polka? did someone say POLKA?!?

Most of the thunderstorms blew north of me yesterday, but I did keep an eye on The Weather Channel (thanks, Jill-Bob), just in case. While watching, I spotted an ad for Danny Lipford's web site, especially as it relates to air conditioner maintenance (basically: keep the unit clean by cleaning the coils with a low-pressure hose a few times each year, and don't let plants grow within a foot of it). That's the same advice my HVAC repair guy gave me, years ago. Today, Gene Bob's Rain Gauge says I got 2.5 inches of precip.

Don't let me be responsible for Wasting Time At Work, but ... check out the photo collection on CollegeMix.com. Tim-Bob reports that he was transfixed for an hour or more (and I had to admit I was equally seduced). I'm sure this was off-hours.

I donated another pint of whole blood this morning (at Carter BloodCare's office - much more comfy than those converted Winnebagos), and apparently unemployment agrees with me: my blood pressure [BP] was 118/78 (pulse 80) which is better than it's been in years. I doubt my new "avoid fast food forever" phase can be attributed to these good numbers, since I just started it at noon on Monday.

I may waddle down to Ennis this weekend to take in the street fair that's part of the The National Polka Festival®. Polka is a Czechoslovakian thing, and The Czechs of Texas reminded me of the dance locations in Ennis: Sokol Hall; KofC [Knights of Columbus]; KJT [Katolicka Jednota Texaska]. Do I recall a 4th hall last year? Last year, I dragged Jill-Bob there, so this would be a repeat for me. I remember arriving in Ennis about 15 minutes before the kickoff parade, expecting to park a block away. Wrong!! This is a huge event for a small town, and people begin gathering much earlier, lawn chairs in tow. I'm not motivated to fight the crowd for their parade at 10am Saturday. Last year, I was shocked to see that there were no vendors selling Polka Dots, which I thought would be a natural. They do have a poor guy (girl?) forced to wear a silly "Polka Dot the Chicken" costume, but it just ain't the same.

PJ said that a Confederate group was denied a permit to have a booth, and set up on someone's front lawn instead (and I thought the Civil War ended in 1865: silly me).