This is our first summer in OR and our overriding impression is how different it is from living in AZ. August here means daytime highs that might reach the low 80's and overnight lows that dip into the 50's. (as in, pretty much perfect)
If we have the windows open when we go to bed the house is chilly in the morning, but closed up it's too warm and stuffy.
Pam turned on her side of the electric blanket at some point during the night.
On marginal days I turn on the electric furnace in the morning for one or two cycles just to take the chill off. A fire in the wood stove would be overkill, a waste of wood, and make it way too warm long after the sun is up and done its work.
That's what led me to look at the furnace filter this morning, which I hadn't changed since we moved in last October. During the winter we almost never use the furnace, using the wood stove instead. But this cheap, 40-year old furnace needs all the advantage it can get, so any dirt in the filter seems like a bad idea.
The filter I took out wasn't too bad, but because I had one ready to go I made the swap anyway. And that got me thinking, what's the point??
The air that goes into the furnace comes from the vent in the door of the small closet that holds the furnace. It passes through the filter, then the furnace, and then comes out the various vents throughout MoHo. So is the filter sort of like automatic dusting?
If the air were coming from outside I'd see the point: getting out pollen and particles you don't want circulating in the house. But when the air comes from within the house....
I dunno.
I ran three miles this morning, down to the deer crossing sign and back. It's actually just a shade over 3 miles, so probably very close to the 5k distance (3.1 miles) I'll do at the race this Saturday. I ran a negative split (the return half, coming back up the hill, faster than the out), and did it at a pace that *should* get me a 3rd place unless some rabbits show up. I felt strong.
I listened to part of Trump's economic speech while I was cleaning up after my run. He's going to bring all the auto jobs back to Detroit - the site for this speech - so American cars will once again dominate the market.
On a related note: what is an American car??
Beginning in 2017 Chrysler will make NO cars in the U.S.
Chrysler is now owned by Fiat, an Italian company. They figured out that it's cheaper to build "American" cars overseas where wages and regulations keep costs down. So the only Chrysler-branded vehicles made in the U.S. will be trucks (Dodge) and Jeeps.
So if you want to buy an American car don't make it a Chrysler product, even if they do have cool ads with footage of Detroit.
I'm watching with interest what comes of the announcement of Evan McMullin that's he's running for President. Is it a logistical impossibility? Will some of the money that won't get behind Trump help fund him? This could get interesting, and perhaps...hopefully...give us an alternative we can support.
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