And so it begins

Yesterday I had another Texas first: my very first brown-out. It was in the mid-90s and sweltering outside, and I guess the grid was straining to meet the demand, so out it went. The power was only off for an hour or so, but half an hour of sitting in this overheated trailer convinced The Texan and me that it would be a good time to go get dinner. Unfortunately, everyone around us also had the same idea. Combine that with the traffic lights being out and you have a recipe for a clusterfuck.

The dog was left outside - he has a pool and a water bucket to cool off in - but the cat, not being allowed outside unattended (there are some mangy cats in this neighborhood, plus he would make a nice meal for a pack of coyotes), had to stay inside. I was worried we'd come back to find him half- or wholly-baked. As it happened, the air-conditioning kicked in about 5 minutes after we left and we discovered the cat to be just fine by our return. I was greatly relieved to feel that the tips of his ears were cold.

Today it's 97...and it keeps getting hotter. Adding insult to injury, I got a company-wide email from my office in DC saying that because the weather was so beautiful there, they were shutting down for the afternoon. Sigh. Summer is going to be swell.