Now I know how to make it rain!

A very loud thunderstorm woke me up on Wednesday at 4:00 a.m. I looked outside and it was raining buckets!! So the secret to making rain is to spend a couple of hours in high heat and humidity watering your gardens.

Sidebar: It was quite the light show. I sat on the couch, drinking coffee and watching the storm until my alarm went off.

Just before I left for work, I went out on the patio. As I suspected (finally), the air conditioner was not working. Dammit!

Luckily, by the time I was pulling out of the garage, it was just sprinkling. Unluckily, before I went a mile, I ran into the most intense rain I think I have ever seen! The entire right hand lane was immediately flooded to the top of the curb, forcing everyone to drive in one lane (or flood your engine). And the wipers just couldn’t keep up.

By the time I got to work, it had gone back to regular rain.

At work, I asked Michelle (the one who sits next to me) where her husband was working today. Her husband Scott and his partner, Keith, own Competitive Heating and Cooling. They are the ones who fixed my furnace last January. She said she didn’t know, why? So, I explained the A/C problem. I assured her it was not as urgent as the furnace (back then I feared that my pipes would freeze. Now I’m just uncomfortable and sweaty). So, I asked her to tell him I could use his expertise the next time he was around here (they work all over).

So, she called him and as luck would have it they were working in the area and agreed to meet me at the house at 12:30 p.m.

I left early enough (I got home at 12:25) but they were already there and working on it (I forgot you don’t have to go into the house to work on the air conditioner). There is a little can (about the size of a soup can) with big wires going into it and that was bulged out at the top. They explained it works like the old starter solenoid on a car.

Fortunately, they had a replacement in their van. They had me turn on the A/C inside and we waited. Because I have the interruptible power, they said it takes like 5-10 minutes to reset. When it didn’t kick back on, they checked the two fuses in the box by the unit and, sure enough, one had blown. They installed a new one and, “bingo” the A/C kicked on!

I told them I was worried I’d have to buy a new one. They checked and this one (a Carrier) was installed in 1998. So, they said it should last a long time before I’d need to replace it.

I thanked them, gave them $125.00 US and they left. Now, that may sound like a lot, but after thinking I’d need a new one, I was relieved!!!

I ate a quick peanut butter and jelly sandwich and went back to work.

It was 81 degrees F. at 3:00 p.m. At about 4:00, a wicked thunderstorm rolled in with more sheets of wind-driven rain. “Uh, oh,” I thought, “another bad commute!” But, it had passed and it was just raining on the way home. However, it went east (the same way I was going), so I watched an incredible show of lightening off and on the whole way home. BTW, according to the truck, it was only 69 degrees at 5:00 p.m. The cold front's passing made a dramatic difference in the temperature!

When I got there and treated Caley, I changed clothes (into shorts and tee shirt) and had to laugh. It was chilly in the house!

I started the Wednesday night wash and then started on the potato salad. I knocked as much of the salt off the potatoes as I could (eaten as baked they would have been fine, but I thought it might be too much for potato salad). Then I cut them up into approximately one inch cubes.

It had stopped raining, so I went outside to get some fresh thyme. I checked the rain gauge and had just under two inches of rain in about a 14-hour time span!

Back inside, I melted about two tablespoons of bacon fat in my 12-inch skillet. I fried the potatoes (skins and all) until a light, golden brown. Then I removed them onto a plate to cool. Then I mixed up my dressing (now I didn’t have two pound of red potatoes, but I’ll give the correct amounts as if I did):

• 1 1/4 cup of sour cream
• 3/4 cup of mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup of white vinegar

I mixed that together with a little cracked black pepper (I skipped the salt as I said). The recipe did not call for thyme, but I added it anyway. I dressed the potatoes and then stuck them into the refrigerator to cool for at least one hour.

Then I sliced green onions into thin rounds and crumbled four strips of bacon.

I watched the rest of the news while the clothes were in the dryer. The hour was up after taking care of the laundry, so I plated my dinner. I topped the potato salad with some of the green onions and crumbled bacon. 

I gotta tell you, I wasn’t all that impressed. Now, it did taste like a baked potato, but the dressing tasted more cloying than creamy. I do have leftovers and, after finishing the bowl tonight, I had a thought: if it’s supposed to be a “baked potato” salad, what if you topped it with a little shredded cheddar cheese? Maybe I’ll try that tomorrow.

I watched a movie, read for a bit and then went to bed.