Texas Heat!

[Uncle Doug]

Life in Texas - gotta love it.

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Dear Diary,

I just moved to Texas! Really heating up. Got to 100 today. Not
a problem. Live in an air-conditioned home, drive an air-conditioned car.
What a pleasure to see the sun every day like this. I'm turning into a sun
worshipper.

June 30th:
Had the backyard landscaped with western plants today. Lots of cactus and
rocks. What a breeze to maintain. No more mowing the lawn for me. Another
scorcher today, but I love it here.

July 10th:
The temperature hasn't been below 100 all week. How do people get used to
this kind of heat? At least, it's kind of windy though. But getting used to
the heat is taking longer than I expected.

July 15th:
Fell asleep by the community pool. Got 3rd degree burns over 60% of my
body. Missed 3 days of work. What a dumb thing to do. I learned my lesson
though. Got to respect the ol' sun in a climate like this.

July 20th:
I missed Lomita (my cat) sneaking into the car when I left this morning. By
the time I got to the hot car at noon, Lomita had died and swollen up to
the size of a shopping bag, then popped like a water balloon. The car now
smells like Kibbles and S*its. I learned my lesson though. No more pets in
this heat. Good ol' Mr. Sun strikes again.

July 25th:
The wind sucks. It feels like a giant freaking blow dryer!! And it's hot as
h**l. The home air-conditioner is on the fritz and the AC repairman charged
$200 just to drive by and tell me he needed to order parts.

July 30th:
Been sleeping outside on the patio for 3 nights now, $225,000 house and I
can't even go inside. Lomita is the lucky one. Why did I ever come here?

Aug. 4th:
Its 115 degrees. Finally got the air-conditioner fixed today. It cost $500
and gets the temperature down to 85. I hate this stupid state.

Aug. 8th:
If another wise a** cracks, 'Hot enough for you today?' I'm going to
strangle him. D*** heat. By the time I get to work, the radiator is boiling
over, my clothes are soaking wet, and I smell like baked cat!!

Aug. 9th:
Tried to run some errands after work. Wore shorts, and when I sat on the
seats in the car, I thought my a** was on fire. My skin melted to the seat.
I lost 2 layers of flesh and all the hair on the back of my legs and
a** . . . Now my car smells like burnt hair, fried a**, and baked cat.

Aug 10th:
The weather report might as well be a d*** recording. Hot and sunny. Hot
and sunny. Hot and sunny. It's been too hot to do s*** for 2 d*** months and
the weatherman says it might really warm up next week. Doesn't it ever rain
in this d*** state? Water rationing will be next, so my $1700 worth of
cactus will just dry up and blow over. Even the cactus can't live in this
d*** heat.

Aug. 14th:
Welcome to H*LL! Temperature got to 115 today. Cactus' are dead. Forgot to
crack the window and blew the d*** windshield out of the car. The installer
came to fix it and guess what he asked me??? "Hot enough for you today?"
My sister had to spend $1,500 to bail me out of jail. Freaking Texas. What
kind of a sick demented idiot would want to live here?? Will write later to
let you know how the trial goes!

 

[Western]

:laughing::laughing::laughing:

Doug that was freak'n hilarious!!! I guarantee you you could have said that in a bar full of us Texans and everyone would have nodded their head and just said "got that right" or "know what ya mean"

 

[txdon]

We did a little 6 mile hike on the lighthouse trail in Palo Dura Canyon two weeks ago. The temp was 110. I knew it was getting bad when the water I was I was carrying tasted like very hot tap water and my ears under my hat were burning.

It has now gone up to 120 and is getting deadly.

A German exchange student died on that same trail yesterday.

German woman, found dead in Texas canyon | KETK

 

[tcreeley]

Love the journal!

 

[Bird]

Don, I was doing a little gas leakage survey in Amarillo in 1994 and our daughter and grandson came up to visit and we went to the 6:30 p.m. BBQ dinner and 8:30 p.m. "Texas" show at the Palo Duro Canyon on July 1, 1994. I don't know what the temperature was, but it was hot. We did finish eating just before a dust storm started, then we went and sat in the car awhile, then back to the amphitheater and a thunderstorm hit and we got soaked getting back to the car for a few minutes, then it quit and we went to the play. They gave us paper towels to dry our chairs. It wasn't a bad BBQ but certainly nothing special, however it was a very good play. I assume they still do that?

After I posted this, I looked up their website, so I assume you and Karen went to see the play? Hard to believe it was 17 years ago when we went. Three adult and one child ticket cost me $35 back then. Prices have gone up a bit since that time.:laughing:

 

[txdon]

Bird, we did see the (outdoors) play "Texas" in the canyon. With the special effects on the canyon walls it was quite a show. They used water and lights instead of fireworks at the end because of the burn ban. The temperature after the show at 11:00 PM was 95 degrees, no one seemed to mind, everyone knows it's just Texas in July.

A word of caution: On the lighthouse trail you need 1 gallon of water per person and cell phones do not pick up a signal.

You would never guess what I found at the light house rock formation in the canyon.

A wedding photo shoot.

 

[pacerron]

Just wanted to mention I picked up the tractor seat covers Jim suggested this morning. It was a snug fit on my 18" high seat back particularly since there is a spring box that controls the seat bounce behind the seat back.
I used it about 3 hours today and even though my derriere was not completely sweat free it was a 90% improvement over sitting on vinyl.

I got this Nelson impulse sprinkler and zinc weighted base made for W-mart
for $7. We'll give it a performance test soon since things are drying up again.
Summer is marching ahead too fast. The Locust trees are getting brown and the fall grasses are appearing in the pastures.

Jim.
Have you ever tried shading your tomato plants with some bird tree netting
or other thin fabric to keep them from becoming burned? The fruit ripens at night so shade will not slow that down.
Ron

 

[Bird]

Yep, Don, that play has been quite a show for many years. One reason we went to see it was because my mother had told us how much she enjoyed it a few years earlier.

But I don't have to worry about that lighthouse trail. I hate to get out in this heat long enough to mow the yard (which I need to do this afternoon), much less go for a walk like that trail.

 

[dave1949]

................ My garden (with the exception of the peppers) is starting to just give up. The plants cannot take up water fast enough in this heat and overwatering causes its own problems. It looks like the heat has beat me this year.

There are shade fabrics, sold in rolls, used to cover hoop houses and grow tunnels for helping to grow cool weather crops in the heat of summer. I don't know how well they would work, but it might help in your situation.
Shade Material, Shade Cloth, Protect Plants from Heat, Protect Plants from the Elements, Prevent Sun Scorch, Shade Systems, Backyard Shade House, Commercial Shade House, Clearspan Screen House, Reflective Shading, Plant Shade, Garden Shade - Growers
Dave.

 

[Western]

We did a little 6 mile hike on the lighthouse trail in Palo Dura Canyon two weeks ago. The temp was 110. I knew it was getting bad when the water I was I was carrying tasted like very hot tap water and my ears under my hat were burning.

It has now gone up to 120 and is getting deadly.

A German exchange student died on that same trail yesterday.

German woman, found dead in Texas canyon | KETK

My wife and I have been wanting to go to Palo Dura for some time now. Myself mostly because of the history with Comanches in the canyon. I hadn't heard of a "show" there, that is a bonus. Is the lighthouse trail one of many, or is it "the trail"?

Any other suggestions for there would be great, I know the park has 3 rock cabins that looked interesting on the net. I also want to visit the Southwest Museum in armadillo, but we wont go this time of year, will be either Spring or Fall.