Sunflower Blog

$2.03/gal at 96 Degrees

Traveling around town doing errands really takes life out of me. My car is air-conditioned, but I drive with the windows part way down if I'm smoking. Today it was too hot to smoke in the car. I needed the A/C worse than the nicotine.

I've lived in smaller towns, one where you could get anywhere in 15 minutes. That was in Corpus Christi. Austin traffic has mushroomed since I lived there. I wouldn't want to compare Dallas traffic with Houston traffic, because I haven't driven regularly in Houston for fifteen years. It was bad then. The freeways are all different in Houston now, which would be disconcerting since I don't have a very good sense of direction. Not planning to travel to Houston anytime soon. Dallas traffic is bad enough.

I don't regularly commute to a job anymore, and I'm spoiled about traffic. I do my driving during the day when the kids are in school--so summer is messed up that way. You can't get much help in traffic from the summer schoolers. Freeway backups leave me close to a panic attack. There's nothing you can do but sit there and watch your gas gauge go. People drive so crazy too--like they're the fire truck on the way to the fire.

Just a trip to get my hair cut got me rattled today. My 3:30 got moved up to 3:00, but I didn't get there till 3:15. Caught my hairdresser giving himself a manicure. I think I got there in fifteen minutes, almost a record, going on 635/LBJ because the westbound traffic on the section I travel, everybody is already going 60-70 mph. I hate getting on that ramp, but the traffic moves fast.

It took almost 45 minutes to get back home, leaving the shop at 4:15. I was going to Petsmart, but got to my exit and headed home instead. The five o'clock traffic had begun. That is an animal I prefer not to tangle with. I'll get back out later, when the sun is down, and the crazies have made it home from work. I've been saying that for days, and the critters are almost out of food. That won't do.

The gas prices ranged for $2.03 in my neighborhood, up to $2.10 that I saw at a convenience store close the the freeway. Glad my car isn't a guzzler. I know lots of areas are paying more than we are.

This season has not been normal, and I can't find my summer relax mode. I like to get a kid pool from Walmart--the kind that's 8 feet across and about a foot and a half deep. I fill up the pool, turn on the radio, blow up a float, get in, close my eyes, and float in all sorts of exotic puddles of the world. Imagination can take you anywhere. But I haven't bought my pool or float yet. Something to do after the sun goes down.

I guess the greatest thing about home is getting back to it after the hunting and gathering. Float on!