Of Heat, horrible heat and An Earthquake!!!~~~~

Yes Darklings!

We had a 4.0 earthquake on the Hayward fault near Piedmont, just a short distance from my house.

Woke up this morning at 6:50 a.m. we were on the sleeping porch it has been too hot to sleep inside and both dogs started yapping.  I heard things rattle and we froze, I felt a little nauseous from the 2nd shake, so we waited a bit.

Then went through the entire house top to bottom, some things fell off, we lost a couple of wine bottles, but nothing of value, but the heating system started to come on and then go off, then on and off, the thermostat could not stop it so Doyle cut off the gas to the unit,  it could be something as simple as a wire, but since the gas is off to the heater, we don't have to worry about that, we checked the other gas lines to the hot water heater and the stove and all appear to be fine, but Doyle will check it again tomorrow, we are venting the area's to be on the safe side.

The news is all over this earthquake people are saying and asking is this the per-cursor to the Big one on the Hayward fault??  Who knows?  But I can't be a fatalist about it.

The heat for the last three days has been horrible the last two days 93 degrees both days, it was so bad that it was best for us to sleep on the screened in back porch, and eating breakfast and dinner out there as well.

I've been avoiding using the stove so it's the microwave heating up things that I've pre-cooked and froze, and walking around the house wearing a very sheer cotton dress and (dare I say it) no underwear.  

We've been drinking water and using damp and wet wash cloths and fans to cool us down.  Both Doyle and myself have not been able to do anything.  My sister had decided to have her consultation room rigged with an air conditioner and will be calling someone to see about installing one. 

Heat she told me, especially extreme heat can make people irritable to the point of harming each other.  Sudden murders (not drug related) can be influenced by extreme heat as well as volatile tempers. 

My brother and his family are home from their trip and my Sister in law is glad that I was able to get the school supplies.  It makes her work easier.  While they were gone Brian was house sitting for them and I came to collect the mail and such,  and relay that information to my brother.

Coraline and Chris have quiet a collection of books, post cards and pamphlets about the various historical places they visited, and pictures,  and Coraline had an extraordinary encounter with a very old-timer at one of the historical places.  It was quiet moving for her and made history seem more immediate.    I think her re-doing the 8th Grade will be good for her to catch up on things, it will be more of a review but already I can see some changes in her, her summer reading assignments have improved her language, and she even asked me if I could find a couple of books on writing The New York Times Manuel of Style and Usage,  The Chicago Manuel of Style, and The Elements of Style.

She told me her English Teacher recommended those books to her if she is serious about writing.   Well I certainly and get that for her.   And it seems she found of list of contractions, list of words that sound the same but mean different things and how to use possessive words,  like Their as compared to They're when means They are. 

Well I have to say it seems that this Summer has had more than a few shake ups and more  than just Earthquakes.  This coming School year should prove to be interesting, to say the least.

And now I am beginning to feel drenched in sweat so back to the shower I go, in a way I'll be very glad to have winter.

Later Darklings