DEI hires

 So the forecasters were wrong yesterday, we barely cracked the 30 (F) degree mark.  The sun shone brightly most of the day and that helped get rid of the snow, but temperature wise we were still cold.  Today, if they are hopefully correct, out temps should climb up into the mid 30s (F).  Tomorrow?  If we're lucky, we will hit the 40s (F).  That will seem like a heatwave.

I got pretty much done yesterday, including a decent cleaning of the big aquarium in the writing room.  On of the Greek statues has been removed and is waiting to be scrubbed clean.  I've had that tank for a while and enjoy it, however it's not glass and scratches easily when you're scrubbing algae from the sides.  So, I'm thinking of either downsizing to a smaller tank or getting rid of it completely.  Possibly, I might get rid of the big tank and move the 30 gallon tank from the living room there.  I've been mulling over these ideas for a while, all I have to do is wait and see which one comes to fruition.

I do get to work today.  Can you read the excitement in my words?  Home Improvement retail is a good barometer for reading the general public.  You can tell which people pay attention to what is going on in Washington from those who are... detached.  For example, if I was an Asian working in the United States who wasn't here on an H-1B visa, I wouldn't spend $3000 on new blinds for my house.

And yesterday was big for Howie!  He got a new box of toys from Chewy!  It was part of a buy 4 get one free deal.  All of them are made by Kong, which means they're going to be very durable.

And a Christian Nationalist is now in charge of America's military, one of the greatest military forces in the world.  Old Petey Hegseth has never managed any more than 100 people at a time.  He is also a man who will do what ever the Orange Anus tells him to do.  We can only wonder how long it will be until the United States invades Greenland.  We can only wonder how long it will be until he makes a catastrophic blunder which causes the entire world to sanction us, because that's going to happen.  Also, for those who don't know, Christian Nationalists are not at all appreciative of other Christian Faiths, so how long do you think it will be before, oh, let say the Episcopalians get attacked.

It's my understanding that individuals considered DEI hires in the Federal Government are being let go, not surprisingly many of them appear to be Women of Color.  The faster they get dismissed, the fast the unemployment rate goes up.  Believe me, that sucker is going to go so high people are going to believe it has wings.

Trump's Dance-a-Thon

 Well, we've got a chilly Tuesday outside.  The temp this morning when I took Howie out to do his duty the temp was 40 (F).  He didn't seem to mind the cold.  There's a frost warning in effect for this evening.  That may start the leaves to turn colors.  As I've said, and as Maddie has also pointed out, so far their still green when they fall.

I did work yesterday.  It was boring.  I got in my laps.  Chatted with a few customers as they pass through by the flooring desk, but that's about it.  While we're slow, our Garden department is doing gang busters.  Artificial trees are practically flying out the door.  And, halfway through October, our Halloween decorations are beginning to be marked down to clearance prices.  One thing that's different for both holidays this year, is that there are not a lot of smaller decorations.  Everything is big or inflatable.  There was a time when we sold snow globes, I've bought a few over the years.  We don't do that anymore.  We're not carrying a lot of Christmas wreaths either, just trees, and lights, and animated Santas that are far more frightening than entertaining.

Later this morning, I'm going to be heading out to PetSmart to buy some more chew toys for Howie.  There's an purple octopus coming in the mail, and two bouncing balls due to arrive from Amazon, but they are not going to hold his interest for too long.  He gets bored fast.  He's still in the process of learning the word "no," but he knows what "outside" means.  All I have to do is say "outside," and he's heading towards the back door.

Last night this happened near Philadelphia.

Evidently 2 people fainted and needed medical assistance... maybe.  Everything needs to be suspect when it happens around Trump.  When he told "Justin" to play the songs they'd talked about, seems even more suspect.  He swayed to the music for around 39 minutes.  Kristi Noem, who was supposed to sort of be his Master of Ceremonies, or possibly the question lady, did, at times, seem to try and get things back on track.  Her fake smile says a lot.  At one point, she puts her hand on his back as if to guide him.  If that was supposed to help, it failed.  The New York Times is trying to sane wash the whole episode, but that doesn't keep people from talking.  It's all over social media.  Remember, this comes one day after his campaign abandoned a large number of his cultists at a farm near Coachella.  Personally, I'm hoping he keeps up these personal appearances, they make him look so terribly bad.

Hello Christmas!

Here's an interesting little bit:  Christmas is no longer a totally Christian holiday.  I work with Muslims and they celebrate Christmas... but not for religious reasons, and I work with Hindis (Harrisburg is truly a melting pot), and the same thing is true, and I work with  Jewish gent who says they do more than play dreidel dreidel.  Of course, there is a certain group of people who believe they own the holiday, well, surprise, they don't.  For many, now this is just a celebration: the end of one year as we head on into a new one. 

Anyway, here are some pics I took yesterday and this morning.  

Here's a pic of the snow on the hill behind my house before the rain came to wash it away.

A nap is called for after too much cake and ice cream.

My Fenix 6 arrived yesterday.  I had planned on using the stimulus check to pay for it, now, however, because the Idiot Jerk in the White House wants to stab Republicans in the back, that plan has been thrown into jeopardy.

The dogs got new toys for Christmas.  One each, since they already have a boatload of toys.

Biggie liked the pinkish orange duck, though Lilly has since taken ownership.  She's like that.

And finally, for those if you who received athletic gear as gifts, here's a little workout video.  If any of you try it, please, please, please take pictures.

I hope you all have an outstanding day, whichever variant of Christmas you happen to be celebrating.

 

Fry This

And so my weekend begins!
As have so many of you, I have enabled comment moderation in order to eliminate the public platform our disruptive, little spammer so desperately requires.  Will he even notice?  Nah, he's a shallow copy and paste loner who requires a reactionary response. 
The dogs Christmas toys have been ordered.  They're each getting three different toys.  They don't really care what the toy is as long as it squeaks.  The squeakier the better.
I also ordered myself a deep fryer.

Now, I know some of you are scratching your heads and thinking "but he eats healthy, and deep fried food is really nothing more than a heart attack hiding in peanut oil."  Well, you can eat fried food as long as it's fried the right way.  When I was much younger, my Mom used to dump 3 large cans of Crisco into our deep fryer.  When she was done cooking, she'd let it solidify.  She used the same Crisco over and over again.  After a while, she cleaned out the deep fryer and dumped in more Crisco.  That's the wrong way to cook and eat fried food.  Of course, people didn't know any better back then.
And, of course, public testimony for the impeachment of the Idiot Jerk in the White House begins today.  Prepare yourselves for Twitter Hell.  I understand the GOP had some sort of SECRET CLOSED DOOR SESSION on Monday with Jimmy Jordan taking on the role of Adam Schiff in an attempt to prepare themselves.  They are doomed to failure.  Why, you ask?  Because for years they have been attack dogs.  Rabid Dobermans are more civilized.  They are going to go for the throat right out of the starting gate.  Instead of trying to get to the truth, they are going to blame.  And from his hate room in the White House the Idiot Jerk is going to be Tweeting out snarky, little names for those people testifying.  His base lives for those little names.  And all the while those Centrist Republicans in the suburbs will find deepening frowns spreading across their faces.  This ugly hatred is not what they voted for, and if the GOP thought this past election cycle was bad (and they got their asses whipped) 2020 is going to be the year their tinfoil aspirations get fried.

Coal for Everybody!

I guess there are a number of you who are sleeping in this morning because the day just happens to be named Sunday.  Not me.  For me, the days of the week are only identifiers for when I have to work, like I work on Sunday, but am off on Monday and Tuesday.  They might as well be colors for all their value.  I get to work on Orange, but than I'm off Red on Yellow.  Imagine how colorful our calendars would be if we substituted red, and yellow, and orange, and blue, and green instead of day names.  The Idiot Jerk in the White House would hate a calendar with colors rather than day names.  Can't you hear him "why is every day black?  Why is every day Black!?"
Yesterday was a slow day at the store...  It took a long time, but the great orange home retailer I work for finally realized we are not a Christmas store.  We do sell the obligatory tools husbands, and brothers, and sons, and fathers use, but most of these gifts fail to kick in that gleeful rush of adrenaline when they are unwrapped.  Finding a shop vac nestled under the tree creates a lot less excitement then say... oh, a ring, or tickets to Hawaii, or maybe even a puppy or a kitty cat.
Speaking of presents, some of the dog toys Big Seig and Lily are getting for Christmas arrived yesterday.  The bestest is a 6 foot green and yellow snake with 12 squeakers.

Just call me crazy.
Oh, and John Kelly is leaving the Administration and some guy name Nick Ayers is taking his place. Ayers is evidently a Pence lackey who lacks organizational skills.  Of course, he isn't there to keep things in order, he's there to suck up as much dirt on the Idiot Jerk as possible.  Pence is going to need as much ammunition as possible when he runs for president in 2020.  He doesn't seem to understand that when the Idiot Jerk goes, he goes too.
And in case you're wondering, there is a bright spot.  The West Virginia coal industry is going to make a killing this year thanks to the Republican  party.  No 6 foot green and yellow snakes with squeakers for the Idiot Jerk in the White House, just lumps of coal.  In fact, he's probably going to start using that at his rallies.  "Coal for Everybody!  Coal for Everybody!"

Pier One / Big Seig

So, after the Viewing yesterday, I went home and changed into something more comfortable and ran a few errands.  One of those was going to Pier One to buy some candles. I buy most of my candles there since they're less expensive than Yankee Candle and have a decent variety, otherwise I avoid Pier One.  Pretentiousness, you know?  The last candles I bought (2 months ago) were called 'Linen' and I was told that scent was part of "our winter collection."  Yesterday a clerk was walking around with a customer in the candle section and I heard her say "this is Orange Whisper, and it's part of our Fall collection."  Give Me A Break!  I but candles because of color and scent, not because they're part of a seasonal collection of scents.  Yesterday I bought 2 red candles and a blue one because... I liked the color red and the color blue and they smelled good.

The Red Candles

I don't buy anything else at Pier One because, let's be honest here, most of the crap they sell looks like it was designed by a failed HGTV Home Decorator.  And most of it looks phony.  

After Pier One, I stopped by the Gay Giant in Camp Hill, because it was nearby.  It's called the Gay Giant because it's a straight shot across the Harvey Taylor Bridge from the gayborhoods of downtown Harrisburg.  Being the only supermarket within 3 miles, the clientele is, at times, very gay, very lesbian, and very... well everything.

And, of course, yesterday being a nice day, the back door was open quite a bit, which meant that the dogs were running in and out all day and having a blast.  Last evening I found Big Seig sleeping on the futon with his moose.

Ain't that the life?

Inchworm delight

A little something light today.

Last week I bought my dogs some new toys.  They get a lot of toys and always love the new ones.  Well, last week they got an inchworm.  He is/was about a foot long, inch worm green, with little arms and legs.  Holy Crap, the dogs fell in love with him.  I found Big Seig sleeping on the sofa with the little inchworm head in his mouth... and he was snoring.  Lilly would prance around with the inchworm in her mouth, every now and then giving his body to make him squeak.  How much did they love their little inchworm?  Well, so much that they tore off his little arms and legs, that way they could both run around with a little appendage in their mouths.
This morning, around 0445 I heard Big Seig throwing up.  When a 108 pound Boxer throws up, it is always rather loud.  So I got out of bed to clean up the mess and what do you think I found? One of the little inchworms feet.

All that remains

That's right, Big Seig love the inchworm so much he ate one of his feet, which didn't sit too well with his stomach.  As a result, I picked up the remaining 2 arms and foot and have thrown them into the trash.  I guess when I get home from work tonight they will most likely have ripped off his head.  This is how it goes.