A Devious Humanity

Beat the Heat

The positive turn of events regarding Connor's health, his adoption and his promising future career had a mild setback when the eager young detective accidentally pushed himself too hard too soon. While trying to get in one last workout to ensure that his weight was right where it needed to be and that he'd be permitted to return to work without any limitations, Connor spent the hot August day out in the backyard with Sumo as he proceeded to perform push-ups, sit-ups, chin-ups off of the basketball hoop hanging over the garage and even managed to do some weight training exercises by utilizing the heavy tools and other miscellaneous objects left in the garage by Hank for safekeeping.

Working up a nasty sweat and a few muscle cramps, Connor sighed and decided to head back inside the house to take a small break and cool off. That plan quickly fell apart when he opened the backdoor and was met with heat that rivaled the yard outside as opposed to being greeted by a refreshing cool gust of air as he had hoped.

"That's strange. Why is the house so warm?"

Passing through the kitchen Connor checked the thermostat against the wall in the livingroom and was alarmed to see that the temperature was resting at an uncomfortable one-hundred and one degrees. As he peered at the dial Connor also noticed that the air conditioner had been set to sixty-two degrees and was functioning, but it was unable to produce any cool air.

"Damn. I cannot scan the issue, but I suspect the refrigerant is either running low or there's a leak that needs to be repaired."

The house groaned a little and confirmed that rolling brownouts were also going to be a problem. Even with the air conditioner and the other appliances off the power was starting to fail due to strain on the entire power grid in the city.

"One problem at a time..."

Using his laptop Connor located a repair service that could correct the problem and requested their assistance at the house. Unfortunately, the summer heat meant that the next available repairman wouldn't be free until almost four o'clock and it was only just past noon.

"Sumo's going to need to be kept some place shady so he doesn't overheat. Perhaps I can entice him to run around through the hose as a means of keeping cool until the air conditioner and power are fully functional again."

After confirming the appointment via the laptop, his needed to wait for the wi-fi signal to be strong enough to load the web pages, Connor made his way back into the kitchen from the livingroom and opened the refrigerator. There was only one bottle of water left since Connor had been too busy with his personal plans and hadn't made any trips to the store in the past few days.

"And without any cold water readily available Sumo will have to rely on the garden hose to have anything to drink."

With Sumo's water bowl from the kitchen floor now in his hand Connor returned to the backyard and sighed at the slightly higher heat that quickly overwhelmed him. Placing the bowl down in a nice shady spot where Sumo could drink in peace, Connor took a small sip from his bottle of water and proceeded to find the garden hose inside the garage and connect it to the exterior water tap at the rear of the house.

"Sumo?"

Calling the dog's name Connor saw Sumo hunkered down in a second shady spot next to the garage and panting heavily. He didn't want the old dog to get sick and was working hard at helping the winter breed find a way to keep cool until the air conditioner returned to combat the summer heat.

"Hold on, boy. I'll help you cool off."

Securing the hose to the tap Connor unwound the coiled up hose and turned the tap on to get the water flowing. Another unfortunate setback was the painful lack of water pressure courtesy of the entire neighborhood using their own hoses to fill pools, run sprinklers and beat the heat in their own ways.