On behalf of the females in your life, thank you. I read the OP and just thought, well, now, that just sounds kind of mean.
Besides, not everybody can handle the heat. I am one of them. My face gets really red and I get very overheated and uncomfortable. I just can’t take it. What am I gonna do? <shrug> I feel fortunate that I don’t have to rely on someone else to decide if I get to have AC and when.
I hate being hot. I’ve worked in 95 deg heat (mulching) for over 8 hrs because I had to but make no mistake I HATE being hot. I will sell off possessions and drive junk cars to stay cool.
Sorry for your situation I feel your pain and hope things get better for you soon.
Actually, I’ve seen older homes that had vents in the floor and ceilings that cycled cooler air up from the crawl space. It was natural air conditioning except humidity wasn’t removed. The house is essentially one large heat pump with the attic heating up and pulling air in from below.
We’re going through one of the nastiest heat waves on record here in Western PA. The other day a man helping his cousin out doing some roofing got stuck in hot tar and had to be rescued. (And this was in the early morning, before it got to the high temps!) We have cooling centers opening, and yes, people DO die in heat waves. Even those who are young. Around here on the news, everyone is being told to stay inside as much as possible.
We’ve had animal control going around and taking in dogs that have been left outside without water (several have died, just due to the heat).
Also, when it’s hot and humid out, you actually should CLOSE your windows. Close them up, pull the blinds down and the curtains closed, and THEN run the fans. That’ll keep all the heat and humidity out, and keep all the cool air inside. Opening the windows is one of the worst things you can do. And even if you have AC, you can still use fans. (We do)
(Quite frankly, the invention of AC is proof that there is a god, as far as I’m concerned. I hate hate hate HATE heat. I must’ve been a polar bear in a previous life.)
I feel the pain of your wife and daughter.
My AC went out Thursday with local temps hitting the high nineties and a heat index the day the air conditioning went out hitting 119F. Until the repairman can get here next week, I’m down to a window unit in the bedroom that the apartment management brought up and a box fan.
For the remainder of the weekend, you might want to consider going to the pool, shopping (nice air conditioned stores), eating out (no cooking in a hot house and ummm…AC) and going to the movies to escape the heat.
missred (another AC pussy 
)
Replacement part: $80
Sunday service call: $168 :eek:
I was correct about the capacitor. The tech were here less than 10 minutes. According to the thermostat, it’s down to 85 in here already! Woot!
This is something I don’t quite understand about the hot places in the US - here in Canada, damned near all houses have basements, and it is a regular thing to take to the basement when the house gets too hot in summer. We usually have basically a second living room down there, and often a summer bedroom, too. I know a lot of areas don’t seem to build with basements, but wouldn’t having a basement help in summer heat, or is the heat just too great to get any benefit from being in a basement?
a good portion of the hottest and most humid areas are either swampy or have a high water table.
they could have a basement pool which would be nice.
We used to take to the basement in hot summers before central A/C. Although it’s cooler, it will aggravate asthma and allergies (one of the reasons why A/C is more common than ever) and I would imagine the damp would be an issue for people with arthritis.
Honestly, if Mr. U wouldn’t get the A/C fixed on a weekend or spring for a hotel room, I’d be on the next flight to Portland. Either one.
And if you’re going to spring for the hotel room, might as well pay the extra service-call fee for the weekend surcharge. Happiness all around.
NoiseBomb’s service call rate was $170, of which probably no more than 1/2 is the weekend surcharge on top of their regular service call rate.
If I told Laura that I was going to make her suffer heat exhaustion and listen to the kid gripe for two days to save a mere $85… :eek: I would hear about this for years.
IMHO, $85 is a small price to pay for future peace. 
Some places where it gets pretty hot in the summer have very little in the way of topsoil; six inches or less before hitting rock. I live in one of those areas. In some of the elevated areas around here, folks will build into the side of a hill so that they can have a basement, but where I live, you have to bring a truckload of soil in if you want to plant a garden or landscape. The cost of going through the rock to build a basement would be prohibitive.
To all those who thought that we here in the Southwest were being silly when we were freaking out because it got really, super cold here last winter (it was in the 20’s during the day!) and now are freaking out over the heat that they are not used to…
[Nelson Muntz]Ha-ha![/NM]
Nation of pussies.
Too hot? Sit in the shade. Inside is the shade. Still too hot? Turn on a fan and spritz yourself with water. No electricity? No water? Both arms broke? Get arrested. They have water & AC in jail. 
I have COPD and a heart condition, as well as a problem regulating my body temp so I need AC to bring the inside humidity and temp down. I can barely make it from house to car without feeling like I am suffocating, drowning and it takes a good 5 to 10 minutes of full blast cool air to stop the sweating and get back to reasonably comfortable. I would be in a hotel [or probably over at my friend Lisa’s place] pretty much within the hour.
Ah, that explains the lack of basements.
Schools and offices in many parts of Japan don’t have AC. The schools don’t even have fans because the kids’ papers start blowing around everywhere. There have been some days around 95 with near 100% humidity. If it wasn’t for beer garden parties, summer in Japan would be an unmitigated hell. And don’t get me started on the lack of sun dresses! But I digress.
Fuck it’s hot.
Yay!
I just got the call that the AC guy will be tomorrow. I should have fully functioning AC when I get home from work!
Surely you can order some online in your size.