Last night here it was hot like the South - a night like a yellow bug-light out on the porch with a million insects out there buzzing and the screen-door creaking. 1 AM, 2 AM - I was not sleeping. Why? What despite the heat was disturbing my reverie? I turned off my fan to sense the anomaly better - a rhythmic thumping was coming from beyond the wall. 2AM, and they're playing loud music! I don't care if it is Saturday night, it's too late. I get dressed to reconnoiter - shorts, sandals, shirt - and go outside. Yes, the lights are definitely burning brightly in the window next to my bedroom. For the first time I creep up their stairwell, which is opposite my own. Not much sound from their door, but the one opposite is ajar - interesting! The top unit katty-corner to my own is vacant, and the resident manager is almost finished refurbishing it. Always fun to check out the units between tenants, to know their differences. Like for instance, just inside the door I can tell this one's stove is like-new, with its bright green digital read-out (contrast with my own's 1960's analog clock). Into the bathroom, and check this sink! Set in to a new counter is one of those retro-modern round kinds with the thick lip - my own counter with its sparkles holds a rectangular flush-mount, its stainless-steel trim pitted with age. My rent is lower than these refurbished units, however; even so it's going up by almost 5% in September. Truth be known I prefer my own less-contemporary but with-more-character furnishings. Enough of this wee-hours inspection - returning to my own unit, I grab up a ten-pound dumbbell and take it into the bedroom, into the closet where I tap it against the joist twice, hard, and then again. The music fades. Eventually sleep comes.

When I got back home yesterday, late-afternoon, I discovered that one of my appliances had rebelled. This unit's thermostat seems somewhat temperamental - I walked in to find my heater was on, roaring away although it's set at 55°. Its real thermometer, the little analog kind which looks like a car's fuel gauge, was over 100°! The only way to kill the heater when it gets like this is to unscrew its fuse for a while - and I'm going to leave it out until October!

I think things just ended with the dental hygienist - I guess I scared her away, or we frightened each other away. Or maybe not. Thursday we talked about Saturday, a dinner was proposed, but she said "we didn't have to unless I wanted to." Saturday late morning I came to the realization that, in fact I didn't want to, especially by the early 5:30 pick-up time agreed upon. So I called & begged off until tomorrow (today). Today we talk and she doesn't really wanna, in fact she details plans & reservations she made yesterday to take a trip down-state alone. (For her birthday!) Then suddenly the doorbell rang - saved by the bell? Hasty plans made to talk next week, and we hang up. The door? The usual apartment-seekers who think the manager lives in my unit (a mistake made approx. weekly). So we'll maybe speak next week... but I doubt it. Just not enough material there to work with - and besides, she chews gum, Van Morrison is "her favorite", and all she'll eat at the sushi bar is California Roll. Fatal warning signs? They add up.

Phone call with my older brother H. Talk naturally about his passion, antique boys books. He wanted to know if I recalled the Danny Dunn series, as nephew M is reading those books now with his dad. In a little over a month now M will enter real school, for the first grade.

Aimless bike riding 'round my neighborhood this afternoon, with bright sun and pale blue sky. I discovered a non-vehicular path and bridge between Los Altos and Palo Alto. I love these hot, dry California days - they're not unknown back East, days that feel like this, but here they're common. When I got back I listened to my ruby CD, the "King of Hearts" soundtrack and Talk Talk: "It's My Life" while I made a Temari ball. Sometime I'll have to explain this further - it's a Japanese craft I learned, spherical embroidery - here's a picture of one.

In addition to weekly KFJC listening to Robert Emmett's Norman Bates Memorial Soundtrack Show, must also hear the Big Guitar Show by Myke Destiny more often, like also weekly. (One's Saturday morning, the other Saturday afternoon.)