21 July 2014

Monday Musings...
Welcome to another week, or as we've been calling it here at the "Fortress"...
"The Sauna"
I'll get into that and some other things in a moment, but first, the forecast.
Our Hooiserland weather will see us with a substantial warmup today (...joy...), with the temps reaching the UPPER 80s, and a fair amount of humidity coming along for the ride (...great...).
So that means you might want to keep the air conditioning on.
(OUR options along those lines area bit more "limited")
Now, grab yourselves a cup of you favorite morning beverage and let's get this show on the road...
*** First out of the Sahara today is one of those "Bob" things - the kind of thing that happens to me whenever I do a good turn for someone.
Think of it as the old saying: "No good deed ever goes UNPUNISHED."
She's a good girl, too.
Well, I've been feeding the neighbor's cat and checking on her house as she's away up north, and that's been going well.
She even had one of her garage security floodlights blow out, so I replaced it from one in OUR spares.
And, there were some guys that were doing some mowing and branch trimming across the street who left their lopping shears behind.
I took them in and when they came back to do more work a few days later, gave them BACK to them (coulda kept them, but that doesn't score you ANY points on the PLUS side of the INTEGRITY COLUMN, does it?).
You just do what's right.
Anyway, Wifey and I decided to crank on our central A/C Saturday to get the humidity our of the house, and guess what?
NO A/C...!!!
((...WTF???...))
You've got to be kidding me, right?
Here we go again...
So, we call Korte (I think they're now on speed-dial...along with the FWPD), and they come out, "sess-up" the situation and have to ORDER a part of the unit. (a start-up kit).
Something in the electricals isn't working (obviously), so we're awaiting the return of the prodigal repairman.
The problem is in area #3
There was a bit of "good" news in all of this...we (meaning I) got to clean off the condenser COILS in the outside unit, and by the looks of it, it needed it.
Was damn near totally blocked with "schmutz", as we used to say.
(We saved over a HUNDRED dollars doing that ourselves, because that's what they charge to do it themselves...just sayin')
Old School Comfy...
Now, having to deal with NO A/C is something I haven't been privy to since I was a CHILD. Room fans blowing on you at night and a window or floor fan during the day. Over the years, when you DO get A/C, you get used to that...REAL FAST.
(yeah, I'm spoiled in that regard...AND getting too damn old to be sweating while sitting in the living room for no reason...LOL)
So, it's little wonder we're damn near sweltering at the "Fortress" over the last 2 days, and today will be a hum-dinger!
Let's not spontaneously combust over this...
We are hoping the unit gets FIXED, and that we're not out too much MORE money than we already laid out.
Let's put it this way...to REPLACE the whole unit will cost (you guessed it), a couple THOUSAND (rolls eyes)...never get a damn break around here.
It's not as though we can leave the windows open at night...downstairs is asking to be broken into, and upstairs only let's in the BOOMCAR (c)rap music that the police can never seem to get a handle on, so that's a wash for us.
It's up real EARLY, open a few windows and the patio door, and haul out the box fans to suck IN some cooler air. And that won't last long with temps going near 90 degrees.
No peace...no happy.
And you have to watch to make sure the computers don't get overheated as well...been there, done that out in the business world...not fun at all, and that was back in the late 70s when computers took up a whole room...talk about a hot, humid mess.
Let's hope all goes well today...hmm?
Moving on...
*** Famed actor JAMES GARNER passed away over the weekend at the age of 86, and it's always a bummer to see good actors leave us.
Thankfully, their work lives long after them.
Here's the WIKI for James:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Garner
I recall growing up watching him on MAVERICK.
Later,I got to see him in some REALLY good movies, like THE GREAT ESCAPE.
I watch this every time it comes on.
The "scrounger" at his best!
He was also in UP PERISCOPE (read the book in late elementary school)'
There was also the John Frankenheimer-directed GRAND PRIX (Garner drove the car himself too, as he was an accomplished racing driver).
Garner as F1 driver Pete Aron.
He costarred with Julie Andrews (not the first time, either) in VICTOR/VICTORIA (a real hoot), TANK (little known but a good movie), And of course, SPACE COWBOYS.
There were so many OTHER movies, both dramatic AND comedy...Garner was that versatile.
Then there was THE ROCKFORD FILES...loved that show...catchy theme (thanks, Mike Post) which was released on a 45 record (I still have that somewhere, too), and he (like myself) drove a Pontiac Firebird. 
This car STILL exists and runs.
The opening telephone answering machine calls were real funny, too.
What Hollywood has lost, heaven has reclaimed...at least I'd like to think so.
Thanks for ALL the wonderful memories through your acting...you will be missed.
*** Last back to "the cooler"  today, it's tough to grow up with so many REAL stars in movies and TV and then watch the drop of the radar one by one (many times in "threes").
I know I've seen my share of too many actors, actresses, and performers in general , who were at the top of the entertainment game, leave us. Some were in their twilight years.
You watch a John Wayne movie (like Rio Bravo) on TCM, and it takes you back to when you first watched it...when Wayne was alive and still making (damn good) movies.
You watch Mr Smith Goes to Washington, Spirit of St. Louis, or It's a Wonderful Life (for the umpteenth time) and you can't help but think of Jimmy Stewart as always being with us.
And in many ways, ALL of those stars that have passed ARE with us, thanks to the preservation of their various works.
Bogey STILL has staying power.
You have to admit that THOSE actors and actresses had something called "staying power", and it makes me wonder, if we would ever be able to assign a similar term to those who appear in movies today....the "up and comers", as it were?
Don't really think so, and not with the fondness we remember those from the heyday of Hollywood.
Rita Hayworth...timeless beauty.
Somehow, those golden and yes, even the silver years of Hollywood were a "one-shot deal".
There will NEVER be another Paulette Goddard...or a Burt Lancaster...or an Errol Flynn...or Bette Davis...or even another James Garner.
But, thankfully, there will be the marvelous work they left for us to enjoy.
Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay SAFE out there, America.

4 comments:

CWMartin said...

First off, I feel your heat pain. I remember when the Great Wind left us without power for a whole weekend (and some people for a whole week). If the box fans are a pain try doing it with the battery operated jobbies. Thankfully, we don't have the worries of replacement up here in Happy Acres... but we did have to convert the former guinea pig exercise fence into a keep-Scrappy-from-peeing-on-the-unit fence.


Second how well put about Jim Garner, et al! Just like in music vs todays songs, these actors had PERSONALITY- they STOOD OUT from the crowd. The had the talent to be unique. I remember staying up till 2 AM to catch a snowy picture from Detroit's channel 50 to watch Rockford Files re-runs.

Bob G. said...

Chris:
Well, Wifey found ANOTHER box fan (got three now, plus the tower one in the bedroom)...so, the family room, upstairs hall and (more importantly) computer room are tolerable.
Then, we called a shop that SPECIALIZES in units like we have, and they can get to us FASTER< so we dropped Korte in favor of Poorman's (htg and air)
Cross yer fingers on this one.

Glad you liked the way I feel about Garner et al.
Every one of them (male or female) was UNIQUE in both talent and persona.
(and we didn't need to know all their business, either)

They used to run Rockford Files on a local UHF station in Philly (syndication) and it was right around dinner time...fine way to chow down.
Have to see if TVLand or Antennae TV does anything as an homage.

Hey, thanks for stopping by and commenting.
Stay safe (and keep COOL) up there, brother.

John DuMond said...

Nice tribute to James Garner, Bob. I once heard him described as the last of Hollywood's classic leading men. Pretty accurate assessment, I think.

I hope you get that AC situation sorted out soon.

Bob G. said...

John D.:
I agree with that call.

Classic...yes.
Leading man...definitely.
Action Hero...quite.
TV star...positively.

Don't find many as well-rounded these days or as well-received by the masses.

--The central A/C story has another chapter...more on that tomorrow (it keeps 'ya coming back...LOL)

Hey, thanks much for taking the time to stop by today and comment.
Stay safe out there.
(Now, go play the theme from The Rockford Files...just for the hell of it)