Alexandra, thank you!

The mechanic also said he figured it was the O2 sensor. He said he figured some oil or something had got on it and it was malfunctioning. But I guess he assumed I knew what that meant, in terms of consequences, and that it meant that the car wasn't going to die suddenly on me. I feel a lot better, being butterfly-workshop bound tomorrow morning.

It was nice last night to have a fairly quiet evening at home. Monday I was up here helping a student with her project, Tuesday was the air-conditioning guys, Wednesday was car-getting and the usual monthly church meetings. It was good to be able to stay in.

I do think the heat is affecting me. It's been close to or over 100 (absolute temperatures) with "heat index" values of 105-110. I've been kind of unmotivated and not very interested in working on any one project. Last night I'd keep picking things up, knitting for a few minutes, and then putting them back down. I guess the most I did was add a couple more inches of edging on the Hiawatha shawl - but, given the size of the shawl, that's not very significant.

And tired. I've been so TIRED. I've been sleeping solidly up until my alarm goes off each morning, which I normally never do. And I'd love to take a nap in the middle of the day (or at least go somewhere cool and quiet and just sit for a while), but I can't.

The bad news is that Kearney, Nebraska (that name always makes me think of one of the bullies on the Simpsons; isn't Kearney the sort of shaved-head kid?) is going to be just as hot as here. The Great Plains are NOT pleasant in midsummer. (For that matter, the northern Great Plains are not pleasant in winter, where you can get buried by feet - multiple - of snow, and then blinded by that snow blowing all over the place in high winds). At least after the meetings are over I'm going to be visiting my parents for a week, and although Illinois will be warm, it should be a bit cooler than here.

And finally: considering this and this, maybe I need to knit up or crochet up a small white van talisman so my car will stay healthy. (Note that I've stopped referring to my car as Eggbert; I think I'm slowly beginning the detechment process so I won't be too sad - and too prone to hang on - when it gets to the point where it's more sensible to buy a new car than to fix whatever goes wrong).

I can't believe that in a week, I will be on my way to my parents' house, and from there, to the meetings. I'm looking forward to just getting on the train (after safely getting down to the station in my hopefully-working-okay car). The nice thing about train travel is, once you get on, you don't have any more worries. You don't have to drive the thing. If it's late, there's really not anything you can do. Other people are charged with providing food and (because I have a compartment) making up your bed for you. I'm thinking about projects - I'm probably going to take the stole and try to finish it. And maybe the Hourglass sweater, but maybe not, depending on room. And the various socks. I have two pair of simple socks going on right now - the sport-weight socks (an old Regia color called "Paris" - it's their fake fair isle with blue, lavender, and pale green stripes. These are the socks that I'm debating whether to keep for myself or put in the Dulaan box. And I'm also knitting on a pair of Online "Caribic" colors. Of which, the yarn looked more fun in the ball than knit up. They're just not my favorite colors when combined in the socks. (It's 732. The colors are more "clashy" in person)

It's a sockweight yarn so I don't know if it would be considered warm enough for Dulaan. I don't quite have the heart to rip back, as I'm nearly to the heel on the first sock, and I'd rather just knit them up and send them on to somewhere where there might be a person who would look at them and go "oooh!" rather than what I'm going, which is, "ugh."