It's in the Notes

 Weatherwise, today is going to be pretty much a transitional day into a mini cooling off period.  There will be clouds, but not much temperature variation.  When I got up at 0530 the temp was 46 (F) and, if the forecasters are correct, we'll gain just a few more degrees, climbing into the low to mid 50s (F).  However, a few days from now we should be back up into the 60s (F).

And yesterday was a fairly good day.  Not so much because chores were done, but because I put air in my tires.  Since the compressor at my neighborhood Giant's gas station was working, I went across the street to the Weis Market's gas station.  Wonder of wonders, they don't charge for air.  At Giant you need to pay $1.50.  At Weis, it's free. And so I filled all 4 tires in about 5 minutes... for free.  In case you haven't figured it out yet, Free is mostly always good.  Can you guess where I'll be going from now on when I need air in my tires?

Some writing was done.  That's always a good thing.  My mind is starting to wander towards the next book already.  This can be both a good and a bad thing.  At this point in the process things can slow down because I'm starting to clear up the red herrings, at the same time pre-planning means I'm creatively thing about a totally different plot line.

One of the things I did get done yesterday was some preliminary artwork for The Body in 4:4 Time.  This may change, and just what Cori will do with it is... well, up to her.  The covers are always painted, so there are always changes.  Anyway, here's a look at the beginning.  As with all of my covers, there is a clue hidden here, so you may want to embiggen.  The pic on Instagram has music.

And repercussions are still detonating through the GOP.  And the reasons Republicans are coming up with why they lost so badly are.. well, as demented as the Orange Anus.  My favorite so far was the Congresswoman who tried to push the deceit that Republican voters stayed home from the polls because they were happy.  The absurdity in this comment is... well as unfathomable as her intention in making it.  In fact, it makes me wonder if Orangie my be that catalyst for change America needs.  If not, his corruptness is shaking things up more than they've ever been shaken up before.  Till this entire thing is done, there will be no Republican Party.

And his attorney argued for his power to set tariffs yesterday at the Supreme Court.  The only one truly vocal about his keeping this power was Alito.  The other judges had questions and made statements that sounded a lot like they didn't want Orangie to be able to override the Senate.  Not Alito.  You see, Alito wants a king who will give Conservatives what they want.  He is blind to the fact that Orangie will only ever give himself what he wants.  Alito is an old man, with an old man's brain. 

3 Cases Here

So, left work late yesterday afternoon to begin my 4 days off in a row and decided to stop in at my local Giant.  There were a lot bare shelves, no paper products what so ever, though there were canned goods and frozen foods available for purchase.  While walking to their wine aisles, I ran into one of our cashiers.  He told that there were now 3 cases of the virus in Cumberland County and that the school districts were shutting down.  I had no problem checking out.  Right after that the panic buyers arrived.  An hour later, with all registers open, there was a 45 minute wait.  Me?  I did not alter my schedule one iota, I came home, drank some wine and ate some Ramman Noodles.
This is not the time to panic.  This is not the end of the world.

The 3 cases in Cumberland County:  2 adults and one child.  2 of them were in a country where the virus was prevalent.  They did not provide information as to how long ago that was. One case is looking like it might be part of a Community Spread; they are researching to find out where that person might have come into contact with the virus.  That is not good news, though oddly enough I am not really concerned.  I have no problem staying home from work. Should they decide to quarantine the state essential services will continue:  neither the Giant nor the Weis Market will shutter down.
Not surprisingly, 84% of Republicans feel the Idiot Jerk is doing a fine job handling this crisis.    My money says they are the ones who will break quarantine because the Coronavirus is "just like the flu," and "you can go to work if you have it," and "it'll be gone soon."  They are the ones who will continue to spread the Virus.  Stay away from Republicans... and Evangelicals, they are unclean.
I have a funny feeling I'm going to get a lot of lawn work done in the next couple of...maybe weeks.

Better Bits and PIeces

Key happy dance music!  It's Friday!  and I get to go back to work!  For 3 days!
Whew!  Glad I got that excitable bit out of my system I can move on to bigger and better bits and pieces!
For those of you interested my my Trek Cycling Challenge... I hit 40 miles yesterday.  I rode in Follonica, which is in Italy.  My route takes me past this port:

You can almost see me behind the railing, eh?

The only problem is whomever recorded the video did a pretty crappy job.

My new pedals arrived yesterday... and they're still in the box.

Last evening Eli and Max checked into the Lodge at Rattler's Den.

My local Weis Market has the 31.1 lb bags of Beneful, so yesterday I bought my dog food there.  Their Chobani yogurt and Folger's coffee is also less expensive than my neighborhood Giant... and Weis is less than a 1/4 mile from Giant.  Yesterday I save close to $4... This is how life is.

I've also decided I'm going to give Greek a try.  The language... I'm talking about the language.  I signed up for a 2 year course with Rosetta Stone.  We'll have to see how it goes.

And, of course, the Idiot Jerk caved on the Census question.  Billy Barr was standing behind him, scowling to beat the band as he made the announcement...  This was after the Idiot held some sort of Conspiracy Theory Summit.  He sure does love surrounding himself with liars.

There are more flower pictures coming.  More things are just beginning to bloom.

There are sunflowers coming and some sort of purply pointy things...

The Family Blonde

Well, I hope everybody is having a good Wednesday morning - so far mine hasn't been that bad, and I've been up since 5.  Lots of little thing happened yesterday.  I moved my computer - now all my electronics are along one wall and in the process eliminated the use of 2 extension cords.  112 years ago, when my house was built, they didn't have electricity, and when Edison's magic came to town they didn't exactly plan the outlets wisely.  When I remodeled the bathroom, I had an extra line put in which is why the computer room has three outlets.
Also, a representative from Giant called, the result of my complaint.  She apologized and said that if I buy Beneful they might be able to make arrangements to keep a bag in stock just for me.  That was nice.  The real problem is that they only have one facing and can only keep 2 bags in stock at a time and, as she, herself said, if those 2 bags sell it's going to take them 3 days to replenish...  this is not a good thing.  Especially when you consider that their competitor Weis Markets, just across the road, has 2 facings of Beneful, and they now give bonus points for every dollar spent... and they accumulate.  In fact, I checked out the Weis yesterday, too, and their pricing is sometimes a couple of cents more, sometimes a couple of cents less on the products that I normally buy.  It's take them a year but I supposed they've finally realized they need to be more competitive.
And of course yesterday Dianne Feinstein released the transcript Chuck Grassley's been trying to keep secret and, I suspect, a number of Republicans did 'the nasty' in their pants.  Oh, and evidently the Idiot Jerk's attorneys are ramping up their lawsuit agenda.  This has always been his favorite method of attack, his crooked attorneys suing the hell out of people just to shut them up.  Except it's not working this time.  He has too much bad publicity.
A funny thing from this morning was that I say the Idiot Jerk's approval rating shot up to a whopping 39% - of course that was for the week ending December 31, before "The Book" came out.  I'm sure it will drop. 
And finally, my nephew's wife is blonde (probably dyed) and she's a nice woman.  Being smart, however is not on her resume.  Here's an example:  at Thanksgiving she brought custard pies and whipped cream... however, she was going to whip the cream herself, so she poured the heavy cream into a bowl and started stirring it around.  I smiled and told her she was going to need to beat if faster than that if she wanted whipped cream.  She didn't understand.  Yesterday she started complaining on Facebook that she and my nephew owe on their Income Tax.  A lot of people gave her advice, some very good.  This morning she posted the comment "I don't see why people get a deduction for having kids, that's their fault or choice."   Do I need to tell you she supports the Idiot Jerk in the White House?

Snow, Weis, & Andromeda

Here in Harrisburg we got between 18" and 20" of snow which will, because we're zooming into spring, be gone shortly.  Today the temp is supposed to go up to 36 (F) and tomorrow hit the mid 40's with drizzling rain.  Tammy, the UPS driver who lives across the street, let me use her snow blower.  Because the snow was so deep and wet, however, ended up being more work than simply shoveling it; the wheels spun uselessly and you had to keep lifting it up and pulling it back in order to get traction.  Call it a lesson learned in futility.  Call me odd, but I don't mind shoveling snow.  I'm in shape.  I tell people it's free cardio and they look at me strangely.
I sent an email complaint to the Corporate Offices of our new Weis Market - their point system doesn't work for me.  You only get gas points if your purchase total is $50 or greater.  That only happens when I buy the big bags of dog food.  Because I eat a lot fresh fruits and vegetables which don't have a long shelf life, I usually shop twice a week.  And I'm not alone.  A lot of seniors use a trip to the grocery store to get out of the house, my Mom did that, and they never spend $50.  Or, if you stop off on your way home from work to buy dinner... no points are earned.  So, I sent them a complaint.  If there's something you don't like, complain, silence gets you nothing.

And next Tuesday, Mass Effect Andromeda will be arriving in my mail box.  I had originally request off but, as luck would have it, that's our inventory day.  However, instead of working my standard shift, I'm scheduled 7 - 4 so I can run reports, which means I won't be able to pop it into my X-Box Slim until around 4:30... but that's okay.  I'm off on Wednesday.  Ain't life grand!

Rockets

So, yesterday was International Women's Day.  I was surprised because I was expecting to see this as a day of protest and it wasn't, rather I saw a celebration of women and their accomplishments on their difficult path to equality.  More power to them since they still have a difficult journey ahead of them, especially with the pussy grabber in the White House.
I went to visit my Mom yesterday and one of the first things she told me was that she was going to need a new television, her just wasn't working right.  She has a Samsung (not a smart one) and it's 2 years old, if it's even that.  Picking up the remote, I turned it on and got nothing... tried changing a channel and got a brief picture, but then it disappeared.  Batteries, I thought.  Opening up the back I looked at the batteries.  They were Rockets.  Really.  I kid you not.  Evidently they're manufactured in Australia, and are probably the same batteries that came with the remote.  My brother and sister are taking her to K-Mart today (she loves K-Mart), so I sent him a text telling him they needed to pick up new batteries.  Setting the remote down, I moved the conversation on to her mail, checking to see if she'd gotten any (she gets a lot of 'beg' letters from obscure charities which she tells me to pay, and which I always throw away).  Suddenly, a message appeared on her television: "You are not set up to record this channel."  I suspect she must have pressed the "record" button by accident, and when the channel didn't change pressed another, and another, and another, until the television was lost in confusion.  It worked perfectly from then on.

The new Weis store opens today.  I might stop off tomorrow morning, very early since it's going to be crazy busy.  I have a coupon for $5 off a $25 purchase, which is more than the cost of a big bag of dog food.  I've already applied for my Bonus Card on line, I can use my phone number until it arrives.  Can't wait.

We fought the Civil War to free the immigrants & other stuff

And, of course, Ben Carson has now revealed the truth about the Civil War, we freed the immigrants in order for them to find wealth and prosperity.  While everybody was being distracted by Carson, the Republicans rolled out their replacement for the Affordable Care Act.  Now we know why he's in DT's cabinet: he's there to serve as Dr. Distracto, super dumb ass.  Nah, that's not why he's in the cabinet.  He's there because DT wanted a non-threatening, Crazy Christian Black Guy who would appeal to the Evangelicals., being Dr. Distracto is only his part-time gig.
I am off work today, and it's going to be, for the most part, one of those throw-a-ways.  Some bike time this afternoon, a nap or two with the dogs, and a little Gears of War 4.
First thing this AM I was at the Optometrist's office, the pressure in my eyes is good so the drops are working.  He gave me a 90 day prescription, which can be refilled 3 times, so I'm pretty much good for the year.  The nice thing about the script is that I can hand it over to the VA and pay a lot less. - $24 rather than $60.

I stopped by my local Giant Supermarket on the way home and the parking lot was very, very empty.  The new Weis Market opens tomorrow, and might actually spell the end of the Giant.  Because Weis Markets had already owned the land, the New Giant was built on the wrong side of the road.  In PA we have right turn on red lights, and the new Weis is on the right side.  Given a choice, would you rather sit at the red light to turn left into Giant, or scoot right into Weis?  The old Giant building has been split in half, one has been converted into a Planet Fitness, which I will be joining shortly since I don't own a treadmill.  This is how life is.

The Specialist

So, yesterday was busy.  I had the day off and filled with all sorts of fun stuff, starting off with a visit to my Orthopedic Specialist at 0730.  Arthritis, you know, but just a check up, no problems.  It is odd when he says the word "degenerative' though.  That means some day everything is going to fall apart.
And then I went to my local Giant grocery shopping.  And after that I drove across Shady Hill Road to interview at my soon to be local Weis Market.  I had applied to be a fish monger but they have other ideas.  The HR Specialist did a little oohing and ahhing when I told him I managed 29 cashiers in the winter but that the number increased to 44 during the spring and summer
While I was bragging about myself, my phone started vibrating with an incoming call.  It was my Store Manager calling to tell me how much money I'd lose when I step down from my management position.  Better than I thought.  I'll get a fixed shift, either 9 - 6 or 10 - 7, both would work well for me.  So, sitting in the parking lot of my soon to be local Weis Market, I said yes.  This means I probably won't take the job at Weis if they make an offer.  And financially my "take home" pay is not going to change.  Right now I have a high percentage going to my 401K, so all I needed to do was drop that deduction by 12%.  And what am I going to be?  A Specialist.

That's right.  I'm going to specialize in flooring... and blinds... and tile.  This means I'm also going to have to learn to drive a forklift.... be afraid.... be very, very much afraid.

Anyway, I had a long conversation with my friend Betsy last evening about the approaching Trumpageddon.  She doesn't understand that starting next Friday things are going to being unraveling for the GOP, or that DT is surrounding himself with people will very shortly be at each other's throats.  You know?  Like Kushner and Bannon, the almost orthodox Jew and the Anti-Semite.  Lot's of harmony there.  

Well, I'm off to work.  Need to study up on my hard woods.

My kind of Chai

Several years ago I began drinking chai tea.  For me it's coffee in the morning (3 large mugs) and chai in the evening (1 large mug).  After trying several brands, I settled on Tazo Chai, Original and everything was find and dandy, until a month and a half ago when I noticed my chai was no longer on the shelf at my local Giant supermarket.  So I sent them an email saying "hey, what's up with that?"  One of the things I pointed out in this email was that a new Weis (pronounced wise among us Dutchies) was opening right across the street from Giant.  I also pointed out that even though Weis might not carry the Tazo tea I enjoyed, if Giant didn't carry it, well, that was one less reason for me to sit at a red light and wait to turn in to Giant (it's right turn on red in PA).  Though I said they didn't need to contact me, one of their managers did, left me a nice voice mail in which he said "no, we're not going to carry" that product anymore.  Pissed me off, of course.
So, what did I do, went on line and looked for a recipe on how to make Chai Tea.  There lots and lots of variations, all of them including several specific spices.  I now have a nice spice collection.

And what's really nice is that I can purchase these spices just about anywhere, even at my 'soon to be open' local Weis supermarket.  It's the little things, you know?  And though my chai doesn't exactly taste the same as Tazo's I think it's better.  The ingredients are fresher.  So now, in the evenings, I find myself settling down with my kind of chai.

The Price of Babies

On an average day we get to see quite a few people at the paint desk and while some may pass us by, quite a few order paint.  Over the past couple of weeks I've noticed what seems to be a trend.  Since one person's trend my by normal to others, I started asking my associates.  "Is it me, or are we seeing a lot of pregnant women"  Everyone agreed with me.  We're a high volume store so it's not unusual to see one or two expectant mothers daily, but some days we're seeing as many as 8 or 9.  Yesterday I counted 12.  And there's nothing mysterious about these numbers.  We had a nasty, little winter, lots of freezing rain and ice.  Couples stayed home and tried to "keep warm," and in the process made a baby.  We are a very prolific species so making a baby is not that difficult.  Of course, babies mean change, and I'm not just talking about on the personal level.

Twenty years ago, when I bought my house, this was a small suburb with a population of around 6000.  Today we are the fastest growing community in the region and the population has ballooned to nearly 28,000.  That's a big jump in 20 years.  That's a lot of new housing, and a hell of a lot more traffic.  I went out this morning and took a couple of pictures.

This is the new West Shore Hospital.  Actually, these are the physician's offices and, being that it's Sunday, the parking lots are empty.  The Hospital proper is on the other side.  It's big.  Twenty years ago this was all forest. 

This is the new Giant Supermarket they are building.  It's 2.5 miles from the Giant Supermarket I use and that supermarket is 4 miles from the Camp Hill Giant.  Three years ago this, too, was all forest.

This is the construction site for the new Weis Market they are building, which just happens to be across the road from the new Giant they are building.  That's right, we're going to have two massive supermarkets separated by the macadam of a 3 lane road.

Traffic is already so bad I felt the need to order a Road ID just in case some moronic driver sends me flying into the gutter.  I should probably look on the bright side, the new West Shore Hospital is only a hop, skip and a jump away.  This is the price of babies.