Bin ‘ot ‘ere

Our second week of 100 degree plus days and when the air conditioning on one’s car fails one is forced to get creative.

The window unit air conditioner was easily “foamed” into the right rear window, getting mains voltage requires the trunk mounted generator, a few sheet metal screws and she’s ready to go.
All-in-all a simple and elegant solution to an overheated commute.

Nature

It is hard to post after such a disturbing image and situation in highlighted and discussed on these pages, without appearing to be flippant.

So in light of what has happened I plan to go out today with my eyes on nature with renewed awareness that none of us knows what the future holds for us and that we should make the most of each day.

Where I’ve been.

I’ve been gone a fair amount this summer, twice within the USA and once to China. It’s been interesting, to say the least. Surprisingly the USA, outside of the parentheses (The North East coast and the Pacific Coast states), is a wonderful place to be. My first journey, to Minnesota/Iowa/South Dakota, was an unexpected joy. Completely out of character, I was rendered unable to make a single sarcastic comment the entire time there. The people are warm, welcoming, down to earth, honest, and blessed with a dry sense of humour which makes life go by much more easily. This was a welcome change from California where life is, to say the least, at times a bit frustrating and the people irksome. There is something to the old cliché about the freedom of the road, the ability to tear down a highway at 90 miles an hour with the music playing in the background, nothing but empty fields and blue skies all around. By the first evening, despite being notoriously prickly and difficult to approach in California, I was sitting around the grill drinking beers with the other men telling jokes and exchanging stories. Continue reading “Where I’ve been.”