Death on a Bot Farm

Boy, did we have rain yesterday, steady throughout the day, sometimes torrential.  Not until I was heading home from work did the downpours end.  We had a bit of a breeze, but no wind.  The clouds will be hanging around today, and the temps are expected to rise.  We should have temps topping off in the low 80s (F) for the next 3 days.  Then the Autumn cool down is going to begin again.

As expected, sales were low yesterday because of the rain.  Football was televised throughout the afternoon.  Customers had many reasons for now going shopping.  As a result, I hit my step goal twice!  I walked many miles before leaving for the day.  This is a good thing.

I also purchased a white, food-safe bucket.  I ordered 25 pounds of wheat berries (yes, they call them berries, not grains) which will be arriving Wednesday and it needs to be stored.  The orange buckets we sell are not food-safe.  They are fine for the container garden, but that's about it.

One of the few inflatables in our Christmas display has developed a problem.  Something is wrong with his blower.  As a result, he's visibly vibrating, and, unfortunately, it looks like he's masturbating.

And in case you missed this little tidbit, apparently Ukraine destroyed 3 datacenters in Russia and all of a sudden disappearance of pro MAGA in the states and pro AfD accounts in Germany.  In fact, it appears as though many far right commentators on X, Threads, and Orangie's Truth Social were born and raised on a Bot Farm.  Here's a graphic courtesy of Tomas Zdechovsky.

Thanks to Ukraine, they died when those farms were blown apart and incinerated... and just before our midterms.  I understand that Truth Social has been hurt badly, and that a lot of the AI videos love sharing with Orangie are now gone.  Elonia's also pissed because now much of the hate traffic on Twitter, or which he likes to called X, but I think of as Zitter, is seriously down.  As many started pointing out yesterday afternoon, so much of this MAGA loyalty has been a scam.  For an added bit of hilarity, I understand that millions of incels who'd thought they'd found love on the internet are now crushed and heartbroken.  As is, I don't doubt, Orangie's blow bro Vlad.

Finally, some wacked out MAGA influencer, Nick Sortor, posted that he'd been told by a woman claiming to be an employee at the Lindner Center for Hope, that James Talarico had been receiving treatment there.  Both the hospital and Talarico's campaign called out this lie.  He was evidently at a Casey Musgrove concert.  It's safe to bet that legal proceedings will follow.

Executioner's Style

As I type here in Central PA, our outside temp is 45 (F).  This after our temp will be in the low to mid 70s (F).  Nice.  We're supposed to have full sunshine, too, that also is nice.  However, that is going to be changing tomorrow.  Isaias is tracking straight towards us.  Seriously, that hurricane's path is almost directly over my house.  We really don't need anymore rain.  Having it fall over the weekend is bad for the retail business.

Work was fine yesterday.  I spent much time in the aisles, cut a bunch of blinds, in fact, that leads to an amusing blind story.  A very pregnant woman came into the department looking for blinds.  She had her measurements and told me that she needed to have 7 cut.  No problem.  The machine we use to cut blinds is computerized, so once we have the measurements keyed in, all we have to do is hit the repeat button to cut the next blind.  While making it easier to cut the blinds, it does not speed up the process, so it takes about 3-4 minutes to cut each blind.  I had just cut her first blind when a middle-aged couple came up to me with a cellular blind.  They told me they hadn't measured, they'd brought in their old, broken blind instead. I wasn't going to change the parameters already keyed into the blind cutter and politely asked them to wait.  They had no problem with that, so they went and pulled their new blind from the shelf and waited for me to cut the remaining 6 blinds.  When finished, they gave me the old blind, as well as the new blind, once again telling me they hadn't measured, just brought in the old blind.  So, I pulled out my handy, dandy measuring tape and measured the old blind.  I then looked at the new blind, and handed it back to them saying, "this doesn't need to be cut."  A surprised little "oh" popped out of his mouth.  Just think, if they had taken the time to measure their old blind, they wouldn't have had to wait for 20+ minutes for me to tell them their new blind did not need to be cut.

And I made chili yesterday! And it is scrumptious!

And we're going to have public executions again in this country.  This is what you get with authoritarian regimes, and the Orange Anus is a wannabe authoritarian.  Watching the internet explode in anger was amazing.  I sent a text to my brother saying this was barbaric, and he agreed with me.  He said he hoped Frankie Graham would step in and stop this insanity.  I didn't tell him Frankie's a failure, I did, however, tell him that Kegsbreath has his own pastor, an extremist named Doug Wilson.  Dougie has a BA and an MA in Philosophy, no religious training what so ever.  He has never been to a Seminary, never been to a school of Theology, he is a self-taught, self-proclaimed minister of God.  Dougie's also super big on Christian Nationalism.  Under Dougie's guidance, Kegsbreath is enjoying the biggest boner of his life.  Everyone who voted for the Orange Anus is responsible for this.  They must all be held accountable.

A Little Later Today

 I had breakfast with my brother this morning, so today's running a little late.

We have a chilly day on tap here in Central PA.  Our high this afternoon is expected to be in the low 60s (F).  Right now our outside temp is 48 (F).  We are supposed to have full sunshine, which is nice.  Most of my windows have a southern exposure so all of that bright sunshine pouring in through them will keep things at a constant temp.  My heat is set to go on if the temp drops below 68 (F) and so far that hasn't happened.

I did work yesterday.  Things were very slow at the flooring desk, which is where I spent most of my time since I was the only one in the department.  I also did a lot of aisle work since that's my new job description.  One of the full time specialists is talking about stepping down out of his position and moving to a different department.  He sometimes rushes through his sales without checking carefully, making mistakes that management is tired of correcting.  One of the appliance specialists is thinking of doing the same thing.  He had himself switched to a plumbing sales associate so he wouldn't have any metrics, but then stayed in the appliance department because he didn't want to work in plumbing.  Well, he's an appliance specialist again with metrics and he's upset because he's not going to be held accountable.  I suspect he will end up resigning.

As for breakfast with my brother, he's against the war, yet he still supports the Orange Anus. I suspect this is because for years Republicans have deluded themselves into believing that with the right conservative leadership, massive numbers of Americans would simply choose to become conservatives.  Republicans have been delusional since Reagan, so there's no fixing them.  He did say that if the GOP suffers badly during the midterms it's their own fault.  He's still not making the connection that he, himself, is one of the  millions who are to blame simply because of who they elected.

And, of course, last night this happened.

I actually saw the clip of him saying this.  His words are directed solely at his base.  No one else in America condones this evil.  Threats like this will not make him popular, nor will they win him supporters. I don't doubt he says things like this because his dementiated brain actually believes this and has no problem with a foreign government taking out Americans on American soil.  Comments like this might be one of the reasons Fox Entertainment is no longer carrying his rallies.  Perhaps Rupert has learned that airing hate like this is like walking into quicksand, without help there is no way out, and I'm fairly certain at this point that no one is going to throw Ruppie a rope to save his network.  The truth is that the Ellisons might actually be hoping for something like that to happen, since that might propel one of their Fox Lite channels into the number one propaganda slot.

A Bad Jobs Report

So, if the forecasters are correct, we're going to be enjoying the last of our summer weather today with this afternoon's high in the mid 80s (F).  They were correct about yesterday's temp, so they're is the possibility they may be right about today's.  Just keep in mind, they're not always known for their accuracy.  Next week's overnight lows are supposed to be touching down in the low 40s (F).  With a couple of blankets on the bed that will be good sleeping weather.

Yesterday was my first day as an aisle associate, and body did I get the steps in with almost 15,000.  Since I wasn't sitting at the flooring desk, I can honestly say that I picked things up, and put things down.  Also, one of my measure customers was waiting for me when I got there and had a $3500 sale, not that it counts any more.  Mine was not the only change.  The other part-time flooring specialist is now a cashier.  I talked to her yesterday and she's quite happy with the change.  The only people not happy are the two remaining full time specialists.  Their sales goals and measure goals are now double what they were.

I have today off, so there's some shopping planned for later this morning, and then some mobility exercises for this afternoon.

And this is not good, especially for retailers.

Ah, but the Republicans aren't worried.  The Orange Anus is sending out almost a million $500 checks to individuals on Medicare claiming they were overcharged during.... are you waiting for it?  The Biden administration.  And it seems that most of these checks are being mailed to Medicare recipients in battleground states.  That's right, he's trying to buy votes.  Will the bribery pay off?  Except for his cultists who believe every word out of his mouth is holy, that $500 is not going to be enough to swing many votes in the Republican direction.  I'm curious to see if I get one of the checks.  If I do, then I know it will be an out and out bribe since, even though I pay for Medicare, I use my Veteran's Administration benefits instead.  Oh, and one final note, these checks are your tax dollars hard at work.

I was also notified by the state that I should be receiving my mail-in ballot any day now.  This year, rather than mailing it back, I'm going to be dropping it off in an official drop box.  

How Can This Be!!

We're supposed to have a scorcher today... at least an October scorcher.  Our afternoon high will be sitting in the mid 80s (F).  Humidity will be rising.  There were showers this morning, but none around my house.  Tomorrow is supposed to be a repeat of today except the showers will be storms as a cold front moves through the area.  Yepper, tomorrow's high will be in the mid 80s (F) and Saturday's high will be in the low 60s (F).  I might actually need to turn on my heat.

And yesterday was another big Autumn cleaning day!  There's spring cleaning and then there's fall cleaning.   With one you prepare to summerize your home, the other winterizes. And there are also Howie cleaning days, they happen much more frequently out of necessity.  Howie is a walking, barking, hair storm.  There are times when he is a shedding extravaganza, more so in the spring then at any other time of the year.  It's almost as though my house is super hirsute and in constant need of barbering.

I'm working this afternoon, and I will no longer be a specialist.  All of my schedules have been changed and I'm not listed as "aisle maintenance."  This means I no longer have any metrics and those measure I got last week will be processed by another associate.  That's fine with me.

This was a headline this morning's Washington Post and I have to admit that I'm a bit surprised.

Single handedly the Orange Anus is destroying the Republican Party.  I don't think that the Conservative movement is even slightly prepared to take a big one on the chin.  I can almost hear them now running around and shrieking, "How can this be!  How can this be!!"  Can you hear me laughing?  They truly did believe that the Orange Anus was going to give them the authoritarian government they've always had erotic dreams about.  Hhhmm... maybe I should have said wet dreams.  This would, of course, include Susan Clark who's always fantasized about being one of the boys.

And everyday things continue to get worse for the Republicans (their stupidity is quite amazing).  Take Marsha Blackburn, who has decided to sue Jack Smith because he asked for the call logs of a number of phones... but not the phone's contents.  Not knowing the difference, Marsha with the bad hair has decided to take Jack Smith to court.  This means there will have to be a Discovery phase during which Marsha will have to release the contents of her phone calls.  Marsha's running to be governor of Tennessee (the state where they just tried to execute a woman with 2 lethal injections and failed).  She thinks this will endear her to the voters.  I can already hear her running around and shrieking, "how can this be! How can this be!!"

Orange, Red, and Blue

Good Morning, Afternoon, and Evening people.  Weather forecasters are predicting that our high this afternoon will be in the low 70s (F).  Tomorrow's high should be in the mid 70s (F).  Temps are supposed to increase until Saturday, at which time rain is going to once again come into the picture.  Some forecasters are predicting at least an inch of rain on Sunday... again.  We had rain this past weekend thanks to a Nor'easter.  If this keeps up, I'm going to have to mow my lawn again.

So, I worked yesterday and a change happened.  Around 5 PM I was called back to the office.  Usually when you get called back you've done something... wrong.  Being the wonderful associate I am, I knew that couldn't be the case.  I was correct.  My position has been changed, and I have no problem with that.  I am no longer a Flooring Specialist, which means no more sales goals, credit card goals, or measure goals.  I am now a Flooring Aisle Maintenance Associate, at my same rate of pay, of course.  The change was done because corporate only allows so many hours for specialists and that number is predicated by the total dollars in sales.  Basically, our flooring sales aren't high enough to warrant 2 full time and 2 part-time specialists.  This is actually fine with me, because I've really gotten tired of having to call people up to try and talk them into buying a flooring installation.  In my mind, this is a win, win situation.

And I'd like to remind you about the Orange Anus and Carrier, the A/C company.

Back in 2016 there was a big "to do" about Carrier moving its manufacturing to Mexico, and Orangie intervened.  He was going to save all of those jobs.  One of his deals was struck (do you know where this is going?) and jobs were saved.  800 jobs remained in the US, however 1400 from one Carrier plant moved down to Mexico.  Other Carrier jobs followed.  I'm bIringing this up because yesterday Orangie made a big announcement about a steel plant opening in Iowa, a $15 billion steel plant.  Iowa, a very Red state, is very close to turning Blue, and Orangie is scared shitless, hence his $15 billion lie.  We all know that plant will never be built, let's just hope that the Iowans have grown smart enough to know how much Orangie lies.

Who's Next

 Our outside temp is in the high 50s (F) and we have high wind gusts.  We are being hit by the outer bands of the Nor'easter.  Looking at the weather maps, the storm appears to have come ashore in New Jersey with the heaviest rains drenching Philadelphia... meaning this is a big storm.  Our high today will hit the low 60s (F).  Inside, the temp seems to have settled at 68 (F).  Believe me, that's a nice temp for transitioning to cooled Autumn temps.

This will be a short one because I slept in until 7.  Usually I'm up at least an hour earlier, however this happens when you're dealing with cooler temps and warming blankets.

I got 2 more measures yesterday, which means I'm leading the department.  That's not bad for a part-timer.

And there was food!  As I said before, we're having our Success Sharing bonus and to celebrate we're having Fiesta Days, with tacos and tortillas.  And there's no supervision meaning us grazers can... well, graze to our heart's content.

I saw this picture and thought, hhhhmmm, I wonder who's next.

Evidently Iran has said that a peace deal is on the table, the same deal that's been on the table since June.  The Orange Anus said, "no deal."  He's also said that the bombing campaign will begin again after the midterms.  Speculation is that he's actually threatening the United States.  What he's really saying is "vote Republican or I'm going to devastate your lives with high gas prices, high food prices, higher prices all around."  This is not the "art of the deal," but then he never was the wheeler dealer he claimed to be.  That's why he has all of his bankruptcies.  He's dumb.  He has no idea how bad the retribution is that's coming his way.  Some Republicans are figuring that out, like Byron  Daniels.  This is a good thing.  Enjoy their fear.

Silence Is Golden

Here in Central PA we have an outside temp of 57(F), and folks, it ain't going to get much warmer today.  Our temps might eek their way into the very low 60s (F) some time this afternoon.  We also have what we call a soaking rain that began after midnight.  The rain will end later this afternoon.  Today is going to be damp and dismal, and would be good sleeping-in weather, except I have things to do.

I worked yesterday.  Management should be happy that I got 3 measures.  I also had the assistant manager who was supposed to key in my sick day, as well as my sick pay, to do just that.  As he was keying them into the system, he said, "I already did this."  The fact that nothing had been keyed proved that he hadn't.  I didn't point out the obvious.

Another work story from yesterday:  Walking down the back aisle, I ran into the store manager who had just come out of the lady's restroom.  She was holding her hands up in the air and said, "I really hate the fact that we don't have paper towels in the restrooms."  I agreed, and had a bit of a brain fart while telling her I always wen to the.... (damn, I couldn't remember lunchroom) to dry my hands.  The focus of this little story is not that I had a brain fart (we get them more often as we get older), but on the fact that someone in corporate decided that paper towel dispensers were going to be removed from restrooms.  We have hand dryers, so we don't need paper towels.  I do not doubt that this decision was based on the fact that paper towels are a waste of money and getting rid of them would help to improve the bottom line.

My grain grinder arrived yesterday.  I'll be making my first grind this afternoon.

Something happened yesterday that was nice, something that hasn't happened in a long time.  The Orange Anus did not have a press conference.  Well, that's a bit of a false statement.  He did hold a bit of a press conference, however, because the media outlets are boycotting him because of his ban of CNN, the conference was only televised on YouTube... without any microphones.  So, while his jaw flapped, the only thing viewers heard was a  low, burble, burble, burble.  And I realized that the words "silence is golden," are almost Holy.

The lack of press coverage made Orangie angry.  His approval rating has dropped to 29% and that also made Orangie angry.  The White House also launched Orangie TV on YouTube, a 24/7 channel for those who can never get enough Orangie.  As of this morning, Orangie TV had a little over 5000 hits.  I'm sure Natalie Harp is going to lie to him about that number while changing his diaper.

Warriors (Not)

And the cool days of Autumn begin.  Our daily highs will only break into the 70s (F) on Friday, if we're lucky.  Skies are going to be overcast, with drizzles expected this afternoon.  In a 2 week time period we've gone from temps in the mid 80s (F) to temps in the mid to upper 60s (F).  Very shortly the leaves are going to start changing into their fall colors.  We've had a lot of rain this summer so they might be rather brilliant this year.

And not only did I work yesterday, I made my sales goal for the week!  I didn't get any measures last week or any leads, but the money I put into the store's bank account will make someone happy.

There was a bit of a downside though.  Because of my cold, I called off on Thursday.  I actually had a voice conversation with the Operations Assistant Manager.  He put nothing into the system, however, and this morning when I checked last week's hours I was listed as having a "no call, no show."  I also put in the paperwork to be paid for those 6 hours, talking to the same assistant manager, who told me to put the paperwork next to his computer.  Surprise!  The paperwork wasn't processed either.  This means this afternoon I'm going to have to have a talk with management.

As for the cold?  Except for the occasional cough and sniffle, I'm back to normal.  

This past week was another bad week for our Department of Defense because of the unprofessional, incompetent leadership of Kegs Breath Hegseth.  America should be truly frightened by the way this low level moron's brain if functioning.  This idiot had Logan and Jake Paul speak at a meeting in the Pentagon on how to be warriors.  He is the joke of the world.

He believes that these two men, who have never been in the military, who have emotional problems, whose activities are known to be ethically and controversially questionable, are authorities on warriorism.  I do not doubt that when he hit 14 years of age his brain stopped maturing.   This would explain his alcoholism and his being partial to spousal abuse.

The Orange Anus is in New York City today.  He's supposed to  meet with the Mayor, and also speak at the United Nations.  Prepare for him to go off topic.  It's my understanding that he's quite... angry.  I've heard that those surrounding him have begun to tell him that his ego is wrong, and that a vast majority of are former allies despise him... probably not in those words.  This means his lies will be unleashed this afternoon.  His ego will bluster his words with hatred.

Bots loving Bots

Today... we will have rain.  Lots of rain, will fall.  The drizzling began shortly after midnight.  Right now we have steady rain.  This will continue for most of the day.  Our high temp is predicted to be in the low 70s (F).  By Wednesday, our high temp should be in the low 60s (F).  I don't mind those temps when we have sunny days, but that isn't going to happen.  In fact, we might have to wait until Friday for our first hit of sunshine.

I did work yesterday.  Customers in the flooring department were sparse. Business was slow.  With today's rain, I doubt if things will be better.  This means they're going to be paying me to sit there for 7+ hours.  I will just have to figure out ways to keep myself busy.  

Big changes happened in our backsplash tile aisle (say that real fast five times).  Twenty styles are now available online only.  This is not a good thing.  We always recommend that when considering tile for a new backsplash, that you buy at least one and see what it looks like in your kitchen's lighting, under your cabinets.  Styles purchased online can not be purchased individually, but need to be bought by the case.  Most people don't want to plunk down $180 for a case of tiles they may have to return to the store because they hate them.  Also, online sales slow down the process of a kitchen renovation.  

So, I used to do Twitter when it was Twitter, canceled out when it became Zitter.  Now I do Threads, which is usually fine.  Over the past few days, however, I've notice that the platform has developed a propensity for pushing pro Trump bots.  Over the past 2 days I've seen at least 4 postings by Bots claiming that their rights have improved under the Orange Anus. 

How do I know they're Bots?  I click on their name.  If you do this, you'll find out that Charlene For Jesus has 17 followers.  That's a red flag.  The odds of Charlene being a Bot are infinitesimally high.  I also look at the number of "likes" each post gets.  Bots seem to like round numbers: 1200 and 1400 seem to be very popular numbers.  When checking on the comments I usually discover that none of the commentators approve of Charlene's message, meaning they are humans responding to a Bot.  I suspect that this is because, while Bots may love Bots, they are too overwhelmed by their love to put their emotions into words.  Of course, these Bots are pure propaganda.  They are not intended to convert you into a cultist.  They are meant to instill conviction into those already cultivated.  When one of these Bots makes it into my stream, I block them rather than commenting.  Blocking breaks the algorithm.

The Piggy Hat

Our morning temp was 69 (F) and we have rain in the form of thunderstorms on the way for this afternoon.  We're supposed to be in the mid 80s (F) today and the low 80s (F) tomorrow.  This time next week our daily highs should be in the low 70s (F).  We will officially be in Autumn, so that's about normal.

My cold is proceeding as normal.  Sometime last evening I entered the "coughing, sneezing, running nose," stage.  If this cold moves along the same trajectory as previous colds, the CSR should begin to disappear sometime this evening.  When it comes to colds, my immune system's rather good; they usually run their course in 3-4 days.  That doesn't, however, mean that those 3 days are any less unpleasant.  According to my Garmin watch (it tracks my sleep), I got about 4 hours of snooze time in last night.  

I'm supposed to work  this afternoon, but since I have the cold and we're going to have a rainy day (it's already started), I'm going to use personal time and laze away the day.  That doesn't mean I'm not going to  do anything.  I've been doing a bit of research on fingerprints.  Did you know you can do that at home?  They recommend that you use a very fine white powder, like cornstarch, for dark surfaces and a dark powder, such as cocoa, on light surfaces.  Now, I know some of you are wondering why I would be interested in doing fingerprints at home.  Well, maybe I'm doing the research for someone else.  And I might not be dusting for them in my house.  Someone else might be dusting for them... in a cottage in Ireland.

Howie turned his pig toy into a pig hat.

And a lot of people are concerned that the Orange Anus might tear down the Kennedy Center, and I don't doubt that some believe he'd understand that would be the straw breaking the camel's back, so to speak.  Well, I news for you, he doesn't give a shit what the American people think.  He never has.  He never will.  When things don't go his way, he is spiteful has hell.  So, I'd say there's a good possibility he's going to rip that memorial down.

And Congress has  been adjourned until after the mid-terms because Mikey Johnson doesn't want to deal with the impeachment of Kegs-breath Hegseth.  He knows he doesn't have the votes to save that drunkard's ass. 

I find it fascinating that for a party who has control of the House, the Senate, and the presidency, Republicans have worked very little this year.  The House has been in session just 72 days and Mikey J. keeps sending them home because there's so much legislation he doesn't want to deal with.  The Senate has spent more time in session, but then they are nothing without the House of Representatives.  As for the Orange Anus, no president has ever spent more time golfing, and signing Executive Orders, and talking about himself every time he manages to get in front of a camera.

Mitch Rolls In

The temp was 68 (F) when I left work last evening.  When I woke up this morning, the outside temp was 49 (F).  We are definitely experiencing a cooling off.  We're about a week away from Autumn, and I'm ready.  By next week our daily highs should be in the upper 60s (F) to low 70s (F), that's sweater weather; time for the cozy comfort of sweatpants and sweatshirts.

So, my flooring sale went through yesterday, that should keep management happy.  The only thing that will make them glum is the fact that I haven't gotten a measure so far this week.  This is the time year when people start to consider new flooring for the holidays; they want to impress during the holiday get togethers.  However, the price of diesel fuel has a direct influence on how much we charge for products, as well as the amount that people are willing to pay.  So, we may be hitting a very dry season.

I did get a morning workout in yesterday.  I'm taking the bits and pieces of my Trainwell workouts and repurposing them into something new and exciting.  I haven't actually canceled my subscription, but that will happen shortly.

I'm also considering buying a grain grinder and milling my own flour.  I'm seeing a lot of good things about spelt, which is an ancient wheat.

After 3 months, a rather slack jawed Mitch McConnel returned to work yesterday.

He is non-mobile, meaning he needs to be rolled to where ever he needs to go.  There are no pics of him voting, but supposedly he did.  He can't seem to keep his mouth open for very long.  As someone said, he is becoming the poster child for elder abuse.  

One of the suspected reasons we have so many tech billionaires saying we need to slow down AI is that it's generating no income.  Expenses are going through the roof, but there are apparently very few buyers for the services it provides.  This is not good for Orangie's son, Donny Jr.  He is heavily invested in an AI company, which is the main reason Orangie's shrieking that we need to go full speed with AI.    As is always the case with Orangie, it's always about the greed.

Sourpuss Trump

And  we have rain.  Serious drizzling is occurring. Today's afternoon high might reach the mid 70s (F). Just a remind, the start of Autumn is less than 2 weeks away.  For those who love the heat of summer and who live in Central Pa, fear not.  California is going through a heat thing right now and since the Earth spins on an axis, that thing will move east.  However, whether that thing edges a bit north on its eastward journey, or moves parallel, staying mostly to the south is anybody's guess.

Work yesterday was boring.  Today, because of the overcast skies, and on and off drizzle, things will slower.  While being bored is not fun, getting paid to be bored isn't bad.  Besides, that sale I thought I lost looks like it might go through this afternoon.  Unfortunately, that sale will not be large enough for me to hit my sale's goal for this week, but then my goal is rather high for a part-time associate.

I just got a weather update, the rain is supposed to end in a few hours.  This would be really good sleeping weather.

And Orangie is in Ireland, and the Irish people are having none of his bullshit.  He left a 3 minute meeting with Prime Minister looking cranky as hell.  She didn't fawn like a sycophant.  We need more world leaders treating him like the moldering dung heap he is.  This is what you call a sourpuss. 

Of course, we suddenly have all those wannabe big brains now telling us we need to begin slowing down the development of AI.  One of the researches said that it might kill the human race in 10 years, however, he didn't say how.  There are 2 schools of thought, one is that AI will do something insidious to destroy us, the other is that the AI bubble is going to burst causing the world's economy to come crashing down.  Such an event would not wipe out humanity, however, it would decimate the billionaire class.  I'm thinking the researcher was talking about the latter, especially with the likes of Sam Altman, and Elonia Musk; without their bank accounts, these people are nothing.  

Where Were You on 9/11?

Today's weather looks to be a repeat of what we had yesterday, though the forecasters were wrong, thunderstorms did not strike.  Around 10:15 PM, I left Howie out for his final pee and there did seem to be a slight drizzle falling... possibly.  The very light rain, if that what was falling, was evaporating before hitting the ground.  Anyway, today's going to be much of the same thing.

Work was really slow yesterday.  Customers were buying, but not in the flooring department.  I'm fairly certain that I lost a sale because our installers took too long to get back to us on a simple question.  To be honest, the installers weren't the only ones to blame.  My customers wanted to put our top of the line vinyl plank flooring over a ceramic tile floor.  The flooring they chose has no problem with this, however, when the quote was built an expensive charge was added to rip up and haul away the tile.  This is not what the customer wanted.  Instead of getting back to us in a timely manner, waited... and waited, until finally sending us an email officially telling us there was no need to rip up that tile.

Today, is the anniversary of 9/11, 2001.  Hundreds of millions of Americans can pinpoint the exact moment when the tragic news broke.  I was working in the accounting department for International Paper, and I found out when my mom called me at the office.  The first thing she said when I answered the phone was "David, a plane just flew into the World Trade Center."  International Paper had a distribution center directly across the river from the World Trade Center and many of the associates working there were out on the loading dock watching the tragedy unfold.  Since we were the accounting hub, someone was always on the phone with us.  Shortly after the 2nd plane hit, our trucks were told to return to the distribution center.  Drivers were stuck in traffic.  People on the phone to us were crying.  Someone had a small black and white TV in their car and brought it in, and over 50 associates stood silently watching the horror unfold.  That's where I was on 9/11.

And Trumpaloozza's over.  While a vast majority of Americans are remembering 9/11, the Washington Post's headline was not about that horrific moment, rather their lead story was about JD Vance taking over the mantle of the GOP.  This should come as no surprise.  Bezo's propaganda rag will always bend in the direction of another possible tax cut.  How badly did Trumpaloozza fail?  Only the super, hardcore cultists showed up and many of them were surprised at how empty arena was.  Their lack of numbers is a message they will never understand.

The Ultimate Disloyalty

Our temp dropped down to 51 (F) overnight.  Good sleeping weather.  Today's high is supposed to, once again, be in either the high70s (F) or low 80s (F).  No rain is in the forecast.  Looking ahead, the only change is expected to be a slow decline in temperatures.

I worked yesterday.  Business was booming during the morning hours, however, the instant I punched in we began losing customers.  This meant that I got my steps in early.  Staffing was low, almost all part-timers; this is normal.  Some full timers worked 40 hours and got  8 holiday hours, most worked 32 hours with their holiday pay.  You want to give your full time associates a holiday off.  This helps with your payroll expense.  Food was also provided: pulled pork or chicken, and mac & cheese.  No beverages, no salty snacks like chips.  There were leftovers, so I brought home some pulled pork and mac & cheese.  Howie got most of the pork.

Speaking of Howie, he has an ear infection so I'm going to have to take him to the Vet.  I truly dislike taking him to the Vet because like any other retailer, they like to fill your shopping cart to the brim.  They will pump your pet full of what they have decided are now "standard" medications that in reality are completely unnecessary.  They get angry when you refuse "standard" meds since that takes revenue out of their bank account.

And I learned yesterday that these pretty white flowers growing along my fence Sweet Autumn Clematis and they are an aggressively invasive plant.  So this means trimming and pruning every fall.

And they're giving away free tickets to Orangie's midterm convention.  The MAGA brand has become so toxic no one wants to attend.  If you do decide to go and you want to stay on the cheap side rather than splurge, you can have your picture taken with JD Vance and it will only set your bank account back $25,000.  Since this is JD we're talking about, you might get a bit of a discount if you bring along a loveseat.

Evidently the official White House Labor Day video, one that wasn't AI slop celebrating the Orange Anus's fantasies, was of a pen being put together on an assembly line.  Not a single human being was in  the video.  Basically, they celebrated Labor Day by showing that machines do things better than people.

Rumors are swirling that Kegsbreath Hegseth's head may be on the chopping block.  This is not because he's doing a horrific job, rather the horrific job he's doing is making the Orange Anus look bad, and that is the ultimate form of disloyalty.

Anniversary

Our outside temp was 55 (F) when I woke up this morning.  That meant we had good sleeping weather last night.  Today's high will be either in the high 70s (F) or the low 80s (F).  I don't really care because I'm going to be working on this Labor Day.  The forecast for this week has been revised down.  We will no longer be having highs in the low 90s (F).  Instead, they will be cresting in the upper 80s (F), which is a step in the right direction for Autumn.

And I did work yesterday.  Things were slow.  We're in a holiday weekend and the only shoppers we're going to be getting are those looking for a sale.  Our appliance section did well.  That's where the deals are.  As a result, I got my steps in fast.  And, of course, today is the actual holiday.  As usual, I work.  They're bringing in food.  Someone said mini-tacos.  I guess that means we're going to be eating teeny, weeny, tiny tacos.

And then this happened as well.  

Overnight the Orange Anus has been pumping out all sorts of AI slop on his Truth Social account and bragging about all of the billions of dollars he's made while president.  This is against the law, but why would he care about that.  In his addle-paddled brain he is above the law.  Rules and Regulations have no meaning to him because he's special.  His idea of helping Republicans get out the votes for the midterms is to throw a mini-Republican convention in order to celebrate himself.  Two nights long, he will be speaking on the first night... and in case that isn't enough for his cultists, he's going to be repeating his performance on the 2nd night as well.  I understand Republicans are coming up with excuses to avoid his ego extravaganza.  Sorry guys, it ain't gonna help.  Perhaps you should have thought about your future in politics before selling your soul to the Orange Anus.

Sometmes

So we got down to 61 (F) overnight.  I did get out the red blanket.  Sleeping was fine.  According to those in charge of predicting the weather, today's temps will not be climbing out of the 70s (F).  That's fine.  I do enjoy the changing of the seasons.  Except for about 2.5 weeks of blistering heat, this summer hasn't been that bad here in Central PA temperature wise, however, we did get those storms.  As a customer said to me at work yesterday, "we've had some very unusual storms."  They've been large, for one thing, covering 3-4 counties with thunder and lightning at the same time.

I worked in the Paint department yesterday.  I like mixing paint.  I get to chat with a lot people about a host of different subjects.  I once had a young man hand me one of Jesus's business cards.  I told him he could keep it, that solicitation was not allowed in the store.  While he didn't raise his voice, he did tell me that I was "damned and would burn in hell for all eternity."  These people are rare.  Mostly, people chat about their paint projects.  Some of them are fascinating.  Yesterday I talked with 2 different customers who were paint brick, one was a fireplace, the other a cinderblock wall in her basement.; different types of brick, different types of applications.  It's fun to help people.

My front porch is large, around 7 feet by 10 feet.  Sometimes things walk on my front porch, sometimes birds, sometimes squirrels.  Sometimes Howie sees them and finds them fascinating.

And yesterday Orangie did the unimaginable.  He went from Orange to Brown.  Someone said that Natalie Harp told him he'd look younger as a brunette.  People are laughing, and sometimes they're just at a loss of words.

And the comedy team of Witkoff and Kushner met with Brownie's blow bro Vlad.  There's a clip of them showering him with praise.  One of the things Witkoff said was "years from now we'll look back on this and your story will be the greatest."  Yepper, an American said that to a war criminal.  Sometimes stupid people say stupid things.  Sometimes history looks back and says, "yep, that was the greatest piece of ass kissing ever recorded."

Mandatory Retirement

The temp outside is a nice, almost toasty 74 (F).  This afternoon we should be hitting the low 90s (F).  Originally, the forecast had them hanging around for a few days.  That's changed.  Tomorrow our high will be in the upper 80s (F) and Thursday it will be a few degrees cooler as more seasonable weather moves back into the picture.

I paused my Trainwell subscription yesterday.  I was going to cancel, but chose to pause it for the time being.  I did take screen shots of the routines and print them off, so I'll still have the structure for the next few weeks.  At some point I'll have to decide if the expense balances out with the daily contact I get through texts and the occasional videos.  

The husband of the woman who returned that tiny bit of carpet was in yesterday to buy padding.  I nodded to him, he didn't nod back, but then he didn't glare at me either.  As I mentioned to Treaders, one of the big reasons we have problems with returns is that our corporate office has an algorithm that predicts if a customer is likely to shop with us again.  Refusing a return drops that likelihood a small %, and every teeny, tiny bit is a step towards failing to make our projected growth.  

Today's going to be fairly busy.  One of the things on the to do list is to get a haircut.  Tomorrow, I'm getting my picture taken for my driver's license and that means looking civilized.

And I have this pretty, white flowery thing growing along the top of my fence.  Last year Howie chewed most of it away.  This year he's left it alone.  I guess it doesn't taste good anymore.

 

I saw where Steve Scalise, a big supporter of the Orange Anus, was talking about the Supreme Court and how the Republicans like the fact that there are  only 9 justices, and that this are lifetime positions.  In fact, Republicans are so enrapture with the way things are set up, he's going to initiate a constitutional amendment to keep the Democrats from changing anything.  There are a bunch of MAGA yokels out there who have no idea how difficult the job is to amend the constitution.  His statements are aimed at those louts.  Also keep in mind that there is also serious concerns among Republicans that should Democrats get enough votes in November, they might just add a judge or two.  This is most likely the reason Alito, who had said he was going to retire, has put off his retirement.  Though, if the Democrats do get in power, they don't need an amendment to the constitution to set a mandatory retirement age for Supreme Court Justices.  Retiring Alito and Thomas would change the makeup of the court until more judges could be approved, and a majority of Democrats in the Senate would keep the Orange Anus from putting in a real loser. 

Victims

Today is going to be super duper humid.  Our morning temp of 70 (F) will climb into the upper 80s (F) and there will be a chance of thunderstorms this afternoon.  Those last 3 words seem to be something we have been saying a lot here lately.  The next 3 days are predicted to be warmer. Yeah, we're going to be tapping into those 90 degree days again.  After that we will hopefully begin heading into cooler Autumn temps.

I worked yesterday, and there was a bit of an incident.  A couple came into the department looking for a specific color of carpet.  As she said, "we slept in and their dog had torn up the carpet at the door trying to get out of the bedroom."  I told them there was no way they were going to find the color they needed, we have a limited color selection, and since carpet was in an apartment, there was no way to know where it had been purchased.  I suggested covering the spot with an area rug.  The husband told me his wife was the one who wanted to replace the carpet.  She didn't listen, chose a color, we cut her a section.  Four hours later she brought the carpet back because it was the wrong color.   Our Service Desk returned it.  We don't do returns on cut carpet because they're an instant loss.  When I told her this, she got angry and said I was being disrespectful to her in front of her kids.  Sadly, I got the impression she'd played this game before, playing the victim.  We cut her another section of carpet, which was still going to be the wrong color, and she went to the Service Desk where I'm sure they gave it to her for free.  After she'd left, the other flooring specialist looked at me and said, "you weren't being disrespectful."  I do get tired of this.

Oh, and I get to work again this afternoon.

I found this funny.  Evidently the members of Orangie's cabinet are very upset.

With the midterms approaching, these people are out in states the Republicans need to win speaking about Orangie's plan for America... and they're getting feedback.  Well, they're actually getting more than feedback.  They're being asked questons they don't like.  Brook Rollins, Secretary of Agriculture was asked where the imported beef was coming from and her response was, ""I'm not privy to that information."  Rubio has walked away from questions, rather deal with America's angry curiosity.  You see, these people see themselves as victims.  They believe their positions lift them above accountability.  Rather than be responsible to America, they're responsibility is to one man, the Orange Anus.  The chaos in this administration is getting worse.  Unfortunately for them, this is what they signed on for.

   

It's Still Lake Ontario

 Were at 62 (F) outside.  We're beginning a mini-heat wave today with out high temp predicted to be in the mid to upper 80s (F).  We'll be at our hottest on Tuesday, when the afternoon high is supposed to be in the mid to upper 90s (F).  Tuesday is the first of September and we still have 3 weeks of summer left, so I suppose this should be considered normal.

I did my morning workout yesterday, now a mix of strength and mobility.  My account with Trainwell is supposed to renew on Tuesday (when our afternoon high is.... well, high).  I've been thinking of pausing it, though the more thought I put into it, the more I'm thinking I'm just going to cancel the subscription.  When you pause, you're setting yourself up for an automatic rebill, and I don't want that.  Three month from now I may be doing some completely totally different exercise routine.

Work yesterday was tolerable.  Except for the aisle maintenance associate, I was the only one in the department.  I did talk to some people, but mostly I was bored.  Boredom means I get in steps, lots of steps.  Today the department is fully staffed, and no one is going to no what to do with themselves, so I'll get in more steps.

I spent some time shutting down notifications in Facebook this morning.  I scan down Facebook every morning for about 5 minutes and that's about it.  I'm just not that nosy.  Yet more and more I'm getting notifications like: your friend commented on a picture someone else posted, and, your friend liked an event that someone else posted about.  While I like the people I'm friends with on Facebook, I'm not that personally invested in their lives to know every single thing they like, or comment on.  Sadly, there are people who live for that sort of crap.

And Google maps has changed Lake Ontario to Lake America.  This image is not from Google maps.

In fact, if you go to Google maps and do a search for Lake Ontario it will take you to Lake America.  Yes, those people in charge at Google maps have stooped so very low.  Imagine the stupidity of someone who believes that a simple stroke with a Sharpie is enough to change the cartography of the world.  There are so many reason why people hate the loser in the White House, but a big one is the way people who should know better bend their knee to the Orange Anus.  I see things like this and wonder if Google did this because they believe he's going to give them another tax break?  You would think they would understand that if the midterms roll the way many think they will, things are going to be terrible for this administration.  And people will remember the stupidity of Google.  And they will become the joke they deserve to be.