Scottie the Billionaire

 Okay, so it's hot here.  Our outside temp is 75 (F).  If the forecast is correct, will top off at 95 (F).  That is warm.  We are beginning a mini heatwave.  Tomorrow and Wednesday our temps will climb into the upper 90s (F).  Keep in mind we are much farther north than most of the country, so those down south will be suffering through a scorcher.  Thursday showers and thunderstorms will be moving into the area and temps will dive back into the high 70s (F) and low 80s (F).  The extended forecast for August looks to be on the cool side, but we all know how fickle forecasts are.

I did work yesterday.  They were providing breakfast all day again, so I didn't take a lunch.  Unfortunately, it was a grab and go breakfast, inexpensive individually wrapped pastries with a high fat content, and Nutra-grain bars.  Boo!  Hiss!  Oh, and there were day old pancakes, so make that a double hiss.  I ended up stopping off on my way home and picking up a frozen pizza.  Yesterday was not a healthy diet day.

Retail sales for the past week were good, though as a head cashier pointed out to me, footsteps in the store were low.  This means that the buckos going into our bank account are being put there by customers doing large projects.  In flooring, a hardwood installation worth $17,000 went through.  

There are several games that Howie and I play:  Trade the stone for a cookie; Chase me for the sticks in my mouth; and that ever popular Sock Race.  Sometimes he gets quite excited by these games.

Again, the Orange Anus is bragging about a trade deal, this time with the European Union.  Again, this is just the framework for a trade deal, the deal itself has not been signed into law.  If and when it is signed we can expect costs for wine, cars, and a host of other things we buy from Europe to go up by 15%.  While Orangie screams that exporters will be paying these tariffs, you need to keep in mind that he's a pathological liar.  People like Scottie Bessent, the Secretary of the Treasury, know and lie about this. Keep in mind that every company in which Scottie owns stock will be raising prices and that will increase their revenue, and that revenue will be taxed less because of Orangie's Big Beautiful Pile of Shit Bill.  So Scottie, the billionaire Secretary of the Treasury, will get even richer while you, and everyone who voted for Orangie, will get even poorer.

News

 Well hello and good morning!  This is my 2nd day off in what one person at work called a mini-staycation.  I have been relaxing.  Taking the occasional ibuprofen for my back.  I switched from naproxen,  For some reason, the naproxen didn't seem to be able to knock out the inflammation.  Mornings do make me feel like a creaky old man.

I'm going to need to mow the lawn either today or tomorrow.  The weather's forecast to be nice both days, of course the forecasters have only been accurate about the heat.  Yesterday there was a 70% chance of rain and?  Nothing.  Not a single drop.  Which is good.  We've had way too much rain while other places have nothing but drought.  In time, people living in those stricken areas will begin to migrate.  This is how things have worked since the beginning.  Now, however, we are a much more mobile society so they'll drive to their new homes in places where the temps aren't so hot and dry.

I wore a pair of my new socks yesterday.  They're climbing socks, however, I didn't climb.  I only needed 4.5 miles to reach my goal for the week, so I rode 10.5 miles.  When I'm riding, time goes by fast.  My brain works.  Things just click, especially in the creative regions.  A friend says it's because I'm oxygenating the hell out of it.  What ever the reason, new ideas pop open like unseen vistas waiting to be explored.  Here are my climbing socks, in case you were wondering, and no, I didn't buy them from the giant orange home improvement retailer I work for.

I saw where Chris Christie was mumbling gibberish about the unvaccinated, saying they don't want to be indoctrinated.  Now, isn't that ripe.  These very conservatives are trying desperately to indoctrinate Americans into believing The Big Lie.  The article is rather amusing.  He laments how our political leaders haven't done a good enough job explaining vaccines.  Notice, how he tries to incorporate all political leaders.  Anyone with half a brain, that automatically excludes Republicans, knows that the only political leaders who have been running a constant tirade against vaccination are... Republicans.  To do otherwise would insinuate their Liar in Chief was... well... a liar.  No news there.

Ironically Speaking

 Well, yesterday was filled with surprises... sort of.  First of all there was the weather.  Temps were supposed to be in the high 80's and there was a 5% chance of rain.  Guess what?  We had rain.  Not just once, but twice with one of the storms lasting almost a half an hour.  Remember what I said about us becoming a tropical rain forest?

Another surprise was my car.  It was recall time.  When I arrived at the dealership, I was told about they were only going to take about 2 hours.  Ironically, after 2 hours, I was told they were still reprograming my car and that it would take at least another 3.  Yikes.  That meant spending 5 straight hours sitting in the waiting area.  So they gave me a loaner to go home.  They were right about the 3 hours.  They called about 5:15 PM and told me my car was ready, so I returned the loaner and picked up my car.

Today is the first day in my little Staycation in which nothing is planned.  I have no appointments, no luncheon dates, just time to do what I want.  I'm going to enjoy today.

I bought some new, really snazzy socks.  If I get a chance, I'll take a picture of me modeling them.

Evidently there is a growing backlash in this country over vaccinations, mostly angry Republicans shrieking about how the government is pressuring them to get their asses vaccinated.  They are intensifying their attack lies because they simply cannot believe Covid is a serious threat.  Hospitals are filling up, and certain states are reconsidering mask mandates.  Isn't it ironic how desperately they want to tell Americans how to live their lives, yet they, themselves, want to be told nothing.  They actually do believe they are special.  Damn.  Maybe this is the real reason why Trump got elected, to cull out the losers.

Circling in

Well, I get to go back to work tomorrow.  As you might expect, I'm not too excited.  I get to work 6 days before my next day off, and that one day happens to be Thanksgiving.  As you know from previous gripes, I prefer consecutive days off.  And, of course, I have split days off on the following week as well.
I went to see "Midway" last evening.  I found the film very entertaining.  There were a lot of old men in the theater, none of whom were wearing red MAGA hats.  The film gets a lot of things right, from Pearl Harbor to the snippet with director John Ford filming the battle of Midway.  What they got wrong?  Very little mention of the carnage being wrought on American soldiers and sailors throughout the region.  There's a reason it was called Hell in the Pacific.  Because the focus was only on one sea battle, the scope is minimized.  The filmmakers didn't need to make an epic, but they failed to let the audience know the Japanese were handing our asses to us on bloody, little plates.  However, I will tell you that without a doubt the biggest shock of the evening was seeing Dennis Quaid.  That man is not aging well at all!
And I finally put on my new Bigfoot socks yesterday and went for a ride.

This was my longest ride so far:  19.15 miles.  It took me an hour and 9 minutes and is rated a Category 3.  I've also started a new challenge:  But 14,400 kilo joules of energy in the next 17 days.  As of this morning I have 16% completed.  This is one of those things I need to do to move on to the next level.
Oh, and did everyone get a chance to see Devin Nune's eye roll yesterday?  Holy Shit!  That's what he's saying with his eyes.  It was almost as funny as the Idiot Jerk's sharpie notes, the ones scribbled on a piece of pad that say "I want nothing."  For those too young to remember, Nixon said something similar.  His phrase du jour was "I am not a crook."  Yesterday was not a good day for the moral degenerate in the White House.  One thing I heard about but haven't seen a clip of was Ken Starr on Fox News.  Ken said a lot of things, mostly trying to bolster all those breaking Republican hearts.  He also said something to the effect that he wondered if the Republican Senate was going to send a contingent to the White House and recommend a resignation.  I hope they don't.  I want to see this scumbag dragged through the mud a bit longer.  Oh, and that low rumble you hear is the sound of Republican wagons being drawn into a circle.

Resealable!

Yesterday, while I was trying to find a watchband, I purchased some white socks for work.  They are always a name brand, I learned a long time ago that the elastic in cheap, generic socks tears apart in a couple of weeks.  At that point I roll them into balls and they become dog toys.  When I went to open the bag I discovered the socks were in a resealable package.  Excuse me, but isn't that a bit odd?

Socks don't go stale, so it's not like you're trying to keep them fresh.  I keep my socks in a sock drawer, so there's no need for me to put them back in the package.  This isn't to say that there isn't anybody out there who wouldn't wash their socks, fold them up, and put them back in package for storage.  Or perhaps there is some individual out there who only takes a pair out when they're needed.  I know I wouldn't.  There is also the possibility of repurposing the bag...  Or, maybe it's just one of life's little absurdities.  Socks in a resealable bag, now that's different.