I was astonished to see men in ratty pickup trucks come by and take all of the carpet foam mats when they were out at the curb. My contractor twigged me to that when we were pulling out the 1970s shag carpeting - he said they are able to get money for it somehow. It has been 20 years, I don't know if it's still the case.

More mulch picked up this afternoon but it's too hot to work right now. I think it's supposed to hit 100^o today. I patiently await the air conditioner repair guy.

Late lunch of a chicken pesto pasta (this is a regular eating day) and dinner will be salad. On an impulse I picked up a diet Pepsi, supposedly still doesn't use Aspartame (it didn't used to) in the fountain drinks. It will keep me awake tonight, but it was nice. I haven't had a soft drink in probably a year.

My gift to the dogs this year will be a new galvanized tank, the same length and width as the current one, but shallower. The Lab used to get in to cool off but the current one is now too tall (for his weak hips). The other two will just drink out of it. I tried an inexpensive kiddie pool and Pepper demolished it very quickly, so it must be metal.