It's Not All Bad

I have to write while I'm still sane and while the computer is still on. The forecast says only 86 for a high, but it also says partly cloudy out right now, and I don't see any clouds. I'm preparing for the worst.

I did get a call from the landlord yesterday who said he's just waiting on the electrician to get back to him. I guess Mr. Electrician was supposed to be here early in the week. I think we are well past "early" now. Fucker. I got much apologizing from the landlord, but that doesn't fix my damn air. It was still early enough in the day that I wasn't 100% crabby, and I was able to stay civil. I don't guarantee my civility to last for long.

John really wanted to send me up there last night when I was completely uncivil. I was hot and burnt from spending much of the afternoon outside. I forgot to put on sunscreen, but let me tell you a little secret. I don't remember where I heard this, but it seems to have worked for me every single time I've gotten burnt. Take aspirin, and drink a huge glass of water (not hard for me yesterday; I think I drank ten), and no sunburn pain. Today, I have no sunburn at all. I don't think aspirin heals sun damage to my skin, so I'll still end up a wrinkly mess, but at least I don't hurt.

I did have an awfully good time while getting burnt. I got out of the house and scrubbed our inflatable pool with the kids. We left it outside all winter, and it survived! So we cleaned it and filled it, and the kids had a great time swimming while I had a great time getting splashed. Then I started work around the house. I have several flowers to plant, and I got some of them in the ground, or in a basket, or in a planter box. I'll do a more detailed account of all that in its own page. I still have to finish the last gardening episode I started and didn't finish.

What I did realize before my brain shorted out from the heat (I know, hot jokes are getting old) is it made me rather nostalgic. Closing up the house and covering the windows reminded me of being at my grandma's as a kid. The smell, the feeling of the morning air with a tinge of dampness, hearing the outside noises all took me back to spending the night at Grandma's. Grandma always had things to do too. We went out and worked, then came in for a drink. Those were the best drinks I've ever had, until yesterday. I discovered I liked the fresh air and being able to listen to birds sing and sitting on the porch because it's cooler than hanging out indoors. Not having air conditioning got me out of the house and in the yard. It got me playing with the kids. It got me to relax, and that's probably the last thing I expected. I still want my air conditioning, but it hasn't been all bad to be without it.