Autumnuponus

I was up on time despite sleeping rather poorly, at least compared to the incredible sleep I’ve grown accustom to over the last month or so. The storms from the night before were long gone and had once gain given way to clear skies. I noticed what appeared to be a full moon in the western sky. After exercise, I headed out with Frankie. It was warm, somewhere in the 60’s. The day’s was once again expected to surpass 90, and quite possibly break the record high of 91. I enjoyed my coffee during and after our time outdoors. I had to carry Frankie back to our yard from Kenny’s. Sniffing for Woody I suspect. Meditation and stretching went extremely well. I felt great just ahead of my run. It was just after 630am when I headed out the front door. It was absolutely gorgeous this first full day of autumn under a full moon and warm temps. I ran the full 4.1 mile track in shorts and a short-sleeved wicking shirt. I was back home earlier than usual thanks to a start about five minutes ahead of usual. Mindy was still frying our eggs. I poured Bella what remained of the OJ. I wanted some too but let her have all that was left. We enjoyed our breakfast together, the kids both having a slice of Mindy’s fresh apple pie. It looked better than good. Mindy left for school at 730am. She let me know that I would most likely come home to an empty house since she’d be driving Jacob to soccer practice. She asked about the possibility of Thursday golf. I planned to take my gear but wasn’t holding my breath. I haven’t been able to get out after work in a long, long while. Off to the shower. The kids and I reconvened in the kitchen shortly before 755am, and headed out to the bus stop minutes later. Frankie and Woody played while we awaited the bus. The girls, Bella, Kayla, and Lillian fed the ducks old hot dog buns from the bridge while waiting. The bus arrived on-time. Chirssy and I chatted briefly before parting ways. Frankie took a dump in David and Becky’s front yard to which I quipped a present for the Gipper on this their last day of ownership. The kitchen was messy. I took a few minutes to tidy up before heading out. Couldn’t bear to leave it in disarray. I drove the Trooper despite a very favorable forecast – sunny and in the 90’s. I arrived to work on time. The morning went smoothly. I spent the first couple hours in a meeting with my boss. While away, I missed a call from Golf Galaxy. I was exited to check my VM. Yep, my new clubs were in! I also received an email from the Bob’s asking about evening golf. They were planning to play Split Rock. I reluctantly shared that the prospects of evening golf weren’t good, but that Saturday was a possibility. I made no mention of my new clubs. When 1pm arrived I left for a lunch break and headed to Golf Galaxy. It didn’t take long for them to fetch my order. I opened the box to scope out the clubs before signing off. Look good! I signed and left. I decided to stop in Macy’s furniture essentially next door just to browse. Haven’t been there in almost a year, best guess. I looked at sofas and recliners and saw some I liked. Who knows, perhaps we’ll finally replace our ratty old stuff someday soon. I headed back to the office. It had to be 90 degrees – the air extra thick and warm. Back at work, I ate my packed lunch by 215pm. I planned a team meeting for 230p and hoped to keep it brief, maybe 30 minutes. The meeting was good, but we went well beyond the 30 minutes I had hoped. We met for nearly an hour. I really like my team. After my team meeting I chatted with my boss for a few minutes before heading back to my office to tie up loose ends. It was already near 4pm. Fast day. Mindy phoned on her drive home from her after school dental appointment. My dad got the kids off the bus. She asked about golf and dinner. No golf and no formal dinner necessary for me. She reminded me that she and Bella would almost certainly be gone when I arrived home. I left the office near 530p. It was a warm balmy evening. For the first time in a while, I felt really tired during my drive home. A nap sounded really good. I toted my new clubs inside along with the rest of my work gear. I took care of some minor chores and then released Frankie from her pen before settling into the living room recliner to read and ultimately nap. I didn’t get through 3 or 4 pages when sleep naturally came over me. It felt so good! I didn’t sleep long, however. Just a brief cat nap. After some quiet contemplation, I leaped to my feet eager to take care of some watering chores. The day’s 90+ degree heat left most of our flowers crying for water. I watered everything well. I even dead headed the geraniums hanging over the hot tub pergola. Suddenly with a new burst of energy, I decided to investigate the $550 water bill mystery. It didn’t take long to discover a problem. I took a mental note of the current readings on both the primary and auxiliary remote water meters then headed inside to compare those readings to those documented on our recent bill – a reading from September 3rd. As expected, the primary meter had advanced a bit further ahead, but curiously, the auxiliary meter, the one that measures water used by the irrigation system, hadn’t advanced at all. Hmmm? That is impossible. I double checked both the meter and the bill. Yep, same reading. I knew enough to head to the basement to check the actual meters as opposed to the remote readings. Both meters reflected the identical readings I gathered from the remotes. Great! That meant that my auxiliary meter was faulty, and not recording the water that would otherwise be deducted from sewage charges, which comprises about 70% of the City water bill. No wonder my bill was so high! What’s worse, I am pretty sure that I am responsible for the meter, not the city. I then pulled my last six water bills (1.5 years worth) to try and decipher what my bill should’ve been had the meter worked properly. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to determine that there was a problem. For the same period last year, we used 104 CCF of water in total. Of that, only 33 CCF for the home (billed with sewage). The other 71 CCF on the auxiliary meter (irrigation system). The same period this year we used 103 CCF and all but 32 was billed with sewage charges applied. I was able to guesstimate that the aux. meter must’ve stopped working around the beginning of July. In addition, I could see that from my last six bills that my average household usage was between 30-34 CCF per quarter. I would need to be armed with that data when calling the water company for some love tomorrow. I thought about the water bill dilemma for the remainder of the evening. I had to laugh at the predicament. I realized there was absolutely no incentive for the water department to have mercy on me. I had no tangible proof beyond numeric history. Why couldn’t it have been the main meter failing? Of course not! Mindy and Bella decided to shop and do dinner after dropping Jacob at soccer practice. They didn’t get home until after 8p. In fact, Jacob was home before them. I ended up reheating the buffalo chicken breast that Mindy made for dinner the night before. It was really good. Jacob wanted some too. After Jacob ate the chicken he asked me to make him a plate of nachos. OK, you’re a plate of nachos! Bam! I shared what I learned about the water bill mishap with Mindy. On top of all that drama, our cable TV service, including Roadrunner, had been out since I arrived home. Bella was beside herself not being able to watch TV. And Mindy, oh boy, she tried rebooting her laptop numerous times until – Duh - I shared that it wasn’t working because the cable was out. And the thing is, she KNEW the cable was out. Said neighbor Lisa had it posted on her facebook – saw that via her Droid-2. I was just a little lost not being able to surf from my PC, but also because we couldn’t watch the Thursday night college football game. I used the time to stretch and lay flat on my back on the family room floor. Admittedly, a lot of my thoughts turned towards our water bill dilemma and how I might best navigate/manage through it. The kids were in bed around 850pm. I tucked both in. Unable to play solitaire or play on facebook, Mindy headed for bed shortly after 9pm. I remained flat on my back on the floor thinking. It felt really good. I laid there until the sleepies arrived. That was near 10pm. The cable, meanwhile, remained out despite Time Warner estimating a 9p restoral. I headed to bed after placing Frankie in her pen.