I'm Melting!

Was it the witch in the Wizard of Oz that just melted onto the floor?  I think it could happen to me!  It's 101 and climbing, although it's felt much hotter to me today.  I went to Costco earlier and replenished my ice cream supply!

I went to the gym last night, the first time in probably 3 wks.   I thought I would be really set back in what I could do, but it actually felt wonderful to be exercising.  I also noticed that I couldn't feel pain from the mesh used to close the hernia, so I am hopeful that it's healing well, and I didn't have the sore muscles that sometimes follow a good workout.  I've promised myself to not be concerned with getting rid of my little round belly until closer to a year post-op, and I want to make sure I've healed thoroughly.  At 122.6 I'm over my 1st goal, and if I keep eating ice cream like I have I'll meet my 2nd goal of 125 very soon!  (The ice cream is no doubt going straight to the little round belly!)

I got my internet with ATT up and working.  I've been looking for an email alternative to AOL which gives me no end of trouble, and was happy to know I could get an email address with ATT.  Unfortunately, I found out that it is actually with Yahoo, who takes care of their email stuff.   At least 15 or more years ago I belonged to a Yahoo group which has now migrated to Facebook so I no longer have contact with them, but my sign-in name and email have remained.  I tried to change it but without success, so I will just let it go  for now.   I think if I could find a reasonable user friendly email program I would even be willing to pay for it.  

 The internet connection seems good and about the same speed as what I got with Verizon.  I'll wait a day or two to cancel Verizon, just to make sure ATT works out ok.  I will have to say that all the ATT techs and representatives I've spoken to have been outstanding, and don't want to leave me on my own until I'm absolutely sure I have everything right.  Having my ATT television service for the past 6 months I can also say that when I had a problem and had to call them I got excellent service then as well.

Although I can't find many programs to record, I find a few such as Animal Cops-Houston, and once in a while a history or science program that sounds good.   Movies just don't interest me, nor do sports, and that's about half of what TV is all about.   Then deduct half of what's left for silly game shows, sitcoms, and reality shows, and there is very little left.   What remains is primarily documentaries about WW II and now there are some on Vietnam.    That doesn't leave me much TV watching potential, does it, but it feels good to me to have it available - just wish the cost wasn't so high.

 I'm finally cooling off.  I thought I had High Cool on but in fact had High Fan Only.  The unit is on the ceiling so I have to look straight up to read it, and it gets distorted so I often get the wrong setting.
My rent bill which includes utilities is $13+ less than last month, but just slightly less electricity used.  I wonder if the solar panels the Park added has contributed to my bill being lower.   I hope that's what it is and will continue to result in a slightly lower cost for me.

I'm hungry and ready to go fix a quick meal, but the kitchen is very hot this time of day.   I guess I'll wait a little while - my thermometer is showing 102 and over 93 inside the house.   I haven't been swimming in years but if I had a pool right now I'd be in it!
 





 

First thing I want to do is to address Jessica's comment yesterday that I might consider getting a cat.   I was brought up with dogs as pets; my dad didn't like cats and my mom grew up on a farm where the cats were around the barn to catch mice, but no animal was ever  brought into the house.   She did relent and allowed us to have a dog in our house, so that's what I grew up with.    I don't have anything against cats but would never in a million years want one for a pet.  For one thing I couldn't bear to have a cat walking across my countertops.   So the only pet I would ever consider would be a dog, and I've about given up on that idea. 

Does anyone else notice that TV is absolutely terrible lately?  I don't watch all that much, but when I do flip through the channels I find the same stuff repeated over and over.  And news?  Forget it.  Wars everywhere and nothing but bad news that I'm sick of hearing about.  I'm hoping the repeated programming is just a seasonal thing and will improve in the fall.

My TV service was scheduled to increase by $33 this month, and I called AT&T to cancel it.  I spent just under an hour on the phone while the tech tried to figure out a way to keep me in the fold; they ended up not only cancelling the increase, but giving me a few dollars off the regular bill.  Plus I am getting their internet service as of this evening!  My Verizon MiFi contract ran out a month ago and I've been wanting to find something better.  Now I will have unlimited internet so I can watch a video or YouTube if I want to without worrying about exceeding a 5GB limit a month.   I think my monthly bill will be pretty close to what I'm paying for both services now, except I won't have to deal with Verizon.  I won't be able to travel with internet service, but most of my extended travels involve some motel stays and internet is usually available.  I've quit taking my computer along on camping trips as there is no sense being out in the woods and being distracted by a computer.

There will be just enough technology in my life so that I don't get arrested by the "Hi Tech Police" for not being connected, and just enough technology to keep NSA happy!

The "wave" continues

Only 101 is expected today, which will rise to 103 for the next several days!   At least the delta breeze cools us in the evenings and early mornings.  I love that blast of chilly air coming in my bedroom window around 5 AM!

I got my hair trimmed today and I don't think I'll step outdoors for the rest of the afternoon except to get my mail.  Last night Donald made lasagna, including home-made lasagna noodles, and I gladly accepted an invitation to join them.  The little girls are still showing signs of jet lag once in a while but they are just about back to normal.

Steve and Meg got a puppy for Liam.  He is about 8 wks old and certainly looks darling from the photos.  I will try to get out to their house by Thursday or Friday to get a first hand look.  (Click to enlarge.)

Puppy, who hasn't yet been named, has a littermate that is available but I'm not tempted in the least!

Waiting out the heat

It's still unbearably hot, but after the triple digits all this week we will get back into the 90's.  I never thought I'd be relieved to be in 90 degree weather.  Have I said how much I hate hot weather?   

I dropped by to visit Jeannie and family yesterday.  I took them the Sunday paper, which I always do after I'm finished with it.  Jeanne and I worked the Sunday crossword - it drives me crazy because she enters the letters very lightly in pencil whereas I always use a pen.  I wrote in ink even back when I was young enough to have great eyesight.  But we got the entire puzzle completed.  It's the best thing about getting the Sunday paper - all the ads are ridiculous and I hardly ever look at them.  It is good to have the kids back and I'm looking forward to the gym, which I haven't been to since at least a week before they left because I couldn't leave Bear alone to destroy something.  Life is a lot more calm now.  

I've been intending to steam clean the floors but keep putting it off.  I didn't have such good luck with the steamer last time I tried using it, but I'll try once more.  Moving furniture around is what I'm dreading.

There are quite a few hummingbirds visiting the feeder on my front porch.  I just noticed a very tiny one that I haven't seen before.   They get spooked if I sit on the porch so I have to be content looking at them through the screen door.   The ruby-throated hummers who visited me in Asheville didn't care if I sat out on my deck very close to the feeder and I loved seeing them up close.   The ones I've seen in CA aren't as striking in looks, nor do they seem as friendly. 

I hung clothes on the line across the street this morning and i'm not looking forward to standing in the sun to take them down and fold them.   I'd better get to it before I forget and leave them out overnight.  I haven't done that so far, but as sluggish as I feel right now I'm sure I could.


  

 

Hot-Hot-Hot!!!

I never did like Sacramento during the summer, and the older I get the more I hate it.   Triple digits for at least the next week are not healthy for me.

I've been out twice today - early this morning I went to buy strawberries at the farmers' market, and early this afternoon to a liquor store to buy a 12 pack of Hi Life.  I have had very little in the way of alcoholic beverages for over 6 months, but the few days I had Bear I decided a beer or two might keep me calm.   Now the heat has me thirsty and while I like cold water I get pretty tired of it after a while.  I don't drink soda pop or any kinds of sweet drinks, so water or beer are my beverages of choice.

I think Jeannie and her family are arriving back in Sacramento tonight, and it will be nice to see them.   If the weather stays like this I might be tempted to take a dip in their pool one of these evenings.  I haven't been in a swimming pool for at least 10 or 12 years.  It will be nice to get back to having someone to go to the gym with as I've gotten lazy while they've been away.

UPDATE:  Last night a fire broke out on the El Dorado/Amador County line.   I camped early this week at a much higher elevation, but would have definitely had a problem with the smoke especially driving back home.  The TV cameras caught flame burning uphill and then igniting a house - I couldn't believe how quickly the house was totally ablaze.   Of all natural disasters I think fire scares me more than hurricanes or tornados, and probably earthquakes.      

Another week gone by

On Wednesday I went to see Liam's swim lesson but he decided he didn't feel like swimming, so we just sat and talked, then went out for dinner.  I had tortilla soup that was so spicy I thought it would give me a problem later, but I felt fine.  Spent the night at their house and then came back home yesterday about mid-morning.  

Going camping for even a day requires a lot of work getting things packed and ready to go, and even more work afterward to get things unpacked, cleaned up and put away.  My coolers are emptied and dry but I still have to carry them out to the storage shed, but other than getting a few remaining items from the back of the car I am pretty well finished.

August is not the best month for me to plan another camping trip - my sister is getting married on the 9th so I will be out of town for at least a couple of days for that.   There is also a baby shower for someone whom I feel very close to on the 23rd, so I am going to skip the reunion at Lassen on that date; I also have an appointment to see my eye surgeon in August.  If everything was crammed in just one or two weeks I would have a window of opportunity to get away for a few days, but the events are all spaced out during the entire month of August.  My plan is to wait until the Tuesday or Wednesday after Labor Day and then head for the Trinity Alps.  There are so many camping, hiking, and backpacking possibilities there and planning will be fun.  I hope the weather will be cooler as well, but you just never know.  I think this time i will definitely carry bear spray - I never needed it in the past although my experience has been in the east.  From what I read in the way of hikers' journals though, bear activity is up in the east as well as just about everywhere else.   As long as we are talking about black bears I don't get too spooked, but I think my heart would stop if I ever met a grizzly face to face!

I don't think I mentioned how great my new hiking boots are.  Of course I didn't do any serious miles in them, but the short time I wore them they felt great!  I am hoping to give them a good work-out before winter.

I have been so lax about going to the gym since Jeannie & Donald are on vacation.  I should try to get there this evening but I'm just not motivated right now.  I think once I get there I will be enthused to go back regularly, but dragging myself out in the heat is the hardest part.

Ok, I'm gonna get dressed and make this day count.   Lately I've been wanting a couple more hours sleep than I usually need - don't know why but I must need it for some reason and I hope I can soon get back to a more normal schedule.

A few thoughts

Since I've had a couple of comments on pillows, I'll just say that I wouldn't have even thought of it being the problem until I read that pain in the shoulder blade is almost always caused by an issue with the neck.  And I don't normally have a problem in the world with my neck, so I considered it might have been because I didn't take my small pillow.  I was using a new sleeping bag that features a built-in pillow - actually a thin piece of foam - which is why I left my camping pillow at home.  I think the problem was strain in my back to try to keep from sliding on the uneven terrain.

I feel much better this morning so I will just have to be more careful in the placement of my tent in the future.  Oddly enough, there is rarely a completely flat piece of ground on which to pitch a tent, and I've never had this kind of problem before.  Hopefully I won't have it again.

In looking over my photos it strikes me that this is the perfect amount and form of water to make me happy.  I appreciate the beauty of an ocean or lake, but a creek, stream or river is my perfect choice.  I like my rivers big and small - one of the most perfect spots when I was RVing was in Idaho at Village of Trees RV Park, right on a wide point in the Snake River.  But water rushing over rock is my perfect scenario.

I also think the western mountain chains, the Sierra Nevada, Cascade Range, etc., are stunning and breathtakingly beautiful.  The eastern mountains, the Appalachian chain, the Allegenies, and others are beautiful, sometimes mysterious, but welcoming and friendly.   I always feel wrapped up in their many folds, and loved.   If I had to spend the rest of my life in one or the other it would be the Appalachians, but that's not the way life is.  I hope I can continue to travel to and through the eastern part of the country for many years to come, while I will continue to be awestruck in the Sierra as well.

Oh, but I've left out the Rockies, haven't I?  I don't think I've ever had a full appreciation for them, although I would like to spend some time in the Northern and Canadian rockies if I could.  Life is just too darn short, and I'm on the short end of the stick with so much to see and do and so little time.

The Silver Fork campground - my most recent trip - was very well laid out to provide good privacy between sites, and you actually could hear the water from just about the entire campground.  I noted that for as far back from the main road that it is located - about 8 miles over rough road undergoing road work at that - there are a disproportionate number of RV's, large and small.   Having towed a large 5th wheel over 6 miles of gravel road when I worked at Lassen I know it's possible, but not many folks tried bringing in the big rigs.   I really wish that campgrounds would set aside a loop for the big ones, and at least a loop for tenters.  I got up in the middle of the night to see a huge column of lights flashing off and on next to a big RV, plus a very bright light that came on when someone (me) walked by.  That is very intrusive to me to not be able to walk to the bathroom after dark without being blinded by a spotlight, and if a person is so paranoid they probably shouldn't be there in the first place.

In looking back I'm so glad I went to Silver Fork and wouldn't mind returning although the spot I had was perfect for accessing the rocks and getting close to the water.   Unfortunately there wasn't a flat place to camp.  Next time I might pad up the picnic table and set out my bedroll on top of it.  Actually, I did look for a flat space big enough to hold the pad and sleeping bag for some "cowboy camping".  I couldn't even find that except for right up by the fire pit.

This afternoon I'm driving back up US 50 for a few miles to watch my grandson Liam at his swimming lessons.  I think it's such a great idea for kids to swim when they are very young.  Liam will be 4 in just about a month.   I still have a few camping things to put away but they will wait.  I am just so happy my shoulder doesn't hurt any more that I'm not worrying about a thing!