Big Brass Balls

You can't fix stupid, is what ran through my mind when I saw an old fool shopping at the corner market yesterday, wearing a campaign shirt that to me indicated he'd drunk too much of the MAGA cool aid ……… "T@#$p For President, Finally Someone with Balls".

I don't know about "balls" ……… Stormy Daniels certainly didn't seem to think so; but if this old guy still supports and thinks the damage his pick is causing as something to be admired ……… ballsy, it just goes to show that stupid can't be fixed.

Had I stuck around long enough, it wouldn’t have surprised me to learn he’d driven to the market in a Tesla.

So, anyway, I picked up the eggs Trainer’s friend set aside for me — 18 count Organic Eggland’s Best @ $10.99, just one dollar more than when I last purchased these same eggs (Stater Bros), as opposed to the $13.49 I paid at Ralphs, two miles away.

I smell shenanigans.

In other words, it's looking like Claudia was onto something in commenting "Could it be that the producers are taking advantage of the publicity and jacking up the prices in certain areas?".

In other news, Casey Anthony is on TikTok.

Yes ……… that Casey Anthony, the woman who, some years ago, was dubbed "America's most hated mom".

She’s reintroducing herself to the public via TikTok as a "legal advocate for myself and my daughter".

Yes ……… that daughter, the one she was accused of unaliving back in 2008.

So now she's an advocate for that daughter. Talk about someone with balls ……… big brass ones.

About Last Week

Last week went whizzing by. Hopefully the next four years whiz by just as fast as last week did.

I had all kinds of plans for Saturday. First was to participate in this year’s Shamrock 5K at the University, after which I was going to check out an event being held, by country music station K-Frog’s Street Team, at the Stater Bros Market in Ontario.

Waking up that morning, I decided to do neither. Instead, in between catching up on recorded TV programs, working on that never ending needlepoint project, watching Tesla stock tank, I kept falling asleep, ended up mostly sleeping the day away.

Sunday was more of the same, except I didn't even bother to get out of my jammies.

Speaking of the SwaztiKars, I do wonder about that friendly lady I met at the craft store that gave me a tour of her Cybertruck. Of Elon she’d said, "He’s very political, but I don’t care about his politics. I just like his products. I have five Teslas".

No way she could have anticipated she’d be stuck with all those expensive cars now not safe to drive.

Twin 1 popped in for another layover at my place Saturday night.

Once again driving from Nevada to California on business, she crashed at my place, got some sleep and, drove the remaining three hours back to Nevada Sunday morning.

She’s got one more trip before business is concluded. So, I’ll be seeing her again next week or the week after.

Long time readers might recall having voted for Twin 1, when she was among the nominees for 2021 CNN Hero of the Year.

She won.

Couple weeks ago, she was nominated for Outstanding Social Media Personality at the 56th NAACP Image Awards Creative Honors.

I’m not exactly sure how the winner was determined, whether it was by some group or by the public voting. She was up against some stiff competition, so color me and her both shocked when ……… She won!

I'll spare you her acceptance speech.

Today started off with oatmeal for breakfast, as I was all out of eggs.

Not wanting to do oatmeal again tomorrow, I went hunting for eggs after this morning’s workout.

The Stater Bros. on the corner had no Organic Eggland’s Best, but it’s looking like my connection with Trainer’s friend — the guy who stocks the eggs, is going to work out.

When I said I’d check back after Wednesday’s workout to see if my preferred eggs had come in, he said that when they come in he’d set some aside for me. Even asked if I preferred brown or white. I prefer brown, but if it's Eggland’s Best, I’ll take white.

Not wanting to do the oatmeal thing until Eggland’s came in, I drove to Ralph’s market and scored a 18-count carton @ $13.49.

That’s $3.50 over the last 18-count carton I purchased.

Totally worth it to avoid another oatmeal breakfast. I can eat oatmeal for lunch, I’ve even eaten oatmeal for dinner, it’s just that I prefer eggs for breakfast.

I’ll still check back with my egg hookup on Wednesday. If he’s got ‘em, I’ll take ‘em. Crack them out of their shells and freeze for backup.

Randy Rides Again

Once you get beyond Randy promoting his Ground News, this is by far and away his best work yet.

I See Dead People

Well not people, just person; and not up close and personal, but off from a distance.

The plan yesterday was to, after working out, head across the street to the market for groceries.

After loading my workout gear into the car, I thought to check my fanny pack for cash and oh oh, I didn’t have sufficient on me.

Thinking the ATM at the market across the street had probably been emptied over the weekend, fresh cash not yet arrived (no cash in the ATM has happened before on a Monday), I drove to the branch of the same market that has a Teller setup, sure to have cash.

This branch of the market is located in the heart of where the homeless congregate. Thus, the shopping center that houses the market, a restaurant, fast food place, et al, is video monitored, with a voice that comes over the air announcing the area is being monitored, no loitering.

Also, inasmuch as the market is off to the side, away from the other shops and stores, the first business on that side of the lot, there is quite a lot of high iron fencing where the market and the market’s parking lot is located, to control access, keep the unhoused out.

What with that monitoring voice coming over the air, fencing and security guards, I always think of a prison when I shop there.

Believe it or not, this market always has the freshest produce.

I can only assume that, regardless of the people I see living on the streets in that area, it has something to do with Redlining …… that area being rated at a higher income than where I live because fruits and vegetables are not always that fresh at the corner market, often appear to be on their last leg. That never happens at this other market — the prison.

So, anyway, as I was driving to the entrance of the prison, I looked over and saw what I instantly knew was a dead body.

First thing I spotted was a figure on the ground, covered with what looked like a blanket. Then I noticed the cop car parked alongside where the body was located.

Once I parked inside the prison, I could see the tape surrounding the scene.

I observed nothing that gave the impression a crime had been committed, so maybe the person just gave up the ghost by natural or medical means.

That’s what happened to one of my brothers. He had a heart attack while stepping off a bus, passed away right there on the sidewalk.

After getting cash inside the market, I spent a long time working through my list because I was out of absolutely everything — except eggs.

By the time I finished shopping, headed back to the car thinking the coroner would have arrived, taken the body away by now.

Nope.

Still there on the cold sidewalk.

Just how long does it take for the coroner to get to the scene? thought I.

Remember that classic "train leaves the station" math problem? Well, the answer to how long it takes for the coroner is much like that math question and was found in the news I found online this morning.

Let’s say I was at the market from noon to 12:30. The video indicates the news and coroner arrived 17 hours ago. I downloaded the video at 7 a.m. this morning. Seventeen hours from 7 a.m. is 2 p.m.

So, correct me if I’m wrong, with my poor math skills, in estimating the answer being the coroner arrived around an hour and a half after I left ……… the deceased body lay there two more hours ……… likely way more because the unknown element is what time did the cop arrive, cordon off the area before I arrived.

So, that's how my week started ……… seeing dead people.

Just When I Thought I Was Out

Another weekend avoiding people and the news.

I did okay with the people — only one sighting while picking up mail.

It was one of the Usual Suspects who said, "We miss you at bingo".

I changed the subject.

Knowing it was Bingo Friday, that she should have been in the Community Room playing, I asked if it was breaktime and if she’d won anything.

Yes, it was breaktime; No, she’d not won anything but had come close.

I escaped back to my unit, only to later get a text message from Talker ……… "We miss you at bingo".

Not going to work ladies. You’ll never draw me back in.

I wasn’t quite as successful in avoiding the news as I’d have liked. Headlines about the Zelensky thing at the White House would pop up every time I booted up the laptop and, even though I didn't click on the headline, read the details I didn't want to know, there was no escaping the topic even on Tik Tok.

At least Tik Tok gave me some relief from the seriousness of what happened, and our humiliation and embarrassment that it happened here.

I had a short visit from my baby girl Twin 1 over the weekend.

She’d spent the day in Los Angeles, with the plan to do a turnaround …… drive the 5 hours to Los Angeles from where she now lives, spend that day taking care of business, drive the 5 hours back.

As she prepared to drive the 5 hours back, reality set in. Realizing she was too tired and groggy to be on the road for that length of time, what with my place being about an hour and a half from where she was leaving from, she wisely did a layover at my place, got some sleep and, the next morning, drove the remaining three hours back to Nevada.

She made me laugh when, looking around, she uttered "It's so clean here. Who cleans for you?"

She has someone clean for her twice a week, her sister Twin 2 had someone come in clean for her, Granddaughter also has a cleaner, so I guess Twin 1 assumed someone cleaned for me as well.

I don't know where they got indulging in that kind of luxury from, but for sure it wasn't from me …… she who, at 81 years of age, still cleans for herself.

The Inspection

Yesterday was National Pokémon Day. Had I bothered to get out and play, I might have caught new Pokémon for my deck and/or earned extra points for evolving those I already have.

Thing is, I didn't get out to play. Instead, I was stuck inside waiting for an inspection.

Truth be told, I don’t think I could have motivated myself to head out, walk around outside, even if the inspection hadn’t keep me inside, because outside is just too peopley for me right now.

At any rate, by way of background ………… We here at the complex have biannual and annual inspections by Regulatory Agencies. It's something to do with tax credits provided to Corporate being dependent on the units meeting certain standards.

Since moving here in 2012, I always get notices posted to my door indicating my unit "might" be one of those "randomly" selected for inspection but, thus far, I’ve never been inspected.

My unit was once inspected by a woman from Corporate, checking up on their investment, but I've never been inspected by any of the big deal Regulatory Agencies.

Doesn't matter to me except that, every time I get a notice, I have to get up early, prepare and hang around all day just in case.

Thus it was, when I returned from the Pain Cave on Monday, saw the "Notice to Enter Dwelling, February 27, between the hours of 8 AM and 4 PM to conduct inspection with Regulatory Agency", I got up early yesterday, performed my morning rituals, tweaked the unit for neatness and waited for what I assumed would be nothing.

Lo and Behold, there was a knock on the door around 1 o’clock.

It was Head Maintenance Guy, Manager, and a guy they introduced as the Inspector.

I’ve heard from others, whose units have been inspected, that the Inspector checks absolutely everything ……… opens closet doors, looks in the tub, turns faucets on, flushes toilets, open kitchen cabinets, tests the stove, even opens the refrigerator.

My inspection took less than five minutes.

All the Inspector did was to walk out onto the patio, look at an area of the patio floor Head Maintenance Guy pointed out, that is buckling; come back inside, look up at the A/C filter cover, test the smoke detector.

The Inspector did go into the kitchen, opened the refrigerator door, looked, closed the refrigerator door and exited the unit saying the Maintenance Guys would be replacing a part.

Sounded like B.S. to me, just for show, and I doubt the Maintenance Guys will be replacing shiz.

I saw the same thing happen when the woman from Corporate did her inspection. She said the guys would be re laminating the kitchen counter. That work was never done, there was no follow up.

When Head Maintenance Guy and the Inspector walked out onto the patio, Manager stood like a statue, just inside the door, hugging her clipboard.

After telling me I was the last one, that they’d been at it since 8 o’clock, she stared straight ahead — watching the TV thought I.

All of sudden, she made a quick movement, rushed towards the bookcase in front of her, bent down exclaiming "That is soooo cute. I’ve never seen anything like that".

She reached in and handled the item she was talking about.

I later stood where she had been standing when she made that quick movement, and this is what she saw from that vintage point.

When she bent down and handled the item she said was soooo cute, this is what she was looking at.

Joe Exotica

Of all the candles on display, what most fascinated her was Tiger Joe.

I pointed out Luigi and said, "This one is my latest purchase".

Still fondling Tiger Joe, she didn’t seem interested, so I said, "You do know who that is don’t you?"

She shook her head to indicate no.

"Luigi Mangione, the CEO shooter", said I.

With a blank look on her face, she said "I don’t know who that is".

OMG!!!

After thinking about it, I’m fairly certain Manager is likely not the only one on the property to not know anything about a CEO being shot, who Luigi is.

Today is Economic Blackout Day. So, after this morning’s workout, I did not head to the market but, from observing all the cars in the market parking lot, other shops and stores in the area, it's business as usual around here.