THE HEAT GOES ON!

I was not sure as to how the week was going to pan out.  I knew I had a couple of appointments, and had adjusted accordingly.  Attituded adjustments appeared to be the order of service!

After being alone at the pool on Saturday afternoon, I was not surprised to see it was busy on Sunday. As I entered the area, I saw that my chair was not exactly taken, but it was tightly squeezed between two others, which had upon them towels.  Whose towels were upon the chairs, I knew not, but ventured further down the stairs.  I had to concentrate very hard.  "This is not my pool.  That is not my chair", I was repeating to myself.  

"Hey Tracie! This is my first time down at the pool! Isn't it amazing!" My new neighbour seemed to be very excited about hosting a party, albeit very small, with about four guests, by my pool. I smiled back and waved.  "This is not my pool. That is not my chair", I kept repeating to myself.  Another neighbour came running up to me. "You can have this chair", she said, with a knowing smile on her face.  "I really need to learn to play well with others", said I!  She laughed, and told me that she and her husband, with their niece, had followed the 'small' party down the steps.  Her first thought was, "Tracie is not going to like this".  I laughed.  "Am I that bad?" I asked. "We are having family come to visit in a couple of weeks, and wanted to know your schedule, so we didn't upset it", said my neighbour's husband, with a wry grin.  "Please tell me that my face did not give away my thoughts", I asked the couple. Apparently, I was 'peace personified'.  It appears that theirs were not!  Their niece was oblivious to the chatter, and merely wanted a pair of goggles.  "I have a pair in my Mary Poppins bag" I said.  With the little girl delighted, I was asked, "Mary Poppins bag?"  I listed an array of items that comprise the bag I take to the pool, including the goggles, an umbrella, (Union Jack, of course,) lotion, bug spray, and a couple of other things that may come in handy!  

A little later, my sympathisers left, and another couple of neighbours came down.  We chatted for a while, and then I spotted a beetle in the depths of the pool.  It appeared to still be moving.  More for the reason of not wanting to tread on it, or even worse have it float up by my face whilst swimming, I decided that it needed to leave the water.  I encouraged it with the side of my foot to get to the edge, and then jumped out of the water.  In my bag was a 'cup' measuring spoon.  Actually, it was a 'two thirds cup' measuring spoon.  I jumped back in and scooped up the beetle.  Taking it from me, and depositing the creature on the grass, my neighbour said, "I have to ask?" She needed say no more.  I explained that I had been asked by her next door neighbour to water her indoor plants.  As I do not have a very good record with indoor plants, I had to confirm how much water they needed.  "About a third of a cup, she told me, so I took my measuring spoon".  Of course, laughter erupted, but that was only half of the story.  As her next door neighbour was out of town for longer than anticipated, Raul had turned off the main water line.  Now, as everyone knowns, savvy as I am with some electronics, others are of no interest to me.  I have a key for my front door, not a key pad!  As I have mentioned, getting into the house was a 'mission'!  When I got inside, I tried to turn the water on but to no avail.  I pulled at the tap, I spun, and twisted, but nothing.  I called Samantha, who has the same set up, but her advice did not fix the problem. I had no idea, at the time, that the water had been turned off.  So, I took my own water bottle!  Inside my Mary Poppins bag was that very water bottle.  I measure the water, into the cup, and give each plant and exact measurement! You could see from their faces the expression that came to mind.  "There is a fine line between genius and madman"!  Well, perhaps not the exact expression, but there was a comment of, "That's cool".  

Eventually, it was time for me to leave.  I left some new neighbours behind, and hoped they would put the chairs back to their original homes.  I went to water the plants, with my water and my cup!

The pool furniture had not been replaced, and Samantha and I moved it back first thing Monday morning, before our swim.  

Each day appeared to get hotter, and I was glad that I took the
opportunity to swim earlier, and later, rather than at midday.  My garden needed watering in the morning and evening, and I hoped that all the hard work would eventually bear more fruit than a couple of tomatoes and a pepper.  There were signs of hope!  

I swam early on Thursday, and thanked Raul for chopping up some bamboo sticks for me.  He had very kindly taken some of the better sticks and put them in my car port.  "Now I need some shorter sticks, please, to make a frame".  My daughter told him not to do it.  "She is very demanding!" she said.  Fortunately, he saw the humour!  

Immediately after getting to the office, I left to take the car.  The roads were quite clear, and it did not take long.  I exited the car at the same time as another customer, who appeared to have been sitting for a while.  I allowed him to go first, even though he suggested I go in before him.  We both looked out at the beautiful sports car that was in the showroom, and he mumbled, "Wouldn't mind driving one of those".  The service manager was asking if he had booked a 'loaner' vehicle.  He said he had not.  I piped up, "I have, and I will take that one, please".  The man whom I had let go first looked at me, at first in horror, and then laughed.  "I shall bring it back next Tuesday!" I said.  "My wife's picking me up!" he said, mournfully!  He finished completing his paperwork, and it was my turn.  I was ushered over to the 'loaner' car desk, and was offered one of two.  I had to think for a minute, but then it struck me what I was being offered.  No, it was not the beautiful sports car in the showroom, but the one that I was unsure about, and thankfully declined, was the model slightly smaller than mine.  The other was the model smaller than one of my dream cars! I was very excited!  High up, and powerful.  I am not a 'car' person, per se, and am happy in my 'old lady', but this was an opportunity not to be missed.  It was only because the car required 'recall' work did I tell Dana we may as well have it serviced at the dealership.  Surely it would not be much more expensive than our usual mechanic.  He agreed.  

I left the dealership feeling like a queen.  I have driven 'one down' from the top before, (of different models) and they have not been particularly impressive. This was different.  The 'top' model must be like driving on air! I drove as if I owned the road!  Pulling in, all eyes were on me, as I excited with my cafe mocha, and Kind Bar!  Oh yes, take advantage of the facilities!  We know how blessed we were finding our car with low mileage and at a great price, to begin with, and the first service showed there was nothing wrong with it!  We just got a great deal!

When we arrived home, the house appeared to be a little warmer than usual, and our thermostat was behaving a little erratically.  It kept telling me that I had not updated the time and date.  I decided to leave well alone, after all, I was the Queen, and had to drive my husband home in my, yes my carriage, as mine was the name on the documents! He didn't seem to mind!  I had called the dealership and they had been a little vague about if the work would be completed today.  I knew I should have taken the man up on his offer, and gone first!  Then again, I would not have had the opportunity of driving home in my new favourite vehicle.  I hid from the 'old lady', who did not seem to be perturbed at having a rather plush vehicle drive up next to her.  Breeding shows through, and of course, it is a car!

I took some pictures of my neighbours courtyard, and sent them to her, to show her how lovely her outdoor plants looked.  She replied almost immediately, and said she would be home at the weekend. I was delighted.  She had undergone some rather invasive surgery and we were all rather concerned.  However, this was a good sign!

Driving Dana to work was quite the change in routine.  He suggested that he take the mini, but I would not hear of it! He needed to be chauffeured! I needed to chauffeur!  I headed back home, watered the garden, and set about my business!  The thermostat was dead.  The screen was dark, and it appeared to be broken.  Samantha took a phone lead, and plugged it in.  Eureka!  However, it did not last long. I told Dana we needed to call someone.  Anyone!  It was very hot outside, and inside was getting rather warm!

I had to give up my crown around lunchtime.  The car was ready.  The service was not excessively expensive.  In fact, it was comparable to our usual mechanic, and I got all the 'extras'.  I took my daughter along for the ride.  We had been having problems with the boot (trunk) and when we arrived, I asked if they had managed to work it out.  My (yes, my) service manager said he would check. He clicked the remote as he was walking out, and up it popped.  "Did someone press the 'valet' button?"  he asked.  "The what", was said in unison.  "The 'valet' button", he repeated.  "What's that?" was said in unison!  He showed me a button in the glove compartment, that said, 'valet'.  "Perhaps?" I said, wondering if I had tried to force something into the glove compartment that would not fit, and accidentally hit the switch.  "Possible", he said when I asked.  "We had to take the whole seat apart, that was why the recall work took so long".  Seat? Seat? I had booked it in thinking there was a mechanical problem with the engine, and the whole thing was going to explode.  Well, of course I did!  It's me!!  The seat was now working properly.  Was it not before?  The 'valet' button obviously was!  Before leaving, Samantha and I helped ourselves to snacks and a drink.  We headed back to the office.  "You have left your hot chocolate cup in the car.  Where were you dragged up?" I shouted to her, as she walked inside.  "Hot chocolate?  Oh no.  I had a vanilla latte.  You are not the only one who is sophisticated!" she answered!  

After finishing up at work, we headed home, in our trusty wagon.  It was nice driving the other model, which was newer but not necessarily better.  I like being higher off the road, but Dana prefers the old fashioned saloon (sedan).  It was my turn to be chauffeured.  We entered the warm house.  The thermostat told me that the air conditioning system was not connected.  I began to panic.  

Friday night was very hot.  Fans cooled the air a bit, but not much. "We", I started, meaning "You", and continued, "Need to call someone!"  Of course, it was Saturday morning, and air conditioning companies had been running behind with their calls since the big freeze, when heating systems were all out of sorts.  This was peak season and they were very busy.   The first place he called, the people who fitted our new system a few years ago, said the earliest they could do was Friday.  A whole week.  Another company asked if we had ever had them come to our house before.  No?  Then no, not today.  Another company wanted to charge above and beyond the national debt, just to come and have a look.  Eventually, someone said, "We might have someone in your area who could quickly come and look".  Dana had actually found out what the problem was by the time they called back.  I had called the local DIY, got through to the 'pro desk' and spoke to someone who was definitely not 'pro'.  He was unsure as to what I was talking about when I asked whether the thermostat was battery operated, and if it could be the battery, and he would '"Have to ask Alan" as apparently, "he knows more than me"  Listening to the two of them 'hmm' and 'harr', did little for my confidence.  "Ooh, not sure" said Alan.  I thanked them for their time and said goodbye.  

Thankfully, the 'fix' was quite quick, and easy.  In fact, if we had brought the carpet cleaner, with the 'shop-vac' back from the office, we could have done it ourselves, but by the time I returned from shopping, it was fixed!  My house felt good!  My face cream started to solidify!  That hot?  Yes!  I could have poured the stuff on strawberries, and apart from tasting odd, it would have looked perfect!

I swam and read, and slept some by the pool.  I felt much better when the afternoon gardening took place. I strolled around the handkerchief, and took stock of my wares.  Everything seemed to be doing well, apart from the hanging basket of strawberries.  Steph had sent me pictures of her garden, and the strawberries were plump and red!  I was quite jealous and told her so!

Breakfast on Sunday morning was fun.  As I was cooking omelettes, I walked outside with my scissors, cut off a red pepper, then picked four cherry tomatoes.  After washing, pitting and cutting, I added them to the mix.  Farm to table in a few steps!  It was rather delicious!  

Next week is going to be very, very different.  I shall leave everyone in suspense, but it is going to be unusual.  I shall say no more at this present time, but wish everyone a happy rest of the weekend, and a good week, and shall return with ........... another story!