mother nature is a bitch

I awoke this morning with anticipation of finally filling my newly rubberized swamp cooler pan with water and enjoying the comforts of cool air in the house again.

My project worked perfectly (I highly recommend rubberizeit for any project). Though, after I got the swamp cooler turned on the temperature dropped to 69 degrees. I had to turn it off. Maybe tomorrow.

And then my writer's group got hailed and rained on as we were finishing dinner on the upstairs outdoor patio of Merle's. As soon as we all got inside the rain and hail stopped.

Hail fell in my wine but I drank it anyway.

the joys of rubber

UPS finally showed up at 1130 with my rubberize stuff. So far the project is going well. It looks like it's going to rain but...it always looks like it's going to rain...

Swamp cooler pan after cleaning. I had to scrape it and then sand it. That was the day I stepped on the nail. You can see the hole in the pan...

After rubberizing. Looks pretty cool in a bondage kind of way.

The hole patched with a fabric called reinforceit.

some ways to be cool (none really work)

I am not *really* complaining because the hottest day in Denver is still better than a sort of hot day anywhere else...but it is kind of hot in the afternoon and with no swamp cooler...and UPS* sent me an email this morning saying my rubberizeit wouldn't be here until tomorrow...

So, the engineer in me decided to do some experiments on keeping my house cool.

Experiment #1 - Open all the doors and windows during the day but keep doors closed at night. Turn on ceiling fans.
Result - Hot and noisy. Cross breeze my ass.

Experiment #2 - Open just the downstairs back door during the day (since it's shaded by my under decking the air is cooler than that coming from the upstairs door - and I can prove it because I've been taking temperature measurements). Turn on ceiling fans.
Result - Hot. Not noisy. A bit claustrophobic.

Experiment #3 - Only open the doors at night (back doors, not front). Turn on all ceiling fans. Close doors in morning. Turn off all but the main fan during the day.
Result - This actually worked pretty well (5 degree temperature drop from experiment #2). But it did cause me to have nightmares even though no one can get through my screened safety doors without a blow torch and my back yard is enclosed and would require someone to climb over my garage and then 18 feet up to my deck.

No, I don't have too much time on my hands. Why would you think that?

*Is it just me or is UPS starting to really suck? I mean, they mailed back my packages after 3 delivery attempts (2 in one day) instead of storing them as usual and then when I called to complain said they changed their policy about holding packages for 5 days. I was like "thanks for fucking telling me" and they were like "we're telling you now". Grr.

Tdap

Yesterday afternoon I was up on my roof working on my swamp cooler again. I had to scrape and then sand the bottom of the swamp cooler pan to get rid of all the gunk in preparation for rubberizing it (my rubberizer should be here on Wednesday).

(my friend Pascal was like "looks prehistoric!" when I sent him the picture)

I had just finished cleaning it and was walking to the edge of the roof to lower the hose, which I had dragged up to the roof with a climbing rope...

...when this mother fucker went through the sole of my shoe and up into my left foot. It almost popped out the top of my foot.

(next to my house key for scale - it was a BIG fucking nail)

So I did some research on tetanus and started to worry I was going to get it. It causes, among other things, death, back spasms, and uncontrolled pissing and shitting. No thanks. But, I didn't know how my new insurance worked and thought maybe I was over reacting and didn't need a shot. I dumped hydrogen peroxide on the hole in my foot and hoped for the best.

But I woke up this morning with neck pain (one of the signs) and a headache so I called the 800 number for my insurance and it turned out it was super easy to get a tetanus shot. The nurse was named Michael and he said it was a good thing I had come in because it turns out my headache was actually a fever, potentially caused by tetanus (the neck pain also worried him).

I got a shot called the Tdap, which is not just tetanus but also whooping cough and diptheria. I was like "it's like the three for one happy hour in the Injections department!" (because that's where I was - the injections department - they only do injections).

He gave me a pink band aid and told me to move my arm a lot.

It matches my water bottle. Not psyched about getting a shot, but psyched about my band aid.

I can step on rusty nails for another 10 years without having to get a shot.