12/20, 6:31 PM

When I woke up, the temperature was in the low 30s (F) and has been steadily increasing.  We'll hit a high in the mid 40s (F) today.  Except for a few dips down into the upper 30s (F), our daily highs have, I suspect, reached their winter plateau.  

In just a few hours, just before I head into work, we will as close to the sun as we're going to get this year.  That's right, the Winter Solstice is at 10:03 AM EST.  From then on, our days will begin to grow longer, at first by a few seconds each day, and then by a few minutes each day as our small blue planet moves farther and farther away from the sun.  And yes, that's right for all of you astronomically uninclined. Even though we are at the closest point our orbit around the sun takes us to that fiery inferno, our axis has the northern hemisphere tilted away, and so we are cold.  

I did work yesterday.  I'm not going to make sales for this week.  I'm not going to hit my measure goal.  I will be having a sale go through on next Saturday.  That sale is large enough to cover my sales goal for next week.  Just in  case you were wondering, sales for the store are down.  They always drop in the winter, though usually after the beginning of the new year when, because of the season, most people do not chose to do home improvements.  Yesterday, a Saturday night just 5 days from Christmas, this is what our main aisle looked like.  For reference, the Paint Desk is just past aisle 4, and Checkout is to the left.  And, again, we are only 5 days from Christmas.

And, again, a few more of the Epstein files were released by the Department of Justice yesterday.  The few references to the Orange Anus that were released on Friday and not redacted were deleted.  According to the AP, 16 separate files, including the printed picture of Orangie known as 468 and found in Epstein's desk drawer was disappeared.  There were more pictures of Bill Clinton, as well as some other celebrities, non of which intimated anything bad was happening.  The DOJ also included several pics, one of Clinton, Michael Jackson and Diana Ross that were part of the public domain and not, per se, pictures that were not in the files.  This is against the law, but when has breaking the law ever stopped Orangie, and the Republican Party. 

Is John Schneider stupid?

 For those who don't know, today is the shortest day of the year!  Tomorrow will be longer, and slowly we'll get back to those nice long sunny days we like so much, unless you're a vampire.  As with most of the country, there will be no white Christmas here in central PA.  In fact, on December 26 the temps are predicted to climb into the upper 50s (F).  If these temps keep up, my roses will soon be blooming in January.

I was going to stay in today, but as I was getting my breakfast together, I realized I was low on cereal.  The thought did cross my mind that I could cook up some oatmeal instead, however I realized I've become rather spoiled with my morning cereal with fruit and nuts.  So, after I take my morning shower, I'll head on over to my local Giant supermarket before it gets busy.  I'm also thinking about baking sticky buns for Christmas morning, that will mean stocking up on brown sugar.

Both tomorrow and Sunday afternoon I'll be putting in some hours at the store.  Believe me, it's not going to be busy.  I may sneak a book in and read.  Yes, an actual book... one with pages and a cover.  This one to be precise.  It's all about the research, you know?

Being that it's this close to Christmas, there's not a lot happening politically.  We're all going to have to wait on the Supreme Court decision on whether the Spawn of Satan, Donald Trump, is immune from prosecution for January 6 because he was president.  I'm betting they'll say "nope."  They've made a number of bad decisions, those that favor Conservatives, and as a result have put themselves into a serious bind.  America has become very dissatisfied with the Court, and dissatisfaction often leads to rule changes the Justices may not appreciate.  You can bet they're not going to jeopardize their own positions to benefit Donald Trump; they know all too well the probability of him losing in 2024 is great.

And there is that little flap over John Schneider saying Biden should be hung.  When I saw his comment on Threads, I asked, "is he really this stupid?"  Evidently yes... kind of, though someone must have given him a wack up side his head, since his comment has been deleted.  Too late, of course.  I'm betting he's already been contacted by the Feds regarding his possible threat against a sitting president.  Yes, he is this stupid.

The Long and Short of it

 Can I get a big 👍for the Winter Solstice?  Shortest day of the year.  For the next 180 days, give or take one, we're going to start stretching the sunlight until it covers more of the day.  For some reason, back when I was a young whipper-snapper, I believed the shortest day of the year always arrived sometime in February.  That was until I learned in elementary school that there such things as solstices, and the word has more to do with the long and the short, though they use fancier words, like declination and excursion.  Doesn't one word sound like it might have something to do with sex, while the other?  I don't know anyone who would willing want a medical excursion.

Biggie is back from his long, long blood test.  He was happy to see me.  Ate like a wolf when he got home.  I made BLTs for lunch yesterday and saved the bacon drippings for both he and Lily's dinner.  

I did watch the last 4 episodes of Wednesday on Netflix.  I enjoyed the series, and am wondering if the Hyde is going to be a recurring character.  

And, of course, this week leading up to Christmas has not been good for Republicans.  The DOJ received referrals for not only the Orange Anus, but many of his cohorts in crime, including one for Mark Meadows.  Yesterday Congress voted to release Trump's Tax Returns.  One foolish Republican complained that if they release Donald's taxes, people might also want to see the Tax Returns for sitting member of the Supreme Court.  The social media response was overwhelming to his comment.  Bring it On!

As for the indictments?  I don't believe we will have to wait long.  I understand the Atlanta Grand July is in its final sessions and their charges should be arriving shortly; probably not before Christmas, though.

The Republican civil war in the house will very shortly turn into what will no doubt be a very long and very brutal battle, and looks to probably consume the full length and breadth of the party.  What a shame they can't wrap it up and give it to us with a bow on top.

Winter Solstice

Well, it's Christmas... kind of.  Today's supposed to be retail's busiest day.  Today is also my last day of work before my mini-vac.  I'm excited.  I know not too many will visit the Flooring Desk.  The departments which are going to be shopped hard will be Hardware and Garden - most of our Christmas stuff has already been put on Clearance.  Ha!  No buys for me.
Today is also Winter Solstice... the shortest day of the year!

Starting tomorrow, everyday will be longer... until the middle of June, at which time we will hit peak sunshine up here in the Northern Hemisphere.  Now, that should put a Sunny smile on your face.  and I'm not talking about Sunny Rigalito either.  You don't know Sunny yet, but she's the Sheriff of Rattler's Den.  She's originally from Boston.  According to her, she cold-cocked her husband to get out of an abusive marriage.  Bobby Tussel thinks she used a caste iron frying pan rather than her fist.
And, of course Epoch Times has been shut down.  For those of you who don't look at Facebook, Epoch Times put out a lot of Pro-president articles which were blatant propaganda.  The website had a lot of friends.... MAGA Heads, you know?  And it spoon-fed them this pablum of deceit in order to curl their toes in delight.  And Facebook shut it down.  Because?  It was run by Vietnamese in order to interfere in our elections.  They sought to sow discord.  And it was all half-truths and lies, mostly lies... the stuff Conservatives live on.
And finally, the Idiot Jerk in the White House signed a funding bill yesterday to keep the government running.  Interesting, isn't it?  He needs to be impeached before he decides to sign a bi-partisan bill with out an ugly Tweet.  One of the things I find amusing in the bill is that it includes the funding of a Space Force.  I had to laugh at that.  Wouldn't it be funny if the only things this moron is remembered for are:  1, that he was impeached; and 2, he funded the branch of the military that took us out into space. 

Weathering the Storm

Today is the first of my 2 consecutive days off.  It will be filled with chores - cleaning & laundry, and hopefully some cardio later this afternoon.  Right now Biggie is laying beside me as I type.  His loyalty is amazing, especially if there are  biscuits nearby.
My brother in law got my sister a Facebook Portal (what ever that is) for Christmas... this means she's now on Facebook.  My nephew and his girlfriend live 2 hours away, and that's the only way she can get her fill of baby pictures.  And they have another on the way.  It seems as though grandchildren are the only way she can be forced into the 21st century.
For those who look forward to such things, we have 4 more days until the Winter Solstice.  I like long, sunny days.  They don't need to necessarily be warm, just sunny.  Hitting the shortest day of the year is always a turning point.  The days will begin to get longer.  Hopefully 2019 will be sunnier.  2018 was, for us, the rainiest year on record.  My lawn is still green.  Shit.
The weather patterns this past year have been shit for this country.  We've had rain, rain, and more rain.  There were record breaking rains in and around the DC this weekend.  California is warning people to stay away form beaches because they're going to be getting 50 foot waves....  That's a big wave.  In fact, it's relatively easy to see a correlation between the Idiot Jerk in the White House and the chaotic weather patterns that have dominated the US this past year.  Chaos equals chaos.
In literature, in film, and in art, storms have always been an indicator of inner turmoil.  "The Tempest" begins with a storm.  "King Lear" ends with a storm.  Those are just 2 literary examples, there are many others.  In film, from the complexity of "The Ice Storm," to a tornado that takes Dorothy Gale from the chaos of Kansas to land of Oz (that's film and literature).  This is what art says.  This is what Karma does.  So, is it any wonder I see a correlation between the weather the the Idiot Jerk's administration.  And the weather seems to be getting worse.  The Idiot Jerk doesn't believe in Global Warming.  He only believes in himself.  He lives in a whirlwind of purchased friendships, where bought allies orbit in and out of his sphere of stupidity purely on the depth of their transient loyalty.  And we've got some really bad weather raging across the country.  This isn't "hold on to your hats" weather, this isn't even "fasten your seat belts" weather.  All we can do is hold on tight and wait for the damn thing to blow over.  Remember, storms are Nature's way of cleaning up the shit.  Just make sure you're not near a sewer when this shit starts going down the drains.