It Do Pile Up

Today has been one of those days! In the background are the horrendous winds howling through the pass and into the desert. I'm on the leading edge of the force, so feel it more than people who live farther east. I hate the wind and don't enjoy the pounding that comes with it, nor the dirt that creeps into every nook and cranny in the house. This storm came with just enough moisture to get all the cars parked outside spotted, but not clean, which means I have to remember to clean the windows on the truck before I leave for work tomorrow.

Then, while doing up the dishes from b'fast, I smelled ... mold, one of the things that sends my asthma into over-drive. I looked here and there and found it under the sink. The leak I dealt with about 6-8 months ago is back, filling the dish pan I keep under the sink just in case I have another leak. I don't know which of the pipes is leaking, but the dishpan was half-filled with gross, disgusting sludge from somewhere. I cleaned up that mess, put another pan under the sink, left all the sink stuff out on the floor, and will call the plumber tomorrow to see what's next. I do know that the flooring has to be removed and replaced as that's the breeding ground for the mold, and I cannot live anywhere that has mold.

In the middle of that project, the power went out and stayed out for about an hour, courtesy of the winds. Because this is the desert, power poles stand in sand, which erodes away from the poles, making them more susceptible to blowing in the wind. Once they wiggle loose from the initial installation, the high winds literally blow the poles down and we go without power. If this were my area of expertise, I'd find another way to provide power in the desert, but I've lived in the desert for about 40 years, and all the poles are installed in the sand. Perhaps it's more cost efficient to upright a downed pole than it is to replace the thousands of poles already in the sand?

I have yet another computer issue, with USB ports that don't work with modern tech, something involving 1.0 and 2.0 USB user items, and have to figure out how to do the fix my son described to me in an email. I was going to go out today and find what I need, but decided to stay put until the winds die down.

Wonder how the Parabas tennis tourney is doing with all this wind? The Gardens is a wonderful tennis venue, but if play is on the satellite courts, the wind can be a huge problem. When play is in the main arena, the wind can be an issue. Again, if it were I who built a tennis venue in the desert, I would have included some sort of top on the main stadium for inclement weather, even though most people new to the desert don't believe that it ever rains, snows, or gets more than a bit breezy.

My alarm kicked off during the power outage, so I've replaced the batteries and talked to the nice rep about what to do next. She said the system will reboot, but if it has not done so by the time I'm retiring for the night, give them a call and they'll walk me through it. Once again, in my world, I'd do that process well before I'm dead tired and heading for bed, but it's their system/their terms.

Time to go fold the last load of laundry and think about lesson plans for the week. It's nice to have something that takes me out of the house because without having to leave to teach classes, I'm just as comfortable staying inside, especially when the damned winds are blowing -- again!!

UPDATING: In the 3 hours since I posted this message, the winds have begun to settle down a bit, but not before shaking my house repeatedly, as if in a tornado. The power continues to flicker, which means I probably should not have booted up, but I've finished 2 of the 3 books I'm currently reading and needed a break.