Mister Cranky

I know what's going to happen. In a while, I'll go to bed, and it will be so hot that I will use only one blanket. When I am almost asleep, I will feel a chill, and I will get up and fetch a second blanket. Half an hour or so after that, I will be wakened by the dropping temperature and I'll fetch a third blanket. Then I will sleep for a couple of hours, until the increasing heat wakes me, and I shed one blanket. Then, a couple more hours of sleep, and I'll wake up sweating, and shed another blanket. Then I'll go back to sleep until it's too hot for any blanket at all. It's been that way for three days. I'm tired of it. The most annoying thing is that the serious cooling comes after dawn, when it's too late to be any help for using the heat-hating computer.

I had thought that the reduction in the cloud cover would bring an earlier cooling tonight, but it hasn't happened. The night is not cloudy, but it is hazed, and that apparently has the same effect. I wish for autumn, or for cheaper electricity so I can at least keep the air conditioner running all night. I'd settle for Ken Lay running in a big hamster wheel to produce my power- as long as he was out in the garage, so I wouldn't have to smell him sweat. Now I have to take the trash cans out, since I forgot to do it last night. I have the distinct feeling that I'm going to be cranky today. I'll stay as quiet as possible.

Still Cranky

All the haze in the southeastern sky has turned lavender in the dusk. I think it might be Sacramento's smog. Nevertheless, it is a restful color. I am still not accustomed to the relentless heat of these days. It breaks ninety degrees every day. There have been hotter summers here, but last July was so mild by comparison with this year that I am spoiled.

I am not alone in my crankiness today. My email service won't recognize my password, so I have no way of knowing if I'm getting replies to comments. Of course, LJ is being cranky, too, so even if I am getting replies, the notifications might not be getting sent out to be stored in the mail box I can't get to because I can't log in. It's obviously one of those days. I'm going to pretend it never happened. Of course, Sluggo is cranky, too, but when isn't he?

There is a newly dug burrow in my front yard, probably made by a rodent. It is evidence that the cat is not doing her job. She's probably cranky, too. I certainly couldn't blame her for it. I doubt that I'd want to chase rodents in this weather if I were a cat. I'd find a shady spot and sleep all day, just as she does.

It has ben confirmed that a dead bird found near Bakersfield was infected with West Nile virus. It is the first evidence that the disease has entered the Central Valley. It will probably show up here within a couple of months. Meanwhile, the state's financial condition has led to a considerable reduction in the budget of Butte County's mosquito abatement program. I guess we'll all be dead soon. No wonder I'm cranky.