Dan Antion

Three Hot Days – SoCS

The perfect lime wedge.
John Howell’s Bourbon (with a little help from PhotoShop)
I was bouncing some ideas for a story off MuMu

It’s Saturday, and it’s been a long hot week. I hope to be able to update this post before it goes live – I’ll tack it on the bottom, Linda, don’t worry. I don’t want to lose those bonus points. David and I are drinking but I’m a poor guest. Not poor in the “I’m glad it’s David’s turn to pay” sense, but in the not much new to talk about sense. Still, it’s time to wrestle with Linda G. Hill’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt:

“Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is ‘board/bored.’ Use one, or use them both for bonus points. Enjoy!”

If we were having a beer, you’d be wondering what the heck has been going on.

“Welcome my young friend. How are you?”

“Fine, thanks, how are you?”

“That’s a little curt. Are you really OK?”

“I am. I just remembered that my father always told us that that’s how you respond when someone asks you how you are.”

“What if you aren’t fine?”

“Nobody really wants to know. With the exception of immediate family.”

“Fine or not fine, I have just what you guys need. No sad sacks allowed in this bar. Have you appeased West Coast Dan, Dan?”

“Yes, Cheryl, I think I have. I’ll take a chance on a Corona.”

“David?”

“In case Dan tells me what’s bothering him, I think I’ll need some John Howell’s Bourbon, Cheryl.”

“It’s nothing that would drive a man to drink, David.”

“Yes Dan, I’m sure. But you find your own stories interesting. Sometimes, I need a drink.”

“Well, you’re buying, so drink up.”

“Let’s start with the fact that I saw you’re having a sale on your first book. Nice of you to do that after I bought my copy. Taking an arrow out of the cable company’s quiver.”

“David, I gave you a signed paperback copy of my first book.”

“That’s true, but I really wanted to make the comparison to the cable company. You know, the way they always have a great deal for ‘new’ customers only. Nothing for us poor slobs who have been loyal, albeit mostly bored customers.”

“Ha. ’Knuckleheads’ is on sale for ninety-nine cents until ‘The Evil You Choose’ is released. Just a reason to get a new message out.”

“And that release date. Do we have any clarity on that?”

“Wednesday. The paperback is formatted and looks good. I just have to get the Kindle version ready.”

“What’s the difference?”

“The whitespace between paragraphs works well in the paperback but causes odd gaps in the Kindle version at the tops of some pages.”

“Why not get rid of it in both? Just run the paragraphs together.”

“People told me they appreciated the white space, so…”

“Give ‘em what they want, right?”

“Speaking of what they want, here’s your beer, your bourbon, and these are on the house because it took me so long.”

“Are you OK, Cheryl?”

“First off, did you see the specials on the board? I have to explain each of those to everyone except you guys. Add to that, they have me covering the lounge and the patio today. Skippy called in sick.”

“Covid?”

“More like Cobain, David. There’s a Nirvana cover band playing at some festival up in Massachusetts tonight.”

“Free drinks , and no Skippy – bonus weekend for me. So, Dan, what were all the trucks in your driveway this week?”

“We had to replace our central air system.”

“Ouch. You were without A/C in this heat?”

“We were.”

“So that’s why you’re grumpy.”

“What’s that they say on Law and Order, it’s our prime suspect.”

“Well, once that’s done, you’ll be set for a good long time, right?”

“The original system was installed in nineteen ninety-four.”

“Twenty-eight years? That thing didn’t owe you anything.”

“Nope. It served us well.”

“Well, good luck getting cool, and good luck with the book. I’m sure you’ll tell us more about that next week.”

“So, you’ll have more bourbon?”

“Of course. Cheers Dan.”

None: As of 11:00 PM, we had a functional air conditioning system.

On sale for $0.99 until Wednesday
Available Wednesday August 31, 2022
We’ve had as many as four of these in the driveway this week.
The crew appreciated the attic access
Out with the old, in with the new
Nice new connections
Ready to work, regardless of the weather
I have no idea why this rhododendron is blooming now
MiMi sitting in a rare open window
“Yo, you got a peanut for me?”
Previous baby bunny
Newest baby bunny
Our cars have been living on the street – in the rain
Heavy rain and a tornado watch
Storms over, for now.
After 15 minutes and 1.08″(3cm) of rain, we have sunshine.
A lot of activity in The Evil You Choose happens in PNC Park

87 comments

    • Where have you been? This is the first Corona in three weeks! I’ve had Brooklyn Lager, City Steam’s Naughty Nurse Amber ad Yuengling – Ugh! I do like Sierra Nevada, but not as much as the others. Thanks for keeping me on my toes, Dan.

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  5. You had a three-day visit to the rain forest, but you got to sleep in your own bed. :-) I think these computer savvy appliances should send us a text when their within 30 days of expiring. My refrigerator/freezer died two weekends ago so we were afforded the experience of living out of coolers until a new one could be delivered. Wishing you a quiet but cool weekend.

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    • Thanks Judy. We got a different kind of 30-day notice. The unit started freezing up during the first 100-degree heat wave. A service tech explained why it couldn’t be repaired. It took several weeks to get someone out to give us a quote, and then a couple weeks to schedule an install. The old unit limped along, but struggled to keep us comfortable. When you know you can’t cool down, you put certain things off, so it’s been a weird period around here.

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    • He was ready to rumble. I had my camera (I was after the bunnies) but I didn’t have peanuts. I went back to the porch, secured payment and then snapped his pic. Once he gets his peanut, he’s gone.

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  8. Glad you were able to replace the central air conditioning unit. Ours was installed in 1991 and died July 1st of this year. We aren’t in a position to replace it, and because of the layout, not so sure window units would be practical. God bless fans! No miracles, but they take the worst edge off the heat.

    I don’t think MuMu is interested in what you’re saying Dan! MiMi exploring an open window is a hoot. Love the photo of the squirrel!

    Enjoy a relaxing and cool weekend Dan. Can’t believe it’s almost September!
    Ginger

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    • Sorry about the A/C, Ginger. For reasons unknown, even with the windows open, fans on and temps dipping into the mid-60s overnight, this house NEVER cools off. We struggled for years to figure that out before installing A/C. The layout has changed, the prices have gone up, the building code has changed, so there was much to do that wasn’t anticipated.

      MuMu has been hiding in the basement family room for three days while the strangers were making noise. MiMi has been locked up with her because she would surely have escaped with all the ins and outs.

      We kept the squirrels fed and supplied with water. We all survived the heat. I hope you have a great weekend and a nice week.

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    • I enjoyed every errand, GP, but since I had to be here with these guys, and since they worked late all three days, I didn’t cruise in comfort very much. It’s working now, but it will take a while to get the humidity out of the house.

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  11. I’d have to guess that with that rain came humidity. Three days with that heat AND humidity and no ac? The whole thing sounded like a nightmare, including how long it took to get an estimate. I know our ancestors lived without air conditioning, but I don’t know how. Now as for your assistant, that caption with MuMu had me laughing out loud. I do that to myself with my own ideas sometimes!

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    • Our ancestors were better people. That’s all I can say. The estimate snafu was due to a death in the family at the company. We could be disappointed, but not angry. We can’t complain about how long this install took, given the attention to detail on the entire job.

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  12. I thought the difference in size of the outside unit was amazing. 28 years on a system is amazing. Best wishes on the book. Thanks for the mention. I always enjoy that photoshopped version of the Willett bottle.

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  13. Dan, I’m sorry you had to put up with the heat this past week. Wish I could send you the comfortable temps we’ve been having, but at least now your A/C is fixed. Hoshi sends her “hello” screams to MuMu and I send my early congrats on the release of your next book.

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  15. As soon as I read the word(s) for this week’s prompt I knew it would be a slam dunk for you. I knew from a previous post there was something going on at your house with a project and you’re a woodworking guy so that’s where my head went and I knew it wouldn’t be boring!

    It wasn’t a woodworking project, but I’m glad you got the A/C fixed and you easily got those bonus points.😀 Your old unit lived a long time. Ours in the old house did too, but it’s still no fun laying out the capital for a new one, but it’s such a necessity when we live in places that get really hot and humid in the summer months.

    We’ve had thunderstorm warnings, and just a wee bit of drizzle but no real rain.

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  16. No A/C…I died a little for you. We have used the same A/C company for 40 years now. They dread that our attic space is in the back of the house in the closet in our bedroom. They joke that they have to send the newer, slimmer guys to climb up there. Looks like little Rocky was ready for action if they didn’t fix it. What a cutie!
    We are in a bad weather cycle here. The rain won’t stop so the grass/weeds are knee high, but you can’t mow because the rain won’t stop. Have a cool weekend, Dan!

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    • Our attic was supposed to be a 2nd floor, so it’s easy access to a space they can all stand in. They had three guys up there Thursday and four on Friday. We’re looking forward to having no one up there and the A/C in “set and forget” mode. Hopefully they will finish up all the details today.

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  17. When I took technical writing in college, I learned about the importance of white space. It’s nice to have a pause. I like the photo of Mimi looking out the window. Maybe you could build her a window catio. (I know, now that we are retired, there are an infinite number of possible projects.)

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    • When we get around to cleaning our screen porch, she can hang out out there. We have shelves on several windows out there. Thanks for the comment on white space. I like it. It drives the cost of the paperback up a bit, but they are so expensive (printing costs and Amazon’s slice) that I think it’s an OK trade off. Several people told me that they really like having the break.

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  21. Kudos on the new a/c–no doubt it will be in use! I clicked on the image of your 2nd book, thinking it would take me to Amazon where I could order it — nope. So is it available to purchase now??

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  22. Ha ha ha! I just finished explaining to someone that the line “I’m fine” may sometimes be a lie but it is an acceptable one. People use it all the time. If books didn’t have the white spaces between paragraphs they would become difficult to read. In my opinion. Eyes need a point where they can relax. Bugger about the AC! Glad it’s back on track. Now it will get cool.

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  28. So nice to have you back at the bar Dan! And a big congrats on the new AC! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻Exciting to har about Book Two. We’ll be in transit on the 31st but I’ll check it out as soon as we get settled. The kitty looks really interested in your project ideas. Must be worn out from supervising the AC installation. 😉

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  29. Oh, my, that’s quite the week you’ve had! Glad to read the a/c is working now. Congrats on getting book two out there. I finally wrote about your book this week. Just in time for number two. And a deal for those first book readers on Kindle! I hope this week is better for you and yours.

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    • Thanks Kirt. It was gross here without the AC, and when we had to close the windows for the rain, it was awful. The rain brought the temp down into the 70s, but it bounced back to the high 80s in a very short time. I hope you enjoy the book.

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