Death of Millions

 Here it is, Tuesday morning and as usual, we have cloudy skies, though our temp is in the upper 60s (F).  Humidity will be high all day, and the clouds will be gathered low and, being substantial, will give us constant shade.  Remember, technically speaking we are still in Spring... at least for another few days.

I worked yesterday.  It was slow.  We did have a customer who is struggling with a carpet decision.  She doesn't want any seams and her room is too big to install carpet without a seam.  There are people out there who believe you can see a seam.  You can't, unless the installer is an imbecile.  Because of the size of rooms today, having wall to wall carpet will always mean seams.  At one point she suggested throwing a throw rug down over the seam, so I said "sure, you can do that."  I don't mind selling foolish people unneeded throw rugs.

I'll be leaving soon to have my blood drawn for the AC1 test.  I'm excited.  So, this will be short.

For those who missed it, the Orange Anus signed an agreement to work on a trade agreement, again under the ruse that it was an actual agreement.  When he went to reveal this latest deceit, he dropped the papers on world wide TV.

He also left the G7 early because?  I think there are several reasons why he's back in DC... or is it Mar a Lago?  Whatever.  Mostly I think it was because he received a rather cool reception.  None of the other members seemed to want to talk to him, or listen to him rant... he does that a lot, making up facts to suit what ever thought is rattling around in his head.  The important thing is that he was not getting the attention he felt he deserved.  This was on top of that shitty parade the world laughed at.  

This asshole needs to be the focal point of every conversation, the subject of every media story flashing over the airwaves.  And so he starts warning Iran, hinting that we're going to attack the country, and voila, his dirty, little heart is getting what it so desperately craves.  He will end up being the cause of death for millions.

Blinded

Friday has arrived.  This is Wednesday for me which means while some of you will be celebrating the end of your work week, I'll be enjoying my Hump Day.
From now on they're forecasting chilly days and nights.  An appearance by Jack Frost is even said to be expected.  This is good.  Once he tickles us with his fingers I'll be able to dig up my Dahlias.  They're being dug up Monday, whether or not he makes his first appearance of the fall.  That's also the day my bulbs go into the new dug bed, all 65 of them.  Next spring my yard is going to be bulbalicious with color.
I sold blinds to 2 customers yesterday.  I really have a dislike for selling blinds.  They chose their color from a small swatch without actually understanding how the blind is going to look.  And their expensive.  One aluminum mini-blind was $123.... for a mini-blind!  Son of a bitch!  That's one of the many reasons I don't have blinds on my windows.  I don't like them.  Big dogs don't like them either.  The first time a UPS or FedEx truck pulled up out front those blinds would be shredded.  A bunny rabbit or squirrel in the yard?  It's the same thing as chanting "blind be down now!"
Oh, and I saw where the 2020 G7 conference is going to be held at a property owned by the Idiot Jerk in the White House.  Of course a lot of people cried foul.  Emollients, you know?  Everyday the Republicans reveal themselves to be more hypocritical then one could possibly believe.  Had Obama made that announcement, there would be dead bodies lying all over Capital Hill.  But you now how they' love their tinfoil dictator, the one who's going to ignore the majority to give that tiny majority of tiny minded individuals the dictatorship they so dearly covet... like the tinfoil dictatorship of his Blow Bro Vlad.
And I saw where retired General Mattis was at a white tie event.  He had a few choice words for the Idiot Jerk in the White House.  The truth is, he turned the Moral Degenerate into a joke.  Of course, we know that's always been the case.  I laughed out loud at some of his comments.

Safe

Your Tuesday is my Monday.  I only have 4 days to work this week and it's going to be slow.  We will get those couple odd customers who will stop in to see what's on sale.  Yeah, we do have a Labor Day Sale.  Surprise, it's the same stuff we had last Labor Day.  What will be more interesting will be the coming price increases.  Yepper, they're going up.  They've already started.  We are in that Top Five list of retailers who are going to be slammed by the tariffs.
I got a nice ride in yesterday... inside.  It's the safety thing.  Sunday mornings are fine, the traffic is thin and safe, and once I'm get to Tower Road things are fine... it's just getting there.  Shady Valley Road (yes, that's its name) has become a major thoroughfare and I not only have to cross it, I have to ride along it for a half mile.  Damn.  While stats are still coming in for 2018, here's a link to the stats for 2017 regarding cycling accidents.  783 cyclists were killed as a result of auto / bicycle crashes.  The number of injuries, however, is the real eye opener.  There were 45,000 injuries due to cars hitting cyclists.  That's a lot of broken legs, and arms, and collarbones, and fractured skulls.  You see drivers are easily distracted.  There are lots of bumble brains who feel they can multi-task (drive and talk / text) at the same time, or they're fidgeting around with the radio because they need to find a song they really like, or they're fantasizing about the hot guy they saw at the club the night before.
And so yesterday instead of going out on the road, I found myself peddling up in Oregon... Warm Springs, Oregon to be precise.

Do you see that big hill?  That's about a mile and a half long.  And since I have Cyclops Magnus my legs felt every inch of it.  And because I have Rouvy the scenery moved past me, and this is what it looked like.

Now, isn't that a lot safer than chancing I might get hit by some bimbo talking to her BFF Grizelda about the great deal she got on a blue blouse at Boscov's?  And most surprisingly, on that ride, I only passed one vehicle... in the far lane.
In politics, the G7 is over.  The Idiot Jerk may have wanted to Grand Stand the meeting but, from what I've been reading Macron shrewdly outmaneuvered him.  Except for a few still shots our obnoxious asswipe of a president was fairly indistinguishable.  Of course, he did lie about trade negotiations with China.  Duh.  There is not going to be any real deal.  Nope.  The Chinese are going to continue tightening the screws.  You see, we have an election coming up... and they're going to make him Cave in a big way.

Inside or Outside

I'm off today, which means this is my Sunday.  Yesterday, however, turned into my day of rest, at least after the cake and ice cream of Lily's party.

Add to that a nice bottle of Catawba recommended by Anne Marie. and my day transitioned into relaxed and casual... no bike ride.

I do believe this is how life is supposed to be.

Last evening I spent some time talking to my friend Betsy.  She found the Idiot Jerk's repeating some inane claim to being The Chosen One totally abhorrent.  This got me to wondering if, perhaps, he'd demonstrated his chosen status by walking on water at the G7.  Checking the news headlines this morning I saw that didn't happen.  He did, however, lie about China calling him to ask if trade talks could be restarted.  I suspect that with the 2020 election beginning to loom, the Idiot Jerk's lies will begin gyrating to what ever tune he hopes will satiate his base and their thirst for power.

As for today, my plans are simple:  clean the bathroom (it's actually fairly clean already, I tend to be rather neat), take the dogs for a walk, and go for a bike ride.  Now, whether the last one will be outside on the X6 or inside on the red Cannondale is up in the air.  Outside there's traffic and no music, inside there's safety and music.  I'll let you know tomorrow what my choice was.

38%

Well, here it is Saturday.  Outside the temps are a cool 59 (F) and there is no 'heat index' in the upcoming forecast.  At this point in the season, summer is 2/3 over and I, for one, am looking forward to the fall.
I've decided to call off work today.  I rode Red Rocks Amphitheater last evening, or at least 10.1 miles of the route and my legs are very sore. Going down the stairs to start the coffee was a bit of an issue.  For those who don't know, there is a very large, outdoor concert venue at Red Rocks.  There are a number of other attractions in the complex.  The complete cycling route is 13. some miles long with steep hills.  This morning my legs are sore.  Besides, I want to prep the X6.  I'm taking it out on the road early tomorrow, before traffic gets flowing.

It looks a bit biblical during concerts.

I'm surprised the Idiot Jerk in the White House hasn't tried to hold a rally there yet.
Right now he's enroute to the G7 where he's going to try and sell some snake oil to Boris Johnson and, of course, desperate Boris will buy it by the case.
And how about the stock market yesterday?  A number of articles I've ready have pointed out one glaring fact:  it didn't begin tanking when Powell said they weren't dropping the Prime Interest rate, nope, it was the Idiot Jerk in the White House increasing the tariffs on China that kicked it off the cliff.  Oops.  So, why did he raise them?  He's saying because China increased tariffs, but speculation is that it had more to do with Powell saying it's the trade wars that are screwing over the American Economy... you know?  Trade wars?
And as things get worse, more and more fingers are going to be pointed at those who put this dumb shit in power:  Racists, older white Americans, White Supremacists, and Evangelical Christians.  Only 38% of Americans approve of the job he is doing.  Now we know what groups make up that percentage.  We need to put them in the loony bin where they all belong.

Evil Canadians

Sunday, my last day of work for a while. 
Tonight is Bethesda's E3 showcase, starting at 9:30 PM EST.  I'll be watching.  I'm also a bit leery.  There are a lot of so called leaks out there saying their next AAA game, Fallout 76, is going to be an MMO, (that's Massive Multiplayer Online).  I don't play MMO's, single player only.  None of my friends play MMO's.  Sadly, mulitplayer games make a lot of money and, unfortunately, game publishes tend to go where the money is.  So far Bethesda Game Works has bucked this trend - let's hope they continue.
Oh.... and all that G6 bullshit?  I looked at that picture Merkel tweeted of the Idiot Jerk sitting there like an obstinate prick and thought... 'this is exactly what he wants.'  He is the star of the show.  He is creating the disruption Putin wants so much, the Idiot Fool who will burn so many bridges out of stupidity.  He is the Idiot Jerk who has failed to learn a single thing from his four bankruptcies.  As for our Allies?  They are learning what it feels like to be a contractor on one of the Idiot Jerk's projects.  He will stab them in the back when ever he gets the chance.  Sad to say, his supporters actually believe he's standing up to the evil Canadians.  Shit!  I can't believe I just wrote that.  It made me laugh.  I mean, those Evil Canadians!   How long will we have to wait until he starts talking about building a wall between the United States and Canada to keep out those Evil Canadian illegal aliens?  And, of course, he has John Bolton on side which means every Allie is an enemy.
How more absurd can this get?  Well, in 2 days he's going to be meeting with Kim Jon Dumb for a repartee of Big Macs and Diet Cokes.  Sadly, for the Idiot Jerk, Kim Jon Dumb isn't that dumb, in fact, he will probably play the Idiot Jerk as the Fool of the Century (and the century is not that old).  Who is going to come out of that meeting smelling like roses?  Kim, because he wrangled the Idiot Jerk into meeting with him in the first place.  And if things go well between the two?  Well, jumping Jehoshaphat, isn't he the kind of Allie we want on our side.  He'd be so much better than those Evil Canadians.

No doubt the Idiot Jerk found a live mouse in his Diet Coke.

Solo

Well, I went to see "Solo" last evening.  Overall, I would have to say the movie was better than I was expecting... by just a  hair.  Alden Ehrenreich playing Han Solo was not the problem.  His performance is actually one of the bright spots.  What hurt was the story.  The most obvious flaw?  The girlfriend.  Walking out of the theater, I pointed this out to my friends and... everybody agreed.  Instead of taking a minor piece of Star Wars lore, the Kessel Run, the girlfriend stole all of the focus.  If they'd cut her out, or made her a co-conspirator, and cut out the romance, this film would have been fifteen minutes shorter and much better.  Interestingly enough, the scenes between Solo and a flirting Lando Calrissian work better than the scenes between Solo and his girlfriend.  Oh, and for those interested, (tiny spoiler) there is a brief shower scene with Solo and Chewbacca, what a shame it isn't longer.

And I do believe that today the G6 + 1 are meeting, the +1 being the Idiot Jerk in the White House.  Whereas Solo would have been much better had he been flying solo, the United States parting ways with the rest of the free world and going it alone is not.  Solo is cute and cocky while the Idiot Jerk is?  Arrogant, selfish and self-centered.  We have a president who wants to be the Ugly American.  Who would want to emulate him?  Crazy conservatives.  They're going to raise their children to be arrogant, selfish and self-centered.  When those children grow up, they're going to look at their aging parents and say "go away.  You're costing me too much money."  Of course, crazy conservatives don't know this.  It is beyond their ken.
Anyway, I did do 11.2 miles on the bike yesterday.  Fun.  And no leg cramps.  Tomorrow I'll do another ride.  After this weekend, my schedule has me off for 3 Sundays in a row.  That's when I'll take the bike out on the road.  Sunday mornings are great.  No traffic to worry about.

Sit on it and spin

So, my Mom is back in the hospital... again.  We went, oh... 3 weeks this time.  And there's nothing wrong with her besides old age, and dementia.  She actually called 911 herself because she thought the people at Graysonview were too slow.  She's in a regular hospital room rather than ICU, or CCU since there's nothing really wrong, and they'll run a battery of tests looking for something other than the dementia.  When I saw her on Wednesday she said "the only thing I really miss was having to give up all of my dogs to come here (Graysonview).  She didn't have dogs, she had a fat cat.  This is how it goes.
On the light side of politics, I saw saw this article this AM regarding our Vice President, and found it very telling.  Sounds a lot like the GOP is not going to circle their wagons around the Idiot.  The fact that they're saying the Vice Idiot was kept in the dark?  Well, isn't that the kind of shit you put out when you think Plan B might be the only viable option left on the table?  It's kind of like subliminal messaging the rabid, core Idiot supporters that it's a good possibility that a change might be coming.
Oh, and Joe Lieberman for AG?  Give me a break!  Now, this might piss some people off, but at 75 old Joe is way, way too old.  Even in his prime he was never the brightest crayon in the box, now he's even worse.  In fact, it seems to me that the Idiot trying to stack the deck with another clown.

And, of course, the Idiot is leaving tomorrow for a Middle Eastern, European Vacation.  I bet he's expecting to get souvenirs.  He is, more likely to be disappointed.  He has already started changing his itinerary.  He was supposed to speak at Masada, but now that's off because they won't let him land his helicopter on the top.  He doesn't want to land at the base and take the tram up like other presidents have done because... he's special.  And you know they're all going to smirk when he walks into the G7 conference, and laugh at him behind his back.  He's going to want to take charge, and they will, no doubt, tell him to sit on it and spin.

The Eclipse that is Trump

Am I like the only one wondering what our Idiot Ringmaster is going to put in the Center Ring this week?  Let's be honest here.  People are finding themselves hypnotized by this slow motion political demolition derby.  This is a rare occurrence.  Like a once in a lifetime chance to be directly under an eclipse waiting for the darkness to fade to bright, white sunshine.  Now, I know there are some who are terrified that we are standing smack dab in the middle of ground zero and they are waiting for the bomb to drop... but that's not going to happen.  Only 29% of the American People approve of the firing Comey... that's the hard core crazies at the heart of the GOP.  No one else.  This is a minority group that is constantly shrinking.  If any one is standing at the center of ground zero it be they.
And, of course, he's going on another vacation... well, supposedly the Idiot's supposedly going to visit the Middle East and Europe.  Can you even being to imagine the security they're going to need?  The expense this foul fool is cost these governments.  And the Europe bit?  I believe it's for the G7 Conference, something Putin isn't invited to because his shit stinks so bad.  Wouldn't you like to be a fly on the wall when the Idiot walks into the room.  He's going to try and commandeer the whole thing and in unison all of those other leaders are going to say "shut up."  And, of course, he'll huff and puff... and they'll tell him to shut up again.  They're just going to say "no.
The way one of our Managers did to the couple who tried to return 10 gallons of paint.  "Absolutely not!"

One more thing about the eclipse we are now standing under... always remember to shield your eyes to avoid blindness.  Just look at what happened to the conservatives.