Early Morning Money Post

Remember our visit from the AC repair guy last month? The one where he informed us that our system was installed wrong? I want to find that man and hug him! I just got our new electric bill and it's only $7 more than the previous bill, and $25 more than the bill before that, which I'm pretty sure was during open window weather.

I was terrified that the electric bill for this house would bankrupt us, but keeping the house at a balmy 78 when we're home and 84 when we're not seems to be working. While the bill here is definitely higher than at the apartment, it's not nearly as noticeable as I thought it would be. I expected it to be double, and so far it's been maybe 20% more.

I'm so glad we had that problem when we did...otherwise I shudder to think what that bill would be like now.

Scratched Post

The living room scratching post has definitely seen better days. Of course, it's still serving us well - the furniture is still like new (except for the puke stains, but that's another story). We've had some lapses, but mostly the cats just get sprayed with the water bottle when they horseplay on the back of the couch or climb instead of jump.

I'm glad that we gave their claws a chance.

...and I'm knocking the end tables as I type this!

Inspiration

Cat sent me a text from Epcot yesterday asking which drink at Cava del Tequila I was partial to. I wrote her back and told her to go with the avocado margarita. I woke up this morning to her reply: "It was so yummy! From here on out I put half an avocado in all my adult beverages."

Of course, that got me thinking about what adult beverages could benefit from avocado. Here's the list I came up with:

* Cosmo-cado - vodka, cranberry, and avocado. The flavor might be ok, but I worry it would be mudslide brown.

* Pina-vocado - rum, pineapple, and avocado. I want to try that!

* Avo-colada - rum, coconut, and avocado. The jury is out.

* Avo-jito - rum, lime, mint, and avocado. Scott the mojito purist wouldn't appreciate this at all!

* Avocado slide - vodka, Kahlua, and avocado. *horf!* No thank you!

*Avocado daiquiri - rum, ice, and avocado. Why not?

Anyone else have a good drink idea? Or a terrible one?

Scorcher

It's another day with a heat index over 100. If I had to be outside, I think I'd follow the example of this sand hill crane and take a quick dip!

How do you dry off? Easy - just flap your wings!

It was a little alarming watching the crane sit down in the water, especially since I was convinced there was some sort of avian "hydrophobie" going around. But watching them (yes "them" - it's hard to get 2 large birds in an action shot) frolic was good fun.

(also, you might notice that the first picture above was taken where I last saw the heron. he's flown the coop for now)

Worrisome

We haven't had many birds to watch ever since the weather heated up. I imagine they've gone somewhere in the low 90's, or at least to a pond with trees and shade. Basically, there's been one egret and that's about it. But yesterday a heron appeared on the shore and was doing some weird stuff I've never seen one do before. Case in point:

I thought he had just caught a fish because his throat was doing that flutter-wiggle thing, but he kept it up for a while. Scott suggested the wing position was a way to cool down, and I accepted that because it's easier to believe something positive than to worry about something negative.

I kept an eye on him, and tried to figure out whether the brown on the tip of the right wing was an injury (of course, my first instinct was "that damned alligator!) or natural coloring or even oil. I still don't know. But I've gone back through all of my old Harley pictures, and have never seen coloring like that. See the picture below for another view. I took some other pictures, and it's on both wings at the same spot.

He's back out there again this morning, which makes me wonder whether he even left. He's spending a lot of time grooming, which makes me think whatever is going on there must either hurt or itch a lot. Of course, there's a pretty abundant supply of fish, so I don't think he'll starve. Still, it breaks my heart to think he's hurting.

Do You Love It?

Blogger finally made it simple to change your template and not lose all of your links/widgets like before. So I changed. The background might not be the best for me, but we'll see what happens. I might change it to a theme park picture to go with the title, or a differently-edited version of the sailboat/sunset photo.

Anyway, this version is making me very happy

...for now.

Gone Fishin'?

Is it because it's summer?

Has everyone I "know" from their blogs burned out at once?

I know my excuse - I'm learning a new job and my brain is so full of new things I stopped having thoughts of my own past "eat, sleep, drive, TV" a week ago.

Where did everyone go?

(by the way, aside from the flat spot I've developed on my forehead from banging my head into the desk, I'm really enjoying my new job. I'll tell more when I figure out how to tell what is it that I do all day!)

(and also, getting home in daylight is nice, but I had forgotten what it's like to get into a 120 degree car in long pants. ick!)

To the Theater!

The show got two negative-ish local reviews, but I'm still so excited to see it. Love the music, loved the movie, have no idea what to expect live. Of course, I think Scott just wants to see this one song...

Hurricane Season

It must be Summer in Florida. The afternoon thunderstorms have started, and we've already had some doozies! Of course, June 1 was the official start of [insert dramatic music here] Hurricane Season 2010.[end music]

My favorite Orlando Sentinel columnist took a very scientific approach to hurricane season. He spoke with hurricane experts including a psychic, a monkey, and his two children and compared their results with Dr. Gray. How did they all do? "Generally, when it came to picking storm numbers for 2010, Gray went high and the monkey went low. The psychic and little Maxwells were smack in the middle."

I guess that means I'm hoping the monkey is correct. Apparently buying a house has made me incredibly sensitive to hurricane season. Also, living a few hundred yards from Turnpike construction during hurricane season has made me paranoid. The last thing I need is an orange construction barrel flying through my window at 90 mph!

Another Reason to Love Stephen Colbert

It's ok to not want to watch the violent video-within-a-video. But it's really worth it to watch Colbert skewer the entire sport of bullfighting. Did I say skewer? I guess I meant gore!

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Craziest F#?ing Thing I've Ever Heard - Gored Bullfighter
http://www.colbertnation.com/
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Fox News

Oil Spill via Late-Night Comedy

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Cenac - The Spilling Fields - Oil Leak Containment Ideas
http://www.thedailyshow.com/
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

Rationally, I understand that boycotting BP doesn't hurt BP as much as it hurts local station owners and workers and that's it's a pretty ineffective emotional response. But watching the first 2 minutes of this clip made me think maybe those local owners need to find a new company to be affiliated with.

It's obvious BP has really not bothered with the safety of its workers for a long time. And I really hope the Justice Department is able to nail them to the wall, take all of their money to clean up their mess, and shut them down.

...and now I am done with my own ineffective emotional response!