Just because it smells like a skunk doesn’t mean it’s a skunk.

When we bought our house in 2019, I joined Nextdoor to keep tabs on the goings-on in my ‘hood. It’s mostly just the same group of people complaining about youths running amok or vandalism to their property or the sorry state of education these days or out-of-state newcomers driving up their property taxes. They might be soliciting recommendations for plumbers or handymen or looking for missing pets.

Come to think of it, Nextdoor is an awfully depressing site…

But, it does have its share of entertaining moments. Like this one.

I burst out laughing after seeing this post. Cringing too, because of the horrible grammar and spelling, but mostly laughing.

Oh, Adele. Sweet, innocent, naive Adele. Judging by the number of reactions, Dominic hit the nail on the head. And as with most social media posts, the comments are usually the best part. This one is my fave.

Might want to clue Trudy in too, while you’re at it.

I’m pleased to report that cool air is once again issuing forth from our vents. It took eight long days for our new blower to arrive, and — unlike the old blower — that blew. Naturally, that whole stretch was in the 90s. Monday, we topped out at 105º.

But we survived, thanks to the basement and the whole house fan. I won’t say it was comfortable downstairs, especially when I was awakened one night by a cricket crawling across my neck (at least it wasn’t a spider!), but it was tolerable. Upstairs, not so much. So, we tried to stay away as much as possible. We turned into A/C whores, frequenting houses of cool repute. Buffalo Wild Wings one night, Thirsty’s for trivia another.

Tara got a text on Tuesday stating that the new blower would arrive on Thursday and the tech would be out that afternoon, between 3:00 and 5:00, to replace it. Whew! So, she made arrangements to leave work early, got home, and waited.

And waited. And waited.

I arrived home eventually. Together, we waited.

And waited. And waited.

Dude was a no-show, which was extremely frustrating to say the least. It wouldn’t have been so bad if he’d had the decency to call. Customer service ain’t what it used to be, folks.

She was on the phone with them first thing Friday morning. They hemmed and hawed and made excuses but let her know the part had arrived and they’d be out in a few hours. I had my doubts, and was crestfallen when Tara called me mid-afternoon to report that they had replaced the blower but the A/C still wasn’t working and they were stumped as to the cause.

I was this close to having a meltdown (probably a literal one, at that) when she started laughing. My dear wife, it turns out, had punk’d my ass. That’s something I would do, not her! By that point I didn’t care that she had pulled a Mark, because our A/C was working once again and that’s all that mattered.

It was a weird week. Kind of a wasted week. It’s nice to be back to normal. Last night, Sydney even got to prowl around the backyard for a bit.

Here’s a random sunrise from last week. Insert your own dawn of a new day metaphor if you’d like.

Stay cool, kids! And if you happen to randomly smell a skunk late in the evening, don’t go wasting Animal Control’s time.

36 thoughts on “Just because it smells like a skunk doesn’t mean it’s a skunk.”

  1. Thankful you finally have cool air. I am one cranky bitch when overheated. Beautiful sunrise. Had to laugh at the skunk comments. Around here? It really would have been skunk she was smelling.
    🤣

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  2. Those neighborhood groups can be funny but also extremely frustrating and petty. (as I’m sure you’ve noticed) Pot in the old days smelled musty and not like skunk. What’s changed?

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    1. Good question. I’ll ask my drug dealer!

      J/K. I have no idea. I have heard that today’s strains are much more potent, so maybe it’s the higher concentration of THC?

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  3. Somebody needs to invite Adele over for a few introductory lessons in Cannabis 101- or maybe just leave a few edibles on her porch in a nice gift basket. I did that Nextdoor thing for about 2 days when I moved in here…it was worse than Facebook, which I detest.

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  7. Oh poor, Adele. Funny, though. Thanks for sharing. Man, I was frustrated when you wrote that Tara said the A/C still wasn’t working! So relieved it was a joke.

    There need to be more pics of Sydney on your blog.

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  9. Same thing on Nextdoor here, plus lots of urban legends about mobs robbing store, etc. Oh, and the rich man with the private plane who had the temerity to complain about property taxes ON HIS AIRPLANE HANGAR.

    We actually have a ton of skunks in our area. You cannot mistake the weed for skunk aerosol if you have ever had to give your skunked dog a bath with hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, and dishwashing liquid.

    Besides, the neighborhood prefers edibles.

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    1. Oh, the poor fella. He has to pay taxes on his private hangar? My heart bleeds for him.

      I’ve seen a skunk here once while out hiking. Freaked me out so much, I immediately turned around and beat a hasty retreat down the trail.

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  10. Our next door is a joke. People are weird. Dumb. Annoying. But Adele? She’s entertaining. I also live for the comments.
    I laughed at: “A/C whores, frequenting houses of cool repute.”
    I’m glad you are back in the cool business.
    Lovely cat and sunrise, Mark!

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  11. I haven’t looked in to Next Door here in the UK. I signed up the local FB group which is full of complaints about the bad behaviour of the young. Bless ’em, they don’t know they’re born – we’re only talking about smoking (cigarettes) and leaving their empties on the ground instead of trying to cram them into the overflowing bins. I hate to think of the pearl clutching if anything properly bad was to occur.

    I too have been an A/C whore, although in my case, that’s limited to hanging around the cool counters of the local supermarkets. Our eateries and drinkeries do not offer A/C, damn their eyes.

    Concur with the admiration for Sydney 🙂 Handsome chap!

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      1. Yes, summers here are generally wishy-washy affairs. We still talk about the summer of 1976 when it was a long, hot, dry summer. Usually we have a few days, sometimes a week – rarely longer. So it’s never been a necessary expense. Far more common to find a fireplace in a pub than aircon.

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  12. So glad you got your AC working – and glad you kept your “cool” when you were punk’d. 🙂

    I can’t believe you let Sidney out in the evenings – aren’t you afraid she’ll get skunked? 🙂 Maybe you can post one of those cats on weed videos to NextDoor for Adele.

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  13. Welcome back, A/C. What a good friend you are when it is 105F. I don’t know what rock I’ve been living under but I didn’t even know about Nextdoor. Then again, the neighbors are all normal in appearance and there are no smells. I am on Team Sydney as well.

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  14. You have to watch Nate Bargatze’s comedy standup on Netflix called The Greatest (Average) American. Not only is it hilarious all the way through, there’s one bit about his hotel room TV tech not working that popped into my mind when I read about your A/C customer service troubles.

    And as for Nextdoor, oh my God. What a treasure trove of ridiculousness that can be. I don’t think we were blog buddies when I posted Prepping for Travel: Learning Welsh, but it highlights the Nextdoor hilarity, so I’m going to foist it upon you now.

    Prepping for Travel: Learning Welsh

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      1. The older folks speak it – we heard some of it when we were there. I don’t remember if I heard Gaelic in Scotland, and I’ve never been to Ireland but Gaelic is their official language and it’s required learning in many schools.

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