Not Tonight...

From an anonymous writer:

I never quite figured out why the sexual urge of men and women differ so much. And I never have figured out the whole Venus and Mars thing. I have never figured out why men think with their head and women with their heart.

FOR EXAMPLE: One evening last week, my girlfriend and I were getting into bed.

Well, the passion starts to heat up, and she eventually says "I don't feel like it, I just want you to hold me."

I said "WHAT??!! What was that?!"

So she says the words that every boyfriend on the planet dreads to hear... "You're just not in touch with my emotional needs as a woman enough for me to satisfy your physical needs as a man." She responded to my puzzled look by saying, "Can't you just love me for who I am and not what I do for you in the bedroom?"

Realizing that nothing was going to happen that night, I went to sleep.

The very next day I opted to take the day off of work to spend time with her. We went out to a nice lunch and then went shopping at a big, big unnamed department store. I walked around with her while she tried on several different very expensive outfits. She couldn't decide which one to take so I told her we'd just buy them all. She wanted new shoes to compliment her new clothes, so I said lets get a pair for each outfit. We went onto the jewelry department where she picked out a pair of diamond earrings. Let me tell you...she was so excited. She must have thought I was one wave short of a shipwreck. I started to think she was testing me because she asked for a tennis bracelet when she doesn't even know how to play tennis. I think I threw her for a loop when I said, "That's fine, honey." She was almost nearing sexual satisfaction from all of the excitement. Smiling with excited anticipation she finally said, "I think this is all dear, let's go to the cashier."

I could hardly contain myself when I blurted out, "No honey, I don't feel like it."

Her face just went completely blank as her jaw dropped with a baffled WHAT?"

I then said "honey! I just want you to HOLD this stuff for a while. You're just not in touch with my financial needs as a man enough for me to satisfy your shopping needs as a woman." And just when she had this look like she was going to kill me, I added, "Why can't you just love me for who I am and not for the things I buy you?"

Apparently I'm not having sex tonight either.

Fortress Update

Great progress again today, and a big milestone reached: the block walls are finished! Davy (the mason) and Alfredo started early this morning, just before 6:00 am – Davy wanted to take advantage of the cool morning air, and he certainly did that. But just a few hours later – by 11:00 am – I discovered that they had finished the wall and were cleaning up the work site.

Which leads to the not-so-good news: there was nothing more that Davy could do, because Ruben (my contractor) had not delivered the additional materials need (lumber for the forms and rebar for reinforcing the roof). I've been in contact with Ruben, and he swears he's trying to get it delivered today by borrowing a big truck (the lumber is 16' long and the rebar is 20' long – way too big for a pickup truck). If he fails, then it will be a couple of days or more for the supplier to get it out here, which means a delay. Damn! I'm not in a frame of mind to readily accept delays – the darned thing is finally underway, and I want it finished! No excuses!!!

Today was Alfredo's last day on the job, as tomorrow his school year begins. I'll miss his smiles, and his adult-level work ethic. Of the boys that I've met, he seems most like his father in his behavior (though certainly not in appearance)…

While talking with Davy today, I discovered that my estimates for the rebar were badly understated. I forgot to account for the ‘L’ shaped pieces needed to tie the vertical rebar pieces to the horizontal pieces on the roof, and there will be a lot of those – it adds up. Also, I forgot about overlaps (some of which are spec'd at 4 feet) and some other stuff. All in all, I underestimated by about 15%.

But that's better than Ruben did on the blocks. With the walls completely finished, we still have about 300 blocks left! I'm not quite sure how he managed to be off by that amount.

Oh, well. Blocks are a handy thing to have around the place. I'm sure there's something else we can use them for, one of these fine days…

Ahhhh...

This morning, as is our habit, we walked (with all three dogs!) a couple of miles up a small hill near our home. We haven't seen very much dense fog this year (mostly it has been below us), but this morning we were completely encased in thick, soupy fog.

I love walking in this weather – the sounds and smells of our chaparral environment are all amplified tremendously. We heard quail and rabbits (lots of rabbits!), and smelled the sages and other pungent desert plants. The dogs go a little bit crazy when the humidity is so high, as they can smell so much better. The fog was so dense today that large amounts were condensing on tree leaves and dripping down, leaving wet circles around every tree. At one point where a eucalyptus tree is overhanging a piece of pavement, there is a wet spot and a pleasant sound like a light rain. Just beautiful!

The graph above shows you our temperature (red, left scale) and humidity (green, right scale) for the past week. You can see that we've been on a cooling trend for the past few days, and the classic desert humidity “rail-to-rail” swings are in evidence. Though this morning it is 52°F and 100% relative humidity, in just a couple of hours it is likely to be about 85°F and under 5% relative humidity, with perfectly clear, blue skies.

Davy and Alfredo came to work just as we left for our walk, at about 5:45 am – much earlier than usual. When we got back, I talked with him and discovered that he knew all about the cool, damp morning and rushed out here early to take advantage of it. That's exactly what I do when I work outside in the summer – start early in the morning. But me, I stop when it gets hot – usually 10 or 11 am. Davy and his son will keep working until at least 4 pm, right through the heat…