The Storm

 Well, we had rain and it seems as if more rain is on the way... much more.  There is a storm transitioning up the eastern seaboard (nice of use of the word transition, eh?) that is apparently going to dump at least an inch more rain upon Central PA.  Temps will hover in the 40s (F).  Accuweather, however, seems to be on the fence with this one, since they're predicting only .20 of an inch of rain, yet they also saying that we should expect ponding in the roadways.  Every other weather report says the ponding is definitely going to happen.

I did work yesterday.  It was another meh day.  When I got to the flooring desk a rather pretentious couple was doing changes to their quote.  Big $$$.  Luckily for me they are not my customers, so all I had to do was sit there for a few moments and listen to them dictate exactly what they wanted to happen.  Let me append that sentence, she was dictating, he was on his phone.  I chuckled when I overheard him say that "he was setting the record straight."  I also chuckled when she said they would return to the store today so her father could pay for the install in order for them to take advantage of his military discount.  For that to happen, their quote needs to be in his name, which means it will have to be rebuilt, a rather time consuming process.  I'm so glad I don't work today.

And Howie is not big enough to get things off the kitchen counters, and I don't mean pulling things off with his paws.  I know this because he pulled a squeaker from his squirrel and, rather than walk it out and put it into the trash, I set it on the counter.  Not 2 minutes later I heard him crunch, crunch, crunching on plastic.  Now it's out in the trash.  This also means nothing can be on the counters that he might catch his interest.  Biggie once ate an entire loaf of bread once, and while Howie is not as high as Biggie, he is longer.  Here he is in the kitchen.

And, in case you missed it, China increased tariffs for the United States to 125%.  They're going to stir fry the American economy.  At the same time they're doing this, they are negotiating with the EU, cutting back on tariffs.  There is some serous deal making going on with electric cars.  I understand China has also stopped taking orders for certain Tesla models (S and X) in China, which will help with EU electric car deal.  China is the largest market for Tesla.  That sound you hear in the background is Elonia sobbing.

And will the market rise or fall today?  Well, that Chinese tariff increase is probably going to put a damper on things, even if this storm moving up the eastern seaboard doesn't isn't as rainy as predicted.  More and more people are pointing out that the Orange Anus's Art of the Deal pause in tariffs was in reality the Art of the Steal.  They're trying to find out how many Republican congressmen and senators bought stock at the low price before the pause was announced.  Unfortunately for them it dropped fast yesterday, so their greed probably wasn't as satiated as they were hoping.  Oh, and don't worry, I suspect that the markets are going to keep dropping.  Remember, he has 6 bankruptcies on his resume.

How Can This Be

 Well, its 8 in the morning and the outside temps is 49 (F), and we have drizzles.  Showers, if wish to call them that.  Steady and persistent is the weather pattern in store for us today as temperatures continue to fall.  By Wednesday, our overnight low is predicted to be in the upper 20s (F).

I worked yesterday, so not much was accomplished around the house.  No workouts were finished.  No chores accomplished.  I don't know if it was because I realized I had to work, or if it was the weather, which was damp and drizzly all day.  This is, unfortunately what Spring is like, a transitional period filled with occasional partial sunshine, and mostly overcast rainy days.  These are the days, however, that do make the garden grow.

There is something wrong with the keyboard I'm using, which is not the one on the laptop.  The keyboard I use is in the top desk draw and pulls out when I'm writing.  It keeps dropping ds, so I might have to switch it out.  I have several alternative wireless keyboards; I'll have to pick through them and change the bad one out.

I worked yesterday.  It was slow.  Not that I didn't talk to customers, it's just that no one was buying.  I suspect that this is a bad trend that's going to continue.

Of course, this happened yesterday.  This is Hands Off in Harrisburg, PA.

The rough estimate, prior to the rallies held in the western states, was that over 5 million people were protesting.  That's a big bunch of angry people.  This is the type of movement that Conservatives have always avoided thinking about, it's a condition that happens when you're born with out a spine.  You see, for Project 2025 to work the masses need to be complacent.  Disagreement leads to a disruption of their agenda.  They are going to get very angry when things don't go their way.  They will run around shrieking "How Can this Be?!"  In their delusional minds the masses should bow their heads ready for subjugation, except that ain't happenin'.  Prepare yourselves, for they will become distraught and will ramble and rant, gagging out the bitter pieces of the incomprehensible word salad they spit up and all because their simple brains never took anything other than their own desire for power into consideration.  

Or course, the Orange Anus is helping them any.  Word leaking out from his administration is that he's a bitter, angry man who no longer gives a fuck what happens.  The world is not kissing his ass, and for that he's going to make the world pay.

Trump's told to Pound Sand

 It rained yesterday.  All day.  Steadily soaking into the ground, giving Howie the opportunity of digging deep.  The temps stayed in the mid 50s (F), cooling off only a bit.  Now they're in the mid 40s (F) where, if the forecasters are correct, they will sit for most of the day.

Yesterday was again one of those meh days.  I'm blaming the rain.  Chores were planned and ignored.  One thing I've done is cut back on my trips to my Giant supermarket.  I found I was driving there every other day.  Such frequency means that I end up spending money on things I don't need, sometimes on things like cake and ice cream.  

I did spend time working on the musical code for The Body in 4/4 Time.  It has been a long time since I wrote down music.  The initial code is written, now I've got to add all the flourishes needed to create the intro to a song that will never be finished.  Right now I have 16 measures written, and, as you all might expect, they're all in 4/4 time.  I may add a couple of sharps and flats to complicate things a bit.  
And I'm thinking of adding a visual to the book so reader can see and possibly trying and decode the message.

Dinner was pulled pork, which is funny.  When I was growing up, my mom would make the same thing except back than we called it pork barbeque.  She also made beef barbeque with ground beef.  Of course, barbeque means something different now, too.

And now English is the official language of the United States.  It was always the official language, but now it's officially official.  Orangie signed this Executive Order because so many of his base hate foreign languages, especially Spanish.  I wonder when one of his base is going to go to Lancaster Country, PA, and tell all of those Amish who have been speaking Pennsylvania German for centuries that now they need to speak American English.

For those who missed it, Orangie blew a fuse yesterday. Here is one of several posts he made to Truth Social.  

Now his cultists are as burning mad as Orangie.  What could bring on his unmitigated ire?  Tariffs.  You see Orangie, in his attempt to prove to the world that he's a great business man and negotiator, a man who is so successful at the "art of the deal," initiated 25% tariffs on products from Canada, Mexico, and China, with other tariffs to come).  Naturally, Canada, Mexico, and China retaliated with 25% tariffs against American goods and Wall Street reacted badly.  One of his sycophants to Orangie this was crushing his rep, so so he tried to staunch the flow of bleeding in the stock market by making Trudeau an offer:  we will remove our tariffs on the automotive industry if you totally remove your retaliatory tariffs.  Instead of caving, as Orangie expected, Trudeau told him to pound sand.  One of the comments I saw was, "we're not going to go through this bullshit every month."  This is a blatant failure of Orangie's policies.  To top it off, he's getting the same blowback of Mexico and China.  Brace yourselves, things are going to get worse.

Kissing Conservative Prayers Goodbye

 Well, it's Thursday and it's raining.  A steady drizzle is soaking the ground.  Howie came in wearing his favorite Wet Dog cologne, though he's not soaked to the point of needing to have a good shake, though he is still wearing his muddy doggy boots.

Yesterday was a good day.  Not only did I get both aquariums cleaned, I got in a 9 mile bike ride and, most importantly, Howie and I took our first walk in Adams-Ricci park.  He got to meet 2 other dogs, a lab mix who he had a good sniff with, and a little hair thing with big ears that frightened him.  

The initial paragraphs are done on the next book, The Body in 4/4 time.  This one is going to be more mysterious, with an old house and a musical code.  Yep, you read that right.  At least one of the major clues will be musical.  For those of you who are interested, Bobby Tussel will try and play the piano, that is when he isn't guzzling beer from his very own micro-brewery Hunky Donkey Draft.

The Lebanon VA pharmacy is overnighting my Atorvastin, that's my cholesterol med.  We have this issue every year.  I have a prescription for 4 ninety day refills, however that was originally set up when my yearly appointment was in January.  Three years ago my appointment was moved to June.  The prescription was never updated.

President Mush had his first cabinet meeting yesterday and he let the Orange Anus get in a word edgewise.

According to Orangie, everyone in his cabinet is pleased to have Elonia take charge... and if they don't well that's too damn bad.  Sadly, we did learn something, that Elonia and his team had accidently shut down an Ebola prevention, but don't worry, when they realized what they had done, they started it up again.  Elonia then went onto say, "mistakes are going to be made," as if that's a valid excuse.

While my brother didn't say so out loud, I'm certain he believes that Orangie is going to turn America into a socially conservative country with a socially conservative authoritative government.  I'm certain this is what he and millions of other Christians have been praying for, however what they're getting is Elonia, a Nazi.  Being dumb, I don't think a lot of social conservatives understand that Nazis believe in an Arian Nation, nor do that understand that while some Arians might believe in God, they definitely don't believe in either Jesus or the Holy Spirit.  Ouch.  Even worse, many Americans see Elonia as a successful businessman.  Well, he's made one or two shrewd investments, but those companies he bought have all gone on to suffer.  Tesla's stock is crashing.  Everyday it drops.  And can we talk about Twitter?  Elonia paid $44 billion for the social media platform and it's now worth $9 billion.  His idea of free speech is Nazi propaganda.  He doesn't understand why corporations don't want their advertisements book cased by Nazi shriekings.  These flaws in Elonia's ego driven vision of himself will lead him to destroy everything he touches.  So, all of those Christians who voted for Orangie thinking they were going to get a socially conservative, albeit authoritarian government, can kiss their dreams goodbye.

Funny Things

 So, what all happened yesterday?  Well, it rained.  All day it rained.  Over an inch of rain fell as a cold front moved into the area.  Today it is going to be cold, with out high temperatures only climbing into the mid 30s (F).  That same thing is going to be true for tomorrow, and Sunday.  On Monday we're supposed to be warming up again.

Where as Biggie and Lily hated the rain, Howie has no problem with it.  He has no problem with puddles either, and, if the puddle is located in the right place, he soon turns it into a mud puddle.  He thinks digging in a puddle of water is a really fun game.  And when he comes in we play "Let's try and dry off the wet puppy!"  I did end up laughing because the game is fun.

I finished dehydrating the bag of potatoes yesterday.  Tomorrow, I'm going to do tomatoes and possibly onions at the same time.  I'm sure the house will smell wonderful.  Otherwise, I did nothing yesterday except work on The Body in History.  I had no desire to really do anything, no doubt the result of the cloudy skies and constant rain.  I do like sunny days.  We need more of them.  Wouldn't it be nice if it only rained at night, while we are sleeping?

And now for a bit of dark humor:

The funny thing about that was if there were a lethal strain of Covid killing off Americans, soooo many of those anti-vaxers would suddenly start whistling a different tune.  I honestly believe that the biggest problem we had with the last strain of Covid was that Trump got it and lived.  Had he died, so many things would have been different.  Christians want to believe God kept him alive to give them what they want.  They evidently don't know that Evil works the same way, unfortunately so many of them are presumptuous enough to believe they know the will of God.  Can you hear me laughing?

As if Orangey's packing Guilfoyle off to Greece wasn't amusing enough, he's going to put Kari Lake in charge of Voice of America.  According to their website, they claim to reach 354 million people around the world.  To put that into perspective, there are over 8 Billion people in the world, so Voice of America is reaching .00000004% of the world's population.  I'm hoping that she realizes how big this insult is after spending so much time in Mar a Lago, probably doing abhorrent sexual things with the Orange Anus.  

Finally, no one should be surprised that there are hitlists springing up online and posters being spread with the names and pictures of Healthcare CEOs.  As I said, the shooting of the United Healthcare CEO was just the tip of the iceberg and no one is going to fix the problem with the American health care system.

The Price of Eggs

 It rained last night, or, more precisely, it stormed with both rain and wind.  Many leaves fell from the trees.  Howie's frisbee, which was bottom side up, was filled with water this morning when he went outside for his morning business.  Oh, and the temp was a cool 38 (F).  Today's high is only a few degrees above that, and tonight they're predicting snow flurries.  A bit of a cool down is on the way.  If this winter is similar to the past few, temps will continue to decline until about the first week in February, at which time they will begin to warm up.

I got a lot done around the house yesterday.  Howie and I also walked around the block and were barked at by a large dog.  He doesn't like large dogs, even though he's going to be one.  How's that for irony.  The living room tank was cleaned, I got a ride in on the bike, and made a nice salmon dish for lunch/dinner.

A few weeks back, I bought myself a 13 lb turkey for Thanksgiving, just in case I didn't get an invite.  Well, we're a week away and still no invite.  My sister and her daughter aren't doing anything, in fact they've already pre-ordered their meal.  They're paying a lot more for their dinner, than I am, and honestly, I'd rather roast the bird since there will be leftovers!

Yesterday, I contacted Amazon to return that 2nd watch I ended up getting.  The person I chatted with seemed surprised.  I suppose a lot of people would take advantage of that situation.  This is one of the things that is wrong with America.  We do tend to have a problem with ethics.

Here's a sunrise pic I took outside this morning.

While I no longer subscribe to the Washington Post, I still scan the headlines.  They also send me a list of the top 7 stories and this morning I had to laugh as I looked at that list because number 7 dealt with the price of eggs.  That's right, the price of eggs is going up because of... bird flu, at least that's the excuse they're using.  You know, that's going to piss off a lot of those voters who thought Trump was going to drop the price of eggs.  And don't worry, they're not going to come down.  That would be like asking those egg distributors to take a cut in pay; we know that ain't going to happen any time soon.  By the way, one of the items I purchased for my larder is a large can of dried eggs.  

Another thing that's funny is that all those duffers who voted for Trump because he says he's going to cut down on the size of government.  That means the government's payroll expense will go down, but it also means unemployment will go up.  It would be nice for a change if simply minded Americans actually thought things through.

Howie's Vet Visit

 It did rain again last night.  Every drop helps.  The outside temp is in the upper 40s (F) and is only expected to climb a few degrees higher.  According to the forecast, at least some amount of rain should be falling over the next three days.  I hope they're right.

Yesterday was... sort of fun, sort of meh, sort of maybe I should just take a nap.  This is how most Tuesday's are turning out after I work the weekend and Monday.  It's not that I'm tired, it's just that everything seems to be a chore.  Adding to that is the fact that I didn't sleep that well Monday night.  My Garmin watch, which tracks my sleep indicated that I had slept poorly, and that my body battery hadn't replenished nearly enough, and that it was going to be a ho-hum kind of day.

I got my water bill yesterday.  That little leak I had in the bathroom wasted around 700 gallons.  That will give you an idea as to how bad it was.

Howie did have his first Vet visit yesterday and it went well.  He has a slight entropy on his right eye, that means the eyelashes on his bottom eye are sort of turning in and scratching his eye.  It's not serious.  In fact, his new vet said that it's quite probably the issue will fix itself as he gets older and his head grows   Stat wise, he weighs 30 pounds, or 13.5 kg.  His final weight will be around 80 pounds, or 36 kg.  She recommended that he go from puppy chow to large adult dog food, so a bag has been ordered from Chewy.  Here's a blurry pic from the Vet.

And if you haven't been paying attention, Social Conservatives are furious over Trump's choice to have Kennedy run the Department of Health.  He's pro abortion.  I suppose he feels that he's not going to need anymore Evangelical votes.  And Dr. Oz to handle Medicare and Medicaid?  Seniors prepare to pay more for your health care.  And for those who don't understand, those tax dollars which should be going to benefit Americans, will be used to offset another big tax break for billionaires.

There are joyous things happening if you look for him.  Yesterday the Orange Anus and Elonia were down in Texas to watch one of Elonia's rockets launch and... it exploded.  This is what's called symbolism, or, possibly foreshadowing.  Maybe it's a combination of both.  

Elonia slashed the workforce at Zitter, the dying social media platform, because he needed those dollars to help pay off that $40 billion dollar loan he took out to buy it.  Stupidly, he's going to try and do the same thing with the American economy.  He and Orangie have about the same IQ, a little below average, and that shared stupidity will come back to haunt them.

Raw Milk

 We had rain overnight.  It was good, especially since there was only supposed to be a 60% chance of rain yesterday.  Any and every rain drop is welcome.  Today, our temps are expected to climb up into the mid 50s (F).  While that's not unusual for this time of year, what is unusual is that we've only had one day in which temps have dropped below freezing.  Over the past few years, we've been heading into the end of November with a really nice cold snap.  Thanks to Climate Change, that may not happen this year.

Much was accomplished yesterday.  I am pleased.  Hopefully, today will be just as good.  There are only 2 mandatory chores that need to be done.

Things that were done yesterday included a trip to the Orange retailer to pick up 6 more bags of topsoil and some bricks.  Howie seems like digging at one area of the fence, the bricks will put an end to it.  I had him out leash training, that went well.  I picked up 2 new pair of work pants from Community Aid.  The cuffs will need to be hemmed because, as I've said before, I have little legs.  Some weight training was done.  Some cleaning.  I have about 12,000 pages left in the first draft to finish; I'm pleased with that.

The leaves on my gingko are still in the process of turning yellow.  This morning, as I went to take a picture of it through the bedroom window, I noticed that high up in the branches was a bird's nest.  Can you see it?

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As expected, the Orange Anus continued to shock the world yesterday with his continuing nomination of completely unqualified people for cabinet positions.  Hopefully, some of the Republican Senators who handle the confirmation process will grow a pair and keep people like Gaetz, and Kennedy out of the administration.  One of Kennedy's pet projects is to bring back raw milk.  For those who don't know, milk is pasteurized to kill all those nasty little microbes in it that will make you sick with silly little things like dysentery.  Just because it doesn't make cows sick, doesn't mean your belly is going to handle those bacteria.  He will also be in charge of Medicare and Medicaid, unlike in Europe and most of the rest of the world where Health Care is free, Americans should expect their costs to go up and benefits to go down.  Oh, and he is an anti-vaxer.  This means there will probably be a rather entertaining war between him and Big Pharma.

As for Gaetz?  Well, I guess we'll all get to see if Trump gets to put a pedophile in his cabinet.  

No One Voluntarily Takes a Cut in Pay

 It was 49 (F) this morning when I got up to let Howie out, that was a little after 0500.  We did have rain yesterday, almost half of an inch.  It was so necessary.  Things are so dry here.  They're predicting more on Thursday, though not as much.  Temps are supposed to climb into the 60s (F), though highs for the rest of the week are only supposed to be in the 50s (F).  That's fine with me, as long as we get more rain.

And, knocking on wood, Howie has been good about his potty-outsides.  There have been a few accidents, but he'll continue to improve.  He's a good puppy, now, if only he didn't view me as a chew toy.  I ordered him some more toys.  I also bought 5 bags of top-soil yesterday.  Lily and Seig (mostly Lily) killed off most of the grass in my back yard, so I bought a truckload of pea gravel to spread around.  It looked fine and kept the dust down.  Howie likes to chew on the pea gravel.  He doesn't eat it, just munches on it.  Since I don't want to have to go through the expense of having stones surgically removed from his belly, I'm going to be covering the gravel.  

I also ordered myself a Garmin Venu 3S to replace my Fenix 6.  The Fenix is 4 years old.  They normally last about 5, but it has connectivity issues with my phone and my HRM, and it has stopped tracking my sleep.  I was going to wait a bit, but most of it is made in China, and in case you didn't know prices are going to be going up.  It would cost over $1000 to replace the Fenix (ouchy), and the Venu does everything I did for $375, after my discounts.

And, on my birthday, I went to see Conclave, which is, and I know this sounds odd, a religious thriller.  One pope dies, and needs to be replaced and there is much intrigue.  The cast is very good.  John Lithgow is manipulative.  Ralph Fiennes has hidden ambitions.  And Isabella Rossellini is a quiet force to be reckoned with.  I didn't know if I was going to like it, since it is about Catholicism, but I was pleasantly surprised.  There were a number of what I assume were older Catholics in the audience and I wonder what they thought of the story as it developed.  There is a really stunning surprise at the end.

And, as I said, I ordered a new smartwatch.  Prices are going to be going up.  I think that everybody realizes this except Trumpsters.  Deporting immigrants, even those in this country legally, is going to reduce the workforce in certain sectors which will effect a majority of Americans.  Think produce.  The tomatoes, the lettuce, the cucumbers, the melons you like to eat?  They are picked by hand and mostly by immigrant hands because no white person would stoop to such labor for minimum wage.  This means that in order for that asparagus to be picked, those growers will need to pay higher wages and that increase is going to get passed onto the consumer.  Remember, no one ever voluntarily takes a cut in pay, and that applies not only to people, but to businesses, farmers, and corporations.  This is what we will be dealing with.

Kristallnacht, part II

 It rained all day yesterday, the steady, soaking rain.  It was constant.  Temps hovered in the low 60s (F).  Today are temps are predicted to climb into the upper 60s (F) and instead of rain we're only supposed to get showers, meaning that the steady rain had become irregular rain.  Either way, it's still going to rain.  Tomorrow the temps are supposed to rise a little, but we have basically the same forecast. 

And, as expected, yesterday was slow in retail.  There was the rare, chatty customer who was looking for something in another department.  For example, one tall gent was looking for gate hinges, so I left the flooring desk and walked him over to lumber to where the gate hinges were located.  It was more fun than just putting in laps; I got over 11,000 steps in.

When I got home from work I discovered that Mr. Mousy had been digging in a planter that I have on my kitchen counter, so, before I go to work today, I'll put a little peanut butter in a trap.  Peanut butter is very good bait.

I've gotten a few questions about just which supporting characters are going to be in The Body in History since I do have a nice sized group of players that show up in the books from time to time.  So, yes, the Von Trapp Family Boxers do put in an appearance or two.  No, Tag is not in this book, though there's a distinct possibility he will show up in Los Angeles for The Body in 4/4 Time, Rock On!

I had a nice chat with Cori, my cover artist, giving her a sketch of what I thought the cover for this book should look like.  She nodded, pointed to an inky smudge and asked, "what's this?"  "A torch," I answered.  She nodded, saying "torches are good."  Here's a clue.

At a speech in Erie, Pennsylvania, Trump evidently called for one day of legal police violence where they were going to round up immigrants and those they thought were illegal aliens, or in other words, anyone with brown skin, or who speaks with an accent, or both.  The cultists loved this and in his small, meeting hall applause roared.  Some said he was calling for an actual Purge, as in the horror movie, other were likening it to Kristallnacht, that terrible night in German when the Nazis began rounding up Jews.  Social Media erupted.  The Main Stream Media stayed silent.  They want this to be a horse race since that will get them many, many clicks on their websites.  They do not understand that should he actually get into power, with the immunity the Supreme Court has given the president, he would shut them all down except for the one that praises him the most.  If they want proof, they need to look at Russia, and China, and North Korea where there is one State Radio.  Other media outlets no longer exist.  They don't understand that the tax breaks he promises them no longer matter if their voices are silenced. 

The Mouse

 Supposedly the rain is going to be hanging around until Wednesday.  I don't know if that going to happen, Wednesday is when my chair is getting delivered, though I'm sure it will be covered in plastic when it arrives.  Until then, our skies will be filled with clouds and drizzling rains.  Today's temps are predicted to be the coldest, hovering in the mid 60s (F).  Tomorrow, they will warm up into the 70s (F) again, and then they'll stay there for the next few days.  

All of this rain means a good mowing for my lawn sometime next week.

Work was so terribly boring yesterday.  I have a window decor customer who I was hoping would stop in so I could design their blinds.  They didn't.  I ended up walking laps to get in my steps: 8062 isn't bad.  I'm in for a full 8 hours today, and since it's Sunday, I'm betting they'll show up today.  We have a 40% sale going on in shades, that's a magnet.

I have a mouse in the house.  To be perfectly frank, I've probably got more, an entire family, no doubt, and they've been eating at the fruit in my fruit bowl.  Not all of the fruit, only the pears and the plums.  They evidently don't like bananas and oranges.  This means I will have to set out traps, and then recycle their tiny bodies back into nature on the hill behind my house.  This is what they did to a pear.

One thing we can look forward to on November 5 is the Republicans denying their loss.  Prepare yourselves, they will be very loud.  Even when the Orange Anus loses by a landslide, they will shriek election fraud.  This is because the only way they can win is through the Electoral College, and when they swings into the Democrats territory there has to be cheating because those red states would never change color, never go from red to blue.  Of course, Orangie is already shrieking this, in between the gobbledygook incomprehensible word salads he spits out daily.  He is worse than he was in 2016, mostly because 8 years ago he still managed to speak in semi-complete sentences.  Back then, people didn't have to be paid to show up at his rallies. and they didn't leave in droves once the payoff hit their accounts.  No matter how much the Main Street Media tries to sane wash him, his decline is obvious.  Even Fox Entertainment is now cutting away from his speeches because.... he's beginning to hurt their ratings.

Rent (not the musical)

 So, it's Thursday morning and we have rain.  The temperature is predicted to climb up into the mid 70s (F) today, humidity is supposed to increase, and late this afternoon or early this evening we may or may not be having additional thunderstorms.  This is the weather pattern we're under for the next several days.  Most of the rain from Hurricane Helene will have dissipated by the time her remnants roll into Central PA, at best they're saying we might get another inch of rain.

I went rowing yesterday rather than cycling.  Different muscle groups.  I should have remembered what happens when new muscle groups, those that haven't been stretched or worked in a while, get used.  I didn't, and last evening I got a cramp in my right quad when I stood up.  Honestly, it was a very good thing I wasn't holding a glass of wine.  

One of the conversations I had while in Greece was about how expensive it was to live in Athens, that a decent apartment went for around 900 Euros a month.  (I checked, for a one bedroom apartment, the average rent is between $700 and $900 per month.)  And I said something to the effect of that being similar to what people pay in Central PA.  Being a home owner, I was clueless when it came to knowing what people pay for rent.  Also, being the curious type, yesterday I spent a few minutes checking to see what the average rent payment withing a 5 mile radius of my house.  Wow!  was I wrong.  While you can get a studio apartment for around $1000, it's tiny.  The average cost for a one bedroom apartment with appliances is between $1400 and $1600 a month.  I also know that the average take home pay from one of our full time plumbing specialists is around $1900 a month.  So, over here we get paid better, but our rents are about $500 a month higher, and that's in Central PA.  An apartment in a city comparable in size to Athens would be much more expensive.

Here's an old picture of me holding my first Cannondale.  This was taken around 25 years ago.

And it seems as though Eric Adams, the Mayor of NYC, was caught taking... handouts from foreign governments like Turkey, and Israel (there are several more listed).  When ever I hear things like this, I just want to smack these people up side their heads.  I get angry because they turn out to be that stupid, thinking they're going to get away with it.  Why are so many, so easy to corrupt.  Why do they fail when it comes to making a moral judgement?  I don't feel sorry for this man in the least.  He rationalized his way into make a terrible decision, and now his historical footnote will be that he was corrupt.  

Rain in Pylos

 Good Morning, people of the world!

I thought yesterday was going to be the last day our temps were going to be climbing up into the 80s (F).  I was wrong.  That'll happen today, if it happens, because we're basically borderline 80s (F).  Sometime this afternoon, the showers and thundershowers will move in and our temps will begin to fall.  That is until we get our yearly blast of Indian Summer.  For those of you who don't know, Indian Summer occurs after the first frost of the year and our temps will zoom upwards for about a week.  

Speaking of rain, when I got to Greece the country was going through a serious dry spell.  Melena, our guide for the Acropolis in Athens told us that olives were normally harvested in December, "but who knows this year because we've had so little rain."  Well, on our last night in Pylos we got rain.  At dinner, we chose a restaurant that had an awning in anticipation, the rain, however, didn't begin until after midnight.  And it did rain.  There was thunder.  It was still raining the next morning.  One of our our group who wasn't prepared, texted our tour leader Christos telling him he was going out to try and find a store that was open in order to buy an umbrella.  While trying to find him, Christos got soaked, only to find that the group member was safe and dry back at the hotel. Anyway, the rain was all everybody was talking about, and how it was going to be raining when we got to Olympia.  I don't know how many times I told them not to worry, "it's not going to rain."  Of course, when we got there the sun was out and the temperature was climbing.  Did they really think the gods were going to let it rain on my visit to one of the best preserved archeological sites in Greece?  For those who don't know, this is Hermes.

Of course, the Mark Robinson scandal is creating serious chaos in the Republican party and the Orange Anus will not take back his endorsement.  Orangie can't.  That would mean he made a mistake, and his ego would never survive such an admission.  This is going to hurt him badly in November, for only the cultists will have no problem voting for a man who's endorsing a Black Nazi.

And finally, what about Sean O'Brien, soon to be ex-president of the Teamsters Union.  First, he shows up at the Republican convention.  Then he releases a fake poll showing more Teamsters support Trump than Harris, telling America the Teamsters are endorsing either candidate.  Then, the Teamsters unions across the nation tell him to screw off and endorse Harris.  Then, his VP, who was in the room the day the endorsement decision is made, goes public, telling America everyone in the room that day wanted to endorse Harris, except O'Brien.  How stupid can you be?

Page This

Wednesday, and weather forecasters are calling for rain.  That "unnamed storm" that drenched North Carolina is going to pass over us.  They got most of the rain, so we're not going to get anything close to 18 inches.  We're approaching the last day of summer, so the long range forecast has things cooling down.  It will soon be time to pull out the blankets for the bed.

I have a head cold, no doubt picked up from one of the passengers on the flight from Heathrow to Philly; there were a lot of sneezers and coughers on that flight.  So, now my head is all stuffed up and my sinuses are inflated to their max.  Because of this, I'm going to call off today.  It's not that I think I'm contagious, that probably happened while I was a work on Monday.  Nope, I just don't want to be sneezing, and coughing, and hacking when I try and talk to customers.  There's nothing worse than sitting down with a customer and sneezing at them.

One of the things I did when I went to Greece, was to take my big cameral.  It didn't take me long to realize that was a mistake, not a big one, but a bulky one.  It felt really clunky hanging around my neck, so after the first week I left it in the hotel room.  After that, I took most of the pictures with my phone.  Because my phone is linked to the Microsoft cloud, all I needed to do was go into my Gallery on either the laptop or my PC to post them on either Facebook, or in this blog, or on Instagram.  That being said, because Christos was taking pictures of all of us and sending them to us on What's App, I have a couple of me with my clunky camera.  It was almost like having a professional photographer traveling with us.  Here I am after visiting another fortress at Monemvasia.

And, what about those exploding pagers in all of those Hezbollah pockets?  I'm betting Trump's not too happy because that story knocked his faux assassination attempt out of the headlines, relegating it to yesterday's old news.  Honestly, when I first heard about this, I thought "this comes right out of some science fiction story, where multiple pagers explode simultaneously."  Not only does this hurt Hezbollah, it hurts their sponsor, Iran, as well as Hungary, since it may have been there that the explosives may have been loaded.  Poor Victor Orban, not only is the Prime Minister of Hungary, he's also one of Putin's henchmen.  You know what they say?  When things go wrong, they go wrong.

The Truth Sinks In

 The outside temp is 67 (F) and there isn't a single cloud in the sky.  We're supposed to warm up today, into the mid to upper 80s (F), but, if the forecast is correct, daily highs will drop back into the low 80s (F) and no rain.  That will be nice.

We did get a lot of rain yesterday.  How much?  I have no idea, but it was a lot.  Debby went right over Central PA before soaking her way through New Jersey and New York.  Twenty-one counties have been declared disaster areas because roads have been washed out.  Yes, we had that much rain.  A water main broke somewhere in Mechanicsburg and we're under a "boil water" order until further notice.  While I have water, the pressure is low.  Showering will be difficult, so I may end up taking a sponge bath before I go to work.  

I ended up with around 8 inches of water in my basement.  As I've said before, when it does flood, it drains fast, so the floor is already beginning to dry.  My new water heater took a hit though.  I reset it, but the light is flashing 5 times followed by a 3 second pause.  That indicates a pilot light issue.  It's a Bradford White Defender, and since cold showers don't bother me, later this morning I'll contact them and arrange for a repairman to come, hopefully on Tuesday.  

Yesterday I made sure my credit card was good to go in Greece.  I also arranged for international calling for my T-Mobile account.  It's an extra $50 for one month.  I'll have to restart the phone when I get there, but after that I can call (should I want to) and send texts without having to rely on wi-fi.  

And then yesterday this also happened.

Twenty thousand people went to rally with Kamala Harris.  Just let that truth sink in.

The Orange Anus held a rally yesterday as well, in Bozeman, Montana, in an arena that holds a little less than 9000.  It was half full.  For those who don't know, Montana is a deeply red Republican state, and the arena was half full.  Of course, several of the Main Stream Media outlets streamed his rally live.  They simply don't understand.  A very large portion of America is fed up with their insistent coverage of Trump.  No one wants to see close-ups of the Orange Anus.  No one wants to listen to his cognitive decline.  Yet, they continue to show these things because the Moral Degenerate has people clicking on their websites.  And, in a very odd way, they are furthering the demise of his campaign by constantly airing Trump's tired, old bullshit.  What criticisms they have of the Orange Anus are not in bold print by any means.  This morning the WaPo, in a very minor headline, stated that the GOP's new worry was that the Idiot can't drive a coherent message.  Duh  Just let that truth sink in.

I Agree With This Statement

 Well, it's Saturday, and according to the weather forecasters rain is already drizzling around Central Pa.  Temps are predicted to be warm again, and with all of the moisture in the atmosphere things will also be very humid.  I can look forward to the same thing tomorrow.

And yesterday I got little accomplished because of my window install.  They only installed 5 because as they were loading them onto the truck they discovered that one of my attic windows had a crack in it, so they've ordered another.  Another has been ordered.  I must say that the ones that were installed look amazing.  Last night, I turned off the A/C unit in the window and easily got by with just the ceiling fan.  That's a plus for the pocket book.  I'm all for saving money.

I also made the first payment on the new windows.  I got a zero % for 12 months loan, however if I don't pay it off the interest is a real killer.  I had been hoping to do transfers from my bank to the lending institution but that's not possible.  What they want you to do is set yourself up for Autopay, so they can deduct a meager amount from your bank every month for the next 20 years.  It's sad to say, but there are people out there who will just do that because it's simply too much work.  There is a mailing address to send checks for payment, so I had my bank send them a check.  When I get back from Greece, I'll have them send another one.

And since Treaders mentioned it, I thought I'd share a picture of the Dressage Event from the Paris Olympics.  It's being held a a cozy, little chateau called Versailles.

Of course on Tuesday Kamala Harris will name her choice for Vice President.  Anticipation is high.  That's an understatement.  Every candidate on her short list has cleared his calendar for the next for days.  Speculation is going through the roof.  Unlike Trump's selection of Vance, which was so anti-climactic it left many scratching their heads in confusion, her choice will only further the strength of the movement.  All of the candidates are out slamming Trump and his henchie Vance, who has become the focus of so many mocking jokes.  Yesterday on national TV Shapiro said Vance was nothing more than a phony baloney.

So the Orange Anus has finally said that he would debate Harris, but only on his terms:  in an arena, moderated by Fox Entertainment, and without fact checking.  And this is the loser some Christians believe was sent by God to give them their every heart's desire?  Can you hear me laughing?  Whispers are saying that his campaign is falling into utter chaos.  As a supposed insider has said, "Harris approval rating is still growing, and she hasn't even chosen her Vice President yet, and the convention will put her beyond reachable limits."  As the writer of this blog, I agree with this statement.

They Did it in the Rain

 Yesterday, I slept.  The weather was nice.  I did a load of laundry and hung it out to dry.  I went for a 2.5 mile walk in Adams-Ricci, enjoying the wonderful weather, and then... around one PM, I laid down on the bed and slept for an hour.  Damn.  I hate when that happens.  The day was going so well, and then I lost an hour.  And when I woke up I didn't feel like doing anything. 

Well, that makes it sound like nothing was accomplished.  That's not true.  I sealed the grout on my backsplash, I cleaned a bit, and went to my neighborhood Giant supermarket.  And I drove out to the airport to locate the long term parking lot, and got lost trying to find my way back to the highway.  I haven't been there in over 15 years and things at the airport have changed.  And yes, I am doing long term parking.  I'd have no problem getting a ride to the airport for my departure flight, however, my return flight is supposed to land at 10:30 PM, which means it might actually arrive closer to 11, and you can add another 15 minutes onto when I finally get my luggage, which would be an inconvenience.

When I woke up yesterday afternoon, I went downstairs and watched this:

What an amazing opening ceremony for the 2024 Paris Olympics, and they did it in the rain.  In a four hour time period, France set the bar so high for opening ceremonies it's doubtful anyone will ever reach it.  There were no puppet parades around the inside of a stadium.  Instead we got high opera, low opera, and heavy metal.  We saw a headless Marie Antoinette singing in a window, and a tour through the Louvre. Ravel played on a grand piano in the rain.  And nobody complained.  And, of course, the Olympic cauldron is suspended from a hot air balloon over a fountain in the Tuileries!  I've sat in a chair at that fountain and let the world pass me by on two occasions.  And, of course, there was Celine Dion.  

True, some Parisians got out of town, but that happens every time the Olympics are held.  And there was some petty crime, but there was also petty crime at the Republican convention, and there was petty crime at the Super Bowl.  Every time you have this many people, there is going to be crime. 

I also understand the Religious Right in the country found some of the bits upsetting.  They will not get over it.  We need to keep them out of power.  

Finally, on the political side, the Orange Anus gave a speech yesterday in which he told his audience to vote for him.  "If you vote for me, in four years, everything will be fixed.  You won't have to vote.  You won't have to vote ever again."  He is desperately sowing seeds of rebellion. He needs to lose, and lose badly.

A Rush of Glee

 Thursday is starting off with a slightly overcast sky, that's supposed to change to showery later this afternoon as the temps begin to drop.  Tomorrow, my day off, are temps are predicted to be much cooler with showers.  In fact, that seems to be the forecast for the next week, with very little sunshine.  That's fine.  I don't need to go outside to ride my bicycle.

Yesterday's 5 hours at the store were boring.  At one point I took a walk around the store to count customers and counted 8.  To compensate, they will raise prices and call it inflation.  Associates in the store think American people are growing wise when it comes to retail pricing.  I suspect Wall Street is going to be pissed.  There is this belief that people will automatically pay the higher prices to get what they want.  Sorry, it turns out that many Americans like their money just as much the one percenters, and I suspect Capitalism in general is going to be going through some very painful growth spurts as investors realize a continuous 5% growth rate is impossible to maintain.

The dog sofa is coming apart.  Not knowing exactly how to disassemble a recliner sofa, I wasted an entire hour removing bolts from the end recliner before realizing that the two steel rods on the bottom were holding it all together.  Once I take those off, I will end up with 5 individual pieces which are so much easier to move out onto my porch, and from there to the curb for the garbage men to pick up on Monday.

Oh, and yesterday this happened:  

I was sitting at the Flooring desk when I first watched that little clip and I will admit to feeling a rush of glee.  Yep, I laughed out loud.  True, I was a bit stunned by the volume, that so many Republicans joined the Democrats to vocalize their utter disdain for this blonde bimbo from Georgia.  She did manage to get a little over 40 votes, including the disreputable Scotty Perry from Pennsylvania.  

Personally, I think this is representative of America's view of the far right conservative wing of the Republican party.  They are losing elections.  Their agenda is simple, an authoritarian government that says "shut up, we're in charge," because it's not about governing for them, it's about dictating.  GOP officials already know they're going to lose in November, that's why Trump and his henchies have already begun to say they will not accept the results of the election.  He, and the party he controls, have become a national embarrassment.  This is something they will never be able to understand.

Respect

 Well, Saturday has arrived and there is 100% chance that we're going to have rain, not only today, but the entire weekend.  Temps will sink into the upper 40s (F), which is about normal for this time of year.  Sadly, my grass is looking a bit green, and that means it'll soon be time to get out the mower.  

Yesterday was sort of a day of accomplishment.  The living room aquarium was cleaned; still trying to get rid of that pesky black algae.  Editing was done. Stuffed cabbage rolls were made... though, I've discovered using ground chicken rather than ground beef leaves a little to be desired.  It's a fairly easy dish to make, but the strong cabbage flavor overwhelms the chicken... as does the garlic.  Still, I tell myself, they are healthier.  Sometimes, however, you need to put flavor before health, especially when most of the time I'm eating healthy.  

Otherwise, yesterday was pretty nondescript.  Some cleaning.  Some polishing.  Some exercise:  30 minutes on the treadmill.  Today I want to row for a bit, and because I'm working, I'll get my steps in.  Last Sunday I had over 15,000 steps which with the size of my stride was over 5 miles.  

Right behind my store is the Navy supply depot.  It is large, possibly the largest on the eastern seaboard, and employs thousands.  It's one of the reasons why we tend to plow through depression and recessions; they never lay any of those thousands off.  This morning I found a picture of what it looked like circa 1950.  It is much larger now.

And the fallout is still... dropping from Biden's Sate of the Union address and I find it amusing.  Fox is blubbering through a cavalcade of phony theories regarding his clarity, and his message.  Many are chortling and Mikey Johnson's flummoxed look, the multiple frownings  and the shakings of his head.  People are noting that when Trump was speaking, Pelosi gave him the respect he didn't deserve, though she did tear up his speech after the fact.  Not petulant Mikey Johnson.  He needed to make sure the MAGA cult knew he disapproved.

As expected, Republicans are finally admitting they liked Kim Britt's performance as a Stepford Housewife, and I'm not doubting many of them are secretly praying she gets nominated for an Emmy.

Polls

 Rainy Tuesday has begun.  Temps are going to hover in the upper 40s (F) and low 50s (F) throughout the day, and we will have drizzle.  Yes, the soaking rains are upon us for the next 3 days.  The only bad thing is that all my bulbs are going to be growing like crazy, and I'm not going to doing any yardwork in the rain.

Work was, as expected, very slow yesterday.  How slow you might ask?  Well, I got in over 15,000 steps, which is a bit over 5 miles.  I was going to but some small things I still need to finish the kitchen completely, but I'll be honest, when quittin' time came, I definitely wanted to quit and go home.  

Cori gave me the cover art for The Body in History yesterday.  I can't wait to show it to you... but not today.  There is that long wait until the book is finally published, which will be, if things keep moving at their current pace, in mid April.  For those of you interested, the entire process from my writing down my first notes to  publication takes about a year.  There was a time when I felt they need to be on the market as soon as possible, those days are past.  Working with audiobooks is partly responsible.  Also research, I find I'm looking at so many different sources.  I'm growing more communicative with my editors, as well.  I find talking about how things are developing, and why things happen the way they did, a lot of fun.  

I cancelled my subscription to the New York Times this morning, mostly because of this:

For the past few days the New York Times has been reference a poll the commissioned to basically disparage Biden.  Luckily, more and more people are beginning to understand that polls are terribly inaccurate, not that there wasn't a time when they were much more dependable.  Now, however, there are some serious issues.  What the NYT needs to do is detail for the general public how the results they get are achieved.  Most people don't know that a certain percentage of their pollsters make are to landlines.  Who still has a landline?  Being a flooring specialist, I have to list the best form of communication for a customer and those with landlines that they use are all older and more conservative; this automatically skews the poll.  Pollsters need to hand dial, they can't use robocalls where they can pick up once a connection is made; the vast majority of people will not pick up an unknown caller.  That fact alone is enough to invalidate the poll.  Still, will see a poll and run around like their hair is on fire.