Scot-Free

Well, it's Monday and I don't go back to work today, unlike some of you.  That will happen tomorrow.  My schedule is not bad for the next couple of weeks.  What will be interesting will the the one for the week of the new year.  That's a 32 hour work week with 8 hours holiday pay.  I could work for 5 days in a row, or for as many as 9.  I have a scheduled 4 days off starting on 1/4, so we shall have to wait and see.
I have mounted my clock.  I know some will find that sentence amusing.  Here it is.

Not only will I now know what the time is, I'll also know the temperature.  Heat rises.  I always knew my upstairs was warmer than the first floor (ground floor for everyone living outside the United States).  The variance is 4 degrees.  It will be interesting to see how warm the room gets when I start pedaling.
I downloaded another route in Greece, however I won't be riding it today.  This afternoon I'm going to try and climb a 6 mile hill in Italy that's part of my challenge.  If I can get to the top of that I will move up to the next level in Rouvy Cycling.
Oh, and I saw the Russians were banned from the next Olympics.  Doping.  Now, I don't know if the directive is coming from the top, but I wouldn't be surprised.  We have our Idiot Jerk, the Russians have their Putsy Putin.  Both are trying to be Emperors.   I understand Putsy Putin is losing his popularity.  Our Idiot Jerk was never really popular... except among of small-minded individuals.
There was an interesting article in Reuters in regard to jobs and America.  Jobs are going to coastal cities, not cities in the heart of the country.   There doesn't seem to be much potential in cities like Indianapolis, and St. Louis, and Kansas City for future job growth, which runs completely contrary to  the Idiot Jerk's "Make America First" campaign.  The voters in those cities who turned out for the Idiot Jerk might just as well have sat home on their toilets and flushed their votes away.  The only way jobs will return to those areas is if we give corporations big tax breaks and incentives, and that doesn't guarantee those jobs they bring will be high paying.  We should never started giving them tax breaks in the first place.  Of course, isn't that what the GOP has always planned, for the American people to bear the burden of taxes while corporations go Scot-Free?  They call it Trickle Down Economics.

Under Armor Nightmare

Working in retail I see a lot of people and, as a result, get to see what apparel is trendy among specific groups.  Camo, for example, used to be worn by all types: rich and poor, college graduate and high school dropout.  Its fashion days have peaked, however, and the people who are wearing it now are doing so not because it's cool but because they have reached the creative limits in the wardrobe department.  The trendy name brand which seems to have taken it's place, at least in this area of the country, is Under Armor.  I see their little logo everywhere: shirts, T-shirts, hats, coats, jackets, shorts... You name it, if it can legally be worn as outer apparel, there's a good likelihood you will see an Under Armor monogram.  There's only one little problem.  Well, it's not that little.  You see there are a lot of people out there who don't seem to comprehend Under Armor is athletic apparel.  If you go to the gym three, or four, or maybe five times a week and actually work out when you're there, a good possibility exists where you can wear this clothing and look damn good.  If you avoid physical exercise like it was the plague, you should also avoid these shirts, and shorts, and shoes and caps because they will make you look foolish.  You are not an athlete.  An Under Armor T is not going to make you look slim.  If you're 40 years old and have man boobs, one of these shirts is not going to make them disappear, they are made to enhance, not conceal.

Under Armor is not going to make you look like this
 

if you look like this



Yet every day I see 5 to 10 people coming into my department wearing clothing which bears that ubiquitous Under Armor logo.  These flaboids haven't been to a gym since high school.  Seriously, what am I supposed to do when I see a guy's belly creeping out from under the waistline of his Under Armor T-shirt?  I don't think the thought even crosses their minds that they look like porkos in spandex.  They think because it's popular and everybody else is wearing it, they might as well, too, even if their BMI tops 35.  And, unfortunately, being in retail, I need to deal with these people.  I need to keep a civil tongue in my head, be polite, pleasant, and courteous.  I need to provide good customer service.  There is no way in hell I could point at them and shriek "Under Armor Nightmare!"