Benito Breaks Records!

The warm-up begins today, though you would know that by our outside temp which is sitting at 6 (F). In spite of our current temp, the cold wave is indeed moving away.  Our high today is predicted to be in the upper 20s (F), tomorrow we should be cruising into the mid 30s (F), and by Wednesday we will be sailing in the mid 40s (F).  Since we are still in the season of Cold, temps will fall again, but they will not crash they way they've done over the past month.  This is a good thing.

On Sundays, I always work a full shift.  While I did talk to 3 or 4 people yesterday, mostly I got paid to do laps, and sit on my butt.  Having both the Winter Olympics and the Superbowl on the same day is a retail sales killer.  This was fine.  They did bring in pizza for everyone working.  Being the grazer I am, more than 2 slices were eaten.  I have yet to step on the scale for my Monday morning weigh in.  When I do, I'm sure those of you withing 1000 miles will hear wails of horror.

Mondays mean retail.  My shift starts earlier, at 12, this means I get to leave at 6 PM.  This is fine with me.

And, of course yesterday was the Benito Bowl.  You do know who and what I'm talking about, don't you?  I don't subscribe to Peacock, so I had to watch the record breaking halftime show in snippets.  Believe me when I tell you there were thousands of them, of course nothing beats watching the entire show.  

Turning Point USA did counter program with show that was pre-recorded and lip-synced, but the, would expect anything else from phony Christians than a phony half-time show?

Orangie didn't like the show, but then he hates everything that doesn't kiss his ass.  I was surprised that the Washington Post said the show was filled with "family values."  

There was a time when the Republican party was always singing those two words, "family values."  Now with a probable pedophile in the White House, that phrase has been scrubbed from their vocabulary.  

I saw this morning that the crook Tommy Homan (he's now running ICE since Noem proved she's nothing more than an ugly face in cosplay), said that Orangie's tough immigration policies will fail if American support for them continues to waver and fall.  This is a lesson the administration should learn, but of course to do that they would have to admit they have made a mistake.  Failure will continue.

The Quagmire of Deceit

Our outside temp is 5 (F).  Tomorrow we're supposed to drop below Zero.  Friday and Saturday are stacking up to be the coldest days so far this year.  Next week temps are predicted to climb into the upper 20s (F), so break out the shorts and T-shirts.  No precipitation is predicted, at least nothing that's going to add inches to what's already on the ground.  One good thing is that we're now one third of the way through winter.  Isn't it nice that February is a short month?

I didn't bake or cook anything yesterday.  Dinner was a hamburger made in the air fryer.  That doesn't mean I didn't snack.  I did.  But then I also managed to complete a decent workout with the machine and dumbbells.  I also used a 15 pound kettlebell for upwards thrusts.  Believe me, that gets your heart pumping.  

The only thing Howie likes about the winter is the ice.  It's hard and crunchy, so instead of bringing a stick or a stone into the house, he brings in chunks of ice, like mini-icebergs.  Since they have all sorts of detritus in them, I switch them out with an ice cube from the freezer.  Like me, he has no problem chewing on ice.

While I was putting dishes in the dishwasher two days ago, I banged my thumb up, one of those freaky little things where the left corner of the nail snagged the rack.  What made this so freaky was that I keep my nails short, it's how I was raised.  This doesn't mean that if I see a man with long nails my opinion of him drops... much.  Suffice to say it hurt, and it bled, and I kept a bandage on it until last evening.  Howie has found this whole thing interesting.  This morning he's inclined to sniff my thumb, and on occasion has tried to lick it, and I'm hoping he's not developing some sort of carnivorous fascination for it.

Is this the face of a thumb eater?

A headline that made me chuckle was a report that Tesla is going to stop manufacturing their X and S vehicles, the cars that moved them into the mainstream.  Supposedly Elonia will be focusing on robotic vehicles.  My take is that sales have tanked so badly on these models its cheaper to stop production than take the hit.  Perhaps if Elonia didn't have a billionaire's baby brain things might have worked out better.

And big change of ICE.  Evidently, there's been an "all caps" directive telling them not to interact with agitators.  According to NBC, it took several people over an hour to come up with the exact wording, that's a good indicator of this administration's lack of intelligence.

According to a poll by Fox Entertainment, 17% of the American people do not believe ICE is being aggressive enough. Since this is a pro Orangie propaganda network, that number has most likely been inflated, still that's a terrible amount of racists in this country.

And for someone who demands extreme loyalty, Orangie's discovery of how easy it is to lose those 2nd amendment people must really sting.  What's sad about this is that those people never realized that Republicans were saying they were pro guns just to get votes.  This party has a been a quagmire of deceit for quite some time.

   

Winter in North Carolina

 Holy Crap!  This morning the outside temp in Central PA was 55 (F).  Need I remind you that we are halfway through November and just a little over a month away from the onslaught of Winter.  Wait, maybe onslaught isn't the right word.  At this point it's difficult to tell if we will be dealing with aa barrage of wind, snow and ice.  Last year's winter was colder than the previous 3 years, but that may have been an outlier season.

Climate change is happening, albeit slowly.  Generally speaking, our planet does not change over night, even though Hollywood would like to entertain the world with this idea.  Change has always taken time.

I did work yesterday.  I also did my morning workout.  Two different sets of squats were included:  the goblet squat and some other exercise that doesn't use the word squat, though it does require you to squat.  So, I sent my trainer a message noting that a squat by any other name is still a squat.  He though that... amusing.

As for my job, I got 2 measures, so I hit my goal.  One is going to be a definite purchase, the second is a blind order, and the customers were pleased that our estimate came in at less than another estimate they already had.  I suspect they will purchase, too.  This make management happy.  I also get to work today.  Sundays are always my long days.  We might be somewhat busy in the morning, but televised sporting events will thin the crowd this afternoon.  When it's really slow I work on the book.  To keep you all updated, Eli and Max have just had a conversation on symmetry.  Now, isn't that fascinating.

I'd said I'd made jerky.  It's delicious.  I ended up with quite a bit, so I'm giving a friend at work some today.

Apparently Orangie left Washington for Mar a Lago again.  I'm surprised he doesn't play Workin' for the Weekend all the time.  Of course, he is a show tune kind of guy.  It's my understanding that yesterday the Broadway score of Phantom of the Opera was blaring though out the White House.  Ugh.  

ICE is in the red state of North Carolina and it seems as if the residents are not very happy.  They're protesting.  And this is in a MAGA state.  Honestly, I, for one, would never have expected North Carolina to be a hotbed of illegal immigration.  However, I may be wrong.  There's also the possibility that thimble brained Krist Noem thought the MAGA voters in the state would welcome a para-military organization with open arms.  No one ever accused her of being intelligent.  Anyway, they're there and they are not welcome.  In fact, I don't doubt that cultists in that state believed that the big problems with immigrants were in Blue states and Blue cities.  This is what happens when you listen to a dementiated old man in a red hat.  I guess winter came early down south.

  

Arrested!

 Well, we have a chilly start to Monday.  When I got up, our temp was 58 (F).  The forecast is for things to warm up to around 68 (F) this afternoon, with rain.  Yepper, we're are still in that rain cycle.  More is expected tomorrow.  I work this afternoon so I don't care.  Tomorrow I don't work.  That'll be a bummer.

I do have to get some blood drawn tomorrow morning.  This is for an AC1 blood test which will check my sugar for the past several weeks.  My blood sugar has always been borderline, like my cholesterol and blood pressure, so I have been through this before.  After tomorrow's test, I will most likely be scheduled to have another blood test in about 6 weeks.  That gives me some time to lose weight.  In the past, that has always made things closer to borderline.

Since my plans for yesterday afternoon were canceled, I got in a really good workout.  I'm adding new exercises.  I had a total of 40 sets.  I'm planning on getting in a row before I got to work this afternoon.

On occasion, I do try and take selfies with Howie.  Yesterday's attempt got me a side eye.

As Rex in DC said, Orangie is vindictive as Hell.  Now, I don't know if it's because everyone in the world laughed at his stupid parade, but at some point yesterday he decided that ICE was going to focus on cities run by Democrats.  Though I think most will agree with me that this is mostly Stevie Miller's doing than Orangie's.  After his short speech at the end of his birthday parade yesterday Orangie just stood on stage and had to be told it was time to leave.  I found it amusing that Melanoma gives him a quick Howie side eye.  

And, of course, that Christian Nationalist assassin has been captured.  This is good.  Even better, he's being charged by the state rather than the Federal Government.  This means that if he is proven guilty the Orange Anus cannot pardon him.  Honestly, that was the first thing that went through my head when I heard that the police had made an arrest.  Also, honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if the DOJ attempts to take this case over for that very purpose.  Orangie needs to keep his wack job Christian base happy.

Reaching the Inflection Point

 We did have some rain yesterday, but not much.  What we did have was some serious humidity.  Our temps hung around in the low 80s (F) which meant that things were rather uncomfortable sitting at the flooring desk.  This is because the huge, orange retailer that I work for micro-manages both heat in the winter and the A/C in the summer, and since it's not legally summer yet we have no air conditioned comfort.  So, our customers, as well as the staffing, will suffer through the uncomfortable humidity even if uncomfortable customers do stay in the store for shorter periods of time and buy less.

Except for the 5 hours I spent at work, yesterday was one of those uneventful days.

In Expedition 33, I'm in the Sirene section prepping to kill the 2nd Axon I need to kill in order to progress farther into the game.  

And I have tomatoes!  Sure, they're tiny now, but they should grow to be Big Boys!

And, of course, the shit show expanded to Los Angeles yesterday.  And yes, it did start at the Home Depot in Paramount, California, a Latino suburb south of the city.  The Orange Anus claims to have sent in 2000 National Guardsmen, though the last I saw, there were "no boots on the ground," as they say.  There are Republicans who've had wet dreams about this moment, when they can use force to say "shut up, we're in charge!"  These are people who don't have the faintest concept of America.  They want to turn back the clock to a time when white people ruled the world, well, that's the truth they desperately want to believe.  

I believe we're at this juncture because Democrats thought it was better to take the "high road," that a majority of Americans were with them.  However, by taking that path, they did nothing to push back on the seeds of hatred people like Newt Gingrich were sowing.  Instead of pushing back on the Tea Party, they allowed that minority group's anger to fester and grow.  Instead of shutting down the Republican party, Democrats allowed the constant sniping to continue.  Are we at an inflection point in our history?  Well, I think that's a distinct possiblity.

May the Joy of the Holidays fill you with Happiness!

 The ham is in the oven.  Both Biggie and Lily are keeping guard, they know they'll be getting bones and hammy fat, and probably skin.  This afternoon both will also get cake and ice cream.  Biggie's 8 years old today.  

Here's hoping your lives are as full of happiness and contentment as mine.  

I'm also so glad I don't have to deal with this.

Stay warm.  Stay safe.  And may the joy of the holidays fill you with happiness.  

From the Teat of Republican Hatred

Thursday.  Outside the temp is 31 (F) and we have freezing rain.  Supposedly, this is not going to amount to much.  A glaze, perhaps.  Looking out onto the veranda, there's a lot of shine, but it seems more wet than slick.  I'm not about to go out to see how slippery things are.  I am scheduled to work today.  If around10 ish the roads seem slick, I'll take a personal day.

I went to the dentist yesterday morning to have a filling replace; it was old and had started to leak around the edge making the tooth sensitive to hot and cold.  Well, that's fixed now, however, he wants to put a crown on the tooth.  Well, that's not going to happen.  He didn't like the fact that I'm switching to Blue Cross dental insurance, "they don't pay so we dropped them," he said, "and I'd hate to see you go to another dentist."  Maybe if he didn't charge so much that people need to rely on insurance, there might be no problem.  A really bad fiscal policy is to charge as much as insurance companies will pay.

I found this nifty! The sound of a wind devil on Mars.  This is what it looked like.  Someday we will be walking on this planet.

The Orange Anus is going to make some sort of big announcement today.  There notified the world of this big announcement with an animated video:  him ripping open his shirt to reveal large T (like Superman) while lasers shot out of his eyes.  I'm not posting it.  Very amateurish, possibly hoping to suck Marvel fans into the MAGA cult, some think he's going to announce that Kari Lake is his running mate.  Others believe he might be announcing his intention to run for Speaker of the House.  Still, others think he's going to re-announce his candidacy, since the first announcement floated like a turd in a public swimming pool.  Or, perhaps, he just needs a boost to his ego since recent polls shown DeSantis leading him among the Cracker Jack Crazies.

And then there's this:  Deep controversies in the Republican party are causing serious rifts.  Usually, after a stunning defeat in the midterms, a political party re-evaluates their positions, they pinpoint mistakes which need to be corrected, they understand the need for softening their rhetoric in order to appeal to more centrist voters.  This is not so for a majority of Republicans in the House.  Instead, they are gathering as many dead horses around them as possible:  Hunter Biden's laptop, Fauci's wisdom, disagreeable election results, and they are going to continue kicking them as hard as they can.  For them, this is survival mode; hold onto the base by giving them what they want.  Expect nothing less from the party which has suckled supporters on the teat of Republican hatred for years.  After Trump is indicted, these same people will be desperately searching among the ruins for survivors.

Canary in a coal mine

Holy Crap!  I slept in this morning, not getting up until 0630 and now I'm racing to get things done in time to go to work.
On my Mom - she was moved to another room because she was arguing and yelling at her roommate.  If you don't cater to her, you're always going to be on her shit list; this is how it's always been.  Evidently her dementia is accelerating, she was telling people this AM that she only had one son and he was dead; maybe that's why she always looks so surprised when I walk into her room.
One of the fun things I did yesterday was watch the 6 plus hours of the Paris-Roubaix cycling race from April - on an off, mind you.  It was great!  I'm a Cannondale fan so it was nice to see one of my team on the podium.
And what about the racist Republicans down in Texas?  Don't they make your canaries sing?  Or maybe I should say die.  Miners took canaries as a warning sign with them into mines since gas would kill them first and yesterday they'd have been dropping like flies.  Can you believe that one of those GOP morons called ICE because of protesters?  The asshole's name was Rihaldi.  What was supposed to be a racists celebratory photo op with the Republicans clapping each other on the racists backs has turned into a national embarrassment for the GOP.  Oh, sure, the racists who voted for the Idiot are no doubt jumping around doing their yippy skippy dance, but their numbers are shrinking.
Oh, and one of the Idiot's communications directors abruptly quit yesterday - he's getting his ass off of that sinking ship.
What we really need to do is clear that stinking crowd out completely and start standing up to the Ruskies!
What final note.  I was talking to my friend Betsy last evening and she believes that Trump is the "abomination of desolation."  Not being the religious type, I asked her what that was.  She explained that he is the sign of the 'end of times..' ie "the anti-Christ."  Gimme a break.  I did a little research and evidently quite a number of people have been identified as being the "abomination of desolation," including Barack Obama,  Pope Ratzenberger (?) the current Pope, George W. Bush... and, well, the list goes on and on.  Now, while I believe the Idiot is, by all accounts, an abomination, I know he will be out of office long before he desolates the US... and our allies.  While Republican canaries are starting to die all over the place, every body else's are starting to sing!