Posted tagged ‘AC’
July 26, 2016
I’m close to screaming in frustration. Today will be hot yet again. That the humidity will be less is small consolation. I have the AC off for a while, but the temperature in the house has risen three degrees already so soon enough I’ll be stuck behind closed doors and windows. I did finish one of my errands yesterday, but that still leaves one more for today.
The kitchen in the house where I lived the longest was tiny. When the oven was lit, the kitchen quickly got hot and stayed that way long after dinner was finished. My mother, during the summer, cooked on the stove top. She made stuff like pasta, hamburgers, fried dough and even hot dogs. She never grilled. Her dinner sides were sometimes potato salad or pasta salad. She never made a green salad. Dessert was always a maybe dependent on what was in the house. It could have been cookies, Oreos of course, or ice cream or a popsicle. My favorite popsicle was root beer followed by a close second, cherry. If neither was available, an orange would do just fine.
Some people I know don’t ever eat leftovers. I don’t get that. Some food tastes better the next day. My chili is always best the day after I make it so I usually make it the day before I need it. That way any fat gets skimmed. I like leftover pasta. Add fresh garlic bread, some cheese and you have a perfect meal.
Winter has comfort food. It keeps us warm and brings back memories. Summer has hot dogs and hamburgers best cooked on a grill. You have to toast the buns.
My mother used to make piccalilli every fall when there were green tomatoes. She made New England style piccalilli with those green tomatoes, red peppers, onions, brown sugar, cider vinegar and some spices like mustard powder and a few others I don’t remember. She’d give us all a couple of jars. I’d use it sparingly so it would last longer. I swear a hot dog with my mother’s piccalilli was perfection in a bun.
Categories: Musings
Tags: AC, Air conditioner, cherry, comfort food, errands, hamburgers, hot, hot dogs, hot kitchen, ice cream, leftovers, oreos, oven, pasta, popsicle, Potato salad, root beer, stove top
Comments: 14 Comments
July 25, 2016
It is change the air day so the AC is off for a bit, a short bit as the house is getting hot too quickly. There is a breeze, but it is doing little good. It might thunder shower this afternoon. That would be a most welcomed storm.
I have a couple of errands I can do today or I can wait until cooler weather. That might be Friday or Saturday. My friend Peg, one half of my Ghana travel mates, reminded me I need to get used to the heat. I remember the last time I was there every time I did anything I was soaked from sweat. The dry season is easier to get used to as the rainy season brings the humidity. We’ll be there at the tail end of rain.
It seems the older I get the less tolerant I am of weather. I hate the heat in summer and the cold in winter. The AC is now on days at a time. In my earlier life, I didn’t even have a fan, and I was always comfortable. All winter I now wear a sweatshirt even though the heat is on 68˚. I used to need only a long-sleeve shirt. My mother always kept her house far too hot in the winter. My sister and I wore tee shirts and complained. Now we both understand.
I have stuff to do on the deck like check lights, put the adapter on the umbrella and water plants. These are wonderful intentions but that’s what they’ll stay, intentions. I use the heat as my reason, not my excuse.
Across the top of one chair was a spider’s web. When I was going to clean it, I noticed many tiny spiders were attached to the web. In August my house is inundated with baby spiders. Now I understand why. In that one web were about twenty not ready to be born babies. I left them there. I’ll complain about all the spiders, but I just could’t bring myself to swipe away that web. It was sort of neat to see.
Categories: Musings
Tags: 68˚, AC, baby spider, change the air day, cold, Consumer Cellular, hot, humidity, spiders, sweating, thunder shower, web, winter
Comments: 18 Comments
July 19, 2016
The windows and doors were opened for about a half an hour. Gracie was restless and started panting. I decided it was time to turn on the air conditioner. Tonight is supposed to be cool so I’ll try to open the house then.
The laundry pile was getting higher and higher so I decide it was time to bring it down the cellar and throw it in the washing machine. The machine didn’t have a setting for mountainous so I went with heavy load.
My friend said she was divebombed by moths when she left the house. There are more flitting around than there were yesterday. My backyard has so many I dare not go on the deck. That B movie plot about Attack of the Gypsy Moths still sticks in my head.
When I was an English teacher, I bought all the guides to the books my kids were reading in class. When I assigned essays about theme or character, I found some students had copied directly from the guide books. I’d give those students an F and cite the page from which they lifted the material. I’d write plagiarized as the reason for the F. Enough said!
There is a nuisance of tourists. I haven’t seen so many in a long while. The license plates from all over are indicators that the economy is doing well. A long while back, when gas was rationed, the cape was almost clear of tourists. Now, trying to find a parking space takes patience, circling around and following people headed to their cars.
The rain missed us last night. There was a torrential rain and hail storm north of Boston. Trees fell and knocked down poles and electrical lines. Roads were closed. The wind took off roofs. I do not want such a dangerous storm, but I do want rain.
Fern goes for a follow-up at the vets today. I hate putting that poor kitty in the carry crate. She gets terrified. I’ll just have to talk to her and soothe her the whole trip. I do think the vet will be pleased with her progress.
Mac and cheese is on the menu for lunch. It is one of my all time favorite comfort foods, right behind meatloaf. Last night I had a crab and clam cake for dinner. I bought it at the fish market. I also bought some crab cakes for tonight. I’m loving my menus!
Categories: Musings
Tags: AC, Attack of the moths, B-movie, gypsy moths, hot day, Laundry, no rain, nuisance of tourists, panting dog, plagiarized, vets
Comments: 16 Comments
July 18, 2016
The gypsy moths are everywhere. They are brown and small. They flit from spot to spot. When I opened the back door for Gracie to go out, there were three hanging around the screen, but they didn’t stay long. The males are hunting for a mate and are flying to find the females who are too heavy to fly. The female moths exist only to reproduce once with the male moths After they lay their eggs, moths of both sexes then die. I figure it is no wonder that they spend so much time flitting.
I am still in my house behind closed windows and doors with the AC at full blast. It is far too humid to be out. The forecast is for a heavy thunderstorm tonight. I am skeptical.
Going to the market is on my short to do list. I am out of bread and fruit. Watermelon is my favorite fruit right now. It is perfect for hot summer days. When I was a kid, my mother gave us slices. We had to eat it outside as watermelon slices are messy mostly because the rind always curved because the watermelon was oval. My cheeks got wet from the juice, and it often dripped down my arm. I read that the Japanese started growing square watermelons about ten years ago. I first I thought how strange they’d be then I realized the shape doesn’t matter. It’s the fruit inside. I also need bananas as I have a new box of Corn Flakes, a boring cereal which definitely needs a lot of help.
When I still worked, I had far less time but got everything done. On the weekend, I grocery shopped, went to the dump, did my laundry, changed my bed, watered the plants, prepared lessons and corrected papers. Now I am the queen of delay. When I do a single chore on any day, I feel accomplished. My laundry has been leaning against the cellar door for a few days. I don’t care. Maybe tomorrow I’ll do a wash. But then again, maybe I won’t.
Categories: Musings
Tags: AC, chores, Corn Flakes, going outside, gypsy moths, humidity, juice down my arm, Laundry, moth eggs, reproduction, Shopping, watermelon
Comments: 15 Comments
September 8, 2015
Yesterday Boston set a new record for the day’s high temperature at 92˚. Happily we were much cooler thanks to the sea breeze. Yesterday’s leave the cape exodus of tourists was backed up for 6 miles to get over the bridge. I think I would have gone crazy sitting in my car for that long.
Nothing outside is moving. The air is thick with humidity. My street is so quiet it could be an after shot in an apocalyptic movie. The breeze we had yesterday is gone. Today feels more like a day in August, a dog day. It was already so hot in the house, 78˚, that I turned on the AC. When Gracie came inside, her whole body seemed to be panting, but the cool air now has her quiet and sleeping.
September is a neither nor month. It is neither summer nor fall but can be either. Last week it was in the 50’s at night. Last night was close to 70˚. Boston may have another heat wave, three straight days in the 90’s, but by the weekend it’ll be back to the 50’s at night. The temperature doesn’t really matter. September is still my second favorite month.
I had two whole paragraphs written about people who drive me crazy because they are ill-mannered and impolite, but I ditched them as they made me sound like some old lady. I imagined myself stooped, carrying a cane and wearing generic frame glasses. I’d be wearing flowers on my clothes and smelling like lilac. I’d have expectations for other people and mumble when they didn’t meet them. That’s why those paragraphs disappeared.
Nothing much to do today. I think I’ll just read and do a couple of chores to make me feel accomplished. I have already cleaned the two cat boxes, a gross chore. I do need to wash the dog’s bedding and today is as good a day as any. I’m going to order in for dinner. I’m thinking a sub, maybe sausage parmesan. That will be the big decision of the day.
Categories: Musings
Tags: AC, apocalyptic movie., cat box, chores, dog bedding, hot, humidity, long wait over the bridge, nothing is moving, old lady, stir crazy, sub sandwich
Comments: 6 Comments
August 16, 2015
Last night was my 50th reunion from high school, the high school from which I didn’t graduate though I went there for three years. Before my senior year, my parents kidnapped me and forced me to move to the cape ( that’s how I first felt back then). Friends I hadn’t seen since my junior year in high school went looking for me so I could attend, and they found me on Facebook. The whole evening was great fun. They even gave me a diploma, a real one from way back in time. It was signed by Sister Melania, the principal at the time. The signature is pure nun which I can’t really explain, but if you saw it, you’d understand.
The drive home, a two-hour ride, was unbelievable. The thunder rolled and lightning lit up the sky. I swear I saw the lightning dance. It looked like the jitterbug with the arms and legs of both dancers moving in tandem. Another series of lightning bolts looked like the God and Adam in the Sistine Chapel with fingers extended but not touching. Some bolts reached from the heavens to the earth. It was spectacular.
The rain storm was something else. It was raining so hard I slowed to a walk. The backwash from trucks made it almost impossible to see so I followed the red lights of cars in front of me and hoped for the best. The rain stayed with me but became a windshield wiper storm, and I could see the road and cars again. I drove in and out of the rain until about Plymouth when it just stopped. I don’t know if the cape got any rain as the road was totally dry. It took me about two hours to get home.
I am sitting in my air-conditioned house. I was taken aback by the heat when I got the papers. It will be in the 80’s all week. I do not suffer heat well. The young me did, but this me prefers to be comfortable. I think getting older should have some perks and being cool on a hot day is one of them. I do have a long list of the rest of the perks but most of them are unlikely. Having someone cater to my every whim probably won’t happen, but I’ll not cross it off the list just in case.
Categories: Musings
Tags: 50th reunion, AC, backwash, diploma, God and Adam, heavy rain, hot day, lightning bolts, Sistine chapel, spectacular lightning, thunder and lightning
Comments: 8 Comments
July 27, 2015
I stood it as long as I could. I watched the thermostat go from 72 to 76 in a matter of an hour or so. When the house started to close in, I did it. I turned on the air conditioning.
Today defines humid. The air is thick and still. I think there was a bit of rain earlier as the deck was damp, but under the umbrella was dry so the rain was light and quickly came and went. I do have something on my list today, but I’m hedging and thinking tomorrow. The more comfortable I get, the less inclined I am to move. I do have the laundry going: a load in the washer and another in the dryer. The laundry bag sat by the cellar door for two days, and that was enough to motivate me. Usually I don’t move until I am just about out of unmentionables.
I am most decidedly spoiled. Life is so easy. If I’m hot, on goes the AC. If I’m cold, I raise the thermostat. My car, like most of ours, has AC so I run from the car to the store which also has AC. I get my groceries delivered right to my kitchen. Roseanna and Lee come and clean every two weeks. My yard, deck and lawn are tended to every Friday. After the lawn is cut and the walkway trimmed, the deck is blown free of debris, especially acorns. Some of them are half eaten so I think they are the red spawn’s revenge. He probably roars laughing when I step on one and howl.
When I was a kid, everyone pretty much complained about the heat. It was a local pastime. The old “hot enough for you?” was often asked though no one expected an answer. It was the summer rhetorical question. Jumping over the sprinkle was a common remedy against the heat. The water always felt really cold at first, soothing. Sometimes we’d walk to the town pool, but we also had to walk back which defeated the purpose of getting cool at the pool. We never stayed home, though, heat or not. That just wasn’t done in summer. Every day had to be lived to its fullest.
In Ghana, I encountered HEAT. Day after day was often over 100˚. My shower had no hot water, but I didn’t care. A cold shower was relief. It was like jumping over the sprinkler. We never really complained, but we did use the old “hot enough for you?” mostly as a joke. I didn’t even have a fan, didn’t think to buy one. Traveling was best done at night or in the early morning because being crammed into a lorry was never pleasant and sitting next to a window never really helped. But again, we didn’t complain. We accepted our lot and just did the best we could.
Now I complain and whine. I am getting older and believe both are my due.
Categories: Musings
Tags: 100˚, AC, cold shower, complaining about the heat, crammed lorry, Ghana, grocery delivery, Hot enough for you?, housecleaner, humidity, spoiled life, stepping on acorns, still and hot, thick air, yard man
Comments: 14 Comments
August 5, 2014
The paper says humid and 80˚ for today going down to the low 60’s tonight with rain possible. The whole week will have similar weather: warm days and cool nights. Gracie, my weather prognosticator, has been panting all morning so I have already turned on the air-conditioner and unlocked the back door. Knowing me as you do, you probably didn’t even question why those two are connected. Anyway, Gracie is now sleeping in her crate probably with a smile on her face as the house begins to cool.
This morning I was at the sink looking out the window as I worked and could see my prayer flags going up and down with some ferocity. After it happened a couple of times, I went on the deck to look. What did I see? It was the red spawn pulling on the blue flag trying, I suspect, to rip it off. I clapped my hands, and the spawn left only to return in a couple of minutes. I clapped again but it stayed there. The red spawn knew I was blowing smoke so it did an in your face and kept yanking. I got the hose, put the nozzle on jet and let it go. It reached right to that flag and that spawn which went tearing up the branches to where I couldn’t reach with the hose. It tried the flag again, and I sprayed it again. It raced to a higher branch and started yelling at me in squirrel which I am so glad I don’t speak as I think the red spawn wasn’t being kind and might have been using inappropriate language.
Today’s paper was pretty dismal filled at is was with not so great news. I did finish the cryptogram in record time but it was small consolation. I’m thinking I’ll go back to when I was a kid and the only thing I looked at were the comics. Back then there were pages of comics. Dennis the Menace got a big square, not a strip, and though Dennis was always well-meaning, poor Mr. Wilson bore the brunt of Dennis and his shenanigans. I used to skip over a few like Mary Worth, who is still around and looking no older even decades later, Mary Perkins and Brenda Starr. I found them boring especially Mary Worth with her advice on everything. I loved The Phantom on his white horse, Buck Rogers and Steve Canyon. Jiggs and Maggie seemed to fight all the time and Andy Capp could be found at the nearest pub. Dondi was a bit sappy for my tastes. Sad Sack was just that. Prince Valiant showed up on Sundays and was pretty wordy, but I followed it anyway through generations.
I know there are tons more comics which have been gone for a while. Few are episodic now. Most you can read one day, skip a week or two, read the newest one and find you’ve missed nothing. Sunday comics are always in color. During the week some days are black and white days while other are color days. I have no idea why.
The one bit of news I’ll share is that 5,000 new words are being added to the Scrabble Players Dictionary. Some of the new ones include bromance, buzzkill, frenemy and qajaq. That last one is a keeper. Notice the q didn’t need a u, but there is a hitch. You can only use it if you have a blank tile as Scrabble has only one q. It is also a palindrome though that means nothing in Scrabble. I just thought it was interesting. I’ll leave you with another of the new words, quinzhee, just in case you’re playing tonight. Q words are always good to know.
Categories: Musings
Tags: AC, Andy Capp, angry red spawn, cool nights, humid day, Jiggs and maggie, new words, newspaper comics, prayer flags, Prince Valiant, qajaq, quinzhee, red spawn, Scrabble dictionary, spraying with the hose, squirrel speak
Comments: 22 Comments
July 17, 2014
The rain was light but steady when I went to bed. During the day it had gotten heavy at times, and I had a flooded floor in the kitchen when I got back from my errands as I had left the back door open. It took a mop. By afternoon the humidity was thick and stifling so I put on the air. The house felt wonderful and I slept until 10, unusual for me. I turned the air off this morning as the day is cooler and less humid than it has been. The sun is even breaking through and the day is getting lighter. I didn’t begrudge the rain. We needed it.
Once I wanted to be Annie Oakley, a horse riding sharp shooting cowgirl who also happened to be the sheriff. I didn’t realize it at the time but she wasn’t stereotypical which is what I think drew me to her. Many of my favorite characters were girls and women who were smart, brave and daring. I loved Lois Lane though I hated those tiny hats, the suits she wore and the purse she always carried. She was dogged in her pursuit of a story and the identity of Superman, and she never let being a woman stand in her way though she did end up being saved time and time again by Superman. TV in the 50’s had few strong women characters. Most, like June Cleaver, wore dresses, pearls and aprons and had dinner ready when their husbands came home from work. Alice Kramden managed to break out a bit. She wore the apron but she was never cowered by Ralph.
As I was growing up, I knew I’d go to college. No one in my family had, but I just knew I would. It was part of the plan I had hatched when I was young, as young as ten or eleven. I’d go to college then I’d travel the world. There was neither doubt nor hesitation in my mind.
When I graduated from college, my mother told that she and my father had never envisioned that one of their kids would go to college. They were both thrilled and proud that I had. Earlier, though, they weren’t so thrilled and proud when I had announced the next part of my plan, traveling the world. My father forbade me to accept the Peace Corps invitation to go to Ghana. I mean really, here I was twenty-one, a few months from graduating, and my father actually thought he could stop me from doing what I wanted. If I hadn’t been so angry, I would have laughed at the absurdity. I ignored him, and he knew I was going with or without his support so he begrudgingly accepted my decision and gave his support.
My life has worked out even better than I had envisioned. It has been so much more.
Categories: Musings
Tags: absurdity, AC, Alice Kramden, Annie Oakley, college, Ghana, humidity, June Cleaver, life plans, Lois Lane, Peace Corps, rain, stereotypical women, stubbornness, sun, travel
Comments: 12 Comments
September 3, 2013
Last night I finally gave up and turned on the AC. I was sweating in the humidity which made little sense so on went the AC, and within a short time both Gracie and I were nice and cool. Today is much the same as yesterday though the humidity is a bit lower: no clouds, no possibility of rain, but my resistance is also lower so the AC may be on shortly.
I was awake until four this morning. It was just one of those can’t get to sleep nights. I went upstairs at two after having watched Carrier, a series about an aircraft carrier in the Gulf in 2008. I watched two installments. The pickings for TV watching are lean in the wee hours. Syfy was offering sharks again, but I just couldn’t face the two-headed shark and Sharknado again with all the craziness and mayhem. Given the choices, Carrier was pretty interesting.
When I was young, all the channels stopping airing around midnight. Each had a different sign off but each sign off included the national anthem. One channel had the Blue Angels flying in formation and doing maneuvers while the anthem playing in the background. I remember the trails of smoke behind the planes as they turned in unison, an image that has stuck in my head all these years. I also remember when the anthem was finished. The test pattern then took over for the rest of the night into the late morning. The pattern which sticks in my head was the Indian wearing a full headdress. He was at the top of circles and boxes which I guess was the actual test pattern. I never thought about those test patterns. I just figured they were there to fill the empty spaces where programs should be. Come to find out they were meant to help calibrate and align the cameras.
TV never goes off now, but I still feel a bit of nostalgia about the Indian. Given a preference, I’d choose that or any test pattern over the infomercials which crowd the airways after midnight. Some of the gimmicks being sold are intriguing, but I haven’t yet been tempted to buy one and get a second free if I just pay shipping and handling!
Categories: Musings
Tags: AC, align the cameras, Carrier, channel sign offs, humidity, Indian test pattern, infomercials, national anthem, sharks, Syfy, warm day
Comments: 25 Comments
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