i am so not a fan of the fact that with day 4 of a heat advisory going on ("EXTREME HEAT!!!") our central air conditioning has decided now would be a great time not to function.   it's the same/exact opposite of what happened in the winter when our furnace kicked the bucket during the weeks in which the high temp was like 19 degrees.  our fabulous gay-bors loaned us two window units, so we're not melting, but waging the battle with our highly inefficient home warranty company for the second time in 5 months for a multi-thousand dollar job is not enjoyable.

on the up side of things, schooooooool's out - for sum-mer!

I hate to depress you right before a 3 day weekend, but this is some serious shit. mightgodking has been following it and I have been reading it all and I am scared shitless from it all. This is all related and all truly and completely awful.

A primeval tide of toxins

Dead zones off Oregon and Washington likely tied to global warming, study says

Killer jellyfish population explosion warning

Well, the weather has gone to shit here. Wind, lightning, heavy rain and rotation. I suppose that’s the price you pay for having a sunny, 75-degree day the first week of January. Yay, global warming.

I’ve been keeping an ear out for the tornado siren. I packed a ‘go’ bag to supplement our disaster box in the basement, seeing as how I don’t think Reed was even half Rebekah’s age the last time we opened it. Somehow I can’t picture her in size 2 diapers.

So, diapers, shoes, jackets, plastic bags, fresh batteries, flash light, some food, cash, keys and cell phone are in a bag next to the door. Oh, and bubbles, too. If you’re ever stuck someplace with preschoolers, you can never have too many bubbles.

Sweet little angels are sleeping right through all this. Hopefully, the front will move through reasonably peacefully and I won’t have to pluck them from their slumbers to spend the night in the basement.

There is this major storm hitting the Bay area — it began yesterday a bit, is slamming us today with more rain to go until at least Monday. This is all fine — I love rain and storms.

But we are crossing over into something else here. The wind is the catch here, the detail to watch for. I'm on the train (doctor appointment this morning — wait til I post my sigmoid photos) and the clock at a station says 11.08am. I'm at Hayward Park. I caught the train in Palo Alto — I'm roughly halfway to the city now.

And every stop, the wind has picked up. I've watched decent sized drainage ditches flow muddy water faster and deeper than any creek or stream. I've seen lightpoles swaying in the insane wind. Branches are down and everyone is waiting for trees to start falling. The conductor just told some people to watch the trees as they waited under a shelter. When the train doors open, all I can hear is wind whipping through three, the trees bending at wrong angles.

It's a weird storm — it doesn't feel like much looking at here at a glance. But it feels more sinister in the back of my mind; if I glance away, it will attack. This might be the perfect weekend to stay bundled up inside.

can someone please tell me at what point a person should stop expecting other people to pick up their tab? jason and i have a friend here in brooklyn who never pays for anything. she doesn't even reach for her wallet. when the check comes she just sits back and does nothing. this weekend my father and margaret were in town. she managed to join us for two meals (only one of which she was really invited to) and allow my father to pick up the entire bill. he is that kind of man. even if she offered money he would decline. but the point is she never even tried, and i don't think she bothered a sincere thank you either. i was so frustrated that by the end of meal two i couldn't even look at her. jason and i talked it through. he feels a the need to talk to her about this habit, especially since it is really getting in the way of our friendship. he plans on telling her simply that socially if you are out with anyone except your boyfriend or your own parents you offer to pay. but really…she is in her mid twenties and a lawyer. does she really need to be told this!!!

that said (or discharged from my annoyed brain)….we are finally back in our apartment after a week plus in VA. i am so happy to be back. it is hard to travel with a baby (ray, i agree a vacation with children is not really a vacation). jason has just over a week until work start. i am filled with emotions about that…both good and bad. life will be quiet and slow when he is gone all day. but it will be a more constant and scheduled life…and i know we all thrive when life is more regular. still the endless summer (over three months with no jobs) is about to end and we probably won’t have this much time as a family without any work for a long time to come.

as for the larger not me world…maybe today i can catch up. i haven't seen the news in weeks. but i did catch about ten minute of the show anchorwoman. big surprise… it was axed after one show!! but for those who need to watch fox has it online (i think??).

it is hot.
today.

on the train down from the city, a bank thermometer read 102.
this is hot.

this is not why i live here. i was under the impression that this was only supposed to think about happening in august. not early june.

please make it stop.

in other news, thoughts about the redesign? i have heard nary a peep, though i believe i have it roughly where i want it. (next up? a new author page, by request from ray and petunia; an email option for andrea, next/previous posts and hopefully pictures pulled from flickr.)

yesterday we were driving back from palo alto whole foods and it started raining. the sun was out too, and out the window there was a gorgeous rainbow- the entire arc was visible. tripp commented that it looked like one of the stickers, it was so vivid. we kept driving and then the single rainbow turned into a double rainbow. eventually they faded away, but by the time we pulled into the apartment complex there was another one brightening the sky.