Never-the-less it was a great Fourth of July. We celebrated in a "quiet" way and with the TV volume up just a bit higher to mask the sounds of fireworks for Dino's sake. Actually Dino hardly made any indication that he was worried about the concussions we were hearing he just glanced around a bit and then back to some serious chewing.
We have not attended any firework displays in several years due to the dogs that we have had. So we watch some of the ones on TV, which leaves something to be desired. Though we have to say there were a couple displays that we were glad not to have been in attendance . . .
What a Difference a
While writing the post last week I mentioned that it seemed like the a/c was being over-worked and that it was not producing "cool", boy were we right about that. A quick evaluation of the a/c system revealed that the compressor was not on and the normally loud turning fan was not moving.
At the suggestion of our good contractor -- Rich Ryan -- we purchased new fuses for the unit just before the hardware store closed in town but unfortunately that did not start the fan, though we could hear the signal being sent to the unit.
So what to do? This was the worst heat wave in two years and it was the beginning of the weekend, just like during the coldest part of last winter when our heat went out, now the cold air would be out. The rest of last Saturday was miserable except for the time spent in the pool -- which really helped us to cool off.
During the heatless cold spell for three days when we used room heating units (and blew fuses too) now we had every available fan up and running and all the windows open for "movement" of air but it was just too hot. Each weekend day was over 100° and we just tried to ignore it as much as possible.
Monday we did get lucky (again through the advice of our contractor) and got excellent repair service and the a/c was up and running again by early afternoon -- however, the house was too hot to ever feel cool again until the next day. So for three of the hottest days of the year we were without a/c -- just like in the days growing up when we never had any a/c in the house or the car. I specifically remember the very hot Sundays when we were in church with 90% of the people fanning with cardboard fans . . . and usually I wasn't one of the 90% . . . I had to rely on the second-hand breezes from those around me.
So Two Factors for Cooling
The first factor was the a/c back on so in our way of thinking just stay inside. We had no reason to have to go out and we did not -- except to get the mail, the paper, to take Dino out and things like that. The other factor was the weather itself -- one early morning, I think Thursday or Friday clouds were spotted for the first time in a week which meant probably a marine layer in the morning and a cooler rest of the day.
And so it came to be, a 20° reduction in temperatures or more -- what a relief, though we are still inside with the a/c on because 80° is still uncomfortable in the house. We have used the pool more though too. The water temperature feels "chilly" at first, but you get used to it fast. During the heatwave Dino was pretty lethargic and spread out flat on any available cool surface usually in front of a fan.
What's Happening in the Tree? (5°)
Due to the holiday week there was not a webinar -- so I was left to my own devices. Ancestry.com has a wonderful feature of "hints" they put on to your tree in the form of shaking leaves. Since I have 16 trees on Ancestry.com (15 I have started and do maintenance on for others) I decided I would work on all trees this week is some fashion or another -- mostly on determining at least on one hint or shaking leaf the value of it's recommendation.
I did just that and concentrated on the "photo" hints mostly because they are the most fun and rewarding for me anyway. I went down my list of trees alphabetically and for the way out there trees, I stuck to my goal of working one hint. But for the closer trees I worked more than one hint and especially if the hints bore fruit -- meaning they produced more hints.
The "HILES" tree alphabetically is #12 out of 16, so it was slow to get there -- but there were a ton of "photo" hints not all of which meant a picture of a person. A lot of the photo hints are of documents and more still are of gravestones -- but occasionally I get lucky -- and this week I did:
Click on the above for more detail . . .
I came across a site that had a picture of one of our ancestors -- way back -- I don't have many pictures from her generation and not that many who are close relatives. This lady, Margaret Ann Householder is my -- our, Great Great Grand Aunt. She married our Great Great Grandfather's brother. Obviously she was privy to so much information that I seek.
She came from a family of ten or more and she had ten or more children along with John Hiles III. I would love to find a picture of any of her siblings, especially Daniel Hiles our Great Great Grandfather. I am sure that someone has that photo along with others from our line and hopefully one of the "shaking leaves" from Ancestry will be those.
Another "Pool" Event
Back to the everyday experience -- we are lucky to have the pool for ourselves and for the "kids" in our tree who visit. This time a Grand Niece, Audrey along with her cousin Olivia, another of our Grand Nieces. They enjoyed the pool for the afternoon and we enjoyed having them as well.
Dino as well loves having folks over playing in the pool and one of these days he might just join them -- so far he keeps his distance from the edge unless there are treats involved -- we can all understand that.
Happy Birthday for Some From the Tree
Today was/is a popular day for birth -- nine folks from our tree were born on this day, of course various years. Each of these are available for further inspection on the HILES site most with photos, documents and other facts:
Please check out the details of where they fit into the tree and ask any questions that you may have.
Sadly While Writing This -- "Breaking News"
While writing this post I was informed that SFO had a major disaster. Having flown into SFO many many times I always loved the arrival into the airport. Coming into the airport usually meant returning home and before I moved here, the start of a visit or vacation.
Today though it was a horrific arrival for a plane from Seoul, South Korea. The arriving plane for whatever reason did not clear the beginning of the runway just after cruising over the water, it hit the abutment at the start of the runway with the tail breaking off and the Boeing 777 skidding down the runway -- not everyone got off safely. (Bruce, if you are watching, what is your assessment since you were part of airport safety for many years . . .)
The coming days will give us more of the details -- we can only hope that no more folks are lost . . .
Signage Language
This week I received a picture that was taken of someone from our tree while on a trip. It was a picture in front of a sign -- see for yourself:
When I saw the sign -- I could hardly believe my eyes. I personally have never been to this point geographically speaking -- but I am certain that something needs correcting . . . or is that a "southern" way of spelling.
I actually feel bad about this segment in that I "googled" this geographical spot and the signs that came up did show the correct spelling -- so, either they fixed it recently or the picture that I got had been tampered with or there are more than one sign for this geographical point . . . who knows -- but I found a nice new site to check on word issues: www.wordhippo.com
So that was part of our strange week -- I hope your week was well -- see you in a few! Burger night!
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