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Thursday, Jun. 20, 2002 - 7:38 p.m. Yeah, it is too hot. I can take upper 80�s if the humidity isn�t too high. But today? It was 93�, and the relative humidity was around 75%. In other words�it feels like any summer day in Alabama or Georgia. But we don�t live there. We live in Mohall, N.D., as you all know (or somewhere within a 1051.27 mile drive, if Mapquest.com is right). Tonight, after work, I decided to do a little yard work. Not smart, considering I did this work at 3p.m. I started the lawnmower, trying to figure out what was wrong with it. Codeman called me at work yesterday, complaining that it kept dying on him. I started it, and it ran rough for a minute or so, and then it died. I checked the throttle setting, and noticed that it was on full choke. No wonder! I set it back to the fast-run setting, and wrapped a tie strap to the handle (to keep the auto kill switch from activating) to see how long it would run. 35 minutes later, it was still running. While this experiment was taking place, I decided to do a little clean-up work on my woodpile. Since the Drug Dealer Neighbor had the new chain link fence installed, I have been trying to find the time to clean up what was left behind. I had one of those cheap-o green mesh fences in the short stretch between my other chain link fences, just waiting to get a neighbor who would split the cost of that section with me. Since he wouldn�t lat me pay my half, it worked out pretty good for me. Because of the stumps left behind when older trees were cut down, and because the wicked Black Walnut Tree From Hell is on our property lines, he had the fence put 2 feet over onto his property. What does that mean? It means I have another 2� of garden to play with, for one thing. It also means I needed to pull the old fence and to stack all the firewood that has fallen down in this area. Well, I did all that. But not before the heat got to me. Yes, I am a heat wimp. Not by choice. But I can get light headed and dizzy as fast as anyone I know when the temperatures are up and I am working too hard. It wasn�t a big deal. I had to lie down on the patio for a few minutes, letting my head clear up, before I could drag the rest of the old fence up the hill and shut my mower down. After a few minutes sitting on the basement steps (in the a.c.), I took a nice cool shower. Now I am back, as good as new. Let me repeat what I always tell people when they make fun of my heat-related problems: I can work for hours in sub-zero cold. I don�t mind trudging thru deep snow, no matter how much the wind is howling. But my body just can�t take heat. I can remember passing out, as a child, while playing baseball in the afternoon heat. Hey, most of my ancestors came from Ireland . I don�t think they get summer heat in the 90�s very often, do they? A few quick observations on the news: 1. The forest service employee who started the huge Colorado fire wasn�t burning a letter from her ex-husband. She set the fire on purpose, authorities now say. This doesn�t surprise me. I thought her first story was a little lame, considering the fact she only came up with the �burning letter out of control� story AFTER she was caught lying in the first place. Fire experts were able to find out that the fire had to be deliberately set for it to spread the way it did. The license plate number that she gave to authorities (saying that she saw the vehicle speeding away from the fire)? It belonged to some people who stopped at the fire site, asking her what was going in. She told them that she had the fire under control, and to not worry. Why is it that some (very few, I am sure) people join fire departments, only to be discovered as arsonists? Is this a way for them to get their thrills? We had a volunteer fireman in a local small town convicted of starting fires a few years ago. He always seemed to be the first one at the blazes, or was the person who discovered the fires. It took the police about a year to put the pieces together, but he is behind bars now. Too strange. 2. The American �football� (soccer) team is in the quarterfinals of the World Cup! WhooHoo! People all over the country are loosing sleep, staying up to watch the early-morning games! Now, for the reality check: 99.9% of the adults in this country are not soccer fans. Never have been, and won�t be even if the U.S.A. manage to win this quadrennial event. A game that ends in a 0-0 tie? Not for most of us Yanks, thank you. A peaceful game? Somebody from Norway wanted to nominate �football� for the Nobel Peace prize a few years ago (true story)! Has he not read of the stabbings and violence in the stands? How about the mob scenes that cause people to be trampled or suffocated in the stands? For a 0-0 tie? Let me put this whole �U.S.A. soccer! U.S.A. soccer!� crap into perspective: There are 8 teams still alive in the World Cup. Several powerhouse teams are home, and several more are still alive. The U.S.A. team is one of the 8 still playing in the tourney. So is that world power Senegal. I am soooo proud! O.k., enough sarcasm: You want to see pictures of my grandniece, don�t you? Here is what mother and daughter would look like, if it was 1954, not 2002:
This photo is of Tara and Riley. I thought it was pretty cool in black and white, so that is what you get. The next photo is of the father, Shawn, with his new daughter:
I even snuck a photo of Lease with the newborn. She is really enjoying the fact she has a new relative to baby-sit (and spoil, too):
Damn, this is one long entry. Congrats if you made it all the way to the bottom!
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