Napping at the Funeral

We had storms yesterday afternoon.  I'm not talking about the windy, blow down trees type, but rather the thunder, and lightening, and torrential rain storms that cause flash flooding.  Starting around 2 PM, this storm last at least 2 hours and the rain fell in buckets.  Depending upon where in Central PA you live, you got between 1 and 4 inches of rain.  The temps dropped as well. We might get more shower this afternoon.  I hope not.  I want things to dry out.

Nothing was done in lawn cleanup because of yesterday's rain.  Today I'm hoping to get out the chainsaw and finish off the remains of the big branch that's in my backyard.  I'd also want to start chipping away the hundreds of little branches I tossed up onto the hill.

Otherwise, yesterday was pretty much a meh day.  I did go for an 8 mile bike ride in Bavaria.  Words were written.  And I also played some Balder's Gate 3.

And Amazon made a $2.07 deposit to my bank account yesterday and I have no idea what it's for.  Kindle deposits are identified, but this came from Amazon Services which, from what I've been able to discern, deals with 3rd party charges and credits.  Amazon did lose a class action lawsuit and is being forced to pay back $2+ billion to customers, so maybe that's my share.

So they had Lindsey Graham's funeral yesterday.  I was surprised that in all of the pictures of the mourners, there was not a single escort.  Nope, they were all middle-aged and older men wearing black suits.  Orangie was there.  He gave a rally speech eulogy, and then he took a nap.  The internet went viral with this pic.

There is no hypocrisy greater than that of a Republican.

And Orangie's administration is eliminating Medicare Supplemental Plan D in 2027.  While this doesn't effect me, there are about 25 million other seniors who will see an increase in the cost of their medications.  Also, those with this plan will see their deductible climb to $700.  We are seeing this because conservatives are more concerned about their own selfishness and greed than anything else.  Their actions are now defining them as being soulless.  2027 was chosen because the GOP estimated that they were going to lose either the House or the Senate during the midterms, which would put the Democrats in charge when these higher costs hit.  Of course, they were not counting on the possibility of a blue wave.  These greedy sacks of shit are so unprepared.

Cherry Picking

 A cold night was had by all in Central PA.  When I checked out the temp this morning, it was a very chilly 10 (F).  That's cold.  The good news is that beginning today, temps are predicted to rise over the next few days, and by Christmas we should be sitting in the mid to upper 40s range.  

Yesterday was eventful in a non-eventful way.  I had made plans to drive down to York and visit my friend Betsy, we were going to do lunch and then go see Wicked (my 2nd time).  Things did not go as planned.  She called to let me know she was feeling more than a little "under the weather," with a chest cold, so those plans were scrapped.  Instead, I stayed home and worked on The Body in History.  I also did a lot of laundry; one thing I won't need to do during Christmas week.

Two bunches of cilantro were run through the dehydrator.  Two bunches of Fresh cost $4, a bottle of dry is $5.29.  My supermarket doesn't offer a generic brand, and you know that price is going to go up.

I also went online to see what sheets cost at Target:  $50 for 400 thread count.  That's about $2 more than what they cost on Amazon, for sheets of the same quality and I can afford the difference.  Target delivers for free, too, which is fine by me.  I am not now, nor have I ever been a shopper.  Perhaps that's because I work in retail.  Or, perhaps it's because I think people who browse through shirts and pants are a bit on the pretentious side. Or, it could be that my tastes are so unrefined that I simply don't care.  For me, spending an afternoon shopping is like crapping away 3 or 4 hours of my life, hours that I will never get back.  

For those who haven't heard, Amazon workers are on strike, and Bezos, arrogant ass that he is, is getting married to his side slut in Aspen next weekend in a $600 million wedding.  Let the boycotts begin.

And I found this funny.

I posted it on Facebook.  Normally, when I do things like this I get 7 to 10 likes.  My friends who don't?  Well, they know the shit that's going on and I just like to rub their noses in it.  Those of us who are sane, who love Democracy?  This is an attitude we all need to display.  Those people who voted for the Moral Degenerate need to be constantly reminded that they own everything that happens from January 20 on.  

One thing I find amusing is that soooo many Evangelicals voted for the Orange Anus because they thought he'd been sent by God to give them what they want, and now they're stuck with Elonia running the show.  Does that mean that God has abandoned Orangey?  Or was it that he wasn't sent by God?  Is everything they were believing just another lie in Orangey's con?  For those who haven't realized it yet, religion makes people stupid.  They rail against wokeness because those who are woke ask questions, and questions scare the Hell out of the Zealots.  They might get answers their own Faith is too weak to deal with, so it's better to stay stupid and cherry pick the Bible for things to hate.

Numbers

 It's 38 (F) and windy.  Temps are predicted to go up into the low 50s (F) today.  Tomorrow forecasters are saying temps will be a little warmer.  And that winter warning we had yesterday?  Well, there was the occasional snow flurry, but mostly we had steady rain falling throughout most of the day.  It was cold, with temps in the mid 30s (F), but no snow.

Yesterday, I returned that 2nd watch Amazon sent me.  I told a few friend who said she would have kept it, but in my mind that would have been theft, even if it was a screw up by an Amazon driver.  As for the new watch, it's working perfectly.  It has a touch screen, so that's something I need to get used to.

I also stopped by Howie's vet.  He has round worms, a common intestinal parasite.  He was already wormed, so I asked how he could get infected a 2nd time and was told that they're quite common.  He had his first treatment yesterday.  He'll get a 2nd in 2 weeks, and then another fecal test.  He also gets a booster shot on December 10.  

I have to work today, tomorrow, and then Monday.  After that I'm off for 4 days, though I'll get 4 hours pay for the Thanksgiving holiday.  I'm actually looking forward to that.

And though he may look innocent, Howie is actually a puppy shark.

Being of a certain age, I have certain memories from decades back that many Americans do not, but then so many Americans suffer from long term memory loss.  For most, one thing will stand out and they use that singular thing they feel represents a long stretch of time.  Many do not know that Reagan was the first Republican president to pass a Trickle Down Economic Bill, though he called it Reaganomics.  And again, most people don't know that it, like all other trickle down bills, was quite successful at first, but then, as has always been the case with Trickle Down Economics, it began to fall apart.  Not too many people alive today know that Reagan went on TV, asking American's to "stay the course."  Sadly, very few remember how Reaganomics failed, or how W. Bush's Trickle Down failed, or Trump's, however they do tend to remember those initial 6 months when the economy flourished.  W's monumental failure is remembered, Trump's failure, however, is tied to Covid, and lockdowns, so his failure is largely forgotten. 

The Price of Eggs

 It rained last night, or, more precisely, it stormed with both rain and wind.  Many leaves fell from the trees.  Howie's frisbee, which was bottom side up, was filled with water this morning when he went outside for his morning business.  Oh, and the temp was a cool 38 (F).  Today's high is only a few degrees above that, and tonight they're predicting snow flurries.  A bit of a cool down is on the way.  If this winter is similar to the past few, temps will continue to decline until about the first week in February, at which time they will begin to warm up.

I got a lot done around the house yesterday.  Howie and I also walked around the block and were barked at by a large dog.  He doesn't like large dogs, even though he's going to be one.  How's that for irony.  The living room tank was cleaned, I got a ride in on the bike, and made a nice salmon dish for lunch/dinner.

A few weeks back, I bought myself a 13 lb turkey for Thanksgiving, just in case I didn't get an invite.  Well, we're a week away and still no invite.  My sister and her daughter aren't doing anything, in fact they've already pre-ordered their meal.  They're paying a lot more for their dinner, than I am, and honestly, I'd rather roast the bird since there will be leftovers!

Yesterday, I contacted Amazon to return that 2nd watch I ended up getting.  The person I chatted with seemed surprised.  I suppose a lot of people would take advantage of that situation.  This is one of the things that is wrong with America.  We do tend to have a problem with ethics.

Here's a sunrise pic I took outside this morning.

While I no longer subscribe to the Washington Post, I still scan the headlines.  They also send me a list of the top 7 stories and this morning I had to laugh as I looked at that list because number 7 dealt with the price of eggs.  That's right, the price of eggs is going up because of... bird flu, at least that's the excuse they're using.  You know, that's going to piss off a lot of those voters who thought Trump was going to drop the price of eggs.  And don't worry, they're not going to come down.  That would be like asking those egg distributors to take a cut in pay; we know that ain't going to happen any time soon.  By the way, one of the items I purchased for my larder is a large can of dried eggs.  

Another thing that's funny is that all those duffers who voted for Trump because he says he's going to cut down on the size of government.  That means the government's payroll expense will go down, but it also means unemployment will go up.  It would be nice for a change if simply minded Americans actually thought things through.

The Waiting Game

 So them temp outside is a balmy 52 (F).  Temps are predicted to climb up into the 80s (F) today with a lot of sunshine.  Being that is Halloween, that means there are going to be a lot of Trick or Treaters out this evening.  I'm not excited.  My drapes will be drawn and my front porched light turned off.  I did the candy thing once, about 28 years ago.  Once was enough.  I think I had 12 trick or treaters.  I ate most of the candy, and ended up shutting the door, grabbing a beer, and turning on the television.  I am not a big one for playing dress-up.

I did work yesterday.  Five hours.  My new availability has not been activated.  I no longer work mornings, only afternoons, four days a week.  I cannot be scheduled for more than 24 hours, so far it looks like I'm getting around 20.  That's fine with me.  

And last evening I had to deal with a bit of an issue with Amazon.  I ordered the new Dragon Age game from Amazon, it's released worldwide today.  I was expecting the game to arrive today.  When I got home from work I checked the delivery status.  At 4:26 PM yesterday, the game had arrived at the shipper, in Kent, Washington.  I immediately realized there was going to be a problem.  Not surprisingly, a few minutes later I got an email from Amazon apologizing, and letting me know the delivery was going to be delayed and should be arriving by Monday.  Of course, I was on the computer to Amazon who again apologized and changed the delivery status to 24 hours, meaning the game should be arriving today.  Adding insult to this issue, I get a promotional set of armor for purchasing the game early, however, the game needs to be loaded into my Series X and I can't do that until the game arrives.

Here's a bit of a palate cleanser.

Counting today, there are only 6 more days until the election. I don't know anyone who wants it to be longer, everyone I've talked to is that they want it to be over today.  The media coverage has been relentless.  Just about every group with a vowel in their name is publishing a poll and those polls represent nothing but their own interests.  The media wants you to click on their websites, so they publish clickbait headlines that deal in assumption rather than fact, assumptions rather than details.  The media wants a horserace, and so Biden says something and Harris is held accountable.  The observant American will notice that JD Vance seems to have been muted since his presence was an obvious liability.  On the other hand, Elon Musk's dipshit energy is spewing out negative vibes; his mental immaturity is growing more apparent as the seconds tip by.

The only thing we do know is that in early voting and mail in ballots, turn-out is Democrat heavy.  There is an indicator that the turn-out among women is higher than average, the turn-out of younger voters, the Gen-Z ers, is higher than normal.  We're in a waiting game, and Tuesday can't come fast enough.

The Body in Motion

Now available for Kindle and as a paperback on Amazon.  Next week the eBook will be available for the Nook at Barnes & Noble.  Do I stick it to Social Media?  Yes.

While being nominated for a Motion Award was not as prestigious as getting nominated for a Webby, Eli and Max were both delighted the little blog their associate Bobby Tussel had started for them was being recognized.  Now they had a reason for spending some time in New York City and had planned on sticking around after the ceremony to take in the sights and see a couple of shows.  Of course, those plans went all to hell after a body turns up and they find themselves in a social media maelstrom, as bloggers, vloggers, and YouTube influencers all try to get in on the action.  Everyone seems to be demanding a piece of the investigative pie, as they put together clues to solve the mystery of The Body in Motion.

No title entry because I forgot one

 Well, we have rain here in Central PA.  According to the weather forecasters, it's only to supposed to be here this morning.  This afternoon it's supposed to go away and temps are predicted to climb into the mid 60s (F).  Tomorrow it's to be a bit more sunny and warmer, but on Friday the rain returns.  Remember that saying "April showers bring May flowers?"  Well, this year it appears as though we're going to have a replay of last year and the all those showers are going to be arriving in May.

I did get some painting done yesterday.  Because the weather's not supposed to be cool today, with showers possible, I'll get paint some more.  Hopefully, I'll get the kitchen ceiling knocked out and then I'll be able to call my drywaller to finish it off.

So, I still can't order author's copies of The Body Under Ice from Amazon.  I talked to a woman yesterday who told me their IT people were working around the clock to fix the problem.  If I were living in France, or Australia, or even Canada there would be no problem, it's only authors living in the United States who can't order copies.  She took the title of my book and put it on a list for their IT people to research and fix.  Even though she said this was a top priority, I'm thinking this is not the case.  I may have to struggle through the archaic process Barnes & Noble uses for their paperback books so I can order copies through them.

Chief Justice Roberts is not going to testify before the Senate on the tumultuous ethics complaints circling like hungry vultures around Clarence Thomas.  That would be tantamount to admitting there is a serious problem in the Supreme Court.  They will never admit that, no matter how terribly things spin out of control.  I'm betting that Clarence is spitting out bitter Oreo bricks because his belief that he was above the law is being questioned.  He's looking so much like a scumbag as the revelations continue to drop.  It turns out he is a greedy, selfish, and self-centered sack of shit, and I'm betting the Court doesn't quite know how to deal with him.

And as more dirt surfaces about Carlson, it turns out he is so much worse than a scumbag.  Evidently there are emails Dominion did not release to the public which show just how vile a human being he truly is.  Tucker's ego told him that he was the voice of authority, and his ratings reinforced his ego.  Now, he's unemployed and hoping to sue Fox.  Let's hope their attorney's are smart enough to force him back under the rock he crawled out from under.

Stomping the Big Lie

 Yesterday was very slow at work.  And, as usual, the day ended with rain.  That's right.  We got more rain.  Storms that turned into momentary downpours, and then drizzles well into the night.  And today as well.  And tomorrow, too.  Yesterday at work someone else mentioned that we were turning into a rainforest.  Our visions are dissimilar in that he pictures people kayaking up streets and trees on rooftops, while mine had more do with continuous rainfall and swarms of mosquitos.

I saw where Amazon is raising  the starting rate for many of its workers to $18 an hour.  I don't know what positions are covered, but if that's true, something's changing.  Our starting rate of pay falls short of that mark.  Some of our positions do hit the $15 per hour, but most do not.

And Space X launched civilians into space yesterday.  The ticket price was hefty, but they can afford to spend the money.  Space tourism.  Who would have thought?  Serious exploration is not far off.  China wants to put men on the moon.  Russia's talking about building their own space station (the Chinese already have one in orbit, though no one talks about it).  India is launching probes to Mars.  This is our future.

And what about Nicki Manij?  I know the name, that's about it, but her anti-vaxxer stance, relying on some sort of conspiracy shit about one man's swollen testicles demonstrates stupidity at it's worst.  And now she's laughingstock, which might not help her career much.

Another amusing bit is that out in California Larry Elder conceded his loss rather than rely on a variation of the Bit Lie.  This does not make him any less of a loser, however, the really big loser was the Orange Anus who was desperately hoping to damage the Democrats.  Because of the Republican's failed recall, Democrats now have a decent playbook on how to beat them in 2022, other than just stomping the shit out of the Big Lie.

Weeds and Tools

 Well, it's Wednesday and I get to go back to work today.  I am not at all excited.  Two days off was not enough.  Now I'm scheduled for 6 days in a row.  Ouch.  I have 5 days off scheduled to begin on June 13.  Can I wait that long?

And it seems as if I'm not as blessed as I thought I was, or maybe I should say I was confused into thinking I might be blessed.  No loss, really.  My package arrived yesterday afternoon from Walmart.com and it was... a record cabinet I had ordered from Amazon.  What? ( I know you're thinking it, so just go ahead and say it)  What?  Walmart and Amazon are rivals, enemy retailers.  So why would Walmart be selling on Amazon?  Well, they aren't.  However, a 3rd party retailer is selling their products on Amazon.  It works like this:  I put in the order at Amazon.  He / She / It receives the order and places it with Walmart.com.  Walmart.com thinks I purchased the product and ships it to me.  I didn't go to their website to check on what they were charging.  Less, for sure, since the 3rd party needs to make a profit.  Am I upset FedEx didn't deliver an Xbox Series X?  Not really. A bit disappointed, but I'll buy one eventually.

Today the temps are supposed to hit the low 90's (F) with scattered thunderstorms.  I guess there's another storm system heading our way bringing with it lower temps and more rain.  

And, lest you think my garden is only filled with flowering plants and bushes, think again.  I also have these.  Some people call them weeds. I have no problem with them.  When I was growing up, we ate the greens with a hot sweet and sour bacon dressing.  Delicious.

My brother texted me yesterday: he tested positive for antibodies.  I replied that he had between 8 - 10 months immunity.  His reply was to send me 2 videos he found compelling enough to wait to get vaccinated.  My response:  "Believe what you want, Covid is still out there spreading through the unvaccinated, slowly killing them off."  He did not reply.

And what about that dumbass from Georgia?  You know whom I'm talking about, the one who compared wearing masks to wearing yellow stars.  I really do think we should put her in a concentration camp for a while, perhaps if Biden has his summit with Putin, they might arrange an extended vacation for her in a Gulag.  The Republicans aren't going to do anything about her, they don't want to offend their base.  They don't understand she is the perfect tool for turning Georgia completely blue.  In fact, I don't doubt she enjoys being a Tool.  She has no idea she's nothing more than a shovel helping to did the grave of the GOP.

Surprise!!

I had another post planned for today... and then yesterday happened.  No, nothing horrifying happened, the dogs are okay, I'm healthy, and no meteor smashed into my backyard.  Everything was so normal.  I did a few loads of laundry, got in a 12 mile ride, made my version of shrimp scampi for dinner.  Everything was fine until UPS dropped off the DVD player I ordered.  He was sly about it, even the dogs didn't know he had slid the package across the floor.  The first notification I received was a test shouting out "Surprise."  Well, it didn't really shout out surprise, but it was very surprising that the dogs hadn't started barking.  They love their UPS drivers.

Anyway, since I was working on a paragraph of the new book, I grabbed the box with my new DVD player and took up stairs and then returned to my laptop to finish what I had started.  An hour later when I finally sat down to open my new present, I noticed immediately something was very much awry with the packing tape.  Instead of sealing tape, the box was sealed with scotch tape.

Exhibit 1 - scotch tape

That's right, this box had already been opened.  Of course, my first natural instinct was to speak French.  Deciding to see if it worked, I unpacked it, connected it to my TV and powered it up.  Everything was going fine, so I grabbed one of my cycling DVD's and popped open the tray and found.... there was already a DVD in the player.

Exhibit 2 - The Real Housewives of Melbourne

Rather than speak French again, I began laughing.  Have you ever heard of anything so absurd?  Instead of a new DVD player, they sent me one that was not only used, but one with a DVD left in by the original owner.  I can only wonder if The Real Housewives of Melbourne is so bad they needed to return the player with the disc still inside.

Amazon is giving me credit, of course, an email with some toasty little words has been sent to the 3rd party seller.  I did off the DVD to my friend Justin who said, "sorry, I'm not a Real Housewives kind of guy."

On a lighter note, while the Republican party in Washington is desperately trying to shore up loyalty to the failed 45th president, an Exodus away from the party has commenced in the heartland.  Actually, it's not just in the heartland, Republicans are changing their affiliation all over the place. over 5000 in Pennsylvania alone.  And it hasn't stopped.  Moderate Republicans are furious with the Crazies.  And the Crazies, because they are crazy, don't understand moderates outnumber the party's delusional base.  At this time, I'd like to remind you all of Dave's Axiom:  A popular president can move the country to either the left of the right, an unpopular president will always move it in the opposite direction.

 https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/536113-tens-of-thousands-of-voters-drop-republican-affiliation-after-capitol?rl=1

Run This Way

 I'm hoping today turns out to be a slow day at work.  Maybe we can have a Sunday like we used to have in previous winters.  I don't mind if the weather is overcast, I'm inside.  Whether it's sunny or not, the dogs are going to be home sleeping, one on the sofa and one on the futon.  

Since I bought my running shoes from Amazon, I knew I should be expecting one of their little 'review' emails.  What I wasn't expecting was the product.  The running shoes I bought are evidently 'women's' running shoes.  My selection was made on size  (9 1/2 wide US) and color alone, not gender.  So tell me, do these look like women's running shoes?  If so, what makes them specifically for women?

I did file my 2020 taxes yesterday.  Evidently the Fed doesn't accept them until February 12, so I'm no in the queue awaiting my refund.  I use a service called OLT which takes care of my Fed and State returns but not my local taxes so they will have to wait since I find them such a bother.

And I went for a 15 mile ride around Amsterdam yesterday on a route I created with their maps.  Really nice, though my legs were a bit wobbly afterwards.  Oh, and I no longer use the earbuds.  I simply shut the door and turn up the speakers, that too is very nice.

Arizona Republicans censured Cindy McCain yesterday.  She was not alone; two other high level Republicans were also censured because they opposed the Idiot Jerk.  And the Fool in Florida is now talking about starting a 3rd political party.  I am too kind by calling him a Fool, but then neither he nor his base understand January 6.  On that day, a large majority of Americans flushed them down the toilet.  They are now truly the minority party.  This idea is beyond their comprehension.  Over 5000 Republicans in Arizona changed their party identity on January 7, and while numbers disavowing the GOP have slowed down, they are continuing. This is happening in every state.  Son of a Bitch!  Instead of assessing the damage done to their party by the Washington Riot, they are clenching their teeth and buckling down as they screech 'screw you.'  That's right, they're going to bury themselves in their own shit.

Boycott The Vote

 Another cool morning outside and we have precipitation moving onto the weather map, probably a mixture of flurries and drizzle, with maybe some rain later in the day.  We have much colder weather in the forecast.  Nightly temps are supposed to drop into the 20's (F).  For those who don't remember, this is somewhat similar to the weather patterns we had last year, a cold December.  If this is a repeat, our winter will be more or less a continuation of our autumn.

My friend Betsy called last evening.  She received a $125 gift card from her company as a Christmas Bonus.  She was rather unhappy since she doesn't shop at Amazon.  After going through some serious financial trouble, she monitors her every penny and that means no laptop... no internet.  She uses the computers at work when she needs one.  Solution?  She's going to send them to me and I'll send her a check.  One of these days she's going to have to bite the bullet and invest.

I removed Grace's web this morning, it was bigger than I had thought.  

One of my fellow associates came to work yesterday.  He closes the department.  I guess the Idiot Jerk's niece, Mary, was on the The View yesterday.  Evidently she said he would never resign so Pence could pardon him, that would mean admitting he was defeated.  She also said he was dangerous for this same reason.  This I can believe.  And the Republican Party, the ones who enabled both him and his base are discovering he is not the Blessing they thought he was.  You see, they thought he was going to win the election.  Now they're stuck with a whining sack of shit who's beginning to hate America.  And there's a runoff election coming up in Georgia.  Many of his base believe his baseless lies about voter fraud and as a result are threatening to boycott the election.  This party is in a world of shit.  Good for them.  Being the true, loyal American I am, I hope many do boycott the election... or better yet, vote for the Democrats.

Collared

Hello Friday!  For some of you out there, however, this is Saturday and your weekend is now half over... awe.  My weekend doesn't start until tomorrow when some of you will already be dreading the return of your work week.  And next week, let me grab the salt, I'm only working 4 days before I have another mini-vaca.... That's right, another 4 days off.  Holy Hannah's Banana!

The dog collars I ordered a week ago arrive yesterday.  Because of their lateness, a credit had already been issued to my account - I'm Amazon Prime.  I notified Amazon, ready to return them, and I have to say... the woman I dealt with was so... dense.  She kept saying "we can give you a $5 credit because they are so late," and "your credit has already been processed.  It took me explaining for several minutes before she said... "as an exception this time, there is no need to return them, you can keep them."  Heavy Sigh.  So I shot a little video this morning of the dogs... wearing their new collars.

Editing "The Body in the Well" is going well.  Sixpence asked about nookie... sorry, no nookie. I write adventure mysteries in which the main ingredients are: mystery, suspense, and action (and a bit of humor).  This one is no different, except there are snakes.  I'll leave the nookie to the women who write gay romance novels.  Here's the intro:

Chapter 1 - Colorado.

“And there were gunslingers camped out on the ridge above the Uncompahgre.  A body had been found hung up on the rocks at the bend in the river, murdered for his three tiny nuggets of gold.  They were that kind of killers.  Knowing a posse was headed up from Rattler’s Den, they had chosen to rest for a few hours before heading down to Pope’s Pew.  In the smokey glow of their small campfire they waited, with nary a whisper among them.  They knew there was going to be hell to pay.”  Sunny looked at the tourist faces gathered around her, dressed in their brand, spanking new western gear bought specifically for this trip.  Sitting on their Palominos, they were expecting tales spun from the truth about the three ghost towns on the tour before she wrapped things up with the Bar-B-Que in Bartlett’s pear orchard.  Of course, she always cleaned the tales up, didn’t tell them Dan Bailey was shot in the back of the head, or that his entire gang, except for one, was killed in that final gunfight.  Even glossing over the details, the stories of gunslingers and the blood they spilt were gory enough for most.

 “Look,” one of the tourists shouted, pointing over Sunni’s shoulder to a spot on the ridge.   “Is that one there?  A gunslinger?”

Turning and using her hand as a visor, Sunny peered up, trying to pick out some motion in between the rocks and timber pines.  Ah, yeah, there it was, small and moving fast. 

Can you hear my evil laugh?

Principles

What can I say?  Friday's Thursday, for me at least. 
So, I took a credit for those collars last evening since Amazon said they were most likely lost in shipping hell.  This morning I checked... and they suddenly arrived in Camp Hill at 0355.  This means they'll be delivered at some point today.  Monday I'll send them back.  Principles, you know?  Every year I pay Amazon a certain $$ amount to be a Prime Member.  I do this for the benefits... like expedited shipping.  If I buy merchandise with 'Next Day Delivery' and it arrives 7 days later... well, that's failure.  Should Amazon say I can keep them for a highly discounted charge, then I might keep them.  Reliability is a building block of Principles.
And, speaking of Amazon... what about Jeff Bezos' phone being hacked by Saudi Arabia.  The first thing I thought of when I heard that was that this was another example of the Idiot Jerk in the White House abusing power.  He loves the Saudi's, they are very wealthy, and he hates Bezos, who owns The Washington Post.  That paper is critical of the Idiot Jerk in the White House.  Now, after finding out how the Idiot Jerk was handling aid for the Ukraine, wouldn't it make sense for him to apply his lack of principles to Bezos and ask the Saudi's to help?  This sort of shit is right up the Idiot Jerk's alley.

Last evening I began the corrections on the 2nd draft of "The Body in the Well."  This is the draft I give to my three readers, though this time I may have 4 people read it.  I'm thinking of sending a copy to my friend Patty, the Patty who lives in Beverly, Massachusetts.  I already have a Patty who is a reader, she's local.  I think that's kind of amusing, the fact that I'm going to have two Patties reading the book.

Finally, when I made a joke about the Coronavirus yesterday I was being seriously funny.  I actually read an article in which the author called it a 'pandemic.'  Could the Coronavirus turn into a pandemic?  Possibly.  Right now, in spite of all the press this disease is getting, it is less serious than the flu.  The worse influenza pandemic as the Spanish Flu of 1918 in which the mortality rate was 2.5%.  Those who have died have underlying conditions.  MERS actually has a higher mortality rate.  I do believe this is an instance where the media needs to be more principled in the information they are promulgating.  Some of them seem to have turned into The Weather Channel for viral infections.

The Truth about Ratings

Okay, so it's Monday, the 2nd of my three days off in a row.  Yesterday it was supposed to be rainy... didn't happen, at least not over my house.  I got so much yard work done.  Today the weather is not going to be as accommodating.   I was surprised this morning to see Accuweather has us under a Flash Flood Watch... until tomorrow afternoon.  That sucks.
Yesterday, besides the lawn work, I also got a haircut and trimmed my mustache, just in case anybody was wondering.
Even Fox News is releasing polls which show the Idiot Jerk in the White House in trouble.   How accurate are these polls?  While not being spot on, they're closer than those used in the 2016 election.  Algorithms have been adjusted; now they incorporate fundamental questions skipped back then, like 'are you a middle-aged, white person who loves to run around wearing a MAGA hat?'  Of course, the GOP is using these polls to scare the shit out of his base.  They're terrified power is going to wrenched from his dirty, little fingers and he'll go into self-exile in Moscow.  They have reason to fear.  They have a moral degenerate in the White House who has no problem telling George Stephanopoulos he'd have no problem colluding with a foreign government if they offered him dirt on his political opponent.  This is a really, really bad replay of the Trump Tower meeting.  How much do you think that little turd did to his approval ratings?  It doesn't make a difference who the Democratic nominee is, that sound bite will air constantly up until the second the last polling station closes, and they know it.  Pardon my language, but this guy is a dumb as a fucking brick.
Speaking of ratings, if you buy The Body in the Tower, or have bought The Body on the Lawn, please go to Amazon and give it a rating.  They mean everything on Amazon.  No matter what people go to that Internet Retail Giant looking for, be it mystery suspense novel, or coffee maker, or headphones, the first thing they click on is the rating.  Customers like to buy something which has been rated 'good,' they don't like to gamble.
And finally, yesterday I received this comment:

AnonymousJune 16, 2019 at 12:20 PM

Your book, "The Body In The Tower" is now part of the collection at The Stonewall National Museum And Archive.

I don't know who Anonymous is, but if this is true I do believe it's a bit of an honor.  Unfortunately, it was posted by an 'unknown person,' so I can't really thank him or her personally.  I don't even know how you put a book into this collection.  Anyway, whom ever you are... Thanks!!

Undeliverable

Well it's Thursday in the AM and according to Accuweather the temperature outside is -2 (F), of course that didn't stop Big Seig from going outside 3 times - once for morning functions and twice to try and get an after breakfast biscuit.  He thinks he's being sneaky.  He isn't.
I was supposed to have a small package delivered from Amazon yesterday and got the message "Undeliverable."  Polar Vortex, you know?  The USPS couldn't deliver it.  I'm not blaming them.  We had high winds and 'white outs' from snow squalls.  Now I have to call them (the USPS) and tell them how I want them to handle the package.  To me, this seems stupid.  The logical answer is "deliver it the next day."
Holy Crap!  I looked at my schedule.  I'm scheduled for two 40 hour work weeks in a row.  Will I survive?
And evidently just about everybody in the Idiot Jerk's administration turns out to be shy, especially when it comes to testifying before the House, at least that's what I've read in the Washington Post this morning.  Seems like Wibur Ross is the only one who's agreed to voluntarily answer questions while the presence of anybody else is a lot like that small package from Amazon... undeliverable, unless, of course, they get subpoenaed.  These people, like the Idiot Jerk, prefer to keep things cloudy and lacking transparency.  What did you expect?  These are billionaires who rarely, if ever, have had to deal with accountability.
Another funny comment which keeps popping up all over the place is the Idiot Jerk's inability to strike a deal.  Oh, sure he talks a lot, brags a lot, and lies a lot, but when it comes to actually hammering home a deal he fails to deliver... and then he blames someone else.

I gather that this is the real reason the Idiot Jerk is so gung-ho on his racist wall, his ego requires him to do so in order to prove he isn't a complete failure.  His party no longer talks about that failed tax rewrite which gave away the store to corporations and rich people, you know, the one which failed the average American.  He did manage to get two judges on the Supreme Court but both have flip-flopped on Conservative decisions... or chosen not to deal with hot button issues at all.
If you think he's bad now, wait until the Democrats get a hold of his Tax Returns, then we'll get to see the real shrieking baby in the shitty diaper.

Rumble,Rumble... Rumble, Rumble

It's Thursday!!  When I leave work this afternoon I will be approaching my Hump Hour... I work 4 days in a row so I don't actually get a Hump Day, so a Hump Hour is going to have to do.

rumble, rumble

I'm in a fairly good mood heading into today.  I spoke to a nice customer service agent at Amazon last evening about my 'desk' situation, how things are not quite 'set.'  She was quite understanding.  Having already sent emails to Cymax, the company from whom I purchased my desk help.  What totally legitimized my complaint however was their weird email replies.  I had told them about the 'size issue' and their response was... well, for a second I thought Ionesco might have been sitting at the keyboard.  Here are their first 2 sentences:

"We are sorry to hear that you have received an incorrect item.  Regarding this issue, we would be happy to assist with replacements but do require a bit more information in order to proceed.

rumble, rumble

The customer service agent started laughing when she read that.  "They are responding to something completely different."  She sent one more 'official' email to Cymax from Amazon.  If there is no response Amazon will begin processing an 'A-Z Guarantee' in order for me to get a refund.  I don't think we'll hear from them.  They have automated their entire system.  Either way, I will be getting a credit, though I do wander what they're going to be doing with that desk.  I'm going to be ordering the same desk from David's Furniture in Mechanicsburg.  Wouldn't it be odd if that desk gets shipped back to Harrisburg?

rumble rumble

And what about that little Nicky Sandmann from Covington?  Doing the talk shows?  His lily-white ass looking all innocent?  Except he isn't talking about his MAGA hat... hhmmm.

rumble rumble

And in case you happened to have missed it, last night, around 11 PM, the Idiot Jerk in the White House

CAVED IN

Rubble and debris is spreading well beyond the confines of the White House Lawn.  Even as I type repercussions are spreading across America.  Conservatives are clutching their hearts in pain.  Believe me, I have no doubt that Ann Coulter dropped to her knees and stared slamming her head into the floor.  And fat Rush Limbaugh no doubt threw-up his dinner, but then he lives on regurgitated lies so he's not really too upset.  So, this is how the Idiot Jerk in the White House makes a deal...

Out of the Box

Well it's Wednesday and I'm heading back to work today.  Ho Hum.
I was supposed to get my desk yesterday and... well, the delivery guys had taken it off of their truck and had it sitting in it's packaging in my driveway  But then a problem cropped up.  The desk, as advertised, is 30 inches high,  30 inches wide, and 60 inches long.  My front doorway is 31 inches wide.  It's a normal front door, in fact most front doors are between 30 and 32 inches wide.  If the front door needs to be used by a person with a disability it needs to be 36 inches wide.  As I said, my front door is 31 inches wide.  The packaging for the desk, however, is 33 inches wide.  My first thought was "what problem, it's 30 inches wide, you take it out of the box."  But then the delivery guy who's been on the phone with his boss says to me "my boss says we can't take it our of the box."  Silly me, I should have realized taking it out of the box would be unpackaging, and these guys are paid deliver.  We have this problem from time to time at the orange home improvement retail giant I work for: delivery people who never do anything other than deliver.  At times they leave things, like dishwashers and refrigerators and boxes of hardwood flooring sitting in a driveway because for them, that's the definition of delivery.  Now, the driver today did say "I can leave it for you, but it's really heavy, I mean really heavy."  Of course it's heavy, it's solid wood and weighs in at 275 pounds.  And where were they going to leave it, on the sidewalk?  The box was too big for my front porch.  I'd never be able to get out of my front door.  So he says "you can refuse it and we'll take it back," and that's what I did.
Of course I immediately contacted Cymax, they're the middle men between myself and Hooker Furniture, and informed them that they needed to issue me a $2300 credit because the delivery guys refused to take the desk out of the box.  Then I contacted Amazon, because Cymax is one of their 3rd party vendors, and let them know I had not accepted delivery because the delivery guys refused to take the desk out of the box.  Naturally, Amazon notified Cymax about the problem and told them to give me a phone call... which I still have not received.
Later, while texting a friend, he asked if I thought Cymax was really going to take that kind of a financial hit.  They not only lose the sale of the desk, they still have to pay the freight charges.  I know that at my store when something goes this wrong with a delivery, we go out of our way to make it right.  At this point, however, I don't know if there is a way to fix this.  The delivery agent they hired delivers packages, not furniture, and because of that will never take the desk out of the box.

There's bad rain, and bad chairs

Evidently it rained like hell all through the night.
The warnings continue.  Water is about 1.5" in the basement.  I haven't run the pump yet.  I have a stone foundation so what runs in, runs out naturally - no drain.  The map shows dry to the south for a couple hundred miles.  So hopefully, as far as my basement is concerned, things should start to dry out.  Forecast was for the pattern to move to the east starting around midnight last night.  They seem to have been a bit off in their timing.
So, how much rain did we get here?  I put a bag in this Tidy Cat liter container and use it when picking up dog poop.  As you can see, it's nearly full.  figure half of that is from torrential downpours splashing in.  I'd say, locally at least, a good estimate would be between 7 - 8 inches of rain.

And I just checked, the water in the basement is already receding, though it is raining... again.
Because I play video games, I bought a gaming chair.  Sharp and snazzy, lots of bells and whistles: speakers by the head, vibrations to almost think it's kinky and... it doesn't work.

  No sound.  The advertising claim that it was wireless is... well, practically fraudulent.  What you get are RCA (red and white) audio cables to connect to your gaming consoles.  However, newer consoles (those sold since 2015) don't have RCA jacks.  This means you need to use an alternative audio source, like your TV.  My jacks are on the back of my TV and my TV is mounted on the wall - no go in that department.  You can also connect a transmitter to your TV's headphone jack.  That doesn't work either, I mean, it lights up, but transmits nothing.  So, I tried contacting their customer service - what a joke.  I was on their "live chat" for almost an hour and 15 minutes and moved from #2 in the queue to #1.  Calling their customer service was courting failure right from the start.  You get a 'thank you' message for calling, get transferred to customer service where, after 8 rings, you get another message asking you to either leave a message, call back later, or send an email.  I called several times and ran through the same routine every time.  I did send them an email.  After 10 hours I got a response:  "thank you for your email.  We are forwarding your email to our customer service department."  In the end, I contacted Amazon.  They're replacing the chair.  Let's hope this one works.  The company that sold the chair is Ace Casual Furniture.  Buy from them at your own risk.  Oh, and they got a really detailed, bad review on Amazon.

The bread of life

Okay, so yesterday started off great.  I got out my chain saw and cut down an immense Rose of Sharon tree.  Took me about an hour and a half.  Then I started bagging.  West Fairview Township picks up yard waste for free (no grass clippings) as long as it's in a brown bag.  I will have 7 bags sitting on the curb this Saturday.
I was also going to get a ride in... but I dawdled.  You see I had ordered 3 new water bottles and they normally deliver around 2 - 2:30.  Well, they delivered the bottles... and something else... something I didn't order.  Twenty pounds of whole wheat flour.

There was a gift receipt inside from an Internalist down in Delaware, an Indian woman.  Since I have no idea who she is I presumed some mistake had been made.  Being curious, I went to Amazon to find out how you send gifts - evidently some people set up lists for things they want, and you can't just randomly gift someone something by accident.  I don't have a list, however, if someone has my email address they can gift me something.  I told my brother that maybe this was a sign that I should begin baking bread... I don't think he found that too funny... you know?  The religious implications of bread being the Body.
Speaking of my brother, I had breakfast with him yesterday morning - I shot an arrow into his balloon regarding the Idiot Jerk in the White House by telling him the real power behind the thaw in North Korea was the Chinese.  All of the changes we've been seeing started what?  Two weeks after Kim's secret trip by train to see Li?  If you want to find out who the real deal makers are here, look to the Far East.  The Idiot Jerk in the White House?  They're going to play him for everything his bankrupt soul is worth.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to look up a recipe for roti.