Weather 101

Happy 30th Courtney ... where ever you are.
Happy 25th nephew Joe
I woke near 4am a little chilly. We had the AC on, the ceiling fan going, and a small window fan on the floor near the window blowing straight up at our bed. That was Mindy’s doing. Not sure why. At any rate, I fell back asleep not waking for work until 540am. I had the coffee already prepped and set to auto-brew. That enabled me to start exercises right away. I completed the usual 50 sit-up then a set of 40 curls.

I choked down a Naproxen just before pouring my coffee. Along with catching up on the Reds and Vikings doings, I read about the elusive Higgs particle and how the CERN team may very well reveal its findings as soon as next Wednesday. Cool! I played around online until nearly 615am when I headed to the family room for meditation and a stretch.

I chased the geese away once again with my bb gun. For some reason or another, the magnet that holds the ready-to-fire bb in place is letting got prior to getting a shot off allowing the bb to drop safely to the ground just before pulling the trigger. I suspect those pesky geese have somehow infiltrated my arsenal.  They fled the yard after seeing my presence alone.

It was 638am when I headed off on my run. Despite a high predicted to reach 101 degrees, it was only in the 60s with an abundance of sunshine. I wore a long sleeved wicking shirt again, more because I didn’t want to dirty a short sleeved shirt. It was trash day and our can was already at the curb. I made sure to place it there early last evening. I ran the full 4.1 miles, and once again accosted by Morgan, that unrestrained standard poodle. She charged out towards me at full speed and barking not stopping until I turned towards her. She circled me a couple of times then retreated to the whistle of her owner. I’m think I’ll take David’s advice and pick-up some pepper spray. I’ll talk to the owner one more time too. His dog is out of control.

I was back at home by 718am. Before starting breakfast, I headed out to water all the flowers. Because it was expected to top 100 degrees, I didn’t want any of my flowers to face the day without an abundance of water already cooling their roots. I watered thoroughly front and back. Took almost 30 minutes. As soon as I was back inside Eiknarf was crying for her release from Jacob’s room. I headed up to take care of her next.
She and I headed out for a walk, and we were out there for almost 10 minutes. It was 758am when we got back home. I quickly cooked three fried eggs and prepped a lunch. I was off to the shower by 825am.

I took Mindy some coffee and placed the pug up on our bed. She was excited to be in bed with Mindy. As usual, it didn’t take me long to shower and dress. I decided to wear jeans since this would in all likelihood be my last day in the office until mid-July. I plan to work from home on Friday.

Mindy headed downstairs with me. I made sure she knew that I had already walked the pug and fed her. I also let her know that I watered all the flowers. By design, she didn’t have a lot on the map for the day, instead, just some final packing. I brought two empty growlers and the Jimindy cooler up form the basement thinking that I might make two pit stops at lunch, one at CBC and one at Barley’s to have them filled. Mindy expressed worry over my obsession with the geese. I explained that I work so hard in the yard all spring long only to have those rats with wings destroy it. You’d have to see it to believe it. There are piles of shit almost every square foot and that’s after Mindy picked all of it up on Sunday. Not only that, but they eat our lawn down to nubs.

I shared that one of us should call my dad to confirm whether or not he’s picking up Glenn. In the end I agreed to call him. Need to call my mom too to see what her plans are for the coming week. I left for the office around 840am but not before once again chasing about 15 geese out of my front yard. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

The office was ridiculously quiet. I stowed my lunch and went after ice water. When I returned to my office I walked the nearby halls to see who else might be in the office. Out of about 30 offices, there was only me and one other guy. Yikes!

While getting settled in I called the water department after receiving another water bill after just paying one early last week. I reached Beth who explained that they sent a bill after replacing my meter, and then sent the regular cycle bill to get me back on the 90-day cycle. Said that my payment from last week has since posted so I only needed to be concerned about sending in another $7.38. OK.

I called my dad around 920am. He didn’t answer so I left a VM. He called back about 15-20 minutes later. He did get the word from Glenn detailing his flight itinerary and planned to pick him up. Said he figured to be bringing him to my house to stay. I asked if he planned to let Glenn borrow one of his cars. No. I offered that I would likely let him take my Accord but for local travel only. My dad mentioned that my mom would be coming in town to stay the weekend at my house with Glenn. Hadn’t heard, though we offered. I figured to call her sometime later that afternoon. Before hanging up, I told dad that I would keep an eye on Glenn’s flight and alert him if there were any significant delays.

I participated on a couple of scheduled calls and dealt with a few escalations. Before I knew it was 2pm. I went for my packed lunch enjoying it from my desk. I talked with Mindy too. She and all the girls (Bella, Makayla, Lillian, and Emily) were making a run to Target. I offered that rather than me running to CBC and then Barley’s for lunch that we simply plan on dining there. That way we can have the growlers filled with Centennial. That’ll make Darwin happy.

I spent the afternoon wrapping up a few things relative to my long vacation. I hoped to get out of the office a bit early and did. I left for home just after 430pm but not before taking one last look at Glenn's flight tracker. Looked like he was over northern PA, and already past our neck of the woods. I dumped my leftover ice water then turned the pitcher and my cup upside down. Again, I'd be working on Friday but from home. It felt good to be heading home.

Boy was it ever hot & steamy. Can't recall the last time it was that warm. The high temperature reached 100 degrees. There was a slight breeze blowing, but it felt like a blast furnace. The bright spot was that the humidity seemed to be baked away.

Mindy was surprised when I walked in right near 5pm. Wondered why I hadn't called. Instead of calling home I called and talked with my mom. Said she was planning to come up on Sunday to see Tommy sing locally with Glenn and my dad. Would almost certainly be staying at my place. Wasn't sure how long she'd be staying, but mentioned plans to see Red, White & Boom with Glenn, Lindsey and the boys too. I asked how she was holding up in the extreme heat. Fine after buying a large window air conditioning unit. She paid too much for it, but hey, at least she's cool and comfortable. We chatted until I pulled into the drive.

Once home I quickly went from work mode to vacation prep mode. Most of my gear was laid out but still in need of packing. It didn't take nearly as long as I imagined, probably no more than 25 minutes. We received a mysterious large envelope in the mail. Mindy opened it. It was two t-shirts and stickers sent to us from David & Anita. One said Coexist while the other said Peacemakers all using symbols representing various belief systems. Brought smiles to both of us. We admired theirs while they were here visiting. Thanks David & Anita.

We had plans to dine at Barley's and as soon as my packing organizing was complete we headed that way. It couldn't have been later than 6pm when we left the house. Bella opted to stay back and play with her peeps under the watchful eye of neighbor Chrissy. It was Mindy, Jacob, and I. Throughout the day we received text messages from Darwin sharing their travels. I think they made it to Corolla NC near 630pm. Mindy let him know we were at Barley's eating and having jugs filled for the trip.

Janet was our server. Haven't seen her in a while. I ordered a Centennial and Mindy a Stone IPA. Jacob went with Dr Pepper. And before ordering dinner, we went through two orders of fries. It was Thursday, which meant it was Reuben night. It's not on the menu any other night. I haven't had one of theirs for months. Not sure what Mindy ordered. Jacob ordered a brisket quesadilla. I eventually ordered a 2nd Centennial. The twins, Kent and Kurt, showed up about 15 minutes before we left for home. As usual, we had an enjoyable conversation with the two of them. Mindy took our growlers to the bar to be filled. Janet said they weren't permitted to fill a CBC jug. Hmm? She let us borrow one of theirs. We have like 15 Barley's growlers at home. We paid for part of our tab with gift cards. I covered the rest. We left for home near 730pm. Man was it warm.
Arrived home still before 8pm. Did a little more organizing but then took a little nap in the family room chair while watching an episode of How It's Made. I slept on and off for 30 minutes. I finally mustered enough energy to check Glenn's flight status to CMH from Newark, NJ. He had already landed. Now 850pm, Jacob shared that Grandpa and Glenn were just pulling up out front. I was surprised they showed up so quickly.

We visited for a couple hours, though dad hung for only the first hour. Mindy offered up the Barley leftovers as well as Bella's entire entree of chicken tenders that she dismissed after having pizza with the neighbors. Glenn gladly ate most of the tenders and fries. I wasn't going to drink any more beer but went ahead and poured a White Rajah anyhow. It was good. Neighbor Teri stopped over to see Glenn and invite him to stop down for food and a beer while we're gone. That was awfully nice of her.

With a long drive ahead of us on Friday, I was anxious to get in bed and get a good night's sleep. We all headed to bed near 1045pm. Good night 90 degree night.