Step One: Make a Plan

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Last week, 6/21/13, was the ten-year anniversary of my blog, and like a doofus I missed it. So watch for some retrospective-type things at some point maybe. I dunno. What do you want, it’s already 106° F.

Yeah, that’s what I said. 106°. The predicted high is 113°. Some places have tornados, or hurricanes. We have the heat. I’m not complaining (much). But I do need to make a plan.

My natural response is “run away!” It’s a good response. My house has cooling, of course, but it’s a swamp cooler. It’s far cheaper than AC, but it has its limits, especially when you have to have windows open or it won’t work. It’s going to be a warm one in here today, so running away is definitely on the list of options. But where to go?

Restaurants want you to buy food, especially if you want to sit there all day. Also, the kid is not great at sitting in one place for long. Libraries are me-friendly places when a cheap, not-boring air-controlled climate is needed, but again the kid–she’s not so skilled at the quiet needed for a library. Also, it’s going to get crowded. Some people have far fewer stay-safe options than I do, and they know about the libraries.

The ice-cold AC of movie theaters is often a good answer, but that also requires money. Iron Man 3 is at the expensive theaters still, and Much Ado About Nothing just got there, and I don’t see much I want to see at the cheap theaters. (read: I don’t see anything I want to see there.)

Swimming is an excellent answer, but there’s only so much time one can spend in a swimming pool. Especially when most of them aren’t covered. The Arizona sun can kill!

There’s also the fact that my car has no AC. Anywhere we go, we’ll have to endure the 113-degree dry heat to get there. So it needs to be a short trip, or a moderate-length trip with lots of lounging around rehydrating at the end.

So yeah. Planning can get complex. But I think I’ve got it. We’ll stay home, under the cooler, and watch movies all day. If we’re not moving around too much, the cooling should be sufficient to keep us comfortable, especially with the blinds closed to keep glare off the screen. If it gets too out of hand, then we’ll head to Eegee’s where they know us (the frozen slushy drink known as an Eegees is amazeballs, and the food is cheap and tasty, so if we’re eating out then five times out of six we land at Eegee’s.) Frozen slushy drinks are excellent when the weather is ridiculous. Especially when it’s the next-to-last day for their yummy flavor of the month, Mango Tango.

Then later, about five or so when it’s all the way down to 108°, we’ll head to the swimming pool to refresh our baked souls. That’ll cost $3, but I have that okay.

Now to decide what to watch… Yesterday the kid was wanting to do a classic Disney marathon, but then she got halfway through The Fox and the Hound and wimped out. So maybe I’ll show her something less heartbreaking, like Scream or From Dusk Till Dawn? Ooh, Netflix has The Faculty on instant streaming, and Highlander, and The Frighteners…some damn good movies right there. Bruce Lee, Ferris Bueller–yep, I’ve got some good choices. Let the lurking-like-Morlocks begin!