Terminalcoffee discussion

'Tis the season for conditioned air here in Wisconsin. We live in an old house and central air venting, etc. would destroy the cool old woodwork so we have window units in two rooms. Otherwise we just keep the shades drawn and run fans. Since we're within a couple hundred yards of Lake Michigan we're ok, really, most of the time (the lake cools the air) but on the really hot days I must admit I wish I had central air. I imagine down south you pretty much live in conditioned air. If you don't, I can't imagine how you survive. But then again, people survived before air conditioning, so I suppose non-conditioned air survival must be possible:)

What do you think? How do you keep cool in the summer? Do you have air conditioning? How often do you use it? Etc etc etc?

I loathe and fear air conditioning. It makes me ick.

In New Orleans I'd carry sweaters around with me everywhere because it was so bleeping cold in buildings.

Here in Colorado it is NOT NECESSARY. If you just hang about in shade and plant some big shade trees near your house all you need to do is open the doors and windows (avec screens, claro) and let the breezes blow through. it's nice.

Mountain air stays cold always.

Yup -- low humidity is the key (like Colorado) so you can just get in the shade and feel better. I miss it so much.

Oh yeah. Gotta have shade.

Ko, I had a friend who worked highway construction in Arizona...he said they'd start at 2 in the morning and end by noon...seems reasonable:)

Here's my thing with air conditioning. I live in a really humid part of PA. I hate humidity with a passion. I don't own or use an air conditioner, but sometimes it would be nice. The reason I don't like air conditioners is because people feel the need to set them at -60 degrees, so when you're inside--you freeze...and then when you step back outside, the heat/humidity is that much more oppressive.

And plus, air conditioning gives me a headache.

*rant over* :)

air conditioning = very nice when available

but i have found that when it just is not available you can tolerate much more heat than you think. much of it is a state of mind. when you say "!!!**@# IT'S HOT" over and over again you will be much warmer. lots of places people just sorta sweat naturally and go on with it

Yep, me too Bun. The first week here we had freakishly high temps my hubby blasted the air conditioning, and I came down with strep & a sinus infection (thank the gods for cayenne, OJ & JD - knocked it right out). Of course, the heat in Oregon is nowhere near what Ko is experiencing, or my sis in AZ, but for those of us who aren't used to high heat and our natural humidity, it can be a bear.

But, I'll pick a shady spot on the deck anytime over sitting in front of artificial cold air that just makes my teeth ache. Of course, I'm more susceptible to the cold anyway and adore the baking warmth. It's the only time my bones thaw out. Yea SUN! :D

I am not a fan of air conditioning - it usually is set too low for my comfort. Plus, it often smells musty.
I'd rather use hot weather as an excuse to drink lots of tall, icy beverages, and wear shorts and flip-flops. :)

I am wearing shorts and sandals right now, in my office.

My sinuses went nuts yesterday but I think that's because we had a massive temp drop out of nowhere. That totally messes me up.

I guess I am a weany. I LOVE my A/C. alergies, prickly heat/ and the heat induced bitchiness are my motivating factores. I like a dry heat, Arizona was beautiful even in the upper 90's, but add the humidity and I'd rather hybernate till the first frost. I think Viking blood is heat sensitive.

What a timely topic. The AC and the lights in my office are out, though for some reason the computers are working. No air is circulating. It is so hot I am fairly sure I'm going to throw up soon.

We have window units at home, but we get a good breeze if we open the right windows. Our third floor, where we sleep (we rent out the second floor), is deathly hot for much of the summer, so even I will give in to the AC sometimes.

Back to the office thing, though. This may be worth calling in a sick day and going home. Seriously. The air is hot and dead.

You shouldn't have to use a sick day if your office doesn't have electricity. F--k that.

If I can think of something to bring home with me, it's not a sick day. They gave us permission to leave if we have something we can do from home.
I just have to think of something I can do from home. And actually, I just did...so I'm outta here.
HOoray!

Yay, Sarah Pi!

I could get used to this. Working at home, dog at my side. And you know what's coming in through the open door and windows? Air. Glorious, moving air.

happy for you and your pooch

My computer makes my tiny room unbearably hot. The AC circulation is extremely poor. I've adapted with a ceiling fan and floor fan. Some days I'll wear shorts or crack open the window for a breeze.

I'm with Sally though. I lived in Louisania for a while and man AC is EXTREMELY arctic cold. Guess what? It's like that nearly anywhere. Live in Yankee lands (hee) and I need to wear a shawl at work to stay warm.

I personally would rather put on more clothes than sweat and feel sticky, unless I'm working out of course, but even then I'm in A glorious C

As I have said before, I think, I get a lot done the days I work at home. Except when I don't. But more often than not I do. Plus I save the 20 minutes each way that constitute my commute. At work sometimes I just screw around with my coworkers or cruise GR. Heck, I can do the latter at home, right?

I am finally starting to miss the working world, I have been home for four years now,good golly...

I don't have central air--wish I did!!! We have one big wall unit and two small window units in the bedrooms. For me, it's a must. I hate feeling all sweaty and sticky, I don't feel clean after being out in the heat. One thing about before they invented it, houses and even cars were adapted to the heat. Like the old cars we had had vents--those little triangle parts of the window to let in some air, even if it's raining. No one has those now.
The old Florida houses had breezeways and wrap around porches and jallousie windows. Now our houses are just like the ones up north and then we run our air.
The other day I thought I was getting sick from the heat. I hate being hot, would rather be cold and snuggle up in a quilt or extra socks or whatever--so of course I live in Florida!!

Me, too. All that stuff.

I know. I have a friend whose house has a sleeping porch--second floor, no doors or windows, just screen. Wouldn't that be neat?

Our front porch functions as a sleeping porch...check the avatar pic (as of late June, anyway). I slept there last night...temps are cool enough, finally, to turn off the air conditioners.

I would be scared to sleep outside, it would have to be on the second floor with no access at all. It's getting cool where you live already, Anthony? I never sleep with the windows open, I'm sad to say. I used to, but I don't any more.

No, Leslie, I wouldn't say it's cooling down for the summer, but we had a stretch in the mid-eighties followed by a stretch in the low seventies...

back on record as saying A/C ranks up there with the wheel and fire as top inventions. as a matter of fact, a slinky and a push-up bra round out the top five

I love sleeping on porches or taking a nap in a rocking chair with the windows open. Great way to stay cool without cranking the A/C. There are times with my car, I'll roll down the windows and use no A/C.

Randomanthony wrote: "But then again, people survived before air conditioning, so I suppose non-conditioned air survival must be possible:)"

Wow. Alot of AC haters around here... I love air conditioning. I'm miserable without it during the summer. It was 100+ over the weekend here, with 80% humidity (ish). That's not much of an exaggeration. What stinks is it's not an isolated event. The temps soar around here until mid-October. I just kind of get used to it - adapt my lifestyle during the summers.

Wanna know how Southerners lived without AC before it was invented? My elderly neighbor told me all about life in the South before AC. First of all, they'd take cold showers before bedtime. Secondly, the whole family would sleep together on screened in sleeping porches.

They'd put frozen rags in front of the portable fans and the rags would cool the air blowing from the fan.

She also said they'd mist their sheets with water before bedtime. I got kind of grossed out at the thought and asked her if it ever mildewed the mattresses and she said that was never a concern - the heat would dry the sheets quickly and they'd be cooler. And then I remembered that it could make sense to do that - my high school BFF's dad would wake us for school by splashing some cold water at our feet and it would get so cold it would wake us - kind of hard to sleep through that sort of thing.

They could also open all the windows and run cross breezes through the house during the night back then and then close the windows in the morning before it would get hot outside. There was never a concern about break ins back in her day so leaving windows open overnight was never concerning.

I can't leave my windows open at all. Heck, my 2 laundry hampers were stolen out of the laundry room just the other day... and no one can get in without a key (which means it was a resident where I live). They also stole a pillow case and Robby's bath towel out of the dryer (I hope they get dog fur all over them). Weird stuff.

Mary Nell tells me they'd also drink LOTS of ice water. And they'd put a seabreeze/water tonic on bandannas and stick them in the freezer/ice box (was literally a large box that held the ice)... and put them around their necks (it cools the body off quickly).

They didn't cook in the kitchen because that would heat up the house too quickly - they'd barbeque dinner outside instead. Or they'd eat food that didn't require cooking. She had a really cool older house - it was built in the early part of the 20th century and she grew up in it. She had lived in that same home for over 80 years, minus the time she was living in Japan.

I remember one summer, several years back when I was working for a production company, and we were filming a commercial in Tulsa, OK for the client - it was THE hottest day that summer with temps reaching up to 116 with the heat index. I was the producer on that particular shoot and part of my responsibility was making sure the crew and the talent drank LOTS of water and didn't get sick. I did a good job keeping them hydrated and did a poor job keeping myself hydrated. I had to drive "the talent's" car around from location to location because he didn't have AC in his jeep and it wasn't practical budget- and time-wise to let him get in it - guess what, jeeps with windows that stick and have no AC are like ovens when the temps are high. I went back to the pool at the hotel where we were staying and swam for 20 minutes before I realized I had a heat rash all over my body. It was probably one of THE most miserable experiences I've had in my life.

I have nothing against "no AC" but it's just not practical in some places. We have elderly people dying of heat stroke and heat exhaustion around here during the summer months. The electric company requests donations from customers for the elderly since most are on a fixed income and cannot run their AC even when they have it because they can't afford the electric bills.

I keep peppermint water and peppermint green tea in my fridge during the summer months because it cools and refreshes... and (BONUS!) the peppermint settles my stomach because the heat makes it miserable. Oftentimes, leaving me feeling like I want to throw up. Cold showers are awesome, too. I don't run the hot water in the bathtub or shower during the summer months.

I spent two summers in Arkansas when there was very little AC to be found. Except, of course, for my rich relatives in Jonesboro who drove Cadillacs and had a modern house with AC.

Those hot, sticky nights with windows wide open and fans blowing were miserable. I hated it, and would now have to be FORCED to go back to living that way.

I understand using A/C when it gets in the 80s-90s, and it's humid. I just hate that the thermostats seem to always be set to 68. Brrrr!

Yes, I'll amend my philosophy.

I hate AC only here in Colorado houses and buildings when it would just be so much more practical to open the windows. Hawaii has the right idea with the breezeways everywhere. Every time I've been to Houston or New Orleans I've been very, very thankful for the AC.

AC in cars is necessary to keep me from getting carsick.

Sally: I would /never/ go without AC in the southern states. *shudders* That's insanity to drive with the window down. Happy I'm up north now. Get enough breeze to where it's a happy medium.

Tanja wrote: "I love sleeping on porches or taking a nap in a rocking chair with the windows open. Great way to stay cool without cranking the A/C. There are times with my car, I'll roll down the windows and use..."

I only use the A/C in the car when my wife doesn't want her hair messed up, otherwise its roll down the windows.

as for driving - i prefer my motorcycle when it is hot. a blast of warm air in my face

I like the idea of motorcycles, but I'm too chicken. I'm even a bit scared of riding on the freeway in my Prius.

at least around here there are more motorcycles and scooters than ever so i feel safer. i think the more there are on the roads people are aware of them more acutely. i get about 62mpg on my larger motorcycle and about 70+ on my little one. plus i get lots more protein from all the bugs hitting me in the teeth

I think I would like to have a bike (a motor one) one day. For years I wouldn't even entertain the thought, and then I started realizing that the actual sensation of riding (at least w/the safe drivers, NOT my ex) was incredible. I still wouldn't want a Harley, but I do want to ride again (by myself) one day.

i like just riding and thinking. no radio or other distractions. just the sound of the wind, the loud pipes and occasionally me singing to no one in particular

Yeah, I love driving anyway, and being on the bike makes it much more interactive w/the surroundings. I would LOVE to go back to Sturgis sans the patriarchal entourage one day!

Best book ever to fix the motorcycle jonezing: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance An Inquiry Into Values.

Although I reread it recently and it came off a bit more pretentious than when I first read it at 22.

I was a bit more pretentious in 1999.

I tried to read that when I was a college student, and stalled out about a quarter of the way in. The metaphors weren't clicking with me, I guess...

Weren't we all... Actually that's the year I left the biker scene and got sober, so maybe I was still pretty humble then.

(I think Zen & Motorcycle Maint is on my to-read list, along w/lots of other Buddhist stuff.)

Yeah, be sure to read some Pema Chodron while you're at it. She lights my fire, too.

I adore her!!!

(Do you ever read Shambhala Sun?)

Yes I do! When I'm not feeling thrifty and in the mood at the newsstand, fo sho! :D

LOL, it's much cheaper by subscription!

mindy - funny and a bit ironic as i only got into motorcycles AFTER i became sober