North Hollywood and the Valley have become a boiling hot sweatfest. I'd die without air conditioning in the summers. On a typical work day, the routine consists of my morning shower ending in a cool rinse, allowing my hair to air dry, which doesn't take long, but it keeps me cool during the short, already-sweltering-at-9AM trip to the car, then turning the a/c controls to a comfortable low hiss on the way to the office, and a dash from the underground parking garage into the relative oasis of totally unhealthy, recirculated but cool(!) air inside the confines of my office. My oscillating fan is optional during most days as long as the a/c is working at optimum levels. Lunch time or errands are handled with precision parking nearest the entrance in order to make the quick trek from car a/c to restaurant or shopping center a/c.
And at the end of the day, with the moonroof open and the a/c cranked up to level 3 and strategically aimed between my legs - especially if I've worn a skirt that day - it's a breezy, balmy drive home to our vintage apartment with all of the windows open. Large fans with built-in thermostats occupy two of said windows, creating a pleasant breeze and white noise. Still there are our 4 cats, all huffing and puffing while they lie spread eagle on the floor in the kitchen or on the bathroom tile. The lucky kitty who thinks of it first gets the privilege of lying a fluffy belly down on the cool porcelain of the bathtub, or a shared popsicle when I get home. (Sushi likes the lime ones the best.)
We have an old fashioned "air conditioner" that loudly hovers in the other bedroom window at the back of the house. Given it's location, it does absolutely no service to the rest of the place. So imagine all the cats, myself, and Brian, spread out on the bed with even our fingers spread apart and not touching one another, with the curtains drawn, the door closed, and our sad excuse for an air conditioner cranked all the way up. The fans do help quite a bit, and they come highly recommended. But on the hottest days, that is where you'll find us - sipping French lemonade with melty ice cubes clinking in a glass dripping with condensation onto thirsty skin; and listening to the almost pleasant rattling sound while the bedroom slowly becomes an icy meat locker.
What do YOU do to stay cool?
And at the end of the day, with the moonroof open and the a/c cranked up to level 3 and strategically aimed between my legs - especially if I've worn a skirt that day - it's a breezy, balmy drive home to our vintage apartment with all of the windows open. Large fans with built-in thermostats occupy two of said windows, creating a pleasant breeze and white noise. Still there are our 4 cats, all huffing and puffing while they lie spread eagle on the floor in the kitchen or on the bathroom tile. The lucky kitty who thinks of it first gets the privilege of lying a fluffy belly down on the cool porcelain of the bathtub, or a shared popsicle when I get home. (Sushi likes the lime ones the best.)
We have an old fashioned "air conditioner" that loudly hovers in the other bedroom window at the back of the house. Given it's location, it does absolutely no service to the rest of the place. So imagine all the cats, myself, and Brian, spread out on the bed with even our fingers spread apart and not touching one another, with the curtains drawn, the door closed, and our sad excuse for an air conditioner cranked all the way up. The fans do help quite a bit, and they come highly recommended. But on the hottest days, that is where you'll find us - sipping French lemonade with melty ice cubes clinking in a glass dripping with condensation onto thirsty skin; and listening to the almost pleasant rattling sound while the bedroom slowly becomes an icy meat locker.
What do YOU do to stay cool?
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See, I work in a lumberyard where you HAVE to wear denim jeans & boots at work, and no chopping the sleeves off of the uni shirts, either...so I am just fucking hot all day.
Your musings made me miss New Orleans...I moved there and my second night it was HOT. I passed out drunk, and awoke at 4am to the sounds of torrential rains and the 4 O'clock bells at the church (for NOLA folks, this was on Josephine below Magazine just above the St. Andrew projects)...and it's 84 degrees out still...and were talking more water than you shower is able to push under Federal Law. The streets are inches deep, and the cats are actually thinking of going out in the rain to cool down...so I do...and the rain is the same temp as the air.
I miss the shit out of that town each July & August, best times of the year for total submission to weather. Everything smells alot, and everyones skin is just perfect and I want to fuck everything....
del
[Edited on Jun 27, 2003]