This is topic So*..................... how hot is it where you are? in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.


To visit this topic, use this URL:
http://www.hatrack.com/ubb/main/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=044284

Posted by Jay (Member # 5786) on :
 
Outside is 96 degrees......

Inside is 78 degrees....... And the sad thing is that is at work and supposedly the AC is on full blast.
 
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
 
Outside is 94 degrees...and this marks the cool day. The rest of the week its been about 103 +

Inside is about 60 degrees. I am forced to sit under the AC vent for the entire large office area. I need a jacket.
 
Posted by Demonstrocity (Member # 9579) on :
 
It's 61 outside, about 70 inside.

Sometimes, I <3 Seattle.
 
Posted by The Pixiest (Member # 1863) on :
 
the high today will be 80 according to yahoo. Much nicer than the 104 of last week.
 
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
 
We already had the heat wave that the East is getting now. A week or two ago, it hit 110 in the shade, probably 10 degrees hotter in full sun.

Now it's down to the low 80s, with a nice breeze that feels like the 70s. [Big Grin]

That was an almost unbearable two weeks, though. And it drove me nuts to be stuck inside the whole time!
 
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
 
(I do have to admit that I was rolling my eyes a bit when I read a story about it being 100 degrees in Chicago and people being evacuated when their power went out. I can't tell you how many times in my life power has gone out when it was over 100 degrees, and no one got evacuated or anything...)
 
Posted by TheHumanTarget (Member # 7129) on :
 
98 (feels like 106) outside
72 inside.
 
Posted by pH (Member # 1350) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by ketchupqueen:
(I do have to admit that I was rolling my eyes a bit when I read a story about it being 100 degrees in Chicago and people being evacuated when their power went out. I can't tell you how many times in my life power has gone out when it was over 100 degrees, and no one got evacuated or anything...)

Those people in Chicago are wusses. [Razz]

-pH
 
Posted by Orincoro (Member # 8854) on :
 
Central Valley California, last week it was 110 degrees, got up to 115 I think.
 
Posted by starLisa (Member # 8384) on :
 
<cough> Bite me. <cough>

There's heat and there's heat. I've dealt with 100 degree plus heat in Israel, and it's not that big a deal. You just need to drink. But the humidity here is stifling. It can seriously get hard to breathe. The only place I've been that's as bad is Boston.

In any case, we had thunderstorms last night and this morning, and the heatwave seems to have broken. Just in time, too, because it's Tisha B'Av, and that means no food and no drink (not even water) until 8:38 tonight. I am so bloody thirsty right now...
 
Posted by pH (Member # 1350) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by starLisa:
There's heat and there's heat. I've dealt with 100 degree plus heat in Israel, and it's not that big a deal. You just need to drink. But the humidity here is stifling. It can seriously get hard to breathe. The only place I've been that's as bad is Boston.

I live in the middle of a swamp.

-pH
 
Posted by Allegra (Member # 6773) on :
 
It is 80 degrees and partly cloudy. This is the first day it has been comfortable all week, but it looks like it is going to rain. I welcome the rain after this horrible week, especially since my car has bad air conditioning that doesnt really work when it is this hot.
 
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
 
Hey, I've lived in Dallas. I know humidity. Come to think of it, we had it with this last heatwave, too.

I can deal with humidity, same as other heat. I'm not saying I like it, but we had hotter temps, the same humidity, the same heat wave, we have an ineffectual air conditioner anyway and lost power for four hours, and we dealt with it.
 
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
 
I have a question. Why do people die?

I get that heat is hard on people, but did the pregnant woman at the Red Sox game die from the heat? Is it mostly dehydration? I'm drinking up to three liters of water a day, and I am still thirsty most of the time, so I see how that's a problem. But it gets this hot in Texas all the time - do people really die from it? What on earth did we do before there was air conditioning?
 
Posted by pH (Member # 1350) on :
 
My house annoys me. My living room has a gigantic window along one wall, so it'll be really cool in here until around 4pm. From then until maybe 11pm, it'll be stuffy.

Oh, and apparently I owe the power company $188, despite the fact that until this bill, I've never had to pay more than $40. And I don't have central air. And I don't run the air any more or any less than I have since I moved here.

I am displeased.

-pH
 
Posted by maui babe (Member # 1894) on :
 
I've been hearing about the heatwave over there and being very happy to be here. It's been in the low 90's the last few days in the town where I work (and sit in an over-air conditioned office with a sweater on), but up on the mountain where I live it's 10 degrees cooler.

Love those trade winds. They keep it so comfortable here.
 
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
 
Katie, that's what bothers me. That people don't drink enough, don't have the sense to stay out of full sun and avoid physical activity, etc. If it's too hot here, soccer practice would be cancelled, so I don't get why a teenage boy collapsed after soccer practice because of the heat and died the next day-- they shouldn't have had soccer practice, at least not outdoors, and those kids should have been fully hydrated.
 
Posted by Javert (Member # 3076) on :
 
Right now in Philly it's a wonderful 96, with a heat index of 107...pardon me while I flip and cook my other side.
 
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
 
pH, we just got a $212 bill for two months. Our usage was a little high, but not any higher than it was last summer, when we paid no more than $100 for two months. It's irritating me, too. [Mad]
 
Posted by pH (Member # 1350) on :
 
kq, the power guy tried to tell me that I'd used $150 in electricity in a week.

He for some reason could not understand why I declared this utterly impossible. Or why I was incredibly pissed off.

I hate the power company. [Mad]

-pH
 
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by katharina:
I have a question. Why do people die?

I get that heat is hard on people, but did the pregnant woman at the Red Sox game die from the heat? Is it mostly dehydration? I'm drinking up to three liters of water a day, and I am still thirsty most of the time, so I see how that's a problem. But it gets this hot in Texas all the time - do people really die from it? What on earth did we do before there was air conditioning?

I'd guess that part of it is that they simply don't know to employ the "staying cool" strategies that people used before air conditioning was common.

I grew up without air conditioning in a part of the country that always sees a week or two of 104 degree heat, and is incredibly humid. No idea what the heat index was when I was a kid, but I'm sure it wasn't insignificant. Anyway, my family never had any trouble. We had a house that got good crossbreezes when the windows were open, used lots of fans, had trees that shaded the house, drank lots of water, and went swimming a lot (but then we lived half a mile away from a lake, so free swimming was a possibility. It isn't for most people). My brother and I also played with the sprinkler a lot.

We were usually hot, but not life threateningly so. When my grandmother would come to stay with us she'd often mop her brow with a cold washcloth, but she never seemed to have any trouble either, so it wasn't just that my family was relatively young and healthy.
 
Posted by ssasse (Member # 9516) on :
 
One of the things I love best about living in Vancouver is the cool nights. During the height of our recent heat wave, we got up to the low 80s in the day, but it always cooled off into the low 60s at night. I'm a snowgirl much more than a hot babe, so that suits me right fine. [Smile]

---------

katharina, it is not usually those who are young and healthy who are at risk of death from heatstroke (and I know you know this, but I'm going to ruminate and perseverate anyway. I'm avoiding work, you see, and you get to pay the price!).

The elderly are at a primary risk because their bodies do not adapt either as well or as quickly to heat. That is, the thermoregulatory apparatus of the hypothalamus fails much sooner in general in this age group, regardless of hydration. The body cannot maintain its homeostatic setpoint (kind of as if the thermostat for indoor heating/cooling had parts that were extraordinarily rusty). Thus, there is a buildup of "heat shock proteins" that exaggerate the progression of the hyperthermia (as if the rusted parts got stuck on "heat the room up pronto" rather than "kick in the air conditioner"), and there is a cascade of damage to certain major organs.

Note that in the absence of adequate thermoregulation, just the basic metabolic effects of being alive will raise the core body temperature of about 1 degree Centigrade per hour. We are hot little machines, we humans.

Additionally, the elderly and those with chronic illnesses are likely to be on medications which interfere with properly coping with heat. For just one example, consider those with congestive heart failure who are on diuretics, one of the most common drugs used for treatment of this: their kidneys are being constantly stimulated to dump water, no matter how much is poured in to the system. You might wonder why one wouldn't just stop taking the diuretic -- however, the diuretic is often maintaining a delicate fluid balance that keeps the heart from being overwhelmed and the lungs from essentially drowning in a backlog of blood.

Also, those with forgetfulness, some form of dementia (Alzheimer's or otherwise), or certain mental illnesses may be less able to care for themselves of less desirous of doing so (e.g., depression). In such cases, there is also often a loss of social support networks, and those who are homebound (most likely to be elderly and/or with chronic health problems) tend to have fewer people who are thinking about helping them in particular.

Neonates have similar (although different) physiological barriers to adequate heat response. One of their main problems is the extreme surface-to-volume ratio which makes it hard for them to stay hydrated, although there are other issues as well.

------

Edited to add:
quote:
We were usually hot, but not life threateningly so. When my grandmother would come to stay with us she'd often mop her brow with a cold washcloth, but she never seemed to have any trouble either, so it wasn't just that my family was relatively young and healthy.
I'd hazard a guess that she had a particularly effective thermostat. *grin And probably the heat generally built up slowly enough that her body could, like yours, adjust to it by gradual changes in heart and kidney function as well as diversion of bloodflow to the periphery.

Did she have problems with atherosclerosis or heart disease that you knew of? Were these generally gradual buildups of heat, or do you remember sudden heat waves? *curious

[ August 03, 2006, 02:36 PM: Message edited by: ssasse ]
 
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
 
*beams* Thank you, ssasse. [Smile] That makes a great deal of sense.
 
Posted by ssasse (Member # 9516) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by katharina:
*beams* Thank you, ssasse. [Smile] That makes a great deal of sense.

Delighted! I hope I can find something else to delay my inevitable bout with paperwork.

I think I need a manservant. Someone who is trained to help me get dressed, organize my schedule, and remain the soul of tact about my many personal faults and seedy indiscretions.

(Do you know any manservants? Preferably willing to work for, say, some fresh-plucked blackberries and an endless nattering on about tedious topics. [Smile] )

[ August 03, 2006, 02:52 PM: Message edited by: ssasse ]
 
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
 
Oh, I would desperately love to have one as well. I'd send him out frequently for fresh bottles of water and my favorite pens. [Smile]

It's so sad that little brothers have to grow up.
 
Posted by ssasse (Member # 9516) on :
 
I never had a little brother, although it sounds just smashing. I currently have a little friend in the upstairs apartment, but she seems to be more concerned with dumping her oatmeal out on the hedges than with attending to my personal needs.

(I'm pretty sure that I'm not supposed to tell about the oatmeal, or about the other various food products that mysteriously streak our windowpane. I consider it a pact with my younger self. [Big Grin] )
 
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
 
*laugh* That's so darling I can hardly believe it. [Big Grin]

I remember the day that my baby brother stopped getting me glasses of milk on command. *mourns*
 
Posted by Lalo (Member # 3772) on :
 
It got up to 110 for about a week in LA, but there's no humidity, so it's perfectly tolerable. I way prefer this to New York's winters.

And hey, Sara! You've been right all this time. I used to disdain Leonard Cohen for third-party covers of his songs, but I've started listening to his own albums lately, and... wow. I can't turn him off! I went so far as to see the movie about him, and though Sonny Bono's pretension annoyed me, the movie really impressed me.

Heh, that's kinda random, but I've been feeling the urge to tell you for a while now.
 
Posted by ssasse (Member # 9516) on :
 
Yeah. She stomps around like gangbusters, wedges open our front window to pet the kitties (heavens! if only she'd shut it! *facepalm), and is fond of non sequiters like "I was born in the Year of the Snake." You can't help but laugh.

She was tossing kibble out into our side yard. I heard it clattering on the windowpane as the breeze blew it back.

Me: "Honey, it's probably not a good idea to toss the dog's food out here, because it stays there." (I was thinking she was in the time of magical thinking, where if she can't see it, it's gone.)

Mia: "Did you know I have a doggy in heaven?"

Me: "Were you feeding your doggy in heaven?"

Mia: "Yes." Pause ... "Ssssssssss. I was born in the Year of the Snake." Pause ... "Are you married? 'Cause I can swim."

Me: ????

*laughing
 
Posted by ssasse (Member # 9516) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Lalo:

And hey, Sara! You've been right all this time. I used to disdain Leonard Cohen for third-party covers of his songs, but I've started listening to his own albums lately, and... wow. I can't turn him off! I went so far as to see the movie about him, and though Sonny Bono's pretension annoyed me, the movie really impressed me.

Awe-some. I really enjoyed him doing "Tower of Song" in that film. But yes, Bono was a bit blowhardish.
 
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
 
Lalo, you didn't get the humidity? We had 105 degree weather with 95% humidity at night. I guess it depended on the part of L.A. And here, it got to 115 or so, but felt 10 degrees hotter because of the humidity...
 
Posted by Telperion the Silver (Member # 6074) on :
 
It was around 98 in Detroit yesterday... but it's cooled down to about 85 today.
 
Posted by Stephan (Member # 7549) on :
 
Hot enough that the dog doesn't even want to go outside.
 
Posted by Lalo (Member # 3772) on :
 
I'm in SoCal! We don't get humidity. We also don't get disease, boredom, or unhappiness. Our sunbeams generally come down in stylized cartoon form, smiling and waving, and if we do get precipitation, it's generally in the form of delighted puppy dogs.

But, uh, enjoy Sacramento!
 
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
 
Lalo, I'm in L.A. county, part of the city technically, our cops are LAPD. We had humidity last week, I'm telling you. [Razz] Didja sleep through it?
 
Posted by Lalo (Member # 3772) on :
 
Oh, how far inland are you? The Valley must be hell in this kind of weather. And, well, yeah, I've also spent the better part of the past two weeks either enjoying free AC from my employer or floating around in the building pool with a stupid grin on my face. (New York winters suck.)

And, heh, this doesn't count as humidity. I spent last summer in the throes of Columbus, Ohio weather -- and, oh god, I'll never complain about California again. You never really understand what a dry heat is until you go through a sopping wet one...
 
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
 
I'm in the Foothills. We're not as bad as the Valley, usually, but I think we got worse of that heatwave than, say, Downtown had. We don't have humidity now. But I checked, it was 90-95% for a solid week up here.
 
Posted by ludosti (Member # 1772) on :
 
This week it is relatively cool here - only just over 100. [Roll Eyes] On Tuesday I was helping our next door neighbor move and the power had already been shut off. As I sweated profusely and huffed and puffed up and down the stairs I had to keep reminding myself that it "wasn't that hot". At least I was smart enough to sit down and rest for 5 minutes when I got dizzy - I felt like such a wimp.

A couple weeks ago it was hideous - we broke a couple day's records (up around 118 - that day as I drove home from work the thermometer on my car was reading between 118 and 122) and had relative humidity up around 60-70% (which for a desert is really high).
 
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
 
I'm blaming the heat for my crappy nectarines. They are mushy on the inside, like they've been cooked. [Smile]
 
Posted by Stephan (Member # 7549) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Lalo:
I'm in SoCal! We don't get humidity. We also don't get disease, boredom, or unhappiness. Our sunbeams generally come down in stylized cartoon form, smiling and waving, and if we do get precipitation, it's generally in the form of delighted puppy dogs.

But, uh, enjoy Sacramento!

Fires, riots, and mudslides though. I'll take my 2-3 months of humidity.
 
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
 
quote:
So*..................... how hot is it where you are?
Well, if you had asked last week, it was 110 Fahrenheit.

Luckily a cool front has moved in (last night) keeping it in the 80's now -- and pushing that hot air all over to Jay's area........ [Big Grin]
 
Posted by starLisa (Member # 8384) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by katharina:
I'm blaming the heat for my crappy nectarines. They are mushy on the inside, like they've been cooked. [Smile]

Ewww.
 
Posted by El JT de Spang (Member # 7742) on :
 
It's pleasant here, down in the swamp.

Though I will say that it's my observation that the heat index waaaayyy undervalues humidity. I've been in SoCal, Phoenix, and Vegas when the temp was 110+, and Louisiana at 96 degrees and 98% humidity is much worse.
 
Posted by Glenn Arnold (Member # 3192) on :
 
Well, last week I was in California. Got into LA Monday, drove to SF that night. Drove back to Valencia the next day, then UCLA Wednesday, and then to San Deigo (with broken air conditioning) for Thursday night, Friday and then drove back to LA for the flight at Saturday noon.

Stinkin' HOT!

OK, so now I'm back in NY and two days later here we got the same thing only more humid.

We got up to 99 two days ago, it was 96 yesterday, and probably 96 today. I open the windows and turn on the fan at night, to bring down the temperature in the house, and then close the windows in the morning. I also have dehumidifiers in the basement, but we rarely use the little window unit air conditioner, 'cause the fan usually cools it down to 70, and it rarely gets over 85 inside on a hot day.

Anyway two nights ago it never cooled down, so the window fan trick didn't work. Last night we left the air conditioner on all night and it was 70 degrees when I woke up this morning, so I turned off the air conditioner and it only got up to about 83 inside. A series of thunderstorms are coming through right now and it cooled down to 79, so I have the windows open with the fan on right now, but I'm keeping an eye on it in case it decides to heat up again, 'cause if it does the humidity will be terrible.
 
Posted by Swampjedi (Member # 7374) on :
 
As crap.
 
Posted by Nighthawk (Member # 4176) on :
 
I live in Miami, where it's upper 90s with upper 90s humidity.

One time I had to go to Dallas, Texas in July. It was hot, but I thought I can take it, being from Miami and all. It was only two blocks from the office to the hotel.

Of course, it was 100 degrees with ZERO humidity. It was like walking through a blast furnace. One thing is sweating like an animal in high humidity, another thing is feeling like your clothing and skin would burst in to flames.
 
Posted by pH (Member # 1350) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by El JT de Spang:
It's pleasant here, down in the swamp.

Speak for yourself, sir! I almost died walking to my car, and then I almost burst into flames when I actually SAT in my car.

-pH
 
Posted by Orincoro (Member # 8854) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by pH:
kq, the power guy tried to tell me that I'd used $150 in electricity in a week.

He for some reason could not understand why I declared this utterly impossible. Or why I was incredibly pissed off.

I hate the power company. [Mad]

-pH

HAHA. We got charged 300 for a month! 300!!! And it was for the AC, and a couple of computers.
 
Posted by ludosti (Member # 1772) on :
 
Dang Glenn, I wish we could do the fan trick here during the summer time (we do it in the spring and fall though). [Frown] Unfortunately even at night, it doesn't get below about 85.
 
Posted by breyerchic04 (Member # 6423) on :
 
Lalo's right, no humidity is as bad as east of the Mississippi (usually still midwest).
 
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
 
I've spent the last week or so in a 130 degree (at it's cooler parts) kitchen at work. The best part of my day is the 30 or so seconds I get to spend in the walk in freezer looking for ranch dressing.

And I'm not even a cook, they stand for hours on end over open flames.

By the way, anyone thinking about going out to a restaurant to cool off when it's hot...just remember that the cooks sweat too, and when over multihundred degree glames, they sweat a LOT. Put the pieces together there and mayhaps you will reconsider your eating out habits when there's a heatwave on.

It's always hotter somewhere else.
 
Posted by cmc (Member # 9549) on :
 
A little bit late but the woman at the Sox game had a preexisting heart condition.
 
Posted by Glenn Arnold (Member # 3192) on :
 
Lyrhawn,

Yeah, no kidding. You should try installing a burner into a hole in the bottom of the regenerator of a glass furnace. Radiant remperature coming out of the hole is about 2800F. Skin temperature of the furnace is about 600F. Air temperature is irrelevant. The only way to survive is wear a lot of clothing, get the job done fast and get the hell out of there.

Speaking of Hell, the inside of a glass furnace is probably the closest approximation of "the lake of fire" ever made.
 
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
 
And Glenn wins the thread.
 
Posted by JenniK (Member # 3939) on :
 
I have payed $689 in three months down here, and I live in an apartment.
 


Copyright © 2008 Hatrack River Enterprises Inc. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.


Powered by Infopop Corporation
UBB.classic™ 6.7.2