Tag: Heat

  • ODDS and ENDS: China Bots, Soccer, Cubs, and Cool Down Damn It!

    ODDS and ENDS: China Bots, Soccer, Cubs, and Cool Down Damn It!

    (If you know, you know and that’s all right…)

    China bots have invaded my blog! At first I thought that I was getting really popular. But then I looked up where all these views were coming from, and it turns out they were coming from one city in China. I guess it’s possible that I’m really popular in China. Then I did a little digging on the internets and found out that this is a common situation. Any case, I would just like to say hello to all you bots out there. Hope you find what you’re looking for. I suggest checking out my latest published piece at Split Lip Magazine. It’s rather insightful, if I must say so myself.

    The kid’s soccer season starts on Saturday. Not much to say other than that this year, I will buy folding chairs so I can sit and watch the matches. Oh, and Tottenham is playing rather well; Only one loss and two draws, with five wins. Lot’s of soccer in my life right now.

    And the Cubs made the playoffs, so I get to see they gang play in October. That’s making my Fall feel better.

    So, to say that I impatient for Autumn is an understatement. I have my huge thick cardigan sweat sitting out in the living room, as I am ready for a chilly evening to put it on, but the air conditioner is on. It’s 83 degrees in the City, and humid as Houston. I know, I know, I know I sound like the oldest of old mean yelling at the clouds, but you need to understand that I am built and geared for the Fall and Winter. Prolonged exposure to Summer and warm weather causes my brain to melt and generally creates a state of high annoyance in me. I need clouds and gray, rain, and leaves changing, and coffee all day. Honestly, if Autumn doesn’t show up soon, I might just melt away…

  • Magic of a Pool

    I don’t know if you heard but the public pools are open in New York City! My kid is over the moon at this development.

    For my kid, when it comes to ranking the best Summer Events; First is always the last day of school, and second is when the pools open!

    And I get it, pools are great, especially when you are a kid. Pools are magical! They are indulgent, and refreshing, and an aquatic playground! When you were a kid, and you had to stay at a hotel, weren’t you more excited to do it if it had a pool? Of course, you were! Pools, even crappy motel pools, are the best thing on a vacation. Again, for a kid.

    I remember when I was a kid, and asking a friend that when he’s gone on vacation, would be okay if I hopped the fence and swam in their pool while they were away. As an eleven-year-old boy living in stupidly hot Texas, this seemed like a reasonable request. My friend ratted me out to his patents and I had to promise that I would swim in their pool while they were away. AND his parents made me tell my parents to ensure I wouldn’t do it. (Now that I am a parent, I can see why they were concerned about a strange kid swimming in their pool while they were away, but at the same time – C’mon man!) For the record, I didn’t swim at their place while they were gone.

    Swimming Pool!

    A magical words.

    Sounds like freedom, and endless days of adventure and excitement.

  • Good Gawd, It’s Hot Today

    It’s pretty hot in New York today; 93. Tomorrow it’s going to be even hotter; possibly over 100 degrees. And don’t get me started on the humidity and the dew point! It’s hot, sticky, and swampy outside. And though July and August can feel pretty oppressive around here, the temperature rarely gets close to 100. So, when it does that hot and awful, it can be dangerous for people who aren’t used to it.

    This morning, as the wife and I were having our coffee and watching the local news, and the weatherman was telling us again at how awful and dangerous it was going to be today, I pointed out that back in Texas, where we grew up, 93 degrees with a 70% dew point in late June wouldn’t cause anyone any concern. But 93 in New York is like 103 in Texas, the wife pointed out.

    True.

    Writing on this blog, I haven’t hidden how much I hate hot weather. That I completely blame on growing up in Texas. But I will say this; that I know how to handle the heat. First of all, you just don’t go outside. If you do go outside, make sure you get in your car, preferable parked in the shade, crank up the air conditioning in the car, and drive some place that will also have air conditioning. The worst part will be parking, and then crossing the parking lot to get to that building that has air conditioning. And make sure you have a hat, and light clothes. But if you have to wear jeans, it’ll be fine, you won’t be outdoors that long.

    I’m not joking when I say this; you just don’t go outside during the hottest part of the day. That’s why there are siestas. You do stuff in the morning, and you do stuff at night; both are times of day when it not THAT hot out.

    See, it’s not that hard. Provided that you have air conditioning.

    If you don’t have an A/C, then it’s very dangerous and you need to be careful and hydrated.

  • The Air Conditioners

    The Air Conditioners

    The Summer heat is coming. It’s supposed to be 80 today, 85 on Wednesday, and 90 on Thursday. And then there is also the humidity that will come along as well. The hot, sticky, and smelly New York Summer is just around the corner.

    We are ready for it.

    We’ve had our A/C’s in the windows since early May. Those machines have been cleaned from top to bottom, and we even tested them on a day that was a very comfortable 80. It’s just a matter of time before we shut the windows, and turn them on.

    And when those windows get shut, they won’t open back up until September. It is like battening the hatches around here. The apartment will become this self-contained island of artificial air. It’s like being in a submarine, or a spaceship.

    When I was a kid growing up in Texas, our house had central A/C, as do almost all houses down there. It seems like the air ran non-stop, but I know that’s not true. There is a specific sound from my childhood that takes me back, and it’s the sound of the A/C unit clicking on, and the slow drone of the air moving through the vents. I can almost touch that sounds, it’s so tactile to me. I can feel that air blowing on me as a little kid playing in my room.

    Having lived in Texas, there really is a line of demarcation for Texans. There are the Texans like lived in the state before air conditioning, and then there are the Texans who lived with air conditioning. If you’ve experienced a Texas Summer, then you know that the Pre-A/C Texans were pretty tough people.

  • I Like Coats, Scarves, and Gloves

    It’s cold in New York City, and I love it.

    For years now, winter around here hasn’t felt like winter. More like a “Perpetual End of Autumn” that carried on till the start of April. At least one Nor’easter would blow through every year, and dump four to six inches of snow on us, but within a week it would all be gone, and the reign of light coats would return. This was such a reliable pattern that the wife and I started to wonder if the winters of our first years in the City were a thing of memory.

    But starting Christmas week, the winters of the past returned; Snow fell and stayed on the ground, the temperature hung around freezing, and a feeling needing to be wrapped up on the couch was ever present.

    Perhaps I am a bit romantical when it comes to winter. I did grow up in Texas, where it rarely got below forty degrees in the deepest part of winter, and just the hint of snow was enough to close down the schools and services. I think it is true that most people are drawn to the thing they are most denied, and for me that was cold weather.

    For you see, my whole family was born and raised in Illinois. All, except me. I mean, I was born there, but we moved south when I was six months old, so my experience was the opposite of everyone else. My family would talk about snowball fights, building snowmen and snow-forts. There were foreign chores of shoveling out driveways and sidewalks. Keeping blankets, kitty litter, and chocolate bars in the car just in case. I remember seeing a pair of my father’s old snow boots, black rubber, that were up on a self in the garage, where they only thing they did was gather dust and become a relic of his other life.

    When I moved to New York back in 2006, it briefly snowed on my first Thanksgiving here, and it was close to the most magical thing that ever happened to me. That first snowstorm the following January was a moment of excitement, but also hammered home how unprepared I was for winter. I only had a Texas winter coat, which wasn’t a winter coat. No snow boots, but I did have a huge scarf that a good friend had given to me before I moved. I soon got a peacoat from an Army/Navy store on 16th and 6th, and still own it to this day. I have gone through several different pairs of snow shoes, and I am proud to tell you that I also still have that original scarf I was given – As it is rather long and thick, I pull it out to wrap my face on exceptionally cold days.

    The last time I talked to my dad, about a week ago, he was telling me of the coming winter storm headed his way in Texas. He dreaded it, and honestly, I think it annoyed him highly that it will get so very cold. “I moved down here to get away from all of that,” he told me, “I had enough cold to last me several lifetimes.” When he got the opportunity in his life, he ran to where it was hot, and took all of along with him.