*Le Sigh*

[volksdragon]

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (AP) -- Cheryl Kennedy had just one word to describe the stagnant, sticky, downright dense heat that blanketed the downtown business district and most of the nation.

"Insanity. Insanity!" she said.

After a long sip from her bottled water, Kennedy added, "This is not fit for human beings. Without air conditioning, I don't think many of us could last like this for too long." (Italics mine)


Does this depress anyone else? Yeah, the heat sucks. Yes, it's hot. I HAVE A FEELING PEOPLE HAVE BEEN SURVIVING WEATHER LIKE THIS FOR A FEW HUNDRED/THOUSAND YEARS BY NOW.

Are we really becoming that dependent on technology, are we becoming collectively so soft, that we'd die out in the woods if the temperature stayed above 90 for a week?

Comments

[greyhame.livejournal.com]

Nah, we'd just be so miserable that we'd feel like dying for a few days, and then we'd adjust.

Personally, if it weren't for air conditioning, I'd just move up to Canada or Washington State or something.

[armandae.livejournal.com]

we'd likely adjust our active hours like in parts of europe that don't believe in A/C. sleep during the hot part of the day and work more into the evening.

[marmota.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, the trend appears to be driven more by market concerns than social ones; Spain for example is being pressured by the EU, and to some extent the liberalization of it's workforce model (read: working moms) to give up it's Siesta work schedule.

[cogshiftingman.livejournal.com]

Precisely. It's nonsense to suggest we *need* A/C!

[vorpalbla.livejournal.com]

It's called a Siesta, and I think they have them in much of Latin America too.

[siercia]

abso-fucking-lutely NOT.

[scirocco.livejournal.com]

I don't use my AC in the car when I'm driving unless I'm driving with someone else, and we only sleep in AC> (Wife dislikes being sweaty). I grew up being sweaty probably 50% of the time (exercise, biking, whatever) so it doesn't bother me nearly as much, but I seem to be in a minority.

[stevie-stever.livejournal.com]

When someone is in an environment where there is no AC, one adapts, because one has no choice.

[siercia]

something bear in mind though -

particularly in cities, the environment that we've created traps heat in a way that would never have been seen 100 years ago (or certainly not 200). The amount of pavement and buildings that reflect heat instead of absorbing it, the air conditioners the spend all day pumping hotter air out than the air they're cooling, the comparative lack of shady spaces all make for an urban environment that is far warmer than we used to have.

Also, personally, I think that AC makes it harder to cope with the heat, because it messes with our regulation systems and blocks our normal bodily ability to cool itself. But that's just me.

[scirocco.livejournal.com]

Those are very good points. Asphalt sucks up AMAZING amounts of heat (40-50 degrees over ambient temperature) and makes it even hotter than it would normally be. That's why even I come back looking wilted from the races on the airfield.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Yeah, this is what I was thinking... that inner cities are much hotter than, say, plains or woods or whatever because of all of the asphalt and tall buildings and lack of breeze and all of that. The way the heat gets trapped up in all of those freaking big densely-packed buildings is kind of incredible.

That said, I hate air conditioning. I don't mind the heat. Jen, however, does not feel the same way.

[vorpalbla.livejournal.com]

Yeah, you beat me to the point about cities. Out in the woods at 90 degrees might be better than the city at 100.

I do like AC, though. I could survive without it but don't much want to.

[marmota.livejournal.com]

Tell me about it... I've been bicycling to work (well, to/from commuter rail stations) and getting "stay away from the crazy man" looks from many of my fellow commuters. Ok, so it's hot. So it's humid. Dress for it, keep moving so that evaporative cooling works, keep drinking water until you're peeing clear, and you'll be fine. A pinch or two of low sodium salt* once in a while doesn't hurt either. There was indeed Life Before Air Conditioning, and there will, hopefully, be life long after.

Oh, and for added amusement, given the heat of the current meteorological climate, imagine how well suggesting that americans start wearing practical headgear like kaffiyehs instead of baseball caps would go over in the current political climate...

*Eh, so it's radioactive. So are most sport drinks. It's still wonderful stuff, since the 'missing' NaCl is replaced with KCl. Just try to forget about the half life of K40.

[quezz.livejournal.com]

When I was in Shenzhen, near Hong Kong, without air conditioning, I was miserable for about the first three days. I adjusted after a while, just as I adjusted to having no heat in the winter when I was in Xuzhou.

I am in a third-floor apartment, with skylights for windows, and I decided to keep the AC off since my dog is not here. I've HAD to keep it on for her -- she's furry and not feeling so well. It's good for my skin to sweat a bit more, and it's also a little annoying for me to have on air-conditioning since my body adjusted to not having it. I keep the smallest air conditioner possible and use it in only one room, for my dog's sake.

It's nice to know I don't need it.

[reo.livejournal.com]

If only there were ample shade trees around, you know?

[scirocco.livejournal.com]

That would indeed help. As my wife noticed, that's a lot of what keeps New Mexico tolerable. Sure, it's 114F, but A: It's not humid, and B: There are large trees planted around/over almost every house in the cities. In the shade, it's usually a temperate 85F, very tolerable.

[nrubenstein.livejournal.com]

Air conditioning allows us to work far more efficiently and for longer hours than otherwise. The downer is that it also makes it easier to be way out of shape. Really, though, that's just some stupid woman getting quoted. WHo gives a shit what she thinks?

[scirocco.livejournal.com]

I think that's a modern take on what AC can do for us. It helps cool computers, that's true, but I can sit and debug things when I'm hot and when I'm cold. :)

It just worries me that she's representative of a society that's growing increasingly unable to take care of itself without mechanical and technological crutches. Technology is supposed to assist us, not prop us up, although I will admit that definition is also changing as things such as cybernetics and nanotechnology become more a reality.

[kpht.livejournal.com]

We have our a/c in storage. Last night was actually pleasant until phatmike came to bed, and he's like a human furnace. If we start with the a/c now, we won't kick the habit until September. Sleeping isn't as comfortable, but the money we're saving is more important.

I always use AC in the car on the ride home, but I drive 60MPH as much as possible to make up for it. Still get about 35-36 MPG even with stop-n-go and some 75mph-i-really-want-dinner patches.

[nrubenstein.livejournal.com]

Above about 45MPH, *most* reasonably aerodynamic cars get better fuel efficiency with the windows up and the A/C on.

...my habit of driving with the windows down and a cool breeze running from the A/C probably isn't ideal, but what the hell? It's not like I'm going to notice the difference between 11 and 11.2MPG in the city. Further irony is that I get 28MPG at 90MPH and only 23MPG at 60MPH. :)

[hoo.livejournal.com]

It's the transitions that kill the acclimatization. I spent a couple of summers working outdoors in DC, and the only times it got tough where after spending a block of hours in air conditioning.

That being said, I couldn't convince Veronica of that this summer, so we've got a new 12,500 BTU window AC from Sears cooling the first floor. Biggest thing they had that didn't require a special plug.

[scirocco.livejournal.com]

Heheheh. Yeah, that's one of the reasons we bought NEW ACs a few years ago, the upstairs bedrooms are the hottest rooms in the house, and it's where Ms. Widget was sleeping, so yeah, in the interest of no baking baby, we put them in. :)

[nemomori.livejournal.com]

Honestly I grew up without AC for the most part. Granted the house Siercia and I lived in was great, huge tree shading the east side and trees shading the north and west sides as well. We used to open the windows up at night and suck in cool air through the whole house via box fans in the attic and second floor windows. During the day we closed all the windows and pulled down all the shades and it was often 10 to 15 degrees cooler inside than out.

I do the same thing in my apartment (since through the wall AC units cost fricken $300+) and it's kept it bearable throughout the summer. Is it a little sticky and humid right now as I sit here typing? Sure. But can I bear it? Yes. Though will I get a cheap AC unit at somepoint in life for bedroom usage? Probably.

[scirocco.livejournal.com]

Your house (parent's house) is always hot and sticky there, regardless of trees. :) There are never any fans going when *I'M* there!

one point of view.

[volare.livejournal.com]

woods =/= asphalt/brick/plaster/concrete

heat holding modern structures etc.
we'd be fine in the woods. but not in the inner cities.

when the heat waves like this start in the cities, people start dying.
usually eldery and sick, in a stifling city apartment complex where not even a window fan makes the air move.
sometimes kids, almost always with asthma and other illnesses as well.
the ones I got called to assist were almost always in trailers, less homes at that point than the metal box from Bridge Over The River Quai. AC couldn't run in those even if they'd had access to it.

hard to say what the point of this is, just.. spilling the brain.

[string-on-desk.livejournal.com]

I saw that article earlier and it made my jaw drop. While I agree with the points made about there being more asphalt and fewer trees, etc, I grew up without AC and I would sweat it out all day long. I spend most of my day in non-A/Ced places. My bf comes home and sometimes he lectures me about how if I'm hot that I should turn on the A/C... well I would turn it on, if I were hot. I spend most of the day drinking ice water or in the basement where it's naturally cooler. I prefer not to use it because it makes me feel dependent on it.

hi! a random visit from sharon kubo. (now at http://sharonkubo.com)

[(Anonymous)]

(*unrelated to the current post, but i didn't know where else to put it.)

sure, i died in the dungeon of scirocco. but only after kicking a whole lot of ass.

-kubo

I died in the Dungeon of Scirocco

I was killed in a stalagmite-filled maze of passages by Maxim Masiutin the dragon, whilst carrying...

the Amulet of Driving, the Dagger of Dilettante, the Shield of Judecorp, the Armour of Sydneygb, the Shield of Auryn24, the Sword of Snowboarding, the Dagger of Volkswagen, the Shield of Zaftig, the Sceptre of Addiemayo, a Figurine of Siercia, the Sword of Zen Sorcere, the Armour of Volkswagen, a Figurine of Dollraves, the Axe of Luzmaria8, the Wand of Islenskr, the Amulet of Meatlust, the Shield of Oxlahun, the Sceptre of Frisbee, the Amulet of Wavemaster, a Figurine of Jadefu, a Figurine of Isabel Gold, a Figurine of Girlblah, the Sword of Ohsheila and 201 gold pieces.

Score: 288

Explore the Dungeon of Scirocco (http://thesurrealist.co.uk/dungeon?user=Scirocco) and try to beat this score,
or enter your username to generate and explore your own dungeon...

Re: hi! a random visit from sharon kubo. (now at http://sharonkubo.com)

[scirocco.livejournal.com]

I like the "Sword of Ohsheila"

[doctorbass.livejournal.com]

Hi, Scirocco. I surfed over from fatherhood. My daughter actually tolerates the hot, humid weather we've been having better than I do. She'll want to go out and play, so I'll go out with her and in a few minutes I'm comfortable in the heat. When we lived in Oregon, we only had a window unit in our bedroom that we'd turn on at night. The low humidity made it cool down by about 6 PM.

[scirocco.livejournal.com]

Welcome to my journal. :) Yeah, Hannah does OK with the hot as well once she's out and doing stuff, but she does seem to like the transition to COOL in her bedroom with an AC unit at night. :)

[yangelina.livejournal.com]

I spent 11 years in Taiwan with only fans, and the weather there is pretty much like that of Florida, where I spent another 10 years or so. In FL, 100ish is the average temperature in the summer, and my mom didn't like having the AC running because it was expensive and she's, well, Taiwanese. ;) It is definitely possible to go without A/C, but very, very uncomfortable. And even with all this heat under my belt (well that doesn't sound right, but you know what I'm trying to say?), this 90ish New England heat is still just a tad worse for me to endure. I suspect that it's because most New England homes are not designed to have heat like this, and Floridian/Taiwanese homes are used to dealing with high temperatures without creating an oven-like environment for the people inside - they don't insulate nearly as well.
I am so glad we have at least an A/C unit in the bedroom!