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Have you ever worked in, say, Phoenix in mid-August, Epaminondas?
If so, weren't you just a tad curious why most of the locals have kitchen pot holders attached to their key chains for the unfortunate circumstance of having had their cards parked in the open during mid-day hours.
Neat!
Thanks for the image.
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Kimmer - enjoyed your story - I could see it coming - I saw the dials for the heated seats on the Subaru Outback and went thorough the same question to the salesman as you did - but in our case, he informed us that they were for the heated seats and we gave the dials a wide berth.
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Epaminondas: Sounds like you're actually enjoying searching for a car... must be the effects of the heat
She's a sweetheart.
It's hard to describe.
She's a magnet and I'm metal.
I just seem to like being with her.
And getting all hot and sweaty, well - that's not all that bad, either.
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Growing up in the Old South, prior to air conditioning.
How to keep cool:
Windows open during the cooler night, closed in the warmth of the morning.
Those 12-foot ceilings had a real purpose - they were natural air-conditioning. The hot air rises and the cool air sinks - a ten-twenty degree temperature difference. You are cool at no cost. You do not want ceiling fans going it this situation - it destroys the effect.
Cool plaster - not modern garbageboard - walls.
And, of course - the old oaks in the yard.
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Currently in our modern-built (1970's) house:
We avoid hiding out in the house during hot weather.
We would feel trapped. We enjoy the outside - Summer, Fall, Winter and Spring.
A half hour walk each day, every day - no excuses.
Sun, rain, snow, whatever.
Except thunderstorms.
The keys to enjoying all sorts of weather are acclimation, hydration and appropriate clothing and activity levels.
Use air-conditioning wisely -
We tend to keep the air conditioning running at relatively high temperatures - not at an absolute temperature but, ideally, at 5 or 10 degrees cooler than the outside air. This pulls the humidity out of the inside air without making you feel like you are living in a refrigerator divorced from the outside environment. It does make things much more comfortable because in a dry environment your body can cool itself - the phrase "it ain't the heat, it's the humidity" is very true - a dry 80 degree house is effectively much, much cooler than a humid 80 degree house.
We wear lightweight and light coloured breathable 100% cotton clothing - shorts and t-shirt for me while Milady prefers a light skirt or dress. I do keep a large 100% cotton towel on my chair (an old habit from non-air-conditioned times in hotter houses).
Inside temperature is currently 82 degrees Fahrenheit (I just checked) and is quite comfortable - that is about as high as we let it go. 85 degrees does not really work - even when it is 100 outside - but then, we are not Tuscon Arizona types. 80 inside degrees is nice and cool to us. 75 degrees inside is cold to us.
We each keep a jacket in the car for restaurants and supermarkets in the summer - they can seem downright cold to us.
The result of all this is that we do not end up so refrigerated that the outside seems like an oven to us. Instead, going outside is not like opening the door into a sauna - we just notice the humidity difference more than the temperature difference. Like walking into a jungle. So we can still enjoy the outdoors, even in very warm weather. Going briskly walking outside in humid 90-95 degree weather as we have been doing lately - that sort of thing.
We do our daily walk from 9-10 in the morning when it is a bit cooler than 100 degrees and the UV is still mild to moderate. Straw sun hats plus amber sunglasses (avoid blue, green or grey sunglasses). Fill up on water in the hour prior to the walk. Mild muscle/bone building exercises every other day with light weights after the walk (we are certainly "warmed-up" at that point).
Oh - this approach saves considerably not only on the electric bill but also on medical bills.
I once knew a lady who turned her heat up to eighty in the winter and the air-conditioning down to 65 in the summer.
Why did she do it?
Because she could.
One thing I noted - she could not stand being outside.
Poor thing.
I decided then to experiment with the opposite approach - and it has worked out very well.
And a tidbit - I always thought that outside was hottest at high noon and I would delay outside walks until afternoon - until I began to realize that it actually tends to be hottest around 3 PM. So walks were switched to morning.
Take it easy, use your head and enjoy all the changes in the weather -
Epaminondas
