The heatwave

It's been hot here since June - a heatwave that has only let up occasionally, then it comes back and scorches us. I hang curtains outside (sheets actually - two sheets and a white tablecloth) over the window shades. Since my shades are black, they absorb the heat and make the windows like ovens. Hanging white sheets over the outside of them keeps everything cooler. Sometimes I wet the sheets and let them hang. Since it's a dry heat, the evaporation cools things down. If it were a humid heat, it wouldn't work as well. I put grapes in the freezer and munch them all day long, and even my dog, Auguste, has started craving them. I put icecubes in bowls in front of the fans, and I put ice in my dog's water dish. I also put wet towels on the tiled floor, so he can lie on them and get cool. I hang my laundry inside to dry. I mop the floor. I drink a lot of cool water. And when it gets particularly horrid, I put wet cloths on my neck and legs.

I have to rethink my balcony. I put a fake hedge shade - thingy on it, but it's only a meter high, and I need something to block the sun.Our building has banned awnings, so I'm thinking of puttina wire system on the roof so I can hang sail-like sheets, running them don the wire as I need shade, then pulling them back out of sight when I don't need them. I'm going to replace my plants with plants that grow taller and thicker. I will fight the heat with shade and greenery. It's almost like I'm girding up for a battle.

Speaking of battles, the parking ticket from hell that won't go away came back again. We paid it in January, after going to court about it and getting it lowered from 500€ to 150€ - (still too much but we went to court and had to pay) so we paid - a check - and they lost it. But the money was taken from our account, so someone cashed in the check. And now I have to get the bank to trace it, send me proof of payment, and send everything back to the idiots at the ticket agency. Angry over a parkiing ticket is not how I want to spend my summer. And I'm furious. It seems everyone is chasing after money. My boss is driving me mad - I thought my job would be (as a receptionist / assistant), taking appointments, dealing with patients, doing the sterilization, and sorting mail and takiing care of patient files. But it's mostly making sure the boss's bank acocunt is full, and every day is a new stress as a list of "those who must pay" land on my desk, and woe to whomever misses a payment. I'm thinking it's a lousy way to work and I'm exhausted with it. I'm also thinking that police officers probably get the same amount of stress - "You want to get paid? Make sure you get lots of tickets - we need money - there's no more left!" So stress, stress, and more stress. The police need tickets, the people start to get jumpy and angry, and everyone loses. Except the fat cats on top who rake in all the dough and trickle just enough down to make sure we don't revolt and chop off their heads....
That's coming. Believe me, it will come. Not for me (not that bad, I'm just in a bad mood), but I see CEO's taking in hundreds of times their employees wages, and that, my dears, is a recipe for revolt.