Oh the joy…

[gearhead]

Yesterday mid day I ran a couple errands around town then decided to “make my rounds” of my boat ramps on the bay and bayous. What I do when I’m really bored. So I just cleared the Liberty city limit sign on FM 563 and the truck slows down like I just turned the cruise control off. Then the engine died. Two lane road and a 55MPH speed limit. Navy vocabulary kicked in. I tried starting it and it cranked and I rolled another 30 ft. Where it died again. Cranked it and rolled into a wide driveway into a ranch. At least I was off the highway. The yellow check engine light was on. I had just gotten my heart rate down when a truck pulling a trailer is wanting in the driveway. There was just enough room for him to get by me. It was starting to get hot. Then another truck shows up. I call my small town Ram dealer. Hey Chris I’m at 71,000 miles, am I out of warranty? No, you have the extended warranty until 100,000. What’s happening? He gave me the 800 number for the warranty and towing and the number for the dealers tow service. I spent 20 minutes on the phone with the warranty rep, who had to repeat everything she said because I couldn’t understand her, then she texts me a form to fill out. I’m out in the open with full sun. Between my eye surgery and the glare I struggled. Called DW Betty…I need you to come here so I can sit in your cars A/C, I’m dying out here. Decided to abandon the warranty woman and call the dealers tow truck. Hi Hon, what you need? She had a truck on the way from 25 miles immediately. I put the keys on the console and went home.
The dealer called this morning. The lift pump in the tank failed. With the extended warranty deductible and the tow costs, it will be $360. The part is in Dallas, we will get it here tomorrow morning. Should be ready tomorrow afternoon.

[wiredgeorge]

Remember the first Texians didn't have A/C. One of those guys been with you, they would have put your truck in neutral and pushed you out of the guys drive and turned around and run home. Heck, I wonder how they lived in Texas before A/C? Tougher than me anyway.

[gearhead]

Originally Posted by wiredgeorge

Remember the first Texians didn't have A/C. One of those guys been with you, they would have put your truck in neutral and pushed you out of the guys drive and turned around and run home. Heck, I wonder how they lived in Texas before A/C? Tougher than me anyway.

I don't know how they did it. My Dad always wore long sleeved khaki shirts, long khaki pants, work boots, and a straw hat. Drove a 53 Chevy truck with no A/C. I'm dying in shorts, polyester t shirt, and Hey Dude shoes.
He frequently got caught in a traffic jam at the bottom of the Washburn tunnel under the Houston Ship Channel.
I used to be better when I was "on my tools", but an office job ruined me I guess.
Son went to the pine plantation in Mauriceville to spray weeds last weekend. Said he was about to get sick. Got home drank 4 beers and took a nap on the floor.
I think the really old folks had enough sense to do their field work very early and very late.

[notanlines]

I believe Betty is ‘Da Man!!’
Better treat her good and keep her a long, long time!

[wiredgeorge]

This summer it has been hard to get any outside work done. Forecast for the rest of summer appears to be 103F with zero chance of rain. We are under a red flag watch as the south breeze with no humidity makes a spark dangerous. Doesn't seem to be any storms over the Atlantic this year either; we usually get some relief from some rains from those tropical storms.

[chuckster57]

Originally Posted by wiredgeorge

This summer it has been hard to get any outside work done. Forecast for the rest of summer appears to be 103F with zero chance of rain. We are under a red flag watch as the south breeze with no humidity makes a spark dangerous. Doesn't seem to be any storms over the Atlantic this year either; we usually get some relief from some rains from those tropical storms.

Sounds like what we had for 4 years. One of our large lakes was about to go low enough that wouldnt be able to generate any power for all those mandated EV’s.

[gearhead]

Originally Posted by notanlines

I believe Betty is ‘Da Man!!’
Better treat her good and keep her a long, long time!

You got that right.

[gearhead]

Originally Posted by chuckster57

Sounds like what we had for 4 years. One of our large lakes was about to go low enough that would be able to generate any power for all those mandated EV’s.

Same forecast for the Houston area. 80-103.
The bayou and swamp behind the house are dried up.
We had a good fire on the hunting club...a 500 acre cut over.
I dont remember it being this dry.

[gearhead]

Originally Posted by wiredgeorge

This summer it has been hard to get any outside work done. Forecast for the rest of summer appears to be 103F with zero chance of rain. We are under a red flag watch as the south breeze with no humidity makes a spark dangerous. Doesn't seem to be any storms over the Atlantic this year either; we usually get some relief from some rains from those tropical storms.

Yep, I've got a young couple supposed to come over today to clean out my gutters. It's 50/50 if they show.
My hunting club has banned any bush hogging until further notice. Had our annual pre-season meeting recently. One member had a air conditioned crew cab UTV.
I really don't want to see my water bill. I've been running the sprinkler system 3 times a week.
I think we have a 10 chance of rain next weekend. Which means 0%.
I bet the upper end of Trinity Bay has some decent salinity, if you are crazy enough to go fishing in this heat.

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by gearhead

Yep, I've got a young couple supposed to come over today to clean out my gutters. It's 50/50 if they show.
My hunting club has banned any bush hogging until further notice. Had our annual pre-season meeting recently. One member had a air conditioned crew cab UTV.
I really don't want to see my water bill. I've been running the sprinkler system 3 times a week.
I think we have a 10 chance of rain next weekend. Which means 0%.
I bet the upper end of Trinity Bay has some decent salinity, if you are crazy enough to go fishing in this heat.

I've extended the run times on all my watering systems and running them 6 days a week. Don't run them on the 7th because that's when the lawn/garden people come. I do the bills, they're all auto pay and I do not look at the water bills. It's been hotter but it's been a long time. It's been drier (last year) so it's one of those grin and bear it things. At least I'm not working out in it! And I did put a new airconditioner out in my shop....now it will probably cool off.

[gearhead]

Originally Posted by sourdough

I've extended the run times on all my watering systems and running them 6 days a week. Don't run them on the 7th because that's when the lawn/garden people come. I do the bills, they're all auto pay and I do not look at the water bills. It's been hotter but it's been a long time. It's been drier (last year) so it's one of those grin and bear it things. At least I'm not working out in it! And I did put a new airconditioner out in my shop....now it will probably cool off.

Yep, I doubled my run times. I might have to increase my frequency. Neither of my next door neighbors take care of their yards. They never water, so they are sponging up my moisture. I’m thinking about a mini split for the garage.
If it was up to me I would head for the country.

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by gearhead

Yep, I doubled my run times. I might have to increase my frequency. Neither of my next door neighbors take care of their yards. They never water, so they are sponging up my moisture. I’m thinking about a mini split for the garage.
If it was up to me I would head for the country.

I should be gone too. Puppy has cancer and is having a hard time after multiple surgeries so I'm stuck here in the summer for the first time in years. Didn't realize how many things I needed to be doing if I was here....I need to go so I don't think about them.

[jfk69]

Only thing I don’t understand. Why does anyone bother watering a lawn in the hottest and driest part of the year? I’ve never been able to wrap my head around that concept. Kind of like putting a golf course in the desert. Crazy.

[gearhead]

Originally Posted by jfk69

Only thing I don’t understand. Why does anyone bother watering a lawn in the hottest and driest part of the year? I’ve never been able to wrap my head around that concept. Kind of like putting a golf course in the desert. Crazy.

Let it die?
We don’t re-seed our lawns here. We have St Augustine grass that goes dormant in the winter and greens back up in spring.
I don’t think I want to risk it going completely dead and having to re-sod.
We’ve been running the A/C’s pretty hard. We have 2 units with 3 zones for 2900 sq ft. Just got our utility bills. Electricity, water, sewer and trash was $602.

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by jfk69

Only thing I don’t understand. Why does anyone bother watering a lawn in the hottest and driest part of the year? I’ve never been able to wrap my head around that concept. Kind of like putting a golf course in the desert. Crazy.

You have to water the lawn in summer or it will die. If it dies all you have is blowing sand where I live....and I don't like blowing sand but do like green grass. Also, when I walk outside in green grass it's cool, when I walk on dry sand it's very hot. Lots of golf courses in the desert too.

[jfk69]

Originally Posted by sourdough

You have to water the lawn in summer or it will die. If it dies all you have is blowing sand where I live....and I don't like blowing sand but do like green grass. Also, when I walk outside in green grass it's cool, when I walk on dry sand it's very hot. Lots of golf courses in the desert too.

Sure, ours will brown up and go dormant, but it comes back when it’s cooler and wetter. As long as it’s a native grass, it should be adapted to your climate. I suppose different strokes, different folks. Mine goes dormant I don’t care, it’s still there, it’s just brown and I don’t have to mow it, which is a win in my book. More time for things I enjoy. We’ll disagree on golf courses in the desert. Horrible waste of water trying to turn the desert into the Midwest.

[jfk69]

Originally Posted by gearhead

Let it die?
Just got our utility bills. Electricity, water, sewer and trash was $602.

Yeesh. Electric and trash pickup was $210 for July. We’re on well and septic so no energy/disposal costs there. Winter may suck at times up here, but I’ll take it in a heartbeat compared to that.

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by jfk69

Sure, ours will brown up and go dormant, but it comes back when it’s cooler and wetter. As long as it’s a native grass. Whatever, different strokes. Mine goes dormant I don’t care, it’s still there, it’s just brown and I don’t have to mow it, which is a win in my book. More time for things I enjoy. We’ll disagree on golf courses in the desert. Horrible waste of water trying to turn the desert into the Midwest.

We don't have to disagree on the golf courses....I don't golf any longer and always wondered why myself. We will all give it more thought as water gets more scarce. I don't mow simply because it does require someone to do it. When I first retired 17+ years ago I returned from whatever I was doing at least every 2 weeks and spent a couple of days mowing. One summer of that and we have lawn and tree people doing it so it is not a concern - and I don't come back except when I want to.

[jfk69]

Indeed. Water scarcity will be a driving factor more and more moving forward. I am thankful to live in a place where I’m surrounded by freshwater seas and probably 20% or so of our land is tiled to get rid of excess water. I can see a time where the “rust belt” is reinvigorated and populations move north. I read somewhere that at the current rate of warming, in about 100 years Sault St. Marie MI/Ontario will have the best year around climate. Kind of interesting given it’s latitude.

[gearhead]

Originally Posted by jfk69

Indeed. Water scarcity will be a driving factor more and more moving forward. I am thankful to live in a place where I’m surrounded by freshwater seas and probably 20% or so of our land is tiled to get rid of excess water. I can see a time where the “rust belt” is reinvigorated and populations move north. I read somewhere that at the current rate of warming, in about 100 years Sault St. Marie MI/Ontario will have the best year around climate. Kind of interesting given it’s latitude.

We are doing pretty good on water. My small town has 2 or 3 wells. Houston itself is using mostly surface water from Lake Livingston and Lake Houston. Chamber of Commerce types are talking up a new lake. Coastal Water Authority pulls water from the Trinity River above Liberty and pumps it to the Ship Channel for refineries and chemical plants.
It's all good.
I don't know about people moving north. I doubt it. Texas is experiencing explosive growth. I don't see that changing. Despite this summer the weather is usually agreeable and more importantly Texas is business friendly.
Like my old daddy said "nobody comes to Texas for the weather or the scenery, they come for one reason, a JOB".
I have deep roots here, I ain't going nowhere.