MC Daughter at The Lake - Spring Break 2002

Word of the Day

Newify - To make something, that was once old, to become new again through refurbishing, painting, repairing, or some other activity.

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THE ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY IN PHOENIX HAS ISSUED
AN AIRBORNE FINE PARTICLE HIGH POLLUTION ADVISORY FOR THE GREATER
PHOENIX AREA FOR SUNDAY.
THIS MEANS THAT ONGOING STAGNANT WEATHER CONDITIONS COMBINED WITH
EXISTING AIRBORNE FINE PARTICLE LEVELS MAY RESULT IN LOCAL FINE
PARTICLE CONCENTRATIONS THAT POSE A HEALTH RISK. ADVERSE HEALTH
EFFECTS INCREASE AS AIR QUALITY DETERIORATES.
FINE PARTICULATE MATTER - ALSO KNOWN AS PM-2.5 - IS AN AIR
CONTAMINANT THAT CAN AGGRAVATE HEART AND LUNG DISEASE CONDITIONS...
ESPECIALLY IN OLDER ADULTS...CHILDREN...AND THOSE WITH ASTHMA. A
DECREASE IN PHYSICAL ACTIVITY IS RECOMMENDED.

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I wasn't planning on taking part in any strenuous activities anyway...other than removing the sheets from my plants as soon as the temperatures rise above freezing. Yes, Virginia, it did freeze last night. My herb pots don't look happy about being inside but it looks like I may be able to return them to their normal outdoor environment today. "They" aren't predicting freezing temperatures for tonight. They are predicting 35°F temperatures which is close to freezing so I'll check the forecast later on this afternoon to see if I need to repeat my sheet dance for a third time as the sun sinks below the horizon.

Actually, despite the pollution warning,you'd never know that there was one issued out here where HTP and I live. I guess you could say we live in one of the outlying areas. The only real time that I notice any particulates flying around is when we get one of those dust storms that hit before we get any rain. It would be nice to have a fireplace in our house but even if we had one, they wouldn't have let us put in a real, wood-burning, fireplace. The EPA hates wood-burning fireplaces and won't let you put them into any of the new built homes. *sigh* And even if I lived in a home that already had a wood-burning fireplace, they wouldn't let me actually burn wood on any day that was cold enough for you to burn wood because they issue pollution alerts for those days and prohibit wood-burning fires.

With a second night of freezing temperatures, I finally turned on the furnace. It works. I set it at 68°F, and I heard it kick in at around 3 AM. It startled HTP enough so he poked me, saying, "You turned on the furnace?!". I've been avoiding the use of the furnace despite all of HTP's complaints. It seems to me that if you're cold, you can always put on a sweater...only, even though HTP has several sweaters, he refuses to wear them. He doesn't like long-sleeve shirts either. *sigh* I always end up having to kick off the covers when the furnace is on after I'm in bed. I get too hot. Even though you can always put more clothes on when you're cold, you can only take so much off when you're hot. As an admitted insomniac, I normally have a hard time sleeping. Adding hot temperatures (OK...68°F isn't exactly hot...but it felt hot to me last night)and there is no possibility of a sleeping for Old Grey Frog. Oh well...it is winter and if we were back in Wisconsin right now there would be no debating over whether or not to fire up the furnace. We'd be firing up the fireplace too...and probably thinking about buying a snow-blower as we shoveled the snow for the sixth or seventh time.

Murphyism of the Day

Schrimpton's Law of Teenage Opportunity

When opportunity knocks, you've got your headphones on.

Noteworthy Quote of the Day

A timid person is frightened before a danger, a coward during the time, and a courageous person afterward.

- Jean Paul Richter (1763 - 1825)