< Notes...

Tomorrow we move forward one hour (going into EDT), and with it—or, rather, before it—some kind of allergy has started its Spring “vacation” on me. Itchy eyes, watery eyes, sneezes, and running nose. So. Much. Fun!

The National Weather Service in Melbourne has issued a Fire Weather Watch, which is in effect from Sunday afternoon through Monday evening.
AFFECTED AREA… Volusia, Lake, Orange, Seminole, Brevard, Osceola, Okeechobee, Indian River, Saint Lucie.

Similarly to that one, we had had “Cold Weather Watch”, “Freeze Weather Watch”, “Strong Winds Weather Watch”, “Tornado Weather Watch”… Only missing “Earthquake Alert Watch” to have it all. Alas, that last one is not bound to happen during my lifetime, maybe. Is that a hint of disappointment you read? I can neither confirm nor deny!

Tonight will be another subzero night. This morning we had -4°C, tomorrow we will have -2°C. Totally unprepared, and non-used to it. Our next electric bill is going to give us a heart attack.

With 0°C (feels like -2°C) this morning, today is, so far, the coldest day of this year. We are finally getting the Winter we waited the whole year for! Also, I mowed the lawn for the first time in 2026 yesterday, under a very, very windy, 10°C, cloudy weather.

These two photos were taken by Horsie somewhere in Rome, NY, in December, 2019. That’s the kind of winter I wish we’d have. Instead all we have is 24°C, with 58% of humidity.

People in other places complaining about snow, and their shoveling and here, well, here all we got was a squalid tiny bit of rain, and a couple of days with “feels like” 2°C. Snowy Christmas… no such a thing.

With 1°C (feels -6°C) temperatures today is, by far and so far, the coldest day of the year around here. Horsie freezes. I am already dressed with my shorts and tshirt to go grab coffee at mum’s, and go walking with ông. Sun shines!

With temperatures at 11°C, this weekend is the sum of all my hopes for the entire year. After boiling for almost a year I welcome any and all cooler weather. Heck, I wouldn’t mind freezing a bit for a change! 😅🤭

“It has become a tired adage, but nonetheless true. The world’s poorest countries will suffer the most from climate change despite being least responsible for it.”

➝ Via The New York Times.

Update: 07 Nov 2025 @ 11:33:06

Bill Gates agrees. In 2021 he, too, wrote:

“It’s deeply unfair that the people who contribute the least to climate change will suffer the worst from its effects.
[…]
Rich and middle-income countries are causing the vast majority of climate change, and we need to be the ones to step up and invest more in adaptation. The world’s poorest deserve our help, and they need more of it than they’re getting.”

Yes, you guessed it right. It is currently raining cats and dogs. As with anything Florida, it will last a maximum of 1-2 hours, tops.

Now $3,000 poorer, that double pain is behind me. To make me feel better, Mother Nature has decided to bless us with rain. She knows I love it. I only need some sleep. Soon.

I mowed the lawn yesterday. Started at 16:00, and by 16:30 I had taken four breaks, and drank 5 bottles of water. I had to call it quits. The heat was truly unbearable; I thought I was going to faint. Waited until 19:30, and it was so much easier! Mental note: during summer, mow the lawn in the evenings.

Co-workers were talking about that huge storm the other night. They were saying it felt worse than our last hurricane. I was stumped! There was no storm near my house, and I even went out to water partner’s plants, because “they were thirsty”—her own words. Then partner called me to tell me about the storm. We did had a storm, and it was something out of this world, she said. Constant lightning, and thundering, and lots of rain (late night). And… I slept through it all! 😅

It is raining. You would think, “so what?”, right? Well, it hasn’t rained like this, and at all, for over a week. When your weather is super hot, and super humid, and everything around you seems to crack, and almost die from heat exhaustion, then more often than not you long for rain—at least I do, though, truth be told, I truly am a rain Monkey. Love, love the rain!

After more than two weeks without a drop, we are finally getting a very well deserved rain, and the plants, lawn, birds, me… we are all happier because of it. To those about to drive, or on the roads, my deepest, sincere, condolences.

“All heat and no rain makes Jack a dull boy”. It has now been almost a week since we last saw rain, and, well, I regret complaining when it was raining a lot each day, because the lawn was growing too fast. Now, on the other hand, it’s dying for the lack of it. 😩

Haven’t walked “officially” ever since we came from NYC. With everyday rains, lawn mowing, and what nots, well, not going to justify my not-doings, it just hasn’t happened. Maybe I will venture out now. It is overcast, but no rain yet.

Update: 19 Feb 2026 @ 11:26:10

Forgot to come here to note that, as I was going out of the door to walk, it started thundering and raining, right on the clock. Step count today—please, don’t laugh!—1,548. 😭

Being my last day, and almost noon, I ventured out to put a letter in the mailbox, and gauge the weather to see if a mid-day walk was possible. The high humidity (70%) and temperature (feels 105°F) made me almost pass out, on the very brief minutes I was outside.

Maximum UV index right now is 12, very unhealthy. Yeah, I am afraid there will be no walking for me today during sun hours. Maybe after sunset. Yeah, maybe.

Such an incredibly hot day! We just came back from errands, and I really don’t feel like leaving the house again today, regardless of reason.

With—and I will use the locally used Fahrenheit scale—96°F, with “feels like” 109°F, and a Sun so strong it can crack stones (theoretically), you will agree that walking outside an air conditioned building is almost suicide. I just clocked 2.24 miles during my 30 minutes lunch. Outside. Yes.

Update: 20 Feb 2026 @ 18:22:26

I am, mentally and physically, finding it very hard to keep this promise. I am here, about to return to work, having doubts on whether or not I will go outside again this afternoon. “Listen to your body”, Martin told me. Ugh, my body speaks so convincinly!

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It rains so gently this morning, that I could almost distinguish music within the sound of it hitting my car roof while driving to work. I had to turn off the radio to enjoy it. It felt so nice, I even stayed at extra 10 minutes inside the car at the parking lot, hearing it a bit longer. I need more days that start like this.

This isn’t a complain. It has been overcast the entire day. Not a drop of rain, but just close enough to tease. This week I will have to mow the lawn. Yes, it is that time of the year again.

I can’t believe it is almost 19:00, in our marvelous Sunday. Accomplished just about everything I wanted to this weekend, but buying my vitamins. Maybe this week. Off I go!

Lunch hour is quickly approaching, which translates to my first walk of the day. With a Sun that can crack rocks, the feels like 30°C, and the humidity at 69%, it is going to be anything but fun. Yet, must clock the first 5,000 steps, or walking the 10,000 after work will feel like they did yesterday: an absolute torture.

We were lucky, and Milton didn’t affect us much. Yes, boarding and off-boarding windows ain’t fun. Yes, cleaning up little debris ain’t fun either. But we didn’t lose power, nor Internet, and nothing was broken. No complains, absolutely!

Helene is now behind (she hasn’t been long gone, but behind us, nevertheless). Enter Milton. Ay Dios! 😅

Hurricane Helene is coming and, as her path will come nearby, she is granting us a day off tomorrow. Thank you Ma’am!

Seven days ago I mowed the lawn. It rendered five 33 gallons bags full of mulched grass. Today I had to do it again (3 bags this time). With the occasional rain, and the shinning sun, our lawn is growing “a tad” too fast. I can’t keep up! 🥵

It is that time of the month in which I have to touch grass, literally. The lawn is almost knee high, so I am sure I will go through the three fully charged batteries this time. All under 91°F temperatures. Lovely.

About this one, it was sensational in TX, and other areas in which it was total, so everybody says. In Florida? Just another day.

Rainy day, my kind of day. Tomorrow is forecasted to be too. This is what I call a nice weekend!

Once again we are beating records, with September breaking them “for the highest temperature anomaly of any month”. And we are doing next to nothing. Are we really that stupid? I am sure we know the answer by now.

Light rain has come to change my afternoon plans. Perhaps it will let me bike? Haven’t done it for the last four days, and I am starting to miss the lack of pain in my legs.

Rainy Sunday, my kind of days: rainy, and Sunday. Wish there was more like these, more often!

Wow, Autumn has given us a nice surprise on its first day! This morning we woke up with 19°C, which is a drastic change from previous days. I know that later today is going to be hot, but it was great biking this morning, and not breaking a sweat.

Seven hours from now will get us to the beginning of Autumn. In Florida that doesn’t mean much. Hopefully, hopefully, temperatures will tone down a degree, or two, if we are lucky. One can only wish, and hope, right? Happy Autumnal Equinox!

Last month’s utility (water) bill was over $200. It was $222.13, to be exact. It went up because rains had stopped, and we had to turn on the schedule for the sprinklers.

If it continues this way the decision will be whether the lawn survives, or we do. We will have to make a choice then. Poor lawn, we barely knew you!

That far away thundering, and the constant notifications on the Weather app of an impending rain are such a tease! High temps today were 33°C, and currently it is still 29°C. And yes, no rain. Pff!

Update: 20 Feb 2026 @ 18:22:26

Well, I’d be damned! It is raining right now, with thundering and lightnings, all with a strong wind as if a tornado were nearby.

Half of the weekend is almost over, half of my chores are finished. Next true worry is what to eat and, later on, what to watch on TV. I have no idea on either, so I will read some news while I cool down a bit. It is past 19:00, and still around 30ºC.

Of course, Global Warming isn’t happening, it is all a myth invented “by the left”. Let us not care about the environment, cancel our participation on all accords, and live like we don’t care. Because it seems we don’t.

“Multiple natural disasters are occurring simultaneously across different parts of the world, resulting in hundreds of deaths and thousands of people being displaced. The World Meteorological Organization has declared this summer the hottest ever recorded, with August being the warmest month ever recorded.” — Paraphrased by AI.

Here we go again. Hurricane Lee, forecasted to “rapidly intensify into a powerful Category 4 by this weekend”. Not even mid-September yet, and we are at L already. As in lovely.