The "Seabiscuit"...

...and other stuff.





Even though I repeat it every year, da Zigster has a helluva time remembering the name of this plant. "Hibiscus" isn't so hard to remember...I don't think, anyway. However, Zig just kept coming up with "Sea biscuit".

So now...and forever more...around these parts, a hibiscus is always a sea biscuit.

Now, I've grown sea biscuits every summer for as long as I can remember. But I don't think I've ever had one that has bloomed like this one. This poor thing has been through it all....wind, rain, hail, flood, cold...you name it. And it still looks like this. It's got 7 or 8 big blooms right now, with at least 20 buds. And we haven't even used fertilizer.

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It's been over a month now since our last major flood, and we still don't have hot water.

Normally, if we're gonna be flooded, we call the plumber, he comes in and yanks the hot water heater up outa the basement, takes it to his shop and stores it til the water goes down. Then he brings it back and re-installs it.

This time, the water came into the basement too fast and the hot water heater...the...uh...brand new hot water heater...was ruined. All our other utilities are up high...the furnace is in the attic and the central air is build way up on a platform. The hot water heater was the only thing still left in the basement.

Da Zigster and I talked about it and decided that we'd get an "on demand" hot water heater. The units are small and can hang on a wall (I made a poem!) and we'll never hafta worry about not having hot water. At least, not having hot water because of a flood. The plumber was here the other day and he can place it in our back foyer...up high. Yay!

Though we're just renting right now, our landlords have agreed to split the bill with us. I wouldn't have cared if we'd have had to pay the whole damn thing....as long as I can have some hot water during the next big flood. And there will be another one...I'm sure. If and when we get the opportunity to buy, that'll be one less thing we hafta worry about replacing. In the meantime, it oughta save us a good chunka change on our Ameren bill. That's always a plus.

I'm tellin ya...I need a shower. Bad. I'm sooooo sick of boiling pan after pan of water just to take a bath.

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Ya know, I'm a really laid-back kinda gal. I rarely get stressed and pretty much go with the flow. But there's one place that can turn me into a bear with a sore ass quicker'n shit.

WalMart.

I fucking hate that store. And I've made a vow to myself to go there only when I feel like there's no other alternative. Or unless I have a Valium first. Or a lobotomy.

I hadn't been there for probably six months...until today. And I did it without a mother's little helper...or a lobotomy. Though I damn sure needed one when I got done. Wouldn't have gone in the first place, but I needed several different things and just didn't feel like runnin all around town to find each thing.

Stupid me. I don't care. Next time, I'll drive 50 fuckin extra miles if I hafta.

The parking lot is always a freakin zoo. The store is always a freakin zoo. Fifty percent of the shoppers look like they came straight from the freak show. The cashiers and store "assistants" are usually either rude or totally without personality.

Gah!

I did snag some really nice-lookin mangoes, though.