I try and try to think that I will consistently post on here, but perhaps it is not meant to be. Anyways, had a pretty relaxing week, with the exception of a rather large mechanic bill that will definitely make my summer living a bit more conservative. But anyways, on to the good stuff.

About two weeks ago, my neighbor (in my duplex) asked me whether my swamp cooler was working, which was about the same as usual, not too much, but I have survived a couple years. Anyways, she was pretty crabby with a bad back and 85 degrees in her place, so of course she complained to our landlord about the swamp coolers, who decided that she would have them replaced. The new coolers are amazing, it not only keeps me cool throughout the day, it has temperature control! Before, it would continuously pump in the cool desert air at night and I would wake up to 60 degrees in my house in the morning (very cold) to a not so cool 80-85 degrees in my house when the temperature would reach 105 outside. While that is cooler than outside, I can now keep my place at 75-77.

On another note, I had the pleasure of watching my same neighbor's cat hunt a pigeon today. I was up fairly early and while reading, heard some crashing sound in the back, only to see the cat pawing at a pigeon with a rather large gash in the back. Sadly the pigeon was still alive and making some sounds. The pigeon tried to run off, but wasn't too successful. Later the cat decided to have the pigeon for breakfast right outside my front porch. I got some poor quality photos of it that I may upload later.

As an aside, I just finished "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer. It is about Chris McCandless who tried unsuccessfully to live in the Alaskan wild for a summer. It is a pretty amazing book, definitely worth the read. For me the book surfaced memories of the road trips that I have taken across the country either by myself (down to AZ) or with family and friends. While my trips are significantly less rugged, my road trips always bring about feelings of limitless possibility, and I am sure that McCandless certainly must have felt that when in Alaska. Some of my fondest memories are when I was riding along with Dad in his old van as a kid and I would see an out-of-state license plate. I would dream about where they were from and the amazing places they were going to go visit.

The book has recently been adapted into a movie. I think after reading the book, I don't believe the movie can capture the emotions that Krakauer conveyed, so unless anyone has seen it and can vouch for the movie, I will pass.

-Trevor