then there's the however.  They have something like a lending library where you can earn a small % every time someone reads a page in one of your books.  They play this up by sending you emails letting you how many $$ millions are in the pot.  However signing up for this library licenses your book to Kindle, meaning you can't publish it anywhere else.  Prince Harry's book will earn him many, many $$$.  For most authors, like myself, the royalties are miniscule, which is why I've pulled my books from the 'lending library,' in order to sell them through Barnes & Noble, as well as Kindle.  On the 30th, the last royalty from the lending library will be deposited into my checking account. Let me share with you a picture of that sizeable fortune.

And now for a funny, Ha Ha moment, at least most people were laughing at this, some, I suppose, dismally.  73% of Americans believe that the Republican House leadership is just... well, dickin' around.  Only 27% think that Kev McCarthy and his team have their priorities in order.  A substantial majority is looking at the George Santos hypocrisy and saying "Kev, stop dickin' around, and kick that liar out."  Unfortunately, Kev needs the vote to get the Hunter Biden laptop investigation off the ground.  Kev prioritizes a committee to investigate the origins of Covid and people scratch their heads and say "Kev, stop dickin' around with shit only 27% of Americans are interested in."  Of course, Kev needs to 'dick around,' if he doesn't the Republican party is going to lose their base.

An even funnier Ha Ha moment:  30% of Republicans want Mike Lindell, the wacked out pilling guy, to run the RNC.  If they were to vote today, he'd win!  Stop Laughing!

Sleeping in the bed you made

 Well, it's not snowing, though the weather map has a blue snow cloud sitting right over my head.  I don't work today, so a little snow, and a little shoveling wouldn't be a bad thing.  That's what we might get, just a little.  Prediction is for possibly 2 inches.  There's a rather large storm system to the west of us, so Pittsburgh is getting hit, but not us.

I spent a little time yesterday packing up my PS4 Pro.  Buying it was a mistake.  I never found the exclusive games Sony was offering that interesting.  I like Sony's TVs, but their gaming? meh.  And since they've released their PS5, the value of a Pro has dropped, meaning I'll see if I can find someone to give it to.

Yesterday was also Tax day.  I used the Online Taxes even though I earned to much, or at least thought I earned too much.  In the end, they said their calculations had me earning less that their maximum adjusted income requirement so it was free.  As usual, I'm getting a rather nice refund, that should pay off the laundry room.

Saw this yesterday and I had to laugh.  Just think, 74 million people voted for this.

As expected, Kev McCarthy is keeping Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell off any and every committee he can.  For those who don't know, this is Republican Retribution.  You see Kev wanted to put disruptors on the January 6 committee and when Pelosi rejected the likes of Jimmy (shower at your own risk) Jordan and Marjorie (I celebrated my divorce by getting a nose job, Taylor Greene) he threw a hissy fit and pulled all the disruptor names.  Schiff and Swalwell's rejection is nothing more than Kev's revenge.

And for those complaining about a lack of indictments against Trump, et al, well Fani says they are imminent.  People need to prepare themselves.  The MAGA cult is not going to take this lightly.  There will be protests, possibly violent.  Conservatives gambled on extremism.  They are bad losers and their radicalism will be on full display for the world to see.  The ramifications will hurt them for years to come.  This is how a political party splinters.  Parts of it will die.  They made their bed, now they have to sleep in it.

Republican Garbage

Good morning, world!  What ever I had yesterday with the headachy, muscle achy, gee, I think it's time for another nap problems are gone.  Perhaps I had the 18 hour flue.  All I did was bake 2 loaves of bread, work on the book, and take naps.  Things were accomplished, but not as many as I wanted.  

One the best films I saw last year was Nope.  Soooo many people either didn't understand, or disliked it because it just didn't rub their horror, science fiction, thriller, drama, comedy buttons the right way.  This scene is just one of the many that impressed me so much.  On the big screen, this was amazing.

They finally began to clean out the house next door.  Lots of junk, garbage, and refuse for the landfill.  I think it might have been cheaper to just rent a giant dumpster, since they since labor form moving out of the house, and then loading it on a truck, is probably going to be pricey.  The stack on the far left, I suspect, is what they think they can sell at a flea market, the rest?  Garbage.

We all know that Republican voters are not the smartest and, unfortunately that can also be said for some Democratic voters as wells as Independent voters.  This is because most of the education they receive in school is, well Garbage.  There are people out there who don't know that a Bill is really nothing more than whole lotta words and has no value until it becomes a law.  So, that bill the Republican house passed yesterday is useless, unless the Senate approves it.  Not likely.  Yet the Republicans will always resort to their lies of 'getting things done.'

And that little subcommittee Jim Jordan has put together in a desperate hope to find out what dirt the DOJ has on him and his fellow insurrectionists is going to fail.  This will be obvious once the indictments begin to fall, and I'm hoping they begin to fall shortly.  The mid-terms are over.  The time is now to start throwing out the Republican garbage.

 

And so it continues

 Friday.  Stayed up late.  Got up early.  I'll probably take a nap sometime this afternoon.  

Yesterday was fine.  I talked to, at best, 3 customers at work.  Tis not the season for flooring installations.  I still have access to the numbers for the district.  All stores are down in revenue.  Very shortly they're going to be cutting part-time hours, no doubt there.  That's why I saved my vacation and my personal time.   

I began watching The Rig last night on Netflix. That and Amazon Prime are the only two networks I can stream.  For some reason, my 7 year old Sony Bravada smart TV is not updating anything.  In fact, I can't even update Google without getting an error message telling me to check my Wi-Fi. Since I don't have cable, I'm dependent upon Wi-Fi, and that's working quite nicely.  Since I mostly use the TV for gaming, my alternative is to sign up for these streaming services using either Microsoft (Xbox), or Amazon.  Believe me, that's a lot less expensive than buying a new TV.

And for anyone who thinks that the Republican shit show is going to go away anytime soon?  Well, that ain't gonna happen.  We're looking at 2 years of dipshitery if McCarthy some how manages to get elected Speaker.  And if he does find a legitimate reason to stay in Nancy Pelosi's office, who knows for how long.  A month maybe?  It seems as though the only thing he hasn't promised those 20 insurrectionists holding the House hostage is his first born son... at least not that we know of.

Oh, and evidently Kevin McCarthy still doesn't have the votes.

And now for a bit of a palate cleanser.  I took this picture inside a Buddhist temple while on a tour around Mt Fuji a long time ago.

Today is also the anniversary of the Insurrection.  Some say the 20 insurrectionists will vote for McCarthy today as way of getting a win to celebrate.  I'd be surprised if they do.  This is not about Kevin and his lack of qualifications, it's about disruption.  It's about creating a stink.  The Democrats are doing quite well by just sitting back, snacking on their popcorn, and voting for Jeffries.  Dragging this out only hurts the Republicans, not that many understand this.  It's up to them to do the right thing.  Nominating a very moderate Republican, one who the Democrats could accept would do 2 things:  1) end this shit shoe; 2) piss the hell out of the 20 insurrectionists.  Will they do it?  We'll have to wait and see. 

Three Times a Loser

 We have fog.  Dense.  Not the sort of thing you want to have to drive through in the dark of night.  Accu-weather sent our warnings.  Sadly, the sun will begin to burn it off... just before the rain arrives.  Yep.  More rain is on the way.  The temps are supposed to climb into the low 60s (F), quite unusual for January.  After today, temps are supposed to cool down and become more seasonal.  For us here in Central PA, that's usually in the mid 40 (F) range.

Yesterday was fairly quiet here.  I worked on the 50 gallon tank for a bit.  Worked on the new book.  Not surprisingly, I decided to throw-out half of a chapter and do a rewrite.  That's how it goes.  Last week I edited out a section where Eli and Bobby have a discussion about the shape of Black Holes.  It was interesting, but had nothing to do with the story.  For those interested, Black Holes are not flat, nor are they convex on concave.  Most of us think of them as being similar to whirlpools, with a spinning edge that sucks everything in.  They're actually sort of pill shaped.

They're working on the house next door.  This is the first time workers have been there during the day, usually it's late afternoon.

And for today's picture, I chose this one, of Kev McCarthy after his 3rd loss.

I don't if any else saw, but Ted Lieu took a bag of popcorn.  Me?  I kept laughing.  Vote after vote, after vote.  The Republican implosion is really beginning to take off.  Part of the problem is the American Freedom Caucus, which the party has let run rampant in the House for years.  Many of them are still aligned with Trump, and are still election deniers.  The fact that he diminishes them is something they will never understand.  Had the Red Wave happened, McCarthy wouldn't have had to deal with them.  Even when the Republicans do manage to elect a speaker, don't expect much to happen.

Jack Smith, who had been waylaid in Europe because of surgery, he'd had a serious biking accident, has quietly returned to the United States.  Prepare for indictments to follow.  With each indictment, the Republican party, and the American Freedom Caucus in particular, is going to implode.  Self-destruction is eminent.  

And, finally, George Santos wandered around inside the capital yesterday.  The first thing that went through my mind when I saw him walking the halls was that he was wearing a sweater.  (Did you hear me laughing?).  The second, and most obvious thing I realized was that no one was talking to him.  He was completely ignored, and I could only wonder what he thought was going to happen.  After all of his lies, did he believe lying Republicans were going to meet him with open arms?

 

Retribution, and Thoughts, and Prayers

 So, tomorrow's Thanksgiving.  This is supposed to be a time when friends and family gather.  Of course, we know that's not going to be happening for a growing number of families.  Yesterday was just another day of the week when it comes to mass shootings.  First there was QClub, now a Walmart.  I haven't seen any Conservatives sending thoughts and prayers yet this morning, but it's only a matter of time.  People will ask what's wrong with America?  The answer is simple.  Conservatives.  They are desperate to dictate how America lives it's lives and they realized a long time ago, the only way this is going to happen is if they build a coalition of disparate groups:  the Evangelicals, the fiscal conservatives, the Qs, and the 2nd amendments loyalists.  In order to keep that coalition together, they try and give these groups everything they want, and always at the expense of others.  This is the only way conservatives can win.  We've started shutting them down, and we must continue because they will never learn.

The electricians were here yesterday.  They were not expecting the surprises a 118 year old home had in store for them, like cross beams in between the studs.  They made more holes.  Those in the ceiling will be fixed by the drywall contractor, who starts this morning.  The ones in the wall?  They are going to have to wait until this spring when I have 1/4 inch drywall installed to cover them, part of the slow kitchen renovation that is taking place.  Those striped throw rugs?  They're covering a window opening that used to look out onto my back porch.

The holes.

And, as you might expect, Kev McCarthy, standing on the boarder, told America that after the Republicans take control of the House, there's a good possibility they will impeach Mayorkas.  The party that can only say 'no' when they're not in power, needs to hand out a little retribution to keep their base happy.  If that retribution happens to benefit them politically, well, so much the better.  Conservatives need their dead horse to kick.  The base loves it.  Retribution helps keep their coalition together.  They need to continue fomenting anger against the party in power.  That and Hunter Biden's laptop; this will be their Benghazi for the next 2 years.

Hello Summer

 So, when I got home from work last evening, I found the butter dish lying on the living room floor.  Licked clean.  Both suspects were happily wagging their little tails when I walked in the door, no compunction there.  This is what happens when you have big dogs who have no problem standing up at the kitchen counter.  Mostly it tends to be Lily.  Biggie is too big to stand on his hind legs for long.

I stepped on the scale this morning to see what my Summer Weight was and saw the price I'm paying for all of those damn sugar cookies.  And when I got to work yesterday, I discovered several more boxes were waiting for my addiction.  And I'm not talking about the teeny-weeny sugar cookies you buy at your supermarket; I'm talking about PA Dutch sugar cookies.  They're a lot like little cakes.  

Outside, the skies are overcast.  We've got a 50% chance of rain today.  That goes up to 80% tomorrow.  Last year we had a fairly wet summer.  Predicting the weather has always been iffy, though if we get another wet summer next year, I'd have to say rainy summers are trending.

I was watching to see if Republicans would condemn Eric Greiten's decision to sell MAGA licenses to hunt RINOs in a political ad and did not see many congressional representatives speaking out.  This party keeps veering sharply to the extreme right.  Look at Texas wanting to secede from the United States.  This is what happens when you have a bunch of fools trying to put their single cell brains together.

Evidently Trump is whining about Kevin McCarthy's decision to pull Republican representation from the January 6 committee.  I'm fairly certain he thought it a smart move back when the committee was being set up, when he thought his stupid attempt at a coup was well hidden.  There is a reason why this man takes so many to court, he makes a lot of terrible decisions and then tries to blame someone else.

And finally, I saw where Mike Pence has said he has never known anyone to lie as much as Joe Biden.  Stop laughing!  Seriously, should we put any credence in what's being said by a man who looks like he's still auditioning for Stranger Things?

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.

Great Adventures

 Well, my weekend has begun... and I slept in until 0600 even though I went to bed at my regular time.  I had an odd dream, too, dreaming that a loud noise outside woke me up.  Looking out the front window, I saw construction workers digging up the sewage lines; my neighbor's yard and most of the street had been dug up and they were beginning to work on my yard.  Going downstairs, I realized my the living room and dining room had been torn away.  Asking a construction worker what was going on, I was told they were just doing their jobs.  I went back upstairs and began packing a large, green backpack knowing I was going on a Great Adventure, and I was happy with that.  And then I woke up.

Anyway, today's going to be chock full of chores.  There's already the bread machine is kneading it's way through a loaf of Italian bread.  As always, there are both laundry and lawn work needing to be done.  The temps are supposed to go up to a toasty 88 (F) this afternoon.  I'm sure when I step out onto the front porch I'll hear the cicadas singing.

A big change starts at work today.  When we do our 'health check' before we punch in, a 6th question has been added.  "Are you fully vaccinated?"  From today on, those of us who have been Pfizerized, or Modernad, or have been pricked by the real Johnson & Johnson, have the option of wearing a mask or not.  I will most likely option out.  Some of those I talked to said they will still continue to wear them.  I opted not to remind them we were not wearing masks to protect ourselves, rather their intention was to protect others should we become infected.  For many, however, masks have become a security blanket of sorts.  That is perfectly fine.  If they make you feel comfortable and safe, wear one.  For me?  This might be part of my Great Adventure.

And, speaking of Great Adventures, I saw where the probe into the Trump Organization has now turned into a Criminal Investigation.  Looks like 'the donald' is going to be enjoying his own Great Adventure.  Prepare yourselves, he's going to start holding his hate rallies in June.  Anyone with even the slightest grasp on reality knows he's going to call his adventure The Great Witch Hunt (pt 2).  And the House is going to vote today to form a commission to investigate January 6.  This means quite a number of Congressmen, including Kevin McCarthy are going to begin their own Great Adventures.  Believe me when I tell you, a good time will not be had by all.

Cheap Republicans

 Okay, so I assembled my new computer desk yesterday... in only 4 hours.  I had anticipated 2 maybe, however that was before I realized you needed to use a tiny allen wrench to tighten every screw.  

The tiny wrench and one of the 2 inch screws

No fast screwing here.  The keyboard tray was not installed because, following the instructions, when it's in place there's no way to tighten the locks holding the desktop in place.  Of course, I now realize I don't need the tray, the shelf works simply fine.  This is what you get when you choose to purchase a piece of  'inexpensive' furniture.  The simple truth is not to believe you're going to get quality when you go cheap.  Those who think 'cheap' is good lie to themselves.  Time will only continue to make the inexpensive less valuable.

I was planning on a ride or run yesterday, sadly neither happened because it took so long to put together my new desk.  I did make some meatballs for a soup I'm making in the new Instant Pot.  Three minutes cooking time.  Now, that's nice.  

Evidently there was some sort of on camera brush-up between McCarthy and Cheney in regard to our failed president speaking at CPAC and his future involvement with the party of failures.  I didn't watch any of the clips, but plenty of people were talking about it.  There is so much seething anger within that party.  Seriously.  You see, like their one time president, they have continuously told themselves they were winners.  This is why so many of them believe the Big Lie.  In their minds, if the Big Lie was truth, then they are not only losers, they are extreme failures.  This is why many of them will take their belief in the Big Lie to their deathbeds.  To believe otherwise is crushing.  Like inexpensive furniture, you get what you pay for and not much else.   

Speaker of the House = Dead End Job

And that's the truth.  You're not going to use the position to balance power, nor are you not going to be able to use it as a springboard into a more powerful position.  Being Speaker of the House is worse then being a snake wrangler dealing with a burlap bag full of cottonmouths... not that there's any cotton in their mouths.  You see the Tea Party branch of the GOP, for some reason only the stupid know, decided to remove the word 'compromise' from their vocabulary.  In fact things have gotten so bad they can't have a decent conversation among themselves.  All they want to do is demand and blame.  Kevin McCarthy (not the actor), the presumptive Speaker stepped in a pile of shit when he admitted Benghazi was nothing more then a ruse to attack Clinton.  OOPS!

Dolt on the run

Now he's practically on the running to save his political career.  And any smart politician would think twice before applying for the position since no one is going to be able to rein in the crazies on the far right.  In fact, I have no doubt, that the party has, indeed, achieved escape velocity and is no spiraling out towards Jupiter... or maybe Saturn.  This is how a political party dies.  Messy, ain't it?