TW3: 5-11 June 2005

Did you know that Nevada was the fastest growing state between 1990 and 2000? And it continues its meteoric growth into the 21st Century. There are two vital technologies that have allowed this to happen, one of which is millennia old, the other only a century: irrigation and air conditioning.

Ah, central air conditioning, something I've suddenly started to covet. The fans aren't cutting it. We talked to our contractor this week about insulating the attic, which should not only make it warmer in the winter, but cooler in the summer. But he'd have to start early on a day like the ones we've had recently, lest he passes out from heat prostration.

We’ve been talking to our neighbors about building a new fence. Carol and I have been in this house only five years, but the deterioration of it in that time has been astonishing. With small children on both sides, it's time to take action.

Speaking of small children, I missed a day and a half of work this week. Our childcare provider was chaperoning a gathering that included her teenaged daughter on Monday, and she had a doctor's appointment on Friday morning. I mentioned to a co-worker that 3.5 days is harder than 5, and he agreed. There are only two kinds of jobs, I reckon, one where the work gets done whether you're there or not: bank teller (which I did for a month), store clerk. Then there are the other ones, where the work will still be there, like the reference questions I do at SBDC or the mail order I used to do at FantaCo. *I* can take the day off, but the WORK doesn't take a day off.

And on that day and a half, I watch Lydia go up and down the stairs, using the railing rather than the crawling she's done for months. It's great until she gets to the 10th step and turns around, HANDS FREE, as though she were saying, "Hey, look at me!" THEN I get nervous. Because I was watching Lydia, I got to racquetball only 3 days out of 5. But I got enough exercise yesterday.

There have been a number of fires in Albany recently, some of them by arson. A church friend of mine had her apartment building engulfed in a (non-arson) major fire last week. Though her apartment wasn't set aflame, it suffered considerable smoke and water damage. A bunch of us went over to her place yesterday to gather up whatever is salvageable. We wanted to go over at 8 a.m., but the building manager wasn't available until 10:30, by which time the day has warmed up considerably. Some of us working on the place had a lengthy conversation about the value of renter's insurance (which my friend had) and of maintaining an inventory of items in another place (at work, e.g.)

Another friend of mine lost her job this week because of administrative ineptitude, and I talked with her about it. Her husband was feeling a bit melancholy about the political situation in this country, and we spoke at length about maintaining hope.

The elementary school Lydia is likely to attend in Albany is Public School No. 16. Last weekend there was an open house for the 99-year old building, which is scheduled for demolition next month, to be rebuilt in the next year or so. Lots of people made the trek, even from out of state, as evidenced by the fact that we had to park a couple blocks away from our house at the time of the event.

Yesterday, there was a school dance at P.S. No. 16. We were surprised to see a couple we knew (who live in the 'burbs of Albany) in front of our house, on the way to the school. They have a new foster son attending the dance. (Note to IH: if you actually print your blog, I WILL link to it.)

First person who correctly identifies the reference in the title gets my never-ending respect. (You expected a PRIZE, maybe?)