Weekend Plans Post: It’s too dang hot
When Maribou and I bought this house way back 20ish years ago, we agreed that we wouldn’t be getting AC. Colorado is temperate with the exception of 3-5 weeks spanning the middle of July to the middle of August.
Well… guess what? We’re smack dab in the middle of this “hot” crap and, lemme tell ya, it sucks. We have an AC unit in the bedroom that does a good job of keeping us in the low 70s but we also have a “rest of the house” where we spend the majority of our time and, sometimes, we go outside. And it’s humid. There are occasionally bugs.
We do what we can. Popsicles are the best way to deal with it. Ice cream in a pinch. We put bottles of water in the freezer and those are fun to drink from all day.
Hummus instead of potatoes. Chicken instead of steaks. Don’t use the oven. Don’t use the broiler.
Okay, I’m fine without the oven, though I miss it… but how am I expected to live without the broiler? My cheese must melt!
So the only pizza we get is from Costco. The crockpot, thankfully, doesn’t ruin the mood like the oven does. We can still make lamb and chicken and brisket and so we can have sandwiches and meat over rice and get our protein… but, jeez.
It’s hot.
And it’s going to be hot for another month.
Which means that this’ll be another weekend trying to deal with the heat. Thunderstorms on Sunday and Monday. That’ll help.
So… what’s on your docket?
It was similar when we moved to southern Rhode Island 30 years ago. There were not many hideously hot/humid days then and we made it the first 20 years without any AC. Ten years ago we bought a window unit for our bedroom, seven years ago a window unit for a room downstairs, and this year a window unit for my home office. The biggest change isn’t necessarily daytime high temperatures but we now have prolonged periods where the dew points are above 70 and nighttime temperatures stay in the 70s. Of course, we are also 30 years older and now in our mid-60s are less tolerant of high temperatures and dew points. I feel your pain. Hang in there.Report
You must have got the high pressure dome we usually have all summer. It’s actually been cooler here and the other day I was thinking “huh I don’t feel miserable and depressed, what’s up with that” and then I realized it was in the lower 80s and dry instead of 100 and air like soup.
my main plan in a little bit – I have yet to eat breakfast and put on outdoor clothes – is to mow the lawn. Which will be way less miserable than normal in the summer because it’s like 68F right now, UNHEARD OF for here in late JulyReport
The Colorado Front Range only flirts with the edges of the big high-pressure heat domes. They tend not to cross the country at the Central Rockies, but either north or south. The Parker Divide to the south and the Cheyenne Ridge to the north also help steer those air masses past.Report
I don’t mind the heat and humidity during the day. I just figure it’s in my blood. It’s the nights that are the problem. Sometimes I think back to the old settlers of the area in the 1600s and wonder how the hell they did it. Then I remember many of them just died.
As for us our weekend is revolving around oldest son making divisionals in backstroke for the neighborhood swim team. He’s still there with his mom and grandma (and grandma latcher on). Me and the baby walked over for his race and *fingers crossed* looks like he took 2nd for his age group. Which considering this is his first year ever is IMO really impressive. I learned that the secret to motivating him is the use of swear words as encouragement.
Anyway we will go to the banquet tonight. I am hoping for a bike ride before. Maybe some whiskey and a movie after. I watched Abigail last night now that it droppee to $5. Maybe something else spooky will be free or in my non-offensive-to-rent price range.Report
We bought this house in ’98 and it didn’t have AC. Our first-born came along in 2001 in July. My parents came to visit and my Dad (an HVAC tech) proclaimed that our house was too hot for a baby. A few weeks later he showed back up with a friend and a bunch of industrial gear and we’ve had AC ever since.Report
Also: Even after 28-ish years of living here I am continually amazed at how much hotter it is down in the city as opposed to the temperature up here in the forest. I get caught overdressing in the Summer All The Time!Report
Last weekend we hit 102 °F here in Fort Collins. According to the local paper, this was the 29th day in the city’s history when it got to 100° or higher. According to the article the all-time record is 103°.
Microclimates are wonderful things. 50 miles east out onto the plains the high-temperature extremes are several degrees higher, the low-temperature extremes lower, the blizzards worse, and the thunderstorms much worse.Report