Here it is, my annual (sorta) lament to the end of summer. It’s a big day today, as not only is it freshman move-in day at SU (a sad day indeed, back when I used to work there – traffic instantly turned to shit, and there were suddenly lines to get into pretty much every establishment in the area), but the butter sculpture will be unveiled ahead of tomorrow’s opening on the Great NYS Fair. I will, of course, let you all know what it is.

Otherwise, I’m struggling to make it through another five-day week, and I find it hard to believe that it’s only Wednesday. The weather has cooled off a bit (quite a bit, actually), and while they say things will warm up again, I have doubts that we’ll get more pool time this year. I haven’t kept track, but I’d be willing to bet that if you added up the amount of money it cost in propane, electricity, water (lots of water this year), and chemicals and divided that by the actual amount of time anybody was actually in the water, you’d be somewhere in the vicinity of a dollar a minute. Probably more when you consider that June was a total washout.

It’s also rapidly getting darker earlier in the evening now. Sunset up here is 7:50 PM today – and in a week it’ll ten minutes earlier. I find it all very sad. As usual, I had a lot of goals for the weather, and while I did manage to get a few things done there’s lots left to do before the snow flies (and you never know when that’s gonna happen).

Oh well, whattya gonna do?

So, we’ve made it more or less to the halfway point of another five-day work week. This one started out with an exhilarating trip to the dentist, which (all things considered) wasn’t too terrible. I got an attaboy for my diligence and oral hygiene, and an appointment for my next cleaning in February (which sounds very cold to me). When I got home on Monday evening, there were only two dogs there to say hello, which is very unusual. Turns out the third one was camped out underneath a tree waiting for some varmint or other to come down and play. At first I thought it was a cat, but much to my surprise, it turned out to be a woodchuck.

Now, I’m a pretty worldly guy, but I’ve never seen a woodchuck in a tree before, and frankly had no idea that they could even climb trees. But apparently they can, and this poor fella looked pretty terrified. So I herded up the dogs and sequestered them over on the other side of the yard. I went back to check on him a few hours later, and damned if he wasn’t still there, hugging a branch. I was beginning to try and figure out how I’d go about moving him if it came down to it, but fortunately he was gone the next morning.

I’m guessing he’ll stay outside the fence from now on, but I’m a bit paranoid that there’s gonna be a groundhog paratrooper leaping from a tree when I least expect it, and biting my face off.

Otherwise, there isn’t much excitement around here. Summer seems to be fading fast, and the weather has turned slightly chilly. At least at night, which is good for sleeping but not so good for keeping the pool water warm. At this rate, between the cost of water, electricity, chemicals, and propane, I figure it will have cost me roughly $64.15 for every time I’ve gone in the pool this summer. What a deal!

And of course I’m trying to resign myself to the possibility that the idiot American people will somehow manage to appoint Donald Trump the next president. Not that the other Republicans are any better.

Please save us Bernie Sanders!

Oh well, two and a half more days and then another 3-day weekend. I only hope I can make it.

If you’re like me, when you hear the word “leo” you think of the International Space Station, because it’s in Low Earth Orbit. But this August one can’t help but think of the astrological sign Leo the Lion. Especially in light of that brave white hunter Bungalow Bill DDS (aka, Bloomington MN dentist Walter Palmer – just his practice is in Bloomington; he lives over in Eden Prairie should you want to drop by his home for tea and cookies) who bravely paid somebody to lure Cecil the Lion from a sanctuary so he could kill him with a crossbow. Congrats, doc. Now Bloomington is known for something even more nauseating than the Mall of America. I hope Ted Nugent needs a lot of grill work, ‘cuz I can’t imagine a whole lot of other folks will be seeking your dental skills. Though I suppose Michelle and Marcus Bachmann aren’t far away.

But August isn’t just about killing leos, as we as celebrate their birthdays, including Leo in Chief Barack Obama, who was allegedly born in Hawaii 54 years ago yesterday, plus the birthday of my brother and wife (that’s two different people – I’m not some Mormon with brother-wives), who were both born an undisclosed number of years ago today. So, happy birthday to you both. Your checks are in the mail.

Otherwise, I’m jut trying to make it through another week. The weekend won’t be all that enjoyable, since I have a Monday morning dentist appointment hanging over my head. I don’t think he’s a lion killer, though I don’t really know for sure. I assume he’s Hindu – do they kill lions? I know cows are safe, but I’m not sure about other critters.

My sister is trying to get me to go look at a 1996 GMC Jimmy with a plow on it, because I made the mistake of mentioning that I’d kinda like to sit in a heated cab listening to the radio while I plow my driveway this winter (not to mention being able to plow a lot faster), rather than freezing my ass off on the tractor (cab or no cab, it gets cold out there after a while). So she’s been on the job scouring Craig’s List ever since. I hate talking to people and haggling and all that stuff, but it really would be nice to have.

Oh well, I suppose I’d better get back to work.