Running the A/C in December

The last few days had high temperatures in the low eighties. With the high humidity, the best thing is to run the air conditioner. Opening windows makes the house damp, and the dampness makes everything uncomfortable. This weather will end tomorrow night, and by Monday morning, the temperature will be in the low thirties. Winter will come back, and most around here will have to put their shorts up until the next warm spell. 

I'll Wish It Early

 Tomorrow may be busy, or not. If it is, I might not have time to wish everyone that visits my blog a Merry Christmas. So, I'll with it now. 

Merry Christmas to all, and though it may not be important, our forecast is for a high temperature in the seventies, heavy fog in the night, and mostly safe travelling conditions. I'll take it. It doesn't feel like the right kind of weather, but is much better than a few decades ago, when everything froze during an Arctic front, even cities had low water pressure - if any - and my ex-sister-in-law's dinner was ruined, when the thawing pipes caused the ceiling to cave in.

And if you've been bad, this is what to expect:

Remembering Part of My Past

I travel often down a highway I worked on in the early eighties. At that time, I was working on different parts of the project. Mostly I worked with the field survey crew by driving grade stakes and holding the grade rod. That, helping place driveway culverts being changed to help with drainage, and to change the profile of the ditch, which was being moved to accommodate the paving widening. 

When working with the culverts, I was considered a "pipe-layer", which is a craft description according to TxDot wage standards. That meant I would keep the cut grade for the excavator, fine grade the bottom of the trench, guide the pipe into the trench, and insure the pipe spigot belled into the downstream pipe. Since it was concrete pipe, I made sure the mastic, which we called Ram-Neck, was placed correctly and sealed the joint. 

It was hard work; mostly because our operator had bad eyesight, and couldn't complete the fine grading as required. That meant either filling too deep of a cut, or cutting too much of the hard, dry clay to achieve final grade. We eventually complained enough to have him changed out, but that was after too many days of brutal labor in the hot Summer sun. 

One afternoon, we working in front of a house that I admired. It was an old house, probably built in the forties, and well kept. The yard was enclosed by a chain link fence, the yard was mowed, and the biggest mimosa tree I've ever seen was in the back yard. Covered in pink blooms, the canopy was as wide as the house. 

While working, and old woman came outside carrying a TV tray, with a pitcher of lemonade, homemade cookies, and glasses. She told us we should have some refreshments, which we relished. We took our break, continued working, and were soon down the highway on a different driveway. She eventually retrieved her things, and we were soon far away from that location. 

It took me awhile to find the old house. It's now behind a fence grown over, the house is showing its age, and it's obvious the old woman has now passed. The charm it once had is gone, and whoever now owns it doesn't understand the amount of work required for it to reach its former condition. It's a little sad to see how it now is, but I can still remember how beautiful it was one Summer day decades ago.

How Do You Stop Fecklessness?

Although there is a substantial amount of deliberate efforts to destroy the U.S. way of life, I see more fecklessness that intent. Although some might be offended, it doesn't remove the fact that too many people are ignorant, falsely believing they're educated. and are in important positions wielding power they don't deserve. I have no solution. You can't fix stupid, and stupid is rampant. 

Things That Wake Me Up

I awoke at 2:00 am with my hip hurting. It happens occasionally, and I know why. Falling asleep on my left side can cause my right hip to hurt, which usually just requires adjusting, and sleeping on my back...but not tonight. I couldn't get comfortable, so I got out of bed and fixed a cup of coffee.  

I went out on the porch to see the stars, but there were no stars to be seen. The fog is thick at the ground, and the only thing to see is the waning crescent of the moon. Looking at it made me smile. The best description is the Cheshire Cat. Nothing to be seen, except the grin. 

So, I'll walk around awhile, wait for the pain to subside, maybe watch some television, or surf the internet. Eventually, I'll get more comfortable, and hopefully, go back to bed to sleep some more. If not, I'll wait a few hours, make breakfast, check the mouse traps in the well house, and piddle. I have some projects, with none being critical. That allows a tremendous amount of procrastination. 

Things you Forget

Yesterday, while minding my own business, and without any warning, a bee stung me on the forehead. I was wearing a cap, and something felt strange on my forehead, so I reached to feel what it was, felt something, and was instantly stung. I never saw what stung me. 

How did I know it was a bee? The stinger was still there, when I looked in the mirror. A tug with some tweezers released the barbs, and the last action of a bee was revealed. 

I've been stung many times. When I was young, the result was some alarming swelling, and a trip to the doctor when a sting on my leg left red streaks. Of all the stings, I've luckily never been stung by a hornet. From what I know, the pain is much worse, and the after-effects more severe.

This one was a little different, since I've never been stung on the forehead. After the initial burning sting, the pain was more than I've ever felt, and I can only describe as the same as being hit with a heavy object. For a few minutes, I wondered if I needed to go to an emergency room, but the pain lessened enough to ease my alarm.

I took an antihistamine, let it go to work, and took about a three hour nap. When I awoke, the ache was mostly gone, but still there enough to know I'd been stung. 

This morning, the site is still a little red, and swollen. The ache is gone, and it will probably start itching before it finally heals. I'll have to be more wary. Bees are hungry this time of the year, and can be bothersome.

Saturday Morning Irritation

I know little about Rwanda, but do know giving an African nation 228 million of tax dollars is like giving hundred dollar bills to drug dealers. To make things worse, the drone technology to deliver medical supplies will soon be dropping explosives on those that disagree with the corruption,

Tired of the Commercials

Medicare enrollment is about to end for this year. In two days, this should alleviate the constant pounding to buy insurance plans. Some might be confused by the constant barrage of supposedly sweet deals, and the commercials reflect the attempt to win you over with "free" stuff. Regardless, there are few things some don't know. 

Those commercials promising special deals come with some spare baggage. First, the less you have to pay, the more you're restricted from choosing your health professionals. The policies that actually give you money through health credit cards demand you either go to the doctors they can coerce into signing a contract with the insurance carrier, or they don't pay anything. In larger population areas, this allows you to see the better doctors, but that usually means long waiting times for visits. In rural areas, long drives might be necessary to just go for a checkup, and in some situations, a large part of your state the insurance companies might not even include your area. 

The most important thing to remember is that some of the commercials are not actually by the insurance companies. They are commercials where insurance agents pay a fee to a company, which transfers the caller to them for a possible new client. Insurance agents receive a fee for every person they get to sign on a policy, and regardless of your state, are licensed and must follow insurance laws. The laws of that state dictate what they can offer, and the slick commercials are basically throwing you into a pool, which is filled with those agents willing to take a chance on getting enough policies to pay for their fee to be included. You meet your agent by a phone call, and probably have absolutely no information on their reliability, or whether they will be honest about the policy you're about to buy,

If I had to recommend what people should do when they have to deal with Medicare, I would say read everything you can about the system, find a good insurance agent to represent you, and if you can afford it, go with a supplemental policy called a Medigap policy. Those pay whatever Medicare doesn't pay, and allow you to see any doctor you want. 

Meanwhile, From The Nose Bleed Section

They caught the person responsible for planting the fake pipe bombs (or were they fake?) on January 6 when the supposed insurrection was in full swing. Bondi said the last group of supposed administrator of the alphabet agencies were sitting on their hands, and whistling to the wind. Who knows? We haven't been given much to warm our hearts on justice being served. 

Speaking of justice. Regardless of what is reported, placed in investigation, or tossed around Congress, I don't have a fuzzy feeling about the state of justice in the United States. Too many obvious criminals are allowed to continue their stints in Congress, or allowed to sell books, when they should have been flogged, tarred and feathered, tied to a rail, and tossed into a pit of raw sewage.

I don't know how everyone feels, but the economy sucks. Inflation has stolen at least 25% of my income in the last four years, and nobody is reporting how they performed the procedure outlined above in solving this problem. 

Illegals have shown the worst of people in other countries only become problems in other countries. The best solution is to deport any found, close down all immigration, and give at least twenty years for those that legally immigrated to become accustomed to the American way of life.

Regardless of what's being reported, the desperate adds on television indicate the Christmas sales will be abysmal. The deals are too good, and in my opinion, it looks like the major outlets will do just about anything to break even. 

Trump has suggested giving newborn families $1000 for each baby. That's fair, but I won't my share to be retroactive to the year I was born and the money gathering 6% interest. 

I'm helping my wife to make some homemade vegetable beef soup. We have different opinions, but manage to work together on the production. It tastes really good, and the slow simmer will bring out all the flavors.

It's Better, But....

Our county has been working on improving the drainage in our subdivision. As far as I know, this is the first time this has been done since it was started back in the late seventies. I'm guessing the numerous appeals on property taxes has created some attention. 

The subdivision was built by a somewhat shady developer. The original road was created by using borrowed soil for the road bed, and the ditches left by "borrowing" the soil were never profiled for drainage, and the property owners just threw some culverts into the ditch to gain access to their property. This created some problems, since this resulted in ponding between some culverts, which led to constant wet ditches, and the crappy road (which was only oiled sand) took a beating. Eventually the county took over the road, placed a durable surface, and this helped. 

The original developer tried to mitigate water problems by building a levee around the subdivision, and placed a pump station to pump out the water. This was a disaster, since the pump station was a joke, and fell into disrepair. The levee now not only blocked natural drainage, it caused the adjacent creek to pond water upstream, which slowed down drainage further. Holes were cut in the levee, which helped mitigate the created problem, but the original drainage problems still existed. 

The county just finished profiling the ditches, cutting them to drain, and this helped the drainage tremendously. They're now water-jetting the culverts to remove sediment. Some culverts obviously need to be changed to facilitate drainage, but whether that happens is yet to be seen. With the improved drainage, and limited funds, I don't see this happening. We'll see, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

So, How Much Did They Feed Them?

According to this article, soybean oil may cause obesity.  Maybe it does, but maybe they fed the mice a half gallon each every day, with a pack of cookies. That would make them fat, and help continue the funds for research.

Lack of Accountability

I've been reading reports about how SNAP money was being paid to illegal aliens, with some being transferred to other countries. That's terrible, but what is most terrible is the fact those in charge of the money allowed it to happen. To me, that's treason. Regardless of whether there's a declared war, or not, giving aid to foreign countries at the harm of the United States economy can be described in no other way.

Dreary, Wet and Cold

Up to a few days ago, we had weather that was the wonderful balance between Summer and Winter. Mild temperatures kept it from getting above eighty, or below the mid-fifties. No rain, pleasant sun, and dry. That's over for now. 

The day before yesterday brought thunderstorms at night, and 5 1/2 inches of rain. Yesterday it was mostly cloudy and the temperature didn't get above the mid-fifties. Today it started raining before sunrise, and at 10:30 tonight, there's still a misting rain. The temperature never reached past 45 degrees, which made the nasty weather worse. 

Tomorrow is supposed to allow clearing, but more rain is forecast starting Wednesday night and last into the weekend. At least it's not supposed to freeze, but miserable weather is expected. 

All together we've had around 8 inches of rain, which will saturate the ground. Until Spring arrives, the ground will be soft, and venturing off pavement can lead to calling a wrecker. Hopefully, we won't get much freezing weather, or any frozen precipitation. Down here, that's always a recipe for shutting most everything down, too many car wrecks, and the dreaded times without electricity.