Disapproval Ratings

Can you believe it?  Our outside temp is sitting at 37 (F), which is quite warm when you consider last week we were lucky if our daily high made it out of the teens.  This doesn't mean that our nightly lows are going to be be... well, low.  They are.  The long range forecast has them still dropping down into the 20s (F), but this is a nice beginning to the end of winter.  

Much was accomplished yesterday.  Shopping was done.  So was laundry.  I got a very nice 10 mile ride finished.  Editing is proceeding.  Over all, I'm quite satisfied with yesterday, and today began early.  0500 found me working on the edit.  While some might same I'm editing, this is also a period where I rewrite.  Things get moved around.  Some points are enhanced.  Details get added.  Words get dropped off.  The Body in 4:4 Time is in a flux of variations.  Fundamentally, everything stays the same.  This period is actually a lot of fun.

I will be baking bread this afternoon.  Ah, the smell of freshly baked bread.

Today, among other things, I'm going to need to work on the aquariums.  The algae problem seems to be returning.  The fish don't seem to mind.  I'm thinking of replacing the 50 gallon tank in the writing room with a 20 gallon, within the next month or so.  I'd combine the two tanks into one, but the one in the living room as Barbs, and they're not good with other fish.

I needed a pic for this morning, so I just ran upstairs and took one of Howie on the bed.

And the shit show continues.  Airspace around the El Paso, Texas airport has been shut down for the next 10 days because of security reasons.  As someone else pointed out, the last time airspace was shut down was during 9/11.    Back then America knew what was happening.  Is this Orangie just causing chaos for the sake of chaos?  Could this, perhaps, be another attempted distraction from the Epstein files?  Personally, I think that's more likely.  Both Congressmen and Senators are able to review the unredacted files and except for the few wack job, cultists, most are stunned, some visibly.  There's a video of Lauren Boebert leaving the building.  Her comment was that Ghislaine Maxwell deserves more time in jail and in a harsher prison.  Bobo was very upset.  An hour ago Senator John Thune was call for a full release of the unredacted files.  Oh, and did I tell you that the airspace of El Paso has been shut down?

According to NBC, this is where Orangie's approval rating sits.

And his Bureau of Labor Statistics just released the jobs report for January.  Don't believe it.  They're saying that 130,000 jobs have been created.  He needs this lie to back-up the lie that the economy is doing great.  He and his administration are not renowned for either their honesty, or accuracy.

Wake Up Dead Man

 Howie and I woke up to an outside temp of 16 (F) this morning.  When I opened the back door for him to go do his morning business, I warned him, "it's cold out, so pee fast and don't wait for the icicle to form."  That dog is smart.  He listened, though took enough time to pick up a fallen stick in the yard to traded for a peanut butter puppy cookie when he came back inside.  Luckily for him, temps are about to warm up.  Our cold December is about to end.  Tomorrow's temp will be in the mid 40s (F).  Wednesday and Thursday our daily temps are predicted to climb into the upper 40s (F) nearing 50 (F).  For those keeping records, this is what's been happening over the past years, at least here in Central PA.

I did work yesterday.  Our store did make plan, not because over all sales were good, but because two large sales went through in Millwork, either doors or windows.  That's odd, because this is not the time of year when people have either of those two installed.  Cold temps, you know?  Even with moderately cold temps, replacing doors and windows means letting outside air into your house.  This is also why flooring installs slow down.  No one wants their doors standing open while the product is brought inside.

My trainer sent me a text, apparently I will be utilizing my new piece of workout equipment starting this Wednesday.  Also, my new work schedule goes into effect starting today, so my workouts and cardio will be happening Monday thru Friday with my weekends off.  That's fine with me.

And I watched Wake Up Dead Man, a Knives Out Mystery last evening.  This one is so much better than the last one, though still suffers somewhat from the same problem:  not enough clues are given to justify the denouement.  In a mystery, clues and red herrings should be scattered throughout because much of the fun is in trying to deduce who the killer is, and while there are more of them in Wake Up Dead Man than in Rian Johnson's previous endeavor, the denouement still plays like a separate film.  Josh O'Connor is great as a troubled priest trying to make good, and the rest of the cast is also for the most part, superb, though I didn't for an instant believe the young, black man was a Republican for an instant.  The movie is a fun watch, just don't waste too much time trying to decided what is a clue and what isn't.

And the turmoil in America continued yesterday.  Orangie gave some sort of Christmas speech at the White House rambled on about sea snakes.  He's also talking about taking over the golf courses surrounding Washington DC.  More and more you are beginning to see Main Stream Media publishing articles regarding his weaknesses.  Even the Washington Post had an article this morning about his MAGA base beginning to crack.  This is because Conservatives always lie.  While the economy under Biden was improving from the hell hole left by Orangie's first administration, Republicans demonized it, promising to make everything better.  And they lied.  What they were truly saying was that they were going to make the economy better for billionaires.  And MAGA cultists who believed the lies, are beginning to understand how badly they've been played by groups such as the Heritage Foundation.  This doesn't mean they're growing wiser, they will always believe the lies, because growing wiser means dealing with change and that will never happen.  So they will grow angry, and not vote in the upcoming elections, and when they do vote again it will be for another Republican because they will once again believe the lies.

2 Ladies, 2 Lies

Okay, so the temperature is supposed to hit 29 (F) as we head into a heat wave - 54 (F) by Friday - it will be dropping back down to normal temps for this area of the country next week, normal being mid to low 40's.  I was going to go see my Mom this afternoon but now they're calling for a snow / freezing rain / sleet combo, so I'll probably move that visit to Wednesday when I'm off again.
Yesterday we were busier than I had been expecting which meant I had to deal with more customers than is usual for this time of year, most them were unremarkable, except for 2 ladies (and with at least one that term is questionable).
The first incident occurred while I was setting up a carpet measure with a couple who had moved to this area from Wisconsin.  A lady (?) stopped by the flooring desk and I acknowledged her and told her I'd be with her shortly.  A few minutes later she walked by carrying a rug from our area rug table.  No more than 2 minutes later I received a call from the Service Desk where this lady (?) was claiming she'd bought the same rug the day before and had only paid $28 not the $97 list price.  I called the lie a 'lie,' and evidently she got huffy.  She didn't have her receipt, she didn't have the credit card she'd used, and she didn't have her driver's license (yes, our technology lets us use that to pull up your credit card receipt).  And so she left the store... without her area rug, though she did cry out as she walked out the door "I'll be back!!!"
She ain't coming back.

Then, twenty-five minutes before we closed (7 PM), a 2nd lady shows up wanting price quotes on tile - she's planning on doing a bathroom sometime in March.  She wanted white subway tiles.  We carry ceramic subway tiles in the store, suitable for back splashes, walls, and counter tops... but not for bathrooms where porcelain should be the tile of choice... for a number of reasons.  We sell porcelain subway tiles, but don't carry them in the store.  So what did this 2nd lady do?  She decided to browse our tile aisle again, looking at all of the porcelain tile we carry in the store.  When they made the announcement that the store would be closing in 15 minutes, she ignored it.  When the 10 minute announcement was made, I politely informed her that the store would closing shortly.  And then she lied.  She told me she'd asked at the Service Desk how late the store was open and they'd told her we were open until 8 PM, and went back to her browsing.  So I corrected her, adding that they would be start locking the doors shortly.  Heaving a big sigh, she complained "then I guess I'll have to do my research at home."  And I just nodded and wisely said nothing.
Why is some people think everybody else is stupid?

  Do they think everybody's a Republican?