Artwork

 Sundays are, for the most part, a non-news day.  I don't work, which is nice, so a number of chores are planned.  I do get to go into the store tomorrow, but then I have off on Tuesday.  Yeah, I have one of those weird schedules for the next two weeks with no consecutive days off until the middle of December.

Rather than a Warwick Rowers calendar this year, I ordered one from Red Hot.  Gingers, everyone of them.  One of the things I had liked about Warwick was their tongue-in-cheek cuteness.  Two years ago that began disappearing, replaced with naked guys using towels to cover their bits and pieces.  The humor vanished.  So, this year I'll have to wait and see how Red Hot does.  Believe me, it's not for the eroticism, it the artwork... it's always the artwork.

Speaking of artwork, and since some of you are interested, here's the first shot of my newly painted hallway.  A grand view will be presented when finished.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court kicked out another attempt by the GOP to disenfranchise 2.5 million voters in the state in their attempt to keep their tinfoil dictator in the White House, and they did so with 'prejudice.'  This is our court system saying "no more," enough with your bullshit.  They are not going to take any more appeals.  It's not just the Idiot Jerk who's a rotten loser, it's his whole damn party.

And evidently the RNC is having a bit of trouble convincing voters in Georgia to actually go to the polls in their run-off election.  Evidently the Idiot Jerk and his henchies have been so successful at convincing his base there is so much voter fraud the election is already settled.  That's right, his base believes all of his lies about voting machines flipping votes from Republican to Democrat, that all these fake votes are being tallied against Republicans.  This is the price of their hatred.

Fifteen White Guys Fail

I start my 'off a day, on a day' week with drizzly weather outside.  I am not excited.
For a number of years, I've hung a Warwick Rowers calendar on my wall.  This year will be the last.  The days of rowers coyly hiding their privates behind oars, and soft drink cans, and tea pots are gone'; there's nothing cutesy in this year's calendar.  Their strength was always in their humorous visuals, rather than in simple nudity.  This is not the case anymore.
Both Mayor Pete and Amy Klobuchar have endorsed Joe Biden.  I suspected this was going to happen.  The party is finally uniting.  Now we need Warren to do the same thing.  Bernie needs to be taught a lesson.
Interestingly enough, the Idiot Jerk in the White House has begun stepping up his attacks on Biden.  This is why he tried to blackmail the Ukrainian President.  Dirt on Biden was essential.  He can only survive on dirt.  He needs to feed his base an angry little chant, like 'lock her up.'  The dumb shit tried it with the Coronavirus.  At first it was the 'next great Democrat hoax,' but he dropped that line as cases and deaths continued to mount.  The he put that Crazy Christian Pence in charge of a task force.  And then again yesterday the Idiot Jerk said something like "I have really, really good doctors who are working on a vaccine, maybe even a cure."  He doesn't want anybody challenging what he says, so nobody around him has a brain.
And speaking of that silly little task force, a number of Crazy Christians published pics of that group praying yesterday.  Instead of relying on men of science, that fool Pence is going to pray for guidance.  He did this in his approach to HIV while Governor of Indiana which resulted in a mini-epidemic.  This man is just like the Idiot Jerk in the White House... dumb as a brick.  The first thing that went through my head when I saw that photo was "what the hell is going on here."

This is a pictures of fifteen white guys (and 1 woman) praying.  That's right, Pence has assembled a white task force made of of middle-aged and aging white men.  Were there no Asians, no Latinos, no People of Color smart enough to make the cut, or he just more comfortable surrounding himself with white Christians?  This train wreck is not even going to leave the station.

Pricked

Okay, so today is Thursday... it seems like only yesterday it was... Thursday.  It is Thursday, isn't it?
My 2020 Roar calendar arrived yesterday.  Roar used to be Warwick Rowers.  They've grown.  Now there are coyly posed naked men from other rowing teams, as well as other sports, gracing the months, including Team Sky sports.  I was curious to see if there were any cyclists included, however this year they didn't identify the men.  At least not on the print copy.
And, speaking of cycling, I rode 20.23 miles yesterday as part of one of the challenges I need to complete to move up to Elite cyclist.  It took me 98 minutes.  My legs didn't bother me nearly as much as my butt.  Son of a bitch!  I could feel every stitch of fabric in my shorts when I was finished!
Last night I went to see "Knives Out."  It's a mystery with some serious comic overtones.  I enjoyed the film immensely.  The acting is top notch.  Don Johnson is in it.  I haven't seen him in anything for a long, long time.  He's aging well.  A clean shaven Chris Evans is here too, with really pink lips.  I'm glad to see he's getting roles outside of the 'superhero' genre.  Toni Collette is amazing as Joni, one of the siblings squabbling for a piece of the inheritance pie.  I love a good mystery, and this one's good.  There is a treasure trove of clues and red herrings which delightfully confuse and lead the viewer down the wrong garden path.  And dogs, of course, in fact, one of the first things you see are the dogs.

And I saw where Justin Timberlake made a public apology to his wife for holding hands with someone else.  Can you imagine that?  He found himself suddenly being attacked by all those social media knives.  They are now both judge and jury as to what he can and cannot do.  As I was reading that snippet, I began to wonder just who these people were, the one who dictate to Justin how he lives his life.  It took me all of about 2 minutes.  You see, right after seeing that headline, I went over to Amazon to look for a digital clock for the cycling room.  Lo and behold, they were advertising the Chris Pratt store on their Home Page.  The Chris Pratt store?  That's when I knew just who exactly Justin was afraid of... the same group who buy shit from the Chris Pratt store.  Not too smart, but easily influenced by celebrity.  The last thing their idols want is for them to pull out their sharp, little, vengeful knives.
Just like the Idiot Jerk in the White House, who for so many, many years enjoyed wielding the knife.  Now barely a minute goes by without him being pricked.

Guns in the House of God

Well, this is my hump day.  That's right, many of you will be snoozing while I write this because for you... 'it's the weekend.'  My weekend is going to happen on Wednesday and Thursday.  Yippee!!
And I ordered the Warwick Rower's calendar for 2019 this morning.  I hope it's more colorful than last year's.  I had been going to order one of the 'red hot' calendars, but you need to use Paypal.  I don't have Paypal, and am not about to sign up just to buy a calendar. 
Yesterday was another dark day for America.
And once again the Idiot Jerk in the White House advocated Guns in the House of God.  He said the same thing after the mass killing at a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas left 26 dead.  He wants us to put armed guards in the Houses of the Holy.  Having to do so shows the weakness of an All Powerful Deity.  We will need to use guns to protect ourselves because He will not.  He said the same thing again after the shootings in Charleston that left 9 dead.  Three mass shootings in three Houses of God in less than 2 years of his presidency and his response is always the same.  Guns are the answer.  Perhaps if the Republican party had not Sanctified the 2nd amendment this would not be a problem.  Unfortunately for the vast majority of Americans, this party will sanctify anything for a vote.
And then 9 hours after these people were killed... he went to a campaign rally.  This was not a speech in front of a select group of people.  This was a rally where people stomped their feet and cheered.  He could have toned the event down, use that time to show respect for those who had been shot and killed.  And he did say a few, choice subdued words at the beginning.  But then it turned into a rally.  This is how you get Republicans to go to the polls.  People died and he stood there damning Democrats.  And you can bet there were a lot of phony Christians in the crowd, and probably some White Supremacists too, and a couple Neo-Nazis, who really had no problems with the shootings.
This man makes Americans look ugly as his own sin.

The Essentials

Well, here it is, Sunday.  I don't have to work.  However the temp is supposed to hit 98 (F).  At 0715 I'm still working up my 'to do' list.  I was going to take My Syn out on the road, but now that might not happen.  There are just too many things to do.  Priorities are essential.  Like grocery shopping (buying the big bags of dog food).
Today also happens to be my Mom's 85th birthday.  That adds another essential onto my list which will chew up about 2 hours of time. 
By the time I'm ready to hit the road the temp will be too hot, so I'll no doubt end up with a trainer ride late in the afternoon.
I bought a Greenworks 40V cordless lawn mower, which was delivered on Friday.  I started putting the thing together Friday evening, after I got home from work and discovered the 'hand bolts & nuts' were missing.  So I called their customer service - they were closed.  These bolts are essential.  They connect the top part of the handle to the bottom handle & without them the mower is useless.  To add to the aggravation, their customer service hours match, almost exactly, to my work hours.  So, I called them yesterday while at work only to discover that the serial number I'd written down was not the one I needed.  As a result, I had to send them an email with the correct number.  They won't get that email until tomorrow.  I let them know that I was very disappointed.

No bolts - the Essential failure

And I also have to say that halfway through the year and so far my Warwick Rowers calendar has been.... disappointing.  In the past, the photographs have been both creative and cute in the ways these men hid their essentials.  Not so much this year, with the rowers lounging on rocks, or standing on a pier, or on a beach, with any hints of their privates airbrushed away.  This year is definitely lacking inspiration.

Boners in the GOP

Well, I did some bench presses this AM... (that's about all I can do as far as working out), and I also climbed on board the scale.  I've gained 5.1 pounds since the RIH showed up.  I did some cardio yesterday and felt it in the afternoon, so that's going to be out for probably another 4 weeks, and I won't be able to go back to the gym on a regular basis for another 6 weeks.
As I was responding to Bob's comment in regard to Hillary Clinton, I realized how very close to the truth I was.  For some time now I've thought that her, and her last name, were like a drug all conservatives were hooked on, but I couldn't quite put my finger on what kind of drug.  In a way she's like heroin to them, they keep shooting hatred for her into their veins, but that didn't seem quite right, and then I thought about that little blue pill.  Viagra.  That's it.  Hillary Clinton is Viagra for conservatives.  All you need to do is mention her name to get them all aroused.  It's sort of like waving a biscuit in front of a dog's nose, in no time flat he starts to drool, say 'Clinton' to a Republican and things instantly pop up.  What makes this so funny is that they admit it.  Without Hillary Clinton there would be no boners in the GOP.  Even Social Conservatives use her to stimulate themselves.
I also ordered my Warwick Rowers Calendar for 2018 this morning.  Nudity for Art's sake, you know? 

Nothing really erotic there, just innocent nakedness, and yes, you can be naked and innocent at the same time.  Unless, of course, you happen to be in the GOP, then all bets are off the table.  I've heard it said that a little bare skin, of either gender, is enough to give a Republican a wide stance.  But let's be honest here, attractive young men covering their bits and pieces with oars, and towels, and tea cups are no match for a Crooked Hillary song and dance by the Idiot Jerk in the White House.

Not hanging on the wall this year

Well, it looks as though the Warwick Rowers will not be gracing my calendar wall after all.  I ordered the calendar back on 12/3 with a delivery date between 12/8 and 12/26.  When it had still not arrived on 12/29 I contacted the seller through Amazon.  It took about 12 hours to get a response, which asked me what product I had ordered and my 'ship to' address.  This I thought odd since all of that information had been included in the initial email Amazon had forwarded.  I complied, including the DHL Global tracking number provided with the order.  That tracking number, by the way, came up as invalid when keyed into the DHL Global tracking system.  The response I received was that the seller was going to assume my package was 'lost in the mail.'  They gave me the option of having it reshipped to the "exact address to which it was initially shipped" or getting a credit.  I took the credit.

After I had first contacted the seller I had a funny feeling was going to get a 'lost in the mail' response.  So I went online to see about possibly order the calendar from someone else.  The cost on Amazon was $86 plus change.  My seller had charged me $19.50.  I then went to the Warwick Rowers website.  Wow!  Their cost was more then twice what I had originally paid.. and that was in Pounds Sterling.  Hhhmm, I thought, something's a little screwy here.  Wasn't it odd that I got such a great deal on a calendar which just happened to get lost in the mail?  Which is why I took the credit.  I received an email from Amazon this morning advising me that it had been processed.

I don't know what would have happened had I asked for the calendar to be reshipped.  Perhaps I would have received it at some point in the future.  Perhaps it would have gotten lost in the mail again.  Perhaps I would have received an email notifying me they were now out of stock, giving me a choice of a different calendar.  I will never know.   What I do know is that the Warwick Rowers will not be hanging on my wall this year.

Calendar Days - whimsical skin

Well, it's that time of year when I need to take a couple of minutes and decide what type of calendar is going to be hanging on the wall by my desk for the next 12 months.  Last year I opted for the East Pennsboro Town Planner because I putzed around and didn't think about buying one until the first week of January.  It had nondescript photos, an unbelievable amount of local advertising, and it gets mailed to everybody in East Pennsboro for free.  Once was enough.

This  year I'm doing what I did in every other year, choosing the one I want to hang on the wall.  The selection is not as difficult as some might think.  Puppies and kittens and all things whimsical aren't on the list.  I don't do cute well.

For a number of years I bought the Cycling magazine calendar with photographs by Graham Watson.  If you like cycling it is well worth the money.  But not this year.

I thought maybe I'd put up a little skin, not porn mind you.  I did that one year, it was nice, but every now and then I get a comment which was more like a snigger then a comment.  Anyway, Dieux de Stade puts out a very classy calendar, skin but not porn.  I thought I might buy one until I saw the $50 price tag.  While I do tend to save my calendars, I do think that's a little too pricey for something I'm going to file away next January.

I ended up going with the Warwick Rowers.  It's skin but not porn and more humorous then serious.  When I have to get up at 3:30 AM to go open the store, this is something is something I won't mind looking at when I sit down at my desk to check my email.  After I'd placed my order I realized I had actually bought some whimsical skin.