Whew, busy times, busy times.  Two weekends ago we took a too-brief KC pass through, which was just exhausting;  So much so that it led to the omission of an update last week.  It was a good trip I must say.  Didn’t get to do everything I wanted to, but when does that ever happen.  We ate some good food, saw as many people as time permitted, and cursed the foul weather constantly.  As usual, our trip required scheduling with a pet sitter, as no local businesses here are inclined to board a killer canine such as Teagan.  This is a somewhat ridiculous situation, but not all-together bad as I think both the dog and cat would just as soon stay home anyway.  We’ve got a friend that stops by a few times a day and gives them food and water, and of course tosses the ball for Teagan a bit.  Well, it went just fine as usual, but Kane did seem noticeably happy to see us when we got home.  He was meowing and carrying on, and following us around like his long-lost buddies.  (Generally speaking, of course, cats are perfectly content to be left in peace.)  This behavior carried on a for a few days after we returned when I noticed he hadn’t touched his food bowl.  I texted the sitter and nope, he hadn’t filled the bowl as it was already full the whole time.  Hmmmm, the little guy really IS upset, he’s on a hunger strike?!!?  As it ended up, after careful inspection, I’d accidentally filled his bowl with dog food when we left and the picky little monster wouldn’t eat it.  For SIX DAYS.  Not a bite.  We’ve had several extreme circumstances that have led to feeding cat food to the dog (i.e. we’re out of dog food and don’t want to drive two miles to the pet store) and it hasn’t caused so much as a sideways glance from Teagan.  Apparently it doesn’t work the other direction though.  All ended well.  I gave him an extra big bowl of kitty chow, he scarfed it all down, then immediately returned to his regular routine of ignoring us.

Now this past weekend, we didn’t do quite so much.  The weather here is markedly different than KC, it’s already in the triple-digits with blazing hot sun.  I was looking forward to a quiet afternoon on my back patio Friday, but the heat was so stifling it drove me to the Hop House for some a/c.  Saturday we hung out at the pool for a bit, but it was really too hot to be outside at all.  Sunday we went on an unexpected shopping spree.  I realize it is a common occurrence to go to a warehouse store (Costco, in our case,) and leave with more items than anticipated.  We really took it to the extreme this time though.  Our shopping list consisted of eggs, toothpaste, and coffee.  We left with a basket full of stuff the likes of which I have never seen, and that’s the truth.  I have to think it was our all time record Costco tab.  The big hit was a new TV.  Honestly, who goes to the store for coffee and leaves with a TV?  Maybe it’s more common than I know…  Seems odd to me.  Hey, I’m not gonna say I ain’t excited about the new toy.  In the continuation of a long-running project, we also purchased several new LED fixtures and bulbs, as we are replacing the horribly inefficient incandescent ones currently in the house.  In all actuality, I seriously doubt this project is going to save us so much as a single cent.  One of the three things I learned during my nine years studying electricity at CMSU is that light bulbs, no matter if incandescent, CFL, halogen, LED, etc, will all use exactly the same amount of wattage when they are turned off.  This then leads me to the inescapable conclusion that we aren’t going to save a whole lot of money swapping out light fixtures that we never turn on anyway.  Oh well, it makes me feel like I’m doing some kind of home improvement I guess.