The bad news is that there is what looks like a nasty Nor’easter headed up the east coast. Two or three feet of snow, 50 mph winds – oh, and it’s frickin’ cold out there. The good news is that none of that shit is gonna hit here where I live (except the goddamn cold). They say we’ll get maybe four inches of snow here today and a little more tomorrow. New York City isn’t gonna be so lucky (sorry, Sue). In fact a fleet of our spare snowplows are headed Downstate right now.

So if you’re flying to NY or Boston or I suppose Philly or the vicinity, my advice is don’t. They’ve already cancelled lots of flights, just, I suppose, so the planes aren’t on the ground when the snow hits. If you’re already there, hit the grocery store and get whatever you need to settle in for a day or two. And take comfort in the fact that here in Syracuse, we’re more than three feet below average for snow this season.

There is some good news this morning, though, as Donald Trump says he is “very seriously” considering a run for Prez in 2016. Apparently he regrets not running last time (or ever, for anything, as far as I can tell), because he knows he’d have won. Personally, I can’t think of anybody more qualified to say he’s running and then not run than Donald Trump. So toss your fake hat into the ring, comb your fake orange hair across that fat head of yours and get serious – we need you Uncle Donald.

Get ready folks, for tonight President Obama’s presents his penultimate State of the Union address before Congress. And guess what? Everybody gets a pony! Everybody who doesn’t already have on, that is, as the Prez is going to propose raising taxes on the rich and giving the money to the not-so-rich. And let me tell ya, I’m confident that this proposal is going absolutely…. Nowhere.

Hey, it wouldn’t have gone anywhere even if the Republicans didn’t control the House and even if they weren’t in control (or had at least 41 votes) in the Senate. Let’s face it, at least half of the Democrats in Congress are really what we used to call Republicans before Republicans went insane. But, hey, it’s a nice idea.

Frankly, I’d be happy if they just wouldn’t gut Social Security and/or SSDI. OK, well, maybe not happy but at least somewhat less pissed off.

But then coming back to work on on the day after a three-day weekend, it’s pretty hard to be anything other than pissed off.

Wherever you are today, I hope you have the day off. Did you know that in Alabama, Arkansas, and Mississippi, Martin Luther King Jr. Day is officially known as the Robert E. Lee/Martin Luther King holiday (in Virginia, it was known as Lee–Jackson Day until 2000, when they decided to move the celebration of Lee’s birthday to the Friday before MLK day, so presumably down there they get a 4-day weekend that begins with a rebel yell and ends with “we shall overcome”)? In fact, while today is not actually MLK’s birthday, Robert E. Lee was born 208 years ago today.

If you were around back in the early 1980s, you probably remember a lot of resistance to creating this holiday. That fine American Jesse Helms (Satan rest his soul) and fellow NC cracker John Porter East (also dead and, presumably, in hell if there is one) led the opposition with Helms criticizing King’s opposition to the Vietnam War (because, like, that was such a noble cause). Helms staged a filibuster in the Senate and submitted a 300-page document alleging that King was a commie. And, in a proud moment for New York, our Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan declared the document a “packet of filth”, threw it on the Senate floor and stomped on it (sadly, I can’t find video of that).

I really miss guys like Moynihan and Mario Cuomo.

Oh well, enjoy your day off, if you’ve got one.

I suspect there’s a very good chance you haven’t been following the trial that’s been captivating locals in these parts for the past few days. No, not the hearing in Oswego County to see if there will be a new trial for the guy who was convicted 20 years ago of kidnapping and killing a high school girl named Heidi Allen despite the fact that there was not only no body, forensic evidence or eyewitness testimony but (as we are now learning) the Sheriff’s Department and District Attorney either ignored or deliberately covered up a shitload of evidence that the original defense was never allowed to see let alone present at trial (though, this is actually a pretty fascinating case for those of who remember all this going down back in 1994). But, no, the really big news around here is Rick Springfield’s killer ass.

Apparently, at a NY State Fair performance back in 2004, local woman Vicki Calcagno claims that

…Springfield struck her while performing in the crowd during an Aug. 28, 2004 concert at Chevy Court. His buttocks caused “serious, disabling and permanent injuries,” according to her 2007 lawsuit.

She claimed the incident left her disoriented or unconscious for at least 10 minutes….

It seems that Rick was leaning backwards on stage and fell over into the crowd. Calcagno snapped this damning photo of the ass moments before it attacked.

Apparently there was also a woman in the witness protection program between Rick’s legs.

Here’s a picture of Rick on the stand – clearly attempting to hide his violent buttocks by sitting on it.

Now, far be it for me to doubt Vicki’s suffering in all this, but, to me, it doesn’t look like Rick’s ass could do a hell of a lot of damage – even if you dropped it from a great height. I mean, the guy’s waste is about as big around as my left thigh.

Still there has been compelling testimony.

Springfield was emotional…when his lawyer, John Pfeifer, asked him about going out into the audience to be closer to his fans. Springfield choked up and was given a tissue for his tears.

“I get emotional sometimes,” Springfield said.

Springfield answered questions for more than 90 minutes often smiling and occasionally laughing. Goldblatt asked Springfield if he was a heartthrob and Springfield agreed with a smile. Goldblatt also asked Springfield if he’s ever been grabbed by female fans.

Springfield said it’s common for women at his concerts to “grab my butt if they’re feeling a little saucy.”

Hey, who can blame them.

You might not of heard, but back in November, a fella named Harold Diamond (how apropos) from Sullivan County (what people downstate call Upstate and those of us upstate call Downstate) purchased a Mega Millions lottery ticket that turned out to be the largest winning ticket in NY State history – $326 million. Well, good for him. I hate to be ageist, but Harold is 80 years old, and, goddamnit, it doesn’t seem fair that a retired school principal who was probably already doing pretty well pension and SS wise should win while I have to continue to go out into the cold to work every day while watching the Republicans greedily prepare to gut my retirement. I’m not saying Hal should toss me a million or anything (though if you’re feeling generous, Harold, go for it), but maybe he could sign his pension over to me? Just a thought.

Speaking of the cold, man, after a fairly warm (and somewhat snowy) day yesterday, it was awfully cold this morning. Somewhere in the vicinity of -10, though now it’s quite sunny and all the way up to +3. Guess I’ll be able to roll the windows down on the way home. The dogs were pretty unineterested in going outside this morning, so it will be interesting to see if they left any presents in the house. I guess I’d better take my time getting home so my wife gets there first.

Another cold night down into the double digits below zero tonight (garbage night, too – how typical, it’s always the worst weather on garbage night – though I don’t think there’s enough trash piled up to motivate me to drag the cans out to the road), and then supposedly it’s gonna warm up a bit. Maybe all the way to 20 tomorrow.

I don’t know if anybody noticed this story about Rob Konrad, but he was the last SU football player to wear the number 44, which is a big deal around here.

“I shouldn’t be here,” said Konrad, fighting back tears. “Sixteen hours in the water and swimming all that time. I’m very humbled and thankful.”

Konrad, 38, a former fullback for the Miami Dolphins, told assembled media at a press conference how he fell off his 31-foot boat and the harrowing journey from the murky waters to the shores of Palm Beach.

“I got a hit on one of my lines,” Konrad said. “As I moved over, a giant wave hit the boat and knocked me into the water. The boat was on autopilot at the time (the boat was eventually recovered on Deadman’s Reef in the Grand Bahama Islands), so I didn’t have a chance to get back in.”
[…]
“I might have had two or three hours to tread water before hypothermia set in,” Konrad said. “So I knew my only chance was to try and swim to shore. I followed the sun until it set, then I was able to spot lights at a distance.”

Konrad said he was stung by several jellyfish while swimming and also spotted a shark circling in the distance, but it fortunately swam away. Even more frustrating was the fact that there were two chances to be rescued in the waters, but rugged conditions made it difficult to be spotted.

“In the next 16 hours, I really had two opportunities for rescue,” Konrad said. “At one point, as I swam into the night, there was a fishing boat, a recreational fishing boat, about 50 yards away. I tried to flag down the boat, but it didn’t work out.

“A little bit later on, I saw a Coast Guard helicopter. They were out there searching the water. They came right over me, they had the lights on me, but kept on going.

“That’s when I had to get my mind right.”
[…]
After a seemingly endless voyage, Konrad heard the sweet sounds of waves crashing against the shore. While his ordeal in the water was over, Konrad was still not out of the woods.

“I couldn’t even walk when I first hit the shore,” he explained. “I had to find a tunnel to try and get warm because I was shaking so bad. I am so thankful that I was able to find a house (an estate belonging to the late attorney Robert Montgomery) where there was an off-duty police officer, and they were able to get me to Good Samaritan Hospital.”

Konrad spent three days in the hospital where he was diagnosed with hypothermia, severe dehydration and rhabdomyolyis (“I still have trouble pronouncing that word,” Konrad said with a rueful smile), a breakdown of muscle fibers.

As somebody who’s lucky to swim a lap in my pool without having a heart attack, I find that to be a pretty amazing story.

There’s another story out that seems to have surprised a lot of people.

A recent study…shows that college kids do not make up the demographic that binge drinks the most.

That demographic would be middle-aged white males, specifically men aged 45 to 54.

Well golly, I’m shocked! Shocked, I tell ya. Not that us old white men (and, hey, unless you think I’m gonna live to be 108, I’m pretty sure I can’t be considered “middle-aged” anymore) drink a lot of beer. Rather, .

Oh, and just in case you were thinking that maybe the Republicans running both the House and Senate wouldn’t be a horrible thing….

The politician who tried reducing NASA funding (and successfully shut it down for over two weeks) is now in charge of the senate subcommittee that effectively controls NASA. More than that, one of the most vocal climate-change detractors is now in charge of the United States Senate’s Environmental committee. Let’s let that sink in for a minute, shall we? Despite all the progress we’ve made so far with things like unmanned, deep-space space-flight and our efforts toward limiting the negative effects that humans have had on the environment, any future plans are now up in the air. Any major scientific progress is now at the mercy of Republican senators Ted Cruz and James Inhofe. With their actions and words over the recent years, the pair have proved just how little they understand about each area they’re now controlling.
[…]
The pair of lawmakers have proven time and again that they have a shocking misunderstanding of the world around them and now they’re in positions of direct power over topics they don’t grasp. Whether it’s due to willful ignorance or a simple refusal to accept fact is anyone’s guess. To quote Neil deGrasse Tyson, the good thing about science is that it’s true, whether or not you believe in it. Unfortunately, “science” can’t write legislation or filibuster, but Ted Cruz and James Inhofe can.

America! What a country!

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been trying my best to ignore the “new” Congress. Republicans didn’t take long to wage a new attack on Social Security, this time in the form of a proposed rules change.

The incoming GOP majority approved late Tuesday a new rule that experts say could provoke an unprecedented crisis that conservatives could use as leverage in upcoming debates over entitlement reform.

The largely overlooked change puts a new restriction on the routine transfer of tax revenues between the traditional Social Security retirement trust fund and the Social Security disability program. The transfers, known as reallocation, had historically been routine; the liberal Center for Budget and Policy Priorities said Tuesday that they had been made 11 times. The CBPP added that the disability insurance program “isn’t broken,” but the program has been strained by demographic trends that the reallocations are intended to address.

The House GOP’s rule change would still allow for a reallocation from the retirement fund to shore up the disability fund — but only if an accompanying proposal “improves the overall financial health of the combined Social Security Trust Funds,” per the rule, expected to be passed on Tuesday. While that language is vague, experts say it would likely mean any reallocation would have to be balanced by new revenues or benefit cuts.

So basically they’re manufacturing another “debt ceiling” style debacle where they can either cut off funding for disabled folks or force an agreement to fuck over retired people. I hope you’re happy with what you voted for, America. I just wish I didn’t have to live in your world. Though I guess if the GOP has its way, there’s a good chance I won’t have to live in any world when they get done with me.

On the way to work today, I passed a sign (that I must have passed before because I drive the same way every day) that said, “Happy Birthday, Jesus. We love you!” Presumably that was there for Christmas, which even the religious nuts who believe in that sort of thing acknowledge isn’t actually when Jesus (if he actually existed) was born. But, hey, it’s tradition I guess. Personally, I’d like to see them move Christmas to the Monday after the Super Bowl. And we should get a week off for New Year’s (at the very least, New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day and January 2nd should all be holidays). In fact, let’s make it a 9-day holiday and hold elections over that whole week. Polls open on the Sunday before Jan 1, and close on the Sunday after Jan 1, unless Jan 1 or 2 are on Sunday, in which case they close on the following Monday. Also, no working on February 29th, just because.

So I guess it’s colder than hell for pretty much the whole country. I think the Canadians are up to something again – they hate us for our freedom and for our expensive healthcare system, so they send their cold air this way. Here, it’s been cold for a while, but it’s particularly cold today and it should be even colder by the time I get out of work this evening. Like zero. And then even colder tonight. Fortunately, the wind is also fierce, so they’re talking about wind chills down to -30 or so. So that’s nice.

I knew I should have gotten that remote car starter.

As expected, I didn’t make it to midnight last night. Didn’t even try – I went to bed at about 9:30. Midnight is right in the middle of my first 3-hour sleep cycle, befor I get up to take a leak at 1:00, so I really didn’t want to be awake for it. Besides, I’ve seen the ball drop before and it’s really not that big a thrill. Plus Ryan Seacrest is no Dick Clark (I actually have no idea who Ryan Seacrest is – I’ve heard the name but have no idea what he’s “famous” for. Is he one of these American Idol made up celebrity things). And I rarely have a clue who these so-called music acts they have on are. Not that I was a big fan of Guy Lombardo, either.

Anyhow, I guess this is the official end of the holiday season. Thank goodness ML King day is coming soon – I already need a day off. I mean, other than today and tomorrow.

Between the warmish weather, fox piss/cayenne pepper spray, and bags of balsam oil, we hadn’t seen any mice around here for a while. But with the return of the cold weather, we got two yesterday and two more this morning. It’s my hope that the stinky bags (actually, they smell pretty good – the fox piss, not so much. Much better to spray that outside and god help you if the wind shifts ‘cuz that stuff will burn your lungs and make you want to puke) are driving any interlopers toward the one spot where I have traps and that they’re staying out of everything else.

I’m not, by nature, a bloodthirsty individual and would really rather not kill them. I’ve tried to make it clear that I would prefer they stay away, but sometimes it feel like I’m Leiningen and they’re the ants. Next thing you know I’ll be digging a moat and filling it with gasoline.

I’m not one for setting New Year’s resolutions (because I know myself all too well), but this year I have outlined what I hope are easy to attain “goals” for myself, mostly because I think I’m at the point where if I don’t change something, I’m looking at a much shorter lifespan. And in the event that the Republicans don’t completely fuck up my retirement plans, I’d like to live long enough to collect my pension and Social Security. So I guess I’ll see how I do over the long haul.

Oh well, time for some more coffee and then I can put my replacement water heater timer in (goal #1 – I told ya I’m going for the low-hanging fruit).

Enjoy the parades. And the bowl games (they still have those, right?).