Extermination Event

While it seems as though we're living in a slow cooker, these unnaturally warm days will pass.  The temp was 66 (F) this morning and is already rising.  We'll hit the low 90s (F).  In fact, this heat will stick with us for next 2 days before temps crash.  Yepper.  The flip side is coming.  Next week we're going to have frost warnings.  I'm suspecting this might just be a teaser for the real heat waves that will be heading our way this summer.

And yesterday was sort of a good/meh day.  I got things done.  But for some reason I felt as though I should take nap, after nap, after nap.  I chalk it up to boredom.  I finished mowing my lawn, and did some other yard work.  The I've started dismantling the retractable garden hose reel to see if I can salvage the hose.  It fell off the outside wall because I mounted it onto the wooden siding beneath the aluminum siding.  Both sidings together are about 2 inches thick and my trusty stud finder wasn't working through the aluminum.  Rather than drill four more holes, I've decided to see if I can take the thing apart and just use the hose.  We shall see.

I did get my workout yesterday.  That was fine.  I'm doing more reps on the leg extensions and the hammer jack curls, so those routines have been adjusted accordingly.  My trainer always sounds impressed when I do these upward adjustments, since it implies I'm getting stronger.  One thing's for certain, I aint' getting any younger.

And I've started Act III on my playthrough of Expedition 33.  The first time was a lot of fun, this is much funner.  I know things now I didn't know before.  The first time I simply wanted to beat the game.  Now I'm going after bosses that hadn't been part of the main storyline and enjoying the fights thoroughly.

For those who missed it, JD gave a speech at a Turning Point USA... well, I guess you might want to call it a small gathering of small minds.  Erika Kirk was a no-show, no doubt because ticket sales were not going to cover the cost of her pyro-technique entry.  So JD was left to face this.  Less than 25% of the seating had been sold.

And in the shit you can't make up category, we have Petey Hegseth  reading a made-up Bible verse from the movie Pulp Fiction thinking it was from... the Bible, now known as the gospel according to Quentin.

Rather loud whispers are saying that the Republican party is flipping out behind closed doors because Orangie's, and JD's attacks on the Pope are going to hurt them in the mid-terms.  They whining that Orangie is getting bad advice from certain people, like Petey.  Well, they're the ones who approved these people.  That's right, they voted for Orangie to make Petey the Secretary of Defense, and all of those other Christian Nationalists.  And Orangie is never going to give up on those crazy cultists because they make him something he's always wanted to be, a god.  So, when they tell him that the Pope is his enemy, he's going to believe them.  This means we should expect the attacks to continue.  If they hadn't been so power hungry the upcoming losses might have been avoided.  Now, the Republican party might actually be looking at an extermination event.

Foundering

Saturday was nice and sunny with the temps in the low to mid 60s (F) and a nice Spring day was had by almost all, not me though, I worked.  Today we're going to be a few degrees warmer.  It's going to be sunny again.  I also work again this afternoon.  

Our flooring department is not busy.  Our garden department?  Like a big sponge it's sucking in customer cash.  Lots of buckos are flowing into our registers... or maybe not so much cash since many people no longer carry greenbacks.  Now they mostly just whip out the plastic.  Seriously though, I will admit to being astounded when I looked at the financials just before leaving.  Our garden department alone made more than the entire store's plan.  That's a hell of a lot of mulch.  While customers were buying other things, yesterday mulch was king.  We have something called a mulch pit consisting of hundreds of pallets of mulch lining a lane wide enough for a truck to drive down.  The store walkie-talkies were constantly going off, "assistance needed in the mulch pit."  Customers were buying 20 - 30 bags of mulch at a time.

Speaking of mulch... I don't.  I have too many squirrels.  I mulched one year and they dug it up and carried it all over the lawn.

For the most part, I'd say that yesterday was just like every other Saturday.  I was supposed to get a bike ride in but did a mini workout instead.  Otherwise, the day was interchangeable with every other Saturday over the past several years.

Oh, and this is why everyone was lining up for mulch.

As expected, ceasefire talks between us and the Iranian's broke down.  Was it because the Iranians showed with the wrong style couch?  Even though that's a rather amusing thought, I doubt that's the explanation.  More likely Vance's incompetence at negotiation is too blame, that and the fact that he was with a real estate agent and Orangie's son-in-law.  The only thing those two are interested in is striking a deal that will enrich themselves.  Remember, with Orangie, everything revolves around the deal.  Also, keep in mind that he is not the wheeler dealer he claims to be.  His problem is that he approaches every deal with one line of thought in his head, "what's in it for me?"

There's a big election in Hungary today.  Viktor Orbin might finally be voted out of power.  He's a Putin henchie, who's been ruining Hungary for over 15 years in order to kowtow to his boss.  If, for some terrible reason he wins, a majority of Hungarians will know that he cheated and will rise up.  I do not think his government is prepared for that.

And finally, Orangie's ship of fools is foundering even more.  He flew down to Miami to go to a cage match and people booed him terribly.  Fox Entertainment said he got a raucous welcome, trying to spin it positively.  Patrons recorded the hostility on their phones.  His base is shitting itself into tiny little pieces.  He's a lot like his budso Vik, who's ship is going down fast by the bow.

Wrecked

We finally have some Spring weather on tap for today.  The high is expected to be in the mid 60s (F).  Same thing for tomorrow.  Monday, our high is expected to be in the low 70s (F).  This is how a transitional season works, slowly raising the temps.  Going from winter to summer in three short weeks as we did last year is not good.

And yesterday was a pretty good day.  Things were done.  A ride was done on the bike.  I had been planning on doing a short strength training session, but because the weather was so nice, did lawn work instead.  There is a lot that has to be done and the temps are warm enough to do it.  I will do my raised container garden again.  Hopefully things will work out better than last year.  I think I got about 6 tomatoes and one cucumber in total.  I'm going to be planting sunflower seeds this year, too.  That'll keep the squirrels happy, and squirrels running through the yard makes Howie happy.  

I do get to go into work today.  My measure goal for this week is 3, I'm fairly certain that's not going to happen.  Inflation has ticked up.  Smart people think about that before purchasing large expense installations.  The money to pay over $4 for a gallon of gas has to come from somewhere.  While there are some out there who would rather walk on new expensive flooring rather than eat a decent meal, they are few and far between.

And, of course, this happened yesterday.  This takes me back to my childhood and watching capsule's splash down on a black and white TV.  This would have been news that rocked the world, if it weren't for the asshole in the White House.

The only way his ego could have given this any decent amount of praise would have been if his orange ass had been in the capsule.  Thought, let's be honest here, if that had been the case, the astronauts would have kicked his ass out the door on the far side of the moon.

So, there's this little meeting going on in Islamabad.  It's about giving the Middle East some semblance of peace.  That's going to be difficult.  Bibi, the War Criminal, is, like the Orange Anus, going to do anything and everything to keep his ass out of jail.  He doesn't care how many civilians he has to murder.  In his mind, his ass is more important than their lives.  He is truly a wrecked human being.

The Iranians demanded Vance be involved instead of the real estate guy and Orangie's son-in-law, who are only interested in making a deal that benefits their bank accounts.  This doesn't mean that Vance is even close to being a skilled negotiator.  However, the Iranians know that if the dangle the right couch in front of him, he'll agree to every one of their demands.

And I don't know if this happened or not, and if it did happen, when it happened, but I got a notification letting me know Fox Entertainment quickly cut away from the Orange Anus just as he was saying the Iranian army has been defeated.  They're one of the main groups responsible for this mess.  Don't think it means they're going to put a cork in it.  Nope.  They're just going to be much more careful about the propaganda they put out.

Trump and Racism

Today's high is not going to make it out of the teens.  16 (F) is the predicted high.  And we have blustery winds, too.  After that, things will begin to slowly warm up.  Honestly, I'm looking forward to warmer days.  For those counting, Spring is 40 days away.  Mark March 20 on your calendars.  

I'd say yesterday was pretty much a meh day, but that isn't true.  I finished the first draft of The Body in 4:4 Time.  This morning I will print a copy off and begin reading through the manuscript.  I suspect this will be the longest book I've ever written.  That's because there are two stories being told, one in the early 1980s and the second in the present.  Things will happen in the past that will effect things that are happening in the murder investigation, things that only the reader will know.  

Otherwise, most of yesterday was spent on rather mundane stuff.  I'm changing out the caulking around the shower, so I worked on the for a bit.  I made some chicken and potato stew, that will serve as lunch tomorrow when I work a full day.  Today I will finish of the rest of the moussaka.  

And yes, I do work today.  Joy of... well, let's just say I'll be sitting at the flooring desk for 6 hours this afternoon.  Today, being the first Saturday of the month means our lumber department will be taken over by around 300 kids; today is Kids Workshop.  Though with the brutal cold, there might only be 200.  You see kids get a small apron and a little project for kids to build and there are those parents who will take their 4 and 5 year-olds out in any weather if they know they're going to get something free.

And so much was happening on the political stage yesterday.  The Winter Olympics began.  If you watched the ceremonies live, you got to see the American team getting cheered, however, JD Vance was jeered from an International crowd of spectators.  

Orangie was hit hard by the critics for posting a racist video of the Obamas as monkeys.  Rasmussen College and it's conservative polling group, put out a daily poll.  Being conservative, they have always given Orangie higher ratings than other polls.  According to yesterday's poll, which was taken prior to the release of the video, on 27% of the country strongly approved of Orangie's job performance.  That number represents the hardcore Republican haters.  That number includes the White Supremacists, and the Christian Nationalists, and every other racist hater who wants to bow down and kiss Orangie's ass.  Like Orangie, these people are weak.  They will TACO every time he does.  They will sit in the shadows and brood about things like pronouns, and skin color, and the shrinking white American population.  They have always been in existence.  Orangie's hatred allows them to wear their prejudice as if it were a badge.  They do not understand they represent a weakness that can easily be dispatched.

the Pupsicle

This 54 (F) temp this morning is again a bit warm for October.  The Nor'easter we were warned about stayed mostly to the east of us.  We did get some rain, but nothing like they along the eastern seaboard where they got inches in a few hours.  Today's temp is supposed to climb up into the low 70s (F), but then it drops back down into the mid 60s (F) for the rest of the week.  We are, I supposed, officially in Autumn.

I did work yesterday and sold a lot of flooring, and got both a lead and a measure.  I also had my monthly review.  When I was told I did hit my goals I simply said, "you can't get blood out of a rock."  I could care less if she was unamused, which she was.  We also had, at 2 different times, Great Danes visit the department, they are such nice dogs!  We also had a knucklehead walk through with a pistol holstered to his belt; he evidently needed to brag about having a license to open carry.  People like him will never realize carrying a gun in public says more about his shortcomings than anything else.

I watched the last episodes of Boots last night, what a great show.  David Sedaris calls it Full Metal Jacket with humor and I have to agree, except unlike Full Metal Jacket there is no bloody suicide.  It does present an outstanding picture of the fears gay military personnel had over being court martialed and dishonorably discharged, something that ruined many LGBTQ lives.  The show is getting raves on Social Media and has reached #3 on Netflix's most watched list.  It ended with a number of cliffhangers, including George H. Bush announcing that military personnel are being sent to the Middle East for what will become Desert Storm.  Will there be a season 2?  Sony Pictures seems to think so.

Howie got a new toy: a pupsicle.  He wants me to throw it, however it's solid rubber and weighs about 2 pounds, and doesn't bounce.

Of course many, many people were talking about George Stephanopoulos shutting down Just Dancin' Vance yesterday.   He was not happy.  Does anybody care?  He was never really a good bullshit artist, they have to have at least a modicum of charisma.  Just Dancin's just too... pompous.  He reeks of snot nosed superiority.  

And Orangie is in Israel.  People are posting clips of him sitting there, looking like he's about to nod off.  Evidently he didn't get any sleep on the flight over.  He's supposed to give a speech.  I wonder how much of it will be about him, since he's his own favorite person in the world.  

Reaping the Rewards of Hatred

 So, our weather seems to have edged into a cooling pattern... sort of.  Our outside temps are a mite cooler today, and our high is predicted to climb into the low, low 80s (F).  Tomorrow things are supposed to be more on the chill side, but only for a day.  Thursday we should be heading into another mini-warmup.

Yesterday was slow.  I didn't get any workouts in.  Words were written, but not many, and I did work.  As I expected, my supervisors did give me my monthly mini-review.  I hit none of my goals for last month.  Of course, now I'm also working less hours.  Of course, the big heads in corporate don't see that as a workable excuse.  There is no excuse.  In fact, I hit none of the goals they had me set.  I told her that reaching goals is dependent upon customers, if there isn't any foot traffic in the department, goals are simply not going to be reached.  Her only comment was a thin, sarcastic smile.  She, at 60+ years has ambitions to get into management, so she will tow the company line.  This is something I simply cannot comprehend, trying to climb the corporate ladder so late in life.  Not that there's anything wrong with having the ambition, however the older you get the more you want to reap the rewards of your earlier ambitions.  At 60+ years she should be anticipating her salad days, not a salaried, 50 hour a week schedule.

For those interested, this is what the oregano on the window sill in my kitchen looks like.

Yesterday Just Dancin' Vance was in charge of Charlie Kirk's podcast and, as expected, he made inflammatory remarks.  Even Stevie (I play with dolls) Miller got into the act.  They are going to crack down far left organizations.  These losers need to take advantage of every situation presenting itself to them to spread their anger and hatred.  They believe the rewards they reap from vilifying every one who disagrees with them will be great.  These people are so stupid, but then this has always been the case with far right.  They have never been able to read the room.  Take for example the Turning Point USA podcast.  There are approximately10 millions followers worldwide.  Should I repeat that for you?  Approximately 10 million followers worldwide.  Taylor Swift has more followers.

Even though his comments did make national headlines, Just Dancin was basically only singing to the choir.  Interestingly enough, Nicky (glug glug 9000) Fuentes was on his podcast almost simultaneously telling all of his Groyper followers that Just Dancin was a big, big problem.  That's right, the far right was being attacked by far, far right.  These people simply do not understand that in the scheme of things, that although they might have big fins, they are very small fish.  They will truly reap what they sow.

Broken

Well, we had rain on and off yesterday.  Misty rain.  Drizzly rain.  Steady rain.  There were no cloudbursts and nothing torrential, when it falls in sheets across the highway.  Temps stayed in the lower 70s (F).  We have the same forecast for today.  Tomorrow things are supposed to brighten up, however if our long range forecast stands, it looks as though summer's quickly moving out of the picture.

And how can I describe yesterday?  There were highs and lows.  The highs were good and the lows weren't really that low, more like a heavy sigh that says "you've got to be kidding me."

The high:  I've mentioned how my neighborhood Giant supermarket was out of walnuts, so I went to my brand new BJs wholesaled discount store.  Their walnuts are... our you ready for this?  2 pounds for $9.99.  Giant's price was $7.49 for one pound.  So I bought 4 pounds for $18 and change.  That should last me for a while.

The low:  At 12:55 PM UPS dropped off my new printer.  I moved the box into the writing room and began unpacking. Once unpacked, I moved the printer to its proper place and began the process of pulling off all the tape according to the instructions.  When I lifted the scanner lid to remove the foam insert I discovered that the scanner glass was broken, and said, "you have got to be kidding me."  Mind you, there were no obscenities.  Not even a simple, "oh, shit."  What I did do was go to my laptop and start a chat with their customer service.  That led to a phone call, which led to an email with pictures.  The printer has been packed up and is now sitting in my living room.  Xerox will let me know when it's going to be picked up.  I was told the process will take between 3 and 7 days.  Here's a pic.  I'm thinking that sometime during transit it was dropped.

Anyway, I ended up spending little time on social media because my focus was on my printer issues.  Honestly, it seems to me that yesterday was a low profile day for the Orange Anus.  About the only thing worth mentioning was Just  Dance Vance and Petey Hegseth getting booed and hissed at while walking through Union Station.  There was so much unmitigated bile being thrown in their direction.  There were people loudly shouting "couch fucker!"  Can we talk about misreading the room.

And this just in:  Orangie's overall approval rating has dropped to 39%.  That's just his overall rating.  I haven't seen any specifics yet on how that breaks out.  Last week is approval rating on the economy was down to 37%; that has probably dropped since he's evidently pulling a TACO with some of the European tariffs.  His ratings are in a death spiral because he's an idiot.  His bragging about being a great negotiator got the carpet ripped out from under it because of his Alaskan fiasco.  He left the European leaders sitting for an hour so he could go call his boss and that's not good.  Everybody needs to start reminding themselves that everything Orangie touches dies.

Trump and the AI

 My, didn't that weekend zip by so fast?  Outside, our temps are a comfortable 71(F).  That's fine with me.  Even better, there is not a drop of rain predicted in today's forecast and our high temp is only supposed to be in the mid 80s (F).  We have the same forecast for tomorrow.  This is quite doable.

My first load of laundry for the week is done and is hanging out on the drying rack.  I've not been able to do this for some time because of the frequent rains we've been getting  The less I use my dryer in the summer, the happier I am.  My only issue is with the mosquitoes.  The instant I stepped out the door I was swarmed.  The way I see it I have 2 choices:  wear sweatpants outside during the summer, or invest in some insect repellent.  Were I one of those people who spends hours and hours outside then a bug zapper would also be put into that mix, however I'm only outside a few hours a week so buying one would be a waste of money.

Work yesterday was slow.  Our plan has been lowered for the summer so we might have hit it.  I wasn't really paying that much attention.  On days when it's slow, I go into wordpad and write.  Somedays I can get quite a lot of words written.  Yesterday was one of them.

There was a charge for an additional line on my T-Mobile account this morning.  If they're going to charge me for an additional line and the $55 a month for the internet, this no long becomes a good deal.  I will have to talk to them in order to get this issue resolved.

Overnight Orangie has been posting different AI videos of Obama getting arrested, or in jail epitomizing how much he truly hates our first black president.  I find it interesting that he has always put a token black person in his cabinet and that token usually ends up being a corrupt Christian, an individual who believes he was put into that position to get as much free shit as possible.  Orangie does this in an attempt to influence people of color, hoping they run out and vote for him.  Sadly, there are people dumb enough to believe this, but then there are a large number of dumb people in Ameica and a majority of them are white.

One of the things that went through my head when I saw that JD Vance met with Murdoch in a hush hush meeting was succession.  Now I'm seeing more and more people are looking at that and thinking the same thing.  Could that be why Vance is out of the country so much on vacation, so that he's clean when it comes to not only the Epstein shit, but everything else that's piling up on Orangie?  The big, beautiful bill has already been signed into law, so at this point Orangie is useless.  Vance is far less popular among the cultists than Orangie, and this Epstein shit show has really begun to divide them.  Hhhmm.  Interesting. 

Pig in Shit

 The weather today is supposed to be superb.  Our high should be in the mid 70s (F) with partially cloudy skies.  We have the same forecast for tomorrow.  I always have off Tuesdays and Wednesdays.  Sadly, we have the same forecast for Thursday and unfortunately I have to work.  I'm thinking that maybe I should take some sort of Spring sabbatical or something so I don't have to go to work.

I did work yesterday.  Someone purchased a big ticket window install, otherwise we would not have made plan.  Unless I was exceedingly comfortable financially, there is no way I would make any large purchase right now.  I had a conversation with my supervisor in which I told her that sales are going to continue to slow down as prices go up, and more and more people become concerned.  Her response:  "well, that means you're just going to have to work harder."  Did you hear me laughing?  They have me scheduled to work at the Lead Generating table on Sunday.  Yippee.  Out of curiosity, I did go in to check to see if any of the leads they'd been generating with the table were actually selling.  Nope.

Howie has decided he's not going to eat his Beneful dog food.  That's a problem since I just had another large bag delivered by Chewy.  He eats everything else, treats, snacks, bananas, blueberries, but not his dog food.  I'm going to need to start monitoring him when he's outside to insure he isn't supplementing his diet with sticks, and grass, and plants.  I have a friend whose daughter's dogs like to chow down on fireplace kindling.

And you never know when a bolt of lightening might save your life.

I saw this morning that Thailand has put tariff negotiations with Orange Anus on hold until certain issues have been resolved.  Vietnam has already told the administration they want zero for zero tariffs, that means no tariffs at all, and I believe Switzerland has made the same decision.  Let's be honest here, the Orange Anus has managed to, trade wise at least, united the world against us.  Everyone knows he has put himself in the unenviable position of aggressor, and everyone knows how easily he will cave.  They're just holding out until he accepts the offers they're going to make.

After causing the Pope to have a stroke, I see that J.D. Vance has moved onto India.  His wife is Indian, so he might get a better reception there than he's been getting from the other countries he's visited.  Of course, he has converted to Catholicism, so they might tolerate his wife, and ignore him.  I don't think anyone sees him as a serious negotiator for... well, anything, except for chaise lounges and loveseats. Wait until he finds out the Indian mascara he uses comes from China.

And Orangie's approval rating has dropped to 42%.  Frankly, my dears, I don't think he gives a damn about his approval rating.  As long as he has his toadies and sycophants surrounding him, he's happy as a pig in shit... which is pretty much the truth.

Betrayal

 While the weather here in Central PA is moderate, the mood is stormy.  Marched came in like a lamb, for those of you who remember that saying.  Does this imply that it's going to go out like a lion?  We shall have to wait and see.

And yesterday was quiet.  I didn't shop.  I didn't buy anything on line, hey, I didn't even browse.  Sadly, I didn't use the time to do anything really constructive.  I did cook a nice chicken dish for dinner, and last evening I played Skyrim.  It is escapist.  Let me tell you, there is nothing more satisfying to killing orcs, and bandits, and daedras is a good way to release pent up frustrations.  Sometimes I use a Dwarven great sword to lop of heads, other times I use a mace and throw fire balls.

I do get to go to work today.  I'm interested in seeing if we made our plan yesterday.  The area around me is rather conservative, so whether enough people stayed home might be questionable.  I did see that Wall Street gained a bit, but not enough to offset losses.  Yes, February was a losing month for all of those owners of stocks and bonds.  And on Tuesday, the tariffs kick in because we have a moral degenerate in the White House who's referencing 1880 when validating his belief in tariffs.

Of course, Orangie and Vancey Pants, following Putin's order, created a scene in the Oval Office... and the world was shocked.  A telling fact is that Tass, Russia's national media arm, managed to get a reporter into the press pool and if not for the eagle eye of Reuter's reporter would have been broadcasting live to Russia; they knew what was planned and they were prepared.  It's nice to know that the White House had to scramble, claiming there had been a mix up, before the Tass reporter was expelled.  Isn't it interesting that the Russian national press can get in but the Associated Press can't?

Except for the MAGA cultists, Americans see this as a betrayal, siding with Orangie's blow bro Vlad instead of Democracy.  Condemnation was universal on social media, except for the cultists who demanded an apology.  Good luck with that.  Here's a short list of those reviling Orangie's attack.

One of the things that stood out to me in this ambush of Zelensky was Orangie's comment about being a business man (can you hear me laughing?)  He might be very good at laundering Russian Rubles, but when it comes to business his history of failures is long.  His startup businesses have all failed badly after the initial grift is earned.  

On Tuesday, Orangie's tariffs are going to kick in and our trading partners, the countries we've traded with if not for decades, than for centuries, are going to go elsewhere, you know?  Like the waiting arms of China.  What we do import, will be at a much higher price, and our exports will diminish.  It's going to get very expensive fast.  The world is going to punish us and their ain't no stoppin' it.  We are racing towards the FO stage of American political evolution.

Knock, Knock, Knocking

 It's Wednesday and most of the rains have passed.  We may get a shower this afternoon, but the steady, soaking rains have moved on.  Temps are still predicted to be cool, in the mid 60s (F).  Tomorrow they're supposed to warm up into the 70s (F), now won't that be nice?  I did turn on my heat and set it at 70 (F).  This is what I did last year at this time and let it sit at the temp until spring arrived.  

As I said, the rain as stopped for the most part, now all we need is for these cloudy skies to move away.

I put out a mousetrap last night and got nary a bite.  Maybe he moved on.   I doubt it.  Mice don't suddenly move on.  They make nests and raise mousy families. 

My new chair arrives today.  According to the tracking app they sent me it should be here between 10:30 and 11:30.  That will be one less thing to think about.  I'm interested in seeing how well it fits into the design of the writing room.  Don't worry, there will be pictures tomorrow.

There was a debate last evening and, as usual, I didn't watch it.  I was too busy playing the DLC (Down Loaded Content) for Bethesda's game Starfield.  The recommended level is 35, I'm only at 23, but this is my 3rd playthrough, so even though I'm at a lower level, I'm pretty much immortal.  The intro was pretty intense.  I liked it.  For most of it you're in Zero-G  in a Va'Ruun space station.  Playing a FP (First Person) shooter while weightless is pretty freaking awesome!  I will get to find out if everyone in the settled systems does, in fact, worship The Great Serpent.

And, of course, there was a debate last evening.  Every review I've seen has said it was civilized, with only tempers flaring on one or two occasions.  A number of Main Stream Media outlets note that they turned off Vance's mic at one point when the subject of Springfield, Ohio, came up.  I understand that got his dander up and he voiced his disapproval noting that he'd been told there wasn't going to be any fact checking.  Rolling Stone was the only outlet I saw where they said that both Vance's and Walz's mics were turned off on at least one occasion.  Was Vance close enough to the center to save Trump's flailing campaign?   At this point, I don't think there's too much anyone can do to save it.

There are some saying that the Longshoreman's strike is the October Surprise.  Nope.  That's Republican wishful thinking.  Revelations from Jack Smith's indictment will be the real spoilers for Donald Trump, and his very public meltdown will horrify the American people.  Karma is knock, knock, knocking on his front door.

What's the Buzz

 I though yesterday was going to be the end of the hot days, well, I was wrong.  Today's going to be hot, too.  Mid 90s (F) again, with once again the threat of possible thunderstorms this afternoon.  This is pretty standard August weather..

Because it is going to be so hot again today, I'm going to gamble and hang at least some of my laundry out on the rack to dry.  Those high temps will evaporate the moisture rapidly, and my clothes will have that fresh, clean scent.  

Our new store manager arrived yesterday, and when he saw me, he gave me a big hug.  We've known each other for over 15 years, and as I've said, he worked to get promoted and I was happy where I was.  While this does give me some access to his ear, I don't expect to be his confidante.  Though I will admit to being more than a little pleased that the Assistant Manager who gave me the difficult time was standing behind me watching the two of us talk.  He smiled bigly.  It doesn't hurt to have him believe his new manager my be sympathetic to my complaints, should I have a few.

And then I saw this:

I just read that JD Vance is the Sarah Palin of Dan Quayles.  

Of course, there's a lot buzz going around about RFK finding a dead bear cub alongside the road, tossing into his car thinking he might take it home and cook it.  This man needs to watch what he says to reporters on video.  His following up that comment by telling the reporter he changed his mind and dumped the body in Central Park went over just as poorly.  His then pondering aloud, "I wonder if that's where I got my brain worm?" is not a hallmark of sanity. 

And the buzz is that Kamala's chosen her Vice President, and that he knows.  The buzz should be about how well she and her team know how to play the media.  I don't doubt that decision was reached sometime ago, but it pays for her to create tension.  She wants people sitting on the edge of their seats, and that's what they're doing.  Thank you Main Stream Media for making this headline news that takes the attention away from the Orange Anus.  Every second he's not in the headlines is like a bamboo sliver under his fingernails.  This is also a good indicator of how united the Democrats have become.  Everyone is on the team.  This is proven by the VP candidates who are constantly mocking and deriding both Vance and Trump.  They will keep this up and other voices will be joining in.  We are a movement that is growing daily.  

Trump Has No Balls

 Yesterday was... not quite meh, but not terrible.  The temps climbed into the mid 80s (F) and the humidity dried up a bit.  There was supposedly a threat of thundershowers, but that amounted to nothing.  Clouds came and went, and I hung 2 loads of laundry outside to dry.  No worries.

There's already a load of my brightly colored T-shirts hanging on the drying rack.  I'm loving this summer.

So, I've been debating if I want to give up my Xbox Game Pass.  They just raised the price, and with tax (there's always tax) it's $20 a month.  There would be value in this if I were downloading and playing lots of games, but I'm not, there are very few studios that I follow.  Besides, most of the games being produced are geared for young adults, or Teens, and are uninteresting.  I also don't see many games coming out that I feel a desperate need to play.  

And, the Paris Olympics begin today, and rather than build brand new venues, Paris is going to be showcasing what's already there.  There will be rowing on the Seine!  How exciting is that!  Fencing at Versailles!  Of course, Parisians will be upset because of delays, and crowds, and the changes that are happening.  I've met Parisians and they are very difficult to satisfy.  In a week's time, this will all be in the past and Paris, and France, will be much better off financially.

And the coward Trump will not be debating Kamala Harris.  No surprise there.  I laughed at the bit where he says the Democrats are in chaos.  

The truth is that Donald Trump has always been a coward.  The instant he has to "put up, or shut up," he chickens out.  This old man is terrified.  I don't doubt that even the idea of standing on the stage next to a smart black woman has him cowering in his boots.  And, as always, he's trying to place the blame on someone else.  Honestly, if he truly wants to be president he should see this as a challenge.  Can you hear me laughing.  I'm surprised he didn't try a "well, I'm too busy with my campaign to debate" excuse.  The Republican party just took a major hit because many of their voters who are sitting on the fence will now just stay home.  He's a weak man who has always depended on the balls of his attorneys to survive.

And what is all this stuff about JD Vance having sex with a sofa?  He definitely is not out to impress the ladies, is he?

Lessons

 Monday.  The heat dome is gone... supposedly.  Daily highs are predicted to hover in the mid to upper 80s (F).  I can deal with that.  During last weeks high temps, the window unit in the bedroom seemed to struggle at times.  It is over 4 years old, and honestly, I have no idea how long a window unit is supposed to last.  I also realized I should have a thermostat on the 2nd floor to regulate the Central Air.  my downstairs was comfortable, while the 2nd floor would have gotten stinky winky without the window units.

I worked yesterday.  8 hours.  It was boring.  It was the 4th day without our sales figures being updated, so no one knew how well, or how poorly they were doing.  The store figures updated, but our sales figures didn't.

Because the necessary people weren't working yesterday, I didn't get to tell them that I went with Aspen Home Improvement for my windows.  In some odd way, I'm really looking forward to giving them that news.  It's nice to strike out against corporate greed in the names of all those  Mom & Pop hardware stores that were shuttered into non-existence.

I've hit 2 glitches in my replay of Fallout 4, and so, at least temporarily, I've changed to games to Lords of the Fallen, another RPG.  As a result, I spent an hour last evening learning new controller mechanics.  This is a good thing.  Learning creates new neural pathways.  Never stop learning.  

And I suppose everybody knows Justin Timberlake was arrested for DUI.  The young officer who pulled him over had no idea who he was, so Justin is learning a difficult lesson.  Because Justin refused a breathalyzer test, we'll never have any idea just how drunk he was, that, in itself is a pretty good clue as to how intoxicated he was.  Anyway, I don't know his name, but this is the young officer who became a teacher to Timberlake.

And, supposedly, Kristi Noem hasn't received vetting paperwork for the VP position.  Can you hear me laughing?  This bimbo, who went full Trumper in her attempt to get selected, never had a chance, and it wasn't because she shot her dog.  Look at her.  She never realized that the dyed, long hair that supposed to make her look like she's 21, was all wrong.  She should have gone for the porn star look.

Who will be Trump's VP pick?  Well, he no longer has to appeal to the Evangelicals since so many of them have already sold him their souls.  Rubio might help him rack in the Hispanic vote.  Vance might help him rack in the white, hillbilly trash vote.  And Burgum?  He's quite and unassuming.  Supposedly it's between one of these three, so what you really need to do is ask yourself which one is most like Pence?  Which one will disappear into the woodwork?  has anybody learned their lessons?

Pennsylvania Politics

 We've had over 24 hours of rain.  The forecasters are not calling for it to end until early this afternoon, about the time I head off to work.  At that point, the sun is going to slowly appear, the temps will slowly creep up, and the grass will begin to grow like hell.

Today is also the first day of Kids Workshop, and, as I said, it's raining.  I have no idea how many parents show up with their kids, prior to Covid it was not unusual to get between 250 and 300.  That place is going to be a mess, which is why I'm no longer available to work before 1 PM on Saturdays.

Because yesterday was rainy, I found myself doing very little... other than snacking my way through the day.  Not a good thing.  I didn't step on the treadmill, didn't climb aboard the bike.  Instead, I puttered around trying to take selfies with the dogs.  If I'm standing up, they listen.  If I'm sitting on the floor, they do not.  With that being said, here's a very rare photo of me and Biggie.  Word of warning, this might burn out a lot of pixels in you monitor.

Evidently the Orange Anus had a rally yesterday out near Pittsburgh... in the rain, for Dr. Oz.  The cultists were not enthusiastic.  The local police were supposed to help with security, but that got canned.  Usually they will run the metal detectors, however his team wanted them to actually be security, however their attorney axed that fast.

It was supposed to help Dr. Oz. who's not too popular among the MAGA base being that he's a Muslim on top of being an alien, well, not quite an alien, he has dual citizenship.  It seems as though the Republicans are grating themselves to pieces in Pennsylvania.  Good.

One on the speakers yesterday was JD Vance, the Trump backed, hillbilly author, who just won the Republican nomination for senator in Ohio.  People pointed out that it was Trump's candidate that won, but those people should probably hit the brake pedal.  Vance ended up with a little over 340,000 votes, however, over 680,000 Republican voters in the state of Ohio cast their ballot for someone else.  Someone needs to tell the Republicans Vance did not have a stunning victory.

And, finally, yesterday Clarence Thomas said that Americans need to stop bullying government intuitions.  This makes him look like a hypocritical piece of shit after his fat wife tried to bully Congress into decertifying the election.  Isn't it time we flushed this turd?

Fallout

 Well, yesterday was... different.  After dropping off my car at the repair shop, I was chauffeured to Enterprise to pick up my rental.  I had already decided that I would ask for an SUV; I hate sitting low to the road.  My agent, a young man named Sean who looks very much like a shorter version of my friend Justin, who's 6 feet 6 inches, surprised me with my options, which were limited.  That's right, there was not a great selection.  What I ended up with was this:

That's right, I'm in a Jeep.  It's okay.  I told a friend last evening that if I was ever wealthy enough to feel I needed to own 2 cars, a jeep might be one... but then again it might not.

As I said, yesterday turned out to be...different.  

Sadly, most of the day was spent scanning news releases and social media for opinions on the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v Wade, (with a smidgen of interest in the Ohio primary).  Some conclusions:

A majority of Americans now see the Supreme Court as a political tool of the far right.  Evidently Alito affirmed this when he said, "our decisions are not dependent upon public opinion."

There are a lot of whispers that the leak was done on purpose, hoping the fallout will be over by the midterms.

The only ones happy about the decision are Republicans, who are more concerned about the leak.  However, the shit sock that hit them in the face yesterday, is going to hit them in the face again at the end of June when their decision is made official.  They are too giddy to understand the coming repercussions, and this is important, because they don't see it as a shit sock.   This is evidenced by Lyndsey Graham's comment about this will probably have some impact on the midterms. Of course, when have conservatives ever demonstrated any concern for anything other than their own selfish objectives?  

Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski?  The Conservative Boys Club they wanted to so much be a part of has just shit on them both.  People are calling Collins and easily duped dumbass.  Her political career is now over, and the Conservative Boys Club doesn't care.  These women are no longer useful.

Republicans will never understand that being selfish and self-centered doesn't make them smart.  This is their ultimate "shut up!  We're in charge!" moment.

JD Vance won the senate primary in Ohio.  He was backed by Trump.  Mandel, who had been a moderate, flipped into a radical rightist lost.  Had he stayed moderate, like DeWine, the Governor, he might have won.  I do not have too much confidence Vance will carry the election, being a Trumper, the Supreme Court decision will most likely doom his candidacy.

And, to end on a cheery note:  May the Fourth be With You.