Journal of a Sabbatical

May 9, 2000

heat wave

Today's Reading: Uttermost Part of the Earth by E. Lucas Bridges, Pawing Through the Past by Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown

Today's Starting Pitcher:
Pete Shourek

The official definition of a heat wave in these parts is three consecutive days with a temperature over 90 degrees. I guess this qualifies as a heat wave.

It is entirely too hot.

The condo maintenance people still have not taken the winter covers off the air conditioners so everybody is sweltering.

When I left the house this morning, Pajama Woman was outside in her bathing suit trying to get a tan while digging up that huge unsightly dirt pile left from her attempt at building a patio last summer. Her son was carrying the dirt to the dumpster in paper shopping bags. I mentioned to them that my back walkway is collapsing where they dug out from under it (undermined I guess is the word). This didn't strike them as their problem and I was too hot to make a big deal of it, so I just asked them to let me know when they were finished digging so I could hire somebody to fix my walk.

Today's other big adventure was the biennial ritual mammogram. The X-ray place has gotten brighter, more spacious quarters with separate mammogram rooms, and is altogether less dismal than it used to be. Plus, the appointment time was actually relevant this time. They actually call you in at your appointment time instead of your appointment time being simply the designated hour at which you start your two hour wait. I was in and out in less than an hour. And by the time I got out, the temperature had dropped about 15 degrees. I guess the heat wave is over.