air quality obsession over

This morning I learned that even when town is horribly polluted, Colossal Cave Mountain Park is over a ridge and far enough out that I can ride there safely. I wish I'd have learned that before I put on two and a half weeks of pudge, but I suppose it only took me two and a half weeks to figure that out, and it'll only take two and a half weeks to repair the pudge problem.

About the time I got home from my ride the inversion layer lifted, allowing all the gunk in the air to blow away, so after lunch I learned that parts of our irrigation system are dead - specifically the parts under the concrete walks. The way you diagnose that (if you're us) is

1. dig up a piece of the hose where it comes out from under the walk and cut it
2. turn on the irrigation system and fail to see any water coming out
3. assure yourself that the rest of the system at least sort of works by attaching the garden hose to it
4. leave the hose running for a couple hours while you trim oleanders, thereby buying yourself another week to figure out what the heck you're going to do about the hoses under the walks.

Other than that, for the last thirteen years and up until last week you could go to this one museum in Japan and touch $2.1 million in gold bullion. I guess we missed it.