At the Barricades

 So our outside temp was 47 (F) when I got up at 0545 this morning.  I has only warmed up one degree since then.  I'd say we're in for a cool day, but our afternoon high is supposed to be in the upper 70s (F).  That's fine.  We're supposed to have sunshine, so I will be hanging out 2 loads of laundry to dry.  Save on the electric bill.  I've used quite a bit less this summer than I did last summer.  That should help when electric rates go up, and they will go up.

The lower electric bills will help offset the higher natural gas bills.  Last February was cold, and even though I kept the house temp at 70 (F) I used a lot of natural gas.  This year, for the first time since I set myself up on the budget plan, I had to pay more.  Usually, my final payment is less.  Natural gas rates have gone up, too, as have water rates.  American Water, UGI, and PP&L always use the same excuse: the extra cost is to update their system.  Still, they're stockholders are still getting paid decent dividends.  Corporate greed does not care how much the little people suffer.

I made coffee this morning and there is still a distinct hint of that flavored coffee I used yesterday.  Blah!  Now I will have to scrub everything down, perhaps even run it through the dishwasher.

When I got to work yesterday I saw that changes had been wrought at self-checkout overnight.  Where the area around it had been open when I left work on Sunday evening, by yesterday the entrance had been barricaded with shelving.  This is to stop people from loading up a cart and just pushing it through self-checkout and out the door.  This is also a strong message that self-checkout is not going away.  In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they expand it; one cashier costs way less than four cashiers.

For those who missed it, the Epstein estate handed over his birthday book to Congress yesterday, and in spite of all of Orangie's lies, his page is definitely one of the highest of the low points.  As expected, Orangie is denying the artwork is his and that the signature is a forgery.  His team doesn't even mention that this vulgarity is in a bound book.  From what I've been seeing, this is birthday present to Epstein is really just the tip of the iceberg.

One of the things I find interesting about this administration is their belief that they can ignore public sentiment and do whatever they want because they're in charge.  They seem to think they can ignore the fact that Orangie's approval ratings are so low, even in areas thought to be his strengths, like crime and immigration.  When even the Main Stream Media starts waving their hands in alarm, they should re4alize there is a serious problem, however, they don't.  I suspect this is because most of the people Orangie has surrounded himself with have bought into his deceits, like the fact that elections have been stolen, and that he won in 2024 by a landslide.  Take the terrible numbers put out by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.   When they look at them, his sycophants chorus "they're fake."  Because their hearts tell them all bad numbers are lies, they fail to grasp the fact that a majority of Americans truly despise this man.  And as his numbers continue to worsen, his lies will become even richer.

Death Wish

 Today is the 2nd day of 2023.  If you're of a certain state of mind, the days are going to get funner.  Some will have the sadz.  Some of the latter deserve what they get.  Karma.

Rather than climb the stairs to sleep on the bed, Biggie has decided to start sleeping down on the sofa in the writing room.  Surprise!  He didn't bark during the night for me to let him out.  No potty outside.  I did check to make sure he didn't toddle off like a sleepy two year old bleed his little weasel (old navy term) quietly in some corner.  I suspect this proves that all of his midnight jaunts downstairs to "go potty outside" had an ulterior motive: a midnight biscuit snack.

I've had my first big boss fight in Evil West.  Here's a tip for you all, shoot and roll, and then roll and shoot, and don't forget to use your gauntlet on the minions.  

Tomorrow I have to get a haircut.  I hate haircuts.  Someone suggest I shave my head, so I politely reminded them that shaving your head is just another form of getting a hair cut.

The only time I drink coffee is in the morning.  Sometimes I drink Maxwell House, sometimes Folgers, depending upon which is on sale.  I also, usually 2 - 3 times a week will make coffee from freshly ground beans.  Rather than purchase bags of beans from my local, neighborhood Giant, I'm been ordering them on line from smaller companies.  Some are very good, and some... not so very good.  This one is very good.

And the new political year starts tomorrow.  Today is a holiday for them.  From what I understand, Kev McCarthy is one of those with the sadz.  It looks like there will be several votes before they decide on Speaker of the House.  Kev, who's offered his soul to any and every demon who might help him win the coveted position is in a bind, not enough demons are on his side.  The American Freedom Caucus only have enough votes to disrupt, not control.  This is actually good for America.  The more they disrupt, the more the truth comes out about them, that they're in favor of a Republican authoritarian government.  The more this truth comes out, the weaker they become.  The weaker they become, the more repulsive they become.  This is how a political party dies.  Unlike the Phoenix, they will not rise from their ashes.

 

On Apple Heads and Starbucks

In my store, the paint desk is located directly across from the registers at the Front End and, as such, we tend to talk back and forth with each other when things are slow.  Yesterday, while I was waiting for a gallon of paint to finish mixing, Jesse, the Front End Supervisor, came over and said, "Hey, did you hear about my Starbucks?"  Now, she loves her Starbucks iced coffees; drinks at least one a day.  "Nah," I said, shaking my head.
"Well," she started explaining, "I stopped off this morning and picked up my usual coffee and lemon sesame roll (it was lemon sesame something or other, it may not have been a roll)."  Anyway, she'd started her work day by pulling up her figures on the computer back in the training room, something we all do, while eating her roll (?).  She then came front and, after setting her coffee down near self-checkout, grabbed the schedule and proceeded from register to register (12 altogether) making sure everybody had enough change and verifying breaks and lunches.  This took her about a half hour.  Returning to self-checkout, she discovered her empty Starbucks cup in the trash.  In a fairly loud voice she asked "Does anybody know what happened to my Starbucks?"
Evidently there was a long, quiet pause so she repeated the question and finally, Phyllis, a 71 year old cashier, who bears a marked resemblance to one of those apple head dolls, asked  "Starbucks?" as she walked from her register to self-checkout.  "Was that yours?  I thought a customer had left that behind and, since I was thirsty, I drank it."

A close resemblance to Phyllis

That's right, she thought a stranger had left behind a half empty Starbucks coffee and because she was thirsty she drank it.  A stranger's coffee.  Just think about that for a minute or two.  Let the images whirl around in your head as you imagine a stranger's coffee swirling down your own throat.

Okay, that's enough thinking.

Anyway, Phyllis said "they're expensive, aren't they?" before giving the whole incident a minor shrug and without offering to pay for the coffee, headed back to her register.  A lesson was learned by many.  And, since I don't drink Starbucks, I don't have to worry about thirsty Phyllis.

Mixed scheduling and straight candles

I have a mid-shift today, which doesn't bother me.  I don't mind closings, either.  What I do dislike more then anything is openings because I need to get up at 0330.  This is to insure I have several mugs of coffee before I get to the store.  You would think being a department manager would entitle be to a more set schedule, but it doesn't, and for me openings are the worst.  What's sad is I have two associates who would nothing better then to be schedule morning shifts... for ever.  They love them.  Both of them hate closings.  As a result I've been working to get some sort of stability in the scheduling process.  From what I understand, at some point in this year, we will be going to some sort of fixed schedules.  I can't wait.
Neither can the dogs.  The other morning I was sitting in the bedroom putting on my shoes when Lilly jumped onto the bed  It did not take long for Gertie show up at glare at her.  There is some jealousy between the two.

I showed this pic to some friends and one of them kindly remarked "your candles are crooked."  To which I replied, "they're straight enough for me."

Expire this

I don't know about the rest of the world, but as a nation quite a few of us have a legitimate concern about expiration dates.  When you buy a quart of milk you do want to know how long you will be able to let it sit in your refrigerator before it starts to turn.  I'm sure most of us who enjoy cream in our coffee have experienced that one moment when the flavor was just a little bit off, or looked down to see flecks of curdle swirling around as we stir our spoon.  Expiration dates also give us an idea of just how long that quart of milk has been sitting on our grocer's shelf.  Some people, however, don't understand expiration dates.  They feel that at some point in it's life a product is going to expire.  I have had people ask me if the batch number on the top of a paint can contains the expiration date.  No, it isn't.  I'm sure if you contacted the manufacturer they could tell you when that paint was manufactured, but that's about it.  I always tell people, paint is not like food, it doesn't go bad.  Keep it tightly sealed and it will last for years, and years, and years.

There are those who think the day a product reaches its expiration date you need to throw it away.  Let me give you an example.  I was in the produce section of my local Giant supermarket filling my cart with fresh vegetables (I almost always eat fresh), when I noticed a woman in front of the baby carrots.  I like baby carrots, they're a nice snack.  Grate them up, add a dash of olive oil, garlic salt, salt and hot pepper flakes and roast them for a nice side.  As I slid my cart in beside her's and reached for a bag, she stopped me.  "Those are expired," she said.  Reaching into her own cart, she grabbed another bag.  "Here, take these, they're still fresh."  I thanked her and moved onto the mushrooms, wondering if I should tell her that carrots are a root vegetable.  Before refrigeration, people used to hang them in root cellars, in bunches, for months at a time.  They may not have been as fresh and crisp as the day they were pulled from the ground, but they didn't make people sick.

Now I can understand the rationale behind expiration dates, making sure your grocer rotates his product so you don't end up purchasing food which has been sitting on the shelf for nine or ten years.  But they've also become an easy way to get shoppers to buy more.  There are a lot of people out there, like the woman with the baby carrots, who believe that once a food has hit it's expiration date it needs to be thrown out.  Produce shouldn't need to be dated.  If you can't tell when it's going bad, then you shouldn't be buying it.  If a peach has little, fluffy mold spores building a metropolis, then it needs to go in the trash.  So what if the Rotini pasta in your cupboard expires in a week or so, it's dried.  It's not going to cook up differently because it's passed its expiration date.  Just use a little common sense.  Unless you're one of those people who needs to be told what to do and when to do it.  When I meet people like this I usually just smile.  What I really want to do is say "expire this."    

Keurigs - pretentious as hell

Like many people all around the world, I like my coffee.  My daily regime starts with brewing 6 cups in my Bunn coffee maker which, I might add, brews a damn good cup of coffee.  Let me qualify this buy noting those 6 cups equal 2.5 mugs which I drink over a period of about 2 hours and that most coffee manufacturers denote the size of a cup as 6 ounces.  This is a lot of caffeine.  Let me also point out this is the only time of day when I drink coffee, I'm not like those people who feel the need to have a coffee break two and a half hours after they've been on the clock.  Those people drink a lot of coffee and coffee can be expensive.  While I am not what I would consider frugal, I am what I like to consider dollar smart: I know how much I'm spending it when I spend it and on what I'm spending it, and the value I'm getting for the money I'm spending.  This is why I don't own a Keurig.  I have disposable income, but not money I'm going to end up pissing away.  Personally I believe Keurigs are synonymous with pretension.

I am always amazed when I hear people who complain about money, and their lack there of, bragging about what a deal they're getting on the K-cups they're buying.  Give me a break!  At my local Giant grocery store I can buy 14 ounces of Maxwell House for around $9.  That's about 220 six ounce cups at about 4cents a cup.  When was the last time these people paid that little for a K-cup?  Never.  The average cost per K-cup is 50 cents per cup for the cheap stuff.  So why are they so popular?  What started off as a nifty thing for the trendy set managed to hook itself into the public conscious in a "keeping up with Jones'" kind of way.  And the little one cup coffee maker became pretentious.

Keurigs - pretentious as hell

This past summer a friend of mine who was going down to the shore, posted a picture of his Keurig snuggled neatly into his backpack.  He was taking it along because there might not be one in the house he had rented.  Sadly, people liked that picture.  I couldn't help but think of how severe his addiction to caffeine must be; it was either that or he was simply blinded by pretentiousness.  To even consider someone not being able to live a week without his Keurig, and going through the hell of having to use a regular coffee maker, simple boggles my mind. 

Drowning in your K-Cups

I like my morning coffee.  One of the first things I do after turning off the alarm clock is go downstairs to the kitchen and brew a pot, usually 6 cups.  Of course those are 6 oz cups which works out to about two and a half to three mugs which I will casually drink while reading through the news of the day and some blogs I follow.  This makes me different.  Why?  Because I haven't let myself get caught up in the  Keurig trend, and it is a trend you know, one that coffee manufacturers would sell their left nut to join.  As far as I can tell, there are a lot of Americans who can't wait to start drowning in their K-Cups, and all of them have so much disposable income.  Try talking to someone about the expense and you might as well be talking to the wall.  They all have the same retort "but I love just being able to brew just one cup of coffee at a time."  Is it me, or does it seem as though a lot of people have been brainwashed?  Amazingly, those are almost always the first words out of their mouths.  These people don't even qualify them by adding "I know they're expensive."  How expense are they?  And this is just one example.  If you own one the chances are very high that you've already searched the Internet trying to find the best deal.  You can buy 108 K-Cups at the K-Mart website for $80, which is a little less then .75 cents per cup.  Hey, trendy person out there, that's not bad.  However, at the Giant Supermarket where I shop, I can buy 60 cups of Maxwell House for just .18 cents per cup.  Holy crap!  Can that be right?

More expensive then a dozen roses

What does that mean?  Simply that I'm getting about 444 cups of coffee for the same price as 108 you can buy at K-Mart.  For you to get 444 cups you would need to spend $320.  Holy crap, and that's K-Mart.  And how many people out there just drink one cup per day?  What about friends?  I'm sure all of these Keurig owners have they, and now and then they invite them over for coffee.  All of a sudden the dollars begin adding up. Hey all you Keurig owners out there, don't those single cups of coffee taste delicious?  Who ever would have thought trendy could be so expensive?  These people don't understand there is a price for what they call convenience.