June 20 - geek dad and other stories ...

There was an article in Wired, the top 10 ways that you know that you're married to a Geek Dad. Luckily I only fit with numbers 2 and 8 ...

2. You never know when you’ll walk into the dining room to find the table covered with a computer broken down into all its component parts.

8. He spent more for his bicycles (and each of the kids’ bicycles) than for some of the cars you’ve owned.

Ouch on number 8. That probably puts Aaron in serious Geek territory ! I only got into serious bicycle geekdom after I started biking seriously and by then the kids were grown. I'm also somewhat guilty of leading David, Aaron and Jeffrey into computer geekdom ... only David successfully kicked that habit.

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OK -- something else -- I was just looking out the backyard and saw a snake climbing a palm tree. We have these short palms out the back (now that the invasive peppers are gone you can actually see them). The snake had climbed about 2 feet up one palm, which is pretty easy because the trunks are hairy with lots of projecting frond stubs, and it decided to cross over to another palm tree by slithering up the palm frond. It did so not in the intuitive way of wrapping itself around the stem of the frond, but by zig-zagging so that it's weight was distributed, most of the s-shaped body hanging over space ... quite interesting to watch. The snake was about 2 feet long, very thin and therefore light. A dark color, it's the equivalent of garter snakes up north, that is, harmless. It probably lunches on the small chameleons (actually they're not chameleons, Mike Davies knows the proper name for them, nor are they lizards, but they're everywhere).

It was probably a kodak moment, but I wasn't going to get close enough to it with the wide-angle lens that I brought down with me on this trip.

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It's hot. I briefly dipped my toes in the ocean yesterday and the surf was like soup. I'm sure that it would be cooler at waist-depth, but I was surprised at the warmth of the surf. The internet says 91F. The thermometer out front says 88F, but of course its external sensor is sitting on the widow ledge, moderated by the brick house in the shade. The car thermometers read triple digits ... reflections from the pavement. Thank goodness the churches are air conditioned. With global warming, the church in Port Loring will have to get an A/C unit soon :).

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The dryer ... works if you stand over it and press cancel and restart every once in a while, after it comes up with its error codes. Isn't that great. However, with this hot, humid, windless weather that's faster drying than hanging outside. Besides -- if they did dry outside they'd be stiff as boards, according to Sandy. At least this way they're fluffy.

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93F now ... supposed to be 97F tomorrow ... think that we'll leave !

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It's 5:19 ... eating my cereal and drinking my coffee. Abby has eaten and now she's nervous. She doesn't like it when we're packing.

The car is full but the last-minute stuff strewn around looks like another car-full. Sigh. What's new.

It looks like good driving weather -- at least no rain for today. That's good. Our plan is to be in Beckley WV tonight and to the cottage tomorrow night.

That's it ...