Howie's Rocks

 Good morning world.  Here in central PA our outside temp is 77 (F).  The sun is still shining, but that's going to change.  Much rain is in the forecast.  Showers are to begin sometimes this morning, followed by storms and thunderstorms this afternoon and this evening.  Rain is always appreciated, especially in what are traditionally our dry months.  Our green lawns will not be turning brown this summer.

Yesterday was a good day for getting things done.  I started off the day by baking a loaf of bread, and went on to do 4 loads of laundry, clean out the big aquarium, and vacuum up tons of doggy hair using the vacuum with the cheap bags.  I finished one chapter in the new book and began another:  Can you hum a few bars.  It's an old joke, so I'm not expecting all of you are going to get it.

Today is not going to be a chore intensive.  Though things do need to be done.  I'm thinking of buying a walking pad, which is like a treadmill but much smaller, some are foldable.  The treadmill I tore apart and turned into a raised garden was just too massive.  I do like walking, it's good for my lower back.  I might not be able to stop the arthritis, but I may be able to slow it down considerably.  I don't want to be one of those seniors who lets aches and pains infringe upon my daily life.

I believe I've mentioned before that Howie likes to bring stones and rocks into the house and trade them for puppy  cookies.  Well, a while back I decided to save them.  This is Howie's rock pile.

For those of you who missed it, Proctor & Gamble is going to be raising prices.  Some of the products sold by P&G are Tide, Downey, Mr. Clean, and Swiffer.  These are all products that the great orange retailer I work for sells in our cleaning department.  While our corporate headquarters has said they're not going to raise prices I'm betting these increases will be passed onto the customer.  And we only sell a smidgen of the products P&G's going to be raising prices on.  So remember, every time the Orange Anus shrieks about how much money his tariffs are raising, he's talking about your hard earned money.  Remember, those billionaires running this country don't give a shit about you or how difficult it is to make ends meet.

Eating dirt

 Sunday Funday is here.  Well, I don't really know how much fun it going to be had.  The temps are sitting in the mid 40s (F) and the wind is blowing, some might even say it's breezy as Hell, if Hell is breezy that is.  We'll be warming up into the low 60s (F).  

Because we have sunshine and milder temps the store might be busy this morning.  Working in retail, I can tell you there is a large group of people who do not attend any sort of religious services on Sunday morning, unless, of course, buying a patio set is religious experience for them.  As is the case every Sunday, usually after 11 AM, the church crowd will arrive.  They stand out because they're still wearing their Sunday finest, men in suits, usually Navy blue, and women in boldly colored dresses.  I always find it amusing that the vast majority of women look like they're ready for a hot night on the town rather than a church service, I suppose the believe that hot and gaudy is synonymous with rich an arrogant, neither of which should apply to a Christian, unless it's a Republican Christian.

Our retail plan has not been too successful this past week, we are deep in the red.  This is how it goes.  One of our associates was arrested, and while that actually has nothing to do with our not making plan, it does have something to do with money.  This is always the case.  In my 16 years of working with the Orange retailer, this is the third time I'm aware of the police being called to take someone away in handcuffs.  Idiot.  

Here's an updated pic on the oregano I'm growing on my window sill.

And the Orange Anus caved again yesterday: laptops, phones, and computer chips.  The Chinese gave him nothing in return.  Xi is going to make Orangie eat dirt.  There are those who are saying that this wasn't really a cave-in, but rather the tariff relief that Apple, and Microsoft, and IBM, and a slew of others paid for when they bestowed their $1 million dollar gifts on Orangie after he was elected.  Me, I don't think that's the case simply because of the ratio of money gifted to money saved.  These companies are going to save hundreds of millions without having to deal with tariffs and I can't believe Orangie would give them that sort of gift while only getting a measly million in return.  This doesn't meant that there isn't some sort of behind the scenes shenanigans in which he gets paid under the table.  Making this more interesting, is the fact that we haven't hear neither hide, nor hair of a crow coming from him.  He's not bragging about being successful.  Mostly because Xi made him eat dirt.

Disturbances

 So, when I checked the weather this morning I saw what I consider an odd forecast.  Today the temps are supposed to be up in the low to mid 50s (F).  Instead of saying things are going to be warming up, or warmer, the forecast was "not as cool."  I kid you not.  "Not as cool," implies temps are still going to be low, but 52 (F) is much warmer than 34 (F), so I think there description is a bit off.

I did work yesterday, and it was slow.  We're not going to hit plan this week.  This will continue the trend that started when Trump was inaugurated.  I'm not thinking that things are going to be changing anytime soon.  One thing that does appear to be changing is my schedule.  I'm down to between 16 and 17 hours, so I suspect they believe sales are not going to be rebounding anytime soon.  Payroll is the easiest expense to cut.  

Things are so much different with Howie than with my other dogs.  He is much more active.  Where as I used to make coffee and then sit down and peruse the headlines, now I make coffee and play with Howie for a least a half hour.  We play fetch, and he loves to wrestle, and, lucky for me, he's learned to faux bite.  This means he acts like he's biting me, but doesn't really... at least most of the time.  He loves that.  From time to time I attempt a joint selfie, Howie and I.  This is the latest.  And for those curious few, that's a Christmas ornament dangling from a window lock and not some ghosty demon dancing over my head.

My Social Security check gets deposited on the 2nd Wednesday of every month and usually I can see that deposit on Friday of the week before.  I just checked and so far there's not deposit.  This doesn't mean that Orangie and and his toady Elonia are not going to pay it, just that they may have gummed up the gears.  That is something we all need to be certain of, their screwing things up.  As part of the 1%, they have no concept of everyday life; none of the wealthy do.  Take Larry Kudlow, a man of little vision and pure greed.  He said on Fox Entertainment that there is a -2.81 decline expected in the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) which indicates a downturn in America's economic health in the first quarter of 2025.  He said "there will be disturbances," or in layman's terms, things are going to be getting more expensive for the common man.  Unless there is a complete crash of the Stock Market, Kudlow will never know of difficult and "disturbance" can be for you and I.  Truthfully, we all know he doesn't care how bad Americans suffer.  

And, of course, the on again, off again, some are still on tariff wars are still... well, right now they're on, and off, and Canada's keeping their retaliatory tariffs on... for now.  Right now the Dow is up around 84 points and they're calling it a rebound.  Sorry, that's not a rebound.

The Punishment of Tariffs

 Temps here in Central PA took a little crash dive last night dropping to 18 (F).  That chilly willy.  Starting tomorrow, they will begin warming up.  By Wednesday forecasters are predicting we'll be in the mid 60s (F), if only for a day.  Let's be honest here, Spring has got to start sometime, and I'd prefer it sooner rather than later.

I got an upper body workout in yesterday before going to work.  It felt good.  Not too much will be done today as I'm heading down to York for lunch with my friend Betsy.  That doesn't mean I won't get a ride or free weights in when I get home, just that it's not very likely.  

When I got to work yesterday, I was told I was late and, indeed, I was.  The two afternoons I work during the week my start time is 2 PM.  Saturdays it's 1 PM.  Even though I've had this Saturday schedule for over 3 years, all of sudden it doesn't feel natural, so when immediately after I punched in, I change my availability for Saturdays.  Now I will start at 2 PM, like the other two afternoons I work.  I suppose I'm entering the age of uniformity.

The store, itself, was only semi-busy.  Without giving any proprietary information away, I can tell you that we are not going to make plan this week.  It is my understand that this is district wide situation.  I can also tell you that we have not hit our budgeted sales once since the Orange Anus was elected.  Our President's Day appliance sale has always brought in great sales figures and those few days stand out, this year they flatlined.  On a graph, last year's sales were a mountain and this year's sales are a desert plain.

And then there are the protests.  I find them rather pleasing.  So far, except for the outside the Tesla showroom in NYC yesterday, they've been peaceful.  And the townhalls, too.  Republicans are still holding them, but they are becoming more and more contentious.  The GOP is not used to their own party members objecting.  They don't seem to understand that they owe these people their jobs.

As I was looking over headlines this morning, I saw in Reuters that the Orange Anus is modifying one of the tariffs in regard to lumber.  Even though it is American lumber that is being exported to Canada and Mexico, it is going to be taxed when that wood is imported back into the United States as furniture.  The minute I saw that I realized that these tariffs are how Orangie is meting out punishment to those countries who disagree with him.  He is going to make them pay.  The fact that this will financially hurt Americans is not even part of the equation.  

President Sheinbaum

 Happy Black Friday!  So far, it's a bright and sunny day, however that's going top change as a cold front begins moving through the region.  This afternoon there will be showers and snow showers, or what they're calling a "wintry mix" across Central PA, and tomorrow's high will be much colder. As I've said before, this is the same playbook we've had over the past number of years.

Yesterday, Turkey Day, or, as some people call it, Thanksgiving was very quiet.  Just me and the pooch.  I had a nice call from my sister.  My brother was vigilantly silent.  He can't remember my birthday, so well wishes on the holiday would have been extraordinary.  

The coconut pie was delish, but then I tried something special when baking it by spreading chocolate across the pie crust before pouring in the coconut filling.  Voila, a Mounds Bar... almost.  The corn pudding was almost too sweet and very rich, a lot of that went into the freezer.  There was a problem with the bird, however.  I have a large electric roaster that I've used for years (too many, in fact).  After nestling the turkey onto holding rack and placing it in the roaster, I set the temp and walked away, expecting it to be cooked in about 4 hours.  That didn't happen.  The roaster got warm enough so you could smell the turkey, however it didn't get hot enough to cook it.  When I checked on it, I discovered this, muttered a few curse words, and cranked the heat up high, so instead of 4 hours, it took 6 and a half to be fully cooked.  Howie and I hard are first nibbles of turkey around 5 PM, not the anticipated 1:30 PM.  Still, all is fine with the world.  

This doesn't mean there wasn't excitement yesterday.  Mexico's president Claudia Sheinbaum, took Trump to the mat and embarrassed him world wide.

It began with the Orange Anus posting a lie about Mexico promising to shut down its border with the United States after he talked to President Sheinbaum on the phone.  She was having none of it, and went on record in a very public manner.  In case you haven't realized it yet, his lies are always going to make him look like the super authoritative president he thinks he is; they never touch upon the truth.  She claims they touch upon the borders in the conversation, but they were not a priority.  I believe her.  She says most of the conversation was about the tariffs, and, from various sources, it appears this 78 year-old loser was trying to shake her down... and she was having none of it.  One of the things she reportedly told him was that if he puts tariffs on Mexico, Mexico will retaliate and the United States will lose 400,000 jobs.  This did not go as Don the Con planned.  In a very polite, public way, told the Moral Degenerate to eat shit with a rubber spoon.  I suspect more world government leaders will follow President Sheinbaum's example, and in a very public, professional way, embarrass the Orange Anus.