It’s hot.  I know…  Long before you chide me for being from Texas and thinking I have a right to speak about how unbearable the heat is, I should expect as much.  But it’s only April 17 and we are as near the century mark (100° F; 38° C) as is possible without trampling it as we stampede by.  I have indulged in similar conversations with Rick, Jenny and xocobra in the last several days and they all agree I hate the heat more that most, yet we also agree in toto that our current weather sucks.  It is oppressive, tiring, stressful, near intolerable, reminiscent of deep summer still months away, and otherwise a general nuisance to the welfare and happiness of all humans under its weight.  Luckily, there is hope in sight: a “cool” front is scheduled to come through late tomorrow, after a day in the mid- to upper-nineties, and cool us off by at least 20 degrees on Wednesday.  I can deal with that.

Now, if someone can fix the drought situation with a regular bit of rain I’m certain we’d all be happier.

[UPDATE 4/17/2006 @ 5:10 PM CDT]: We have power failures across the DFW metroplex due to increased power demands related to the sudden heatwave.  Interesting.  I thought I lived in Texas where a surplus of energy existed, but without notice I’ve obviously moved to California where insufficient facilities exist to provide ample power to all of the state’s consumers.  Huh…

[UPDATE 4/17/2006 @ 5:17 PM CDT]: The local news reports our power company, TXU, is implementing rolling power outages to compensate for the massive power draw taking place today.  Current information shows outages in several areas, including major rush hour intersections where street lights are out.  We set a record high for this date (the record high was 94° F [34° C] in 1925 [also in 1913]; today we hit 101° F [38° C]).  Again, huh…

[UPDATE 4/17/2006 @ 6:08 PM CDT]: ERCOT (Electric Reliability Council of Texas) has instituted 15-minute rolling blackouts around the state to compensate for the drastically increased load associated with today’s record-setting heat.  Because I am on the same block circuit as a major hospital, it’s unlikely I will suffer any interruptions, but that does not negate the issue.  Power is being cut during rush hour at major intersections throughout the metroplex, not to mention Houston and other metropolitan areas around the state.  This is quite interesting, I must admit, and unheard of in my lifetime.  It seems the hot weather hit much earlier than anticipated.  I’ve paid record high prices for automobile gasoline during the last several weeks, especially in the last seven days, so I can not help but wonder about the state of our infrastructure if Texas, with its own power grid and historically a tremendous surplus of energy, can’t withstand unseasonably high temperatures this early in the year.  Should I say it again?  Huh…