We are having a massive heat wave, very unusual for coastal Northern California. It has been unbearably hot for the past two weeks, which is abnormally long for a heat wave. And I'm someone who *likes* heat, too, but this is too hot even for me.

Today it hit 103 degrees. At 11:00am it was 92 degrees inside our house, which is well-shaded by trees, open to the breezes, etc. Not that there have been any breezes lately, which is very unusual as well, since normally it's quite windy in the afternoons here all year round.

Our air conditioner is running full blast right now. It's a good central air conditioner, but it can't get the temperature down under 84 degrees inside. Just too friggin' hot.

This is only the second time we've ever used the air conditioner since we've lived here. It just never got hot enough for me to think about turning it on. As I said, I like it hot. But lately I've felt like my brains were going to melt out my ears. Like I'm going to go crazy if I don't get some cool air moving across my body PRONTO. So on it went. And thank goodness we have it too, because even a few minutes outside right now is too much. I feel like I'm living in Florida again, it's that hot. Humid. Still. Tropical. Airless.

What's even stranger is that after today it's supposed to slowly cool down to a normal 80 degree range, and then possibly even RAIN next week. OK, this is California, people. It does not rain in the summertime here, especially not in August. Believe me, I'll be thrilled to see it, but what the hell?