Once again we have returned to Kentucky for a spell of hard work and financial rehab.   The air conditioning is now fully functional across the street at Amazon, which with all these sunny, 90 degree days, has likely already saved jobs, maybe even a life.  (Amazon caught some terrible press in another state a few years back by running an un-cooled distribution center right through a record heat wave.  The company did a lot of things right – free ice water and Gatorade, more frequent breaks, huge fans in break rooms – but they went a bridge too far by ordering ambulances to stand by in the parking lot.  When they began loading them with heat injured workers, the local television station had a national story.)  Lessons have been learned, and the workforce is surely thankful.

Our hummingbird feeder has not been as well-received as I’d expected.  Birds do show up, but there are so few of them that they actually use the little perches to sit down for a quick meal.  They’re usually territorial, but either there just aren’t a lot of hummers here, or the recent rains have everything in bloom.  If they like corn blossoms, there’s our answer.  Kentucky is enjoying a very good corn growing season and here and there tassels remain at work.

Kat’s seen some old friends from last year and is already working the neighborhood for mayoral votes.  She invited newbies Clayton and Carol to move out of their lakefront property (it held four inches of rain after a recent downpour) and in next to us.  They wanted out but were a bit hesitant to become our neighbors.  “Are you sure some of your friends wouldn’t move in there?”  “We don’t have any friends!  Besides, that water will be cold come November, and still deep.”  They moved.

I have a date with the Dodge Service Department in a couple of days.  The Red Sled needs suspension work, an oil change, a couple of tires, and who knows what else.  The Kat’s Cradle will go 50 miles north to Elizabethtown next week for plumbing work, a new floor, and an air conditioning checkup.  Most businesses around here are honest, and by now we know most of those few who will try to gouge you.  Nonetheless, the song we sing upon our return here is not My Old Kentucky Home.  It’s more like this one, if you caught my earlier allusion to “financial rehab”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUmZp8pR1uc

Nah, it’s not bad.  I still hate making beds but I like trying new recipes.  Kat gets worn down by the grind, but it gets her back in good shape for Christmas feasts.  That’s why Work Kampers refer to Amazon as Our Blue Collar Spa.