I’ve been off this week.
You see, the company I work for has a policy that all vacation has to be scheduled all at one time. They want it booked, so it’s burned whether you use it or not. I have 20 days or more. So, about every quarter I scheduled a week off. All at once. Without consulting Herself.
So the week I thought I’d be spending on a trip of some sort has been a week of work around the house with diminishing returns.
Why?
Because it’s hot as hell. All week it’s been 103. It’ll be hotter as the weekend approaches.
We’re starting to see the effects.
There are two types of grass on lawns here, for the most part. Bermuda (Think putting green) and St. Augustine. Neither is native. Both require copiuos amounts of water, and care when it gets hot. One of the things you do for St. Augustine (Which is the bulk of my yard) is raise the mower level.
Why?
Because this happens:
This was cut too close. And when you do that, the roots and runners dry out. When that happens, it goes away fast. Your ground dries up like concrete and cracks.
The opressive heat makes it tough to get things done. I had a large list of tasks that needed doing. Some got sidetracked. When I mowed, It seemed the patch between the sidewalk and road was browning. Bad sign. So I tested the front zones. That one was dead, with water bubbling up from the curb. Some constuction dude stomped or drove over a sprinkler head, which I had to dig out.
They did that weird series of 90s to lower the pipe to install a taller head. Luckily, I had all the parts because I hoard them.
That task about wasted me. Next day, I cleaned out the shed, a task long overdue. That put me over the top. And for the rest of the week, I’ll be in the garage with the fan or in the AC. I have driveshafts to install for the hoopty, but that can wait until it’s under 100. I’ve waited long enough as is. A week or two won’t kill me.
Jasper is in the process of settling in his new home. He’s a high spirited doofus. It’ll take a few days for him to settle. ‘Tis a learning experience for both him and his new family. At the end of that is a super affectionate, loyal, loving dog. That said, it’s been a tough transition for me as well, although I have to admit I haven’t needed allergy meds all week. I’m still not sure how I feel about the whole thing yet. We’ll see.
Now I’m off for my first air conditioned task of the day – bath day for the other two. What’s nice is they don’t slobber on one another like Jasper would do to them. Less dried dog slobber, dander, and 1/3 less furballs is helping my lungs big time.
I’ll find out next week when I hit the lung doc appointment.
Inspected By Pat 