Summertime thoughts

[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.

[sparks19]

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.

I'm so glad you said this. My dad is one of those people....

I remember when I was 8 months pregnant and we had to go up to visit for my sisters wedding... in AUGUST. My dad is very Anti- A/C. I can't figure out why. He says "I don't need it... my basement stays nice and cool" Yeah but you stay holed up in the basement with the lights off all summer like a troll LOL I'd rather enjoy my whole house with lighting and everything lol. And that's GREAT for you if you like to live in the basement but I had to sleep in the bedroom upstairs where all the heat rises to while extremely pregnant. I almost left and went to a hotel lol.

I can't handle heat. I suffered from heat exhaustion and sun poisoning and 2nd degree sunburn once when I was a kid... I was out of school for weeks. I was so ill and in so much pain. My mom kept a owl of ice water next to my bed so I could just dunk my face in it and put a wet cloth on my skin because I was quite literally... burning up lol. Every since then my tolerance for heat is non exsistent. It makes me feel horrid. Brian is also a very hot person by nature so we keep the AC going constantly in the summer and usually have our bedroom AC unit installed by the end of March.

[Karen]

I saw the surgeon today as the follow-up appointment for my thyroidectomy. She gave me "flesh-colored" strips to cover my scar if I am out in the sun for the next few weeks. I said, "Frankly, I avoid being in the sun, but thanks!" She said, "Yes, I see you take very good care of your skin." I accepted the compliment as it was intended, but the truth is I am pasty white, and burn very easily! The "flesh colored" strips are much darker than my skin! Sunburns hurt, it is not vanity that keeps me out of the sun, it's pain avoidance!

As I mentioned at the outset of the thread, this place stays fairly cool without using the A/C. We are in day 5 of an official heatwave, and I just checked. It is 79° F in here, with 65% humidity, which is perfectly fine by me. As I was out on the road in the late morning though, I did have a popsicle for lunch! Outside it is 90° F with 51% humidity, according to weather.com - but I don't have to go out there!

[cassiesmom]

After last summer in Chicago when the heat wave absolutely would not break ... I can handle this. I'm drinking a lot of water and Gatorade.