Heat Wave Continues / Almost Perfect Beach Trip / Nicole Becomes A Full-Time Auctioneer
The Portland-area heat wave I mentioned in my last entry three weeks ago is still going on. We're now into our eighth week of above-90-degree temperatures nearly every single day. I can't believe it's September and we're still seeing newscasts predicting 100-degree days for the near future. It's absolutely draining and we're done. Winter or even Fall can't get here fast enough at this point. Our portable air conditioner is trucking right along but it does this thing where it pumps water over the cooling elements and if it doesn't have any water in the tank, it gurgles loudly. Filling it only stops it from gurgling for about 45 minutes. It evaporates water that quickly. It really has been that hot around here. I need to take the thing apart and disable the pump motor so the thing won't draw up any water. The unit shouldn't even be evaporating water; it's got a compressor that will cool this place down fine on its own. Blah.
On the upside, this sunny hot weather means more trips to the coast. Last Saturday, August 30th, my girlfriend, Nicole, and her best friend, Abby, accompanied me to a beach on the Oregon coast that I'd never been to. We've had this trip planned out to happen on that day for at least a month in advance, and as luck would have it, that was the one day they were predicting rain for the region. Two months of sun and extreme heat and the one day of rain happens on the one day we decided to hit the beach. We had another friend cancel on us because they were worried about driving in the rain. The girls and I went anyway and we're so thrilled we did because the weather forecasters were dead wrong about how miserable a day it was going to be on the coast. It was sunny and clear and warm but not too hot. There was even a very calm breeze. We were there all afternoon and into the evening enjoying our good fortune. I got in some reading and even a touch of swimming. Damn, it was a glorious day. Maybe we'll get a shot at another beach trip before the end of summer if the heat wave continues.
Over the last few weeks, Nicole has suddenly become obsessed with selling things on eBay as a job. Her job search is waxing and waining but that's how job searches go. To make some money, she's decided to pilfer local thrift stores for valuable goods that we're turning around and selling online. It's a lot of work but she's doing the difficult homework of researching, photographing, and writing up descriptions of each item. It really helps a lot to be able to simply plug that data into eBay and watch the money pour in. Do I see this as an alternative to a real job or a stable income? I'm not sure. She found a sweater the other day that's worth $150 and she only paid $10 for it. If she can be successful at finding these valuable items almost every day, even I might be tempted to join her.
On the upside, this sunny hot weather means more trips to the coast. Last Saturday, August 30th, my girlfriend, Nicole, and her best friend, Abby, accompanied me to a beach on the Oregon coast that I'd never been to. We've had this trip planned out to happen on that day for at least a month in advance, and as luck would have it, that was the one day they were predicting rain for the region. Two months of sun and extreme heat and the one day of rain happens on the one day we decided to hit the beach. We had another friend cancel on us because they were worried about driving in the rain. The girls and I went anyway and we're so thrilled we did because the weather forecasters were dead wrong about how miserable a day it was going to be on the coast. It was sunny and clear and warm but not too hot. There was even a very calm breeze. We were there all afternoon and into the evening enjoying our good fortune. I got in some reading and even a touch of swimming. Damn, it was a glorious day. Maybe we'll get a shot at another beach trip before the end of summer if the heat wave continues.
Over the last few weeks, Nicole has suddenly become obsessed with selling things on eBay as a job. Her job search is waxing and waining but that's how job searches go. To make some money, she's decided to pilfer local thrift stores for valuable goods that we're turning around and selling online. It's a lot of work but she's doing the difficult homework of researching, photographing, and writing up descriptions of each item. It really helps a lot to be able to simply plug that data into eBay and watch the money pour in. Do I see this as an alternative to a real job or a stable income? I'm not sure. She found a sweater the other day that's worth $150 and she only paid $10 for it. If she can be successful at finding these valuable items almost every day, even I might be tempted to join her.