Return!

I am back! And I'm pleased to report that I and all my relatives survived the experience. I'll report more on the trip later, after sleep has happened.

Nova seems relieved to see me, but also extremely weirded out. Poor thing. This must have been a bizarre experience for him. First Vir disappears on him, then Happiness, then me... He must have felt like Dr. Crusher in that TNG episode where she ends up as the only one left on the Enterprise and the computer keeps telling her nobody else ever existed.

Eastward Ho!

I'm leaving on vacation in a couple of days, so if you try to get in touch with me next week and I don't answer my home phone or my e-mail or whatever, that would be the reason why! I'm going to this family reunion thingy in Delaware, having been told my presence this year was non-optional. We're also going to take a road trip down to Washington DC to visit the Air and Space Museum. Which makes this my second space-themed vacation this year, a trend I thoroughly approve of.

I'm looking forward to that, but also feeling a bit trepidatious, as, honestly, I've been feeling even more un-social than usual lately, and, no matter how much I love them, spending a week in the 24/7 company of my relatives may just break my poor introvert's soul. And when I get socially over-stimulated, I unfortunately get kinda snippy. So, uh, wish me luck. Or wish my relatives luck, maybe.

I'm leaving on Saturday, but I've already dropped Vir off at the kennel. He's being boarded along with Happiness this time, so that he doesn't eat all of Nova's food as well as his own, which he will do if unsupervised, and gain even more weight. But he had to go in a couple of days earlier than Happy, because there's a possibility that he'll just stress out and stop eating entirely, and if he does that, he's at high risk for spontaneous liver failure, thanks to the obesity that's also the reason I have to board him in the first place. Sigh. Personally, I think he's unlikely to not eat -- of all the reactions that cat has to stress, that's never seemed to be one of them -- but it's best to make sure before I just take off and leave him there. But, aww, I miss him already. And I think the other cats are slightly nervous at his disappearance, wondering whether they're going to be next. (One of them is right, of course. And the other is probably going to be lonely here by himself for a week, but I'm pretty sure Nova would freak out and refuse to eat if I stuck him in a kennel.)

So, How's Your Weekend Going So Far?

I'm working a night shift tonight, and I've been having some trouble switching my sleep schedule over, but I at least managed to stay awake until about 2:30 last night, which I figured was a good thing. Except that I then woke up, for no obvious reason, at 8:30. An hour later, I was still working on getting back to sleep, with some real possibility of success, when there was a knock at my door.

At first, I thought I'd imagined it. Then I thought, "It's probably the mailman. Ignore it and go to sleep." And then I thought, "...you know, that was an awfully loud and serious-sounding knock. I'd probably better go and see what it is." So I threw on my bathrobe, opened the front door... and discovered two uniformed policemen. Apparently one of my neighbors saw what looked like smoke coming out of my swamp cooler, and called the fire department. Fortunately for all concerned, it turned out to not actually be smoke. It was just mist. Apparently a hose broke or something, and the thing was spewing water out into the air.

I'm glad my neighbors notice when my house seems to be on fire. But, man, I don't think I'm going to be getting any more sleep now.

More Talking About The Weather

The problem with this kind of soul-sucking heat is that it makes it hard to get anything done. It's okay as long as you stay indoors -- all praise to the mighty swamp cooler! -- but any time I have to go outside for ten minutes, I find that I desperately desire half an hour's rest on the sofa while sipping cool beverages afterward.

On the upside, it's great weather for doing laundry. On days like this, I think the clothesline may actually rival a tumble-dryer for speed.

But It's A Dry Heat! A Drought-Stricken, Mummifyingly Dry Heat.

Ah, summer in New Mexico!

Yesterday's high: 103 degrees.

Today's projected high: 103 degrees.

Total rainfall this year so far: Less than half an inch.

Sometimes I wonder why people even live here. Or, for that matter, how.

I'm Not Doing So Great With That "Update This Blog More Often" Resolution, But, Hey, There's Always This.

Current clothes: A red plaid bathrobe. Any minute now, though, I'm going to go and put some actual clothes on. Yep. Any minute now.

Current mood: Eh. I have a lot of stuff I really need to do today, and I'm having some trouble working up the enthusiasm to tackle it all.

Current music: More random songs from my music collection. As I recall, the iPod's random shuffle feature seemed to be in a heavy-duty classic rock kind of mood last time I had it on. At one point it gave me Billy Joel, Dire Straits, CCR, Jethro Tull, and the Who, all back to back.

Current annoyance: Man, lately I've been feeling this sort of generalized irritation that is hard to pin down onto any one thing. Possibly I'm just having some kind of low-key midlife crisis.

Current thing: Wistfully wishing that I could spend an entire week doing nothing but lying on the couch and reading, and then when I actually get a nice block of time in which to do that, getting too easily distracted from it and getting up to do other stuff after all.

Current desktop picture: Still the same Earth from space picture as last time.

Current book: The Infernals by John Connolly, the sequel to his YA novel The Gates. It's fun.

Current song in head: For the last few days, songs have been flitting in and out of my head in rapid succession, at the merest hint of anything that remotely reminds me of them.

Current refreshment: Nothing at the moment. I just finished my morning coffee not all that long ago. I slept a bit later than I probably should have today, given that I have to be up early for work tomorrow.

Current DVD in player: Just finished disc 1 of season 2 of Northern Exposure. Which, while still enjoyable, doesn't seem quite as thoroughly charming as I remember it being back in the day, possibly just because its particular brand of quirkiness is no longer novel.

Current worry: I think I'll let today's xkcd address this one:



Current thought: Bah, I'm hungry, and I haven't had breakfast. And the catbox smells. And I really need to put some clothes on. Any minute now...

Doctor Who News

I have only one word to say: NOOOOOOOOOOO!

I mean, a new Doctor is always exciting. But I love Matt Smith, and I want to keep him forever.

(OK, that was more than one word. Shut up. I am dealing with trauma here.)