when the Air Conditioning fails to come on even though commanded to do so by the thermostat and it’s getting mighty hot: Well, you could call a 24hr guy and hope he can come out right away, (75 bucks). I like the way B.O.U.R.girl does it— with a kick start! Of course these things happen when I’m 1200 miles from home but with a cell phone I was the tech support. Armed with a mediocre of tools she braved high voltage and mosquitoes on the utility side of the house. Since the hammer wrap method to the exterior frame of the unit had no effect, she carefully removed the screws of the back panel. S’man was also present as safety team and moral support and to hold the screws. The open access exposed the big black thing, a much smaller aluminized cylinder and a small black object. Holding the insulated tool end I prompted her to tap the relay with the wires. It was a careful operation. Some sparks flew. The hammer action just wasn’t getting the job done. Some proding and poking with the screw driver was required. “Don’t let Mom touch any of those nasty 240v wires…” I over-heard her say to her backup man. As if defusing a bomb she wiped her brow and used the pointy end to manually close the relay contacts. Over the line I heard some muttered words between them and then suddenly the machine whir to life and then whoops of success from the fix-it squad. Nice work guys! They will reward themselves with dinner out. Afterall, it would take some time for the kitchen to cool down and those dang mosquitoes…

You might have caught the candid video of the toddler spilling out of the amusement park ride? Dad saw ithappening too and went for the hero grab of his life. But, Ooops! Bad catch Dad! Put a little effort into itnext time why don’tcha. The Mom, interviewed by hungry news hounds let her say what her lawyer would haveadvised her to say, “It wasn’t MY fault!” Well now… these parents did happen to let the 3 year old kid goup on a big kid ride (un-attended) but would never ever endanger there child oh no… No way!

S’man has created a special sauce that should keep things fired up through the cold ahead. These peppers are home grown. Here’s the recipe:

• 2-3 fist fulls of Long Red Cayenne and Jalapeno
• pinch(s) salt
• 3 dollups of vinegar
• water varied to desired viscosity
• pinch thyme

Pulse the whole works in the Cuisinart. Be careful not to be overcome by the pungent gases when peering into the mixture. Don’t rub eyes. Seperate the liquid from the mash. Save the solids to a seperate container as a chili paste. Bottle it and think of a clever name like Venom Xtreme or Widow, no surviors or Pain is good!
epilogue: We suspect spillage and residue on the kitchen drainboard. Overnight the ants came to scavenge and we found them there dead in the a.m.

Wow! First day of school today. Butterflies and schpilkies all around. S’man explains that today is beauracracy session (BS ?) and quoting the teach’ with a sappy drawl, “okay! you know who I am — let’s get to know youuuuu”. Meanwhile the Flowerchild is taking the car with her. Another milestone. Good luck kids! Take notes!

Thanks to Chef Boy R D(d) we had Stromboli(s) made from scratch! The filling was sausage, mozzarella, and pepperoni and a little bit of onion and pizza sausce baked at 475 for 10. Euuuweee. Tonight, the flower-gurl will be challenged to top the effort. We are thinking chicken enchiladas with ranchera gravy.

It’s wonderful to have a flower child in our house…

It’s confirmed. Mannana is ‘D’ day. I have 24 hours to psych myself up for a very big adventure. Everyone knew but I. The women whispered amongst themselves and then erupted in laughter and glee. What could it be? I was afeared that I was to be treated to a stripper delivering my birthday cake, or a shower dance or somesuch humiliation and embarrassment. Maybe hands on massage or yoga class. Well it’s not birthing nor bungee jumping. I suppose I was to be dragged kicking and screaming, blind folded delivered up to the edge of the precipice… Tune in tomorrow!

Volunteer girl did not approve. New management mucked everything and the situation was dire. She needed to take the offensive if anything was to be done…

Using the power of the pen and a few precision emails the wrong-doers have been exposed for what they did (and didn’t). The blamed are trying to c.y.a. duck and cover. A head rolls. Flames and a flare up here and there. There is renewed hope for the innocent little ones.

My dog-gone dawg has rolled. I don’t know why animals do this but a google search says: “Some wolf characteristics stayed with the dog like the scent rolling instinct. The leading explanation is that they’re instinctively disguising their own scent so that prey animals won’t sniff a predator upwind. Megan Parker, research biologist at the Wolf Education and Research Center in Seattle, says that, yes, wolves-the ancestors of dogs-regularly roll in carrion. But she’s not so sure the reason is to disguise their scent. Both wolves and dogs have plentiful scent glands, she told us, so disguise is probably imperfect at best.It could be they roll in carrion to take the scent back to the pack, telling them they’ve found something interesting. Kind of like a restaurant review. It could also be that they’re marking the carrion with their scent, to tell anyone else who comes along ‘this is mine’. Of course, there’s always the possibility that some dogs may simply enjoy rolling around in carrion or feces, the way we enjoy a scented bubble bath.”

Well, he’ll get a bath alright — and me too from getting too close to him. I don’t know whether to be more upset at the dawg or the prevert that left the gift in the woods.

Maybe you missed this tip in your travel magazine about those horse collar neck gaskets? (keeps your head off of your shoulders when you snooze upright in your airline seat) The brand that inflates to a pillow could expand and damage the tissue causing trauma injury or death. If the aircraft cabin were to suddenly depressurize the neck doughnut would become a very large very hard balloon. Testing is incomplete and it is undetermined that this balloon pops before the circulation to your head is constricted. Important safety tip 🙂