Friday, July 16, 2010

Friday

I am told that BP finally managed to choke off the leak yesterday afternoon. They're hoping the patch will hold until the relief well is finished. Good for them. This spill has been an unmitigated disaster on so many levels. Ecological, social, economic, political. It's going to take a long time to clean up the mess and the first step is getting control of the well. Maybe they've done that now. I hope so.

The Dawg needs a hair cut. I'll have to call later and make an appointment. I'd do it myself, but I'd butcher it.

The heat of a midsummer July in Louisiana is staggering. The temps stay in the high 90s from about 9:00 a.m. till dark. At 80 percent humidity. I was on a tractor yesterday, running a bush-hog from 9:00 till about 11:00 yesterday morning. Then, I sighted in two rifles for the loads I'll use while hunting this winter.

At my private range, 100 yard line is in strong mid-day sun and between 11:00 and noon I was sitting at the bench shooting. Dehydration is an issue in weather like this and I think I got dehydrated yesterday. When I got home, all I wanted to do was sit in the A/C and drink water and iced tea.

2 comments:

Rivrdog said...

Iced tea is very refreshing, but like beer, which is also refreshing, is worthless for re-hydration.

I've gotten to keeping a case or so of Gatorade G-2 around for this purpose, and I force myself to take hydration breaks while working outdoors.

In re-hydration, I follow the old military doctrine: keep drinking until you pee clear, not yellow, and then maintain that level, usually one quart an hour.

Old NFO said...

Riverdog is right. When I go to the range, I carry a 6 pack of water and a 6 pack of Gatorade and alternate between the two. As we age, we DO become more sensitive to heat prostration/heat stroke and we've got to be more careful.