Republicans Were the Party of Family Values

Baby, it's cold outside, though warmer than it was a week and a half ago, in fact, our current low of 26 (F) would have been considered super warm.  If the forecast holds, we will hit the mid 30s (F) today, and tomorrow the mid to upper 40s (F).  This coming Tuesday we should be cruising through the low 50s (F).  This is a good thing.  The snow and ice need to melt so I can clean up the yard.

Yesterday was fairly good.  I got a really nice ride in yesterday afternoon.  New Zealand.  I only rode for 7.5 miles, but the ride was filled with steep hills and low valleys, and when I say steep, I'm talking about a 10% grade.  According to Garmin, the ride is considered Extreme, and I'll admit to not doing the most difficult section, but the hills are good for the legs.

Now that I've watched this season's Fallout, I'm going to be canceling my Prime.  Maybe I'll sign up for HBO Max and watched Heated Rivalry.  Maybe not.  I'm slightly intrigued by the show, but suspect it's really has a not too compelling story wrapped around a lot of soft-core porn.

My neighbors were so quiet yesterday, the silence was almost surreal.  And then this morning a little after 4 AM they had a loud fight.  He's a mail sorter.  My cousin's husband worked for the US Postal service for a number of years once he retired for the Navy.  He told me every one starts off a a mail sorter, but that most people try and move out of that position as fast as possible to get better pay.  My neighbor never chose to move out of that position, so I guess that says something about him.

And the Washington Post has been using AI to research and probably write articles about Americans.  Even though I canceled my subscription, I usually scan the headlines.  This morning there was an article with a graphic about where the lazy people in America live.  It should come as no surprise that they live in Republican states.

Of course, yesterday the Orange Anus reversed the regulatory part of the clean air act. The Guardian said he did it to satisfy billionaire polluters.  I agree with The Guardian.  His plan is, no doubt, to make the richest people even richer.  Of course, he could have also done that to distract from the fact that Dr. Oz is also in the Epstein files.  Remember when Republicans used to call themselves the Party of Family Values?  For those of you who don't remember, that was their kick-off slogan when they started their culture wars.  Now it seems as if you can't get a job with Orangie's administration unless you got at least one visit in to Epstein's island.  Now Orangie is whining about the fact that no one is moving on from the files.  He doesn't like the fact that no one is listening to him.  Was he working with his best friend Jeffrey to traffic little girls and boys?  Every day the answer to that question becomes more and more likely yes.  The Epstein files are breaking apart the GOP.  If I were more religious, I'd say this is a sign from God that Judgement for the party of Family Values is eminent.

Benito Breaks Records!

The warm-up begins today, though you would know that by our outside temp which is sitting at 6 (F). In spite of our current temp, the cold wave is indeed moving away.  Our high today is predicted to be in the upper 20s (F), tomorrow we should be cruising into the mid 30s (F), and by Wednesday we will be sailing in the mid 40s (F).  Since we are still in the season of Cold, temps will fall again, but they will not crash they way they've done over the past month.  This is a good thing.

On Sundays, I always work a full shift.  While I did talk to 3 or 4 people yesterday, mostly I got paid to do laps, and sit on my butt.  Having both the Winter Olympics and the Superbowl on the same day is a retail sales killer.  This was fine.  They did bring in pizza for everyone working.  Being the grazer I am, more than 2 slices were eaten.  I have yet to step on the scale for my Monday morning weigh in.  When I do, I'm sure those of you withing 1000 miles will hear wails of horror.

Mondays mean retail.  My shift starts earlier, at 12, this means I get to leave at 6 PM.  This is fine with me.

And, of course yesterday was the Benito Bowl.  You do know who and what I'm talking about, don't you?  I don't subscribe to Peacock, so I had to watch the record breaking halftime show in snippets.  Believe me when I tell you there were thousands of them, of course nothing beats watching the entire show.  

Turning Point USA did counter program with show that was pre-recorded and lip-synced, but the, would expect anything else from phony Christians than a phony half-time show?

Orangie didn't like the show, but then he hates everything that doesn't kiss his ass.  I was surprised that the Washington Post said the show was filled with "family values."  

There was a time when the Republican party was always singing those two words, "family values."  Now with a probable pedophile in the White House, that phrase has been scrubbed from their vocabulary.  

I saw this morning that the crook Tommy Homan (he's now running ICE since Noem proved she's nothing more than an ugly face in cosplay), said that Orangie's tough immigration policies will fail if American support for them continues to waver and fall.  This is a lesson the administration should learn, but of course to do that they would have to admit they have made a mistake.  Failure will continue.

Traditionally Speaking

 Shall we give a hearty hello to a Slow Sunday?  Traffic here is always at a minimum on the Day of Rest.  Yep, that's what today is supposed to be, a day of rest; no work schedule to adhere to or chores to be done.  Growing up, Sundays were for quietude.  Twisted religiosity ruled in odd ways, like we could watch TV, but weren't allowed to go the movies.  It was okay to pay for cable, but not okay to sit in a movie theater.  I could never understand the logic that certain types of entertainment were bad for your soul.  I wonder if this is what people mean when they talk about traditional family values?  no movies on Sundays.

Once again here in Central Pa, the skies are overcast and there is a chance of rain.  I'm not scheduled to work until Thursday.  There was a time when I would call that a vacation, especially since it covers most of the week ahead.  Vacations are another part of our lives where traditions have changed.  Growing up, a summer vacation meant a visit to my grandparents who had moved to Allentown, PA for a week.  That week also included day trips to New York City.  It wasn't until I was in my mid-teens that my parents actually began planning and taking family vacations.  Time wise, this was in the mid-60s.  However, when I turned 16 those trips stopped because I could get a job without needing to get working papers.  Working papers, you may ask, what are they?  Well, they permitted an underage individual to get a job and earn money.  I got my first job when I was 14.  No allowance for me.  Nope.  I had to work and earn my spending money.  These were the traditional family values I grew up with.

Standard Application to work

Why am I writing about my past?  Because I truly get fed up with Conservatives shrieking about Traditional Family Values.  For those who haven't realized this yet, traditional family values are an ideal that conservatives subscribe to, an ideal they alone define as one which reinforces the family with certain values.  Most of us grew up with variations on what traditionalists fantasize about.  For example, we did gather around the kitchen table for dinner.  That gathering usually lasted 10 minutes.  There was no conversation about good or bad, just bits and pieces of neighborhood gossip.  This doesn't mean that my parents didn't try and model our family behavior after a scripted TV show, but none of us were actors, so none of us knew how to play the parts.  Families make their own traditions.  They do not follow a precise pattern or fit into a specific mold, and everybody creates their own values.  Children whose parents divorce have different values than those whose parents stay together; that's just one example.  The traditional family values ideal was broken long ago.  Conservatives will never understand that.

Majority Rules

Well, here it is... Wednesday.  Is everybody ready for a Jolly Holiday?  I am... sort of...
One of the things I'm getting myself for Christmas this year is a new, larger TV for the cycling room.  I'm going from 32 inches to 50 inches.  Size is important.  And so I've been moving things around, rearranging, redecorating, call it what you will, I'm prepping things just right in order to find out if bigger is better.  When I purchased this TV on December 12, I was given a delivery date  of 12/19.  I was scheduled to work.  In order to be at home for delivery I pretty much jumped through hoops at work... and then last night I received an email telling me the delivery date had been changed... to Friday... and, of course, I'm working.  I was told that it's too late to change the date back to 12/19, so it looks like it's going to be arriving on Monday, 12/23.  I'm still taking off tomorrow.
I did buy myself a doggy snow globe and that will help me brighten up the days until the new TV arrives.

And, of course, there is the arrival of Karma this afternoon sometime.  The Idiot Jerk in the White House is enraged!  He is going to be impeached.  He's shrieking that this whole thing is illegal politics...  If he is right, what does that say about the Republican's impeachment of Bill Clinton?  Oh... wait a minute... they say that was different.  But then they've always had thin skin.  And today, when the votes get counted, that skin is going to suffer greatly.  They have always been two faced.  The party of "family values" is now the party of "just deal with it."  A minority party who can only get into the White House through the Electoral College is learning that the Majority still rules.  And they hate that.