A Haunting in Venice

 The skies are a bit overcast this morning.  They're predicted to be that way most of the day, with a high in the upper 60s (F).  Tomorrow a chance of rain is going to move into the area, but after that our temps are predicted to climb back into the 70s (F).  This is fine.

The electricians were here yesterday and did their thing.  I now have a stove vent / fan combo, and two  outlets have been removed, three added, dedicated wiring for the dishwasher is in, and a ceiling light installed in the cycling / running / computer room.  The light was a bit of a stickler.  Ripping up the plywood floor in the attic, they discovered that the wiring was... antiquated (nice way of putting it), so they shut that off and rewired.   Electrical and Plumbing are the 2 biggest issues when renovating a 118 year old home.

Lily handled them well, barking when necessary, observing them from a distance while they did their work.  Running up and down the stairs tuckered her out and she was up in bed by 6:30 PM.

I went to see A Haunting in Venice last evening, Kenneth Branagh's foray into Agatha Christie.  This one was far better than A Death on the Nile with more interesting characters, a better developed storyline, and a lot less absurdity in the denouement.  This one has a bit of a spooky twist, with Poirot being invited to a seance, and, of course, murder and mayhem follow him.  Michelle Yeoh is good as the all too wise medium, as is Tina Fey, playing drama.  For those Kyle Allen fans out there, I hate to tell you this, but he keeps his shirt on.  This movie was very entertaining.

There was a GOP noise fest last evening while I was at the movies.  I missed nothing.  Well, I did miss Chris Christie calling Trump Donald Duck, what an insult to the duck.  I did watch a short clip this morning of DeSantis saying something, but because he's such an ass I kept the sound off.  Smart move.  Just being able to observe his face with having to listen to his voice made me realize how unintelligent he looks, his eyes are too close, his nose too big, and he resembles a badly drawn cartoon.  From what I've read, not one of them dented the lead Trump has to get the Republican nomination.  The GOP is going to nominate the Orange Anus, no matter how big of a liar, and fraud he is proven to be.  To nominate anyone else would be admitting they the worst possible choice in the world when they voted him president.  Their inability to deal with the truth is going to cost them dearly at the polls, and even then they will not learn their lesson.

Lie to Impress

 Today... let there be sunshine!  And it was so... at least for the time being.  We might end up with overcast skies later in the day, but right now the sun is shining.  Temps are suppose to climb into the upper 60s (F), which is nice.  No rain is in the forecast, that's nice.  We've had so much lately.  To think, one of my retail associates told me that "we need rain."  I suspect she must get her weather information from Fox.

Quite a bit was accomplished yesterday in the kitchen renovation.  Shelves were taking down, the shelf / pot hanger was installed at the window.  And the dishwasher was delivered.  Originally, I had hoped that my contractor's boyfriend was going to install it, but his life is complicated and she told me he might need to bring his young son with to do the job.  So, I've started watching YouTube videos on installing dishwashers.  To my surprise, it's not that complicated at all.  

In 45 minutes, the electrician is supposed to arrive.  Once he's completed his work, the only left to do will be the cabinet / dishwasher install, the flooring, and painting.  Yes, that's right there is a lot of painting: the new wall, the cabinets (ice sculpture white), and the new baseboard.  I'm certain there will also be touch-ups on the previously painted walls.

And wasn't yesterday filled with delightfully bad Trump news?  The fraud case!  For over a decade he's been lying about his wealth because he's always wanted to be far more richer than he actually was.  For those of you have nurtured any doubts, his motto, his creed, his philosophy has always been this:  Lie to Impress.  I found it fascinating to see the ridiculously mundane excuses his legal team was using to try and delay his trial.  Thanks that yesterday, all that remains is sentencing, and hopefully Donnie and his spawn will get raked through the coils.  While his base is going to shriek and moan, this may speed up the exit of non-Republican supporters.

I found this amusing too:  over in the UK, social conservatives are upset with the government because Boris lied to them about Brexit.  The benefits he promised are not flowing in their direction.  Their middle-class lives have not changed for the better.  Keep in mind, Boris stacked his deck with one of Trump's favorite playing cards, the joker.  Boris, too, believed he could lie to impress.

Revolutionary

Well let's say hello to Thursday, today being the last day of August 2023.  The weather is supposed to be spectacular with the temps barely reaching into the 80s (F).  If long term forecasts are to be believed, however, and usually they're wrong, next week our temps are supposed to climb into the upper 90s (F).  I will wait and see.

I'd like to say that yesterday was a really great day of accomplishments, but it turns the hours were spent doing little things around the house; little things that didn't really add up to much, I'm afraid to say.  I did try changing the venting system from my dryer, moving the vent to the window, and it didn't work out well, so it's back to the way it was.

The electrician sent me his final quote for the work in the kitchen.  It's pricey.  Still, I accepted it, however, when I talk to my drywaller / contractor tomorrow morning I'm going to ask if she knows of someone just as reliable but less expensive.  I don't mind paying for a good tradesman, but sometimes I feel some of them use their unique skills to take advantage of you.

A week from today my copy of Starfield arrives.  I could have bought the download copy, but I'm one of those who likes to hold the disc in my hands, it's part of the ownership thing; I feel downloaded software is too much like something you lease rather than own.  Anyway, this game is going to make Bethesda Softworks billions... literally.  It's probably the main reason Microsoft purchased them.  Everybody wants to be involved.  I wouldn't be surprised if the game proved to be revolutionary, doing for space exploration what Star Trek did back in the 60s.  Even Imagine Dragons have a song in the soundtrack. 

Of course, Idalia knocked a big tree down near the governor's mansion in Florida.  I found it amusing that Ronnie D put out a statement saying that his wife and kids were okay while he, himself, couldn't give a wit about anyone else's wife or kids.  I found his statement that looters would be shot extremely troubling.  He's just giving haters a reason to kill people, claiming afterwards they thought they were shooting a looter.  This is the kind of moral degeneracy Conservatives wallow in, the ability to take the law into their own hands knowing full well they will be able to shirk any responsibility that should come with it.  The state will soon be completely lawless.  I mean, no one's going to be able to live their because of the expense.

 

Oppenheimer

 Yesterday was sunny, the temps were comfortable, hovering in the low to mid 80s (F).  Right now we have drizzles outside.  Yep, it rained overnight.  My dahlias needed it.  

Also, the electrician showed up a bit early and we walked through some of the updates I want to have done in the house.  One of them, moving and outlet and prepping for the installation of a new sink and dishwasher is going to be put on hold for at least 7 or 8 months.  Instead of that expense, I'll have my drywaller remove and install new vinyl plank flooring.  What have in the kitchen now is old, and it was very inexpensive. We don't install the product anymore because it's not waterproof, water can leak through the seams, and the wear layer was not intended for dogs.

I went to see Oppenheimer last evening.  This is truly one amazing film.  There are two stories here, the first being the creation and detonation of the first nuclear weapon, which is in color.  This is juxtaposed with the politics of the era with all of the hobgoblins of McCarthyism, and the cold war, which is is stunning black and white.  Cillian Murphy is outstanding as a man glorying in the authority and power his creation gives him while coming to terms with the true horror of what he has helped to create.  You sympathize with a man whose reality was fed by an ego that was fed by the popular press, someone who realizes too late that he wasn't always in charge of his life.  If you get a chance, see it on a really big screen, and prepare yourselves, I cannot even begin to explain the emotional impact this film had on me.

And, of course, while I was getting sucked in to Oppenheimer, my phone turned into a vibrator as pictures of Donald J. Trump's mugshot flooded the Internet.  I didn't look at it until I got home from the movie and the first thing that went through my head when I saw his glowering face was:  this man is pissed off from here to Hell and back.  I did think about it a little this morning and decided that was his attempt at instilling fear in all those anti-Trumpers.  He failed.  While his base may rally, there was nothing about Trump's mugshot that might move you to sympathize with him, in fact I'm rather enjoying his humiliation.  Let's all hope that October trial date stands.  So many millions of Americans want to see him live in the courtroom.

Oh, and Putin says that he had nothing to do with Prigozhin's death, that he did not give the order for someone to place an explosive device on that private plane causing it to explode killing everyone onboard. 

Tanked

 Yesterday was nice and sunny, and I did get some dumbbell work in - arms you know, I don't want to keep the strength in them as long as possible.  Age will eventually take its toll, but I've already told it that ain't going to happen tomorrow.

I'd ordered a 2nd Greek statue for the big tank and it arrived.  It looks great, but it's resin, not marble.  I thought I was ordering it from the same Greek company because it was advertised on the same page, not so, this one was made in China, but sold by a Greek owned company in New Jersey.  I'm going to be ordering one more.  I will be certain that one, too, comes from Greece.  

The electrician was here this morning taking notes to give me an estimate on a number of other jobs I need to have done, moving outlets in the kitchen, installing a light in the computer / gym.  I've used him before.  He's a bit pricey, but does good work.  Still, this is going to set me back more than a couple of pennies.  I've set up a low interest home equity loan to cover that expense and the rest of the drywalling and cabinet installation in the kitchen.  I'm also thinking of having the old vinyl flooring removed and new flooring installed.  The stuff that's in there now is crap that I bought when I was rather naïve about flooring.

I talk a lot about the big tank in the dinning room, but not so much about the smaller 30 gallon tank in the living room, so I thought I'd post a picture.  This is looking in from the side.  All the fish are types of Barbs, except for the little yellow guy looking at me from the top of the vase.  He's an algae eater.

Of course, the GOP contenders for the party's nomination for president had their debate last night.  They blustered and blamed Trump for many things.  The only one who seemed to have any sort of Centrist opinions was Nikki Haley, at least that's what I read this morning.  I do believe she said (and this is me paraphrasing) that the party is out of touch with America, and that the National Abortion ban so many of the men talk about is an impossible dream since they will never have the necessary 60 votes in the Senate to pass such legislation.  She's obvious angling for the women's vote, the largest voting bloc in the country.  Unfortunately, because she's a woman, her candidacy has pretty much tanked since so upstanding, white Republican male would ever consider voting for her.

And it looks as though Putin shot down one of his hated enemies.  No surprise there... well, maybe a bit of one in that Prigozhin was stupid enough to get on that plane.

Yippee

 So, it's Wednesday.  The weather is supposed to be nice, which means I'm going to have to mow my lawn.  We're heading into the middle of August, the time of summer when lawn mowers sit idly by while spiders spin webs from the handles down to the tires.  Lawns are never lush and green at this time of the year, except for this year.

I'm paying my taxes later this morning.  Yippee.

I made an appointment with the electrician to come buy and give me an estimate on some work that needs to be done. He won't be here until the 24th.  I'm betting he's going to sock me for another $1500 to move 3 wall sockets, do 2 light repairs, and install a hood range over my stove.  Once that work is done I can bring Lyndsey, the drywaller back in to finish most of the kitchen redo.  I will be repainting the cabinets.  Yippee.

The house next door got another showing last evening.  Two women.  They were there for about 40 minutes.  The owner spent most of the time outside talking on his phone.  If they're interested, I'm sure they'll make a counter-offer that's much lower than he's expecting.  This is most fascinating.  Update.  I just checked and it is off the market.  I don't know if that means they've made him an offer or whether he's going to put some more work into it.

Popped another video up into my YouTube channel yesterday.  

So, the Orange Anus got bad news yesterday.  His doofus legal team tried to get an extension until sometime next week to sit down with the prosecution in order to decide what he could and couldn't say publicly about the evidence he'd been given.  Judge Chutkan shot him down, so he's shrieking about not being able to get a fair trial.  He's really pissed that his standard tricks aren't working.  By 'fair trial' he means he can't dictate and delay as much as possible.  They're meeting this Friday morning whether he likes it or not (he hates it), and a speedy trial date will be set in accordance to law, which will put him on public display around Thanksgiving.  

And in Ohio voters stood strong against an authoritarian GOP that also wants to dictate and control.  This is another big time loss for Republicans.  They are discovering that Americans are not the sheep they want them to be.  Yippee!

Beating Elon Musk

 Well, as expected, yesterday was oh, so slow at the store.  I did manage to sign up a woman who wants someone to go to her house with display books and take to her about curtains and draperies.  Those Leads usually never sell; the cost is to exorbitant.  

Being that it was slow, I spent sometime putting together details for the denouement of The Body Under Ice.

I understand our Fun Committee is planning on a Holiday Party this year.  Don't tell certain religious organizations that, the packaging on some of our holiday decorations uses the word Christmas and that makes them swoony with joy.  It says a lot about such organizations when they're happy merchandisers are using the word Christmas without understanding its sole purpose is to target their wallets, pocket books, and credit cards.  They are so easily bought.  

At 0930 this morning, the electrician will arrive to install my dryer hookup.  I'm excited.  He's also installing a 2nd outlet in the kitchen.  I asked if the work could be done in a single day, the answer was yes.  The more I think about it, I'm certain he'll only be here for a few hours.  If that's the case, I may actually start painting the new laundry room.

I saw Musk has permitted Margie Taylor back on Twitter.  While he claims he's reinstating people because of free speech, more and more it looks like this is his way of say "screw you, I'm rich enough to do what I want."  At this point, while many say they are staying on the platform, many are moving to a more regulated platform.  Hate speech is not free speech.  What am I seeing?  Lots of MAGA hatred.  Many comments about how the extremist left is going to destroy America.  They get lost of responses, mostly calling these haters out.  I rarely respond since the Stevie Millers, and the Margie Greenes never look at the comments.  Their main goal is to Tweet something so reprehensible it begins to trend.  When no one replies, they fail.  Seeing one of Stevie's Tweets only garnering 40 responses after 6 or 7 hours brings joy to my heart.  Don't take their bait.  This is how you beat both them and Elon Musk.

Ready to Let Go

 Tuesday begins.  The temps outside are cool.  They're supposed to drop down into the low 30s (F) tonight, though no frost is predicted.  According to my neighbor across the street, the time has come to cut back my Elephant Ear plant.  She has hers in pots, cuts them back and leaves them outside all winter long.  She's had hers for years, so I guess she knows what she's talking about.

The plumber is supposed to arrive around 10:00 this morning.  This might be an adventure.

Adding to this laundry adventure is the fact that the electrician called yesterday to tell me they were sending the owner out to do a site check, and that he will be building my estimate.  Evidently the gent whose name reminded me of an action figure is no longer with the company.  This will now happen on Friday.

This evening I'll be going to Philly.  Quelle surprise.  One of my readers had made plans to go downs to a concert with his sister and she cancelled.  She is around my age and has health issues.  I have no idea who the artists are, just that one of them was on "Let's Get Talent," or one of those TV shows for amateur singers.  He won over Adam Lambert, and I know who he is.  What can I say?  This is not my kind of music.

And, speaking of music, one of the sets of lyrics in The Body Under Ice has changed.  Originally, I had been going to use Broken, by Alfie Templeman,, however Alfie's out and Cage the Elephant is in.  Here are the new lyrics.  Sometimes it's all about foreshadowing.  When I tell you these lyrics pop, I'm being very serious.

And, for those who don't know, we are 3 weeks from the midterm election.  Millions upon millions of dollars are being spent.  Suspense is growing.  Dear Lord, I'm so glad I don't watch TV, the ad buys must be simply horrifying to your average viewer.  Lie, upon lie, upon lie is being pumped out over the airwaves.  Polls are constantly shifting, saying the race is growing tighter by the second.  For the life of me, I have no idea why any sane person would vote Republican unless you're one of those who desperately wants to be completely controlled.  Since all the information I'm getting comes from the Internet, I have no idea how well the Democrats are fighting back.  I know, the GOP is constantly praying that the Dems are ready to let go.  Well, that ain't about to happen.

And even though there are those who believe polls are still accurate, it is only when they are viewed in hindsight, when trends are viewed after the fact, that pollsters try and say they were spot on by pointing to irrelevant lines that are always nonsense when looked at subjectively.  So, when they tell you that Independent female voters are now leaning towards the economy rather then the sanctity of their own bodies, take it with a grain of salt. 

The Hole

 Thursday has arrived.  Today and tomorrow, even though the temps have not been cold enough for a frost, are supposed to hit the mid to upper 70s (F).  Translation, Faux Indian Summer.  This is what's been happening over the past few years.  Next week, if the predictions are correct, the temps are supposed to drop into the upper 30s (F).  That's still not quite cold enough.  The sad truth is that after the first frost, our temps might climb into the upper 60s (F) and that would be our Indian Summer.

The plumbers were here yesterday.  $$$  I now have a water hookup for a washer on the 2nd floor.  There were 2 of them and they did not seem to be pressed for time, since they took over 2 hours for what is a rather simple job.  I made a mistake by telling them I could patch whatever holes they deemed necessary, and as a result, they cut a big hole with multiple pieces.

And, for those of you interested, the electrician was just here, the one whose last name sounds like he should be an action hero.  Well, I was slightly off in my prediction.  He was in his late 20s with no kids or grandkids.  There was, as Maddie pointed out, the inevitable butt crack.

As expected, this close to the midterms the Republicans are pumping all sorts of moola moola into negative campaign ads.  This is as certain as birth, death, and taxes, and it is all negative.  In fact, the 2 things Republicans are truly good at are (1) lying, and (2) negative advertising.  This time they are again leaning on their family values, i.e. banning books, attacking Trans people, and immigration, they want you to believe every immigrant coming to this country crosses the boarder carrying 14 pounds of fentanyl. 

Finally, the word on the street about Doug Mastriano is that he's a fucking fruit cake, pardon my language.  He already wants his followers to spend the last 40 days until the election by fasting and praying.  He's evidently one of those extremists who has no problem lying because... well, you know... he's doing it for God.  His zealotry has no problem with war as long as it's for God.  Be forewarned, he will not take his approaching loss lightly.  He will create a shit show the likes of which Pennsylvania voters have never seen before.