These are the dog days of summer -- just the way I like it. Emerged from the A/C at about 5 a.m. to retrieve the newspaper from the driveway and was immediately immersed in the hot dark soup of pre-dawn sultriness. Awesome. I got the paper, then rummaged around in the garage to start the weekly migration of trash-cans to curbside.

Right now I need another cup of coffee. Like, right now.