Got our electricity bill for July - $513!!! Yikes.

Oh no, the east coast is suffering a heat index of 115F - call out the national guard, the world is ending. Out in Brawley, its been an actual 115F for a lot of the time, and will be again and stay that way before the summer is out. So do what we do, turn up the a/c, strip down to your undies, and lay in front of a fan.

P.S. Don’t tell me that its ok because it’s a “dry heat” :-)

The newspaper printed a final article on their Beat the Press competition this weekend. Our subscription ended so I don’t have a scan of the article at the moment. Bottom line is that a Mexican sports writer won the whole thing, and the top member of the public came third. I got the next best public showing, coming in joint fifth with a couple of other sports editors but since no one beat the press, the $100 goes unawarded.

2234Today’s paper has the headline that Sanders is leading the competition. Yes, by some miracle I am currently in first place in the newspaper’s Beat the Press competition, with 33 points. There is certainly no way I can win as the only points available to me are if Germany make the final, all other results get me nothing. Now, if its an Italy v Portugal final then maybe I could still win the $100… but its fun to see my name in the headlines out on top.

Some sad news from home in Brawley, Erin’s bird died today. I “inherited” Melanie when I moved into the house 4 years ago and although she was very much Erin’s pet I made sure she got fed, watered and some small amount of attention. I often referred to her as “the forgotten pet” as she’d just sit in her cage quietly most of the time being ignored. She’d come to life when Erin was around, talk and sqawk like crazy for her attention. We had a spell where I thought she was sick a couple of years ago but recently she seemed full of beans so I am quite surprised. She may not have provided the attention and affection that our dogs bring but she enriched our lives in her small way.