All signs are currently pointing to seniors (and future seniors – not to mention poor folks on food stamps and veterans) getting fucked over by our man Barry. This is because he’s apparently ready to agree on changes to the way inflation is calculated, which will in turn reduce already small increases in SS benefits based on the cost of living. The farther away you are from retirement, the more you’re getting screwed. It’s kind of like compound interest in reverse. So, good job there, Mr. President. Once again, I admire your negotiating skills, and I’m sure the Republicans will accept your gracious offer as it, and not demand more, ‘cuz we know how reasonable they are. Maybe we’ll get lucky and they’ll refuse to pass anything.

Holy crap, Christmas is a week from today. That always seems to sneak up on me every year, even though I’m well aware that it’s coming. The more important thing for me is the Winter solstice on Friday. Assuming we all make it through end of the world type stuff (I might have to pull the battery out of my Armageddon Clock), we’ll get an extra 3 seconds of daylight come Saturday (at least, here where I live). Sadly, it won’t be until St Patrick’s Day that we get more daylight than whatever it is you call it after the sun sets.

And the sun will start getting a little higher in the sky, too. On Friday, the sun will only get 23.5 degrees above the horizon here. Not a lot of warming going on at that rate.

I’m looking forward to more daylight and warmer weather. Seems a shame we have to get through the worst part of the winter first.