The Big Terrible Bill

 Here in Central PA we had lots of warning of impending thunderstorms yesterday and there were large swaths of heavy rains surrounding us, but all we got were simple rains.  They did little to drain away the heavy humidity, though this morning it's not nearly as thick.

Yesterday morning I was out in the backyard with Howie when I heard a clunk.  The two tops screws holding my garden hose reel popped free, so only the two bottom screws were holding it to the wall.  I remember that when I installed it I'd wondered how long it would hang there.  The problem is that I have aluminum siding and there is a gap between the siding and the actual frame wall of the house, and that wall is only about a half inch thick.  So, I pulled it free and filled the holes with silicone.  The reel still works, it's just not waist high.

Retail was slow yesterday.  I did set up appointments for a fencing consultation, as well as a carpet measure.  I did not set up a follow up appointment for the carpet measure.  

And right now Republican senators are reading aloud Orangie's big, shitty bill.

Will it pass?  Probably, but certain things will be cut out, such as Mike Lee's amendment to sell public lands.  However, they're still going to cut $930 trillion from Medicaid.  Conservatives hate Medicaid.  They damn it as Socialism.  They think the poor should be more fiscally responsible, should be able to pay for their health expenses without assistance from the government.  At the same time they don't want to raise the minimum wage because, in their view at least, that would hurt corporations and corporations provide a lot of campaign donations.  Most Republican Senators and Congressmen are wealthy and they're more interested in giving themselves a tax break than anything else.  What the Cultists don't understand is that their elected officials simply don't care about them.

And if anyone thought Murkowski or Collins was actually going to demonstrate concern don't be disappointed that they're voting party line.  After all of this time you should have realized those are the parts that have been assigned to them to play.  They are a big part of the problem.  

Newty's Doody

 Well, it's Mittwoch, formerly known as Wondenstag until the 10th century, when people decided that Woden wasn't special enough to have a day named after him.

The weather was nice yesterday, not that I was outside that much.  While I did clean the living room tank, most of the day was spent on my kitchen floor.  There was a bit of a raging date in my head for about 30 minutes on whether I should take the flooring down to the hardwood or now.  Harwood floors are an asset when it comes to resale, but the floors in my kitchen have suffered greatly during the 118 years they have been tread upon.  Originally, there would have been a large iron coal stove which would have been used for heating as well as cooking.  Yes, this house is that old.  As a result, cinders and hot coals have scared the wood.  Then, when plumbing came in, there was evidently a problem with sinks, not that they leaked, but locating them in the correction place.  Because of this, there are a number of holes about one foot in from the wall around the perimeter.  There are other holes, as well, that were made when the coal stove went out and radiators came in.  After much back and forth in my head, I've decided to leave the floors covered and go with my initial plan of putting down vinyl planks.

Here's a pic of the progress.  The window and all of the holes are going to be covered with drywall.

And, as expected, there is still blowback coming from Republicans about the informal dress code.  Susan Collins began threatening to wear a bikini.  Someone should take her aside and let her know that there's a difference between Fetterman in his hoodies and shorts and her fat ass and her floppy boobies.  Sadly, she feels her absurdity will make a point, and in her own true Susan Collins style she's failing. 

Not surprising, the hard core right wing of the Republican party in the House of Representatives is going to screw over, (are you ready for this?) their own party.  Newt Gingrich has groomed the Just Say No party extremely well.  Kev McCarthy, in an unusual moment, stated that this will hurt the party more than it will the Biden administration.  However, Newty did his doody well and taught them to be extremists; unless you get your demands, Just Say No.  This is like watching a tank of toothless piranhas gnaw each other to death. 

Finally, a bit about Susie

 Hello Friday!  I'm sure there are some of you out there who are on the ready, set, go for a fun filled weekend.  Or, maybe not.  So many days are weekends for me now that I'm semi-retired.  People ask when I'll stop working completely.  My answer is always the same.  I have no idea.  At a certain age, we all realize we are all just waiting around for the inevitable, how you fill up those waiting hours says a lot about you.  I know some who began morphing into sedentary slugs the second they punched out for the last time.  I can tell you, that's not for me, at least not yet.  Perhaps when I hit my 80s.  So, I'd say I'll probably be working part-time until then.

We had some nice steady rain yesterday.  Rain is good.  Last year we had a very wet summer here and I suspected climate change might be turning us into a tropical rain forest.  That still wouldn't surprise me.  As was the case last year, there do seem to be a lot of mosquitos around.  I guess it's time to get out the Citronella candles.

I'm planning on making a meatloaf and scalloped potatoes today.  Notice I said scalloped rather than escalloped?  Just call me rebel.

I snapped a picture of Biggie sleeping on the futon yesterday.  Dogs.  If I were to sleep like that, I'd wake up with such a crick in my neck.  

Biden gave a prime time speech last evening on gun control.  I didn't watch, knowing there would be plenty of time to afterwards to watch clips.  Will anything happen in congress?  Possibly, but I wouldn't be waiting in breathless anticipation, if I were you.  Some of the radicalized Republicans call for his impeachment, which I found funny.  Those yammering loudly were the usual suspects, the ones who tried to force an authoritarian government onto us back on January 6.  The fact that Congress impeached their lying sack of shit president twice shoves a burning torch so far up their butts they'll be sitting crooked for the rest of their lives is something they will never forget.  

Somehow Kristi Noem, the wacked out government from South Dakota popped up in my Twitter feed yesterday spouting some sort of bullshit about Biden, so I tweeted back, "caught you lying... again."  Notice, I didn't point out she got in trouble for skirting the rules and regulations in order to get her daughter a job in real estate.  She's evidently taking lessons from the Orange Anus.  Anyway, there was no response, of course.

And finally, a bit about Susie Collins since she came up in yesterday's blog.  This came from the Washington Post, and while the opinion doesn't shred her, the author does not make her look... well, smart.  The fact that she has no problem working with Joe Manchin is a bit of a red flag.  What stands out is that for all of her years in the Senate, Susie has always taken the safe, Republican side and back up that position with chatter about how she's done her 'homework.'  Her standard excuse is "well, this is what he told me," especially regarding Brett Kavanaugh.  I suspect she's hoping people will think she was duped.  She wasn't.  She thought voting for him was safe.  The idea that RBG might pass and Amy Coney Boney might get pushed into the Supreme Court never occurred to her.  Playing it safe backfired, badly.  Now, there's no way she can fix her mistake and still be seen as Republican.  Instead of taking a stand, she played it safe for so many years, and now she screwed.

Taking the bite out

 Overcast.  That's the word for the day here in Central Pa.  We've had showers overnight and more are on the way.  Our high yesterday was 95 (F).  Today the mercury is only supposed to climb up into the low 80s.  As an outside working temp, the low to mid 80s are on the spot.  Now, let's hope the humidity stays down.

I planted my small garden yesterday.  I took out some of the back pavers from the veranda and moved them up front.  Underneath the pavers is a layer of pea gravel.  While providing great drainage, I didn't know how well it would be for growing so I bought a couple of bags of dirt.  Because of the trees around my property, it's difficult to find a spot where there is a lot of sunshine, not that my yard isn't sunny, they just change location as the sun crosses the sky.  I'm thinking of having the large maple tree on the hill behind the house topped, that will let in a lot more sunlight.

Two tomatoes, one pepper, and a zucchini

I saw where that celebrity legal case so many have been paying attention to is now over, at least for the time being.  I never paid any attention to it.  My sister said it was really about 2 drunks fighting in public.  My sister can be very, very smart.

There was another mass shooting yesterday.  So, what else is new?  Oh, there is a bipartisan group of senators working on some sort of gun control legislation.  One of the Republicans involved is Susan Collins.  I supposed she's trying to show she can do what her constituents want, especially after Kavanaugh used, and abused, her vote in order to get his ass on the Supreme Court.

71% of Americans have no problem with same sex marriage.  That may make you happy but remember the 29% of Americans who hate it managed to get a majority of seats on the Supreme Court.  How do we make the Supreme Court toothless? Vote blue this November.  If the Democrats can win enough seats in the House and Senate, we can take the bite out of the conservative losers.

This is What Happens

 I get to take my car to the repair shop this morning.  They're going to fix the damage from when the bitty rock bounced up and hit my fog light.  I asked how long?  Their replay:  "We don't exactly know.  Everything depends upon if there's any 'hidden' damage."  I'm figuring on 3 or 4 days.

Biggie's carprofen arrives today.  He seems to have been doing well with just the gabapentin, so his dosage may be doled out sparingly. 

And, of course, everyone's topic, as I don't doubt will be the case for every blog I read, the leaked document from the Supreme Course will get my little opinionizing comments. 

First off, I'm going to remind all those non-voters of 6 years ago that this is what you didn't vote for; this is also the reason why it should make it self-mandatory to vote.  This is what happens when you say, "I don't really like either candidate."  For those of you who believed the polls and didn't vote because you were sure Hillary was going to win?  This is what happens.

Has anybody been keeping count of the number of times Susan Collins has said that Brett Kavanaugh told the Senate he would not overturn Roe vs Wade?  Well, the drunken frat boy lied and now she's going to be walking around with shit in her pants for the rest of her life.

This is what happens when you don't vote and a moral degenerate wins the election, a man who will give his base anything in order to get re-elected.  This is what happens when you give a socially conservative party control: they will destroy everything you hold dear.  Believe me, abortion is just their first target.

What I really find interesting is the timing of this decision, 6 months away from the mid-term elections.  while the anti-abortionists are dancing in the streets, I do not doubt that largest voting bloc in America let out a gasp of horror.  While there are a number in that bloc who claim to be pro-life, a large majority of them believe the choice for terminating a pregnancy should be theirs, and their alone.  This group does not want to be told they have no choice.  This group believes all decisions about pregnancy should be there, and there's alone.  They want to be responsible for their own bodies.  And it's 6 months from the mid-term elections.

Interestingly, running up to the primaries in Pennsylvania, for the past 2 weeks big John Fetterman has been running ads pertaining to Roe v Wade.  Big bold headlines:  They are going to take this away from you if you let them.  He's right.  This November, Democrats, and Independents, and even Centrist Republicans need to teach conservatives a lesson.  Vote Blue.

She didn't think

 Well, let's give a cheery hello to Friday, aka Thursday if you're working my schedule.  This means I get to go to work today and tomorrow, followed by what seems to be my regular weekend, at least for the next 2 weeks.  After that my weekend moves to Monday and Tuesday for 2 weekends.  Two weeks after that I go part-time.

My eye exam went well.  In fact, yesterday was just a quick in and out to check my eye pressure and vision.  Wearing my glasses, I am better then 20 / 20, which is odd since personally, I don't think I see that well.  All the testing and the dilation will happen on March 3, 2022.

With my back issues, I find mornings are the only time things can be painfully bad.  A full 45 minutes with a heating pad is needed to sooth away the night's stiffness.  After that, everything is pretty much ducky dandy.  Heating pads have become my 'go to' friends.  I have 2, one upstairs and the other downstairs.  I've also ordered a portable one to take to work for those long afternoons.  It should be arriving Saturday.  Not a lot of meds here.  In fact, if there were a way to strap a heating pad on while I sleep, I'm sure mornings would be no problem.

The water in the basement is gone.  My house rests on a 116 year old stone foundation.  During heavy rains, the water rushes in from the back while slowly draining out of the front.  I do have a pump should I need one, but that's rarely been the case.  What I really need, in fact, what everybody in this area needs is no more rain.  Damn.  The rain never seems to end.  Nothing has a chance to dry out.  As a result, we are living in mosquito hell.  They are everywhere.  So much so, I've bought a Citronella candle to keep them away.

And what about that whining Susan Collins from Maine?  I saw she spit out a bit of shit yesterday regarding her vote for Kavanaugh.  She actually said the 3 most damning words a politician can say "I didn't think," of course she attempted to define those words in regard to his vote on the Texas abortion law.  The truth is that she didn't think then, she doesn't think now.  She's a Republican Party girl, a Conservative wolf dressed in Centrist Sheep clothing.  She didn't think.  She voted  for confirmation, the way her party wanted.  Now, Susan knows that she's in trouble if the voters do what she failed to do... think.  She knows quite well that the people of Maine are going to remember her inability to think the next time they go to the polls.

About your Johnson

Today is anything but your normal Friday.  For one thing, I am pleased to say that today really is my Friday.  I'm off for 4 days.  After that mini-vaca, my Friday will be on Sunday for 3 weeks.  I can deal with 40 hour work weeks as long as I get my consecutive days off, the fact that my schedule is fixed for the next three weeks is the cherry on the top.
Today is also Brexit day.  (Sigh)  Many Britons believed Bobo Johnson when he said their lives were going to be better.  Jobs they saw as being unfairly held by foreigners will move back to the continent as corporations move to a more safer financial environment.  Oops. Prices and unemployment are going to go up.  Washington does not see them as equal partners and as such will offer them a trade deal which will hit them below the belt.  Scotland will probably vote for independence and will probably rejoin the EU.  Life in the UK is going to change.  Bobo Johnson is wrong.  Here's a bit of slang for my readers around the world.  In America, your johnson is another name for your dick.  This quite accurately describes Bobo... and this is what he's going to do to the UK.

Today is also the day in which the Republican controlled Senate is castrate the impeachment process.  It's the only way they can keep their tinfoil dictator in power.  I saw where Collins says she will vote for witnesses.  You can be Moscow Mitch approves of this; he desperately wants her ass re-elected.  This is not going to help her.  When November rolls around, Susie's going to hear the snip, snip, snip of the voting public as they shear her from her position.
And just one final musing, a lot of Evangelicals feel the 10 Commandments should be not only posted in classrooms, but in every place the public gathers.  If that ever happens, they're going to have to snip, snip, snip and edit, unless they decided to just borrow the Idiot Jerk's sharpie and draw and line through 'Thou shalt not bear false witness.'  hhhmm.  Actually, I think the sharpie's the way to go.

Constituent Power

Well, I slept well last evening.  So far this AM, all I've had is the occasional cough.  That's fine with me.
I will get to work for 3 days and then have off 2.  On Wednesday, I get my annual physical.  It will be interesting to see what they found in all those vials of blood they took last Wednesday.  Probably the same thing they found last year.  Not much to get excited about.
Here's a funny, little ray of sunshine.  Susan Collins is the Republican Senator from Maine.  She's a Conservative.  She wants to hang with the old boys school, though now and they she holds out because she wants to be seen as a Republican championing women's rights.  Well, it seems there's this guy with ALS up in Maine who has started a "gofundme" project for....  Susan Collins?  Nah, he's raising money for her Democratic opponent when she's up for re-election.  But, there's a catch.  You see, her opponent will only get the money if she votes for Brett Kavanaugh.  If she votes against Brett, all that money will stay in the donor's bank accounts.  This is her constituents telling her to vote "no."  And she doesn't like it.  She's calling it bribery - but there not paying her anything.  Of course, the Republicans don't like this.  They hate when their constituents tell them what to do.  And the last time I checked, Susan's constituents had raise over 1.3 million dollars.  In Maine, that's a lot of money to give to your opponent.  If she votes "no," she has nothing to worry about.  Now, doesn't that brighten up your day a little bit?  Thinking of poor Susan, way up there in Maine, being told by the voters what they want her to do?
This is such a hoot.  Nothing seems to be going right for the Republicans.  Their tax cut is failing them.   Rosenstein wanted someone wearing a wire so they could record the Idiot Jerk in his rantings.  The Idiot Jerk's choice for the Supreme Court (you know?  The one who doesn't think a sitting president should be investigate?) is seen by a majority of Americans as a bad choice.  There's also the fact that they can barely hear each other over the thunder of the approaching Blue Judgment.  Their end is nearing faster than they can blink.
Anyway, it's going to be a drizzling, rainy day.  In fact, they're forecasting shitty weather for the next few days.  More rain. The Midterms are coming.  Here's something to look forward to:

My, aren't the midterms going to be merry!!