Friday, August 31, 2012

Updates and curiosities

Okay, let's see last we left chez Lydia it was roasting, cable-less and storm heading for doors....right?  Or maybe I forgot to blog it all.  That said here's the run down:

Wednesday Aug 22nd came home and a/c had died.  The landlord promised to have it fixed by Friday.  I was understanding that to be Friday the 24th...silly me.  After horrific nights of nearly no sleep and little relief I finally came home last night and it was 80 not 85 inside the house.  By morning it was 75!! Woohoo livable. 

Sunday Aug 26th as the tropical storm Isaac approached the cable decided to die right before the 8 am update.  Thankfully my Internet was up so I was able to check in the Weather Channel for news.  I found out in the middle of the night that my 'smart phone' had a feature that gave horribly loud alerts letting me know of weather problems.  Damn near gave me a heart attack when it went off.  But it did let me know that tornado warning in my area along with flooding and severe weather.  And mid o'dark the fire station had another alarm going off for everyone to panic.

I already knew the weather.  What with the lightning illuminating the entire sky at the same time as the thunder boomed out.  I found out yesterday that one of my friend's house was struck by lightning.  Fried the power in his home and his 50 inch TV.  His daughter a teenage was NOT happy nor was his girlfriend.  He just shrugged and drank beer for three days in the heat. 

Cable is free in my place because of an association thing. Eventually they came out after missing two appointment times.  They sweetly offered a $50 rebate and I kinda bit off their head saying that doesn't mean anything to me.  The guy showed up Wednesday and fixed it.   He also pulled the power lines up from where they were hanging and fixed them higher.  Another little bit of chaos from storm was the swaying of the lines tore free from roof line and the power company doesn't want to fix.  They claim it is landlords responsibility because the power pole is in the backyard common area. 

Monday was nearly at work when the emergency hot line finally said we had day off.  I'd been calling it on and off since 6.  I didn't see anyway they would have us work with all the flooding and storm damage.  So I naturally went back home and still no a/c but got to meet some poor dude who was stuck telling my landlord the cost (that was the 2nd one I met ...I don't know how many quotes he got til he caved).

Happy news on Wednesday one of the gals that was temp to perm was let go.  She was NOT a nice person so that was very good news.  One of my co-workers actually jumped in the air and clicked her feet together (she turns 60 in Dec and it was a sight!) for joy.  Not a single tear shed.  Karma is a bitch and so am I but I actually hadn't said a word about her to anyone higher up because I didn't think it was my place as she didn't do much for me.  The one time she tried to get nasty with me I gave her a lovely searing glance and she kind of sucked up to me ever after...funny that 'evil eye' works.

Yesterday early morning walk before dawn break I got to watch a bat collecting bugs overhead.  I cheered that as good omen cause mosquitoes carry stuff.  Then oddly on the way home I witnessed a man getting 'serviced' near as I could figure on the sidewalk by a ...can't say what but rhymes with slut...oh wait...that's it...on her knees between his thighs with head bobbing. During rush hour.  Okay bats to blow....jobs?  Is that crazy or what?

So that pretty much brings the basics up to date.  How you all doing?

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Tropical Storm Isaac moved on

Poor Louisiana folks.  They didn't get the nasty back side of the tropical storm Isaac like we did here but instead it decided to become a baby hurricane (category one as of 6 am).  That means sustained winds of over 70 miles per hour. 

Okay, here's a little perspective on that sort of wind, as a kid my dad firmly believed in the old 4 window a/c.  Drove the car fast on the way to Las Vegas (family out there) with windows down and me clinging to the back of his headrest watching the speedometer spin higher. 

The road from Los Angeles to Las Vegas back in the day used to be an epic ride.  Long stretches of nothingness with rolling roadway.  There were exciting dips and places where those Detroit steel monster cars actually 'caught air'.  No seat belt laws and mom puffing away on her menthol cigarettes trying to put her foot through the floorboard in front of her looking for a brake pedal.  Cut to the flora and fauna in the desert.  There is dry brush that become 'tumble weeds' that us kids were supposed to watch out for.  Not because we couldn't entertain ourselves but because they scraped the paint job and mom would get a tad upset when dad swerved to avoid one.  There were tons of bugs.  The windshield was a vast graveyard of wings and legs and assorted colorful spatters.  Also Monarch Butterflies.  Enter my experience with massive sustained winds.  When driving well over the posted speed limit and the windows all down there was definitely a sustained wind of at least 70 miles per hour.  You have any idea what it feels like when a Monarch Butterfly hits your cheek bone?  Not good.  I was bruised for a while and never got a motorcycle just for that reason.  My cheek was the windshield and that butterfly didn't finish its journey.

Cut back to Louisiana.  Now imagine all that sort of wind blowing for three to four hours with driving rains and flora and fauna airborne!  The only upside is we need rain in middle America.  I hope everyone is doing well with the latest weather path!

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Zzzzzzzzzz

Beyond exhausted today.  My air conditioning system decided to go butter side down while I was at work yesterday.  The landlord is 'working on it'.  As of now no go. It was 86 degrees in house last night.  Fans and open windows don't do spit when it's in the 80s outside.  *shudders* and so if the hurricane does hit I will not be a happy camper.  Tonight if it's not fixed I may ask ever so sweetly (see fangs) that the landlord put me up in a hotel as required.  We will see. 

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Yes I know

Wicked weather heading this way.  I consider it research for my current episodes of The Complex.  My vampire is in middle of hurricane.  I always think it is helpful to experience what I can of my characters issues.  Given I am not tapping a vein any time soon I'll go with blustery weather.

*hangs head and grins slightly knowing how wrong this is*

Isaac ...not just an employee on the "Love Boat"...but exciting and new.....

Monday, August 20, 2012

Another shot

I was trying to add this picture this morning because it is deep and dark in all the right spots.

Warm and stormy

This was the beginning of last night's storm.  Last three or four evenings have been electrifying so to speak.  I was sitting out back with my friend Suzanne and the clouds were rolling around the area on Saturday.  A few stray rain drops and we were still enjoying the pool and the sun.  Then in the distance over the ocean we saw a huge lightning bolt go from approximately the height of these clouds pictured above and hit the ocean.  Figuring if we could see the storm the lightning could certainly find us next to the large body of water and the tall telephone pole in the corner of the yard we headed inside. 

First day of school around here so the highways were fairly deserted but the McDonalds full as moms ready their kids to fall asleep in school. 

Thursday, August 16, 2012

The Heat is On

With the warm waters off shore and the blazing days of August the evenings aren't dropping below 80 degrees at night.  It means I take many walks to feed the local state bird (mosquito naturally) and hope to get a cooling breeze to break up the sweat.  The sky gets my attention all the time because of the layers of clouds and different types of clouds.  I tried to snap a picture of dog shaped clouds on way into work this morning but haven't uploaded them yet to see how they turned out.

I did get some more words in yesterday.  I want to write all weekend and am hoping for some weather to keep the visitors down.  It never seems to work that way.  The weekends that are supposed to be rained out end up gorgeous and I have friends visiting and enjoy the pool.  The weekends I have predictions of zero chance of rain end up being gully washers (old western movies talked about them when the rains would slosh down the sides of the sandstone canyons and cause the 'crick' to rise and threaten the town).

*crosses fingers for rain*

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Middle of August already???

This time flying stuff is really getting pretty ridiculous.  I mean wasn't I just whining about it being June or something?  I've been writing in smatterings but definitely not enough to keep the vampires and werewolves at bay.  The nightmare landscape has gone supernova and I know that means I need to write more.  It just seems like there keeps being real life obstacles that are time consuming at best and horrific on average.  The ripples are still bouncing out from my Director's passing.  He'd kept far more in secret than the higher ups ever knew.  My new departmental supervisor simply rubber stamps her emails right to me to handle.  At times I can but other times way above my pay grade.  The result is come lunch time - the hour I usually get to empty my mind and write - I am growling in all the wrong places.

My folks naturally want me to find a job out their way again.  That doesn't make psycho ex disappear so I don't see myself opening that door up any time soon.  My uncle's death hit my mom pretty hard even though he'd had been mentally gone for so long.  Alzheimer's is not a glamorous death on any level.  It robs a family of a loved one long before the body gives out.  My dad did dig up a lot of pictures and the cousins used them in the memories of my uncle.  I pointed out to my dad that the heatwave out their way was worse than here because here there is a/c and no power outtages. 

Well time to work.  Hope you all have a great day.

Friday, August 10, 2012

August hot and steamy

It poured rain on and off today.  More expected this evening with thunderstorms.  Naturally I want to get pictures of the lightning but at the same time I have a healthy respect for electricity. 

Not writing nearly enough.  My tale is eating into my brain and my nightmares have definitely taken on a bizzaro-land turn or three.  One where I watched from the sidelines as an evil woman slipped her body into a tub of what seemed to be water in order to escape the consequences of something (sort of like a Criminal Minds episode feeling) and the male cop figure reached down into the liquid to grasp her as her face begins to slough off and her skin melts away while she is gargling and cackling pulling him into the apparent acid.  I said something in the dream like, "Why wasn't she screaming in pain?"

Then I snap away with bad leg cramp.  Yeah, I drank water immediately. 

Another twist and turn has a creature from the pond near my work coming up from the water wanting to snack on me.  And NOT in a good way.

If it really does rain like promise all weekend I need to get more words out. 

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Dog days of summer



Sadly I didn't get a shot of the clouds yesterday morning.  They literally looked like two dog heads with their noses touching.  Heralding the 'Dog days of summer' I figure.  High 90s with 'feels like' 104 temperatures.  Thank goodness I work in a building with a/c and have a/c at home.  That truly is appreciated.  Storms roll in every afternoon and early evening.  Some drop tremendous amounts of water while others just menace and dance with electricity.  Last night's offering had a prism on the top with a rainbow like appearance.  Twas cool.  Then the layered sunset an hour later. 
It's supposed to rain all weekend as the corner of a tropical depression forms.  I hope so.  I need the writing time!