Lindsey's Pallbearers

We're under a heat advisory today.  That means I'll be doing as little as possible outside.  One of the forecasts I've seen has us topping off at 97 (F), however, there are others there are others that have us reaching triple digits; either high temp is a good reason for us to stay inside.  Tomorrow and Friday our outside temp is predicted to be in the low to mid 90s (F), after that we're in for a cool spell with daily highs in the upper 80s (F).

One of these days I'll check to see how badly these hot days are effect my electric usage.  The main reason I signed up for the budget plan for both my electric bill and my natural gas bill was because payments were balanced throughout the year.  This worked well.  For years my heating bill stayed at $59 a month.  Then 5 years ago the monthly cost went up to $69.  That lasted 2 years.  Three years ago the cost went up to $79 a month.  Two years ago the monthly charge was $89.  This year, on the budge plan, I'm paying $100 a month.  This is what happens when utility companies become "for profit" entities, when they sanctify 5% growth.  Now I'm going to have to shop around for lower natural gas prices the same as I do for electricity prices.

This is my 2nd week in which I have 4 days off in a row.  Now, while I'm sipping my morning coffee, I need to take a few seconds and ask myself if today is Wednesday, or Thursday.  

And I'm pleased to announce that Lindsey Graham's pallbearers have arrived!

People are wondering why Dementia Don is so fixated with the Georgia electorate.  One of the theories gaining speed is that black voters came out in large numbers and gave the win to Biden.  Hey, that sounds good to me.  Orangie has always been racist and the knowledge that black votes made him a loser would put salt on a wound he's always cherished.  Sitting presidents usually only made nationally televised speeches once a year, the State of the Union, unless there was a national emergency.  In Donnie's head, the Republicans losing the midterms is a horrifying national emergency.  Recent surveys have shown that many MAGA cultists, and by many I mean lots, and lots, and lots, believe that if the Democrats win the midterms Dementia Don will be sent to jail.  While I think that would be simply wonderful, I don't think that will happen.  If and when there is a Blue Tsunami, the first thing he'll do is try and void the midterms by declaring a national emergency.  That will fail.  At that point someone is going to load his 300 pound lard ass into Air Force One and fly him to a safe country, possibly Argentina.  He might even set up housekeeping next to Peter Thiel, who has already read the tea leaves.

Don Lemmon

 Right now our outside temp is sitting at 4 (F).  We'll be warming up to around 19 (F).  Tomorrow is expected to be about the same, though the overnight low might drop below 0 (F).  That's really cold if you're using Celsius.  Next week things are going to warm up a bit, out temps might even pop above freezing.  And just to add a little sweetener to this frigid pot, I got an email for  UGI, my gas provider, that they're requesting and increase in rates.  This is because Wall Street expects them to make a decent profit off selling natural gas.  The water, gas, and electric utilities seem to be requesting yearly increases now.  Their attitude that it's not their problem everything else is going up in price is a big problem they simply do not want to consider.

Yesterday, I left the house and went to the store.  The cold doesn't bother me.  One of the things I picked up was Starbuck's ground coffee at BJs.  I'll give it a shot, see how it tastes.  I did price it out at my Giant Supermarket to see how much of a savings I was getting.  At Giant Starbuck's is on sale, $7.99 for 12 ounces.  I bought a 40 ounce bag at BJ's.  That would be 3.33 bags at 7.99 or $26.60, and keep in mind that is Giant's sale price, it's normally $12 per 12 ounce bag.  I paid $22.49 at BJ's.  I consider that a decent deal.

I did get a good mini-workout yesterday and rode for another 6 miles in Scotland.  I really do like those Scottish rides. Fresh scenery.  Lots of verge. 

Howie brought an icicle into the house this morning.  I switched it out for a much smaller ice cube.

And the Department of Justice arrested Don Lemmon last night because he did his job as a journalist and recorded a demonstration in a Church.  This is a very bad thing, arresting journalists.  We can not go a single day without another Republican atrocity stacking on top of another Republican atrocity.  I'm literally dumbfounded as to how out of touch this regime is to what Americans are thinking right now.  They constantly seem to be patting themselves on their backs congratulating themselves on how special they are.  I do think the people running this administration still believe that massive numbers of Americans will suddenly bow their heads and accept this authoritarianism.  These people don't seem to understand that they're dancing around in this large pool of gasoline and there are lit torches all around them.  At times, it almost seems as though Orangie and his gang are going to push things until they get a pushback.  Stupidly, they don't comprehend how terrible that pushback is going to be for them.

A bit of a bright note was that Congress approved a spending plan that will run until September.  What makes this bright is that the budget of the Department of Homeland Security, which runs ICE, is not included.  Perhaps Congress is beginning to understand that Kristi Noem doesn't need any more plastic surgery.

Sticks

 We have 19 (F) degrees outside, and the expectations are for it to only get a few degrees warmer.  Tomorrow, things are going to heat up a bit, but then we're supposed to have flurries spreading through the area.  Warmer temps are only expected to arrive next week, then we should be up in the 40s (F).

Much was accomplished yesterday.  Normally, on Tuesdays, the day after I've worked for 3 days straight, some things get done, but many of the chores get put off until later in the week.  This was not the case yesterday.  I baked a loaf of bread, cleaned the tank in the living room, prepped 2 pounds of beef so I can make jerky, completed an upper body workout, and that's not all of it.  And last night, I got a really good night's sleep.  That doesn't happen all of the time.

This morning some gent from UGI (my gas company) is coming to change out my gas meter.  The one I have is old.  I don't know if the new one is going to be more accurate, or if it's just going to be a change of color.  Right now, the one in the basement is brown and tech who checked it out 3 months ago told me they don't use brown anymore.

Howie has learned a new game.  He brings a stick or leaf into the house every time he goes outside and then trades his little bit of detritus for a treat, usually a small piece of Puperoni or a biscuit.  I've been savings them because it is kind of cute.  This is what I've accumulated so far.  Today they get thrown out and we'll start again. 

So, Pete Hegseth was questioned by the Senate yesterday as part as his confirmation hearing to run the United States military.  The man is incompetent.  I'd say a majority of the US Senate knows this, however they will confirm him and put him in charge of the largest military force in the world because...?  They want to please the Orange Anus?  When civil unrest happens, and notice that I say when, not if, he will try and use our military to put it down.  I don't doubt that Americans will die.  At some point he will be removed from the position, perhaps by falling out a window.  I don't doubt that a year from now many who voted from Trump will deny doing so.  Wall Street hates chaos, and that is exactly what Hegseth will bring.  There's a good probability the economy will crash.  There are a number of hard line Republicans who hope this happens, believing they are going to rebuild the country the way they want.  That will never happen.  This will be their time of learning.

A Bad Day for Republicans

 Okay, so it's Wednesday.  Again we have sunshine, but then that's not something I reckon I'll get tired of soon.  Let's be honest here, when was the last time you heard anybody wish for a cloudy day?  If the weather people are correct, next week we should be hitting the low 60s (F) for a day or two.  After that, they have us dropping back down to more season temps.

My UGI inspector did his thing yesterday.  A real talkative chap, he felt the need to complain about a customer who needed a police intervention, and even then the inspection failed to take place.  I got to hear how a customer refused to allow him into his house, and waved a pipe at the inspectors, and tried to sic his dog on him.  What happens when the inspector can't do his job?  They turn off your gas.  

Because he managed to get here earlier than I had been expecting, I got in time on both the treadmill and the rowing machine.  I did increase the tension on the rower, moving up a notch to 5, and there was a noticeable difference.  In no time, I had my heart rate up to 130.  I don't know how accurate they are, but according to both the rower and Garmin I burned off 153 calories in 15 minutes.

I signed up for Kinomap, which is an app that lets you select a video you can row to, using down a river, or in a bay.  So, not only will I be riding with Garmin all over the world, I'll be rowing with Kinomap, though mostly in Europe.  I'll have to see if they have any videos of rowing down the Thames.

And, of course, yesterday this happened.

This is the decision I was expecting.  As they Appeals court stated, any other decision would have invalidated the 3 branches of government, and the president would become a dictator.  That is precisely what the Orange Anus wants.  I don't doubt he has wet dreams about being re-elected and then becoming the American version of his blow bro Vlad.  Well, that ain't gonna happen.  He will, as always, appeal to the Supreme Court and they're not gonna touch it.  They will let it stay.  And, if things continue to go as badly for him as they have, his Insurrectionist trial could start in May.  He's trying to get it moved out of Washington, but that's going to be a no go.  

And Nikki Haley came in 2nd in the Nevada primary... 2nd to None of the Above.  Ouch.

Really, yesterday was a truly terrible day for Republicans.  Once again, the House of Representatives, in which they have a slim majority, demonstrated gross incompetence.   You can bet that Trump is behind every one of their bad decisions.  Someone should tell them that everything he touches dies.

If it's Tuesday, this must be my first day off

 Tuesday has arrived and it is sunny, again, just like yesterday and just like tomorrow is going to be. Our forecast isn't changing for the next week or so.  Well, that's not quite right, temps are predicted to slowly rise.  Occasional showers are expected next week, though I'm suspecting that will change.  California is experiencing torrential rains, and they always move east.

Today is going to be an odd day.  UGI (my natural gas supplier) has someone stopping by to check out my gas lines and my meter.  They do this every 2 or 3 years because gas is explosive, and it will kill you if you breath too much of it.  Because all they give me is a window (1200 - 1600), I can't really make any plans.  I don't want to be on the bike, or the treadmill, or be rowing, and have to stop and wait for this guy to tramp down into my basement.

I started watching Feud: Capote vs The Swans last evening, and I was reminded just how much I really disliked him when he was alive.  A lot of people liked his petulance and pretentiousness, but not me.  That being said, I did enjoy the first episode, mostly because I know that his Swans are going to put him through the ringer he so much deserved.  

And of course Main Stream media is talking about the Border legislation that gives the Republicans just about everything they want and how Trump has decided to destroy it because he feels it will make Biden look strong.  Can you hear me laughing.  This sort of tactic works best when it's done in back rooms and out of the public eye.  The mere fact that so many people are reporting this, including Fox, defeats their purpose.  This is just one more pile of shit they should have tried to skirt.  Instead, they jumping right in, probably to see how far they can make it splatter.  

Today is also the day when the Republicans with their miniscule majority are going to try and vote to impeach Mayorkas because of the border crisis they need to keep in chaos.  They need to try and keep at least one iron in the fire.  Oh, wait!  Sudden news Flash!  The GOP has already lost their 2nd vote to impeach him.  Oh, Shit!  Instead of understanding how badly they are making themselves look to Independent voters, they will continue to kick this dead horse because that's the only thing they have to give to their base.

Heat This

 The weather was nice yesterday, but I didn't really spend much time outside.  I took Lily for her walk, hit the grocery store, and that was about it for my adventures out in the world.

Around 1130 the installers from UGI arrived to take out the old  hot water heater and install the new one.  They were in and out of my house for four and a half hours.  Lily was not happy.  She spent most of that time right by my side.  She has never liked strangers.  She has no problem with my friends, but those she doesn't know either get barks, or snake eyes from the staircase, or she'll stay by my side so I can protect her, and the older she gets, the closer she stays to me.  \

One of my friends said I should have let him set me up with a "lead" at the store (he'd get credit for it) and I reminded him that our installs are exorbitant as hell.  We attempt to rationalize this to our customers by touting warranties that really don't warrant the additional cost.  The sad truth is that too many people hate to shop around.  You have no idea how many people walk through our doors and ask if we do installs without taking 5 minutes to sit at their computer and simple Google "water heater installers."  Of course, too many people want to take the easier route even though it's going to steal more money from their bank account. 

For those of you wondering this is what $3085 looks like.  $1700 for the water heater and $1385 for the installation.  Keep in mind, the installers were working with natural gas, and this one 's shorter than the previous heater.  Still, I did tell my friend Jon he might want to take up plumbing rather than become a Physical Therapist.

And speaking of "will wonders never cease?"  Aileen Cannon, Trump's ace judge in the hole, decided against him, telling him he could not set up a special "confidential area" in Mar a Lago to study and review the classified documents he stole.  That's right!  She rebuffed him!  Where is her loyalty!  Doesn't she know she only has one purpose, to insure he stays out of jail?  My feeling on this:  One of her Federalist cohorts took her aside and said "Tootsie, look how the Orange Anus is destroying the Republican Party!  He will do that to us, unless we unite to stop him."  Poor Donnie, it looks like someone has left his cake out in the rain.

The Do Nothing Republicans

 I woke up this morning to rain.  Showers.  There was a 40% chance, but what we're getting this morning may be it.  According to Accuweather, sunshine will push the showers out of the picture sometime this afternoon.  Temps are predicted to start their slow decline into autumn.

When I took my shower yesterday morning, I noticed that the hot water wasn't nearly as hot as normal, steam clouds were not rising around me.  Rather than being hit with a sense of foreboding, I just said "shit."  Like everything else in this world, hot water heaters have a life span that is always shorter than you are expecting.  Most of them have warranties which expire after six years, there's a reason for this, gas water heaters, like man, have a life expectancy of 8 - 12 years.  My lasted 11.  Now, it might just be a circuit board, but the cost of installing a new one, including labor, is pricey as Hell.  Instead of going that route, I'm having a new one installed this afternoon at a cost of $3000.  I guess I'm going to have to skip my next couple bottles of wine.

Being the daring type, I attempted to bake a peach cobbler in a spring form pan yesterday, it didn't work out well for the cobbler.

Am I the only one laughing at Kev McCarthy's faux impeachment (inquiry?)  This man is a wishy-washy incompetent.  A political failure, he needed to promise the Freedom Caucus he would do whatever they wanted in order to get their votes to become Speaker of the House.  Both Trump and the Freedom Caucus are interested in retaliation, so even though they will never get the votes to impeach they will "investigate."  Nancy Mace gave a funny interview in  which she said that they have no evidence of a crime, but they're hoping this impeachment process will provide them with the details they know do not exist.  This will keep their base happy while American watches the Do Nothing Party, do just that, Nothing.

The Big Stick, and how to use it

 And... we... have... snow!  Just flurries at present.  We might get as much as 2 inches!  The dogs will love that.  Looking at the weather map, I doubt very much if we're going to be in the 'your screwed' region, and I didn't get to the liquor store yesterday, so I failed to take that advice.  Honestly, the precipitation event doesn't seem to be entering into the picture.  The temperature drop is.  Our high on Christmas day is forecast to be a balmy 17 (F).  That's the predicted high.  I'll just crank up the heat a bit.  According to UGI, I've used 19% less natural gas this year than I did last year.  The temps have been about the same, so I that's interesting.

Speaking of UGI, one of their guys was next door yesterday for around a half hour.  I suspect he was assessing the furnace, which is very old.  I sent a text to my neighbor across the street who so desperately wants to rummage through the rubbish the previous owner left behind.  She told me she saw a crockpot sitting on kitchen shelf and I asked to myself, why would you want a used crockpot?   I do not understand this need some people have for acquiring things for free; that doesn't make it better.  Free does not equal quality, durability, or long life.  Having a lot of junk does not make you important.

The snow's coming down much heavier now

Only 88 of the 213 Republican members of the House were there for Zelenskyy's speech and 7 of those present refused to stand:  Boebert, Gaetz, Jordan among them.  The Republican party is worse than pathetic.  The authoritarian government they dream of would lead to civil unrest and chaos.  They will never understand until they are taught to respect Democracy.  Taking the high road has only emboldened them.  The time has come for us to speak softly, but use a big stick.  This is the only way they will learn.  

 And what about Trump's taxers.  All those times he said he was being audited?  He lied.  No one should be surprised by this.  Legally, hanging him out to dry will be a good start to swinging that big stick.  Every will be a strike for Democracy, every charge a blow against the authoritarianism too many Republicans endear.  Some will never learn.  To do so would mean they've been wrong, that's a mountain too high to climb for many conservatives climb.

Finally, testifying in court, Sean Hannity has said he never believed The Big Lie even though every night he was pushing that deceit as an authority on Fox News.  I'm betting Sean is scared shitless he's going to be taken to the woodshed.  What a coward, so terrified of the big stick.  

Both Sides of their Mouth

 Well, the snow is beginning to melt.  While cold weather is in the forecast, there are no new storms heading my way.  Overall, this winter has been snowier and colder than last, but not by much.  One decent snow storm, which lasted over 2 days, dropped more snow then we had all of last winter.  Precipitation for the next 2 weeks though looks spotty at best.  

UGI is stopping by this morning to change up something on my meter.  Supposedly, this will make it easier to read.  I can remember when they sent someone by every month to read it, but that was a long time ago.  I haven't seen the actual face of a meter reader in years.

I got a notice on Facebook that one of my cousins is 75 today.  Son of a bitch!!  I had no idea she was that old.  I guess that means I'm no spring chicken either.

Cori handed off the cover art for The Body in the Loch.  Here's a tease.  You do know, I really do like to tease, don't you?  I've started working through the final draft.  

I saw that the failed Republican Party had some sort of late night coffee klatch where the fascist blonde Marjorie, speaking from both sides of her mouth, apologized for her past incendiary remarks.  She's a Q Quack Pot, so you know she's lying.  They also did not reprimand the other bottle blonde Liz for voting to impeach the Trump, of course they had to vote by secret ballot to save her authority.  Reuters details how the GOP is paralyzed by indecision.  They don't see how they can win any elections by pissing off the crazy base, but neither can they see winning any election by not appeasing the moderates.  In other words, they've screwed themselves.  Rather than take a solid stand, they regurgitate spineless word salads about election integrity without providing anything even remotely substantial regarding voter fraud.  Evidently neither side of their splitting party is happy with their inability to make a stand. As they article says, they want to have their cake and eat it too.  But then this is so normal for a party that celebrates liars and conspiracy theorists, and because of this, it maybe a long, long time before they begin to win elections again.

Missing Link

Well, it's Wednesday.  I get to go back to work.  Yippee....
UGI was here yesterday to change out a section of my gas meter, a metal disc about eight inches in diameter and two inches thick.  Mercury, they said.  It took 3 of them:  one to sit on my basement steps and text, one to stand by the water heater and talk on his phone, and a third to do the work.  After they had finished, a 4th probed the ground outside my house for gas leaks.  Believe me, it wasn't that complicated of a job.
I was supposed to go see "Hellboy" last night, but yesterday forenoon, as my grandmother used to say, I started shifting towards another film:  "Missing Link."  It got good reviews while "Hellboy?"  Well, a 15% rating on Rotten Tomatoes is not something to brag about.  Even the fanboys didn't seem to like it.  So, instead of blood and violence, I went to see light drama with the occasional belly laugh and some really amazing stop motion animation.  There is a scene in a ship tossed about by giant waves during a terrible storm that is simply jaw dropping.

Anyway, I saw something yesterday where the Idiot Jerk and his satanic henchies want to change the rules so illegal immigrants can be incarcerated eternally.  There was also an interesting article in the NYT how he's racing full speed to the ultra-right, believing there are enough votes in his base to get him re-elected.  Neither he, nor they, understand.  No one has yet to successfully challenge the idea that Conservatives are stupid.  They have always failed... and always will.
Finally, I got a text yesterday.  The cover art for The Body in the Tower is complete.  I will be picking it up on Thursday.  I'm excited.  I've been told it's really, really good.... and I won't be able to get it until tomorrow.  Shit!

Dig this

Well, yesterday was different.  I finished my yard work, rode the bike (steep hills 7.7% grade) and did some laundry.  My washer and dryer are down in the basement.  So, I'm taking a load of shirts down and smell... sewage.  Not a good thing.  So I look around and towards the front of my basement I have a pool, about 1" deep and about 4 feet across... and it's not mine.  It seems my neighbor's caste iron pipe from the house to the sewer pipe has a crack.  Repairs are hopefully being done today.
This morning was a free weight workout.  For those interested, my workouts usually run at least an hour and involve dumbbells, 12, 15, 20, and 25 pounders.  Today I did 10 sets, or 30 reps, for a total weight of 6732 pounds.  I'm satisfied.
UGI is also digging up my street today.  Flagger Force is out.  The dogs are barking at all of them, telling them to go away.  They just repaved my street last year... and now there are going to be lumpy patches.  For almost 17 years nothing was done, and in the last 3 years we've had a new sewer line put in and now new and improved natural gas lines.... Oh, and today just happens to be garbage day so there's a vehicular cluster fuck going on.
And I'd like to give kudos to John Kelly in reference to his description of the the Idiot Jerk in the White House.  I've been saying all along, he's the Idiot Jerk.  Apparently John's been telling White House staff the same thing, over and over again.  And, of course, the Idiot Jerk is fuming.  He hates being called an Idiot even though he acts like one on a daily basis.
Of course, today I do have to work, which means I'm going to have to wend my way down Cumberland Road in the apposite direction. Yippee!

Relaxation fail

Today is my scheduled 2nd scheduled day off for this week, and as usual, I have spend it doing anything but relaxing.   I say this because, and I know you'll understand, I'm going to go to work tomorrow and someone is going to ask if I had a good day off.  What is a good day off ?  I think it would probably be a day when you didn't have anything needing to be done.  Of course that rarely happens.  Today, for example, I dusted and vacuumed the living room and dining room, did three loads of laundry, took down the summer curtains and put of the winter curtains (their lined) and had a visit from the gas company.  Oh, and I took the dogs for a 45 minute walk up at the park.  And that was just this morning.  Except for the walk with the dogs, none of this was relaxing.

I think the guy from the gas company was here to make sure I wasn't stealing gas.  I came home last week and found a card hanging on my front door.  UGI needed to run a standard check on my natural gas equipment and so I needed to make an appointment.  Today is the day he came, for all of 5 minutes.  Why would they think I'm stealing gas?  Two years ago the furnace which was in the house when I purchased it, died horribly expensive death.  I replaced it with a high efficiency furnace.  The first year my gas bill dropped, of course I'd only had the furnace for a few of the winter months so it was difficult to judge how much I was actually saving.  Last year, the year of the Polar Vortex, I paid $759 to heat 1600 square feet, and that's heat, hot water, and cooking.  Before the new furnace, I used pay about $1500 per year.

Whether this was the reason the gas company needed to pay me a visit I have no way of knowing.  I do know that because my schedule is erratic I needed to schedule this visit on my day off, and by scheduling I mean between 12:00 PM and 4:00 PM.  I have actually scheduled some time off for myself towards the end of October.  By then everything should be winterized.  Of course, by then it will be too cold around here to float around on a lily pad, and walks with the girls my be a big more then chilly.