Tag: #September

  • Too Hot in September

    It’s hot and humid in New York today, and it’s the end of September. That’s not normal. And it was like this last year. At the park yesterday, I was in shorts and getting bit by mosquitos. Again, that’s not normal.

    I say all of this as I have my air conditioner running in my apartment.

    When I moved to New York back in August of 2006, it was hot and humid; normal. I remember everyone telling me to just wait for September, and everything would be different. And usually around the 10th, the humidity went away, and the high was around 76, with the low being in the 60’s at night. You could leave your windows open all day, no a/c. It was warm in the sun, cool in the shade, and if you went out at night, you would take a light coat.

    I know I sound like a crazy old man, but it’s not like that anymore. This is the second year that we are still hot and humid at the end of September, with A/C’s running all day. NYC summers have always been awful; hot and humid, but it was a northeast hot, like 85 degrees, and maybe three days or so of 90’s. Now, we have several heat waves, three days in a row of more of 90 degrees, every summer.

    It is climate change. It’s here. This isn’t something that might happen one day in the future. We are in it now. And what I feel the worst about is that my kid has to deal with this. That she is getting this used up world. That she has to make it better, and that is too much to ask of any kid.

  • Coronavirus Downer of a Day

    We are all having a down in the dumps coronavirus day in our home. My wife’s job hasn’t been the most fun of late, and to be honest, remoting into work every day does take a toll on you after a while. The kid had a tummy ache most of the morning, so we passed on going to the park, which, now that her tummy ache is gone, she’s become a rubber ball, bouncing off the walls. I, for my part, got my big chore done today (laundry) but pretty much have farted out on everything else; I have to finish school shopping, and creating a “school area” for the kid as the start of school is closing in.

    I had been hoping that school was going to start in September, and we were going to be able to drop into a normal routine for our family. I have to admit now that it isn’t going to happen. We have to choose, very soon, if the kid will attend classes in the school, or if she is going to continue with remote learning. We have to deal with the very harsh reality that as we don’t have health insurance (the kid is covered, thank God) that sending her to school does create a risk for us to get infected. I am aware that NYC has the lowest level of infection in the USA, but I am still nervous about getting so sick that I or the wife have to go to the hospital. That thought is never out of our minds.

    On a day when things aren’t working out the way we want, it’s easy to start down the path of all the awful things that could happen to us, and then everything becomes unbearably depressing, and the world is coming to an end.

    That’s why I suggest you check out my friend John’s free trivia night, called “Mind If I Ask You Something?” It’s virtual, on Wednesday night, and anyone can play. You can find him on Instagram or on Twitch.