Fourth of July

As is the tradition here in the lovely Chateau CycleDog, where we have either an illness, injury, or plumbing disaster on major holidays, today we had something similar to a plumbing disaster when we discovered that the air conditioner quit. The fan was on constantly, but very little air came out of the ducts. It was only about nine hundred and forty degrees outside with a relative humidity that allowed fish to roost in our oak tree out front. No problem.

Naturally, Number One Daughter thought this would be a good time to do some baking. She made a layer cake, and it's yummy! She may be insane, but she sure can bake.

At mid-afternoon, we opened all the windows because it was actually cooler outside than it was inside. I called a friend in the heating and air conditioning business. He said the freon in the air conditioner was probably low, and that allowed the A-unit above the heater to freeze solid with ice. It would take overnight to thaw, so leaving the air conditioner off was the only solution. Tomorrow he's coming by to check the unit.

I'm sitting here in front of a fan wearing only my shorts - and no, not merely my boxers. A man has to have some dignity, even me. I've been drinking water almost constantly. If I don't move around much this isn't bad, but the laptop is kinda warm. I'm glad the AC didn't fail later in the summer when it's really hot.

(Photo "Dante's Gates of Hell" from Stuck in Customs on Flickr. I saw many that were similar, but the red in this one really sets it aside from the rest.)