Showing posts with label obligatory whiny post about DC heat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label obligatory whiny post about DC heat. Show all posts

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Glass Half ______ ?

Listen folks. It is hot. Really hot. Really, really hot. I know I have already complained once this year, but when you start getting not just heat advisories, but excessive heat advisories (cuz it is going to be like 103 friggin' degrees) and folks are talking about two weeks of 90 plus degree days in a row (after a previous 11 day stretch of the same), I claim a little latitude in how much I get to complain. But, hey I am a positive kind of guy, right. So I am trying to focus on the upside.

After all it is only a couple weeks until we head north to the big lake where we will be joined by Little Sis and her kids. And until then, we have the benefit of great shade trees, central air and half a house that is down close to the cool, dirt earth.

Then again, being trapped in the house is a bit less enjoyable when the summer cold grunge is running rampant through the brothers with the Captain down Monday and Tuesday, the Artist picking it up late Tuesday into Wednesday and now the Engineer taking it on today. But hey, they are strong boys who rebound quickly--and they are cute most of the time so their mother probably won't strangle them.

And let's face it, I am lucky enough to have a job and that takes me out of the house, so, perhaps, I will miss the grunge (we all know how mothers are stronger than fathers and fight through mild illness immune to these things anyway). Then again, all of my colleagues seem to think that having sick children isn't enough of a challenge and so have brought their own versions of the grunge into work.

But really, I can't complain. This all shall pass and in the meantime, the garden continues to give and give. Eggplant, peppers, spinach, chard, carrots, squash, cucumbers and tomatoes are just about to turn. Of course, we have to go out everyday to water so as to try and keep these poor plants alive since it is hot--did I mention it is hot? So hot, in fact, you don't want to go out and do anything in the garden. Oh, and by the way, rain is becoming a memory and when it does rain it makes you think Noah's family must be around building something, but then it goes away for another week (it is more like wandering in the desert than 40 days and 40 nights).

Sorry, I didn't mean to start again, really. Because hey, we are all here and together and someday we will look back on this episode of summer cabin fever fondly--really we will!

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

97 Degrees, Feels Like Hell

Tonight as I left work, the Weather Channel told me it was 97 degrees outside but that it "feels like" 100 degrees. Really?! It is June. Summer just started people.
By the time it really heats up I am going to be cranky as all get out.

How bad is it? How about this? We had not one, but two air quality warnings issued today. And on top of that the National Weather Service issued this general alert.

Issued by The National Weather Service
Baltimore/Washington, MD
10:53 am EDT, Wed., Jun. 23, 2010

... HEAT INDEX VALUES NEAR 100 DEGREES THIS AFTERNOON...

HOT AND HUMID CONDITIONS WILL COVER THE MID ATLANTIC REGION TODAY. AFTERNOON HIGH TEMPERATURES WILL RISE INTO THE MID 90S EAST OF THE BLUE RIDGE. THE COMBINATION OF HEAT AND HUMIDITY WILL GENERATE HEAT INDEX VALUES NEAR 100 DEGREES DURING THE AFTERNOON.

THESE VALUES CAN BE A CONCERN FOR SENSITIVE GROUPS SUCH AS INFANTS AND THE ELDERLY. THEREFORE... SIMPLE PRECAUTIONS SHOULD BE TAKEN. THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO REMEMBER IS TO DRINK PLENTY OF FLUIDS. WATER IS YOUR BEST CHOICE AS IT PREVENTS DEHYDRATION. CONSIDER TAKING FREQUENT BREAKS IN THE SHADE DURING THE AFTERNOON SUN. SEEK AN AIR CONDITIONED ENVIRONMENT DURING THE HOTTEST PART OF THE DAY. ALSO REMEMBER THAT THE INTERIOR OF YOUR CAR HEATS UP QUICKLY. DO NOT LEAVE CHILDREN OR PETS IN AN ENCLOSED CAR FOR ANY PERIOD OF TIME... NOT EVEN WITH THE WINDOWS CRACKED.
So much for wonderful lazy days of summer.