To my US friends...

I know it's been extremely hot and humid all over the place. But...

 

Yesterday our air conditioner went out. This morning the guy said we need new everything... (the unit was almost 18 years old, so we knew its days were numbered). Another bill? Lovely. If the weather wasn't this damn hot the thing would've lasted longer. The last two weeks or so we had it running non-stop.

 

We have a split central A/C - one for the first floor and one for the second floor. The second floor one (where the bedrooms are) went out one day last week. Absolutely miserable. We also have an old system, so I was worried that it was the end for it, as well, but it turned out that it was a minor electronic failure that the guy fixed quickly the next morning. So we only went one night without it. Note that my attempts to use a big fan to blow cold air from the first floor up the stairs to the second floor did not work much at all.

Let me also add that as bad as the heat and humidity may be, you don't have to shovel it or scrape it off your windshield.

 

Why not just open the windows? Or go outside and sit under a tree?
Oh yeah sorry- ISIS, gangbangers, mass shootings, serial killers, escaped convicts, drive-bys.

 

Well, I live in the 'burbs, so not much fear of being outdoors. However, when it is 99F/37C degrees, the humidity is in the 90% range, and we are under an Ozone Alert, opening windows and/or sitting under a tree is little help.

 

It's even worse in FL. 98F (110F in the sun) with 70-80% humidity, opening a window / sitting under a tree (or anywhere in the open) can literally kill you.

 

Not to mention the alligators...

You know, when I was kid, we did not have air conditioning and we survived hot summer after hot summer. Indoors, outdoors, in the shade, in the sun, etc. Never really noticed it, as I recall. We were just used to it, I suppose. I guess that I am a bit spoiled by A/C these days.