I Don't Want To Go Down To The Basement

But it's the place to be right now. On Friday I jinxed myself by mentioning that the air conditioning hadn't gone out. So much for that theory - it went out Friday night and has not worked properly since. The air temperature in the Twin Cities was officially 99 on Saturday, but the readings in certain locations (downtown St. Paul, for example) were above 100. This heat wave is supposed to abate as the week goes on, but we do expect it to be in the 90s again today.

One of the big disadvantages of unemployment is the lack of income, and that includes paying for repairmen to come to your house. But the basement is still cool and the kids don't mind being down there, since that's where the television is. So we spent a lot of time down there in the past few days, including sleeping down there the last two nights. Meanwhile, I do have an interview today, so maybe the income issue will start to abate as well.

Meanwhile, the Twin Cities are a good place if you are looking for free things to do with the kids. I continue to use the heck out of the Ramsey County Library system, which offers a lot of books and DVDs. We screened "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" for the kids on Saturday night; still one of my all-time favorite movies. I got a copy of Gaylord Perry's 1974 memoir, "Me and the Spitter," which is a very amusing look at his career up to that point. And we took the kids to the Minnesota Children's Museum in downtown St. Paul on Sunday; the third Sunday of each month features free admission. The kids love going there and they are old enough now that we can simply turn them loose, instead of guiding their efforts. Jill and I even got to sit down a few times. These days, that's a benefit I dare not overlook.