The heat melts our energy, making dealing with anything not absolutely essential a huge pain. And there's lots of essential business to deal with: getting to a grocery (if they're living over in the 9th upper or lower) means a drive across town; getting the huge pile of debris that people keep dumping on your street picked up means a long wait time on the phone with people who, when you do finally talk to them, don't know who you need to call; getting your mail delivered or picked up still doesn't seem to happen on a daily basis; getting electricity or an Internet connection (although much improved) still can't be counted on in these intense summer downpours; and lots of stuff is going on to keep us from getting any of this done:

The owner of Snug Harbor and Port of Call, who was a huge supporter of live music--esp. jazz--just passed away, and there's been lots of parties in celebration of his life and his influence on the city. Tons of musicians, as a result, are in town and putting on rocking shows all over the place.

And since our energy bills are as out of control as the heat, the only place we really want to be is at a bar or a restaurant where they can afford to run the AC.


And of course, all of this assumes that these folks are even in town, which most folks aren't. They're at the beach where it's okay to be hot or somewhere else where summer isn't so unbearable.

Granted, I don't know these folks. Maybe they are flakes or scammers or worse, but I'd give them at least a month before I drew any conclusions.

good luck.
love.
ali
(who, ftr, is sweating right now at midnight with central air on and my thermostat set at 82)