My Sick Mind

I know people lived in multi-story dwellings prior to the invention of air conditioning. I've seen pictures and heard tales from people my mother's age about the sweltering summers before Willis H. Carrier developed modern air conditioning units. I remember seeing movie theaters with the words AIR CONDITIONING spelled out in little blue icicles, enticing the uncomfortable masses to wander in for a mediocre movie in return for 2 hours of cool, dry air. I didn't live in an air conditioned home until I moved here in 1991. For 34 years, I toiled away in warm ignorance. We had this intricate system of fans located strategically around the house. Some drew air from one room while others blew air into another. NASA scientists couldn't have devised a more perfect system. Maybe it worked or maybe we were happy because it was the best we could do. Now, I'm in this second floor hot box with windows in odd locations that couldn't accept a window air conditioner even if th...

You know those kind of days that you wish you had slept through? I had two of them in a row. On Saturday , the power went out for a couple of hours, which wasn't so bad, since it happened in the morning and I could actually sleep through it. Sunday , however ... started with a flat tire on the bike, which is never a good start. They're easy to change, but just a mild pain in the ass. When I got home, I was hoping for the cool comfort of the great indoors, but I noticed that the place was a tad bit warmer than usual - like 10 degrees. The blower was running, but warm air was coming out. Crap. For those of you outside the area, we're going through a bit of hot weather these days. Today wasn't as bad as it's been, and it isn't as bad as it's going to get. Add to that the fact that I'm in a second floor condo, and you see the dire need of air conditioning. It was 88 degrees in the place at 4 o'clock this afternoon. The ceiling fans started running, and s...