But not me, and today is the hottest day of the year in Redondo Beach. It’s eighty degrees on the lower floor of the house, and much warmer upstairs (it’s apparently 109 downtown LA). I know that eighty doesn’t seem that bad, but one of the reasons we like living here is that this kind of heat is rare, which also means that we have no air conditioning here. It may be hot sleeping tonight (last night it never went below seventy outside). There’s supposed to be one more day of this, then a cool down on Wednesday, when things go back to normal. It’s ironic that the hottest days of the year in LA didn’t come until fall. I blame George Bush.
[Update later afternoon]
Wow. According to Accuweather, it is currently 95 in Redondo (not clear where they take that reading) with a day high of 105, then cooling down to 63 (a forty-point plunge) overnight. That’s how dry it is here, with an off-shore wind. This is the first time I can ever recall triple digits at the beach. The record is 106 (back in 1964) and the normal for this time of year is 76.
“It’s ironic that the hottest days of the year in LA didn’t come until fall.”
Welcome to Indian Summer. 🙂
Rand,
You can get a window unit at Wally World for the bedroom for next to nothing.
Even Indian summer isn’t generally as hot as regular summer. This is hotter. Fortunately, it doesn’t have accompanying high winds, so no serious fires so far. We just have to get through the next couple days.
It’s not worth buying or installing a window unit for a couple nights a year.
you need a steve den beste air conditioner. find the ice blocks store.
Rand
This happened in 1981 when I first moved out to LA.
What a wimp (speaking from Phoenix AZ.) Until a few month ago I didn’t have a wall unit. My bed was over 100 degrees at night. Now that I have cooled down the room I find going outside makes me dizzy (I’m the wimp now.)
Personally I’m SICK of heat.
I’m not a warm weather guy any way, so I await with much grumpy expectation, the FIRST 40 degree day!
It’s not supposed to be this hot, this long.
Here in central NC we’ve had THE hottest summer on record. We’ve had more days with temps above 90 degree in state history. It’s almost October and it was 98 two days ago!! Temps were over 90 back in March. This is September for crying out loud. 7 months of 90 degree days is not normal. Nit here anyway.
And lets talk about humidity. I’m not a fish, I don’t have gills. I don’t need this much humidity.
(I’ve been watching online shows about Alaska, Canada, the poles. North, South…I don’t care. Just so long as it’s way cooler than 90!)
I blame Algore!
Back in July we had a heat wave like that here in Virginia. It got up to 105 or so. I don’t have a/c where I live either. But it’s pretty much hot and humid all summer here, so I’m considering a window unit the next place I move to. At least summer is only the traditional three months, not practically all year like it is in Florida.
I used to wear a jacket in dead summer in kuwait, wife-unit thinks it’s intolerable w/o a/c *and* a wind tunnel at anything over 75 or so… krikey, what’d they do in SW okieland w/o a/c?
I’m in the Cold People camp. I used to walk home — albeit briskly — in light shirt and shorts on winter evenings in Boulder when the temperature was single digits, Fahrenheit.
I have a hard time believing that Phoenix was voluntarily settled by people of European ancestry. I imagine prison labor camps and Army bases dating back to the 40s, their hapless children who don’t know better, and Hot People from the tropics emigrating north.
In the near future we may look back on these warm years with fondness,
Global Cooling and the New World Order.
so I’m considering a window unit the next place I move to.
As an air conditioning geek, I recommend a Friedrich unit – the “Quietmaster”.
“Green” units, like those from General Electric achieve their higher efficiency by moving the heat exchanger blades closer together – which also drives up the noise so you think there’s a tornado in your room. Since the government mandated energy efficiency campaign began, I haven’t run across a store in California which would allow you to turn on a large AC unit to listen to how loud it is. I found out there’s a good reason for this. I eventually had to dump the GE unit after a couple of sleepless years and went with the blessed Friedrich unit.
Carl, it’s amazing what people can adjust to. Born in Brooklyn, NY. I’ve lived many years in Phoenix w/o any a/c. Also spent a few years in Mobridge, SD where water on the table next to my bed would be frozen in the morning and yes, t-shirts in single digits not uncommon. …and this Brooklyn kid looked funny on a horse no matter the temperature.
Phoenix without air-conditioning, ken? When did you arrive here from Krypton?
113 in downtown LA yesterday at noon.
There were a few people in my program in grad school from other countries. I got quite a bit of amousement watching the reaction of my Hatian friend experiencing her first winter in Iowa, and, of course, reveled in her awe at seeing snow for the first time. Another classmate was originally from India, and he found that after being in Iowa for 20 months straight (through 2 winters and one MidWest summer), he wasn’t ready for the heat back home when he visited. Of course, he works in Phoenix now, so I’m sure he’s back to being acclimatized to the heat.
I saw snow for the first time this past winter. Lots and lots of snow.
1 p.m. in the afternoon and it’s a sunny, clear skies, 70 degrees in Dallas. Love it, love it, love it :-p
120 degrees in the house. Lost 150 lbs over about two years. Late this summer, finally got a/c. I have no idea how I survived the temperature over the past few years other than lots of water.
I do believe I lost a few billion brain cells. You can tell, right? 😉
It’s a good thing you’re not actually looking for any sympathy!
No Susan, not fishing for sympathy or even empathy. I take full responsibility for the road I’ve traveled. It is too bad there aren’t do overs, but I believe that within limits you can pretty much go anywhere you have the perseverance to reach from almost any starting point. After losing a job I held for seven years and divorcing I lived for two years without anything. I sold my car to my ex for about 15% of it’s value to pay off all my debt and lived on the rest. It was a nice car. I miss it.
I’m concentrating on financial security with a goal of reaching it in two years. This will involve substantial sacrifice. Even though I have money in my safe deposit box I will be living on about $1.73 per day for the next 30 days. Every thirty days for the next 23 months will be different, but for about the next six to ten it will not be much different.
A/C is a luxury that I denied myself for a long time, but relented. Internet connectivity is required for my sanity. A cell phone keeps me in contact with family. I keep it pretty simple.
After finance I will work on health. People have told me that’s the wrong order. People have lot’s of opinions about other peoples lives. Actually, I what I can regarding health now, but more is needed. I’ll need cash for that.