Welcome, @Apolloneuro, and thanks for sharing your summer holidays news. This is indeed a kinder, gentler corner of MN. I'm a bit surprised we don't get more people barging in and telling us off about whatever, but everyone seems to respect the kinder vibe of this thread. Thanks for providing your location. I'm in New York and we have people from all over, but the UK is the most common location for people on the thread.
Havoc, sorry for the misunderstanding about your ice cream place. I wonder how they make it on the spot. We had a ice cream maker when I was a child and it took hours.
Hilda, a lot of the covid tests on the market are rubbish for detecting the new strains. So that may be what you have. It's a bit early for the flu to be circulating in the northern hemisphere, but it can happen.
Math, it's hot and stormy here too. We had heavy thunderstorms yesterday and an inch of rain, with more coming later tonight. We had to get a takeaway last night and may not be able to cook outside tonight, either.
DD has arrived at her new location in Indiana. She and SiL are staying in a hotel until they can move into her new apartment on Thursday.
My trusty Miele washing machine made a grinding noise when I tried to start a load earlier today, so I canceled the cycle and checked the trap and the seal. Both looked fine. I suspect we may be buying a new one. This one is about 12 years old. I do one load every night and a few extra on the weekends, so I guess we've gotten our money's worth if we have to replace it.