Hi all - Starting the new month off right here.
It’s before sunrise on August 1st down here in South Florida. It’s 80F/27C already and the dewpoint is 77, which makes the relative humidity 91%. And there’s rain & lightning just offshore. The high should be 94F/34C. Todays password is “Sticky thighs”.
The ocean temps are setting records every day. Which portends a hurricane or several. For all practical purposes August is the first month of real hurricane season.
I like your title.
As a thread title, it is august…
Here in southern Ontario the weather has been somewhat unusual this summer. After an exceptionally warm early spring, temperatures have been somewhat below normal in late spring and virtually the whole of July and now extending into August. Also, we had a long dry spell and after a few strong rainstorms we now have nearly a week of at least 30% chance of rain. The average high for this date over the past 80 years is about 27°C (about 81°F) but the forecast for the next week is for highs averaging around 25°C (about 77°F). If these temperatures continue into August it will truly be an exceptionally cool summer, even though much of the rest of the northern hemisphere is setting temperature records.
Truth be told, I came up with the title while reviewing the last of the July rants. And wanting oh so selfishly to get due credit for my wit, and for having arisen early enough to be first, I posted the OP entirely for the title, not for the content. But given the title I had to rant about the weather even though by my personal standards it’s now nearly ideal. Many other folks around here consider it at least mini-rantworthy.
Besides, I have rather little to rant about, mini- or -major-. Although the day, week, and month are yet young, and the Universe in all its perversity oft’ has me in its sights. Bon chance chasseur.
I think you and I have different ideas about what an “ideal” temperature is. But as I keep reminding you, you are but a young lad just getting ready to go out into the world in the stately realm of retirement, whereas I am a cranky old fart and as such, I cannot tolerate heat, especially when engaged in any strenuous physical activity such as getting up from my chair to fetch another Caesar. Every spring I thank what gods there may be that my air conditioner – now old enough to start showing its age at least externally – has survived the winter and is blowing merciful cold air.
Have I mentioned that I love Canadian winters, and the ability to use my garage as cold storage? It’s true that in years past, while scraping snow and ice off the car or shoveling snow, I would ask the heavens – with a good dose of hearty cursing – why anyone would live in this God-forsaken country. But this can be solved with Technology – namely, merely having a garage for the car and a snowplowing service takes care of most winter problems!
Yeah, I’m already scared about the hurricanes.
The other evening my husband and I were sitting out on the porch when it started to sprinkle…then to rain…then to RAIN…and then all of a sudden we were having a major storm (a supercell?). It lasted only a few minutes, but knocked down a tree in our yard and tore several roof panels off a shed. We’ll be cleaning up after that little incident for at least a week. I’m just glad no more damage was done.
For over a year I have been putting cat food out on my deck in the morning for a local “stray cat” (he has a ratty collar and is friendly, so I suspect I’m being played for a sucker). He usually shows up shortly after I put the food out, cleans out the wet food and nibbles on the dry food, and then leaves. Occasionally he comes back later in the day and has a little more dry food. I always bring the bowls in before dark, because if I don’t the dry food will get eaten by some local raccoons.
Lately I’ve had a squirrel coming by in the afternoon. He’s a messy eater and always leaves dry food scattered around the bowl, so I’ve started taking the bowls in earlier. I don’t bother trying to clean the spilled food off the deck because it gets eaten by morning anyway.
So this morning I’m sitting in my office and see a raccoon on the deck. I go into the living room and see three raccoons helping themselves to the cat food. This is the first time I’ve seen raccoons out during the day (we won’t discuss the ones that occasionally decide to move into my attic). So I grab a broom, slide the door open, and chase them off the deck. Then I bring the (nearly empty) bowls in so they won’t find anything to eat if they come back.
Of course, after a little while Smudge (as I’ve named the cat) comes by looking for breakfast. I put out some dry food for him, and apologize that the raccoons have eaten his wet food.
Hey, my stitches came out! Or should I say… my stitch?
Evidently when I was being sewn up, I was sewn up with thread and needle … a single thread and needle… that sliced through, looped, and sliced through again. I know this because the PA who pulled it/them out showed me the thread afterward. It was about a foot to 15 inches of thread! I’ve used less thread darning socks and T-shirts with holes on sewing days.
“They told you that this was really pretty deep, didn’t they?”
My son’s truck threw a rod. My son has no money and bad credit, but he does have a job. I will NOT be The Bank of Mom. He’ll just have to figure it out.
It’s hard to be Tough Mom. But ref some other Dopers’ challenges it is far harder to be Eternal Rescue Mom. Especially as Rescue Mom gets older.
Good on ya for sticking to your guns.
So we in the USA need to point a bunch of really, really big fans North.
Is there such a thing as “Fresh Undies?”
Can you talk to my wife please? She seems to enjoy being the Bank of Mom/Grandma. I keep telling her to knock it off, we can’t afford it, then next thing you know she’s forking money over to someone again. (What she does now is not tell me, then when I find out about it a couple weeks later she’s like “I thought I told you.” 
)
My mini-rant: I bought some pizza shells at the grocery store and made pizzas for dinner last night. I preheated the oven and it beeped when it got to 450°, but when I put the first pizza in it didn’t seem very cooked after about 10 minutes, and I noticed the oven didn’t feel all that hot (even though it did say 450). So I turned the oven off then turned it back on, and it showed “preheating” again and the temperature was at 225 and not going up.
So not only am I upset that maybe the oven needs fixing, but now I’ve got two pizzas I need to cook. Then I get the brilliant idea to throw them on the grill. I fire up the grill, let it warm up, put down one of my copper grill mats, put a pizza in, and close the lid. Next thing I know, smoke is pouring out, I open the lid to see what’s going on, and I’ve got a nice little grease fire going down on the bottom of the grill. (Note to self - clean out the grill really well before you use it next time.)
The pizzas came out OK, maybe a little more charred and crispy on the bottom than I would have liked, but still edible.
But then you’ll just be sucking up even hotter air from the tropics! Better to give us the fans, and let us blow our cooler air down to you. Of course that means we’ll then be sucking down cold Arctic air, but that’s fine with me. I’m Canadian! I consider the first sign of snow melt in the spring to mean it’s shorts and T-shirt weather! 
23C / 73F here … and we are in full WINTER!!!
Santiago, Chile
(not complaining … I prefer being in shorts way over being miserable and cold in 3 woolen pullovers)
This is a trick, right?
You USAians are certainly a suspicious lot! 
It’s that maple syrup thing.
Oh, Lord, that sounds like a total nightmare to this northern girl! LOL