It's been so long since we have talked! It's been a pretty rainy week here. It's been cloudy most of the time, and with the rain cooled air, I actually hunted out a pair of flannel pants, socks, and a robe. It got down to a chilly 78°F in the house. Okay, I also have the flu and was running a fever, but when normal room temperature is 86°F, 78 really is kinda cold.

Of course, besides the fairly constant drizzle, we have had the regular tormentas, usually kicking off around 10 pm, but some have been in the first part of the day. The tormentas bring along the usual thunder and lighting, and we are starting to be able to do house shutdown in our sleep.

The sheer volume of water that can fall from the sky in a short period is staggering, and we are grateful that our house is well built and doesn't have any of the water issues that the houses of many of our friends have.

There has been a lot more rain this year than last year, which is a good thing, since Mazatlan has been in a 6-year drought. We live in a pretty unique environment called a tropical dry forest and don't get the rain as reliably as other tropical areas. Not too far north of us is desert. Mazatlan sits right on the border between desert and the tropics.

The empty lot across from us has exploded since the rainy season started. It is back to its usual jungle-like state of tangling vines, tall grasses, and blooming bushes. You would never know the lot had been stripped to the dirt just a few months ago. A tormenta brought down the tree the parrots were nesting in, which is what we were afraid of when we saw the backhoe hit the tree. We went to check it out, and all the parrots made it out safely. I guess they have made their home somewhere else, because we haven't seen them around.

Of course, the storms have caused us our share of problems, mostly electronic. In the past weeks, Chuck has had to perform CPR on both his machine and the server. Those were some really stressful days for him, but with heat lamp therapy, canned air, and persistence, he was able to resuscitate both machines.

This week it was my computer's turn. And, of course, I have to be a little off kilter. All the therapy in the world won't bring my machine back. During CPR, the power supply popped, flashed, and smoked - never a good thing. Thankfully, I run Linux, so Chuck was able to drop my hard drive into the server and it's just like having my machine back. All my programs, all my files, all my settings are here. Unfortunately, the server is the machine Chuck was backing up my computer to since my second hard drive died, so now he is telling me to transfer any important files I create to our server in Virginia.

In case you are wondering why in the heck we are having such problems, I will try to explain with some quasi-science to back me up, but it really is just a theory. I noticed this when we first moved here.

First, a little background. When I was growing up, my mother taught me to never put a hot pan in water. Of course, there are dangers if there is hot grease in the pan, but she taught me that if you put a hot pan in cold water, you can break the temper and warp your pan. I am neither a smithy nor a metallurgist, so I have no idea if that is true, but it stuck. And I have seen people who break this rule in possession of warped pans, so I always leave my pans on the stove to cool completely before washing them.

When our stuff finally arrived last July, I started to cook in earnest. We had had a month of eating out and quick food and were ready for some home cooking. The first time I whipped out my saute pan, I of course let it cool while we ate. When I went back into the kitchen, the pan was full of huge droplets of water. I started to wonder if something was leaking from my vent-a-hood, but could find nothing.

The next time I cooked, it happened again. And again. And again. Finally, I realized it was condensation. But only in pans that had been hot. After pondering it for a bit, I came up with my quasi-scientific theory:

The pan and stove heat the surrounding air, causing the air to be able to hold more moisture than the ambient air. The extra moisture is thoughtfully provided by the cooking process. When the pan cools, the air around it can no longer hold the excess moisture, so it condenses on the pan, making the big, fat droplets.

I have no idea if I am right. Maybe one of you smart, science types out there can shed some light? Anyway, Chuck and I think the same thing that happens to my pans on the stove happens to the computers. They get pretty warm when they are running. As long as they stay running, they are fine. The problems happen when we have to shut them down and they cool.

So now Chuck and I are implementing a new Storm Plan. Sounds all official, huh? We don't shut down. We put the computers in standby mode, unplug the UPSs, and hope the battery on the UPS will outlast the storm. Don't you think finger-crossing is a brilliant emergency strategy? So do I.

Of course all this shutting down and going into standby mode has really put a dent into my working time. I am still working on the same website that has occupied so much of my time lately, and I am getting really ready to be done with it. The client keeps coming up with changes and additions and "can we try?" Ugh.

All of the shutting down has also really put a dent in my ability to do laundry, as well. We keep using up towels to dry the stairs. I really need some time with my dryer plugged in to dry them. I am also particularly low on underwear. Why is that always the thing I run out of first? I am not really in the mood to go commando, so here's hoping I get some laundry done today.

Another thing the rain has brought – funny how all my news is rain related. I guess it is pretty life-governing. I never would have thought. Anyway, we've had more bees. I don't know if there are more because the field is blooming and then they are searching for a dry place or what, but we have had more in the house than usual.

A bee found its way in through a window this morning and made a bee line for me. Maybe he was looking for revenge for all his brethren that have been destroyed on my behalf, but he was a little bee on a mission. I was just starting to try and move when Tasha darted across the living room and snapped it right out of the air. Poor thing got stung on the inside of her mouth for her efforts. I have been giving her all the ice she wants to munch on from my precious supply, and my brave little girl seems to be doing fine.

Well, that's about all the news from around here. I hope you are doing well. I am back to work, on my Sunday – my supposed day off. I hope you have a good day. You know, we really should do this more often.