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I was looking at “novelty ties” (long story) and found this one:

And as much as I’d love to have a tie with all sorts of equations on it, I just couldn’t bring myself to buy this one. I mean, look at all the bad math on it! Squared logarithms! Improper integrals! Weird notations! It’s like whoever designed this thing was flipping through a calculus book but didn’t really know anything about it.

Pity.

These days, the August temperatures continue to soar to around 110 every afternoon. The only time anyone wants to be outside is when the sun isn’t around: either crazy early or later in the evening. We’d been busy with a lot of projects in the apartment and at the church, and were feeling a little stir-crazy, so we decided to stretch our legs a bit on a walk.

We headed out around 6pm, which was probably too early. It was still stupid hot.

But we’re no dummies… we wore our swimsuits! We went about three miles along sidewalks and canals, finally returning to our apartment complex where we jumped into the pool.

Ahh, much better. The water feels like a bath– with the summer sun baking it all day (and most nights), it’s not a crisp, cool, refreshing temperature. But just being submerged felt oh so nice.

A new missionary moved to the valley today, and on his first night here, he texted to ask if we have any hair trimmers. Yes. Then he asked if I’d cut his hair. No. But Pepper will.

He came over and put his faith in her.

Although Pepper’s been cutting my hair since before we were married, she admits she’s sort of a one-trick pony. She only knows how to do a single style (which I like just fine). We asked Elder Steinhour if he was okay with it, and since he didn’t really have any other choice, it’s the cut he got.

In the end it looked pretty sharp, and I think he was happy. He kept saying he wanted a full buzz, but he had such thick, luxurious hair that Pepper insisted she just trim it. If he decides later to chop it all, we’d be happy to oblige. He hasn’t asked yet.

Every six weeks it’s time for the missionaries to be transferred. We’ve learned now that it’s sort of a bittersweet time. We’ve had that time to become friends, and then it feels like everyone gets split up. It’s rare that a companionship of two missionaries stays together for more than one transfer in a row, although normally at least one of each pair remains in the area.

So today we had to say goodbye to several good men…

… and women.

We’ve had a lot of fun with these hard-working missionaries, and we’re excited to meet their replacements. Onward!

Sometimes I see a meme and think, “OH YEAH”…

We’ve had our paved driveway for almost two years. It’s been great, but in order to keep it great we need to take care of it. The asphalt should easily last ten years, and we’ve been told from multiple sources that having it seal-coated can extend that to twenty years. Given the exhorbitant cost of so much paving, we figured it was worth the additional cost to seal it.

After an impressive series of delays, it finally happened today. Because the crew needed to spray the coating directly onto the asphalt, they had to clean it first. Following a bit of magic with a sweeper truck, all the winter sand and pine needles and dirt were gone. Then they walked the length of the driveway– all 1,800 feet– and coated it.

The result looks gorgeous.

Of course it won’t take long for it to be littered with debris again, but for just a moment it looks brand new.

The strange thing about this particular house project is that we’re a thousand miles away. I arranged the contractor and coordinated the work, but it was all done while we’re in California. Greta sent these photos. Our house continues to get better, even when we’re gone…

As Pepper and I work on our Spanish we’re doing our best to decipher billboards and store signs. There are some billboards that say “BURN A BALE, GO TO JAIL”. This area produces vast quantities of hay, and apparently there are problems with arsonists. We saw a billboard in Spanish…

… and we wondered if it was as catchy as the English version. It rhymes, as you can see, but when translated it reads “HE WHO BURNS HAY RECEIVES CONDEMNATION”. Pretty harsh stuff.

This week we’ve been touring the missionary apartments– something we do every month to make sure everything is working properly and they’re treating their housing well. While doing that today, I remembered I hadn’t sent a text to Elder Davis’ mom. Every time we meet a new missionary, Pepper and I take a picture with them and text their moms to tell them how much we’re enjoying serving with their son or daughter. When our kids were on missions, we loved getting texts like that, and hearing that they were working hard.

Elder Davis probably thought it was a bit odd when I abruptly asked him, “Hey, what’s your mom’s phone number?” But after I explained he understood, and I sent her a text.

She loved it. They always do.

It rained today!

For a place that gets one or maybe two days of rain a year, it was pretty magical when the water fell just now. I stepped outside to snap a photo. It felt like being in a sauna: it was still brutally hot (well over 100), very humid (obviously), and the raindrops had a weird warm feel.

Within five minutes it had stopped, and now the sun is out again and the sidewalks are dry. But for just a moment, magic.

My friend Jessie received my latest mission email (I send them weekly) and apparently her phone scanned the message and determined that there was an event scheduled at 4:30 in the morning on August 9. The event is called The fun betwixt the work because that was the subject of my email.

I daresay using AI to scan emails for possible calendar items might go awry at times…