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BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell
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Subject: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: Áine Date: 07 Aug 00 - 08:57 PM At six o'clock this evening here in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex in Texas, it was 101 degrees fahrenheit! I've lived here most of my misbegotten life, and frankly, it's gettin' a wee bit too hot even for me . . . and that's not even mentioning the drought we've been living with for a couple of years. I'd love to see what songs, limericks, poems, rants, etc. my fellow 'Cats can come up with to commiserate with our slow-broiling, or to cool us lil' devils off. And if one of y'all know a good rain dance -- Go for it! -- Áine (who's sweatin' her socks off and hatin' every dang minute of it!) |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: rangeroger Date: 07 Aug 00 - 09:03 PM Sons of the pioneers " Cool Water". rr |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: CarolC Date: 07 Aug 00 - 09:13 PM Jingle Bells. It works every time. (Not for rain) |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: Mbo Date: 07 Aug 00 - 09:26 PM One of my favorite poems ever! A Hot Day In Sydney
O this weather! this weather! --Anonymous...Sydney, 27 January 1829 --Matt (it was 105 here today) |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: Áine Date: 07 Aug 00 - 09:35 PM Dear Mbo, Your deserve some kind of award for just typing all those lyrics out! Wunnerful, wunnerful -- I guess we can be happy about not having to dress in those dreadful Victorian clothes, eh? -- Áine |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: Lox Date: 07 Aug 00 - 09:40 PM If I was sweating in Texas at 101 degrees, and someone started singing Jingle Bells at me, I would be forced to reconsider my position on posession and use of firearms. You cruel, evil, fiend! How about starting off slow on "backwater blues" (Big Bill Broonzy). Sweatier stuff is hard to find. (You also get to close your eyes and pretend it's raining) |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: SINSULL Date: 07 Aug 00 - 09:43 PM And just when you think you can handle it, some moronic newsman tries to fry an egg on the pavement! |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: CarolC Date: 07 Aug 00 - 09:48 PM Lox, you've given me quite a reputation to live up to now. I'm not sure I can handle it. |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: Mbo Date: 07 Aug 00 - 09:54 PM How about this?
Winter cracks --Findask
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: bflat Date: 07 Aug 00 - 09:55 PM Aine, only those of us who have lived or are living in the great Southwest truly understand how oppressive the constant heat is in the summer months. Truth is before the great population migration and refrigeration (air-conditioning) it wasn't bad because the desert or semi-arid, would cool in the evening. Now all the concrete and block and pavement keeps that heat and radiates it back in your face. Come visit me in the northeast where it's been raining and raining and the nights cool. I used to sit outdoors with the sprinkler on me and not the lawn. It works as the water is quickly evaporating and cooling your skin. So how about: Cool Cool Water; or Snowing on Raton. bflat |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: Áine Date: 07 Aug 00 - 10:02 PM Dear Lox -- Wonderful idea, the Blues! And considering that this is the 10th anniversary (on the 27th) of Stevie Ray Vaughn's tragic passing, I guess I could put on one of his CD's and just have it, eh? And who could tell the difference between my tears and the sweat pourin' down my face? Better yet, since he happens to be buried in the same cemetery as my folks, I could just go and stand there at noon and pay my respects to all of 'em and melt into a little puddle of nothin'. And don't think I'm being maudlin or anything, 'cuz I've got a great funny story 'bout all that! ('Course, you have to be a twisted kid from Oak Cliff like Stevie and me...) -- Áine |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: Mbo Date: 07 Aug 00 - 10:24 PM All will become clear to me soon! Branwen is going to educate me in Stevie-dom! |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: Áine Date: 07 Aug 00 - 10:26 PM Ooooh, Mbo - that's some righteous poetry! Sending chills down my spine!! And bflat -- I'm there, darlin'! And you're absolutely right about all this dang cement (and that's pronounced 'cee-ment') -- therein lies the egg-fryin' problem, for sure! -- Áine |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: Lox Date: 07 Aug 00 - 10:32 PM Don't worry CarolC, you're obviously as cool as a cucumber. *ggg* |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: Naemanson Date: 07 Aug 00 - 10:37 PM Oh, I know what you guys are talking about. It's been hot here too. It got up into the 80's today and rained most of the day! Tomorrow it's supposed to break into the 90's!! *BG* This weekend though we had sunshine and temperatures in the high 70's. Almost perfect weather. Brett (Imsorrytobeusingsarcasmtorubsaltinthewounds) |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: Áine Date: 07 Aug 00 - 10:44 PM Naemanson, All's I've got to say is -- Ya Buggah! -- Áine |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: CamiSu Date: 07 Aug 00 - 11:35 PM As someone who has lived in hell (Phoenix, Arizona--though far enough out that we learned how to change our schedules to fit the weather and avoid most of the cement) and who currently lives in Heaven (Vermont) you have my sympathy Aine. Try a cool washcloth hung around the back of the neck. It cools the blood a bit and hence the whole bod. Me? I was picking wild blueberries in the pouring rain this morning. once we were wet why bother to quit? I'll try to send you rain if you promise not to send me heat. |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: CarolC Date: 07 Aug 00 - 11:38 PM Lox, Thanks (I think). |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: PoohBear Date: 08 Aug 00 - 01:44 AM It's not the heat that'll kill ya....it's the humidity.... |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: Lena Date: 08 Aug 00 - 03:32 AM It's bloody windy and freezy in Sydney(right behind the old convicts area)right at the moment!!!But Hell will move here in a couple of months,and some of us here might return this postcard when we'll have to handle the grill!!!Hold on and be brave!!!! |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: Quincy Date: 08 Aug 00 - 05:59 AM Please will someone tell me what hot weather is???? Summers in Roscommon don't give many clues you know!!! I've tried standing in front of the fire but just when I start to feel anything like warm.....it goes out and I need to go and bring in more turf!! As soon as it gets warm outside then we know we're in for a thunderstorm! Please let me in on the secret?? best wishes Yvonne (Sandy) |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: Willie-O Date: 08 Aug 00 - 07:11 AM Yeah, up here it gets summery for half a day then rains and rains...more tornado warnings this summmer than ever before (usually coinciding with my outdoor gig, which ain't good for business in a boating town.) Aine, my advice to you is to go rent the Mel Gibson version of Hamlet. The scenery and climate is very cool and damp--I'm not kidding, this worked for me once! I've been to Texas in June--I can still feel that heat (and those fire ants). |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: Bat Goddess Date: 08 Aug 00 - 07:55 AM Oh, Aine! It's been cool here in Cow Hampsha -- only in the 80s & 90s, but I sure wish I could send you some of our recent rain and humidity!! The sun is actually out right now (glaring on my computer screen, fer-petesake) for about the first time in two weeks, but I'm mildewing, the house is rotting, and the white deck furniture is turning green from the bottom and black from the top. And when it hasn't been raining, the humidity has been about as high as it can go without actually raining to earth. The garden loves it. I, on the other hand, feel like I'm in a rain forest (and afternoon thunderstorms ARE expected...). Last summer (when WE had the drought) we ate every meal on the quarterdeck 'cuz it was too hot in the house. This summer we've eaten out there once -- rain and mosquitoes keep us indoors. I tested out my hammock under the hemlocks right after I hung it up in May -- but that was the last time I was in it. And now it's probably rotted too much to take my weight! Bat Goddess |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: JedMarum Date: 08 Aug 00 - 08:06 AM |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: JedMarum Date: 08 Aug 00 - 08:09 AM Ooops. I guess it's too hot to type! Sorry for the blank post, above. Aine - it's not too hot to come out to Ye Old Bull and Bush on Wed, is it?? I'm headed out there again Wed, this week. Come on out?? And have a Guinness or two (just to cool off)!! |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: kendall Date: 08 Aug 00 - 08:14 AM Simple solution Aine...MOVE |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: A Wandering Minstrel Date: 08 Aug 00 - 08:33 AM Just to cheer you up it is absolutely P***ing down in London. If you guys keep exporting your rain to us you only have yourself to blame. You can always try a chorus or two of Lord Franklin! |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: Kim C Date: 08 Aug 00 - 09:58 AM I'm a reenactor. I dress in Victorian clothes in hot weather all the time. It ain't so bad if you can get a breeze up your hoop. ;) This is my ode to Summertime in Tennessee
Well it's summertime in Tennessee
Well it's summertime in Nashville y'all
It's summertime in the South my friend
When it's July in the Bible Belt
Well it's summertime in Tennesee (Sugar, would you fix me a cold drink?) :)
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: Áine Date: 08 Aug 00 - 10:05 AM Dear Kim C -- That's a great song! Would you please let me put it in the Mudcat Songbook? (she asked as she dropped to her knees and prayed really hard for snow!) -- Áine |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: Kim C Date: 08 Aug 00 - 11:29 AM Why, yes, I'd be honored. Thanks! :) |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: Naemanson Date: 08 Aug 00 - 11:49 AM From the Buggah of the thread, I have spent my time in a version of hell. My family and I spent several years in Florida and Georgia in the years when air conditioning for cars was out of our price range. We found the we could give the baby a cup of water to play with and that kept us all cool. Wet, but cool. Also, when outside in the heat use ice wrapped in a bandanna tied around your neck. This works especially well while working in a kitchen. And then, as Kendall suggests, you could always move north. A word of warning about this option. Hell has a somewhat different temperature in some sections of the North. I grew up recognizing -10 degrees Fahrenheit as a warm day in January. January thaw came along when the temperature warmed up so there could be real water during the day! In 32 degree weather we would go over to short sleeve shirts and dream about spring. Remember the saying about one man's meat being another man's poison? Same goes for weather. Which temperature extreme do you want to endure? I prefer Elmer Beal's philosophy about weather. I don't care just as long as we get some more. |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: Kim C Date: 08 Aug 00 - 12:20 PM I forgot to mention, my house was built in the days before central heat/air; consequently I have NEITHER and have done without for about 9 years now. I know, I'm a nut. |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: Bert Date: 08 Aug 00 - 12:24 PM AaaaHHH! you youngsters dunno what HOT is. When I was in Bahrain (says Grampa Bert starting one of his stories again)I was raking furnaces at ALBA, the aluminum smelter. It was about 120 in the shade outside. We could work at the furnace mouth for about half a minute then we'd have to go out into the SUN to cool down. The Arabs wear a wet 'guttra' around their heads during the day and sleep on the roof in wet sheets at night. Drink lots of water or hot tea. No pop and NO ICE. Make yourself some 'anti-bonk juice'. Orange juice with glucose (not sugar) and salt. Using plenty of salt on your food is better than taking salt tablets. Pretend that you are in England on the beach it's been bloody cold all day and you have been waiting for the sun to come out from behind that huge cloud. Here it is enjoy it. Bert. |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: AllisonA(Animaterra) Date: 08 Aug 00 - 12:28 PM I recently got a funny email from a friend titled "How hot is it in Texas?" When I opened the document, it looked as tho' my screen was melting! I wish I could figure out how to send it to you, Aine. Hey, Bat Goddess, where in Cow Hampshuh ah yuh? Heah in the so'western part of the state it's close to 90 for the first time in about 6 weeks. I happen to love a cool summer, but the hay fields are soggy and we don't quite know how we're going to feed the sheep this winter... |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: Naemanson Date: 08 Aug 00 - 12:51 PM Oh Uncle Bert! Not that story again (as I edge towards the door...) A smelter in Bhrain must be the top of the pile but you should try the engine room of a WWII era destroyer in the summer with the heat hovering around 125 degrees and the ventilation shut down for NBC (Nuclear, Biological, Chemical) warfare simulations. Know ye thou dwellers in the south, I know heat. That's why I chose Maine when I settled down. |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: Bat Goddess Date: 08 Aug 00 - 12:56 PM Hi, Animaterra! I live in Nottingham on the side of a hill in the middle of 33 acres of trees (oh, and rock). (Jeri's a coupla miles up the road.) But mostly I'm in Portsmouth in a room full of windows with inadequate to the point of being non-existant air conditioning and a bunch of computers/printers/copiers, etcet throwing out heat -- where the sea breeze doesn't hit, but the heat off the Islington St. blacktop and automobiles does. I haven't tromped lately through the sheep field just up the hill from me (I'm on the well-drained south slope), but I would imagine the haying, etc. isn't going to be that great. Bat Goddess |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: Wesley S Date: 08 Aug 00 - 01:03 PM Aine - When it gets this hot I always suggest watching "Dr Zhivago". All that ice and snow seems to cool me off. |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: Branwen23 Date: 08 Aug 00 - 01:28 PM The high today is 102!!!!!!! My electric bill is going to kill me. -Branwen- (in Arlington, Tx) |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: Lonesome EJ Date: 08 Aug 00 - 02:28 PM Still vivid in memory,on hot August nights in Kentucky, sleep was like a fever.90 degrees at 1AM and your pillow and the sheet beneath you damp with perspiration. Wake up and the romm is filled with darkness,heat,and moisture,and thoughts of the girl in your homeroom class who gave you a second look only to see you blush. Some moonlight seeps through at the window,the sash is raised in hope of a breeze...so you go there and peer out through the screen and into the hot night,and you hear the low,almost impercebtible bass tone from a barge whistle down on the Ohio River,5 miles away. Listen closer and you can almost hear the cold water bashed by the blunt bow,dull thump of a black tree trunk rolling away in the moon-speckled wake. You lie back down in silence and now it comes again whoooooo, and as you turn the pillow over to find a cool spot,you close your eyes,and it seems you can even hear the thrumthrumthrum of the engine on the River, and along the surface it pulls you, and down, down into the depths of your dreams. |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: Naemanson Date: 08 Aug 00 - 02:40 PM Ah, Lonesome EJ, you been there! |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: Liz the Squeak Date: 08 Aug 00 - 02:41 PM We know how you feel. Although it hasn't been anywhere near that hot here, it's been really humid and muggy today. Travelling home on the Underground was particularly grim..... we can put men on the moon, split the atom and shred DNA, can we get air conditioning on the Tube? Can we buggery.... Recent tests showed that commuters were travelling in conditions that we don't allow our animals on the way to slaughter to travel..... Hope it feels cooler soon, try 'In the Bleak Mid-winter' all that frosty wind mooooaaaaaanning.... brrrrr! LTS |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: paddymac Date: 08 Aug 00 - 03:14 PM Well, if I was "Roasting away in Dallas or Ft. Worth" (apologies to Jimmy Buffet), I'd probably be thinking about "Redneck, White Socks and Blue Ribbon Beer", or a bit o' "The Crature" or "Real Old Mountain Dew", maybe with some "Hot Nuts" on the side. :>) |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: Jeri Date: 08 Aug 00 - 03:34 PM Áine, if it makes you feel any better, I was in Kuwait in Jun and Jul of 98. It normally got up in the 120's in the daytime, and sometimes highter. The cold water in the shower was a chilly 113F/45C. It got down to 90 one night, and people put jackets on. (No, I'm not exaggerating.) 80-something here, with 51% humidity. I almost did an "impulse" purchase of an air conditioner earlier. Allison, Bat Goddess was with me at NEFFA, but I don't know if you met her. |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: Bert Date: 08 Aug 00 - 03:50 PM I'd forgotten that Jeri, Yes the COLD water was hotter than the HOT water and was too hot to shower in when you got home from work. You had to shower first thing in the morning. That was because they had a cold water header tank on the roof. Bert. |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: Áine Date: 08 Aug 00 - 04:13 PM LEJ -- your description was just beautiful! And I believe all the descriptions of 'hot' cold water. The ground water here has become so warm that we're just using the 'cold' taps for washing dishes and showers. I'm constantly refilling the squeeze bottles of water that I have in the frig for the kids (and myself!). At least that's one good result from all this heat -- we're all drinking a lot more water than we usually do the rest of the year . . . but, then again, we're sweating it right out . . . That's how I know when autumn has finally arrived here -- when the water coming out of the 'cold' tap starts running lower than 90 degrees fahrenheit! -- Áine |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: Midchuck Date: 08 Aug 00 - 05:32 PM I just checked the thermometer. It's about 78 F. outside here (Pittsford, VT.) But I have a big fan aimed at my office chair and it's really quite pleasant. Sorry, but I'll tell you about the pipes freezing come January, and make it up to you. Peter. |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: Liz the Squeak Date: 08 Aug 00 - 05:34 PM We have water directly from the mains, with not a lot of pipes in between. The first jet of water out of the cold tap is practically blood heat. Luckily it cools down once you reach water that was in the pipe that is more than 3 feet down.... LTS |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: Bert Date: 08 Aug 00 - 05:37 PM Liz, I thought your water came directly from the Thames! BTW, did you know that the water in the Thames is 'used' seven times before it reaches the sea? Bert. |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: Naemanson Date: 08 Aug 00 - 05:50 PM I just went to check the temperature but the thermometer is gone. It must have melted off the wall. The computer weather site says it is 88 degrees F out there. But we have high humidity and air conditioning. I think I'll rent a movie about the arctic. Plus, all this talk of cold water has made me thrsty. You may think this is no big deal but the computer use here is based on who is nearest when the seat is empty. If I get up from this chair my daughter will take over and I'll be finished for the evening. My kids remind me of buzzards sometimes. They circle patiently, waiting for this chair to empty! Gives me the creeps. |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: Liz the Squeak Date: 08 Aug 00 - 05:57 PM The water in the Thames, does indeed pass through 6 other Londoners before it gets to me, but it is a great deal cleaner - they no longer automatically pump your stomach if you fall in, as they used to in the 1970's..... The river itself is about 3 miles away, we're on what used to be a water meadow leading down to it, gravel beds, nice fresh streams, now one huge mass of housing, built at the turn of the century (i.e., between 1894 - 1905) so lot sof corner shops (most disused now) and no pubs. Nearest one is at the top of the road, half a mile away.... and it isn't even all that good either.... LTS |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: Jed at Work Date: 08 Aug 00 - 05:59 PM I went home today at lunch to check my Whippets ... they were happy as clams in the heat! 104 degrees at my house, and they were just lounging in the shade of an old oak. Silly beasts! I brought 'em in while I ate, but they opted to go back out when I left. I guess they're used to this North Texas heat - or should I say this damn North Texas heat! (no wonder they use chain saws for murder around here) |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: Áine Date: 08 Aug 00 - 06:39 PM And why shouldn't those doggies be happy? If I could just lay around as nekkid as a Whippet in the shade, I'd be happy, too! ;-) Hey, that wouldn't be such a bad idea . . . well, only if I had a privacy fence, don't ya know! -- Áine |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: Mbo Date: 08 Aug 00 - 07:39 PM Ooo woo Auntie Aine! BTW the high today here in downeast North Carolina was 111 degrees. --Matt perspiring pointed projectiles |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: Naemanson Date: 08 Aug 00 - 07:47 PM I need to remember to start a "Postcard From Hell" thread this winter. There is no way to beat you guys with heat stories. But then, I moved to the coast to escape the cold winters so I won't be able to compete with the cold weather stories either. I guess that means I win! I am living in the most perfect spot on earth! Shh! Don't tell anyone! |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: CarolC Date: 08 Aug 00 - 08:54 PM -ine, If you don't hate air-conditioning, I heard that these days people are putting air-conditioners in their crawl spaces/attics, and running duct work around up there. Then, all you have to do is put some registers or vents in your ceilings for the cold air to come in. This is actually a really efficient way to introduce cold are to a room, because it starts up high, and sinks down naturally to the level of people. If you have more than one floor, but can't run ducts to the lower floor(s), the cold air will sink down to them anyway as long as you leave any doors between floor levels open. Good luck with the heat. I know, I used to live in Oklahoma. Sometimes I used to feel like my eyeballs were going to melt. Carol |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: BigDaddy Date: 09 Aug 00 - 01:46 AM Any of you ever been in Saline County, Illinois in July and August? John Fogerty's "110 in The Shade" works just fine. |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: Lox Date: 09 Aug 00 - 02:12 AM If the worst comes to the worst, how about some "Ice-T" or "Ice-Cube" or "Vanilla-Ice". Then again... |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: rangeroger Date: 09 Aug 00 - 02:27 AM Aine,when you started this thread you asked for things to keep you thinking cool. My first winter after I bought my house in Smelterville,Idaho, I had to work on my truck in my garage. While there was snow on the ground,it was clear and sunny outside. When I went into the garage the thermometer on the wall registered 8 degrees F. Did that help any? rr |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: Áine Date: 09 Aug 00 - 08:29 AM Yes, rangeroger, that little image helps a lot! Even though I had to imagine very hard. ;-) I had a lovely little 'hotter than hell' experience last night. I got a bunch of grapes from the refrigerator and rinsed them off with water from the 'cold' tap . . . and a lovely little bit a steam rose up out of the sink into my face -- It only lasted for a second, but I had to laugh when I immediately began checking the individual grapes to see if any had burst! -- Áine |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: JedMarum Date: 09 Aug 00 - 08:41 AM Áine - I do have a privacy fence - so you can come over and lay neked in the shade anytime you want! |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: Naemanson Date: 09 Aug 00 - 08:42 AM I just remembered something interesting. When I was living in Florida we went to visit The Barnacle which was Commodore Ralph Munroe's house (you boating types will love his story). The Commodore was one of the first white inhabitants of what is now the Miami area. His house is naturally air conditioned! The house is two stories and octagonal in shape. There is a central shaft around which the rooms are arranged. The house sits on a cistern full of water. The cistern has a concrete cap. The warm air in the house rises through and exhausts from the central shaft drawing cool moist replacement air in through that cistern and into the house. In order to keep things from mildewing in the house all of the closets and drawers are built into the wall and have the same flow of air moving through them. That way there is no damp still air to promote the growth of fungus. The day we visited the house it was over 95 degrees F outside. Inside the temperature was 75 degrees and very comfortable. It works and should be the model for homes in the southern climes! |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: Áine Date: 09 Aug 00 - 08:45 AM Naemanson - Don't know nothin' 'bout engineering, but that design sounds wonderful! And Jed (you naughty boy) - Now that would be a picture for the Mudcat Resources Page, wouldn't it? ;-) -- Áine |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: Little Hawk Date: 09 Aug 00 - 08:56 AM Yup, sounds like Texas, all right. How about that great old Robert W. Service poem, "The Cremation of Sam McGee"? That might cool you down. You could also rent the "Titanic" video and watch it over and over again, if you can put up with hearing Celine Dion one more time...to add atmosphere, watch it while lying back in a bathtub full of ice water...or rum and coke on the rocks. In the latter case, be careful not to pass out from the CO2 and alcohol fumes, though..."my heart will go o-o-o-o-o-o-n and o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-n-n-n-n-n-n" (and on, and on, and...) Greetings from rainy, overcast, but somewhat summery Ontario...Hey! The sun just came out. All right!!! |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: JedMarum Date: 09 Aug 00 - 09:01 AM Áine - I wouldn't take any pictures, I promise, well maybe just a few, but then I wouldn't show them to anybody, well come to think of it, maybe a Mudcat Photo op in the Texas heat is just what this place needs! You comin' to Ye Old Bull and Bush tonight? We have a few Mudcatters makin' it ... should be fun (and clothing is allowed). |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: Ebbie Date: 09 Aug 00 - 11:09 AM Tonight, as is my weekly habit, I'll go to an outdoor salmon bake to listen to a friend sing. I'll have to take a coat along. Does that make you feel cooler? :~) Ebbie |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: Jed at Work Date: 09 Aug 00 - 11:45 AM Ebbie - I am sooo jealous; salmon, friends, song, cool evenings! I'm there!! Where are you, is it within driving distance of Dallas??? ;-) |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: Ebbie Date: 09 Aug 00 - 07:23 PM Well, Jed, Juneau is within flying distance from Dallas- will that do? The downside for many people is that it's not only our nights that are cool- so are our days! At the moment we are in a gorgeous sunny period but the temperature will still not reach 75 degrees. We sometimes complain about our rain- we are in a rain forest, after all- but when I hear about temps down south ('Down south' includes Seattle) I'll take our climate just about every time. I've lived here 12 years but there are a couple of things I still miss: luscious produce- and most of the time we can't sit on the grass! Ebbie |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: CarolC Date: 09 Aug 00 - 07:42 PM Aine- Sorry about spelling your name wrong on my last post. Sometimes my brain plays little tricks on me. I don' know how to make the symbol over the A, though. Carol |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: Irish sergeant Date: 09 Aug 00 - 08:40 PM Aine; Never saw Texas with an apology he did say, but sweated silver bullets off the coast of Arabay. (Arabia) On a deck of steel and nonskid 'twas 130 degrees, And damn near almost enough to drive a boa to its knees. So rally round me hearties and your leg I will not pull, Of how I climbed the bloody hills in a uniform made of wool. Under a hot and steamy sun in Gettysburg PA, And kicked myself in the ass that I wasn't in Alaskiay (Alaska) Hope you find a way to stay cool, Dear Aine, Kindest reguards, Neil |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: Lox Date: 09 Aug 00 - 08:52 PM The Bigot-Tree The frosty wind is playing host A hardy tree the whipping post Twig and sprig and branch and claw tear the hasty sky red-raw knotted knuckles, twisted bark rise up from earth, barren, bare and stark but crusty sad misshapen limbs arthriric joints don't hear my hymns there is but you and the frosty winds nothing changes and noone wins ____________________________________ Now! Go make yourself a cold drink, find a deck chair, and be thankful. |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: CarolC Date: 09 Aug 00 - 08:54 PM Ok, now I see that there is an -ine and an Aine. This is too much for my little brain. |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: Lox Date: 09 Aug 00 - 08:55 PM Somebody tell me how to do that line break thing again. (or point me towards a glossary of thingymajigs in general) (oops-tee-hee...) |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: Áine Date: 09 Aug 00 - 09:09 PM Dear Carol, I am what I am, sayeth Popye! And I am '-ine', 'Aine' and 'Áine' -- does that make me the three in one (she says as she watches for the bolt of lightening!!!). Apparently, on the 'emergency' Mudcat location, my special letter is not being recognized, and instead the lovely '-' shows up instead. But, what the hey, at least we can still communicate when the 'real' Mudcat is having its occasional 'burps' ;-). So, call me -ine, Aine or Áine -- but, NEVER call me late for supper! And to Lox -- that's a powerful poem there, darlin'! Is that your own wordcraft? I can't pull up a deck chair, seeing how I'm a totally land-locked kinda gal, but the lawn chair seems to work just as well! ;-) -- Áine (who'skindahavinga'ThreeFacesofEve'moment!) |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: Lox Date: 09 Aug 00 - 09:27 PM Yep! |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: Lox Date: 09 Aug 00 - 09:35 PM Nice thread. Night Night... |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: Naemanson Date: 09 Aug 00 - 09:39 PM OK, all you overheated ones, here is my contribution to cooling you off. These are song lyrics including one by Rick. Following that is a memory from my childhhood. I used to be kept up All in a stable warm, To keep my tender body From any cold or harm; But now I'm turned out In the open fields to go, To face all kinds of weather, The wind, cold, frost, and snow. Poor old horse! poor old horse! I've made lots of money; got money to burn, When I have spent it, I know I'll return, After the freeze-up, the snow is all dry To work in the tall woods, and I wish that I Were a wild goose, a wild goose, High off on the north shore, and I'm going home. Around Cape Stiff we all must go, Go down you blood red roses, go down. Around Cape Stiff through the ice and snow, Go down you blood red roses, go down. And now an actual childhood memory: It was early morning and I had to go to school. I was in the fifth grade. The previous November the president had been assasinated but now it was January in Van Buren, Maine. I was snuggled under the covers trying hard not to hear my mother calling me. My breath hung in clouds over my head. I rolled over to look out the window but found a thick layer of ice on the inside. I scraped at it to see if more snow had fallen. If it had I would have to go out and shovel the driveway before leaving for school. I managed to get enough of a hole scraped to see that I did not have to shovel. Steeling myself for the shock I threw back the covers, grabbed my clothes and ran for the bathroom. This was the only room upstairs that was heated. I was too late! My middle sister was in there! Shivering I went back to my room to get into the cold clothes and then downstairs for breakfast. I didn't have a heated bedroom until I joined the Navy in 1971. Then I had to share that bedroom with as many as 150 others! It took me a long time to learn how to sleep without a blanket. If you want more stories of life in the cold I have quite a few! The most exquisite pain in the world is bashing a cold finger while working on a car that won't start in below zero weather! The greatest sound is the quiet of the woods in January at 20 below zero F. Off in the distance a chickadee calls and closer you can hear the cracking at the trees freeze. |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: GUEST,Joerg Date: 09 Aug 00 - 10:04 PM Dear Poor Áine - If it hadn't been mentioned above I would have thought of 'Lord Franklin' - certainly the coldest song I know. But what about 'The Last Leviathan'? Also pretty cool, just don't cry too much, this will be water plus salt. I am sorry to tell you that where I'm living I (I!) am enjoying an exceptionally cold, rainy summer while smiling at people who complain about that (until now, at least, but I'm thankful). I enjoy warmth but I hate heat, especially when it's moist heat, and it's always moist here. My trick against heat that becomes too annoying: If it's below 97°F (body temperature, I hope I've calculated correctly) I prefer resting in water to moving in air. The thermal conductivity of water is much higher than that of air so the heat in my body can much easier get out of it, and this cools me down some way I enjoy the warmth of the air afterwards. It doesn't work with a shower, only in a bathtub, and one also has to be very careful with this method: It's effective enough to cause some real shock when applied too quickly! Seriously - we had some strange fatality here which was supposed to have been caused by exactly that - your heart might simply stop beating and never start again. So never try to cool down that way hectically! If it's moist heat your suffering of: If the air doesn't move make it do so. A fan blows away the cloud of steam that always surrounds you (thus of course increasing the humidity in your room but that will happen anyway if you stay there). And there are also air dryers which won't lower the temperature but freeze out the steam in the air. They work like a refrigerator without the box around it but a fan attached instead and a bucket underneath. Another means to make sweating worth doing it. BTW - do YOU need a privacy fence? :-) Joerg |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: GUEST,Roger the skiffler Date: 10 Aug 00 - 04:12 AM Isn't it a feature of Arab or Moghul architecture (Al-Hansell of Arabia will correct me, I'm sure) to have an inner court with a pool and fountain which cools the whole house? It's unusually humid in UK at the moment but remembering the hot summer of '68 when I was travelling through the US I sympathise with you.(And I hope you get some rain to kill the fires soon). Until then think of Hard Hearted Hannah: An evening spent with Hannah in a big armchair Is like crawling through Alaska in your underwear... RtS |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: Bert Date: 10 Aug 00 - 11:05 AM Only the very wealthy would have pools. The most common form of 'traditional air conditionining' in The Gulf was the wind tower. An open sided tower was built on the roof. It had walls going diagonally across the inside (at 45%). These walls would catch whatever wind there was, from whichever direction it was blowing, and it would be directed down through a hole in the roof to cool the room or rooms below. Here's one Bert. |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: GUEST,Roger the skiffler Date: 10 Aug 00 - 11:23 AM Thanks, Bert, I knew you'd put me right! [May your camels avoid the mange]. RtS (not too ashamed to flog an old joke to death) |
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Subject: RE: BS: A Wee Postcard From Hell From: Irish sergeant Date: 10 Aug 00 - 05:27 PM Aine; I hope you stay cool. I like the idea of the pool and maybe a ahrem or two..Hmm Oh sorry Channelling Tales of the Arabian Nights. Kindest Reguards, Neil |