Wet, followed by wet, followed by damp

[rockouthippie]

I am soggy on June 12. The clammy, cloudy, drenching, soaking, sopping mess that is my home is really going to get on my nerves.

Yes children. It's Oregon. It may be the Lord's plan to drive all the non web foots from our land, a punishment for electing liberals, or it might just be the most waterlogged 5 years I've ever seen. I turned on the air conditioning twice last year. That was mostly because it was 80, cloudy and raining.

I feel rusty. I'd like to sit on a chair or ride my bike without my ass getting wet. I'd like a bike without fenders. I'd like a coat w/o dog prints.

When I was a kid we all used to laugh about the rain and tell people in other states how miserable Oregon weather is. Maybe it's God's punishment for that.

I mean we were kidding... Not so much lately....

Rain all freaking summer... it's just the way it's been for about 4 years...

Time to move south 600 miles or so before I turn into Yoda. I'm already wearing a hood. I never have dry socks and I live in a swamp. I own a sword. I have moss in my ears and a sniffle. Am I shrinking?

I tried to tangle with the blackberries that are starting a pretty good invasion. Too wet for to spray. I dumped $60 worth of blackberry killer on them. I'll bet they get a headache. Give me a 80 degree day!

The core of the earth here is blackberries. You can kill them all and they'll still come up from hell.

It's more than a small niggly annoyance. It's really bumming me out. I need a day with some real sunshine. 1 T-shirt day so far. That's just dismal.

... and no help in sight... the optimism is noted in the weather forecast... but it's gonna be 60ish and a car wash for the foreseeable future...

[mike-db]

I feel for you, sounds a lot like Vancouver Island. Rain, rain, raaaiin. Living beside a nature reserve/swamp does not help at all... Which is beside the ocean. o.O

[Too-DAMN-Much]

and yet seattle is the one known as "the rainy city", philistines.

[rockouthippie]

You get way better weather on Vancouver Island than you get in Seattle or Portland. Port Angeles gets the effect too. There's a "banana belt". I'll bet they've had more than one t-shirt day. Today was about the same I guess. I've left Seattle raining like hell and drove to Port Angeles to find sunshine and 75 degrees.

You get worse storms in that neck of the woods. But it rains and then the sun comes out, not like here where you get the relentless mist. I used to have a shack in Sequim. Hey the rent was cheap ... $150 a month while I was figuring out what the hell to do next... I liked the weather... wintered there... ended up working with my cousin for a while..

Somehow I'm soggy enough that I don't think Sequim would do it.

I gotta go for a week. I need some heat.

/me consults travelocity

[swingdjted]

It's often said that humans need natural sunlight if they want to avoid depression. If you can't get it in the Pacific Northwest, then you may need a vacation. Sometimes a person just needs a little help from mother nature when they want to shine.

[rockouthippie]

I am aware of the problem. Usually I take Vitamin D through the winter, but it's only marginally effective. It's not too bad today. Some sun. Hoody weather because of the wind. Still wearing a coat in the morning.

Today is pretty good outside working weather, so I'm gonna see what I can do about my winter worn yard. This is late, even by Oregon, even by Oregon lately, standards. I'm usually sitting on a nice yard by now. It's just been too wet to do anything. Mainly I do a lot of gardening with herbicide. The core of the earth is blackberries here. With the rain, I've only been able to give them a headache.

Mom was dying last year, so I didn't get to the yard much and playing catch up isn't winding my clock either.

[Too-DAMN-Much]

yeah it's been nice today here too so far, i'm really too tempted to ride my bike around town just for no reason really.

oh and the blackberries, have fun with those, you'll probably be fighting them the rest of your life and chances after they'll be there after you are, but it's a good excuse to do some stuff outdoors at least.

[rockouthippie]

You're in Beaverton right?

[Too-DAMN-Much]

no not anymore, closer to tualatin and mcminnville, it's definitely a lot less trashy here too from what i remember of beaverton, the people and the neighborhood. but that does come with it's own downsides, this place has way more bored porkers than beaverton ever did just cruising by randomly.

[rockouthippie]

You met my pig Sally?

[Too-DAMN-Much]

wrong type of bacon grease, i'm thinking.

[rockouthippie]

And again, it's raining like a cow pissing on a flat rock today.... again. I wanted to go to the Tuesday farmers market, but I don't have a boat. BB even wants in the house. That's unusual during the day. Mud printed my bed. I'd scold her, but the damage is already done and I'm due for clean sheets anyway. Even the dog looks depressed.

It's supposed to 80 and sunshine tomorrow, but I really doubt it. Even if it does get to be 80 and the sun shines, it's gonna be sticky with 80% humidity. I think we've had one day as nice as the weather forecast said it was gonna be so far. We stand at 1 sweatshirt day and 1 t-shirt day so far. Coat today, that's for sure.

My b-day is July 23, and I always count on that week being nice weather, but last year.... it rained like a cow pissing on a flat rock.... I'm getting really bummed.

And if you look the weather is very nice in British Columbia today.. It figures.

/me looks at Las Vegas... 100 degrees... 5% humidity... notices after being outside for 20 minutes, I have wet socks again.

[Too-DAMN-Much]

yeah that's probably the worst part about the weather here, it seems like the humidity is always either nearly 100% or 0%.

[rockouthippie]

Well, we got 80 today, so I'm not griping too much. Even though it is as humid as all get out. Rain again Friday. Tomorrow should be half reasonable though.

[swingdjted]

90 here, and very humid. Wet socks, yes, but not from rain; from sweat. I spent today limbing trees and then fixing a tractor tire. The sawdust just seems to glue itself to me and then my truck seats. The bugs are bad too, and the repellant makes things even more sticky. If it's like this tomorrow, I might just have Renee turn the hose on me before I go in the house. I would probably enjoy a little rain right now; I wouldn't even stop working, but maybe not as much as you Oregonians are getting.

[rockouthippie]

Yeah. I got a drop box today. After $100 worth of spray, I managed to kill half the blackberries. My neighbor, an old cop, is dying. COPD. That's supposed to make you an asshole, but hell.. maybe he's trying to get into heaven now. I hated the stupid SOB years ago because he was such an asshole. Unaccustomed to dealing with his neighbors as anything that he couldn't write a ticket for nothing.

Now he's just an old bugger with an oxygen bottle, thankful that his neighbors will show him a little love.

The mighty hath fallen. I think I liked him 20 years ago when he was an asshole better. In keeping, I try to make sure that he still thinks I'm an asshole when I'm doing him a favor.

That's only dignity.

Always has been a dickhead with "small man syndrome". Not so much now. We do look after him a bit. It's something he finds completely unexpected. Too busy busting people for nothing than examining their heart.

I did offer to stick his binoculars up his ass one time. He was watching me. "I'm a cop." "Do you think that would save you?".

Today, I snuck up on him and mowed his lawn and mine. Given we are both old soldiers and have culpable deniability, the act will be taken without comment by either of us.

Also, without comment, BB will enjoy a brief conversation on his porch tomorrow.

A joke. I deny any involvement. Must have been Santa that mowed his lawn. I do know even in his asshole way, he helped something some time.

Good nuff for me. As a detective, he did bust a serial killer of our mutual acquaintance, because I fed serial killers buddy a Monte Carlo... or parts thereof.

Told me to "You should be more careful". That wouldn't be in my nature. It also was something I didn't understand for a long time. I thought he was being a dickhead. I actually didn't understand what I beat the shit out of for 10 years. I saw an attempted rape in progress and .... got pissed. Very, very pissed. Dumb ass pulled a knife. I told him to walk away. Lucky I didn't catch a cap. These guys liked raping old ladies and shooting people with a 22 because it hurt.

So anyway, after Cesar Barone killed his last victim, the pulverizing that I gave Len Darcelle made the boys easy to find. I did not know this for 10 years. Just the warning of my neighbor. "Be careful".

No shit... Mr. H. Luckily in his career and my life, murderers usually don't come up.

Barone died in prison. Darcelle is not ever gonna get a parole. Might get out in 2015. I better not see the SOB. Somehow, when we go through the system, we missed. Darcelle is as bad as Barone. Maybe worse.

I will kill Leonard Darcelle on sight. Len. If you read this... you better have made your peace with the Lord. Hurting children, raping 70 year old ladies... you'd be gone before you hit the ground.

[rockouthippie]

It's gray. It's 60. I guess it could be worse. Still wearing a flannel shirt because it's also windy... making 60 uncomfortably cool.

[rockouthippie]

Still gray... July 22? Tickling 70 at 2 PM. This sucks. I was born July 23, 1962 and it was 104 degrees. Not that I was really wishing for 104, but damn, it would dry this mushroom out. Global warming? A clement 90 and dry air would be ok. Yesterday would have been good at 78 if it wasn't muggy. This weather is great for raising slugs to eat my lettuce. They have been too, with alacrity.

Slug and snail death isn't exactly non-toxic. Anybody got another idea? Not worried so much about me, but BB dog lives out there.

Until 3 years ago, I could always count on beautiful sunshine for my birthday. WTF? Wearing a coat in July in the morning is getting tedious.