Summertime thoughts

[Karen]

When it is really hot and sticky, I find myself wishing there was a pond nearby to swim in. There are plenty of bodies of water near me, but one is a reservoir (no swimming allowed) and I don't know where there's a public beach in this town, or if there is.

Had a conversation with someone the other day, and it got me wondering ... how many people use air conditioning in the summer? We have it available but tend not to use it - we can keep the place pretty cool because we get very little sunlight, so keeping shades down for the small periods of time we do, and it doesn't really heat up. But I hear the A/C running constantly for other units, and wonder if they just don't draw the blinds in the morning or what? How conscious are you of such things?

It's muggy now, and rain may get heavier, storms are predicted ...

[Casper]

The A/C in this house is running constantly the vast majority of the year. My mom and dad (when he was alive) are both super hot natured... something I didn't inherit. Half of the time in the summer I am running around in sweaters when I am at the house.

It was crazy muggy and gross outside yesterday. I don't like being in the sun, but I can handle heat as long as the humidity stays far, far away.

[pomtzu]

Like it's said ....... it's not the heat - it's the humidity! The AC here runs all summer - I'd be dead without it. I get physically ill when it's hot - nausea and terrible headaches and just not a pleasant person to be around.

I can't stand the dampness in the house when the humidity is high - everything feels damp and sticky and even smells musty. Even if it's not extremely hot outside but it's humid, then the AC does not get turned off. It is more efficient and cheaper to run if it's left to cycle on and off, than turning it off and opening the windows if it cools off at night, or for a few days. When you turn it back on, it will run longer and harder to clear the dampness and cool the house again.

It has been a wicked, humid summer here so far this year. Thank goodness for my AC...............

[Freedom]

The humidity was horrible, and that 4 day heat wave, well, my a/c was running around the clock. And we only went outside mornings and evenings, we remained indoors from about 11 AM to 6 PM!

[Randi]

I'm lucky, it rarely gets extremely hot here, but when it does, it's unbearable. In Denmark it's not common to have A/C, so all I can do is keep the blinds down and open windows.

I agree that humidity is the worst. That I experienced in Dominican Republic, even though it was December. Don't know what they do in summer such places.

Stay cool, everyone!

[Alysser]

The A/C runs constantly. I hate humidity, the problem is it doesn't really effect me that much. As a former costume character, my body can handle the heat more than certain people can but I just dislike heat and I pretty much hate all humidity. Hey, if it was 80 degree F with no humidity I'd love it!

[Cataholic]

I thoroughly embrace all the advancements made by mankind: drugs to make me feel better, TV with cable, the internet, smart phones, cars, lots of hot water, and A/C, among the many. I have a few people in my life that make do with limiting A/C, always assuring me that it isn't that hot, it is comfortable, etc. Not sure who they think they are fooling, as it sure ain't me. And, I am always cold...so, not like I seek out the 65 degree house. As far as I know, no one receives any award for suffering. I like to be comfortable. Hot and sticky isn't comfortable.

[Karen]

I thoroughly embrace all the advancements made by mankind: drugs to make me feel better, TV with cable, the internet, smart phones, cars, lots of hot water, and A/C, among the many. I have a few people in my life that make do with limiting A/C, always assuring me that it isn't that hot, it is comfortable, etc. Not sure who they think they are fooling, as it sure ain't me. And, I am always cold...so, not like I seek out the 65 degree house. As far as I know, no one receives any award for suffering. I like to be comfortable. Hot and sticky isn't comfortable.

Most of the time, I am quite comfortable, I promise, Cataholic!

When it gets TOO hot and sticky outside, I drink a lot of water, but as I said, we are lucky in that the apartment doesn't heat up, as it get very little sun. If it were not for modern conveniences like good strong corrective lenses, and modern medicine, I'd likely be dead anyway, having wandered off a cliff I didn't see sometime in childhood! I also know that living where I do, we do not often get the extremes of heat folks in more interior, or more Southern areas do, and it does cool down at night.

The good or bad part of New England weather is that nothing lasts for too long, anyway!

[smokey the elder]

I can't tolerate heat at all, especially at night because the humidity gets even higher. So I suck up the giant carbon footprint and electric bill I create in the summer. I like gardening but have to do it really early or near dusk after marinating in bug repellent! The flowers and fresh produce are the best part of summer.

[cassiesmom]

We have a break in the heat and humidity in Chicago forecast for the next few days. I'll take it!

[Taz_Zoee]

We have been having heat waves here. And this last one our AC decided to stop working for us. Luckily I get to go to work in an air conditioned office each day. But Bruce had to deal with the heat at home. He used a portable AC unit he has for when he brews beer. He hooked it up in the kitchen so it would blow directly on him.
We have a whole house fan. So in the morning before it heats up he would open all the windows/doors and turn it on. Then when it cools off at night (if it does) we turn it on.
He only turns on the AC if it gets super hot in the house. He pays the electric bill, not me! LOL

I never realized how much I like AC until we didn't have it when we needed it!
I was about to go sit in the dogs kiddie pool. And Bruce would hose himself off while working in the garden. Yes, he's crazy and worked in the garden in 100 degree weather!

[Asiel]

We've had 3 heat waves this summer and the humidity has been unbearable . Our A/C runs from am to pm non stop. We don't open the windows at night because it never cools off enough to make it worthwhile. Anytime after 9:00 the air is so humid that it would just make things horribly damp in here. We get plenty of sun , we keep the blinds closed on the side it happens to be coming through. At suppertime we get the hottest of the sun and it heats up the house as high as 78 if we don't let the air run. We have it set for the daytime and I turn it to 68 for the night . Not worth turning it off and as was mentioned it's cheaper to let it run on the cycle than to shut and start it. Things are supposed to be cooling off a little for the weekend but we still need the air or we would fizzle out pretty fast.

[krazyaboutkatz]

Well since I don't even have AC, I don't have a choice to turn it on or off. I have one ceiling fan in the dining room and several floor tower fans. Usually I don't need AC but I sure could've used it during our last heat wave. My cats looked half dead even though I knew they weren't. I had to add another water bowl because they were drinking so much water. If it cooled down enough overnight, I would keep both windows and my sliding glass door open all night with all of the fans running. When it gets too hot out, I close all of the blinds and close all of the windows. I only get the morning sun so this also helps my condo to stay much cooler even though I'm on the second floor of three floors.

Yes, we do have AC at work but on very hot days it doesn't work well. I also sit between two hot ovens so I have a small fan that I keep at work year round so I can turn it on as needed. Humidity and muggy days just kill me. Luckily we rarely have this kind of weather. I would love to live some where that was in the 70's year round. Many years ago my parents had AC put into their house but they rarely turn it on. During this last heat wave, I kept asking them if they turned it on and they only did very briefly. They're in their mid 70's and I worry about them getting heat stoke. They're just too stubborn or don't want to pay for AC so they let themselves suffer during the heat. I just don't get it. They live enough south of me that their weather can be as much as 10 degrees hotter than mine and they really don't even get a breeze. The weather here has been great the last few days and I hope it'll continue to be like this.

[Bengalz]

Fortunately we rarely need A/C. We do have an A/C unit in our master bedroom but only run it on extremely hot days and only long enough in the evening to cool the room to a comfortable temperature for sleeping. I generally close blinds and run ceiling fans during heat spells and this does help to keep the house cooler and air circulating.

Humidity is not generally a problem either, thank goodness. I can handle the heat but humidity just depletes me and I can so relate to the discomfort that so many have mentioned in this post. Stay cool and drink lots of water.

[Randi]

If it's really hot in your bedroom, I've heard that having a bowl of cold water standing next to yourr bed - and a towel, of course, is a good idea. Stick your feet into the water for a few minutes if it's gets unbearable. That will cool your whole body off.

I came across this link with advise to keep cool: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-2...cebook_bbcnews

Also, a hot cup of tea should help.