In the Northern Hemisphere, the Summer Solstice begins on June 21, 2009 at 1:45 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time. That would be 10:45 p.m. for the folks on the West coast, 12:45 p.m. in Houston.
Woo hoo!
Saturday, June 20, 2009
The Texas Skye in Summer
I'm living in the land of summer. The land of sunshine and heat. The land of warmth in temperature and warmth in people.
The land of tropical storms and hurricanes and killing levels of heat and humidity.
I worry about summer here. I worry about August and September, which are supposed to be the killer months, the months that could send me running for the PNW without so much as packing my bags.
I mean, it's not like the temps will faze me. I've been happily roasting (in limited amounts) in 97-degree weather (heat index 101-103). I walk outside from the extremely cold newspaper office, where I have to wear a sweater, and toast myself until I feel warm. Then I walk back into the ice cube of work. And about half the time, I don't turn on my AC in the car, preferring to warm myself as I drive (once the 140-degree heat leaks out thru the open windows, of course).
People are amazed by my tolerance and joy in the heat. They know where I've been. And I've dealt with 100+ degree weather in Eastern Washington (a LONG time ago) and occasionally in Seattle or in the Willamette Valley. Last year May, it hit 103 for a freak weather day in Lincoln City.
But the humidity: I worry about tolerating 110 degrees with 98% humidity for 2 months. I worry about the fact that I have things in my apartment that I want to keep. I worry about the fact that I bought a really nice couch last weekend (to be delivered next week) and would need to move that sucker if I fled.
Then there are the storms; it is now officially storm season.
I worry that maybe I can tolerate neither the NW nor the South, but I cannot afford the northern California coastal or near-coastal areas. (Because that would be the ideal climate for me.) I've made a couple of friends here. I might be on the way to making one or two more: this is so quick for me! :) What if I feel the need to leave?
I worry about money: unemployment ran out and I'm now living on my savings, which represents all the money I have in the world. Well, that and the bit of money I make at The Tribune, which pays for my health insurance, plus a little more. Maybe dinners out.
I don't mind being alone so much anymore. A friend from back "home" asked me how I was when I was a child, what did I do when I was alone. And I remembered that I was mostly solitary as a child, too.
So what did I do? Solitary things, things that occupied me; I rarely felt lonely. I read books. I wrote, I drew, I painted. I rode my bike around and around the cul de sac when my mom wouldn't let me ride out of it. I skated around and around, too. I played with my "dangerous" things: Fun Flowers when I was a child, a toy that could burn you pretty good and that I never had adult supervision when using, never hurt myself with; and my chemistry set when I was a little older, ditto for supervision and never hurting myself (even when I broke a test tube). I climbed a tree and I made my own detective kit to pretend with.
I guess it's time to let myself free of expectations. And just enjoy me, enjoy my life and the sunshine and the heat.
And to create: I've started a creative crochet project (picked up a couple of books); I have a painting sketched out and the supplies ready; I am working on not one, not two, but THREE novel ideas; I have a blog (obviously), and I have a website that desperately needs Search Engine Optimization (SEO) so that potential clients can find me---my site doesn't come up in the first two or three DOZEN pages when you search on "Houston writer/editor" or "Houston freelance writer" or "Houston technical writer." That has to change. And I need to add some other things to my site.
All and all, there is no reason for my solitude to be difficult.
Only the summer heat, and the summer humidity.
Only the expectations and fears floating around in the Texas Skye.
The land of tropical storms and hurricanes and killing levels of heat and humidity.
I worry about summer here. I worry about August and September, which are supposed to be the killer months, the months that could send me running for the PNW without so much as packing my bags.
I mean, it's not like the temps will faze me. I've been happily roasting (in limited amounts) in 97-degree weather (heat index 101-103). I walk outside from the extremely cold newspaper office, where I have to wear a sweater, and toast myself until I feel warm. Then I walk back into the ice cube of work. And about half the time, I don't turn on my AC in the car, preferring to warm myself as I drive (once the 140-degree heat leaks out thru the open windows, of course).
People are amazed by my tolerance and joy in the heat. They know where I've been. And I've dealt with 100+ degree weather in Eastern Washington (a LONG time ago) and occasionally in Seattle or in the Willamette Valley. Last year May, it hit 103 for a freak weather day in Lincoln City.
But the humidity: I worry about tolerating 110 degrees with 98% humidity for 2 months. I worry about the fact that I have things in my apartment that I want to keep. I worry about the fact that I bought a really nice couch last weekend (to be delivered next week) and would need to move that sucker if I fled.
Then there are the storms; it is now officially storm season.
I worry that maybe I can tolerate neither the NW nor the South, but I cannot afford the northern California coastal or near-coastal areas. (Because that would be the ideal climate for me.) I've made a couple of friends here. I might be on the way to making one or two more: this is so quick for me! :) What if I feel the need to leave?
I worry about money: unemployment ran out and I'm now living on my savings, which represents all the money I have in the world. Well, that and the bit of money I make at The Tribune, which pays for my health insurance, plus a little more. Maybe dinners out.
I don't mind being alone so much anymore. A friend from back "home" asked me how I was when I was a child, what did I do when I was alone. And I remembered that I was mostly solitary as a child, too.
So what did I do? Solitary things, things that occupied me; I rarely felt lonely. I read books. I wrote, I drew, I painted. I rode my bike around and around the cul de sac when my mom wouldn't let me ride out of it. I skated around and around, too. I played with my "dangerous" things: Fun Flowers when I was a child, a toy that could burn you pretty good and that I never had adult supervision when using, never hurt myself with; and my chemistry set when I was a little older, ditto for supervision and never hurting myself (even when I broke a test tube). I climbed a tree and I made my own detective kit to pretend with.
I guess it's time to let myself free of expectations. And just enjoy me, enjoy my life and the sunshine and the heat.
And to create: I've started a creative crochet project (picked up a couple of books); I have a painting sketched out and the supplies ready; I am working on not one, not two, but THREE novel ideas; I have a blog (obviously), and I have a website that desperately needs Search Engine Optimization (SEO) so that potential clients can find me---my site doesn't come up in the first two or three DOZEN pages when you search on "Houston writer/editor" or "Houston freelance writer" or "Houston technical writer." That has to change. And I need to add some other things to my site.
All and all, there is no reason for my solitude to be difficult.
Only the summer heat, and the summer humidity.
Only the expectations and fears floating around in the Texas Skye.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Unanticipated heat effect
It's hot, and time to check for effects and mitigations.
Dehydration? Check. Get the water.
Exhaustion? Check. Get out of the heat.
Sunburn? Check. Get out of the sun.
Melted climbers' putty? Ch ... What?
I have this stuff called climber's putty. It is blue and resides in a plastic fist-shaped container and looks kind of like The Blob. It (the putty, not the sci-fi monster) is made to help strengthen climbers' hands and I have used it in the past for strengthening when my hands were weak.
I have been feeling a bit too weak and delicate, so I dug around, found the putty and pulled it out.
Mistake. It's rather sticky. A lot sticky. A "how the hell do I get it off all my fingers and put it away?!" kind of sticky. I really didn't see that one coming.
We wrestled.
We pounded on each other!
It wrapped itself around me!!
The clamor and the mess were horrific!!!
But, finally, I won.
And got all of it off my hands and into the little plastic fist. Mitigation? Put it in the fridge.
That is one blue Blob won't be eating a human for dinner tonight!
One last thought: will storing the blue blob in the fridge work? In the movie, freezing the blob didn't kill it (maybe), but the blob solidified. Will my blob still be useful for hand-strengthening? I am sure my readers are breathless in antici ... pation! (Quick! What's that reference?). So I will update y'all on this topic again soon.
Dehydration? Check. Get the water.
Exhaustion? Check. Get out of the heat.
Sunburn? Check. Get out of the sun.
Melted climbers' putty? Ch ... What?
I have this stuff called climber's putty. It is blue and resides in a plastic fist-shaped container and looks kind of like The Blob. It (the putty, not the sci-fi monster) is made to help strengthen climbers' hands and I have used it in the past for strengthening when my hands were weak.
I have been feeling a bit too weak and delicate, so I dug around, found the putty and pulled it out.
Mistake. It's rather sticky. A lot sticky. A "how the hell do I get it off all my fingers and put it away?!" kind of sticky. I really didn't see that one coming.
We wrestled.
We pounded on each other!
It wrapped itself around me!!
The clamor and the mess were horrific!!!
But, finally, I won.
And got all of it off my hands and into the little plastic fist. Mitigation? Put it in the fridge.
That is one blue Blob won't be eating a human for dinner tonight!
One last thought: will storing the blue blob in the fridge work? In the movie, freezing the blob didn't kill it (maybe), but the blob solidified. Will my blob still be useful for hand-strengthening? I am sure my readers are breathless in antici ... pation! (Quick! What's that reference?). So I will update y'all on this topic again soon.
Maybe it IS the heat
Friday it was 98 degrees. And 52% humidity, which is very mild for this place at this time. And I was dyin'.
I think it's about water. I am not getting enough because of working so much in the middle of the day and then going on to do errands and such. This last week was bad for that and I ended up every afternoon feeling ill and completely exhausted until about 7 pm. When I would eat a very late dinner for me. I was also missing lunch.
So, new plan: carry a cooler in the car. Maybe someday (when I have a real income) buy one of those car-powered coolers that plugs into the cigarette lighter or something. Then I would have cold water or iced tea continually when I go out. And take lunch to work.
Oh, and as has been told me just recently: Don't. Go. Out. In. The. Middle. Of. The. Day. Unless you are swimming. It's a southern thing. :)
Unlike the PNW where going out in the middle of the day is optimal (well, except that Seattle has developed this true-summer thing and it gets HOT) because that's when it is marginally warm(er). As Mom put it when she was talking to someone in the Valley, "If the temperature goes over 60, we feel like we are having a heat wave."
I miss things from up there, including sleeping in a cool bedroom, without using AC to achieve it.
I hate using AC, but it's necessary. However, on Wednesday I bought a ceiling fan and a dehumidifier. I have to assemble the fan and the maintenance guys will install it. I have to do that TODAY (Sunday) because they are coming tomorrow. And the dehumidifier is still in my car because it's just heavy enough to be difficult to carry up the stairs but not so heavy I cannot do it alone. I will just have to stop every few steps. Thank goodness I moved to a 2nd floor apartment in March!
My apartment gets a decent breeze from the SSE, from Lake Houston, especially in the afternoons. And I get southerly sun for the first part of the day, leaving the deck shaded in the late afternoon and evening. A little mosquito netting over the door, maybe at the opening of the deck, a glass of wine or iced tea, and my life will be virtually complete.
Now, where is Jean Claude the pool boy?
I think it's about water. I am not getting enough because of working so much in the middle of the day and then going on to do errands and such. This last week was bad for that and I ended up every afternoon feeling ill and completely exhausted until about 7 pm. When I would eat a very late dinner for me. I was also missing lunch.
So, new plan: carry a cooler in the car. Maybe someday (when I have a real income) buy one of those car-powered coolers that plugs into the cigarette lighter or something. Then I would have cold water or iced tea continually when I go out. And take lunch to work.
Oh, and as has been told me just recently: Don't. Go. Out. In. The. Middle. Of. The. Day. Unless you are swimming. It's a southern thing. :)
Unlike the PNW where going out in the middle of the day is optimal (well, except that Seattle has developed this true-summer thing and it gets HOT) because that's when it is marginally warm(er). As Mom put it when she was talking to someone in the Valley, "If the temperature goes over 60, we feel like we are having a heat wave."
I miss things from up there, including sleeping in a cool bedroom, without using AC to achieve it.
I hate using AC, but it's necessary. However, on Wednesday I bought a ceiling fan and a dehumidifier. I have to assemble the fan and the maintenance guys will install it. I have to do that TODAY (Sunday) because they are coming tomorrow. And the dehumidifier is still in my car because it's just heavy enough to be difficult to carry up the stairs but not so heavy I cannot do it alone. I will just have to stop every few steps. Thank goodness I moved to a 2nd floor apartment in March!
My apartment gets a decent breeze from the SSE, from Lake Houston, especially in the afternoons. And I get southerly sun for the first part of the day, leaving the deck shaded in the late afternoon and evening. A little mosquito netting over the door, maybe at the opening of the deck, a glass of wine or iced tea, and my life will be virtually complete.
Now, where is Jean Claude the pool boy?
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Feet
I have feet. My feet have problems. It's getting tiresome.
My feet began their latest annoying behavior in September. I'm still working on them. I have a new podiatrist and new orthotics. They are helping, slowly.
Today I bought new sandals, three pair, that will be helpful to my dreadful feet. Because in two days, my foot doc TAKES BACK MY ORTHOTICS!
Okay, he's taking them to modify them, but I did have to get something that would play well with my feet without the orthotics. And I needed sandals to wear with with capris and skirts. And three, well, they are all different, and I have white clothes and dark clothes and brightly colored clothes and thus have differing sandal needs and.... Which is weird because I have never been a shoe-girl before. I'm not really, but I do finally get the whole "girls need shoes" thing now. Because there are skirts, dresses, capris, shorts, crops, long pants. And there are casual, business casual, and formal (please, not that again). Sexy. Plain. For walking in during hot weather.
Guys only need three pair: business/business casual; athletic; and sandals, if they live in a warm place.
It sucks.
Being a girl is tough. Guys so couldn't hack it. Go Grrlz!
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Still alive, not exactly kicking tho'
Yes, it has been a very long time. I apologize. When I feel overwhelmed, I tend to conserve my energy.
I will write more posts. As for now, check out The Tribune. I've been writing articles. But there was a big smash-up today and now "I be uh editore". That's okay: I'm not aggressive and I found many things were actually painful for me to do (calling the same source very five minutes for updates on breaking news, that sort of thing).
Some articles were a pleasure, tho', so I hope I get other chances for those types.
Writing for a newspaper has taught me a great deal. Editing will teach me more. I love learning, even if I'm making only $10/hour and now working only 10 hours/week. And my unemployment is due to run out at any time.
What the hell! It's only money, right? And if I run out next year, can I live in someone's basement? Or attic? Or little shack/garage out back? I'll be good....
Love you all.
I will write more posts. As for now, check out The Tribune. I've been writing articles. But there was a big smash-up today and now "I be uh editore". That's okay: I'm not aggressive and I found many things were actually painful for me to do (calling the same source very five minutes for updates on breaking news, that sort of thing).
Some articles were a pleasure, tho', so I hope I get other chances for those types.
Writing for a newspaper has taught me a great deal. Editing will teach me more. I love learning, even if I'm making only $10/hour and now working only 10 hours/week. And my unemployment is due to run out at any time.
What the hell! It's only money, right? And if I run out next year, can I live in someone's basement? Or attic? Or little shack/garage out back? I'll be good....
Love you all.
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