Power and Money

 Wow, we got a cold one outside!  23 (F).  Yikes.  In fact, we've got a few days of coldieness ahead of us, but then this is to be expected, we are only 9 days for winter.  I'm interested to see if this year continues the trend of cold Decembers and early Januarys and then a warm-up into much more moderate temperatures. 

Yesterday was sort of a meh day, and yet it wasn't.  A bag of tomatoes and a half bag of onions went through the dehydrator.  My house smelt like a tomato salad.  It wasn't bad.  I did some writing.  A leg workout was done, though now my quads are a bit on the sore side.  Rather than ride today, I'm going to be putting some time on the treadmill.  

I also worked.  It was fine.  Slow.  No departments are making plan this week.  I'm don't work until Sunday.  That's right, this is one of my 15 hour weeks.  I have one next week as well.  However, Christmas week I'm back to my regular 20 hours.  This is a good thing because Howie's initial visits to the Vet are $$$.  After this round of shots is over, they'll become less expensive.  Sadly, they are already trying to get me to buy treatments he doesn't need, such as a very expensive heartworm  med, that needs to be administered monthly and costs $180 for 3 months.  Heartworm is a serious issue down south.  Up here in Central PA, not so much because this parasite is passed to the dog through a mosquito bite, and where I live, mosquitos are a season issue.

They also push pet insurance, and this meme is so very appropriate.

The same thing applies to pet insurance.  In fact, it applies to all forms of insurance, and it isn't just United Health Care.  There was a time when insurance was a good idea, when it was affordable, when it actually paid for claims, whether they be health, home, or vehicle related.  At some point, though, their value began to decline for those being insured.  In most states, car insurance is required if you own a car.  When I hear what young people have to pay for car insurance, I am flabbergasted.  That's corporate greed.  Health insurance is even worse.  When I was fulltime, I was paying $165 a month and that was for bare bones coverage for a single individual.  I stopped paying that when I retired (7 years ago).  That cost has gone up.  Family coverage is far more expensive.  And, if you do need to file a claim, there is that inevitable deductible that needs to be paid first, and then you find out your insurance is only going to pay a percentage of your bill.  Is it any wonder Americans are upset? 

And for all you stupid cultists out there:  The Orange Anus said that there's good possibility that prices are going to go up.  I wonder how long it will take them to realize he doesn't give a shit about them.  The only things he cares about are power and money.

The pantry

 Tuesday.  My day off.  The outside temp was a balmy 45 (F) when I got up this morning.  It will not get out of the 50s (F) today.  Tomorrow temps are supposed to be a little warmer, but it's supposed to be showery.  I think most of us here in Central PA would rather it was rainy instead of showery.  That's what happened the last time forecasters predicted showery weather.  

I worked yesterday.  It was mostly boring, so I worked on The Body in History.  I am approaching the moment of the denouement.  For those who've read my books, my books have one of two endings.  There's either a cozy mystery ending, though my cozy endings usually involve large crowds of people, as in the ending of The Body in Motion, which takes place in a Broadway theater filled will people with cameras, or action endings, as in The Body in Repose, which had a smash down chase across roofs of the French Quarter in the rain.  The Body in History will have either a cozy, or an action ending.

There are 2 old area rugs in the the weight/music/computer room that have been here for literally decades.  My previous 3 dogs, each in their own way, did a job on them.  As a result, there are pulls all over the place.  Howie is exacerbating the damage.  This morning I looked around and realized there I am going to have to move some furniture to remove them.  I'm probably going to replace them with other area rugs, the alternative would mean far more work than I want to spend.  Here is Howie on one of the rugs I'm talking about.

Trump continues to nominate people who are unqualified to cabinet level positions because he knows they will be "yes" men (no women) and far easier to control.  Evangelicals are not happy with his choice of pro-abortion Robert Kennedy.  I wonder how long it will take them to realize he was simply playing the Jesus thing in order to get their votes.  Too late, for certain.  

As most of us realize, prices are going to be going up.  In order to help offset these unwanted costs increases, I've begun buy certain food stuff in bulk, so, in an odd way, you could say that I've become somewhat of a survivalist.  Nothing extreme, mind you, but eggs when up in price, so I've purchased a container of powdered eggs.  Rice, beans, and canned vegetables.  Actually, what I'm doing is creating a sort of pantry.  For years and years people had pantries.  Since the advent of your local supermarket, pantries have for the most part disappeared.  You might want to give it a try.  Think of it as your own, private, food bank.