HOT, HOT, HOT

Better not button up your over coat, because, baby it is HOT outside! July 20th, 2010. Ten straight days of temperatures in the high nineties with no relief in sight! It's official, this past July has been the hottest July on record! Air conditioner sales have gone through the roof (that is if you can find a store that has them in stock!) Ditto for fans! Fans of every shape, size and variety (all made in China of course) are flying off the store shelves. The media daily airs stories about how ordinary folk are dealing with the unprecedented heat. The stories are fairly typical. Some people head down to the Jersey shore! Others seek out AC wherever they can find some (at the movies, libraries, shopping malls, etc.) Sleepless nights have become the norm and people are dozing off as they sit at their desks at work staring at their computer screens. Sales of ice cream, ices, cool beverages, whiskey, and beer are all making saloon keepers and ice cream vendors very happy. They are hoping the heat wave lasts forever!

Not me. I can barely function in this kind of oppressive heat. Just getting to and from work is a major chore and a major challenge. I seek out the shady side of the street. I pray that the AC on the buses and subways keep on working. I always have a bottle of water and enough tissues to wipe away the beads of sweat. By the time I get back home from work I am so stressed and frazzled all I want to do is flop in front of the AC and zone out watching TV. Trying to fall asleep at night is a battle. I sleep in short spurts, before the wheezing and ancient AC contraption in my window kicks into a higher gear straining to supply cooler air on demand. I also have an assortment of fans whirling and twirling and spinning in every room in every direction. I dream about frigid climes. I dream about the snow covered mountains of the Alps and Andes. I rent movies that include winter scenes, the more snow storms the better. Such movies remind me that the seasons really do still change and that the summer does not last forever. We are mercifully half way through July. Then comes August, usually the worst month for heat (more heat waves expected! Yipes!) How will we ever make it through? My electric bill is making my utility company rich, rich, rich (even as I struggle to pay last year's heating bill). What a racket! Bartender! Quick! Another cool one for me and my buddy!