Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Hot Enough For Ya?

It's really stupid hot here.  I know, I know, it's probably hot where you are, but I don't live where you do, so I don't have to walk to the store in your heat or try to sleep in your heat, or anything.  I'm sympathetic, but I've got my own heat to worry about.

And my brain doesn't work all that well in the heat.  I had all sorts of ideas about what to blog about today but all of them required some effort and going out in the heat and I just don't love you all that much.  But don't worry...I love you all more than whoever came up with the idea of the heat index. I love you all lots more than I love that asshole.  What possible reason could I want to know that even though the thermometer reads 100º, it actually feels like 237º.  This information does not contribute to my mental or physical well being.

Brownstone houses are difficult to effectively air-condition.  Doing it really well means drilling holes, running ducting where it was never envisioned, replacing all of your windows...and probably walls too.  Honestly, the most effective way to air-condition a brownstone is to tear it down, buy the big-ass air-conditioner, and build a new house around it. 

Like many NYers, we make do with a portable unit.  We've got one with an intake and an exhaust hose that run to the window and then the unit sits in the room looking like one of those little refrigerators you had in your college dorm and sounding like the deck of an aircraft carrier during flight operations. (And even with the TV turned up loud enough to hear over the air-conditioner, I could still hear the asshole tow-truck driver who decided to idle his truck across the street from us for an hour yesterday...while he took a nap.)

The air-conditioner has valiantly worked its little ass of and says it's gotten the temperature down to 81º, which feels absolutely luxurious compared to what it's like outside. 

What's it like outside?  Here's a little story from The NY Times City Room. Two things about this story...I love the image of a USA Today photographer stopping to take pictures of a NY Times reporter doing a silly story.  And, this is exactly the type of thing I would have tried and then blogged about today...if only I loved you all more.

10 comments:

Tom said...

Nathan, I love the fact that your lack of love for me means that you don't have to go outside in the heat.

Lots of no love back at you!

Random Michelle K said...

It's also stupid hot here.

However, we have central AC, so the temperature is 75.

Ahhhh!

Eric said...

Wow. I mean, it was triple digits here today, but that's not why I'm commenting. What's prompting me to comment is that I have my AC set to 81°. I prefer cold weather, but I just can't bring myself to pay the bills for refrigerating the house, and anyway if I set the thermostat much lower than that it just feels colder than it is somehow.

Wow.

Random Michelle K said...

Eric, I absolutely hate the heat. Hate it.

And when you add in the gawdawful humidity, even setting the AC to 78 is oppressive.

Of course, I suppose that if I just sat still somewhere, I could handle higher temperatures.

If.

frogym = what Mark Twain's celebrated amphibian used

Nathan said...

Michelle,

Even when the temp is set at 81, (or even if that's the best you can achieve), the air conditioner is still dehumidifying the room.

Chris said...

We hit 100 down at the beach yesterday. It was insane. Our little wild bunny friend was so hot, he sprawled out on our front lawn and went to sleep, despite several cats who were eyeing him up as a possible late dinner.

Random Michelle K said...

But if it's humid enough that by all rights it should be raining inside, you need a temp lower than 81 to keep the AC running enough to remove the moisture.

scramin = what I'd like to be doing from the heat

Nathan said...

Michelle,

You're hitting on the point I tried to make about air-conditioning a brownstone. Our AC has been running non-stop for about 45 hours and 80 is the lowest temp it's achieved. But it's a dry 80.

Carol Elaine said...

It is now 69 degrees at JPL. Yep. 69. At 11:40am. When it should be at least in the high 70s or low 80s.

I am not complaining. At all.

WendyB_09 said...

We've already had 3 weeks solid of 95-110+ temps - two of which were before summer even started - a week of cooler temps of about 88, now we're back in the high 90's.

Ugh.

Heat index daily hits 100-110F.
Heat index: heat + humidity = temp it feels like...lately that's been hotter than hell.

OK, so I do live in Hot'Lanta, which has been living up to it's misbegotten nickname for the past month. And is normally a might toasty in the deep summer closer to Labor Day. But even the local weather gurus insist this much heat this early in the season is highly irregular...as were the 3 weeks of sub-freezing temps back in January.

Now, none of this would be too bad to the average person, but I do not own a car and rely 100% on public transit. So the weather is a huge issue, as I'm exposed to it in all its glory at least twice a day...whether I want to or not.

I've already had one bout of heat exhaustion on the way home, even with cool clothing & cold gatorade to drink enroute. Yesterday was a close one.

Boss & I had been at another office pulling docs for a case. He & his wife swapped cars so wife & baby would have vehicle w/better ac, her's has a failing ac fan motor. Heading south at 3 PM, on the gridlocked downtown connector to get back to our office, in full sun & 98F...ac was a tease a best. We arrived with both of us dripping with sweat. Boss apologized and sent me home shortly thereafter.

In that hour, rogue pop-up thunderstorms had popped-up. While it was a couple degrees cooler, it was now 90%+ humidity, so felt much hotter. And off I went in the sauna to the train station, then wait for a bus and go home. I thought I was going to melt. So much for running errands after work on the way home. Collapsed on the couch after two very large glasses of cold water and slept. Still have a leftover heat headache today.

So, the short answer is, NYC & other northern climes, I understand. My power bill and I are feeling your pain...I keep the temp set at 78 when I'm gone and 72 when I'm home.