Everything Trump Touches Dies

We have a lot of sunshine and 8 (F) outside.  Yesterday our high was supposed to climb into the upper teens and we got to the lower 20s (F).  I guess you could call that a warm spell.  The long range forecast has Central Pa warming up slightly after the weekend, with temps climbing into the upper 20s (F).  Not one day is predicted to be above freezing.  This is some really cold air that's coming down from the North Country.  My heating expense is going to go through the roof.

One thing that is apparent is how easily many people adapt to the cold.  We simply bundle up and go outside, at least I do. 

I did go for a bicycle ride yesterday.  In Scotland.  Tacx dropped a new series of rides.  Though I've never been there, I'd love to visit for the plaids and accents.  Today I get to work with the machine.  Mostly I want to work on my legs, the largest muscle group in the body.  And my core muscles because I must have twinged my back the wrong way while shoveling snow.  Yesterday, my right leg was sore, nothing that 2 naproxen didn't cure.  Believe me, stronger core muscles help, walking, too.

Dinner last evening was a beef and barley stew with tomatoes.  It was quite tasty and just the right meal for a cold winter's evening.

And Orangie's administration tried to pivot on Alex Pretti's murder yesterday, not because it was the right thing to do, but rather because Americans are infuriated by videos of an innocent man being shot 9 times in the back.  Don't think this is a change of heart of him.  Nope.  This is a sad political move that is too little, and way, way too late.  Even though it was underwater, his immigration policy had given him his highest rating.  Not any more.  Reuters/IPSOS reports only 39% of the country approves of his immigration policy, and many of those are racists.

The munchkin general Bovino, now in the process of leaving the picture, has dealt with discrimination charges in the past where he settled financially, rather than go to court.

One comment I saw that was amusing said "it's a shame Noem paid for all of that bad plastic surgery for nothing."

With Orangie in charge, the Republican Party is dying. Not that the party of selfishness and greed should have died a long time ago, but with him leading the way its demise is now supercharged.  The saying "everything Trump touches dies," is true, and he has two hands around the throat of the Republican Party.  He tried to touch America and is being rejected.  Susan (I'm so concerned) Collins has issued a statement that ICE needs to get out of both Minneapolis and Maine.  I do think this might be the first time that she has ever taken a stand on anything that goes even slightly against the grain of a sitting US president.  Any while I still tend to doubt her sincerity because she's up for re-election, at least she's spoken out... meekly.

The Bishop

 It was 1 (F) degree when I left Howie out this morning.  He was long enough to do his business before scooting back in super fast for a peanut butter puppy cookie.  Today's high is expected to be in the upper teens, though by tomorrow it should be in the upper 20s (F).  Now, won't that be nice.  And they will continue to rise.

The cold temps are a bit bothersome because my thermostat is on the "fritz," as they used to say.  The furnace turns on and works well, however, once the set temperature has been reached, it switches to Air Condition and the fan simply circulates air, so instead of the temp being a constant 72 (F), it's around 69 (F).  I find this frustrating, so I drove to the store yesterday and bought a new one with the thought of installing it myself.  I looked at the instructions and said, "nope, I'm calling someone."  Sometime this morning I will call Jordan and make an appointment.  For those who don't know, Joe, the electrician I used previously, was killed in a traffic accident and his assistant, Jordan, is now running the business.  

Otherwise, yesterday was like most of my Tuesdays, spent not doing much of anything.  This behavior pattern repeats regularly, and always on Tuesdays.  I don't know why.  Even when I was off for a week, Tuesday was spent doing practically nothing.  

Howie is getting some new toys.  Chewy had a sale, 4 for the price of 3.  None of them have plush.  All of them are made by Kong, a company that knows how to make durable dog toys.

And then yesterday this happened:

And last night on Truth Social the Orange Anus called her a nasty bitch.  So much for thinking that might be any tiny bit of Christian compassion in the Orangie's administration.  Do not doubt that so called Christians have problem with her calling out their wannabe morally degenerate savior.  

Evidently every mention of LGBTQ individuals was expunged from every government website yesterday, I'm sure that must please the Log Cabin Republicans to no end, emphasis on the No end.

At this point, I'm just wondering when the protests are going to begin.  Every day I see reminders of the 1960s, when there were protests all over the country against... well, just about everything.  This time, if there's a Kent State, those shooting the guns will find people defending themselves and shooting back.  Chaos will ensue, and Wall Street will take a Hell of a hit, and the billionaires will run for their lives.  I understand Zuck has some sort of underground compound in Hawaii - that doesn't seem very smart since the Hawaiian Island chain is volcanic.

The Dark Ages, (part 2)

 Here it is, Sunday morning, and it's cold.  Temps are in the 20s (F), and today's high, like yesterday is only predicted to top off in the mid 30s (F).  Don't forget, winter is still a week away.  Will it be a cold one, or warm like the last two.  So far our weather pattern is repeating itself.  Only time will tell.

For those interested, the barley for breakfast is going well.  I boil up one cup of barley in 2.5 cups of water, that's gives me 3 cups barley which I then refrigerate.  It's a grain, so it has a very mild nutty/wheaty flavor.  Cost wise, it's about .35 a breakfast, or if it were boxed, like Grape Nuts, it would cost about $2.10 a box.  That's something you can take to the bank.  On top of that, there are absolutely no preservatives, meaning I'm not ingesting chemicals whenever I eat it.

Yesterday was one of those, I'm not doing anything days.  It was cold, I stayed home.  I wrote.  I had thought about working out with dumbbells, but that came to naught, as did the desire to put in some time on the treadmill.  I did spend some time examining my bands, but beyond the examination nothing happened.  

I played some Dragon Age.  I'm at the point where the final Boss fight is just around the corner, unfortunately, the game itself doesn't feel complete, and sadly, I am ready for it to be over.  That says more about the writing than anything else.  Most of the companion stories just are interesting enough, that's because their quests tended to be lame.  I'll probably finish it over the next few days and then download the new Indiana Jones game.  It's from Bethesda, and everybody I talked to loves it.

For dinner last evening I cooked some of my homemade pasta.  The pasta was good, the meat sauce, however, left a little to be desired.

And, of course, a large part of the reason yesterday was one of "those" days were the thoughts I had about our incoming president, and how bad things are going to get.  When I tell people that the shooting of the United Healthcare CEO was just the tip of the iceberg, I know many don't understand.  Conservatives expect Americans to just sit there and eat every spoonful of the shit they want to hand out and that isn't going to happen.  Both Canada and Mexico are going to tell Trump to go to Hell (you can bet they're talking to each other as we speak) and that will begin the Chaos that Wall Street hates.  The Orange Anus is going to put out a slew of Executive Orders on day one, and though many will have to work to work their way through the court system, they too will rock the country.  His cultists have no idea of the evil they have potentially unleashed.  Is the world heading into another Dark Ages?  That's possible.  Things that will not survive if we are:  Conservativism, Christianity, Wall Street, Billionaires.

Things Happen at the Tholos

 Today is my first day off and rain is in the forecast.  We had a steady, drizzling rain all day yesterday, and the forecasters are saying it will hang around until Thursday.  Temps are cool, but not cold, the perfect weather for sweat pants and sweat shirts; comfy clothing, you know?  While I truly love the shorts and T-shirts of summer, I also love the comfy sweats of autumn.  

My cold is beginning to dry up.  I'm still taking Benadryl, but only when needed, which is not too often.  From what people have been telling me, this nasally, sneezy, coughing thing is going around and quite a number of people are suffering through the symptoms.  I'm so glad it showed when I got back to the states rather than back in Greece, that would have, to be perfectly honest, pissed me off a lot.  Katie, the wife of the quiet policeman, had to deal with one through out most of our journey down the Peloponnese.  In Delphi, they were in the room next to mine and she coughed through most of the night; I felt so bad for her.

Cori, my cover artist, has the updated notes on the artwork for The Body in History.  Some major changes took place, the biggest being the setting.  It turned out that the original art was focused around the Tholos of Athena and not Apollo's Temple.   Well, that's fixed.  Now, all you have to do is wait 8 months for the reveal.  For those interested, this is the Tholos of Athena and it's located almost a mile away from the temple.  Do not despair though, things do happen at the Tholos.

Trump had some sort of Q & A with a couple of farmers from Pennsylvania yesterday during which he said he was going to put tariffs of 200% on John Deere tractors and they applauded and cheered because... well, they were no doubt paid to do so.  They obviously don't understand tariffs increase the customer cost, they don't reduce it.  Tariffs do not force manufacturers to reduce their prices, this is something MAGA cultists simply don't understand.  Trump preys upon their ignorance.

Finally, think about this:  Everything Trump touches dies.  Someone should have told the Evangelicals.

Iowa Caucus

 Quick entry today because it's a holiday... well, no, actually, I slept in until 0700, and not because I stayed up late, rather I was tired, and it's cold outside.  Winter temps are blessing the area, finally.  And snow is on the way as well, starting very late this afternoon, about an hour before I head home from work.  Forecasters are saying we might be getting 4 - 5 inches.  Temps tomorrow are not predicted to climb above freezing, so it'll be sticking around for a few days.  

Work was steady yesterday.  I got 2 measures for carpet, that means 3 measures for the past week.  Management is pleased with me.  

As part of the prep work for my next book, The Body in History, I've been having some conversations with Jon, my PT friend about types of therapy he'd prescribe for certain injuries, say a broken ankle, and a compound fracture of the femur, among other things.  Now how in the world could this be related to Eli and Max going to Greece?  I know you can't hear me, but I just let loose with one of my evil laughs.

I've also been chatting with David up in New York on turning the first 2 books in the series into audio books.  I see difficulties looming ahead, he sees challenges, especially in The Body on the Lawn, which relies on flashbacks, some going back over 20 years.  I changed the font in the book to let the reader know a flashback was happening, I don't know how he's going to do that in an audiobook.

And, again, the Iowa caucuses are tonight.  Ho Hum.  That state is suffering from bitter cold, in fact, our temps here in Central PA seem downright balmy to theirs.  We might get four inches of snow, they have had blizzard conditions.  It almost seems as if God, himself, is making it as difficult as possible for Republicans to give Trump the nomination, doesn't it?  Knowing how much of a sacrilegious, blasphemous sack of shit Trump is, that wouldn't surprise me.

Rake This

 Well, it was cold enough outside this morning to chilly your willy off, a crispy cream 28 (F) cold, should you be foolish enough to have him face that freeze.  On the flip side, our temps are heading back up to 50 (F).  There's not a lot of rain in the long range forecast, however, and we sure could use some.  That soaker we had last week help a little but not a lot; one of those every week for the next 5 weeks would be fine.

I accomplished a lot yesterday, including the annual raking of the gingko leaves.  While some rake theirs out onto the road for the street cleaner to vacuum up, my get gathered around the base of my gingko tree because during the winter they break down and become mulch (sort of).

I do have to work this afternoon.  Mostly it will be to chat with my work friends, talk about Thanksgiving, and the approaching Holiday Party.  It's in January, so there are the usual whiners who are complaining because it's not a Christmas Party...  duh.  We're retail.  Our holidays, supposedly our busy season doesn't end until both holidays (Christmas and New Years) are over and it celebrates both holidays (Christmas and New Years).  But then some people have small minds, just like the Cracker Jack Crazies who put the retailer I work for on the shit list because  we use the word Holiday.  

Anyway, here's the ring of leaves.

And before I raked leaves, I took a picture of two of my roses still blooming:

And I saw that one of Derek Chauvin's fellow prisoners stabbed him.  While I don't wish for anybody to be stabbed (except possibly the Orange Anus, though for him I suspect I'd rather enjoy to see him pilloried better) this is Derek's Karma.  Killing a fellow human being by kneeling on his neck for 8 minutes is terrible thing to do, the fact that Derek though he was justified in doing this makes it all the worse.  They've reported that his injuries were serious but not life threatening, that's a good thing, I wouldn't want him to die, but I do believe there's nothing wrong with a serious scar to remind him of the evil of his ways.

Comments

 Well, it was somewhat sunny yesterday, on and off, mostly off, with drizzles.  We got the edge of the storm that so much rain on New York City.  Today we're supposed to have sunny skies with the temps on the rebound, climbing up into the low 70s (F).  This coming week we're suppose to reach the mid 80s (F) before it's time to snuggle under the wooly blankets as the temps crash down in the the mid 50s (F).

Yesterday much was accomplished, in spite of the naps.  Yes, I said naps.  Both Thursday and Friday I was nappy.  Thing got done around the times I wasted time with fifteen minute naps.  In fact, there were so many naps that I wondered if perhaps I might be coming down with something.  Well, I got my answer around 2 in the morning when I woke up with a runny nose.  I hate that, having to get up in the middle of the night to blow my nose.  And it wasn't just once.  So, I have a cold.  Lucky for me my cold symptoms are just drowsiness and a runny nose.  They usually don't stick around too long, either, ;a day and a half, maybe two.  I don't mind the drowsiness, but I do hate the runny nose.

As happens to all bloggers, occasionally we get comments that are best deleted, like those from the Bombay Hooker's Club.  Yesterday, I received a comment from "Anonymous" on an entry I wrote back in 2017 that evidently the writer thought would provoke me.  It did, and instead of deleting it I responded thus:

And, of course, the country runs out of money today and those horses ass in the House are going to try and push through something that they know the Senate is going to vote against because our Senators know an asswipe when they see one.  Supposedly the ring leader for this is Matty Gaetz, though you can bet he's not the only insurrectionist involved.  You would think that these people would realize that when members of their own party point to their inability to govern, calling it chaotic, they would understand they need a new course of action.  Nope.  These people don't care that a majority of Americans are looking at them and thinking "asswipes," or that this stunt is going to lose them voters in the next election.  These 21 people are not only shitting in their pants, they're sitting down and squishing it around because they want an authoritarian government led by their Lord and Savior Donald Trump.  They are destined to fail... badly, and the longer this continues, the worse their downfall will be.

Toast

 So, it's another chilly day outside, meaning the temperature is sitting at a cool 18 (F).  Things are supposed to warm up, though.  By this afternoon we're supposed to be in either the high 30's or the low 40's.  I'd prefer the latter since I have to clean up al those little frozen gifts the dogs have left for me in the yard.  Right now every poop, big or little, is frozen to the ground.

I don't really have a lot planned for today: a ride on the bike, working on the rewrite.  I've been spending a lot of time on the latter.  Changes always happen at this stage.  One thing that is constant is the word count increases.  Sentences, and even paragraphs, get added to the story in order to clarify certain points.  In the next chapter L'Oof Porte, an upscale restaurant in the Garden District, will be getting a face lift.

Bread was baked yesterday, here's a picture since John wanted to see it.  And what did I do with that bread?  Well, for dinner I made French Toast.  So, here's the bread.

And here's the toast.

It was scrumptious but had way too many calories.

And Trump called out 'gutless' politicians who are too cowardly to tell people they've gotten a booster.  So, who's he gunning for?  DeSantis?  Rand Paul?  He said this on OAN, a Cracker Jack Crazy Conservative outlet.  He also said that the vaccines have saved tens of millions of lives.  That horrific sucking noise you're hearing?  That's the sound of Republicans being forced to pull their heads out of their asses.  Wow, I'll bet that hurts!

False Republicans

Thursday - and it's cold outside... 18 (F) and holding.  If the forecast is correct, we're not supposed to get above freezing.  I'm comfy here in my warm house, thanks to my two thermal heating units who cozy up to me whenever I lie down.
Has anybody else had trouble accessing Bob's blog?  It never loads for me and I get the message "page unresponsive."
I have been tracking the progress of my TV and was pleased to see it had arrived in Harrisburg at 0337.  Why the arrival date was changed to 12/20 is beyond me.  Perhaps a little Grinch was at the keyboard out in Phoenix, from whence it shipped.
Of course, the House of Representatives voted on the Articles of Impeachment.  As expected, voting went down party lines.  I saw where Tulsi Gabbard voted present, rather than take a stand.  She's the Democratic candidate who claims she's not being groomed by the Russkies to run as an Independent.  There's something wrong about her. 
I also saw where Moscow Mitch and his chorus of goosestepping henchies pushed through another 13 ideologically corrupt conservative judges.  Whether you know it or not.  That is an act of desperation.  He knows his party is going to be removed and is trying to spawn as much crazy corruption before that day happens.  There are legal ways to remove those judges.
An interesting side note:  I can remember being told by Evangelical Christians that they had no problem with the Idiot Jerk being removed and replaced by Mike Pence.  Now, however, they're singing a different tune.  For a supposedly religious group, this shows how easily they have been corrupted by the power the Idiot Jerk bestows upon them.  In fact, yesterday some moron compared the vote on impeachment to the trial of Jesus.  Can we talk about false gods?  How about false prophets?
And finally, to add a bit of levity, I thought I'd share a pic of one of the toys the dogs are getting for Christmas this year.  It's a T-Rex!

And let me tell you, they knew he was out of the box for a photo shoot.  In 2 seconds flat they had that little guy surrounded.  Luckily for him, I'm taller then they, so quickly back into the box he went, safe and sound until Christmas morning.

Spring Harvest

Late post today because... I have a cold, of sorts.  It started yesterday with pressure on both sides of my throat, not really tender, and as the day wore on I could feel that steady drip, drip, drip.  Around 2 in the morning I got up and gargled, that helped a little.  When I called off sick the manager didn't know who I was, he said "Dave in flooring?"  This is how it goes sometimes.  Anyway, I went back to bed, waking up around 0830 - which means I slept for almost 12 hours....  Now, my throat doesn't bother me so much, though I can tell my voice still sounds like something from a horror movie.  Oh, and there's still a lot of pressure still building in my sinus cavities.  Sometime, probably this morning, that log jam will bust open and I will experience 3 or 4 days of some serious drainage.  What's irritating is that I had one of these things 8 or 9 months ago.  Damn!
Somehow I managed to buy an extra pound of almonds, so I make bake cookies today.  Since I might still be contagious I might have to eat all of them... myself.  I don't really know if that's such a bad thing.
I saw where Flynn's sentencing was delayed after the judge called his actions treasonous... he said something like for all intents and purposes, Flynn was a "traitor to his country."  Pay close attention to his words.  They are gearing up for the spawn of the Idiot Jerk in the White House.  I suspect the boys are going to get a little bit more than a good spanking.
Oh, and the Idiot Jerk back off his demand for money to pay for his racist border wall.  Just like a spoiled loser he whined something like "there's other ways I can get that $5 billion."  No doubt he means through some illegal money laundering scam, or maybe he's talking about getting a high interest loan from his friends in Moscow.
And finally a bit about seeds.  I have this habit of saving seeds.  Anytime I cut up a fruit or a vegetable I usually end up setting a few seeds aside.  Last year I grew and harvested acorn squash because of this habit.  Well, the other day I stuck two seeds in a planter and voila!

I think they might be butternut squash, but I can't be sure.  I've moved them to a place where they get  full sun most of the day.  Wouldn't that be awesome?  Harvesting butternut squash in my kitchen!

Feeling cold and feverish

Well, it's Saturday.  At least that is what my calendar says, not that my calendar talks much.  I do look at it daily.  Some times more than once a day, because retail screw with your head.  Really.  Today seems like it should be Sunday and it isn't.
Since Tuesday I've been dealing with a rhinovirus.  I don't get them normally.  When I do, they usually last about a day.  Good immune system here.  About every 3 or 4 years I'll get one which is more intense.  I don't just get a nuisance runny nose.  Nope, sinus headaches, a sore throat, and a cough are all added into the symptom mix.  Oh, and there's the low grade fever.  These colds last about a week.  I have one of them now.  I went to work yesterday, not so today.  I have some chest congestion.  As a result, I'm going to call off work.  This will leave them short handed.  On a Saturday, normally the busiest day of the week, my department is not fully staffed. You are going to have these problems when your scheduling system relies on last year's sales figures.  Supposedly trending sales data is also used, but rarely is there evidence of that.  Yesterday one person was scheduled in Hardware until 1:00 PM.  Ooops.
There was a heated debate in Texas last night.  Lying Ted Cruz against Beto O'Rourke.  All the headlines say "they clashed."  Lying Ted, however, has spent most of his political career... well, lying, and misdirecting.  Beto pointed this out.  Lying Ted is in trouble.  He has gone from a "sure thing," to a toss-up, finally moving into the "too close to call stage," and he's got to struggle through another month and a half, and another 2 debates, until he loses....  Oh, did I just say that?  Bet he's feelin' rather feverish right now, pattin' himself on the back, and lyin' to himself about winning the debate.
And evidently most Americans are now seeing the great Tax Bill the Republicans passed for what it really is: a gift to the wealthy and big business.  Sure, right after the bill was first passed corporations pissed a little cash around, set-decorations, nothing more.  The truth is they're simply not coughing up the new jobs this bill promised.  And their revenue is increasing because of lower taxes.  Those $$$ are nothing to sneeze at.  Wall Street is joyous.  But, where are the pay increases?  Oh, wait, payroll is an expense.  Corporations don't like expenses, especially payroll.  So, what do they do?  In retail they rely on bare-bones scheduling, giving customer service the cold shoulder.  This is how it goes when your economy is based solely on greed.

The Sound, and, oh yeah, our 45th

So, I was off yesterday and, of course, it rained nearly all day.
Oh, and I have a cold.  The sniffles started on Thursday, yesterday was runny nose and cough day.  This morning I went out and bought some Mucinex.  Since I don't get sick that often, I have no over the counter meds in my house.  Now I do.
Yesterday was also the day DT was sworn into office.  There were some serious protests, though I don't know why they had to attack the McDonald's, that didn't make anybody's point.  Sadly, there were no flaming bags of shit thrown at his car.  That would have been wonderful.
And I didn't listen to his inaugural address, though I read through the putrid thing later.  George Will, from the Washington Post thought it was bad as well; rehashed campaign rhetoric and nothing more.  And then there was the bit where he channeled Bane from "The Dark Knight Rises,"  DT plagiarizing a Super Villain, now ain't that sweet.  A number of websites were again calling him "Don the Con," which I do feel is very appropriate.  You see, it's only a matter of time.  He say's he's going to strengthen our military, but... well... what would Vlad think of that?  America with a very strong military?  Nyet.
Any way, to help make the the achey, sneezy, runny nose day seem not so bad, I went shopping of Amazon and ended up buy a sound bar for my TV.

Because I'm an Amazon Prime member it's arriving tomorrow, and guess what?  I'm off work again.  Ain't that just dandy?  It's a Klispch, just in case you're wondering, and supposed to be, according to all of the reviews I read, rather good.

Beating the cold with Dragon Age Inquisition

When I got up this morning the temperature outside was 6 degrees Fahrenheit - that's cold.  Of course the temperatures farther north are much colder so I'm not going to complain, spring is on the way and things will begin to warm up.  The problem for people around here is that we've been spoiled by quite a number of years of warmer winters.  Two years ago weather patterns began to shift back to what was considered normal for this part of the country, which equals more cold and more snow.  This is how it goes.  If you want a warmer climate move south.
As it is, I'm off today so I don't need to go outside.  My plans are to do a little cleaning, maybe watch a movie (I have The Avengers) and, of course play a little Dragon Age Inquisition.  There was a lot of concern before this game was released because the 2nd installment was a load of crap, most likely because Bioware had no idea how to handle the franchise they were creating.  After being severely slammed by a vast majority of players they actually put a lot of time and effort into this game, and it shows.
For those of you who don't know, this is an RPG (Role Playing Game) which means you not only have to craft weapons and armor, you also get to design your own Inquisitor.  This is the guy I created:

 This is the first time I've created a character with ginger hair - usually they're bald.  You can do all sorts of things during the creation process: body types, facial features, hair, even other species.  Oddly enough, I know a couple of guys who design leads that are female rather then male.  Don't ask me about the psychology going on there, I don't understand it.  Anyway, this is one of the reasons I play games.  Of course, I also enjoy FPS (First Person Shooters) where you craft very little, but you do get to shoot a lot of things.  At some point later this afternoon I'll be playing a little Dragon Age - I've got to take out this giant that keeps killing me with big rocks.

Hell in a dentist's chair

One of the things that is now on my list of things to never, ever do again in my entire life, in fact it is quite near the top, is to go to the dentist while still recovering from a cold.  That's what I did this morning.  I thought everything would be fine.  Sniffles were gone, running nose had dried up, and I hadn't sneezed in days.  I felt fine.  As he numbed me up, I reclined back in the chair, listening to the inanities of the Today Show (that's right, there are TVs in every room).  Very rarely do I watch morning television so I was truly surprised by how much was geared for a 12 year-old mindset.  And he began to drill.  Things were going so fine... until I felt the need to cough.

And there I was, with Al Roker making chicken noises on the TV, and my dentist drilling away at the back molar nestled in the rear, roof of my mouth, using a drill sounding very much like one of those drills they use to dig subway tunnels, when something unmentionable slid down the back of my throat and caught on my Adams Apple.  I said "I need to cough," but it sounded something like "rwoar cahh," and my dentist said "Yeah, that Al Roker really is a card."  At which point the air pressure from my lungs burst up, past my Adams Apple, and out my mouth.  It was not pretty.  I do suspect that Dr. Glossner will long remember the day he said to me "tilt your head a little farther back.  Good.    Open a little wider... towards me."  Believe me, you don't want to start off your morning with hell in a dentist's chair.