You Fool

Friday.  I don't work today.  This is nice.  I will have to work for 5 days in a row starting tomorrow, but that's okay.  The sun came out this AM.
Yesterday was a good day.  The sun came out yesterday as well.  My basement floor is mostly dry so I can do laundry.  Not that I fear running out of skimpies, I'm fairly well stocked when it comes to under attirements.  What made yesterday good, besides the sun?  I got up at 0430, and worked, and when I got home I got in 25 minutes of cardio.  The new routine is, after almost 3 weeks, beginning to fit me comfortably.  This is what my life was like 10 years ago, before International Paper decided to outsource my job to Krakow, Poland.  Isn't it amazing what can happen to a person in a mere decade.
The dogs are much happier today as well.  They're not too wild about dashing between the raindrops.  With the sun out, they can poop and pee to their heart's content without having to worry about getting wet. 
Yesterday a customer came up to the flooring desk and asked a couple of laminate questions.  I asked him how the weather was and he frowned.  "It's hot.  Too hot."  I really had to bite my tongue to keep from saying "You fool."  Some areas of the state are still under flood warnings.  A lot of people have seen their lives get washed away because of the torrential rains, and this middle-aged, white man is complaining about the heat. 
The same thought flashed through my head when I heard Jim Jordan wants to run for Paul Ryan's seat.  'You fool!  You sat with stoppered ears, while students were being sexually assaulted because you saw no benefit in complaining!"  He did tack on a caveat regarding the need for Republican control of the House.  Doesn't he realize that when the House turns blue ethics investigations into his past, immoral behavior will be started?  It's enough to make you laugh.  "You fool!"
Then there's Jeff Sessions...  A lot of people are looking at him now and shouting "You fool."  He and his high school chanters, his racist 'zero tolerance' towards Latinos.  Even his church denounced his false piety.  Doesn't he think he's special?
Oh, and Michael Cohen has flipped!  That news is almost enough to send Democrats and Centrists into hysterics. 

Right now, Michael is pointing his finger at the Idiot Jerk in the White House and laughing, "You fool!"

Gargantuan

So, here it is Saturday.  We're supposed to be getting heavy thunderstorms this afternoon, complete with hail.  Yippee!
I rode a bit over 10 miles this AM - a new route - Fallonica, where ever that is.  Instead of changing gears to make the climbs easier, I made myself work on the climbs.  Boy did I sweat, almost as bad as Trey Gowdy caught wearing only a towel in the Continental Baths.  I actually had to wipe down the bike since I don't want sweat ruining that nice, oxblood finish.
And I guess there's a bit of a religious upheaval happening down in DC.  Ryan did what the Evangelicals wanted and fired the Catholic Chaplain for the House of Representatives.  Some are saying he was ousted for political reasons, that he was too Liberal.  Me?  I think it was because he was a Catholic.  For those who don't know, Evangelicals really despise Catholics.  I work with an Evangelical who says Catholics are "false Christians."  He sees them as really bad people.  Phonies.  And it seems as though the Evangelicals are calling the shots when it comes to the House of Representatives.  Having a "false Christian" as Chaplain would really be a splinter under their fingernails.  Instead of being honest, they're using the Liberal gambit.  I doubt if it will work.  By now most people are beginning to realize that Evangelicals are really nothing more than hypocrites from Hell.
Which leads me to this picture of the Milky Way.  When I saw this I thought "that is freaking amazing!"

Are galaxy is really large... no, the galaxy is bigger than big... no, that's still not right.  The Milky Way is Gargantuan.  The Sol System is somewhere near the edge.  I find it rather pathetic that the same minds which want to evict the Catholic Chaplain from the House will probably never look at this picture.  Those that do will shrug and quickly move on.  For these people nothing really exists beyond the edge of our stratosphere.  The 'stars in the heavens" will never be anything more than pinpoints of light.  To be anything more than that might lead to unpopular questions.  They are much happier to simply suck on the opiate of the people.  These people will always choose stupidity because it makes them feel safe.  Unfortunately for us, they want everybody to suck on this drug.  Like the dinosaurs, they will die off.  The galaxy awaits.

Catch this

Eleven miles on the bike this AM - my average heart rate dropped to 116 per minutes, and I was averaging about 68 RPM (tire revolutions per minute), which wasn't bad.  It's an improvement from 2 days ago.  We like to see improvements.
I have customers coming in this afternoon to design blinds.  Two of their windows are narrow.  The Coolaroo blinds they want are too wide for an inside mount, so they decided an outside mount was best.  So, I get the measurements yesterday and they're all for inside mounts.  When I talked to her on the phone she said, "and we've chose our pattern."  And.... it's not going to fit.  This means I'll need to call the installer this AM and see if we can use those measurements for outside mounts.  Now, why didn't they just tell him to measure for outside mounted solar shades?  Blind people.
And Paul Ryan's leaving Washington.  I wonder if this means we're going to get more half-naked selfies from him.
And John Boehner joined some sort of marijuana board...  maybe we should start calling him Bong Boehner.
Ah, and I saw somewhere that the Idiot Jerk's ex-bestie Steve Bannon is saying Rosenstein needs to be fired as well as Mueller.  Now, isn't that rich.  There's evidently some sort of bi-partisan effort under way to keep this from happening.  You see, even some crazy conservative politicians realize this would be like jumping in front of a moving locomotive.  One second the Idiot Jerk is standing there, the next second he's smashed out of the way by the cow catcher.  You see, cow catchers never really caught cows, they were just very, very bad for cows.

Democrat and Republican cow catchers

Of course, the Idiot Jerk is going to listen to the allied ass kissers and sycophants surrounding him.  I don't even want to try and imagine what kind of shit explosion we're going to see.  Maybe we should start practicing for that big day.  Do as I say:  "duck and cover, duck and cover."

Messages abound

It's Sunday, and I don't have to go to work... and there is so much funny shit going on!  Mostly because of stupid ass Republicans.  I'm waiting to see a cartoon inspired by this headline:  Paul Ryan Tweets PA Teacher's Praise for Tax Break.  That's right, a teacher in Lancaster, PA was 'mildly surprised' to find an additional $1.50 per week in her pay check.  Of course, he deleted the Tweet, but only after the hysterical laughter had started.  This is indicative as to what these morons believe satisfies the average worker when it comes to getting a "Tax Break."  By the way, I first saw while reading the BBC this AM - this means the whole world is laughing.
Then there's the Idiot Jerk tweeting some sort of nonsense about the Nunes memo vindicating him.  You don't even need to cup your hand to your ear to hear about 67% of America laughing at that one.  This is an ideal example of just how much of a cretin this man is, I mean I'm sure those fools at Faux News started this knee slapper going.  We all know Faux News wouldn't lie to him.
And how about Melanoma's media moments, when the media tried to make you feel sorry for her?  Give me a break.  She was bought and paid for at the Trophy Wife Store.  She knows all about the Idiot Jerk's predilections for kinky sex, like golden showers.  I wouldn't be surprised if she hadn't advised Stormy Daniels which issue of Forbes to use for slapping his fat ass.
And then there's this bit about Michele Bachmann, that hoot and holler princess from Minnesota.  Evidently this lass with the Lollygag eyes saw Al Franken's empty Senate seat and decided to ask the Almighty if she should return to politics.  While she seems to no longer remember her campaign finance issues, He evidently still does, which is no doubt one of a multitude of reasons he disapproves.

Will Michele listen?  Now you have to admit that humor would abound if this addlepated hate monger actually did chose to run...  and lost as badly as Roy Moore, with almost 44,000 people either voting against you, or writing in someone else's name.  How hysterical would it be if more people wrote in Al Franken's name rather than vote for Michele.  I would say that would be a very clear and concise message from the Almighty.

Corporate Greed

Well, yesterday those bozo Republicans gave their stamp of approval to a tax overhaul that is vastly unpopular, something gear to show they can actually finish a job even if it means shitting on most Americans.  I watched a bit of video where Paul Ryan was blub, blub, blubbing something about how this will end up being a great benefit to the middle class, notice I said watch, not listen.  You see when you don't listen you can observe better, see that while his lips were mouth words, his eyes were unblinking, little blue ice cubes. There was no connection between what he was saying and what he was feeling.  He is nothing more than calculating, conservative ambition, a man who is committed to his beliefs and to his Party but cares nothing about humanity.  Is it any wonder there are rumors about him retiring?  He wants to move into the corporate environment where his greed can be satiated.
And then the CEO of AT&T said that this Tax Credit was so wonderful AT&T was going to give over 200,000 employees a $1000 bonus.... before Christmas if the Idiot Jerk signs this legislation in time.  At first glance this sounds simply amazing, that AT& is going to $200,000,000 back to its employees.  That's a lot of money.  A lot of people were wowed over - not me, for a couple of reasons:  With support from this Administration, the FCC wants to end Net Neutrality which means AT&T can charge what ever they want, if you want faster Internet speeds it'll cost you.  (Are you getting a bitter taste in your mouth?)  And then there's the bit about AT&T wanting to buy Time/Warner - the Justice Department is saying "hold on there a minute."  Well, anybody with half a brain knows that if you kiss the Idiot Jerk's ass, make him look good, he gives you what you want.  (This is beginning to smell a little shitty, isn't it?)  But the real topper is AT&T's finances from 2016.  Looking at those $ figures I realized this bonus was pretty much the equivalent of AT&T blowing a snotty kiss to their associates.  They have over a $17 Billion positive cash flow.  That's like money in the bank.  And that $200,000,000 is a little over  0.0117647058823529%  When you see these figures you realized that AT&T's gift to their associates is rather putrid... in fact, we should start asking why they don't do this every year.  That answer's simple:  Corporate Greed.  Corporate Greed says that giving your average worker a bonus is a waste of money.

In case you're wondering, I do know a little bit about what I'm talking about.  You see I work for a little, home improvement retailer known as Home Depot.  Home Depot has something called Success Sharing (think bonus program).  Everybody gets a bonus.  The more successful your store, the bigger the bonus.  In 2017 my total bonus package was over $1300 (that's the none manager figure which is higher).  That AT & T bonus?  With all the money they have, it's on the cheap side, don't you think?

Weighing in on the GOP, boobs and all

So, I ordered a Garmin Scale yesterday which should be arriving tomorrow.  As for my Worthings' scale?  I'll probably give that away.  My biggest issue with that scale was the reliance on percentages for recording things like fat weight, water weight and muscle weight on the app.  Example:  you  have a great cardio and sweat like a pig (something I tend to do) and then you weigh yourself.  On the scale you're going to get the weight for all 3 in pounds however the app converts lbs to  % so at that point in time you water % can be lower but that's going to make either your muscle or your fat % higher.  If you're trying to build muscle and reduce fat, the only relatively clear picture you're going to get of your muscle weight is when you weigh yourself which makes the app useless.   I guess the Worthings (Nokia) scale and their app are fine if you're not really serious.

And I saw that McTurtle pulled his health disaster before letting it come to a failing vote.  Well, that was to be expected.  Brookings has a really good take on just how ugly that piece of legislature is... was.  And when those idiots come back in early in late July they're going to have to start working on the budget, which they booted way back when they didn't have enough votes to pass the wretched thing.  And if you think the Idiot in the White House and his boobs had problems with health care, wait until they try to start dancing through that field of land mines.  Can't you hear the Idiot now?  "Paul... Paul, walk over that way, see if you blow off one of your career legs... oh, and take off your shirt, if everyone's looking at your chest they might not notice you're missing one of your fiscal feet."  Just wait and see if this country doesn't run out of money.

Crack in the World... I mean GOP

I have always been a fan of disaster movies. if it was tidal waved or shaken down, burned up or frozen out, you could, and still can, usually find me in the audience.  One of my favorites, if not my all time favorite, is Crack in the World, in which an often shirtless Kieron Moore tries to stop... well, a crack in the world.

This fracturing was started by scientists who thought they knew better, a group much like the GOP leadership, who detonated a nuclear warhead in their attempt to blow a hole into the earth's core.   The attempt to stop the crack merely sends it back in on itself.  Moore, in a shirt 2 sizes too small, and some chick escape as a large chunk of the lower pacific ocean blows out into space to form a 2nd moon.

Anyway, I was reading this article on the NBC News page when certain logic circuits triggered in my head and I realized the same thing was happening to the GOP.  I mean the Trump candidacy is the nuclear warhead and it has truly fractured and cracked the party.  See what I'm saying?  It's like the Crack in the GOP.  The election on November 8 is going to turn that crack back upon themselves.  The only way they can survive is by splintering, and forming a moon party, or maybe they'll call themselves the party of Trump, or possibly the Trumpidores.  I don't know if this means we're going to get to see Paul Ryan running around without a shirt, trying to save the party or not.  However, one thing's for certain.

Paul Ryan is no Kieron Moore.

Two for the Road

Well, they just finished delivering the 3 tons of pea gravel I ordered last week; all part of the plan to get the dust out of my house, well, not all of it, but to slow it down in a major way.  On dry days, when the dogs are out playing, dust just billows up and into the house.  This is the remedy, I hope.

On a lighter note, the GOP is coming apart at the seams.  Reince Preibis evidently is very, very angry, furious, apoplectic, pissed (take your choice) that Trump will not endorse Paul Ryan.  There's word about that some high ranking officials are thing about having an intervention... and Trump's people are saying one is not necessary.  One of the names being bandied about as part of this team is Newt Gingrich.  See the humor? 

What the GOP doesn't realize, or perhaps doesn't want to realize, is that there is only one person in this whole wide world who might be able to talk any kind of sense to Donald Trump.  The problem is Vladimir Putin is not a Republican.  But you all know in your hearts that if Vlad did call and tell Don to tone down his rhetoric old Don would say, "sure thing baby."  They are close you know.  I know because this picture proves it.

Of course, I might be wrong. This might all be happenstance.  Perhaps Vlad was just riding his horse shirtless (as he most always does) and saw Don standing shirtless along the road, and, of course, when Don saw Vlad he probably stuck out his thumb and asked "Going my way?"  And of course Vlad would have nodded and said, "hey, jump on board and I'll give you a ride."  But then again, maybe this is just an excerpt of the continuing GOP soap opera nightmare.  Think of it as American Horror Story with a Russian twist.... except this versions funny.

Paul Ryan's skin

Today's Father's Day, a holiday, of sorts, pretty much invented by Hallmark, anything to sell a card, you know?  My Dad died a bit over 12 years ago from lung cancer.  Between the experimental chemo and the radiation treatments it was not a good year, so, rather than wonder down that maudlin path, I thought I'd talk about Paul Ryan instead.  You know who I'm talking about?  He's in politics?  Kind of, sort of, runs the House of Representatives... sometimes?  Well, Paul gave an interview today where he actually said he's supporting Trump because the people voted for him.  Take a deep breath and read that last sentence again.  He is not supporting him because he'd make a great President, nor because he is a fair and open minded individual.  Paul didn't say he was supporting Trump because he'd even be a good President.  Nope.  He didn't highlight any of Trump's qualifications which set him above the rest, not at all.  Instead, Paul dumped this whole thing into the laps of the people.  They were the ones who voted for Trump.  One can only wonder if the Republicans had actually put some thought into their primary process and voted for...oh, say Daffy Duck, would Paul support him as well?  I mean, if Daffy Duck had won the hearts of a majority of the Republican voters would Paul be right behind them.  Would he actually say, "I'm supporting Daffy" because they voted for him?   Hhhmmm me thinks not.
Anyway, Paul looks good shirtless.  Funny thing, it seems as though more people Google 'Paul Ryan Shirtless,' then they do 'Paul Ryan budget,' or Paul Ryan politics, or... well just about anything else to do with Paul Ryan.

cute, eh?

Maybe, if Paul really wants people to get behind Donald Trump, he should take more shirtless pictures.  Maybe even holding up a Donald Trump bumper sticker, or maybe a copy of Donald's book.  Come on, Paul, don't you know anything about subliminal messaging?  If you want us to get behind you, and support Donald the same way you do, well, you're going to have to show us a little more skin.

Always a good laugh - CPAC

This year's CPAC ended yesterday and, as always, I did get a hearty chuckle out of listening to this conservative block party's speakers beat a dead horse.  You have to remember, those who attend are the diehards, those who wear the blinders, and those who have surrounded themselves with a bubble of denial.  They go to chew on the red meat thrown to them by the likes of Ted Cruz and Sarah Palin, not the slowly awakening awareness of Paul Ryan.  They don't understand Ted Cruz thinks the whole country is like Florida and by playing 'Stand your ground' he's going to go far.  He isn't, but that's beyond their ken.  They let that haus frau Sarah Palin, with her early 60's dated look, take the stage and ride another dead horse, Obamacare, even further into the ground.  Mitch McConnell took the stage brandishing a rifle.  A coonskin hat would have completed the parody, of course that's something the party loyalists will never understand.

Another Daniel Boone wanna-be

Every year CPAC holds a straw poll to vote for the most conservative, most Republican man they would like to see as president.  Notice I say man, not individual.  No woman has ever won.  Now tell me that doesn't sound sexist.  Anyway, this year Rand Paul won.  He won the straw poll last year, too.  If he wins it one more year you could say he's on a hot streak.  This is not a good thing for Rand.  Romney won it four times and failed in his bid for the presidency.  Rand's own father, Ron, won the same poll three times and his failed campaigns were pretty much the stuff jokes are made of.  If Rand does run, he will have to deal with the fact there are a lot of people out there who think of him as a word thief, thanks to his exploits in plagiarism.  Every word he speaks or puts out in print is going to be checked over and over again.  Most people in this country have a problem with those who steal.

Paul Ryan was the one voice which seemed to make any sense what so ever, of course he's been through the presidential campaign grind and is well aware of all the mistakes which were made.  He talks about a more inclusive umbrella in which the party diversifies it's constituents.  He's on the right track.  Of course, he was playing to the wrong crowd.  All this group wanted to do was gnaw on their bones of hate.  They are killing the GOP. 

Chris Christie - porker deluxe

Well, the Republican convention is in full swing and conservatives, both young and old and far right and not so far right, are celebrating.  I don't watch conventions.  Too much of the hoopla is geared specifically for swinging Independent voters and because of that you get very little substance.  I did have to laugh the other evening when I saw a clip of Ann and Mitt Romney and she said he buys his shirts at Costco and "just the last night was ironing his own shirt."  Seriously, Mitt is in the 'upper class' and if his friends thought he actually went to Costco they would smirk at him silently, well, maybe not so silently.  And the idea of him ironing a shirt?  His walk-in closet is probably the size of a modest ranch style home and no doubt at least one room is completely devoted to shirts.  Evidently Ann spoke again last evening as well as New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.  His name was bandied about quite a lot as a possible Vice President.  Conservatives love his no nonsense approach.  He does have one flaw though, and it's a big one.  Chris Christie is fat.

Porker deluxe

I would not be surprised if that was the main reason he was not asked to be Mitt's running mate.  One can only wonder how many medications he is on:  blood pressure, cholesterol, probably one of the anti-coagulants because humans this size are more likely to have a stroke or heart attack.  Doesn't he know there is surgery which can help solve his problem?  If he ever wants to posture on the world's stage he's going to have to slim down, a lot.  Paul Ryan needs to get him excited about P90x!

Wanna be P90x spokesman

Well, it's probably going to take more then P90x.  When you're as fat as Chris Christie you've spent a life time building rotten eating habits and have never really bothered to exercise and, at this point in his life, it's probably way too late to change.  Just think, if he were 200 pounds lighter he might have been Mitt Romney's Vice Presidential candidate.