I’ll tell you about Monterey if you want. Those SFers like to brag, but your coldest summer is going to be on the Monterey Peninsula, two hours south. I describe it as living in the refrigerated section of the grocery store.
Mid August the tourists flock in saying “ahhhhhhh, it’s so nice and cool here!” Yes, it is. Wait a couple hours. “It’s 110 degrees where we’re from!” Then their lips start to turn blue and they start shivering. The fog is in, and it’s 50 degrees. In mid August. “Guess we should have brought sweaters! How can you wear shorts in this weather?!?” “Because I live here all year.”
Yeah, I went to college in Santa Cruz, I know. The above was a little “eyebrow raise” question at TroyMcClureSF because he knows perfectly well (we are friends IRL) that San Francisco is my hometown, too, and I am pretty familiar with its weather patterns.
Oh yeah! I just remembered about the blow drier trick. Blow driers are cheap and nearly any shack will run one.
You take your basic blow drier and set it on low. Stick that puppy inside your pants legs, sleeves, and/or jacket. Even on low you have to keep it moving to avoid a burn. Be careful not to block airflow at either end while you’re savoring the feel of your butt thawing out.
This also works dandy for preheating a bed. However the potential for hazard is higher. If you fall asleep with the thing on, you might very well wake up dead.
Standard disclaimers apply. Don’t try this at home, kids.
Unless you’re freezing your butt off.
I toast my feet on my tiny little space heater every night before going to bed. For some reason, once my feet are cold, they just will not warm up on their own. Once my feet are warm, the rest of me is just fine; the house and bed can be frigid (and they usually are - we keep the house around 17ºC at night), but with warm feet, it’s all good.
Conversely, cold feet will keep you cool in the most brutal heat. Last summer I managed to find the last snow drift of the season. I had a hunch and for once it panned out.
The night had been mercifully cool, but morning sun turned my pickup into an oven by 6 AM. I had been peering at miracles through a telescope til long after moondown, but even so sleep was not on the menu. After a lingering breakfast and a pot of coffee I rambled on.
By noon it was 90F and the sun blazed down from a cobalt sky. Even in just trunks and sandals, the day wind drifting up the canyon offered little relief. In between the occasional truck stuck and downed tree, I idled along in first gear. I was reasonably sure I should be worrying about something.
Then I rounded a corner into the shadow of the mountain and there it was; a
fantabulous 15 foot snow drift up against the rocks. Nose dive! After flopping down for the customary snow angel, I planted my feet and a six pack and all was skookum til BBQ time. Yup, yup.
Whoops, I meant to post this orginally and I *tried *to post it this morning, so 3rd times a charm.
Buy silk long johns. They go for $10-20 a set and are
thin
warm
great for layering
don’t acquire your body odor if you live in them
Second, do you have clean public baths? There should be public baths where you can go steam up and soak for an hour or two, and really raise your core temperature. (Just avoid those rug and tug places and the really low end prolitariat joints. )
Third, a lot of places in Sichuan have hot springs and you can go to one of those.
If you have access to electricity, and a battery charger, get several sets to last you the day and evening … please stop torturing yourself … but there are options…
Isn’t there some Renter’s Association you can go to? A French Better Business Bureau you can report the landlord to? Otherwise, I’d say hire a lawyer and sue her ass.
)