Living the Dream...

     Hello, and greetings from the blogosphere...it is your intrepid blogger coming at you from the monsoon soaked environs of the Great Southwest.  If you pay attention to the Weather Channel, you know that it has been brutally hot here in Arizona...(I like it, which explains a great deal of where my heads at!).  We topped out at 116 last week with an added dash of humidity...(not like the kind of humid I remember from the East Coast but enough to notice).  It made for some adventurous patrols around the property at the job, but again...I love the heat.  Give me 115 with a sun that feels like it's touching your shoulder over 2 degrees with a negative windchill and a foot of snow any day...So back to the monsoon soaked environs.I was having lunch with my old boss in Scottsdale and some ominous clouds appeared as I was leaving to come home.  I got on the 101 and the real fun started...HABOOB! (Arabic for duststorm).  By the time I entered the highway you couldn't see 100 feet ahead of you and it got thicker as I drove on.  The exit signs that I knew were there appeared out of the dust as you reached them and the traffic slowed to about 30 mph (on a road where 70 is laughed at and rarely the speed of choice).  About halfway down the 101 toward Tempe the rain...(yes, I said rain!) started mixing with the dust making it a little more fun.  At that point I exited the freeway and took to the side roads...("Backroads" Bob, my father, would have proud).  It was then that the dust dissipated and torrential rains came...(finally got to use those windshield wipers I replace and never use).  Trees down, instant flooding and morons...(the other drivers) littered the roads but I managed to get home in one piece...(a 30 minute drive took me 1 hr and 45 mins).  The rain stopped by the time I got to the apartment but the rainfall probably doubled our yearly average.  The best thing is the temp right now is 78 and the air smells of the wet desert...(a scent that I have come to enjoy but rarely get to smell except during monsoon season).

     More news on the new Door...from this moment on she will be called Nancy (which is good because that's her name).  She and I have been dating for about a month and its pretty terrific.  She's funny and smart and can handle all the craziness that makes yours truly such an interesting character.  I truly enjoy spending time with her and hope to continue to do so.  I will keep you posted.

     I am venturing to Virginia and Pennsylvania this weekend to visit my Sister and her family and the Sloca Nation reunion.  Having extended days off makes getting time to travel a heck of a lot easier.  My co-workers and I cover each other's shifts whenever someone needs some time off, so getting a weekend now and then is possible.  It will be good to see my nieces because Vee didn't have the chance to come to Phoenix this year for Comic Fest.  And I haven't seen Nat in ages...(at least it feels that way).  Getting together with the Cousins et al... in Pennsylvania is always an adventure and I'm glad to be able to go this year.  The extended family is extending to new heights as kids grow up and have kids of their own.  It will be good to sit and catch up again...

    So that's the latest news from the desert in the Great Southwest.  Always more to come...(because I still have a lot to say).  God Bless you all. See you next time.