Sizzle...sizzle...sizzle

We are sizzling here. This was how hot it was, 92 degrees Fahrenheit and this was at 11 AM on June 22nd. I was on my way to do some shopping and boy, was it hot already. By 2 PM, we were burning. This was not the only day it was this hot. It's been like this for days now and to this day...this very moment. There would be times the breeze would be warm as well. The only relief we would have is to duck in an air conditioned building, dive in a swimming pool or head to the beach. I would take option number 1 (one) as I'm already medium dark and can't take anymore darkness in me. That would only show my eyes as the only white, or my teeth when I open my mouth. It would make my 2 big front teeth show all the more, just like Bugs Bunny. People would start calling me and say, "What's up doc?"

Good thing, if it's a good thing, is humidity is almost zero. Sweating is to a minimum; unless one has to do some physical work that would encourage sweating, like yard work...aaargh. No way, Jose. It must be horrendous for those people who have to work outdoors.

Note: 92 degrees Fahrenheit is 33.33 degrees Celsius. The formula being: 92 - 32 (a constant number) x 5 / 9 = degrees in Celsius. The formula was easy I never realized that until now. This was Greek to me when I was in school. It seemed anything that has to do with math would automatically shut down my brain cells then. I suppose it was my paranoia of math. Does this means I have finally grown up, matured, after all this years? Hah!

Horror of horrors!

I was talking to my friend, on the phone, this morning when a mother hummingbird flew by. It passed by my window so I followed it towards my kitchen to see if she's going to feed her 2 little chicks lying in the nest. To my horror the nest is gone! The mother hummingbird was hovering around where it used to be; flew beside and under it; pecked on a seashell, and then flew away. She must be wondering what happened to the nest and her little ones.

The chicks with their tiny beaks sticking out of the nest.

This nest has been built by a hummingbird sometime in 2003. And every 2 years another or perhaps the same hummingbird comes back; renovates it, and lay eggs--usually 2. We at home kept track of the activity of the mother hen and watched the progress of the chicks. With excitement we would watch the mother as she feeds them, thrusting her long beak into her chicks' open mouths. There would come a time when she doesn't sit in the nest anymore, but would come every few hours to feed them. We watched the activity through our kitchen window as the nest was only 10 or 15 feet away, hanging on the trellis beam. The nest was built on my parol made of seashells.

The parol with the nest gone.
Photo taken from my kitchen window.

I went to the patio and found the nest laying flat on the concrete slab floor. Some seashells were strewn on the floor; the chicks gone, perhaps eaten by whatever attacked it. I felt so bad, feeling the pain of a mother losing her young ones. How could this have happened? In the past the chicks made it through, they flew away when they were strong enough. We have moved the ladder, which we used to take a peek at the eggs, away from the nest so it would be safe from any predator. Looking around, investigating I saw a broom stick I left at the other side of the wall, and it was slanted somehow. The culprit must have walked up the broom handle (a pole about 1 1/2" in diameter) alongside the wall and pawed on the nest until it fell to the floor. I felt so guilty, that I was responsible for the demise of the little hummers. Ooohhh...guilt...guilt...guilt.

Mother hen mourning her loss.

After about an hour or so mother hen came back. She landed on the parol and she was hunched, she was mourning the loss of her little ones.

All that was left of the nest was this...witness to the killing.

Sigh.

Fortune Cookie Says

"As you slide down the banister of life, may the splinters never
point your way."

Ouch, ouch. That would hurt a lot, I tell you. But it's true. At one time or another we get those splinters. Some of us may get so much of it, while others would hardly feel the pain. That was in my fortune cookie at lunch. We had lunch at a Chinese Buffet. There we pigged out. At least, I think I did, but as soon as I got home, I'm hungry again.

We fired the grill in the evening and tossed the steak, pork, potatoes and tomatoes in it. Eddie said he was going to do the cooking, but he ended up chatting with his dad. LOL The steak almost got overdone it was like jerky, but it was good. I did the pork and wow, was I a good cook. He he he I steamed some green beans and corn; warmed up some rice, but no one ate it. It's now 12:15 AM and as I am writing this, I'm getting hungry again.

By late evening Eddie said, "Happy Father's Day, dad," and gave him a big hug.

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"With integrity and consistency, your credits are piling up."

I don't know what this really means. Credits as in debit and credit? My brain is not trained to manage accounting and its complicated numbers. I took high maths in college, and I almost failed in some of them, but that must've been the wake up call, when I was on the verge of failing. I focused on my mechanics class; grabbed every guy by the collar to teach me, tutor me. And when I was exempted from my finals my friends were all surprised...their mouths dropped open. LOL "Hey, I'm not thinking of parties and boys all the time." Naman. It was smooth sailing with my other math classes after that. The guys even asked me how I solved a problem in our quiz, I compared notes with them. Hah!

Now if it's credit as in utang. That I can understand. I have statements after statements coming every month, that I don't know how to pay them. "Want to buy a painting, people?" Pambayad ng utang.

If it means I have good credit...good. I can use my Visa and Master Card to buy all the things I want. Then I'm deep in debt. Aargh! Never mind. I'll stay poor and recycle my old clothes.

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"Finally, it is accepted as self-evident."

Whaaat? Wakanga!

Just Playing

I haven't done much lately. The oil painting I've started about this time last year is still unfinished. And while I was working on it about 2 weeks ago, I thought I'd start another one while the other older one is drying. Well, now I think I like the last painting I'm working on. So, today I worked on it again, abandoning the older one. Hah! I love the way it's turning out. This painting is again flowers. I did two paintings of red hibiscus (gumamela) which is a very common color. Again this one is hibiscus but it's yellow-orange with violet and crimson. I took the picture of this flower when my art class had a field trip at the Descanso Gardens sometime in 2005. I go for originality nowadays. If I paint it's something that I took a picture of not copied from postcards, magazines and other paintings. I want to be more creative...if I can. LOL

Since I bought a small pack of markers--10 or 12 colors--I started sketching, loving it as I run the tips on paper; as colors explode, mingle and take shape. I did another small drawing of trees and whatever I could think of putting on paper...just what comes to my mind. This one below is a combination of watercolor (for sky) and markers.

8 1/2" x 11" PAPER
MARKERS AND WATERCOLOR
Click on photo to enlarge.

...And The Next Day

I got out of bed a bit later than yesterday (Tuesday) morning; had a very light breakfast of raisin bread toast, again. Didn't have coffee as it is a diuretic and I don't want to make a lot of trips to the bathroom. Traffic was lighter at this time of day, 9:00 AM. I got there about 9:30. I went straight to the 3rd floor. There were about 5 people there already waiting at the corridor. There was one of the ladies I was talking to yesterday and I sat by her. By 10:15, the time we were all to be there, the corridor was full of jurors already. We were all wearing our badges...and were waiting...and waiting again. By 10:30 the court clerk came out of the courtroom and talked to us. There is negotiation going on, he said. And we still have to wait for a few more minutes. So, we waited again, passing the time away by chatting with other prospective jurors. By 11:00 he came out again. They have reached a common ground - a plea bargain. We are no longer needed...we are free. Yippeeeee!!!! He called each our juror numbers, to make sure all were in attendance, and we were to go back down to the jury assembly room. So, we filed to the elevator down to the assembly room once more. We surrendered our badges, and we waited again until a staff came out with some papers. She explained that these papers were certification of our presence in court. We are to present one copy to our employer, for those who are employed, and one copy we keep. It is good for 12 months; we are not to be summoned to court again until after 12 months is over. But in case they do, we are to present them our copy of the certificate.

The first guy who was called to get his certificate was so happy he jumped to his feet and ran to get his paper. We all applauded him. Everyone was in good spirit already. And why not?...we are now free to go. No one there wanted to go back to work the rest of the day. There is still half of the day to play truant. They are paid by the company they work for just the same, why bother. Everyone went home happy.