Women Don’t Sweat Part 2

Yes, it happened today…. you’d think I was telepathetic or something.  All five of us were comfortably riding home from church in the van with the air conditioning blowing freezingly in our faces when the “beep” warning sounded, signaling that we were low on gas.  So we pulled into Costco to fill up.  THAT’S when it happened.  The gas was poured, but when the key was again turned, the a/c silently laughed in our glistening faces.  I was secretly glad that my husband was in the van this time!  (Don’t tell him!)  He sort of chuckled when he heard that I had to drive for almost an hour last Thursday with no a/c.  

We flicked switches.  We turned knobs.  We turned off the car and restarted it… twice.  Nada.  As we were driving away from Costco, Rick resorted to slamming the dash board several times on the top as well as the side by my legs.  Slamming things with his fists has never fixed anything in the past, that I can recall, but who knows?  It could’ve worked this time, but no.

I began my tirade of all the things the mechanic had said… in mocking tones, of course.  “The fan is working just fine.”   “I didn’t do anything to it.”  “I turned on the van and it worked, even after I drove it around for a while.”  The thudding noise was my first clue that the fan wasn’t operating properly.  The lack of cold air blowing on my face was my second clue.  I’m no dumb bunny, even though the mechanic thinks otherwise.

As the perspiration beadlets were forming on my handsome husband’s face, I reached up and pushed the button to see the daily temperature.  Like I was prophetic or something in the last blog… it was 117 degrees!   We only had a 15 minute drive home, but my husband practically melted before our eyes.  (Think Wicked Witch of the West.)  I’ve only seen his top lip sweat after consuming blazing hot salsa, but today no blazing salsa was needed.  Sweat dripped down from his forehead past his cheeks and off his chin.  I rather enjoyed the show…. being that he took the mechanic’s word over mine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

“I’m melting!”

 

So tomorrow morning we are taking the van back to the mechanic who said nothing was wrong with the a/c fan. I’m driving our other car with air conditioning this time.    It is at least 90 degrees already at 9:00 in the morning!  muuhhuuhuuuhaaahahahahahah.  (Super hot weather brings out my mean streak!)

Women Don’t Sweat

It’s true.  We glisten.  We perspire.  We sparkle.  But we don’t sweat.

Well, I broke all the rules yesterday.  It was a mere 117 degrees and the fan stopped working for the dash air conditioning.  Ca-put.  The a/c in the back worked, but not well enough at 117 to keep the people in the front of the van cool.  Or even moderately comfortable.  It was a 20 minute drive to the mechanic.  Not fun.  A few people saw me sweat.  Even the fronts of my shins were glistening.  Ewwww.

Today the mechanic called and said the fan is working fine and he didn’t do anything to it.  It was not working fine yesterday.  In fact it made a loud thudding noise before it stopped blowing freezing air on my face.  I may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but I do know how to work my air conditioning… HELLO!  We live in Phoenix…. across the street from hell.  It’s hot here.

So we picked up the van tonight and since the sun was down and it was actually below 100 degrees, OF COURSE, the fan worked.  Yes, it was free of charge because the mechanic didn’t fix anything.  But am I going to be happy with him next time it’s 117 and the fan stops again?  NO!

Anyway, I’m happy the van is temporarily cool.  I pray we’re not transporting lots of people or traveling a long distance across the desert the next time the loud thudding occurs.

OH!  I’m so thankful for air conditioning.

Beauty in the Desert

Photography by ME.  Unusual for sure.  I usually lift them from Google images.

For the life of me, I cannot figure out why any covered wagon settlers stopped here in the Sonoran Desert.  It just doesn’t make sense.  There was no air conditioning then, let alone swimming pools.  And from my limited knowledge of that time and practices, I think they had to travel in the summertime….  which leads me to say, “What in the world could they have been thinking?” 

Was it a completely broken down wagon… and no trees in sight… that caused them to pause here?  Or was it a botanist discovering the flowering cacti that forced his wife and chillens to stay on the dry, cracked dirt?  Or someone from the Sahara Desert who finally felt at home with the mirages and heat stroke?

I don’t mind living here… in this day and age.  It’s quite comfortable as long as you stay inside and your A/C doesn’t go out. It did take a bit of getting used to.  My first summer here, 11 years ago, I jumped into my Dad’s ’66 Mustang without moving the metal seatbelt out of the way.  I had a burned-in, blistered horse tattoo on my backside for a long while.  But we have the necessary tools of survival… NOW.  I’ve seen women driving wearing oven mitts so they don’t have to touch the steering wheel.  We have spring loaded window shades that take an ambidextrous person to collapse.  Not to mention the safety glasses necessary whilst opening them.

Today, it’s a balmy 102.  Relatively mild for July.  If I remember right, it was 118 this week last year. And I like water.  Lots of water.  Camel amounts of water.  It makes me feel… wet and cool… bloated and waterlogged.  As long as I don’t have to do yard work from May – October… I’m good with living here.

www.bagsforzaza.blogspot.com  www.LindaCrosby.com

?#3 from My Sister’s Jar – Grateful List

List 10 things you are grateful for.  Write the first 10 that come to mind.

1.  My crock pot.  I got it for Christmas probably 15 years ago from Dad and Mom Crosby – but I have gone through use/non-use phases.  I’m in a use phase currently.  Dinners done by 9 a.m. and the house smells scrumptious.

2.  Air-conditioning.  Hello?  We live in the desert… in Phoenix… the only place hotter is hell.  The inventor of a/c has a statue in the capital building.  Right on!

3.  Elastic.  Think where we would be without it!?!  Everything we wear “under” includes it.  It has magical qualities… like making a size 24 body into an 18.

4.  Taco Bell.  Where else can you get all of your daily caloric needs met in one meal for only $3.69?  It’s quick… it’s cheap… they have diet Pepsi.. and it’s Mexican.  Aaaahhhhh.  (Dined there yesterday.)

5.  Books…. really good books that take me away from the here and now… to the 1850s in a covered wagon with 1/2 naked Indians visiting… baking biscuits over the campfire… sharing them with the Indians.

6. Sales Racks.  There is something satisfyingly triumphant about buying $82 pants for $12.27.  It’s almost like you cheated the big guys somehow…. sweet victory!

7.  Rick Coming Home Every Night.  I look forward to his arrival every day… starting at about 9:30 a.m.  I look to the clock every other hour ’til his keys plop on the entry table.

8.  Laughter.  It truly does make you feel good.  I love laughing and making others enjoy a belly laugh.  Jill is really good at those.

9.  This Journal w/52 prompts. I haven’t written freely in years.  No spell check.  No grammar boo-boos.  Just me and the pen and pages waiting for an adventure.

10. Flowers.  I simply love them.  Vibrant colors.  Soothing aromas.  I love fresh-cut flowers on my kitchen table.  It just sings “a Martha Stewart lives here”….  (which is a good thing.)