Maybe you’ve noticed on the news that the Pacific NW is dealing with some pretty hot weather. So hot, as a matter of fact, that Portland, Oregon was the hottest city in the world for a little while. Really. That’s true. As for those of us who live a bit north of Portland, the temperature was even warmer. Diane told me that it was 117 in the shade at home. Finding that hard to believe, I took a picture of the thermometer on our little shed and it actually looks like it’s between 117 and 118. What do you think?

This was in the shade.

That was yesterday. Today is a completely different story as the marine air from the west is pushing the hot stuff away from us.

Not knowing we were going to be roasted we drove the motorhome to the Bremerton, WA Elks Lodge (1181) for the week. It was just as hot there as anywhere else within a 600-700 miles radius. That’s a guess, but I suspect it’s not far off. It was hot. Hotter than any time in recorded history for many locations, Portland included. We persevered, however, and enjoyed our visit with the Winnebago People (CarolAnn, Terry, Sofie, Les, Susie, Cliff, John, & Susan). They all, in pairs, drive Winnebagos and we’re included in the group because we used to drive one for a while. We’re all fairly old and have a lot of fun just sitting around talking. Being fairly old, that’s what we do best.

One of the benefits of being fairly old is that we cumulatively have a stunning variety of skills that have been honed to a fine edge of the centuries. You name it and it’s a rare event if one of us can’t figure out hot to do it. My skills are minimal, limited to administrative stuff like alphabitizing things, typing, and computer related things. Those suit me best because I can do them sitting down. All the other guys are sources of knowledge for anything mechanical which is really handy when traveling in the complicated rigs we drive.

We drove home yesterday, in the heat of the day, the hottest one for this heat-stroke episode. Traveling on such a day seemed appropriate. Diane and I were looking forward to getting home to a functioning A/C. The ones in our rig didn’t seem to be coping with the extreme heat as well as we’d’ve liked. We found that laying on our respective couches, remaining very still, watching silly movies, made the heat tolerable, so that’s what we did most.

We made it home safely to discover the A/C thermostat set to 68 while the inside temperature was hanging around 80+. We suspect the difficulty for our A/C is that our home is brick and all that absorbed heat was just too much for the upstairs. It was just fine in the basement but it was actually cold down there so we we just toughed it out by reclining in our respective chairs while watching silly TV shows. This morning, as previously mentioned, was a tremendous change with cool air in the high 60’s. Then the sun came out.

It was hot again, but not too hot to accomplish some needed work. It was all in the shade so Diane let me work on it. First was the sprinkler manifold I made for our in ground sprinkler system. One of the lines developed a serious leak on the input to it’s timer, so I turned it off before leaving on our adventure. It had to be fixed but, first, I had to get access to the unit without being mauled by the encroaching Rhododendron.

In order to gain free access to the sprinkler manifold, I cashed in on Diane’s desire to reduce the impact our rhododendrons have on the sidewalk leading to our front door. They looked really nice when they were smaller but have grown to be a menace.

So, she said I could trim them. Which I did … right down to parade rest.

The side behind me looked similar but shows more of the devastation I created with my little chainsaw. I don’t get to use it very often so it was fun.

Then I stuffed both of them in my trailer and hauled them to the burn pile which won’t be used until the fall so everything should be nice ande dry by then.

To fix the manifold I removed the ACE timers from their respective lines and set them aside. You can actually see that in the first photo, but I failed to take one before their removal which ruined my ability to capture a true chronological photo journey for you and I’m sorry about that. The next photo puts us back on track.

This one shows a better view of the manifold and the four zones. You can see that I’ve attached a garden hose to ZONE 2 which is the one about which Diane was most concerned. It’s for the plants and bushes next to the house. Removing the two Rhoddies will reduce the amount of water needed to ensure everything gets a good drink.

I haven’t figured out what’s actually broken, but the water was coming out of the supply side (next to the house) of Zone 1. Now that I look at this, I’ll have to go outside in the heat, once more, to find out what the problem is even though I already have a solution. I can fix it with four short hoses and three hose splitters.

Or, I can just build a new supply side. Yes! That’s what I’ll do. It’s been a few days since I’ve been to ACE and the last 2 times I didn’t have a valid reason for the trip which made Diane a little suspicious. She knows “stuff” so I have to be careful.

Wish me luck.

Normally I’m a happy guy. Just ask my wife. She’ll tell you that I’m happy pretty much all the time, but not today.

Now, I’m not overly unhappy right now, just a tad bit frustrated with CenturyLink. Have you heard of them? I have no idea how far their tentacles stretch, but they are certainly here in the Great NW.

My frustration is caused by their willingness to schedule an install appointment for a reasonable time, then not show up with no explanation. The arrival time for the tech was pushed out about every half hour giving me hope that at some point someone would show up. I spent most of my day watching this happen until the arrival time was pushed beyond their 5 pm limit.

Nice.

The only way to share my frustration with them is by texting someone who can’t share a reason for the delay. I’m sure they don’t know the reason, but they also don’t seem inclined to bring it to the attention of someone who can.

Here’s my last chat session:

Shadab S (6/19/2021, 2:50:18 PM): All technical support chats may be recorded for quality assurance and training purposes. Thank you for contacting CenturyLink.

You are speaking with Shadab, please give me a moment to review the information you provided.
Shadab S (6/19/2021, 2:50:20 PM): Hi, Thank you for contacting Century link, While I am pulling your account, please provide your Alternate call back number.
Jerrie (6/19/2021, 2:51:00 PM): ***REDACTED – they always ask for this, but never use it***
Shadab S (6/19/2021, 2:51:03 PM): Thank you for the confirmation. Please help me with your billing address and Email ID.
Jerrie (6/19/2021, 2:51:37 PM): ***REDACTED BY Jerrie***
Shadab S (6/19/2021, 2:51:52 PM): Thank you for the confirmation.
Shadab S (6/19/2021, 2:51:58 PM): Could you please help me what is the issue you are facing?
Jerrie (6/19/2021, 2:54:52 PM): A CenturyLink tech was scheduled to do work at the house this morning beginning around 9:30. The time was moved out about every 15 minutes until it was finally scheduled for 5:15pm to 7:15 pm. Apparently there is something wrong with the install but that info wasn’t shared and I have no way to contact the tech. I don’t even know if a tech was ever assigned.
Shadab S (6/19/2021, 2:54:53 PM): ARe we connected? ***Shadab was on the verge of disconnecting me***
Shadab S (6/19/2021, 2:55:37 PM): A i chcked there 2 ticketbin your account the tech will be visiting on21 st June for both the ticket.
Jerrie (6/19/2021, 2:55:46 PM): I’m a bit frustrated from spending a large part of my day waiting for someone to show up and no one had the courtesy to call me and let me know what is going on.
Jerrie (6/19/2021, 2:56:49 PM): I rescheduled today’s visit to the 21st because it was evident no one as going to show up today.
Shadab S (6/19/2021, 2:56:57 PM): I apologies for th eissue you are facing with
Shadab S (6/19/2021, 2:57:22 PM): Please till monday the Tech will visit and help you your issue,
Jerrie (6/19/2021, 2:57:35 PM): I’m wondering if I’ll be blessed with the same kind of service on Monday the 21st.
Jerrie (6/19/2021, 2:58:13 PM): I would like someone to tell me NOW what the hold up is.
Shadab S (6/19/2021, 2:58:26 PM): the tech will edefinetly visit on momda and help you with issue.
Jerrie (6/19/2021, 2:58:53 PM): Why didn’t he visit me today during his scheduled visit?
Jerrie (6/19/2021, 2:59:38 PM): It would have been a kind thing to do.
Shadab S (6/19/2021, 2:59:46 PM): I apologies fo th eissue you are faing with
Jerrie (6/19/2021, 2:59:54 PM): Not your fault.
Shadab S (6/19/2021, 3:00:02 PM): Ther tech will be visiting on both the cfor monday.ases
Jerrie (6/19/2021, 3:01:03 PM): Your link didn’t work. This is a scheduling problem and I’d like to communicate with that department.
Shadab S (6/19/2021, 3:01:13 PM): I asorry for the inconvenicne
Shadab S (6/19/2021, 3:01:23 PM): Thank you for Contacting Century link, Have a Nice day.
Jerrie (6/19/2021, 3:01:44 PM): Seriously! You just blew me off. Wonderful customer service.

Anyone else find themselves having fun this way?

Thanks for listening. I feel better now.

It has come to my attention, from an unknown source, that the use of solar energy has vastly exceeded expectations reported by the Solar Energy Expert Panel (SEEP). This group is composed of seven scientific solar experts from the enormous high desert surrounding Burns, Oregon. It’s rumored that they meet in an abandoned farm house located in the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge a little east of Mud Lake in Oregon, which is just a tad south of Burns. The confusion about the location is related to the similarity of the village names (Bern vs. Burns) and the fact that this author has absolutely no idea about that which he writes. Truly, it’s not relevant anyway. So, lets say it’s Burns, Oregon, just for fun.

The end result is that solar energy will be in short supply by the end of 2021, and totally unavailable by 2025.

Warn your neighbors.