Howie and the Sheep

Well, we have 70 (F) outside and instead of Jimi Hendrix Purple Haze, we have yellow haze.  We are also under an air quality alert.  I feel bad for Gigi who's up north having to deal with an air quality that's a thousand times worse.  Our temps today are going to be in the upper 80s (F) to low 90s (F).  Things are supposed to begin cooling off tomorrow.  Showers and thunderstorms (again) are on their way.  Perhaps they'll wash a bit of the smoke residue down the drain.

Yesterday was not quite a meh day.  No exercise.  Thursday is a free day.  I worked on The Body in the Words in the afternoon, editing chapter's 3 and 4.  I would have liked for there to be a direct flight from Philly to Belfast, but there isn't.  This meant I needed to decide if my guys were going to drive the 2 hours from Dublin to BallySeamus, or take a puddle jumper.  I opted for the latter since it allowed me to keep important dialog in the Greetings chapter.

And yesterday morning I took Howie out to my brother's farm.  He got to meet Bruce, my brother's dog, saw some fall-down goats that stayed standing as he approached, and met a flock of sheep.  For some reason, the sheep develop a particular interest in him.  Howie, however, did not  find them fascinating.  Still, that didn't keep them from following us.

Of course, the Orange Anus held a poorly watched nationwide press conference last evening.  Both ABC and NBC refused to air him live, which he found infuriating.  CBS which started airing it, evidently cut away; they're learning that kissing his ass is costing them ratings, and that's losing them advertisers.  And Fox Entertainment?  This post on Threads tells it all.

That's right, Fox aired a disclaimer.  The last time they treated his lies as truth it cost them dearly.  This is Orangie beginning to sabotage the midterms because he knows the Republicans are going to lose badly. Out of desperation, he and the GOP are playing with fire.

More and more people, like Gavin Newsome, a very loud voice right now in American politics, are calling for him to be removed using the 25th amendment.  For that to work, however, his cabinet needs to vote for his approval and he's filled it with sycophants and henchies.  I don't see him finishing out his term.  The tide is turning so fast against him, he will run like the coward he is.

Dour Days

Well, today's going to be the last comfy day for a while with our high temp this afternoon climbing into the mid 70s (F).  When I climbed out of bed this afternoon, our outside temp was 54 (F).  This is what's called good sleeping weather.  It's also keeps the cooling bills... cool.  How nice it would be to not burn through my bank account in order to keep my house cool this summer.

Yesterday was good in the morning and then ho hum in the afternoon.  My workout went well.  But then I had to go to work.  And it was slow.  I have a commercial tile job in the works, and there's an issue.  The tile the customer chose has a PEI of 3 (PEI has to do with the durability of the tile).  PEI 3 tiles are good for households, kitchens, and light commercial use.  He wants the floor installed in a restaurant which is, if it's a popular restaurant, is considered heavy use, so he needs a tile that has a PEI of 4 or 5.  Those tiles are more expensive and he was looking to go cheap.  This means there's a good possibility he might simply buy the tile and then find a cheap, local contractor who will do the install.  The fact that in 2 or 3 years those tiles are going to start cracking and breaking is something he isn't going  to think about.

And I sold my other tile job.  It went well, except for one thing (key heavy dismay).  After working with this couple for over 2 years on various flooring projects in their house, it turned out that they signed up for their measure with another associate.  This means that even though they know my schedule, and came in to go over their quote and do the changes they wanted, the other associate is going to get the sale.  There was a time when that didn't happen.  Before we switched to the Order Up system, if you did changes for a quote you would get partial credit.  Now, those days are history.

According to an NBC poll, very few people are proud to be an American.  These are our Dour Days.

Only around 23% of the population are proud to be an American.  Everybody else is looking around thinking WTF.  After 9/11, pride in American soared, until we realized that George W. Bush was prime example of Republican idiocy, and then it crashed.  During the Obama administrations pride cruised along on an even plane until Fox News decided they would earn bigger bucks if they sided with the MAGA Cultists.  You'll notice the big crash in pride happened when the Orange Anus got his ass reelected in 2024 and since then pride has been basically in freefall.  Now, it's only  soulless conservatives and MAGA cultists who seem to have any pride in America.  This is probably because they get so much joy in ruining other people's lives.  They are an unforgiveable sour bunch who celebrate the destruction of compassion.  They are the  millstone around American's neck that can only be broken by their defeat and, in their ignorance, have no idea how fast their vanquishment approaches.  This will be a good thing, this end to the dour days.

The Quickie

 Outside it's sunny, temps are still in the mid 30s (F) but they'll be climbing up into the low to mid 50s (F) by this afternoon.  Looking at the long range forecast, it looks as though we are past our final freeze of the season.  While overnight temps drop into the mid 30s (F), there no indication that they'll drop cold cold enough to trigger a killing frost.

Yesterday, the store was so... boring.  The only bright spot was the food.  We're celebrating our Success Sharing.  The bonus checks were small, but they spent a lot on food.  So much so, that today I'll get dessert several times, and not just the traditional ice cream.  There were pies, and cakes, and cheesecakes, and all sorts of scrumptious morsels that kill cholesterol and add pounds.  Of course, an offshoot of my recent stress has been binge eating, snacky things; the sort of foods I usually tend to avoid.  And I have gained weight, about 5 pounds.  Since there are going to be leftover goodies this morning and afternoon, the exercise and diet plan begins tomorrow.  I want to be sleek for the Greeks.

I also bought a new suitcase and a new backpack (one big enough to carry one of my laptops).  They should be arriving today.  I went with red.  My most favorite color in the world, for those who didn't know.

And the Orange Anus goes to court today... again.  He's going to find out if he can wiggle out of his Stormy trial, because of the additional documents  the DOJ forget to give his team.  I'm hoping the judge nixes that idea, I really do think America needs to see the Orange Anus in Explosive Diarrhea Mode.

The fallout NBC has gotten from their hiring of Rhona McDaniel Romney.. ( of wait, she dropped the Romney, does that mean she got a divorce?) has been... interesting.  Suddenly the network is blurting out snippets and blurbs saying she's not going to be an on-air personality.  People are wondering just what they were thinking.  Perhaps they desperately wanted a $300,000 tax write-off.  

Today is also the day when New York begins the takeover of Trump properties.  I have to admit that I'm with that group who wants to see them take his private jet, the Flying Trump Dump, or whatever he calls it.

Yesterday

 Holy Crap!  Retail was so terribly slow yesterday.  Not one customer.  These are the slow days we usually have in February.  By March, the stream of lawn and garden customers is beginning to pick up.  That isn't happening.  Most stores in the area aren't making plan.  I don't doubt a lot of it has to do with prices.  It isn't like the orange retail giant I work for isn't making money.  The business just is not earing them the revenue they've budgeted.  In flooring, we're offering a special deal until 3/19, but it's only on the top of the line carpet and pad: 10% off.  I laughed.  Instead of spending $4 per square foot, they want customers to spend $7, and for that they'll take off .70.  That will only fly so far.

Outside, we're under a snow warning.  A band of heavy snow is moving through the area.  But not here.  The skies are overcast, but that's about it... except for the occasional, single flurry that has managed to make a suicide dash from the clouds.

I did skip the treadmill yesterday, but I'll be back on it today.  That means I'll get my steps in.  Yesterday, even without the treadmill, I managed to get 13, 889 steps in, that's because business was so slow and could do lap, after lap, after lap around the store.

Here's a pic of one of my daffodils.

And, for those who haven't heard, yesterday Tucker Carlson relvealed the first edited video of January 6.  His version shows snippets of the rioters quietly walking through the halls of Congress.  He has the number one propaganda show on cable.  Tucker doesn't care if he manages to incites violence.  His boss, Rupert, would probably like that.  However, we do need to keep things in perspective.  Tucker may have his fan base, but on a daily basis CBS evening news. with its 5.3 million viewers nearly doubles Tucker's fan club.  NBC easily doubles Tuck's base with well over 7 million viewers, and Disney owned ABC News almost triples Tuck's base.  Those three networks combined, garner well over 6 times Carlson's base.  This also doesn't take into account those who watch cable news.  However, people talk about Tucker and his antics, whether that makes him more dangerous than not, I don't know.  What does make him more of a threat is the influence he wields among the crazies, the Trumpers, and the MAGA brained who will deny realityforever.

Boycott NBC

 Yesterday was pretty blasé at work, not a lot of customers.  That doesn't mean we didn't get the standard odd questions.  Surprisingly, a number of them are from individuals who have seen a 'new' product on TV.  We usually get one or two of those a day.  We also get a lot of "what's on sale?"  Here's a little secret:  if it's on sale, it's on clearance and it's leaving our inventory forever.  You have no idea how many people buy 'clearance' only to find out they didn't buy enough of a product that is no longer available.  Life suck for those who don't think.

I went to the gym again this morning.  No couple camping.  I did, however, hold my id card up to the hand sanitizer station at the front desk to get scanned in.  The attendant corrected me with a smile, so I said "what can I say, it's been a couple of years."  It was funny.

Obama says this election is going to be close.  He's right.  Even if Biden wins by a landslide, the Idiot Jerk and his team of henchies are going to pick certain states to challenge.  This is why we need to all get out and vote.  Biden's victory in each state must be substantial.  A state where he only wins by several thousand votes is fair game.  Let me be perfectly clear, we need to knock this election out of the park

And what about NBC have a Town Hall for the Idiot Jerk at the same time as ABC is having theirs for Biden?  To be honest, I had to laugh when I heard this.  Don't get me wrong, I'm all for boycotting NBC since their move has more to do with ratings then politics.  If the candidates were closer together in the polls, then I'd say their move was politically motivated.  However, America has already seen the Idiot Jerk in action twice on National TV.  Both times he failed miserably.  He cannot stop lying.  He is not going to change.  

Also, this close to the election, there are no longer any 'undecided' voters.  Oh, sure, they may tell you they're undecided, but deep down in their hearts they know precisely who their going to vote for, and if for some strange reason they are truly undecided... well, they haven't been paying attention for the past 3.5 years.  The only people who are going to watch the Idiot Jerk on NBC are his base.  I suspect the ratings for either network are going to heading towards the record books.

Vote Blue.  Let's hit this sucker out of the Park.

The cost of making Money

So, yesterday we weren't as busy as Corporate thought we were going to be... this was to be expected; not all Americans see a holiday as a day to put themselves deeper into debt.  Corporations don't understand.  They expect continued growth, in fact their yearly budgets reflect a slowly, continually rising effect to consumers.
Here's an example:  2016 just ended and a tradition has evolved in which just about everybody and their brother does a "Memoriam" tribute.  For the entertainment industry, nothing tops the one done by the Oscars.  People like to watch them.  One of the worst was on NBC News.  I thought I'd watch that one and was surprised to find out I'd have to sit through a 30 second commercial.  Wrong.  I didn't watch it.  I find it sad somebody at NBC, which is owned by Comcast, decided they were going to make a buck over dead celebrities.  Somebody in that organization actually calculated how much revenue they were going to make by forcing people to watch that 30 second commercial.  When that person passes, I believe that before the funeral services begin those mourners should have to sit through a 30 second commercial for Handy Wrap, or perhaps Crest toothpaste.
Costs are continually rising, you know, they need to make money.

My Mom is in Greenfield on Graysonview, a Senior Living facility.  Right after Thanksgiving I received a letter from them saying I needed to sit down with the administrator and go through her 80 page contract before December 12.  While I was sitting there, initialing and dating every one of those 80 pages, I asked if her rate was going to go up and he said "no."  Last week I received a letter from their corporate headquarters which stated that, per the contract I had just signed, all they needed to do was give me a month notice before raising her rate... and of course her rate was going up.  This was all calculated in advance.  This was also why I had to sit down with the administrator and initial and date a new contract.  And, of course, he didn't point out that little 4 sentence paragraph about the "month notice."  She has the money in the bank so while I was irritated, I wasn't royally pissed off.  What pissed me off was the fact that they wanted me to sign an agreement to the increase and mail it back to their corporate headquarters... they even included a self-addressed envelope.  However there was no postage on the envelope.  And that's what pissed me off.  They were too cheap to even put a damn stamp on the envelope.

Anyway, I didn't mail the envelope back to them.  I dropped it off at my Mom's facility and told them they could mail it to corporate.  They weren't happy about that, no doubt be cause they would have to pay the postage.  Costs are going up constantly, bit by bit, percentage point by percentage point and all too often the only thing they reflect is a profit increase.  It's not about the quality of the service, it's about making the money.

The not so lofty flight of Peter Pan

From what I've read, I have to guess that NBC's live version of Peter Pan didn't fly as high as they were hoping it would.  Ratings were down something like 11%.  I'm not surprised.  While I had originally planned on watching it, I completely forgot about it until I saw headlines the next day.  I'll be honest, it's not really the kind of show I have any desire to see.  NBC actually put themselves into a bit of a bind after the success of The Sound of Music.  Even though a lot of people didn't like Carrie Underwood's performance, a lot of people watched it.  Then, instead of just saying they were planning on doing more Broadway shoes, NBC limited themselves to "Family" shows.  Very few musicals make it to Broadway which can be designated "Family" shows.  Take Oliver.  It's got lots of kids and a ton of sing-able songs.  Lots of kids went to see Oliver.  Of course, Bill does stab Nancy to death in Act II, and then falls to his own death while being chased by the police.  And let's not forget that adorable pederast Fagan, who loves his little boys.  Definitely not "Family" entertainment.

Annie has oodles of adorable little girls - and that drunkard Miss Hannigan.  Oh, and it also takes place during the depression and a lot of homeless people living in a shanty town under a bridge sing that wonderful "We'd Like to Thank You, Herbert Hoover."  I really do like that song, but it really isn't "Family" fare, is it?  There are a lot of shows out there with kids in them, that doesn't mean little kids should watch them.  So, instead of giving us a Broadway Show a lot of us would like to see, NBC gave us a kid show.  Give me something I want to watch, other wise I'm always going to forget it.

Toying with Eddie Snowden

A lot of people have watched Brian William's interview with Edward Snowden.  Evidently, by using #patriot or #traitor, you could vote your opinion and, if I read the chart correctly, patriot beat traitor by a hair.  I didn't watch the interview, nor did I read any transcripts - I just don't find it that interesting.  The fact that the NSA was attempting to collect vast amounts of data on people is not a good thing.  However, the fact that they were going to Google, and Verizon, and Yahoo, and AT & T, just to name a few of the corporations, in order to gather this data pretty much makes the whole thing moot.  You have no secrets from your Internet provider.  They know not only your IP address, but the addresses of every website you look at, and how long you're on those sites.  I'm sure they don't, but if they wanted to, they could speculate whether you're a quickie or not, or whether your favorite color was teal.  Every conversation you make on your phone is digitalized and saved somewhere.  This doesn't mean it's easily located, but it's there.

I will admit to being taken by surprise by one thing.  I noticed it in the picture taken of Mr. Williams and Mr. Snowden, apparently during the interview, that unless Brian Williams is 7 feet tall, Ed Snowden is rather petite.

Now I know there are those of you out there who are going to say that forced perspective was used in order to make him look smaller, more vulnerable, more meek.  Nah, the guy's tiny, probably 5' 4" in heels.  This begs one to wonder if, perhaps, in truth, he's neither a patriot nor a traitor.  Might not he instead be suffering from a Napoleonic Complex, also known as 'short man's syndrome?"  Some men, who find they are staturely challenged, feel the need to do something in a big way in order to make themselves seem 10' tall.  Little Eddie want to be our privacy protector.  You have to admit, he's made a big name for himself.  His broad shoulders will carry the day.

Okay, so they're not that broad.  Remember, in his mind he's saving the United States from a fate worse then death.  Personally, I'd rather he fixed Facebook so I wouldn't be subjected to ads and products I have no desire to buy, or top trending stories that always seem to trend away from my interest.  Maybe he could stop apps from asking for too much personal information.  Do they really need access to my contact list?  Well, they don't all ask for that, only the ones I seem to want.  Of course you know I'm really just toying with Eddie.  I'll bet he's a really nice guy.  

A Spoiled Brat Republican Ha Ha Moment

The Republicans are having another one of their 'ha-ha' moments, just in case you hadn't heard.  This one is over both a documentary and an intended mini-series on Hillary Clinton.  Ha - Ha.  Looks like we're going to have temper tantrum time from the spoiled brats club.  Just wait, any minute now they're going to throw themselves on the floor en masse and start pounding their hands and kicking their feet.  Their base loves this, you know whom I'm talking about, those 20 - 22% of Americans who will actually admit to being Republicans.  Personally, I think it's about time they started growing up and tried acting like mature adults.   Ha - Ha.  Like that will happen any time soon.  What is so really funny about this is that if Hillary Clinton just (and I know this is really preposterous) happened to be a Republican, the RNC wouldn't just be dancing around gleefully, they'd be jabbing with their pointy little swords and stomping with their hobnailed boots to insure no Democrat was left standing.  Remember those Swift Boat Commercials?  No wound can be too deep.  Now, it sounds as though their party is on the verge of drowning itself in crocodile tears.

Any body got a tissue?

They've voted to boycott any debate on CNN and NBC.  Do they really think that type of posturing is going to make the look wise?  Are they demonstrating how they expect their next president to act?  I think we already know the answer to that question.  Remember the Great Recession?  How George W demonstrated his compassion for all the suffering Americans by staying out of sight.  Every time somebody asked me where Bush was, I always gave them the same answer:  probably bowling in the basement.  Ha - Ha.  You would think the RNC would realize every time they pull one of these stunts to rouse their base, more and more disaffected, centrist Republicans wonder away.  They do not seem to understand that as a political party they are beginning to look a bit like a train wreck.  But if you've ever talked to a spoiled brat, they believe their atrocious behavior is perfectly normal.