Senior Moment? Or Not?

The outside temps are a nice 60 (F); those adverse to heat need to prep themselves because if the forecast holds we're going to top off around 90 (F).  I find this amusing since my neighbors have been running their window A/C units none stop for the past month, even on those days when the temps dropped down into the 40s (F) over night.  They are going to melt if we get an extended stretch with our temps in the upper 90s (F).  We have another 2 weeks until we legitimately hit summer.

For a Tuesday, I think much was accomplished including 2 loads of laundry which were dried outside.  

I did have my bloodwork yesterday morning, they took 5 vials, rather than the normal 4, as well as a urine sample.  Amusingly enough, I had a senior moment, or maybe I didn't.  My blood gets drawn at the Rossmoyne Clinic.  I used that clinic regularly for years.  Then, 6 years ago my PCP retired and he was replaced by an Asian woman who was a Physician's Assistant.  A few months into Covid, I did something to my shoulder and couldn't move it without having severe pain.  So, I called to make an appointment and... she refused to see me.  She wanted me to leave a voicemail detailing pain, inability to move my shoulder and arm in order for her to decide if I should have x-rays taken.  When I reminded her assistant that I worked for the Great Orange Retailer and was considered an essential employee and was dealing with hundreds of people daily, her assistant told me, "it doesn't make a difference, she's not going to see you."  In my opinion this physician's assistant failed totally; it's why I go to the Lebanon Clinic.  So yesterday, after filling my pee cup, I stepped out of the restroom and saw her assistant sitting next to where I'd sat to have my blood draw, scrolling away on her phone, and that memory flashed through my head and... I walked by the tray where I was supposed to put my specimen.  Was it a senior moment?  Possibly... and possibly not.

Howie's 10 months old today.  He told me he's ready for his closeup.

Orangie's steel tariffs take effect today.  Can a steel TACO be far away?

Because his superior army was only in his head, estimates are that after 3 years of war Orangie's blow bro Vlad has sent one million young Russians to an early grave; if you need to see an actual number, this is it:  1,000,000.  I do think that in his addled brain Orangie was going to be the Ace in the Hole for him to play.  Vlad's problem is that Orangie has done so much damage to America's rep the world is going around us.  

Remember when Orangie told Zelensky he didn't have any cards?  The Guardian is reporting that in fact he's is holding several more cards and is just waiting to play them.  

And, finally, is Orangie's Big Beautiful Tax grab failing?  The truth is that there is so much bad shit in that way too salty piece of legislation that more than a few Republicans are sounding the alarm.  One of the many problems with this hit bit of party authoritarianism is the fact that so many Republican ilk simply rubber stamped it instead of taking the time to read over 1200 pages of horseshit.   Even that horse's ass Scott Perry is complaining, though in his case I think he's more worried about getting re-elected than that fact that this is a piece of donkey trip legislation.

Getting to the Root of the Problem

 The Vernal Equinox has arrived!  Sadly, this doesn't mean balmy days, rather we have now begun our transition to summer.  Temps will fluctuate.  Hopefully we'll get rain, though if this year's the same as the past few, most of our seasonal precipitation will not fall until the months of May and June.  No longer is the phrase, "April showers bring May flowers."  Nope.  Still, this past winter was colder than what we've been having so there's a chance that old adage might still be relevant.

Yesterday was a good day.  Howie and I went to the park and walked over a mile.  That's a lot for him, remember, no matter how big he seems, he's still a puppy.  He's got another 2 weeks before he hits 8 months, and he is big.

I also got an upper body workout in.  Nice.

Last evening I "beat" Skyrim, as gamers like to say.  That means I successfully finished the last "boss" fight.  I killed the dragon Alduin, and am now a Dragonslayer.  There are still other quests needing to be completed, so I'll probably continue playing the game for a bit, especially since I can now speak dragon.

Did a little yard work.  Howie tried to get to the root of the problem, though I don't know what exactly the problem was other than his having a root in the house.

There was a townhall for our local Republican ass Scottie Perry, not that Scottie had any plans to show up.  You see, Scottie is one of those spineless Republicans who believes that he can tell Americans how to live their lives without have to answer any of his constituent's questions.  Scottie is also one those Republicans who asked the Orange Anus for a pardon at the end of Orangie's first term.  Sounds like someone's more a bit culpable.

In Wyoming, Harriet Hageman, a Republican Congress woman who wallows in the MAGA lunacy, was booed, and jeered, and in return mocked her constituents, dyed in the wool Republicans who voted for her.  She will never learn.  They will vote her out of office.

Democrat Sean Casten, from the Chicago area, had a confrontational townhall, in which the police escorted one of his constituents out of the building.

Let's be honest.  A moral degenerate, catering to the a number of different voting blocs, the 2nd amendmenters, the Evangelicals, the anti-vaxers, groups that were happy as pigs in shit he was spouting their lingo to the world, won the election.  While dancing around in glee, they would have better spent their time paying closer attention to what the Orange Anus was doing, who he was contacting, and bargaining with, rather than just flippantly ignore him with  a "well, that's just the way he is." comment.  Now people are up in arms because this isn't what they voted for... sorry, this is what you voted for.  So many Americans are to blame for this and not one of them will admit to it.  Instead they will point fingers.  There are many roots to this problem, but accountability is a big one.  No one wants to admit that they are responsible.  

It's in the Cards

 So, we've hit Wednesday.  Is anybody suffering from a mid-week crisis?  Hope not.  For those who work, this is also your Hump Day, though I suspect that for many of you the relevancy of that is slowly fading.

We had a bright red sky this morning.  The day, itself, is supposed to be be nice: temps in the 40s (F) clouds scuttling across the sky; not overcast.  I'd bet I'm not the only one who feels endless days of cloud cover are a great way to catch up on your sleep with lots, and lots of cat naps.

Usually, while I'm sitting here typing this out, I'm also making a list of things needing to be done, and, I might add, hoping to be accomplished during the day ahead.  Yesterday, much was done.  Out of a list of 7 items, only one wasn't finished.  I blame that on my decision to get a haircut.  That took up more time than I was expecting.  Today's list, because I did so much yesterday, is smaller.  Now, isn't that nice.

Since The Body in Motion has begun to work its way through my readers and editors, I'm prepping my first book, The Body on the Lawn, for my narrator.  What's really happening is that it's getting another layer of polish.  Nothing major, just clarifying who's saying what to whom.  Also, any and all sets of lyrics are being removed.  Unless you're super famous, most musicians don't mind the use of the occasional line or two, however, once a narrator speaks them out loud they become a performance, and that requires a royalty payment.  Since that can be pricy, the lyrics are going away.  

When I was younger, I used to play around with Tarot cards.  I would have a friend shuffle the cards and then I'd lay out one of several patterns.  It didn't take long for me to realize there was a lot of ambiguity in the futures the cards portend.  That being said, there are good cards and bad cards.  The Five of Cups is not one of the good cards.

Why talk about Tarot cards?  Well, it seems that last night on Fox, Jesse Watters had an English Tarot card reader as a guest, and he asked her to just pull one card from the deck to forecast Trump's 2024, and she pulled out the Five of Cups.  Ominous, much?  Looks like it's in the cards that the Orange Anus is going to have a very bad year, and, by extension, I'd say the same thing applies to the Republican party.  First Colorado, and then Maine have banned the Moral Degenerate from the primary ballot.  While that hasn't happened in Pennsylvania, a motion was filed in court to keep Trump's fellow insurrectionist Scott Perry off of the ballot.  Now, I don't know if Scotty's had his cards read yet or not, but I'd be pretty sure that if he has, he, too has found himself holding the Five of Cups.  To be honest, the first thought that went through my head when I saw this was: "finally, something the Cultist might believe in."

Garbage

 Wednesday.  Outside the temp is 26 (F) and there is frost on the windshield of my car.  One improvement over yesterday is that the wind has died down.  Tuesdays are garbage day around here, and wind and emptied garbage create an obstacle course on the streets and sidewalks.  Yesterday was no exception.

I got more accomplished yesterday then I thought I would, including caulking of the side window in the kitchen.  Today, I will prime it.  Tomorrow, I will paint it, and the door frame.  Friday, I'm thinking I may do the final touch up on the walls.  This means that next week, the final coat of paint will go on the woodwork and trim.  That leaves on the tiling, which won't take long, and the flooring, which will create a bit of a hardship for my knees.  After that, everything will be completed.

A small royalty payment dropped into my account from Findaway Voices.  Honestly, I didn't think I'd get anything.  Audiobooks are great, however they're in a series they need to be released in a sequence.  This is why sometime in March, books 1 and 2 will be released, and possibly number 3 in the Eli and Max series.  One thing in my favor is that I don't write long books, nothing that takes more the 5 or six hours to listen to, which means less cost on the production end.  I'll also be selling them at a lower cost since the production is all thing I'll need to cover.  The royalties are nice, but just the idea that someone is either reading or listening to my work is pretty awesome.

Oh, and I did get a gift yesterday.  A new garbage and recycling can.  They're pretty snazzy.

And I suppose that everybody in the world heard me burst out laughing last evening when word dropped that the Supreme Court of Colorado had decided they could keep Trump off of the ballot in that state.  Oh, my gosh!  Thank God I wasn't eating or drinking anything at the time, otherwise I might have choked, or hurled chunks, or spewed.  Will it stop the Moral Degenerate?  Nope.  What it does do is send a clear message to the GOP that they have a problem.  Just because Trump is their presumed candidate does not mean that he's going to win the General Election.  What they really need to consider is that not only will he lose, but the likelihood Republicans will lose seats in both the House and the Senate is increasing daily.  A large percentage of Americans believe Trump committed serious crimes, and the GOP will pay for those crimes by giving up so much of the power they love.

Another little bright spot?  Evidently Scott Perry, congressman from Pennsylvania, has lost his bid to keep 1700 communications on his phone private.  The last thing this fool wanted was for the DOJ to gain access to all the texts and phone conversations he had with the other ring leaders of the attempted January 6 coup.

 

Loudly Boiling Over

 Welcome to Funday Sunday!  Is it going to be fun?  Heck if I know.  Lily went out for her morning pee in 30 (F) temps, so I suppose it steamed a bit.  Our afternoon temps are supposed to be in the mid to upper 40s (F), which is probably right for this time of year, we are, after all, less than a month away from winter.  One good thing to keep in mind is that immediately after our winter solstice the days begin to get longer.  

The store was busy yesterday morning and early afternoon, but around 3ish the crowd began to thin out.  I did get a measure, so that should keep mgmt. happy.  Sales were so, so in flooring.  Our appliance show room is hopping.  I always tell people that if you're going to need to buy a washer, or dryer, or refrigerator, this is the time of year to make your purchase.

I got over 7 hours sleep last night.  The same thing happened the night before.  Normally, I'm up a lot earlier.  All this sleep?  I hope it doesn't mean I'm coming down with something.  There's always the possibility I'm doing more than I used to do during the day and making myself super tired, though I haven't change my regime, so that's probably not the reason.  Maybe I'm just more tired than I used to be.

And, probably thanks to Climate Change and Global Warming, my yard is filled with winter roses.  I took this yesterday before work.

And, here in Central PA, there are a number of people talking about ousting Scott Perry from Congress.  A former newscaster for from the local NBC affiliate, Janelle Stelson, has already thrown her hat into the ring.  There's even talk of Republicans backing a Democratic candidate depending upon how Republican opposition to Perry looks.  Over and over again, you're hearing that he does not represent his constituents.  For those who don't know, Perry is a Trumper, and is still clinging to the election fraud lie.  The DOJ is in a fierce legal battle to access contents of his cellphone during the time leading up to January 6, and the days after, leading many to believe Perry is dirty.

And Trump was seriously booed in South Carolina yesterday when he attended The Palmetto (?) Bowl.  There are a number of videos out there of the long incident, and it was pointed out that his handlers are good when it comes to arranging for small crowds, however, once he gets out in the open, the hatred for him loudly boils over.

Clown Parade

Well, we've reached midweek and so far the weather has been fine.  We were living with a prediction of rain yesterday, but if we got any it was during the very early morning hours.  We did have clouds from time to time that looked somewhat threatening, but they never amounted to anything.  Today's temps should once again be climbing up into the mid 60s (F).

Jon, the PT who's providing insight into physical therapy for my books, came over yesterday morning and dug out the three bush stumps sitting in front of my house.  Now, all I have to do is fill in the hole with the dirt that was dug.  He also helped carry my old dishwasher to driveway.  From there, I can easily roll it down to the curb for next Tuesday's garbage pickup, and yes, we can put out one appliance a week. 

I have a list of chores set up for today.  There are only 4 items on the list, but 2 of them are time consuming so we'll have to see how things work out.  I was going to head over to Planet Fitness this morning, but I have a feeling that's not going to happen.  Instead, I will substitute it with either a dumbbell workout or possibly play around with my bands.  

I saw this yesterday and thought it quite appropriate.

For those who haven't been paying attention, Jimmy Jordan lost by 20 votes when they voted for the Speaker of the House.  I understand that even Kev McCarthy got more votes on his first try.  So, will Jimmy decide that it's in his best interests to compromise?  Nah.  From the whispers I'm hearing, when they vote again this morning it's quite likely some of those who voted for him will have changed their minds.  I'm sure they've realized for some time that Jimmy, besides being a pedophile enabler, is also a bad joke of a human being.  

And, finally, I'm not a big fan of Facebook.  I scan down through every morning to see if any of my friends have posted something.  That takes about 2 minutes.  This morning, however, I had to pause when I saw a group has been started:  Republicans against Scott Perry.  Scotty's the congressman from the district I live in.  He's also a scum buddy of Jimmy Jordan.  Even though I'm not a Republican, I gave the page a like. For those who don't know, Scotty is one of those who asked the Orange Anus for a pardon after the American people fired that asshole.

 

Dividing America

 And here we are at the start of a brand new week.  Temps here in Central PA are predicted to rise into the upper 60s (F).  I'm looking forward to the real Spring finally arriving, rather than the fake spring that sprung from an overly warm winter.  We may have had a total accumulation of perhaps 3 inches of snow in total, none of which lasted more than few hours.  Just to be on the safe side, however, I will not put my snow shovel to bed until sometime in mid-April.

My back's a bit cranky again this morning.  The little A/C unit ;and the ceiling were deposited at a friend's house yesterday on my way back from York.  Of course, I was the one to carry both of them from my car to the patio at the back of her house.  The slight strain is muscular, I can tell because of where it's located, around kidney height and to the left.

I called and ordered a refill on Biggie's gabapentin this morning.  That his only med, I discontinued the Carprofen.  I took him off of it when his liver issues showed up and never put him back on it.  Honestly, I didn't see any change between when he was on it and when he was off, so I have no idea how much of a help it actually was.

I have buds on my nectarine tree.

I find it fascinating that Trump is calling for civil protests and possible violence over his approaching indictment and Kev McCarthy spit out something yesterday saying there should be no protest.  I suspect Kev is going to find out that most MAGAs see him as nothing more than a wet noodle.  By giving away the store to the Far Right in order to get the Speaker position he gave away what little authority he could scrap together to call a backbone.  MTG, Jordan, and the rest want to incite.  They see that as a strength while most Americans see it as ugly.  The Kari Lakes of this world see dividing America as giving them and advantage.  They don't understand they are actually driving people away.

As I said, yesterday I went down to York for lunch with a friend.  My route on my way back brings me up the Susquehanna past Scott Perry's Harrisburg Office.  Or, I guess I should say the former home that used to house his office.  His lawn shingle is down and that property is now up for sale.  Perhaps his neighbors complained.  Perhaps his landlords realized he was taking up space in a million $$$ property and kicked him out.  In fact, there are so many possible reasons.  I'm just glad that he's gone.

PDFs and Perry

Well, the forever flurries never happened yesterday.  Occasionally one or two would dash themselves against my windshield as I drove to work, but other than that precipitation was a bust.  Today, temps are predicted to climb back up into the 50s (F).

My left leg was sore last night.  I don't doubt for a second it's the result of my climb in through the window.  Once I was halfway in, I not so limberly pulled my left knee up and squeezed it between my chest and the window frame.  Believe me, when pulling yourself through a small opening, traction is everything.

For right now, it will only be my eBooks which will be selling through Barnes & Noble.  Their antiquated system for setting up cover art for a paperback is way too cumbersome.  To give you an idea:  you have to turn a jpeg into a PDF, however PDFs have specific sizes, so you need to download software which will let you go into the PDF's preflight tool to adjust the size to fit the page, and then you save it.  After that you need to open Word and bring up the saved PDF as a photo so you can do changes to both fonts and colors because the PDF/x 1.a you created only uses grayscale.  Amazon, on the other hand, not only uses a jpeg for cover art, they will size it for you at no extra charge.

For those interested, this is the window I used to break into my house.

New wise, yesterday seemed fairly quiet, mostly because the Republicans didn't do anything truly stupid.  They seem to be re-evaluating their nonexistent plan.  They were hoping their committees would produce explosive headlines about Hunter Biden's laptop... ain't happening.  They had also been hoping to make hay with the East Palestine trail derailment, however Trump showing up with pallets of 10 year old bottled Trump water sort of put a damper on that.  

There was a bit of sunshine, however, evidently on December 28, a Federal Judge ruled that Scott Perry's defense for keeping his cell phone contents secret was pretty much bullshit.  This means that through out January and for most of the month of February, the DOJ has probably been looking at Perry's messages and emails.  He was evidently heavily involved in the fake elector scheme.  This means Scotty's days in the house may be numbered.

The Rainy Day

 The best way to describe yesterday is Rainy in so many, many ways.  

We had drizzly, misty, on and off again showers until late in the afternoon.  They are great for the garden and great for the lawn, but they tend to put me into a rather torpid state.  No ambition.  Instead, I waste time and snack.  No treadmill time.  No dumbbell time.  No cycling.  I did do some laundry, but most of the times was spent on the computer reading bits and pieces of semi-newsworthy opinions in anticipation.

Lily has a small lump on her front leg.  Boxers get lumps, especially as they get older, and that little lady is going to be 9 years old in August.  Biggie has them.  He's had one on his rump for almost 5 years.  His vet wasn't worried because, well, Boxers get lumps.  So, Lily's lump will be under observation.

I did run to Giant yesterday morning.  I'm going to be baking lemon, oregano potatoes this afternoon and I need some chicken broth.  I stopped and looked at my dahlias.  They're going to be stunning this year.  Here's a pic of one I took 2 days ago.

And, of course, it was a Rainy Day down in Washington.  The extremist Supreme Court, even as gun control was moving through the Senate, made things worse.  There are many other words in the 2nd amendment than "the right to bear arms," yet every decision they make is solely focused on those 5 words.

It was a Rainy Day for Jeff Clark... actually his showers began with a pre-dawn raid on Wednesday morning.  This is a man who desperately wanted to be a tool of Trump.  I understand the DOJ took all of his electronics, including his phones.

Scott Perry, from PA, had a very Rainy Day.  I almost spit out a little guffaw when his Tweet "why don't we work with the Italian Government," was projected on the screen.  The fact that his desperate mind could not understand how 'patently absurd' the YouTube video was says a lot about his mindset.  Oh, and he was the one who first took the nefarious Jeff Clark to meet Trump.

And, of course, there were Rainy Days for Jim Jordan, and the other 42 Republican members of congress who voted against the impeachment.  The fact that he was asking for a blanket pardon, which included himself, of course, illustrates how he felt he needed to protect his ass.

And then there's Matt Gaetz, who was evidently pushing for a pardon from back in December.  I'm suspecting his Rainy Days are never going to end.  I am surely not the only one who feels his pardon was to cover more than his involvement with the insurrection, don't doubt for a second he wanted his crimes with little girls to be included.

Perry will Plead

 Well, a happy middle of the week to everybody out there.  The weather here in central PA is clear and cool.  Temp is sitting around 47 (F).  Looking out the window in the computer / workout room, I can see a breeze is rustling through the branches of one of the river birches I have planted in my yard.  There is a freeze warning in effect for tonight. For me?  It will, as usual, be a 2-dog night.

Taken a few minutes ago

For a while yesterday, I thought accomplishments might be few and far between, but that wasn't to be the case.  Laundry was done, some yard work, a 12-mile ride on the bicycle, and I froze much of the cake I baked.  Had I not done that, I'd have been picking at it constantly, and by sometime this afternoon a majority would have been eaten.

Have you noticed that as the time approaches for the January 6 committee to begin public hearings, Republican governors and legislatures are ratcheting up their attack laws?  This is not by coincidence.  You see there is this little group down in Washington called the January 6 Committee and they've begun to publicly dot their cross their t's and dot their i's. Barely a day goes by without some news organization publishing texts or taped conversations.  In the darkest part of their hearts, the Republican party is beginning to realize they're on the road to failure.  There is so much anger and hatred being directed at McCarthy right now, it's only a matter of time until he flips.  

And Scott Perry of Pennsylvania?  His texts to Mark Meadows sing the sour notes of mental derangement's score.  The bit about the 'Brits controlling the election,' now, that is a real winner.  Don't tell BoJo that, he'll wonder how they could have screwed up such a wonderful opportunity.  And, how about the bit where he asks Meadows in a text 'why we just don't work with the Italian Government?'  For those of you who don't know, this is what an insurrectionist sounds like.  At present, Perry has refused to talk to the January 6 committee.  He will change his mind.  And when he does, he will plead the 5th over, and over, and over again.