Southern California Edison let me know last week that I’m likely to spend more than usual on electricity this month.

Duh.

The good news is that I’m going to pay the city less than usual for natural gas. The wall heater is shut down, and we’re avoiding use of the gas stove as much as possible (cold salads for dinner, anyone?).

It’s hot. It’s been hot, and apparently it is going to continue to be hot. Summer has begun in earnest.

Like most Southern California homes built in the 20th Century, our house does not have air conditioning. Well, that’s not quite accurate – there is a window unit we installed some 10 years ago in what was then Erik’s bedroom. But I don’t think it works anymore.

Instead, we use fans. There are ceiling fans in most of the rooms – I installed them, so they shake occasionally and squeak a bit. But they move the air.

Up until a few years ago, they were more than enough for most of the year. I’ve invested in a few floor fans over time to deal with the month of 80-degree weather we used to experience.

But now it’s hot – more than 85 degrees hot – for two or three months. We’ve upgraded to an industrial fan in our bedroom, and the living room fan has been running 24/7 for the last couple of weeks.

Yes, the electricity bill is up.

It’s a good thing climate change is a myth, right? What’s a little global warming between friends?

Over the last decade or so, I’ve learned a few things about weather phrases. A heat dome is not something you use to keep food warm, but a regional hot box. An El Nino isn’t a little boy but a nasty ocean warmer that causes everything from high temperatures to monsoons. A King Tide isn’t a royal detergent but something pounding the Peninsula boardwalk and taking our beach sand away.

But it’s really a matter of perspective. My complaints about 85 degrees pales in the face of the 115 in Phoenix or Las Vegas. During our recent road trip, we experienced 100-degree plus temps in several Western states, including normally cool Colorado.

When I stop and think about it, I feel pretty silly about whining over the weather in our slice of paradise. In other parts of California, the country, the world, real heat and drought have ignited wildfires ravaging the countryside and threatening homes. (I know our neighbors have suffered from fires, too – but Long Beach? Not so much.)

Those other states’ troubles will reach us eventually – the Colorado River water we drink isn’t going to be around much longer, for example. Side note: Long Beach has been working successfully for years to reduce the amount of imported water it uses, so we’ll be okay.

Still, at least until the Big One finally decides to shake us down, we manage to avoid the extremes so much of our world seems to be burdened by. That’s a blessing, to be sure.

Speaking of this old house – that was where we started, wasn’t it? – the Great Bathroom Remodel has begun. I fear the dogs will be nervous wrecks soon, what with all the noise and the limited access to that part of the house.

What I’m not worried about is oversight. That’s because the lovely Maria is the project superintendent.

I’m still gainfully employed, so I have an excuse to leave the construction site every day. That’s a good thing, because this job has to be done to very exacting standards – Maria standards. And I have every confidence that the construction crew will learn early on that it’s much easier to do as Maria wants the first time. I was kind of stubborn about that for quite a while, but I’ve gradually learned.

Seriously, we are more than blessed to have a roof over our heads and the resources to make the improvements that will make a difference. God has been good to us, and we know it.

I hope you take a moment to think good thoughts for those truly suffering from natural disasters and extreme weather. Then get out in our Southern California summer.

It’s what we live for, right?