Well well well
And the obsession continues. I measured the well on Friday and it had risen about an inch. Sigh of relief. Sunday night the pump came on and wouldn't shut off. Measured the well. Much lower. Dismay. Shut pump off: no water, punishment for too many flushes, reckless behavior. Turned pump on (optimist) last night, used tiniest bit of water, pump behaved as if there were water in the well. Left pump on overnight, awoke to sound of pump running. This can only mean there isn't enough water in the well for the pump to come up to pressure. This can only suck wad. Maybe tonight I'll measure the level in the well, maybe I'll just give up.

This morning I showered at camp. It's so peaceful there at 6:30, but lo by 6:45 2 cousins, their 3 year old and 1 year old were up and about. Tess was sitting under the dinner table hoping for a taste of applesauce and cleaning up crumbs accumulated from the past 4 days of children eating at the table. Beth & Wayne didn't mind, they like my dogs. Child didn't mind, they have dogs so she was enchanted by the chocs. I didn't mind but did have trouble rounding up My Dogs. Finally went home. It poured really, really hard most of the way to work--I can only hope it did the same at home, but there's no guarantee, as forecast calls for "scattered showers." Let's hope I hear the sump pump sing tonight and there's not a leak in my well that's draining the water. I don't see how I can have used so much water, but I don't really know how much an inch of water in my well equals. Not very much, I guess.

Tonight I visit a laundromat, do some grocery shopping and, I think, buy 2 new fish. Tetras, is my guess. A little bit of color, but not enough to compete with the platys. Right now everyone is extremely happy and swimmingly healthy. They are very hungry, however, so I fed them extra portions last night. They gobbled them up like the Starving Armenians we heard about throughout our childhood (we lived in Turkey as children, where there were references to the cruelties imposed on the Armenians by the Turks). Ken has agreed to take my fish into his home while I am in Rhode Island in August. He seems to enjoy the company so I don't feel guilty about this imposition. I have finally, finally figured out how to balance nitrogen, temperature, algicide, etc. in the tank so I think I can keep this batch in good shape for a while. So far so good and it's been a pretty long time (for me).

Last night was a long board meeting, then home too late to take dogs to the vet. Chances has one of those disgusting hot spots on her neck and I've been treating it with what I think is the right stuff from a tube I found in my medicine cabinet. Veterinary meds don't say what they're for sometimes, the labels just identify what they are. I'm relying on my memory about this yellow creamy stuff and it seems to be helping dry up the grossitosis that she has. Anyway, I wanted to take them both in last night but had set up a visit from my neighbors/friends who are selling their camp (for $690,000) because they can no longer afford the taxes. I wanted to talk to them about why they're selling and to let them know details of the class action suit now going on against the town. That didn't change their minds: they know that, even if we win the suit eventually their taxes will be the $10,000 they currently are. Very sad situation, which we may face in more and more cases. Anyway we had a good visit. They lived in Lake Placid for a long, long time so know Jamie and his parents very well. We had a great time talking about Jamie's need to be the center of attention, to be recognized--which seems to be a family trait.

Tomorrow we're off to Ticonderoga to barcode their collection. This will involve 3 hours of travel (total) for 4 hours of barcoding. I think we'll have to give them more than our usual 2 team visits. After that I will pick up the dogs, re-trace my route and take them to the vet. Yes, by golly, I will. I have to. They need their distemper shots and heartworm tests. It's really late to have them tested and to put them on preventive meds but, you know, better late than never (but as my Grannie used to say "But better never late.").

Now I must try to figure out how to catalog the videos "Bill Moyers on Faith and Reason," episodes 103 and 2.