The days in Arizona are getting cooler......

[electra225]

This should be our last week of over 100 degree days for awhile. Time to do the fall maintenance chores. You guys in the Midwest clean your gutters and rake leaves. Here, we have no gutters. We, instead, power wash the house, get the dust and dirt out of the stucco. This deposits junk and dirt on the windows, so I have to wash those as well. The dust and heat causes the dirt to penetrate concrete, so the only way to remove it is to pressure wash the sidewalks and concrete. For the most part, our plants survived the summer. The bouganvillas love the heat, so they are growing almost out of control. I have been watering our big cactus and the grapefruit tree. It is amazing how much dirt gets imbedded in the stucco, particularly on the north side of the house. There was a half inch of dirt in the window tracks. I have to change the furnace filters every month due to the dust and dirt from the road. The next chore is to go to the storage facility and find out if the Buick will run. My money is on a dead battery. It is eight years old and this summer's heat didn't make it any younger.

You guys may have heard horror stories about record heat out here this summer. It wasn't a big deal. That is why they invented "refrigeration".

[William]

Yes, clean the gutters and rake leaves but also pull the garden and pull or cut down the flower beds and of course we are still mowing. Two nights ago, we had our first frost. It was not a heavy one, but it was enough to kill off the more delicate flowers. With our lack of fall rain, the guessers say Sunday we will get rain, the fall colors are not much this year, mostly browns that are all dried up when they fall which makes them easier to rake or blow. At least out where you are, Greg, you do not get what comes after fall. Good luck with all of your fall chores.

Bill

[TC Chris]

Thursday morning I had to dig out the bike gloves and the under-helmet liner to keep my poor bald head warm on the ride to work. Friday we got back into the 70s but it's clear--fall is here.

Chris Campbell

[electra225]

I've had breakfast, so it's time to run down to the storage facility to see if I can start the Buick and to also see what atrocities have occurred in storage. Dead battery, leaky heater core, flat tires, that kind of thing. The reason I mentioned the heater core is that it is easier to replace the engine than it is to replace the heater core in that car. The original only lasted 30 years. It has been 29 years since the car was restored. You have to remove the right hand bucket set and the console in order to replace the heater core. Almost all the RH side of the instrument panel needs to be taken apart, made of brittle, unobtanium plastic parts. To be fair, replacing the heater core in an air conditioned Riviera is a far worse job.....

[electra225]

Okay, the car report.....

Good news and bad news. Good news first. The battery was not dead. Bad news is that the engine would not start. So, now I'm on my way to the gas station to get a dram of gas in a gallon gas can so I can give it a good drink so it will start.

[electra225]

Update.....it runs! Sounds as good as it ever did. No leaks, even the Dynaflow is still full, which is a miracle, and which hardly EVER happens. When a Dynaflow quits leaking, you need to check the fluid. The lifters didn't rattle. The brakes work. I don't have the turn signal switch adjusted right yet. Maybe I can do that one day next week.