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I am a retired English teacher and department head, the mother of three grand mother of four, and have been married to the same man for 52 years. I subscribe to Dr. PM Forni's concept of Civility. I was born in South Philadelphia and grew up in the 'burbs. I love soft pretzels and cheesesteaks, the Phillies, the Eagles, and San Diego. I love being Mom, Aunt Kathy, Nona Kathy, and Teacher. I spend a lot of time in my gardens in the spring and summer, and in the winter I plan what I'm going to plant. I also am an avid reader and photographer.

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Friday, July 16, 2010

Carole King and All That

♫♫We felt the earth move under our♫♫...uh...okay so we were laying down!  It was 5:05 AM after all.  We thought the cat was jumping up on the bed, and off, and on....--what?  She's a big cat!!!  Only the door was closed.  No cat.  We were having an earthquake --  Confirmed later -- as a 3.6 shaker -- it's not our first, we had a series of them around 20 years ago.  So much so the State put a seismograph not too far from our home, but has since removed it. Still disconcerting; still unusual for the DC/Baltimore area. 

Speaking of which, in the middle of this brutally hot summer, our heat pump has died.  As a new unit, it's had three new compressors -- count them 1-2-3!!!  I believe we've got the famous model, the Trane Lemon.  They say it needs yet another new valve that they can't put in until Monday, but frankly, we've had it.  We want a new heat pump!  The company that installed it at least has loaned us a window unit that we've put in the bedroom and we have a unit the girls used in college in our kitchen.  In the words of Rosanna Rosannadanna, "It's always something."

12 comments:

Bilbo said...

I felt the quake this morning shortly after 5:00 as I was writing today's blog post. I thought I'd finally written that earth-shaking piece I've always dreamed of...

Sweet Virginia Breeze said...

What a disconcerting way to be awakened. Your quake was featured on our local news tonight, but nothing was felt this far south. Did the kitties get upset?

George said...

I'm glad the quake wasn't any worse, but I can think of more pleasant ways to be awakened.
Sorry to hear about heat pump. Things like that always pick the most inconvenient times to break down. I hope you gets put in without any problems.

Lena said...

That is a very scary way to awaken. Glad it was not stronger! Did anything fall off of your walls?

Cheryl said...

I'm SO glad the quake woke me. I would have hated to miss it. So surreal! So amazing. Glad it wasn't worse.

My AC has only broken down during a heat wave. How awful for you. You need that AC unit in your office :)

Kimberly said...

I saw an article in the news after I commented on your FB. Very surprising. Just another life story! My daughter's ac broke during that first bad heat wave. Seems to be the season. They are having to work too hard this summer, I guess.

Purple Flowers said...

When I heard about it, I thought of you. Not a pleasant moment, I'm sure.
Here's hoping you get the heat pump in asap. Go to the pool!

Mage said...

Very sorry to read about the 1.2.3 heat pump. Yup, third strike is a lemon. Hope you enjoyed the earthquake as we have been out here. :)

Rick Rockhill said...

earthquakes are interesting. We get then in Cali fairly often, the last one was a 5.9 s few weeks ago. It is a bizarre feeling when you realize what is happening.

beachgirl said...

Sorry about the pump. It always happens when its needed. We had the same problem in our townhouse 3 times in one very hot summer. Always over a holiday weekend of course.

Gilly said...

Very disconcerting, I would think to be woken up by a Quake!! We have had them here, but not big ones.

And I'm really sorry about your AC - I can't imagine what it must be like with your heatwave, let alone without AC!

I'll send you a bit of our rain and low temps!!

Ruth Hull Chatlien said...

I must confess. I am confused. Is a heat pump the same thing as an air conditioner? It this an Eastern term?

We've had very mild earthquakes here too . . . quite rarely. It's always a shock when it happens.