Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation, and across the world. It is just after 5:00 a.m. in "The City."

The current temperature according to the NWS is 60° under foggy skies. My DTWS shows 62º on both the front porch and on the deck. Also according to the NWS, light winds of 6 mph make it feel like 59°. Today's high temperature is forecast to be 67º under mostly sunny skies with a relative humidity index of 67% and a 10% chance for precipitation. That 67º mark is 6º cooler than yesterday.

According to my DTWS, the barometric pressure is 29.33" and rising, while the NWS is reporting 29.94", and also rising. Generally, those readings indicate fair weather.

The sun will rise this morning @ 6:06 a.m. and it will set later @ 9:21 p.m

A Beach Hazard Statement with high wave action, strong currents, and dangerous swimming conditions expected goes into effect @ 2:00 p.m. this afternoon and continues into this evening. High wave action with waves upwards of 4 feet, strong currents, and dangerous swimming conditions are expected. Piers will likely become swamped by waves in Ottawa, Allegan, and VanBuren counties.

Strong currents can pull swimmers into deeper water and high waves can sweep people off piers. eaches with particularly dangerous conditions this afternoon and evening include North Beach in South Haven and Holland State Park. Swimmers should remain out of the water to avoid hazardous swimming conditions and should not venture out on piers.

In addition, there is a Small Craft Advisory in effect from 2:00 p.m. this afternoon until 11:00 p.m. tonight, from St. Joseph to Pentwater. North winds 10 to 20 knots with gusts up to 30 knots and waves 2 to 4 feet are expected. The highest waves will be south of Grand Haven. Conditions will be hazardous to small craft. Inexperienced mariners, especially those operating smaller vessels should avoid navigating in hazardous conditions.


We got good and bad news on our A/C system. The good news is that I was right, it isn't working properly. The bad news is that there is a leak in the outside unit that is about 21 years of age. More bad news, our A/C system uses a refrigerant that the service people do not have readily available. In addition, the outside unit looks like a meteor landed on it, as one side is slightly crushed.

We think that the ice buildup on our roof that we always see falling into the shared driveway also happens on the opposite side of the house where the A/C unit is located. Since we never see that ice fall off the roof on that side of the building, that is the most likely scenario. I think I may have John build a sloped enclosure/mini roof for the unit that will allow the ice to fall off in the future rather than crushing the unit.

So, even if it would be possible to find and fix the leak, we would be spending several hundreds of dollars on a unit that is well past its prime and which is not easily serviced. All of that is a way of saying that the A/C system must be replaced at a cost that will not be insignificant. However, the good news is that the A/C system will probably outlast our tenure in this house. We await a firm estimate from the A/C service company.

I finally got around to making those aforementioned vegan Italian sausages yesterday afternoon once Mary showed me where to store them in the refrigerator. We had some for dinner along with homemade oven-baked French fries ala Mary.

I also found out that one of the earpieces on the glasses that I've been wearing had fallen apart. I couldn't fix it so I made an appointment for next Monday afternoon to get an exam and new glasses. Sigh.

While I was out on the deck with the A/C serviceman, Mike, Mary opened our recent deliveries from that big-box online retailer. Unfortunately, there are more boxes in the future.

So, we didn't accomplish much else yesterday. Today is that gardening session and that's about it. Ciao.