Death Wish

 Today is the 2nd day of 2023.  If you're of a certain state of mind, the days are going to get funner.  Some will have the sadz.  Some of the latter deserve what they get.  Karma.

Rather than climb the stairs to sleep on the bed, Biggie has decided to start sleeping down on the sofa in the writing room.  Surprise!  He didn't bark during the night for me to let him out.  No potty outside.  I did check to make sure he didn't toddle off like a sleepy two year old bleed his little weasel (old navy term) quietly in some corner.  I suspect this proves that all of his midnight jaunts downstairs to "go potty outside" had an ulterior motive: a midnight biscuit snack.

I've had my first big boss fight in Evil West.  Here's a tip for you all, shoot and roll, and then roll and shoot, and don't forget to use your gauntlet on the minions.  

Tomorrow I have to get a haircut.  I hate haircuts.  Someone suggest I shave my head, so I politely reminded them that shaving your head is just another form of getting a hair cut.

The only time I drink coffee is in the morning.  Sometimes I drink Maxwell House, sometimes Folgers, depending upon which is on sale.  I also, usually 2 - 3 times a week will make coffee from freshly ground beans.  Rather than purchase bags of beans from my local, neighborhood Giant, I'm been ordering them on line from smaller companies.  Some are very good, and some... not so very good.  This one is very good.

And the new political year starts tomorrow.  Today is a holiday for them.  From what I understand, Kev McCarthy is one of those with the sadz.  It looks like there will be several votes before they decide on Speaker of the House.  Kev, who's offered his soul to any and every demon who might help him win the coveted position is in a bind, not enough demons are on his side.  The American Freedom Caucus only have enough votes to disrupt, not control.  This is actually good for America.  The more they disrupt, the more the truth comes out about them, that they're in favor of a Republican authoritarian government.  The more this truth comes out, the weaker they become.  The weaker they become, the more repulsive they become.  This is how a political party dies.  Unlike the Phoenix, they will not rise from their ashes.

 

Republican Tax Charade

Well, today is day 3 of a 6 day stretch, then I have 2 days off in a row, and it's less than 2 weeks until my surgery.  I can't wait.  This morning I planned to put a half an hour on the bike (doesn't effect my core muscles... much) and discovered there was a firmware update.  They always take a while, so there was no ride today.
The Republicans released their fake tax overhaul yesterday and surprise, surprise, people are already saying it's pro-rich.  Oh, and in case you're wondering, approval for this sorry mess is relegated to core Republicans.  They will never learn.  They love Trickle Down economics because they get to give tax breaks to their wealthiest donors who don't use it to create more jobs.  Nope, they bank it, or plop it into safe investments.  As a co-worker of mine said, the rich are not going to suddenly increase their spending because they get a tax break.  They're not going to look for a start-up and say, "hey, the odds of you succeeding are poor, but let me give you money to hire people anyway."
They are saying that the average family should pay about $1860 less a year, which breaks down to around $36 per week.  Now I'm sure that Idiot Jerk supports are ecstatic about that figure since for them it's about... oh, 6 or 7 cases of beer (they only buy the good stuff, you know?).  The single personal deduction goes from $6000 to $12,000, and that sounds good... except you lose a $4700 personal exemption, which means you only get about a $1300 deduction increase.  This is the line item that's going to effect most single people.  However, if you look at least year's tax charts that $1300 deduction will net you about... a $360 tax break, or about $7 per week. Wow!
If you happen to be a single homeowner who itemizes, you can still deduct you mortgage interest, but not you state and local taxes (which includes school and property taxes).  That's a big chunk of change you can no longer deduct.  For me, here in Central Pa, that's a $4500 deduction I'm going to lose.  Oops, there it goes.
Anyway, I'm not really concerned about this tax charade.  Remember, we're dealing with the 'do-nothing party' here.  They always make a big 'to do' about their legislation and then it falls flat.  Expect nothing.
Oh, and the Idiot Jerk is leaving for Asia.  My guess would be they're terrified that the North Koreans are going to shoot off one of their long range missiles while he's there.  Oops, there he goes.