HOT

[kyburg]

I tell people. "Don't visit California in the summer. Everyone does it, it's hot as hell and I never figure out WHY they do. It's HOT HOT HOT and all the prices are higher. I don't get it. Come the week between Christmas and New Years. Seriously."

And my memory is long enough to know in a few weeks...perhaps even a few more than that? Perfect weather. Crystal-clear October blue skies, crisp days - but not freezing. CLEAR as you could like - yes, the postcards were taken sometime - just as the harvest festivals swing into full gear.

This is not the pretty time in California.

I also know how expensive A/C is to install, to run and to maintain. It's also an incredible ecological SUCK on more than four fronts. I grew up in Hemet, with only one cooler in a converted garage. I know hot. I've watched more silent films, checked out from the library, in the dark (because that's the coolest place you can find), during the summer than you can name. Wet t-shirts are not sexay, they're personal evaporation coolers.

You go share A/C someplace it has to be run. Hotel lobbies. Restaurant lounges (ghads, I've spent a small fortune on Pacman at the Denny's in Hemet in the lounge. They still have it there? The sit-down version - not the arcade one). Libraries, sure.

I have to venture out sometime today - the cat litter runneth under and I couldn't lift the 40 lb. bags yesterday. Dopey me forgot she had a blood donation appointment Saturday AM (BTW, BP at donation? 118/70 - NO MEDS. *preen*), and thus had the bandage o'doom on arm and couldn't lift more than her purse all day yesterday. (Didn't stop me from getting the bedroom clutter under control, framing everything I had to get framed, converting the odd pieces of VHS to digital and such yesterday. I was busy!)

Today - I'll have to call AAA and see if they know of anyone open today to replace a tire. Jim blew a tire on the way home from work yesterday - too late to get it in, of course. And nobody is open today. Yay. Well. Maybe. I'll call AAA and ask.

Jim was understandably livid - all he wants to do is go home, y'understand. He changed his own tire in 99 degrees, on asphalt yesterday. That would make anyone a little...steamed? I'm just glad it 1) wasn't on the freeway or 2) in a worse part of town in the middle of the night. Yeah, tires fail. It could have been MUCH worse. I'll take it.

I'm thinking a Starbucks with good A/C and wireless. Take the laptop and drink iced coffee most of the afternoon. I'll let you know what I find.

Right now, while it's still comfortable, I'm taking a nap.

Comments

[kimberlychapman.livejournal.com]

Bet it's cooler than it is here in Vegas. I don't get why people come here in the summer. Those of us who have acclimatized are still wiped out fast in the heat. People come from cooler areas and walk in the sun all day without sunscreen or hats or enough water and then wonder why they feel sick.

When we went to San Diego in June everyone there was complaining about the heat and we thought it was frickin' gorgeous!

We TOTALLY need to move!


Come the week between Christmas and New Years.

I don't doubt it, because half of California is in Vegas for that week. We don't leave the house that week anymore. We fill up the fridge and pantry before Christmas and maybe do one milk run in the middle, but other than that, we bunker down and wait for all the scary-ass traffic and angry/drunk/underslept tourists to bugger off.

Before we knew better, we took Corran's siblings to the Strip to see the Bellagio fountains and such on December 27. The crowds were so bad that we had to wait in line to cross the street...as in, three light cycles went around before there was room to cross. Not kidding.

On the AC front, I wish we didn't need it, and we're about to sign up for Nevada Power's new program where they give you a free web-programmable thermostat with free installation and in exchange they have access to turn up the AC settings on severely hot days to save peak-period energy. We always maintain ultimate control and can set it back down, but if we let them raise it for a few hours, we get a dollar per time they do it plus whatever energy cost savings from it going up.

Now if only they'd subsidize solar panels to power the damned thing entirely we'd sooooo be there...

[kiyone.livejournal.com]

Being born and raised in Vegas, I'm actually one of those people that gets cold at 80F. I need to carry a hoodie with me everywhere or else I'm very uncomfortable, as most AC's in restraunts or movie theatres are 70F or below, which is too cold to tolerate. I'm happy at 85 to 90. Summer is MY time of the year.

I was driving to California a few weeks back and had a long sleeved shirt on. Didn't even think about it. We were in Baker putting gas in the car, and some guy in a short sleeved shirt and shorts walks by and looks at me saying, "How can you WEAR that?" And I replied, "I'm from Nevada."

This weekend my friends were in town and INSISTED that it was too intolerable to stay inside if it was above 74F. Ugh. I was freezing in my own home. I've turned off the AC now that they've left. I also thanked them for hiking up my bill, as I don't require it most of the time.

[kyburg.livejournal.com]

I have a wide comfort range - and every time Jim asks for A/C (this of time of year, for sure), I can comfortably say NO. No, I don't want the expense, no, I don't want the refurbish it will take, no I don't want the inconvenience.

I can sleep nights. I can deal with the temperatures the few weeks it's really tough. It's temporary. Done it.

100 degrees. Pah! We used to drive into Palm Springs when it was that hot, and ten degrees hotter when we got there to get away from the 43% humidity in Hemet. AT NIGHT.