In the Dark

 Yesterday, as I was preparing to leave work, we got smacked by a thunderstorm.  On the Accuweather map, we were covered by a bright, hot pink spot.  Red spots are bad, bright, hot pink spots equal strong winds and torrential downpours with lightening zig-zagging in every direction, and loud crashing thunder shaking the very air molecules you're breathing.  It was stupendous!  I do like storms and like watching them from a safe place.  Of course, there are those non-thinkers who have no problem standing in glass vestibules watching shopping carts fly through the air.

Of course, the temps here yesterday afternoon were stuck in the 98 (F) doldrums with nary a breeze for comfort.  When I was young, the few places to actually have air-conditioning were movie theaters, so people when to the movies to get cool.  Nowadays, most retailers have 'air.'  Our, however, is managed by corporate.  This means our lights will dim for a while to compensate for the electric costs used for the 'air.'  Believe, some departments get really dark for short periods of time.  

And yesterday Bill Cosby was set free on what they say is a technicality.  He was in jail for 2 years of what was probably going to be a 3 year sentence.  As for the technicality?  Evidently he gave protected testimony as part of a plea deal to one District Attorney, and then another District Attorney used that testimony to convict him.  This is quite non-kosher, and so Bill's a free man today.  This is what happens when you fail to line up all of your ducks in a row.

Oh, and the woman who caused the crash at the Tour de France has been arrested.  Good.  That's something I will never have to worry about.  For those of you who've never seen it, here's my cycling set up.

Finally, for those stuck in the dark, they have begun to file charges against the Trump Organization.  This is just the beginning.  There is a growing surge of whispers that Weisselberg is going to flip on his boss.  He's an old man who doesn't want to spend the rest of his days in jail to protect a loser.  I don't doubt he will see the light and strike a plea deal, just like Cosby, simply to save his old ass.

Stupidity

Well, it's Monday and I did sleep in a bit today, woke up, turned off the alarm, and then dozed for another 45.  Nice.  Yesterday was busy.  Went to Giant, cleaned, did laundry, bought 8 more fish for the tank, rode 15 miles, as well as worked on The Body in the Loch.  And it looks like today is going to be a replay, including the weather, which they have forecast to be another stinker.

I did take a picture of my wall of zin to give you an idea what I had been working towards.  Everything is so dry.  My lawn is brown.  I have to water them every evening just to get them to look like this.

I see where the Idiot Jerk in the White House has said he's not going to be throwing out the first ball at the Yankees / Red Sox game.  Don't know why... there's not going to be a crowd so he doesn't have to worry about being booed.  Oh, that's right, he muttered something about working on the Covid problem.  Guess that means his staff is going to be showing him fudged charts and graphs in order for him to chose the phoniest.

With less then 100 days to go, one thing I suspect is going to become perfectly clear to everybody, during that time the Republicans are going to do their damnedest to screw the country up as much as possible for Biden, at least those who realize they're going to be on the losing end of the shit stick.  There's this fiscal aid package they're working on?  Well, many of them still believe Covid isn't real, that it's a hoax, and then best thing Americans can do is just go back to work.   For them, it is not about life or death, but about how many people they can get back to work.  Their focus on reopening the schools?  That has nothing to do with a return to normalcy, rather, their intention is to get parents back to work so they can stop collecting unemployment.  Stupidly, they have no desire to understand the science behind Covid or possible future complications.  They just want you to work, like a drone, or a worker ant.  They want you to spend money, but they don't want that money to come from relief benefits.  For them, that's a waste of their tax dollars.

And finally, I saw this and could only wonder at how stupid some dog owners truly are.

Why would anyone with a lick of common sense take a big dog hiking in the hills, in the middle of summer? Biggie weighs 118 lbs and during the winter he can handle long walks.  During the summer we will walk 1, maybe 2 blocks... in the morning and by the time we get home he is tuckered out.  I hope the owners of Daisy get charged with a stiff penalty for their stupidity.

Retail and the IRS

Yes, that time of year is approaching when vast numbers of Americans file with Turbo Tax as fast as possible in order to get their return.  Oh, yes, and quite a number of Americans do get refunds.   What do they do with those refunds?  Spend them! I can tell you, I work in Retail and Retail looks forward to Income Tax Time.  Why?  Because those checks are spent on things like, appliances, and x-box's, and carpet, and a host of other things people put off buying until they get that check.  Christmas helps grow the economy and so does Tax Time.  Which makes me wonder why the Republicans are so dead set on screwing over the middle class and their tax cuts in order for the wealthy to keep theirs.  Face it, the Koch brothers don't race down to Home Depot in order to take advantage of their $37 whole house installed carpet.  Yet, if you're a middle class home owner that is something which may be high on your refund spending agenda.  I know there are going to be people in my community who will go out and buy a new refrigerator, or washer and dryer, on mattress set.  They may decided to replace that sofa which, after ten years of kids jumping up and down on it, has no spring left.  Do you think the rich have to wait until income tax time to make these purchases?  No way.  It's almost as if the Republicans are expecting to hear "hey, let me drop the soap so I can bend over."

I always like getting the check.

And, as always, they want entitlements on the table (define entitlements as social security).  Do you really think the wealthy are worried about paying their bills in their retirement years?  Are they concerned about whether their social security check will cover all of their medications and still let them put food on the table?  Of course not, but somebody needs to pay.  They prefer to penalize the middle and lower classes then those upper crusters who seem to have them on a very short leash.  I don't think they comprehend that stability is only maintained when there is a balance to the structure.