Be Sad. Be Happy.

 Well, so here it is Wednesday.  The outside temp is 72 (F), though forecasters are saying we're only supposed to heat up into the mid 80s (F).  We are getting rain, what you might want to call intermittent showers which may, or may not end this morning.  We're cranking around here with some serious humidity and they're projecting the possibility of thunderstorms.  We've had a number of those lately.

Yesterday turned out to be a rather good day: I got a 2.5 mile walk in at Adams-Ricci, and then later in the afternoon 13 mile ride in, in Thailand, of all places.  For some reason Garmin has a number of Thai rides on the Tacx app.  To me, it looks a lot like the Philippines.

My turntable, and speakers, and record cabinet were also moved downstairs.  Part of this is new window prep.  I'm trying to cut down on furniture in the master bedroom, and they were an easy thing to relocate.  They are now situated where the dog's toybox used to be.  That's right, the dogs had their own toybox and it was filled with toys.  I'm hoping not to spoil the new puppy as badly, but we'll have to wait and see how that goes.

I wrote yesterday how Nikki Haley's election PAC had chosen to support Kamala Harris, and was correct to a point.  It was evidently not her primary PAC and the $$$ was less.  This is the one that switched loyalty and Haley's group immediately sent out a cease and desist order.  She's also telling her supporters that they need to vote for Trump.  Someone should let Nikki know that many of those votes she got were protest votes from Republicans who despise the Orange Anus.  Please tell me she isn't that dumb.  Here's a copy of the order.

And speaking of the Orange Anus, evidently his team has chosen to stop holding in very inexpensive outdoor rallies, not that they were ever heavily attended.  As for indoor venues being costlier?  Well, it's not as though he ever paid for them.  He has that terrible reputation of defaulting on bills, that's because he believes that someone as evil as he should never have to pay... for anything.  That's why he has lackies.

Biden's going to speak on national TV tonight.  His speech is going to be quite touching, probably making a lot of people cry.  Be sad.  Be happy.  Be glad, because all of those Republicans standing on the sidelines are going to be gnashing their teeth as a decent and honorable man begins to say his goodbyes.  Biden will make points that will carry through into Kamala's campaign.

I'm a 71 year-old man living in Central PA, and I know the assignment.

Thelma

 Good Morning!  The outside temps are very comfortable 68 (F), though the forecast has them climbing into the mid 90s (F).  there's also the threat of thunderstorms this afternoon, however, since I work, I don't really care.  The rest of the week is supposed to be cooler, low to mid 80s (F).  I can live with that.

The temp for the Central Air is set at 74 (F) and it turns on every now and then, but it doesn't run constantly.  Last week, when it was so warm, it didn't happen, either.  I should probably have a 2nd thermostat installed on the second floor for the summer weather.  

And I got so much accomplished yesterday.  I'm signing up for a zero interest loan to pay for the windows, rather than pull that money out of my savings account.  I did that for the trip to Greece, and then had to fill it back up.  I like having that financial cushion.  I can use my social security checks to pay off this loan in a few months, while still depositing coin of the realm in my account.  Remember, I'm saving up for a puppy!

I went to see Thelma last night.  For those who don't know, Thelma is a movie (based on a person) about a 94 year-old woman who gets scammed out of $10,000.  While that sounds terribly dramatic, it's very funny.  That doesn't mean it isn't touching at times.  Richard Roundtree has a line where he says, "we're older, we're diminished."  Thelma is a comparison between those who accept that, and those who fight against it.

For those who didn't see it, Lauren won her primary from a crowded field.  The most important thing in that statement is that she was part of a Crowded Field. Definition:  all of those other candidates sucked away votes, that kept anyone else from winning.  She switched districts to one that his hardline Republican, so the Democrat whom she is running against is not expected to win in November.  You know, it would be nice if the country didn't have to live with publicly displaying her white trash ways daily.

And Nikki Haley, as expected, got over 30 % of the votes in every state.  This will be a big problem for the Orange Anus in November.  Those Haley voters will just sit this one out.  Believe me, they have no problem doing that.

And, of course, the debate is tomorrow night.  I'll probably get a bottle of wine and watch the last 2 episodes of Shogun.

Turbulent Times

 Well, it's stinky winky humid outside.  You know what I'm talking about, when your clothing feels damp and sticky and clings like some sort of cotton cellophane.  The wind is also picking up.  Dark storm clouds are shortly supposed to let loose, the coming rain is supposed to reduce the humidity.  Sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn't.

Retail was slow yesterday.  I did manage to get a measure for blinds.  We have a very good sale coming up for Memorial Day.  Geez.  I can't believe the holiday is upon us.  Time does seem to be flying by.  Not that our sales are going to be improving anytime soon.  People seem to be, for the most part, simply fed up with the expense of home improvements.  This is how American capitalism is supposed to work.  People no longer pay the high prices and stop buying; businesses drop their prices to increase sales.  The problem all too often, however, has been that corporations are simply saying "screw you, buy or do without."  Still, it may be working.  Recently both MacDonalds and Target have announced they were going to begin reducing prices.  How much this effect overall pricing among retailers might be an economist's nightmare.

My new area rug arrives today.  The yellow one.  I did some prepping of the floor yesterday.  I'm excited.

I have to use a different format for listing the chapters in the audio version of The Body on the Lawn.  Rather than have to change format in my future books, I'm switching over now.  This is how the table of contents is supposed to look.

A quick update on the weather.  The rain we were supposed to be getting is moving north of us, so it looks like we're going to miss most of it.

And Nikki Haley told the world she wouldn't vote for Biden yesterday, and that she will vote for Trump.  Does that mean her voters will do likewise?   We're going to need to take a wait and see approach to understand how that effects the Republican protest vote.

Any day now the jury will be sent out in Trump's election interference trial.  Will they come back with a guilty verdict?  There is that possibility.  One thing you can be certain of, is that if they do the Orange Anus will file an immediate appeal in an attempt to stay out of prison.  And if they do reach a guilty verdict, how will that effect the November elections?  How turbulent will the times be?  Maybe we should all fasten our seatbelts.

When it rains, it pours

We had thunderstorms overnight.  I heard them... vaguely, so the thunder must have been loud since I can sleep through most noise.  I haven't checked the buckets out back yet, so I've no idea how much rain fell.  Our high today is supposed to top off at around 88 (F), and except for a spotty shower this morning, no rain is in the forecast.  The rest of the week is another story.  As the month continues, more and more it's looking like a replay of the last 2 years, the April showers held off until May.

Yesterday was busy.  Much was accomplished.  

I've begun disassembling the sofa which has a recliner on each end.  I was worried about how easy it was going to come apart, but everything seems bolted together.  I should have one of the ends totally removed by the time I head in to work today.

I also got a 12 mile ride in on the bike yesterday.  It was a new ride, in Kansas, which is flat, and very boring.  I'll probably not ride it again.  It's on a big screen TV and I want to be able to see the scenery, yesterday, there was nothing.  It might be a good ride if you just want to work on speed.

It seems as though one of the school board members at the Cumberland Valley High School has resigned.  He was one of those who voted against having Maulik Pancholy talk about bullying and was upset that the school board voted to reinvite him to speak.  There was a public meeting and many, many parents showed up and complained about their original decision.  He doesn't believe that parents have any business telling the school board how to do their jobs.  While I didn't check his political affiliation, I'd bet money on his being not only a Republican, but a white Evangelical as well.

And while it didn't rain here yesterday afternoon, it did in a New York City courthouse.

Can you hear me laughing?  She was rather explicit in her testimony, so much so, that the judge seemed to seriously consider a mistrial.  That would be a bad thing.  While we all want to listen and laugh at the salacious details of her one night stand with the Orange Turd (her words, not mine), her answers need to be specific to the question being asked.  Verbal asides may be funny, but they do need to be pertinent to the case.  Still, I'd say those Americans following Trump's election interference case, were quite satisfied to see his nose publicly rubbed in his own shit.

Other things that popped up yesterday was the fact that the Orange Turd now has a campaign event during his son Barron's graduation.  Wow.  Like is that any surprise?  Remember the big stink he raised about not being able to attend.  In the eyes of the voting public, I suspect this hurts him worse than Stormy's testimony,.

Also, in the Indiana primary, Nikki Haley took 22% of the vote.  Those people who cast their ballots for her will not be voting for Trump in November.

Worst Case Scenario

 We have Sunshine!

Out in my backyard, the temp is 48 (F), and it going to get warmer, up into the upper 50s (F) to low 60s (F).  I don't mind this.  That being said, the cold doesn't really bother me either, though this past winter was anything but cold.  I've heard last month was the warmest February on record.  That doesn't surprise me either.  What makes me laugh is those numbnuts who will tell you "they've only been keeping records for 250 years, so this past winter is not a precursor  of Global Warming."  I actually work with someone like this... 

I got a row in yesterday, 20 minutes, over 3000 meters.  I liked the row, I didn't like the video which was filmed by someone rowing through a wealthy community in Florida, where every house had a boat dock.  I couldn't help but think that these people earn way too much money.  But then, this is Florida, the home white booted Ronnie DeSantis, where the state legislature is pushing through bill that will decrease what employers need to do for employees during periods of high heat.  I've been to Florida, in the summer, when the temps easily top 100 (F), and the Republican politicians are more concerned about cutting business expenses and growing profits than they are with humans working in high heat environments.

Remember Ronnie D?  Here's a snap in case you forgot.

And Nikki's no longer running for president.  Honestly, I'm not surprised, campaigns cost money and many of her backers started pulling funds.  The bit that Republicans would like to bury is that she was quite successful in illustrating to American how many Republicans are dissatisfied the current party and it's presumed candidate.  Even though she lost almost every primary, she easily syphoned off 33% to 37% of Republican voters.  Republicans are also desperately telling themselves that in the General Election those voters will come back and vote for Trump.  I don't know about you, but I find it fascinating to see how easy it is for some people to blow smoke up their own ass.  Those voters may not like Joe Biden, but that doesn't count, what does is the fact that they see a Donald Trump presidency as a worst case scenario for the nation.  They see the lies, the deceit, and the corruption, and, as a result, are going to sit this election out.

The State of the Union speech is tonight.  Unfortunately, I'll be at the movies.

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.

Flooring, and other tidbits

 Okay, so we've made it to Sunday, the end of the week, the day of rest, except for me.  I always work on Sunday.  Today is supposed to be sunny, too.  Temps climbing into the middle 409s (F).  Short range temps are to continue climbing, reaching the low 60s (F) by Wednesday.  There is some rain thrown in there, but the we are nearly in spring, when spring showers drizzle.

I've finished more of my kitchen floor yesterday.  It's... approximately 3/4 complete, and most of that area by the chimney, and under the refrigerator.  I will need to have to do some serious cuts around the floor vent, but I don't see them as being so difficult as to cause much of a problem.  After the tiles are in, there's the quarter round needing to go in around the perimeter, and the almond color cove base under the cabinets before the construction is finished.  I will be glad.  While it's taken me longer than I though to do this myself, the alternative would have been expensive.   With the floor prep, the cost for someone else to do it would have been around $1000, and that's a conservative estimate.

Lily is back to being an upstairs / downstairs dog, and by that I mean she goes upstairs in the evening to go to bed, and then downstairs in the morning.  The rest of the day she spends on the sofa in the writing room, or chewing on one of her snacks.  She's eating fine.  Her stubby tail is wagging again.  What was her problem?  Well, she has a cyst on her wrist that shrank in size, meaning there was some internal leakage, and she had a swollen gland on her cheek that caused her nictitating membrane  to swell.  All is back to normal.  

SAG awards were last night.  I didn't watch.  But Oppenheimer continued to steamroll it's way through award season.

As expected, Trump won the Republican primary in South Carolina.  59.5% of Republicans in that state voted for him, however, his victory was not a slam dunk.  39.5% of the voters chose someone else, mostly Hailey.  He has lost the loyalty of these people.  That is something the Republican party simply doesn't understand.  They deeply believe the individuals who cast their ballots for someone else will automatically vote the the party's nominee.  Nope.  The only thing they can count on are the MAGA cultists.  Rather than having to chose between Biden and Trump, many old school Republicans will simply sit on their hands and not vote.  And, as several pundits have already noted, one guilty voted will send that number through the roof.

The nominating process

 It's Tuesday, and that means I'm beginning my 4 day mini-vacation which begins every Tuesday.  I don't mind working weekends, mostly because I end up doing so much during the week.  Perhaps if I felt the need to watch football, or basketball, I might feel differently, but I like cycling and races are run any and every day of the week, not merely on weekends in order for networks to earn ad revenue.

Outside, the temp is 30 (F).  We're heading into a warming trend.  Highs today will be in the mid 40s (F).  We'll end up in the low 50s (F) by the end of the week.  We will also be getting rain.  Not nearly as much as in San Diego.  I have a Navy friend who lives there and so I got to see pics of the flooding.  Because they rarely get downpours in Southern California, none of the towns and cities are prepared.  They will have to adjust, or get flooded away.

I have all of the necessary paperwork to do my taxes, so either today or tomorrow I'll get that chore out of the way.

The Oscar nominations will be out in about an hour.  I'm debating on whether I want to watch.  I subscribe to Disney and they own ABC, but I don't know if Disney's going to do anything.  Actually, I just took a brief pause and pulled the announcements up on YouTube.  There are almost 6000 people signed in, some of them commenting.  Ugh.  Those streaming comments never make any sense.  I want to bake a loaf of bread this morning, so maybe I'll go downstairs and put that together before the announcements begin.

Here's a pic I took from my cycling, jogging, free weight, and blogging room this morning.

The New Hampshire primary is also today.  Trump and Pelosi Haley go head to head.  Is the burning question:  Did his attorney, Habba, come down with Covid symptoms in order for him to be in the Granite State today?  I know it doesn't pertain to his winning that primary, I think many believe that a done deal.  If the question isn't about Habba's sudden illness, could be in regard to Haley's performance?  You do know, she doesn't have to win, just earn enough votes to slap him severely up side his head, and maybe knock him down so he can bruise his other hand.  I'm hoping she comes close, then he's going to go on the attack, not only against her, but against women in general, and while his cult won't mind, many, many other women in this country will.  Many already blame him for loading the Supreme Court in order to get rid of Roe v Wade.  He did that to get the Evangelical vote, but even they're beginning to splinter off.

Glynis Johns

 Well, supposedly this is the day before our first snowfall, at least a snowfall that's supposed to amount to more than a dusting.  As you might expect, I am supposed to be working tomorrow when the heaviest snow bands are dumping their most.  We shall see.  If I feel the roads look too slippery, I just take the day off.  The store's going to be empty anyway.

Outside right now, we have bold sunlight.  The temps might make it up to 40 (F).  Tomorrow they're not supposed to climb out of the mid 30s (F).  

And I do have plans for this weekend: a trip to York on Sunday for lunch, and then our Holiday Party in the evening (it starts at 7).  The only reason I go is for the free food.  They have a DJ who never plays the music I like, which is always pop / dance.  I really don't care for trendy music that's been processed more than most foods you for sale in your local supermarket.  I will be so glad once Monday rolls around and I finally revert back to my fixed schedule. 

Glynis Johns died yesterday at 100, a very fine age, I'll have you know.  While some of you only remember her from Mary Poppins, she won a Tony Award for singing this little ditty from A Little Night Music.

And it appears that both Nikki Haley and Ronnie DeSantis have decided to... well, kind of take off their gloves when it comes to dealing with the Spawn of Satan, Donald Trump.  Their appearances on back to back Townhalls on CNN were... I understand, a little less kind then they've been in the past.  Unfortunately, neither of them realize having the MAGA Cult behind you is not going to help you win an election. , though I do think Nikki muttered something to the effect of "a vote for Trump is a vote for Biden," though that may just be a bad paraphrase.  One thing you can count on, if Trump feels either of them has become a threat, he will go after them like a rabid skunk, foaming at the mouth and spewing as much stench as possible.

Oh, and did everyone hear that while in office, the Moral Degenerate made over $7 million, thanks to gifts and presents from foreign governments?  That is the very thing those dolts in the House of Representatives are trying to prove that Biden did.  Their IQs seem to be falling.

Not your Standard Bush

 Temps today are supposed to break into the mid 70s (F).  I'm hoping the forecast is accurate since the past few days it has been what I call unseasonably cool.  Now, I understand we're right in the middle of the season, but warmer temps would be nice.  I'm anxious to get into my summer wardrobe of shorts and Tl-shirts and not much else.

I did get myself a pair of flipflops.  I don't do the sandal thing but flipflops are alright.  I also ordered a new belt, which arrives today, because my pants keep falling down and I'm too old to be a sagger.

Biggie came home yesterday.  Rather than put him up in the cupboard with Gertie, I took both urns downstairs and put them on the lower shelf of the sideboard.  Gertie's urn is much nicer, a small cedar chest; Biggie's was made in China, I think that's all that needs to be said.  I may buy him something nicer.

And, as I've said, my roses are coming in full.  I have a bush (es) out front that is two in one: a yellow climber and a red rose that is your standard bush.  I have no idea how the two have become intertwined, but they have, the result is both yellow and red roses that look as though they are the same rose bush.

If you live in Florida, you got some disheartening news yesterday.  Disney is not going to build a planned billion dollar complex in the state, but has chosen instead to keep it in California.  That's a big blow to the state's economy.  Ronnie D, in his whiny best, said their decision was political.  Now tell me, isn't that a laugh?  Especially since he was the one who initiated this fight solely for political reasons.  Little Ronnie seems to think he should be called Teflon Ron, but that ain't going to happen.  

And Nikki Haley welcomed Ronnie D into the fray, not doubt because she thinks that if she makes a good enough showing he'll offer her a spot VP spot on the ticket.  She's a dumb as he is, but then we've all known that for some time.

Hailey's Running

 Tuesday, my day off, and I'm going to enjoy it.

I'm scheduled to work over 25 hours this week.  (Bit of a heavy sigh).  I do enjoy the days that I don't go into work.  However, I also don't mind going in and sitting at the flooring desk for a couple of hours a week.  Full time is considered 30 hours a week or more and 25 + is too close to that, if you know what I mean.

I've talked before about how the big orange retailer I work for gives bonuses out to employees through what they call Success Sharing.  Those checks are dependent upon how closely each store's sales come to either hitting their forecast, or at least coming close.  As far as I know, they're still doing Success Sharing this year, though checks are going to be minimal.  This is because corporate built a forecast last year based on three years of pandemic sales.  Ouch.  Prior to Covid, we never hit $1 million a week in sales.  During Covid that changed.  Sales went though the roof.  Over the past year they have dropped off drastically, to pre-Covid figures.  In order to compensate the stockholder's greed, they raised prices.  That didn't help. Only 3 stores out of 27 came close to hitting their forecast.  For 2023 the forecast has been lowered to a more realistic figure, however that is not going to fix the sales for 2022, which means our Success Sharing checks are going to be as dismal as the sales they were based upon.

My angelfish laid eggs again.  This is the third time and they did what they did the previous two times.  Ate them.  They are not known to be good parents.  Here's a blurry picture I took of them last evening, before the feasting started.

And, Nikki Hailey announced her candidacy for President this morning. This is how the Republican blood bath begins.  This is going to get nasty.  His MAGA base is going to bluntly tell America what they really think about women, that they need to leave politics to the men.  I'm wondering how long it will be before Trump calls her a two-bit whore, or something similar.  I wonder how she's going to deal with the fact that many MAGA brains will say she slept her way into that position.

Word has also come out that those UFO's we've been shooting down are far less sophisticated than the Chinese balloon which started this mess.  Oh, and they were smaller.  Normally, the Republicans would make hay out of this, however, with Nikki's announcement they'll be focusing on their civil war instead.

Light this Up

Well, it's Friday and also my hump day.  Ain't that sweet?  A storm's moving eastward.  This translates into more rain.  The temps are supposed to go up, too, closer to what we might consider normal for December.  If memory serves me, this has tended to be a yearly occurrence:  cold in the first part of the month, but then warming up.  January and February are the months we are normally cold.
I had my review yesterday.  It was fine.  I'm getting a nice increase which is nice.  I can't wait for the next 2 weeks to pass.  Not only will we lose the Christmas music (remember when we called the Carols?) but it looks as though I'll be down to 32 hours per week.  I find that ducky dandy.
I hear there are a lot of whispers going around that the Idiot Jerk is quietly complaining to friends (I mean, does he really have any) he is concerned he might be impeached.  As I've said before, I think he'll quit before that happens.  I'm not one for New Year's predictions, but I wouldn't be surprised if he pardons everybody (except Cohen) and then resigns and relocates to Russia.  Pence desperately wants to be in the 'hot seat,' so he'd love it.  2020 rolls around and it's Pence running for president with Nikki Haley as his VP.  The social conservatives would love that shit.  They don't understand how badly they've been tainted by the Idiot Jerk, how he has managed to reveal how truly phony they are.  There ain't no smart bulb going to go off in their heads.
And speaking of bulbs, or... well... lights, I bought a new one for the dining room... and a nifty little end table - birds and vines.

This me slowly transitioning away from the very bright lights of the ceiling fan into something that provides more ambiance.