AI Mitch

Our afternoon temps got up to 91 (F) yesterday, that's much warmer than predicted.  According to the thermometer our outside temp is 68 (F).  The forecast is the same as yesterday's with a high in the mid 80s (F).  Will that happen?  Probably not.  We have another mini heatwave coming our way.  Tomorrow's highs are supposed to be in the 90s (F), with Wednesday topping off in the low 100s (F).  I suspect this summer is going to be a real cooker.

Yesterday was, as expected, rather boring.  Sundays are usually a full shift for me at the giant, orange, home improvement retailer, but yesterday I was only scheduled for 6.5.  Business was slow.  Some customers wandered in looking for something specific, but there were very few browsers.  Those that did make their way back to the flooring department told me the same thing:  "I'm just starting the process."

I'm not going to the training session down in Maryland.  The store specialty associates are all going down on Tuesday, August 4, and my availability specifically says that I don't work on Tuesdays.

My Trainwell subscription is not  going to be renewed at the end of July.  I've found that the texts I get from my trainer are not as much of an incentive as they once were.  I have the routines down, so paying $550 for 3 months of "at a boy's" doesn't seem to be a wise expense.

So, so many people believe this picture of Mitch and his wife Elaine is AI generated.

Besides the fact that, if this is real, he's had some work down with fillers, people have zoomed in on the  newspaper he's holding and discovered the photo is from a football game in Florida and is dated in 2006.  I guess 20 years ago, Mitch wouldn't have had nearly as many wrinkles as he does today.

There was a laughable headline in the Washington Post about some Republicans are beginning to feel positive about the midterms, in spite of the war with Iran and the rising prices.  This means, I suspect, that the Washington Post is using the same AI generator as the Kentucky GOP.

The big problem with the Republican party is that they are truly living in a land of delusion.  Reality is being kept at an arm's length away... well, maybe they're keeping reality 2 arm's length away.  No matter what the difference, they are so out of touch with the world they are setting themselves up for a terrible fall.  The total collapse of their party is essential for America's survival.  They will sacrifice themselves upon the alter of stupidity simply because they cannot live in a world where they are not in charge.

 

Processing Mitch

The thunderstorms predicted for yesterday turned out to be a smattering of showers, nothing else.  We have the same forecast for today, however, the odds of us getting rained on are much lower.  Right now, we have sunshine outside and a temp of 72 (F).  I do work this afternoon, so it doesn't make a difference to me if we get rain or not.

I do get to work for the next 3 days, though the hours are shorter than the normal.  I'm down to about 18 hours a week.  Next week it's only 16.5.  The only real problem with this is that I was hoping to pay off my car by November, now it looks as though I'm going to have car payments until January.  Once my school taxes are paid off in August, I shouldn't have anymore large payments until spring of next year when my real estate tax is due, so I'll have to see how much extra I can plop onto  the principle after that.

Yesterday afternoon I went for a nice ride along a canal in France.  The ride was very flat.  My trainer pointed out that I'm picking up my speed to get my heart rate up rather than climb hills.  I'm fine with this.

For those interested, the fictional events in The Body in the Words will be taking place in Ballyseamus, which is near Ballymena, which is a short 35 minute ride from Belfast International Airport.

Will wonders never cease!  It looks like I found Mitch!

So, a housing bill became law last night after the Orange Anus failed to veto the legislation.  He came out against it, said that it was stupid and claimed that his Save Act was much more important, yet he failed to stop it.  I'm thinking he didn't veto because someone told him that the bill was bipartisan and that Republicans needed so notch up some sort of win before the midterms.  It isn't going to work.  Gas prices are still going up for Americans, and with those higher prices, well, everything else is going to be getting more expensive.  At least here in the United States.  I understand that the EU has entered into negotiations with Iran since they shouldn't be processed by what our nut doodle is doing.

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Translations

Outside it's 67 (F) and misty, drizzly.  Inside, there is high humidity.  This is going to last through much of the day with an occasional shower popping up to make things damper than they already are.  Tomorrow we might get to see the sun.  I'm hoping so.  Then I can get out my "saw on a stick" and cut up the branch that was torn from a tree behind my house.

And yesterday was pretty meh here in Central PA.  I called the store to see if they had electricity; they didn't.  That meant the computers were still down, so I took a personal day.  I was told that they were very busy.  Translation:  we're not going to pay you to sit at your desk doing nothing, so we'll put you to work in another department, like garden, or electrical, or.... I'm sure you get the picture.  

Since my left knee is going through a wrinkly stage, my workout is now focused on my upper body.  I'll still be doing my rides, but they're going to be long and flat.  Translation:  I'll soon be looking at pecs and biceps in the mirror.

My brother and his wife got there electricity back last evening.  He sent me a long text this morning about a number of things.  One thing he mentioned was that he'd seen George Washington and that it was put out by Angel Studios.  He evidently thought Angel Studios was Christian.  So, I corrected him.  Angel Studios is owned by 2 Mormons, and while they do put out faith-based films, they also release a lot of films that are not faith-based.  In fact, Angel Studios has a reputation for being very diverse, two words conservatives simply despise.  My brother's response:  I'll have to research this.  Can you hear me laughing.

So, the Orange Anus tried to cheat a win for the American Men's Soccer Team and in doing so, did what he does best.  Easy translation:  He lost.  The American team lost.  And now the entire world is talking about the Trump Curse.  And the Belgium team that shellacked our ass?  They did the Trump jerkoff dance.

Graham Platner needs to drop out of Maine's senatorial race now.  Accepting the taint of an allegation makes us too much like Republicans.  

So, will Mitch McConnell admit that he's brain dead?  There's a good possibility, though don't rule out the Republican party trying to keep this a secret until early August when the need to have a Special Election will have past.  The GOP has no integrity.  No morals.  They cheat with the best. Translation:  They mirror their president to a T.

We're going to be cookin'

The skies are overcast here in Central PA.  We had a lot of drizzles yesterday, but nothing even coming close to a steady, soaking rain.  The  clouds are supposed to clear this afternoon.  Temps are supposed to begin warming up.  Boy, are they supposed to begin warming up.  By the end of this week our temps are going to be stinkin' hot.  When I looked at the long range forecast, I had to take a moment.  Trying to remember, I don't think I've ever seen a forecast with highs this... high.  We've already had a heat wave with temps grazing around the 100 (F).  These temps are going to be even hotter.

I got a decent workout in yesterday.  I also finished the first chapter of The Body in the Words.  Style-wise, more changes are going to be happening with this book.  

I also worked yesterday.  They've started doing what they call a "lead table" again.  Yesterday they were trying to bribe customers with a hot dog.  If they sign up to have someone talk to them about having a major home improvement done, they got a free hot dog.  Basically, you're wasting an hour of your time standing there talking to no one.  Still, someone in corporate thinks this is a good idea.

And for those wondering, here's our long range forecast.

And one of the things I find particularly sad is that conservatives, so desperate to force a conservative authoritarian government on America saw Russia as a good example of how they should do it.  And now Russia is falling apart.  Imagine, believing Putin's line of propaganda for 26 years only to find out that it was nothing more than horseshit.  What are conservatives going to now?  Why, fail of course.  They've always been failures as human beings, and now they're going to do it in a spectacular fashion on the world stage.

To end on an amusing note.  A lot of people are beginning to believe that Mitch McConnel has died and they're keeping a lid on that fact.  If it were made public, Andy Bashear, the governor of Kentucky, might replace him with a Democrat.  Ouch!

Transitioning

Well, we did have storms last evening.  Not the serious thunder boomers we had been warned about, but steady rain for a few hours overnight.  We still have a bit of humidity hanging around, but temps are going to be cooler, with today's high in the mid 70s (F).  We should have this cool weather for the next 3 or 4 days.

I did work yesterday.  It was my long day.  Eight hours.  And it was slow.  I did have to spend about 15 minutes explaining to a woman what a square yard is.  You would be surprised at how many people have problems with square feet.  They simply can't wrap their heads around a very basic formula:  length in feet x width in feet equals square feet.  This is basic math... well, maybe a tad more difficult than addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.  Seriously, they will stand there with a phone in their hand and say  "you do it."  This is grade school arithmetic.  How do these people function.

Because it was super hot last Thursday and there was a heat advisory, I called off.  When I checked my timecard this morning, I saw that I was short 6 hours and once again they processed a "no call, no show" against my attendance.  So I sent an email to the store manager telling him that I would like the issue resolved by the time I get to work this afternoon.

Later this morning, I'm going to download Mozilla FireFox onto this laptop so I can The Body in 4/4 Time for copyright.  This is a minor pain in the butt.

So, Mitch McConnell is in the hospital.  I thought he was in for some possibly health related issues.  Then this picture leaked and I realized he was transitioning.  Honestly, this should not come as a surprise to anyone.

And the Orange Anus did have his white trash UFC even last evening, and again, this should not come as a surprise to anyone, he fell asleep.  Even though the administration released a video showing tens of thousands in attendance, main stream media is saying the number was around 4000 "Celebrities and military personnel."  Remember, tickets weren't selling so that "military personnel" is covering a lot of seats.

We also should have expected that the ceasefire Orangie announced is in all actuality nothing more than a "framework" for a ceasefire.  Even though he comes up with a lot of concepts and frameworks, the art of the deal very rarely puts in an appearance.  There is a fairly good likelihood that this framework will fall apart because it depends on Israel to stop bombing Lebanon.  And Bibi?  He can't do that.  Once pease settles down in the area his corruption trial will proceed, and the last thing he wants is to dress his ass up in an orange jumpsuit and spend the rest of his life in jail.

Howie Loves It

 Today's going to be our last day of our temps climbing high enough to break past the freezing barrier.  Beginning tomorrow, we'll be starting another week of ice box weather.  However, rather than have a week that the temps can't get out of the teens, we're only going to get one day.  According to the long range forecast, starting on, or around, February 11, we will be enjoying much more moderate temps.

Yesterday was fairly good.  A loaf of bread was baked.  I cleaned.  Did laundry. Got in a decent workout.  All in all, for a Tuesday.  The only fly in the ointment, so to speak, was I went to my Giant supermarket and left my wallet at home.  I haven't done that in, oh... about 4 years.  During the winter I'm usually found at home wearing sweat pants.  While they do have pockets, I don't carry my wallet around with me, it's always on the sideboard.  Yesterday, I left it sitting on the sideboard.  Lucky for me, my neighborhood Giant is only 5 minutes away.  Still, it was a bother having to come for my wallet to pay for my groceries.  

Being the experimental culinary type, I sometimes take chances when I'm in the kitchen working on dinner.  Yesterday, I gambled that I could make a meat loaf using both ground turkey and ground beef.  While my brain thought that they might be compatible, in truth, they were not.  Blah!  It's not that it's inedible, or that the flavor's truly bad, it just simply Blah.  On a positive note, Howie loves it.  He had some for dinner last evening, and some for breakfast this morning, and there are two servings sitting in the refrigerator for him.  

Mitch McConnell is in the hospital.  Don't start cheering yet, wait a few days and see if God's going to send him to hell, or curse the Senate again.  History is not going to be kind to Mitch.  If being a conservative wasn't bad enough, he was a party man to the core.  Vote Republican.  Vote Republican.   Vote Republican.  No matter how truly vile the bill, not matter how unqualified the cabinet candidate, if the individual was a Republican they were guaranteed to get Mitch's vote.  He is the reason the Orange Anus was not impeached after his first term.  He voted to keep the Orange Anus safe because that would have been a vote against a Republican, and for Mitch that would have be the worst kind of treason.  It was never country first for him, always party first. He is truly an abysmal human being.

And what ever is in the Epstein files that haven't been released must be truly terrible.  Orangie wants to move on.  That ain't gonna happen.  If the Republican party wants to have even the tiniest bit of showing at the midterms,  they should shut him up and keep him out of sight until November.  That will never happen.  His cultists need to see and hear their false god.

Blair Mitch

 And so, a new week begins.  

Yesterday the day was sunny and the temps climbed into the mid 60s (F).  It was such a nice day, such a shame that I had to work.  Today's going to be the same thing, at least for  most of it, but then clouds are going to roll in.  For the rest of the week temps are predicted to be in the mid 50s (F) and we're supposed to have rain.  Of course, those are the days I'll be off.

And, as I said, I did work yesterday, and it was slow in the afternoon.  Very slow.  I had thought the warm and sunny weather might begin to bring out the lawn and garden customers, but it didn't.  I guess people are beginning to realize that early March is still... well, too early to begin planting.  One of the things I did during all my free time, was wander through the garden department.  One of the things I noticed was that the price of dahlias has gone up.  Last year you could buy 4 for $12, this year their costing 2 for $10.  What a shame everybody feels they're allowed to be greedy.

My neighbors were very quiet when I got home from work last night.  There was a half hour period during which I could hear a radio playing, but then that was silenced.  I'm planning on having a little chat with her tomorrow.

As I was wasting time at work yesterday, this caught my attention.  I think this would be a fairly funny movie: the Blair Mitch Project.

It's possible that today we might hear from the Supreme Court regarding Colorado's decision to take Trump off of the ballot.  This should be interesting.  I had thought that they'd refuse this and then rule that he wasn't immune.  Instead, they played party politics with the immunity, which means they're going to treat the ballot issue the same way.  

And, what about Nikki Haley winning in DC.  There are rumors that she's doing fairly well in Virginia, as well.  I wonder if she realizes that if Trump begins to see her as a threat her life might be in danger.  He might go too far in emulating his Bro Blow Vlad and and Nikki might accidently fall out of a window, or eat a ricin poisoned sandwich.

Floored

 Well, it's sunny today.  Yesterday, as almost everybody knows, it was overcast, rainy, and windy.  Overnight, the temps dropped down to the low 30s (F), and today's high is expected to be in the low 40s (F).  So, while it bright and sunny outside, it's a bit on the cool side.  

I had planned on getting in a fast walk on the treadmill, and a couple thousand meters on the rower yesterday.  That didn't happen.  Instead, I spent the entire morning and early afternoon finishing off the kitchen floor.  I like it.  Lily doesn't.  I had path her way to the back door with area rugs.  She'll get used to it. I think it looks great.  White quarter round, and almond colored cove base are the only things left to do, and that shouldn't take long.  Though, it won't happen today.  I need to buy those things first from my local orange home improvement store.

And, speaking of the orange home improvement store that I work at, Corporate has finally come out and said that Americans are no longer interested in large home renovations.  In fact, both orange and blue home improvement have come admitted this publicly.  This is a problem of their own making.  In fact it's a problem for all retailers who failed to grasp the fact that increasing prices in order to hit their profit goal with cost them in the end.  Prices are beginning to come down.  The American consumer is not going to bend blindly to corporate greed.

Here's what my floor looks like.

And like everybody else in the country, I was floored by yesterday's Supreme Court decision.  We now have proof that not only are they corrupt, but they're gutless has Hell.  Common consensus was that a guilty verdict in any of Trump's Federal cases would have killed his chances for getting elected in November.  Now those Federal cases are on hold, probably until 2025.  This is what the Orange Anus wanted.  But it does more.  Had the Court said he wasn't immune, Conservatives would have blamed them, this decision to delay things gets them off the hook, at least in their minds.  Now, if Trump loses in November, it's his fault and his alone.  

And there was some bright stuff yesterday.  Trump tried to play let's make a deal by offering to pay $100 million of his $454 million fine and got rejected.  Mitch McConnell is going to step down at the end of his term, which is in 2027.  I'm betting he doesn't make it.  He'd like to go out on a high note and instead he'll end up proving how big of a failure he is.

Living to 100

 Friday has arrived with some much cooler temps.  Right now it's 53 (F) outside, but fear not for a warming trend is going to start tomorrow that will take our temps up into the middle 90s (F).  Right now the weathermen are forecasting a high of 97 (F) on Tuesday, so prepare yourselves because now that we're in September, every ying yang out there is going to begin shrieking Indian Summer. 

Much was accomplished yesterday:  weight training, as well as a bike ride.  I have a goal of 300 minutes of serious activity to hit each week; eighty minutes was done yesterday.  More will be done today.  I did have a bit of a scare after the kettlebell workout since my lower spine wasn't used to flexing in all the directions in which I needed to move.  Now that my schedule has been normalized again, I'm back to my old regime.  Also, now that school has started, I'm thinking of activating my membership at Planet Fitness.

The New York Times has done a big write-up on Starfield, not a review, but an expose on the game's development.  Other reviews are coming in and I haven't seen a bad on yet.

I did watch The Blue Zones, a documentary on Netflix and found some of it rather fascinating, especially since I've decided to live to be 100.  While there are quite a few things we can do to enrich and extend our lives, there are things we cannot change, one of the most important is our DNA.  It does help to have long lived individuals in your family.  That's something Dan Buettner fails to mention, not a word is mentioned about living siblings, or how old they were when they died.

Lots of people are talking about Zombie Mitch, and how he loses total focus at times when he's speaking.  While we've seen 2 episodes while he's speaking, but who knows how many episodes happen daily when the he's not in the public's eye.  I'm betting 2 might be just the tip of the iceberg.  One of these days he's going to have one big stroke rather than the minis we're seeing, and even then I doubt if he'd resign.

Funny thing about Trump's Georgia indictments is that every one of the defendants is trying to sever themselves, rather than have one huge trial.  Trump wanted to delay his, stupidly thinking he's going to be re-elected, while Sidney Powell, and others, are pushing for a speedy trial.  A speedy trial means a lot of the information is put into the public eye, which means Trump's going to claim he can't get a fair trial because people will have already made up their minds.  Isn't it nice to know he's in a no win situation?

 

Compassion

 Thursday.  Temps are predicted to be about 2 degrees (F) higher than yesterday which was 92 (F).  For those who are prepared to whine, I hate to tell you but that's a normal summer temperature for Central PA.  We haven't hit 100 (F) yet.  It's also normal for our temps to climb that high.  Tomorrow we're suppose to reach the upper 90s (F), but then the Fahrenheit is forecast to drop back for daily highs in the mid 80s (F)

Yesterday was one of those days of accomplishments I'm happy with.  Weight training, a bike ride, cleaned the living room aquarium, and words written on the new book.  I also managed to move to another level on Star Wars: Jedi Survivor.  I'm always pleased to advance.

Hopefully, sometime this morning I'll get my front lawn mowed.  It's pretty tall, and if we get more rain it's just going to get taller.  The last thing I want to do is get out my weed wacker to cut it low enough so I can mow.

Here's a picture of one of my roses.  They're starting to bloom again, but for some reason all of them are smaller than before.  It's a little blurry, but that doesn't effect the bright color at all.

In case you hadn't heard, Hunter Biden's plea deal fell apart yesterday.  For a while the Republicans were whooping with glee, that was until Mitch McConnel had TIA in public.  All of a sudden, Hunter Biden was old news.  I've watched the clip a few times of him freezing up mid-sentence and it's really weird.  I'd truly feel sorry for the man, but I suspect this is all part of his Karma.  I was pleased to see that Biden called him to see if he was alright; that's todays Republicans would never do.  In fact, it's being pointed out how when Biden tripped over a sandbag he took the brunt of substantial mockery from Republicans, while with McConnell Democrats are offering concern and consideration and compassion.

Will today be indictment day?  

Divide and.. what?

 Okay, so it's Thursday and hump day was rather slow.  The weather was again rather brisk.  I know, I was buffeted by 20 mile per hour gusts as stood by the gas pumps filling my car's gas tank.  Right now it's sunny outside.  That will pass.  Clouds will soon be sweeping into Central Pa as another storm moves our way.  This one might be blustery enough to give us an inch of snow... the definitive words being 'might be.'  

I do get to work this afternoon.  Whether the store will be busy or not is difficult to say.  The weather will have some say in the matter, but not as much as it will this weekend.  We're approaching spring and people should be getting itchy about working in their lawns.  Me?  I want a nice day when I can rake up the winter's detritus; leaves and sticks have been partying outside the fence for too many months now.

After playing Atomic Heart for a few weeks, I found myself bored to tears.  Same old, same old quests with just slight variations.  The good thing is that I got it through Game Pass, the XBox subscription service so I didn't spend money on it.  Being bored, I bought Hogwart's Legacy, downloading it last night.  I've never been a big Harry Potter fan, though this game takes place 100 years before Harry's saga begins.

I saw that old Mitch McConnell fell.  At 81, he's considered elderly.  His bitter, brittle bones bounce badly at that age.  And he is bitter.  His legacy has been terribly tainted by Trump.  Of course, he's always been a staunch defender of greed, so I don't think his legacy was too good to begin with.

Kev McCarthy left Marjorie Tayler Greene in charge of the House yesterday.  This must have been part of the agreement he made with her to get her to vote for him.  If my memory servers me correctly, this was the 2nd time since he's been Speaker of the House.  While this may endear him to her base, every time he does so her stupidity embarrasses him.  Under her guidance, the House passed a resolution to visit the jailed January 6 insurrectionists... in jail.  She wants to be divisive.  It's part of the Republican plan to divide and conquer America.  (Can you hear me laughing?)  In order for that to work, they need to convince a large portion of the Majority to believe Republican talking points.  They have no idea that at this point, all they're doing is talking to the base.  Everybody else is growing more and more angry that these dumb bricks managed to have themselves voted into a slim majority.  I believe it was Biden who said that Greene's stupidity is the best thing to happen to Democracy.

 

Don't we have enough trees?

Well, my mid-week weekend has begun.  For some reason, I seem to get more accomplished on a Tuesday and Wednesday then I did when my weekends were the standard Saturday and Sunday.  Perhaps the idea of not working has become so ingrained with those 2 days I usually end up frittering away the hours rather than get anything done.

One the things getting done today is a trip to the bank.  I closed out an old 401K I'd had with the orange retailer I work for, and the check arrived Saturday.  The taxes have already been taken out, so it will be deposited into the regular savings account.  Since taxes are always going to be deducted, I figured the Federal Government might as well get their money now.

Another thing I need to do is call the Vet and make an appointment for Biggie.  He needs his wellness checkup.  I was going to put that off until November because they want him to fast (like that's really going to happen) so they can check his sugar.  But yesterday morning he developed a dry cough and since he is approaching his senior years, I want to get him check out.

I found a better picture of Max Sullivan, the namesake of the smartass in my books.  It's old and grainy, but it's easy to see the smartass in him.  

And, of course, we had a bumper crop of Trump horseshit yesterday.  He wants a 'master' to review the documents he stole for espionage's sake.  This is what he's done his entire life, sue to stop or delay the proceedings, or to simply just attack.  Media outlets seem to have finally understand they need to call his lies... well, lies.  Calling them unsubstantiated falsehoods is one of the definitions of failure.  One thing that is fascinating about his lawsuit, is that it's Per Se, which means he is going to argue the case himself rather than have his attorneys in front of a judge.  Either they didn't want to touch it, or he believes himself to be a more convincing liar.  Also keep in mind, this will also endear him even more to his MAGA base.

Also, McConnell sort of, well, kind of went on the attack saying there was no election fraud, or rather he said the was very little election fraud.  This was after Florida taxpayers spent $3.9 million so Ronnie De Santis could give them 20 instances.  Keep in mind, those incidents did not include the Republican fraud that happened in The Villages.

And, finally, this bit of political hilarity.  From the Washington Post: Which Republican candidate is the worst?   Who do you think?  While many believe Oz is the most incompetent?  "His across-the-board incoherence remains unmatched," says a lot.  And I do believe this was before Walker, talking about Climate Change, said "don't we have enough trees?"

Damage Control

 Today is Lily's Birthday!  Nine years old!  Like Biggie, who has arthritis in his hips, she too has started taking her time sitting down, so one of her presents this morning was 1/4 dose of his doggie nsaid.  Later this afternoon, the real celebrating will begin with cake and ice cream.  Vanilla all around.

And yesterday was another day of accomplishments!  Productivity.  Chores that need to be completed are getting done.  One that desperately needed to be started and finished was the trimming of my holly shrub out front.  I've been putting it off for so long mostly because I didn't want to stand on a ladder using the trimmer.  But... now it's fully trimmed, and there are 5 bags of trimmings sitting on my front porch.  Once a month the township does lawn waste pick-up, they will disappear then.

The shrub

Bet you'll never guess where I bought these bags!

I'm almost half-way through my five-hour walk of Pompeii. One of the many things I've learned: the town wasn't completely covered by the eruption, so after it was over survivors and looters went back and broke through the roofs.  They were evidently very polite, because after they'd gotten what they could, they'd paint "house dug" on the building so no one would waste their time looking for things that had already been taken.

And things have been quiet on the political scene.  Sort of.  That ass wipe Mitch McConnell did fart out something on how it looked as though the Republicans were not going to retake the Senate.  He's blaming it on unqualified candidates, you know, the ones Trump endorsed.  As for retiring, it seems as though that comment he'd made about not wanting to be Minority Leader was (no surprise here) a lie.  

Oh, and there is the possibility of a redacted section of the affidavit used for the search of Mar a Lago might be released.  Republicans want this.  They believe it will strengthen their hand.  Of course, they never thought the DOJ would release a list of the contents recovered.  I'm betting something will dribble out possibly by the end of next week, or the beginning of the following week and once again they will be running around doing damage control.

Lessons

 Well, we are now halfway through the Memorial Day weekend.  The temps here in Central PA are supposed to climb into the mid 80s (F).  The Central Air is on in the house.  We are heading into a mini heatwave with temps predicted to rise into the mid to upper 90s for most of the week.  Since I'm off most of the week, that's fine with me.  My lawn needs to be mowed thanks to all of the rain we've been having.

As usual, they're providing snacky things over the weekend, today it's 'make your own sundae' and there's freshly popped popcorn.   There's a cookout scheduled for tomorrow: standard hot dogs and hamburgers cooked on a grill behind the store.  Covid ended the cookouts, now they're back.

Business at the flooring desk was slow yesterday.  We were fully staffed and most of us ended up pretty much pissing the time away.  Not that our specialty manager did show up from time to time urging us to find some busy work.  He wants us to be aggressive salespeople, so he looks good.  We gently ignore.  The decision was made to give free measures this weekend, they usually cost $35, but that's deducted when you purchase your install.  People weren't buying it, even for free.

Here's an old picture of Lily.  Ain't she just the cutest little lady?

A few days back I mentioned how the Republicans were again hinting that they might be open to some form of gun control, and that it was as fake as it ever was.  This morning, the Washington Post said the same thing, however they put the blame on McConnell.  The terrible truth is the Republicans have a base that will always vote Red as long as the GOP stops gun control in its tracks.  Those voters are a sure thing.  There's no way they are ever going to do anything to lose those votes.  That group alone, however, is not nearly enough to get Republicans elected to office.  The time has come to teach them a lesson.

Not True

 Happy Mother's Day!  Just think, if the Republicans get their way there will be so many, many more of you!

Here in Central PA the rain has stopped! The forecast was for between 3 and 5 inches.  Up here in Enola, we definitely got at least 5.  I know this because I had water in my basement.  For those who don't know, my basement is like a dry riverbed in Arizona, when we get a lot of rain it floods, and because I have a 117-year-old stone foundation, and because not level (higher in the back, lower in the front), water will run in from the back and out at the front.  Literally, a stream runs through it.

And in spite of the rain, I was busy at work yesterday.  People bought carpet installations. A customer asked to sign up for a credit card (I never ask), I got a measure, and I had a $4000 sale.  Management should be happy with me for at least a week.  

Today, breakfast is healthy.

I saw where Mitch McConnell said, "there may be a nationwide ban on abortion."  He believes this because he also believes that these midterms are going to follow the same route other midterms have followed: since the Democrats won the presidency, the Republicans will pick up seats in the House and Senate.  Conservatives have always believed their own lies, and there are a lot of them.  Like their belief, proven by Reagan's landslide reelection) that there is a massive, silent majority of conservatives in America.  Not true.  Otherwise, wouldn't need to rely on the electoral college to put someone in the oval office.

They believe Americans suffer from short term memory loss, that the events of January 6 will have little or no effect.  Not true.  Even though they continue to downplay that attempted coup, Republicans like Tom Rice are speaking out in debates against Trump.  If you get a chance, watch that little video, it's gotten hundreds of thousands of views in just a few hours.

They believe Americans will forget comments such as the one Amy Coney Barrett made in her brief defending the overthrow of Roe v Wade, that as a country we need "a domestic supply of infants."  Not true.  Their religion does not allow them to believe that women are not vessels, they're not cattle, and they are not breeders, but human beings, each with a mind and a will of her own.

This morning, as I was reading McConnell's comments in my Newsweek feed, the inference was made that his and other Republicans beliefs were no longer a certainty, that they were no longer insured to take back both the House and Senate.  This is true.  The midterm results so far are not a joyful celebration of their return to power, rather they decry the struggle Republicans will face just to keep from losing the power they have.

Run, baby run

Well, here it is, Wednesday morning.  The temps are supposed to rise into the low 50's (F).  This is good.  Spring is only a little more than a month away.  While we've had very little snow so far this winter, we have had the cold' days when the temps failed to climb out of the 20's (F).

The plants I ordered from the Aquarium Co-op are arriving today.  The US Postal service has told me so.  I'm going to the movies this evening, so let's hope they get here before 6:15 PM, otherwise they're going to be sitting on the porch for a few hours, which would not be a good thing.  Since they were shipped priority mail, I'd expect them to arrive way before then, however this is the US Mail and, while at one time they were reliable, now their reliability is spotty at best.

Also arriving today will be my Stryd.  That's coming UPS, a service which is far more reliable.

As was the case with The Body in Repose, I've been watching YouTube videos to learn about life on Mackinac Island during the winter.  The one on ice fishing was particularly educational: the size of the hole you make depends upon the size of the fish you're trying to catch, fishing for pike require a larger diameter hole.  You use an ice auger, now a days most of them are battery operated.  Ten inches seems to be the widest.  So, if you needed a bigger hole, say if you decided to fish with a buddy, you'd make two holes side by side.  If you required something even larger, say big enough to push a body through... well, I can say anymore.  

Anyway, as I was saying, I've been watching videos.  This is a good one, in fact, after watching it, I felt a little guilty about setting a murder mystery there... but only for a short time.

And, what about Mitch McConnell trying to keep the RNC from going to hell in a handbasket?  I'm betting he had a WTF moment the instant he heard they were calling the January 6 riot a 'legitimate political discourse.'  Someone should tell Mitch he's way, way to late to stop that from happening.  All of a sudden we're beginning to hear tiny voices, like Mitch, suddenly speaking up...  someone called them Washington Insiders.  Whispers are saying the January 6 committee has explosive testimony and these insiders are running for cover.  Speaking of running, here's a brief clip of Kevin McCarthy running away from Rachel Scott after she asks him about the alleged political discourse.  These dumb shits are jumping from the frying pan into the deep fryer.

 

Donny Has a Bad Week

 Another slow Sunday has arrived.  I don't have to work today, so I'm going to lunch with some friends, and then it's a stop at my neighborhood Giant supermarket.  I put gas in my car.  $40 worth of gas.  I think that's way too much even if it is less than what they pay in the EU.  Of course, Big Oil spits out the same excuse over and over again... supplies are down.  That could be.  The true reason gas is so expensive is American Capitalism.  Big Oil does need their 5% growth every year.  They don't care if it screws you over.  They don't know you from Adam.  All they do know is that they need to keep their investors happy.  And Americans will piss and moan, and look for someone other than Big Oil to blame.

I watched "Encanto" last evening.  Very nice.  I saw the trailer multiple times and had no idea it was a musical.  I also watched several episodes of "The Book of Boba Fett."  That's good, too.  It was rated TV14, which means the violence might be a little too intense for the kiddies.  Honestly, the show isn't meant for kiddies at all, but you know there are stupid parents out there who will permit the 4 and 5 year old kids to watch the show because nothing says stupid like a parent using the TV as a baby sitter.

And of course, we all know that Donny had a bad week.  I truly wish that could be an understatement, but it isn't, mostly because I suspect there are many more bad weeks yet to come.  Thanks to the Supreme Court Mitch McConnell packed, information that had been sitting stagnant is now flowing.  The January 6 committee now knows so much.  People are beginning to anticipate.  They're wondering if Ginni Thomas' ass is going to get thrown on the Barbie to roast, if Ivanka Danka's going to to stab daddy'o in the back to save her own stinky ass, if Giuliani is going to have a jail cell named in his honor, to name just a few.  And the New York Attorney General is humiliating his constantly, dousing his lies with facts and setting them afire.  I liked the bit about his apartment in Trump Tower that went from 30,000 square feet for tax purposes, down to 10,000 actual square feet.  Wow, I can smell the smoke and see the cinders from here.

For All of Us

 Well, here it is, Saturday and I'm in a work-a-day, off-a-day cycle until Tuesday, at which point I will be off for 2 days..  The temps are cold outside.  Enola was a cool and nippy 8 (F), and the temps are only predicted to climb another 20 degrees.  Down south they're experiencing the chilly, willy joy of winter.  They needn't worry.  In a few months their temps are going to be blazing hot again.

Rather than right out purchase a new desk chair, I Googled my problem, the seat doesn't stay up.  Wow!  There's a quick fix using a pipe clamp!  I have one of those!  Unfortunately it's too small.  Now, isn't it a good thing I get to go to work today?  I can pick one up before I leave.  I would rather spend $1.79 rather than $300, and if it doesn't work... well, I didn't really lose anything in trying to correct the problem.

There was this really interesting article in the NYT about exercise.  Which is better?  Getting all sweaty in the morning, or later in the day?  Well, it depends.  Morning exercise appears to be better if you want to lose pounds or kilograms, afternoon seems to help with health issues.  The example they give is Type 2 Diabetes.  Working out in the afternoon seems to help your pancreas manufacture insulin.  Me, I'd rather lose the pounds, so I'll keep doing what I'm doing, riding my Cannondale Synapse

And, of course, Mitch McConnell stepped in shit when he attempted to classified African American voters as different than American voters.  The fact that he used the words African American rather than black illustrates just how out he is.  Now he's saying he forgot the word 'all.'  Sorry, Mitch.  Listen to his entire statement.  He forgot nothing.

Separated At Birth

Holy Crap!  I slept late!  and went to bed around my usual time  2230.  Turning my alarm off this morning was not a good idea.  Crap.  Instead of my normal, healthy breakfast, I'll be wolfing down a nuked chimichanga.  How's that for great nutrition?

Yesterday I walked a little over a mile on the treadmill wearing the portable heating pad, which doesn't really work that well.  Could that be why I slept so much?  Don't really think so.  Rather than pain now, I have discomfort which is manageable.  My prescription for 500 mg naproxen arrived this morning so that should help.  Mostly, right now, I want to stop walking with a stoop.  As Cori, the woman who does my book covers pointed out, "you're walking like you're 90."

My front porch and side roofs need to be replaced.  The estimate arrived this morning.  $1400 Wow!  Fifteen years ago I had my main roof replaced for the same cost.  My, how things change.  And there will be an additional fee if they need to replace any of the wood.  Son of a bitch.  I will bite the bullet and use my SS to cover the expense, since the guy's dependable.  He's did my main roof back at the dawn of time.

I saw this in Marc Alexander's blog Voenix Rising, and just had to steal it from him.  I can't say I've never seen Mitch looking so... loverly.

Speaking of McTurtle, evidently the GOP is ready to give him his walking papers after he blinked on the debt ceiling.  If you haven't realized it yet, they would destroy the America in their attempt to gain control.  They don't care about human beings, just power, and their need to make this a fascist society.  The Election approaches.  Vote them into oblivion.  Vote Blue.  And you Democrats and Independents in Virginia?  We're counting on you!

 

Seduced?

 Heading back to work for 2 days.  I have a new / old Specialty Manager.  New, because this is the first time she's working in my store.  Old, because I worked with her for four years when I was doing HR.  This will be interesting. 

I went to see Free Guy last evening.  The movie is very funny at times, as well as being touching.  Guy is an NPC (non-playable character) in a video game, meaning you can't control what they do, who becomes aware, the equivalent of artificial intelligence.  As someone who plays video games, I have to say, this movie is a hoot.  For those who don't play video games, the movie is a rollicking, joy ride, at least this is what my friends told me.  I mean, can a movie in which Channing Tatum tries to seduce Ryan Reynolds be anything but great?  Does he succeed?  Hahahahaha! (that's my evil laugh, by the way)

I saw some sort of blurty bullshit where Mitch McConnell said he doesn't see any reason to criticize his associates spewing anti-vax, anti-mask misinformation.  Think about that for a second or two.  What he's saying is that he doesn't really care if people listen to that misinformation and die.  What a terrible justification for his silence.  Human lives lost because he sees no point in being honest.  This is pretty standard prattle from a Conservative.