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BS: How do you beat the heat ?
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Subject: RE: BS: How do you beat the heat ? From: Deckman Date: 28 Jul 03 - 12:56 PM This thread just reminded me of that song from "MacSorley's (sp?) Wonderful Saloon." Remember when Professor Seagull would sing: "In the Winter, I'm a buddhist, In the Summer, I'm a nudist." |
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Subject: RE: BS: How do you beat the heat ? From: Dave Bryant Date: 28 Jul 03 - 11:14 AM I was once in a local TV Christmas show, which we pre-recorded in the summer. We spent most of the time on set dressed in heavy victorian-style outdoor costumes. The cameras in use were old-style EMI types which needed higher levels of lighting than modern ones. We ended up doing about a dozen takes of "Walking in a Winter Wonderland" with polystyrene bead "snow" being tipped on us from the fly gallery - which was getting hotter and hotter each time that it was collected and re-used. We had to try and cool down (and then be powdered off) after each take. That tip about running cold water over the insides of your wrists really works - with full make-up on and not enough time to get out of costume it was the only way we could get cool. |
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Subject: RE: BS: How do you beat the heat ? From: Mary in Kentucky Date: 28 Jul 03 - 10:01 AM I just read my MS newsletter and it has an article on "How to Beat the Heat." As many of you know, many people with MS have an increase in symptoms when body temperature is raised. Although I'm extremely lucky to not have this problem, I'm still aware of the heat and watch to see if it affects me. From the article: Wear light clothing. Exercise early in the morning or late in the evening. Take a cold swim or exercise in a swimming pool. (a cool one, most therapeutic pools are too warm) Your body has four large heat sinks (two arms and two legs) to help keep the body cool for a few hours. Fill a tube sock with rice and keep it in the freezer to put around your neck on hot days. Use a cooling vest. Cooling vests that use freezer packs are available. Also, I noticed that in all our ramblings and rememberings about cooling contraptions nobody mentioned the good ole attic fan. I live in a large house and use it constantly during the summer. I have fond memories of my childhood on the gulf coast of Texas sleeping with my head on a pillow in a window, and a cool gulf breeze blowing through the screen. |
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Subject: RE: BS: How do you beat the heat ? From: Wilfried Schaum Date: 28 Jul 03 - 04:00 AM In 1911, when there was a real hot sommer in Germany, my late great aunt Marta was a young girl. She told me that the entire family moved into the wine cellar for 3 weeks with table, chairs and beds. Very convenient for papa, such a short way ... In North Africa I saw some dug out Roman houses with a winter floor (above ground) and a summer floor (underground) around, or better squared, a common atrium for both. Didn't need much electricity for air condition and cooling, since the Romans hadn't any. Best advice: Stop working after lunch at noon, retire for a real good long siesta, and revive for work or fun when the sun is going down. Wilfried |
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Subject: RE: BS: How do you beat the heat ? From: Metchosin Date: 28 Jul 03 - 03:18 AM more like 60 years Ely, Cool Water was first recorded by the Sons of the Pioneers in 1941. Canadian, Bob Nolan penned it. When I was small this was one of my favourites and although Marty did a nice job, no subsequent versions sound right to me without the echo part..... "cool clear water"..........."water" |
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Subject: RE: BS: How do you beat the heat ? From: Sorcha Date: 28 Jul 03 - 12:20 AM Oh no, not more of it, Rapaire! I was just so thankful it had been cooler here........oh well. No swamp cooler, no AC, just fans here. And mister bottles, wet rags, etc. Damme. |
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Subject: RE: BS: How do you beat the heat ? From: Rapparee Date: 27 Jul 03 - 09:35 PM I bought a room-sized evaporative cooler a few weeks ago. It's okay, but I think that it's too small for the room size. But just adding ANY humidity helps. It rained a little bit the day before yesterday, but not enough to matter much. At last count, four firefighters were dead in Idaho fires. Nearly 5,000 acres have burned around here, the biggest, which burned two barns and a house, was caused by a "transient" who is now in jail -- and yes, the proof in conclusive. But the heat broke somewhat. It was 86 here today, but it's going up to the 100s again this week. |
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Subject: RE: BS: How do you beat the heat ? From: Ely Date: 27 Jul 03 - 09:28 PM ;) I smell it every morning. Nothing EVER dries out in the Gulf Coast. On good days, it's like moldy spinach. |
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Subject: RE: BS: How do you beat the heat ? From: GUEST,.gargoyle Date: 27 Jul 03 - 07:59 PM Rudyard Kipling, in several of his short-stories makes reference to hot tea as an aid in heat. For example, in "At the End of the Passage" the characters are suffering through 101 degree, unrelenting even at night humid Indian heat.
Sincerely, |
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Subject: RE: BS: How do you beat the heat ? From: katlaughing Date: 27 Jul 03 - 07:26 PM Hmmm. Bill, I'll have to check with Rog to see what kind he used this year. I know they smell good, like wood shavings, so maybe they are from Aspens! Ely, yeah I know, but if you could smell it! AArrrgghhhh! Deckman, I remember my dad having one of those. Last year, for a joke, when we knew we were moving to the high desert of western Colorado, I searched high and low on the Internet for one of those bags for Rog. I found a company in San Francisco which rents them for movies and such, but would not sell them. I finally found one on ebay, I think through a query on Mudcat, if I remember correctly.:-) |
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Subject: RE: BS: How do you beat the heat ? From: Bill D Date: 27 Jul 03 - 07:21 PM also, from this page (tells how to build a cooler) "Previously, most pads were made of aspen shavings, excelsior or plastic. Now on the market are cellulose pads impregnated with insoluble antirot salts. Another modern cooling pad system consists of a bonded plastic fiber pad coated with an absorbent cellular foam. Unaffected by continual exposure to moisture, disinfectants, chlorine or water acidity, these new pads are so efficient that you do not even see water trickling down the side. |
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Subject: RE: BS: How do you beat the heat ? From: Bill D Date: 27 Jul 03 - 07:16 PM I got it!...that word has been flickering at the edge of my brain all day, and I JUST tricked myself into remembering it... we used 'excelsior' batting! and, kat, it seems the good stuff is made from Aspen! "The absorbency and strength of Rocky Mountain Aspen excelsior have proven unbeatable in such products as evaporative cooler pads,..." |
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Subject: RE: BS: How do you beat the heat ? From: Ely Date: 27 Jul 03 - 06:52 PM It's already a good title for a song. Marty Robbins recorded it about 50 years ago. Geez, katlaughing--why call it a swamp cooler if it doesn't smell like a swamp? |
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Subject: RE: BS: How do you beat the heat ? From: Deckman Date: 27 Jul 03 - 02:00 PM Hi Nigel ... thanks for the thought. This kind of heat is so rare in the Pacific Northwest that I've never seriously considered the tent approach. However I'm occasionally offered big bucks to build high end decks in horrible places like Hawaii and Arizona. I turn those down. By the way, am I the only one old enough to remember the canvass water bag we hung from the radiator filler cap on the trucks. As we drove, water would seep through the canvass and the evaporation would definantly cool the water. "Cool Water." Hey, that might be a good title for a song! CHEERS, Bob |
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Subject: RE: BS: How do you beat the heat ? From: Bill D Date: 27 Jul 03 - 01:14 PM "swamp/evaporative coolers "..yep, seems like the same..(I am just straining to remember the trade name for the fiber mat we used, so I can do a search on it...I HATE senior moments!) |
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Subject: RE: BS: How do you beat the heat ? From: Nigel Parsons Date: 27 Jul 03 - 12:33 PM Deckman: you're probably way ahead of me on this, but if the heat from the ground (or decking) is getting you, and the heat from the Sun is too, then as you obviously transport sufficient lumber for the job (or get it delivered) why not get a large 'gazebo' [or even half a dozen 15ft pioneering poles, a large canvas/tarpaulin & sufficient guy ropes and anchorage] to give you shade. The air temp will be a lot lower than the temp you're getting from your solid surrounds. Nigel |
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Subject: RE: BS: How do you beat the heat ? From: katlaughing Date: 27 Jul 03 - 12:07 PM BIllD, those are the swamp/evaporative coolers I was talking about. They are very much still in use out here in the arid West. Technology of them hasn't changed any, either, really. We still have to replace the "filters" and we also add a treatment to the reservoir to keep the water from going "bad" and getting smelly. I sip my ice water, slowly, throughout the day. DOn't like the taste of tepid water and as that is all I drink I get plenty regardless. |
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Subject: RE: BS: How do you beat the heat ? From: Ely Date: 27 Jul 03 - 11:39 AM I didn't realize how much I had acclimated to Houston's horrible summer weather (100+ degrees, 90+ percent humidity) until I went to Iowa in May and thought I was going to freeze. Fans are a must, even if you have AC--we keep our AC at 80 degrees or warmer but the ceiling fans make up the difference and are cheaper to run. Tea is a diuretic so don't overdo it. I don't like cold water but water (at whatever temp you prefer) is the best. If you're sweating a lot, eat a little something salty, too. Mom and I went to a music festival once and the weather was so bad that we bought a bag of ice and took turns carrying it over our shoulders as we browsed. We were soaked but at least we were cold. Bill D, you can still get window swamp coolers for VW Beetles (they have the regular ones that work when the car is moving, and fancy electric ones that power their own fans). |
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Subject: RE: BS: How do you beat the heat ? From: Bill D Date: 27 Jul 03 - 10:48 AM now you've all got me remembering about how houses and autos were 'cooled' 50+years ago, before regular AC was common. We had what we simply called "water coolers" at home, it was a box similar to an air conditioner, fit into a window...with a squirrel-cage fan inside and grill-work cut into it. Fit just inside the grill on 3 sides was a mat of wood fiber (what WAS that called??) There was a little trough at the top with holes in the bottom and a connection for a garden hose to send a slow trickle of water around that dripped thru the fiber batting, so that the air from the outside was filtered thru damp batting as it was blown into the house. (We had to go to a supplier and buy a new mat-filter every couple of years, as it would decay and smell! Earlier, we had a similar gadget that fitted onto a car, over the passenger side. It was a tube-shaped thing filled with the fibers with an opening at the front, like a jet engine, and side vent into the car, thru a partially open window. The faster you drove, the more 'cool' air you got. The point was, that the evaporative effect was supposed to help the comfort level, but I think just having the air move was as important as anything! (That house unit had to have the air flow directed upwards, as it would blow the papers off the table 6 ft, away!) |
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Subject: RE: BS: How do you beat the heat ? From: Kim C Date: 27 Jul 03 - 09:48 AM I don't drink cold water. I drink my bottled water at room temp. Cold water is uncomfortable on the back of my throat. I have drunk hot tea on a hot day, and oddly enough, it's very comforting and refreshing. |
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Subject: RE: BS: How do you beat the heat ? From: Bert Date: 26 Jul 03 - 11:06 PM One time in Bahrain in mid summer, we had an emergency at the aluminum smelter and us expats had to go out raking the furnaces. We would spend a few seconds in front of the furnace and then go out into the sun (The saame as Jeri's Kuwait sun, and yes it was 120 degrees in the shade) to cool down. Plain water was the only thing that worked. And Jeri is right, drink all that you feel you need and then drink some more. If your pee is yellow then you are not drinking enough. |
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Subject: RE: BS: How do you beat the heat ? From: Sorcha Date: 26 Jul 03 - 10:01 PM Today during a gig it was @ 100 inside the metal building. There was a 5' barn fan going and I remembered to bring a wet towel. Soaked it down again and draped it over my head a la Arab/nun style. Helped a LOT. So, I kept wearing it all day. Home, grocery store, etc. I really don't care what I look like anymore as long as I am comfy! |
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Subject: RE: BS: How do you beat the heat ? From: Jeri Date: 26 Jul 03 - 09:51 PM I'm a little late, but... The military doesn't have any special equipment for cooling off in the desert. I was in Kuwait when it was in the 120s during the day. Most of us worked at night, when it got down in the 90s and some people put jackets on. There was no humidity. One drank loads of water and adapted. I felt seriously puffy after I'd been there a few days and realised it was because the capilaries in my skin had decided to circulate more blood out there where it could be cooled by evaporation. Drink more water than you think you need. If it's seriously hot, you may be in the danger zone by the time you actually feel thirsty. If you can't change the temperature, do what you can to help your body's cooling system. Wear loose, airy clothing (or none). Sit in front of a fan. Dump water over your head or water yourself while you're doing your lawn. My dad taught me how to soak a wash cloth in cold water, wring it out and then flop it on my face. The feeling doesn't last, but it sure feels good while it does! I once knew someone who would fill a large towel with ice and suspend it from the ceiling in front of a fan. Her room always seemed a bit cooler. |
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Subject: RE: BS: How do you beat the heat ? From: Bert Date: 26 Jul 03 - 08:58 PM Mary, ytou'll get good tea at your local Asian or Indian Grocery store. |
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Subject: RE: BS: How do you beat the heat ? From: katlaughing Date: 26 Jul 03 - 01:09 AM The wet towel thing will not work in a humid climate, I know I tried it when we moved from the hot, dry West to hot, hazy and humid New England. LOL Of course, i had trouble with a/c working in New England, too, on the coastline...it kept freezing up with moisture. The newer type are better about not doing that, though. Evaporative cooling works best with a fan and that is the technology, really very simple, behind what we refer to as "swamp coolers" out here in the West, really called "Evaporative Coolers." My friend back East teases me about watching out for the alligators in my swamp cooler! |
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Subject: RE: BS: How do you beat the heat ? From: Sorcha Date: 26 Jul 03 - 12:00 AM The foot out of the covers thing doesn't work for me. I've tried everything.....nothing works except 1) going outside if it's winter or fanning the sheet if it's summer. Hot flashes are sooooo much fun when it's already 110 outside........ |
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Subject: RE: BS: How do you beat the heat ? From: Mary in Kentucky Date: 25 Jul 03 - 08:58 PM Bob, you lost me on that one! CK, does that trick work in humid climates? Evaporation takes heat energy to change liquid water to gaseous water (water vapor), and this heat is usually taken from the surrounding air, thus the temperature drops. I guess a wet towel on the body would take heat from the body. A side comment ~~~ all you ladies with night sweats (those of us over 50), I read that if you sleep with ONE FOOT out from under the covers, it helps the body to quickly regulate temperature. Now that's one I don't understand. I neglected to say above that the cooling effect used in barns and other large buildings or even outdoors in dry climates usually consists of a wet sheet with a large commercial fan blowing on it. Bert, I'm sipping hot tea now! Wish I had some more of the Yorkshire stuff. |
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Subject: RE: BS: How do you beat the heat ? From: GUEST,Seaking Date: 25 Jul 03 - 08:17 PM Sorry, forgot to sign CK |
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Subject: RE: BS: How do you beat the heat ? From: GUEST Date: 25 Jul 03 - 08:15 PM I used to be an Engineer in the Merchant Navy and visited lots of exotic (and very hot) places. Sometimes the Air Conditioning worked -and sometimes it didn't. I learned a good trick to keep cool at night which is to lay covered with a damp towel across you. I won't bore you with the technicalities of how it keeps you cool (mainly because I can't remember !) but it's something to do with latent heat of evaporation. CK |
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Subject: RE: BS: How do you beat the heat ? From: Deckman Date: 25 Jul 03 - 07:23 PM Mary in Kentucky ... I've been known to drink COLD coffee and have it boiling in my cup before it's gone! Bob |
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Subject: RE: BS: How do you beat the heat ? From: GUEST Date: 25 Jul 03 - 01:47 PM It is a lovely evening in Ireland a nice 19 degrees centigrade, "how pleasant to live in a moderate climate", not my words but those of a lovely lady from Kentucky who really enjoyed her three weeks here. Cool Pat. |
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Subject: RE: BS: How do you beat the heat ? From: Bert Date: 25 Jul 03 - 11:56 AM Yes Mary your Grandmother was right. Hot tea is a little better though. What it does of course, is kick start your body's own cooling system. It makes you perspire. By the same logic Ice and iced drinks fool your body and make things worse. WYSILUV, A lot of cyclists suffer serious dehydration. You need to aim to drink enough that your pee is always clear and never yellow. Drink plain water until you have quenched your thirst and then drink just a little more. |
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Subject: RE: BS: How do you beat the heat ? From: Mary in Kentucky Date: 25 Jul 03 - 11:44 AM Many of the misting-type coolers work better in dry climates, not very well in Kentucky. I think in West Texas they actually hang wet sheets in a barn - the evaporative cooling lowers the temperature significantly. A cousin gave me a "cobber" (cooling bandana) years ago (said they originated in Australia). Mine is the type you can put in the freezer after it's hydrated. They sell them at WalMart now for just a few dollars. I've been known to take freezer ice packs (the kind used in shipping) to outdoor concerts to place on my ankles and wrists for a continuous cooling effect. My grandmother swore by drinking hot coffee in the middle of the day. Said she learned it in Mississippi. I never liked that. Fans are great, but the best thing for me is to just do nothing during the heat of the day, and that's hard. |
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Subject: RE: BS: How do you beat the heat ? From: kendall Date: 25 Jul 03 - 11:26 AM Utah Phillips said it was so hot, he saw a dog chasing a cat, and they were both walking. |
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Subject: RE: BS: How do you beat the heat ? From: wysiwyg Date: 25 Jul 03 - 09:46 AM Sit or swim in cool water (pool, tub, whatEVer) during the hottest part of the day. Sip water while doing it. (Cyclists know, you want to sip at the same rate you sweat, not flood your kidneys and pee it all back out!) By the time I warm up again the cooler part of the day has arrived. ~S~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: How do you beat the heat ? From: GUEST,Kim C no cookie Date: 25 Jul 03 - 09:39 AM I bought a snow-cone maker. :-) |
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Subject: RE: BS: How do you beat the heat ? From: GUEST Date: 25 Jul 03 - 07:34 AM Work most nights Sleep most days.
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Subject: RE: BS: How do you beat the heat ? From: Bert Date: 25 Jul 03 - 02:58 AM Kat, I'm glad you mentioned a cooling device for dogs. Don't forget folks that dogs are much more susceptible to heatstroke than us humans. Keep those poor pups cool or wet or both. |
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Subject: RE: BS: How do you beat the heat ? From: Deckman Date: 25 Jul 03 - 12:28 AM Maggie ... you send such good vibes! CHEERS, Bob |
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Subject: RE: BS: How do you beat the heat ? From: Joe Offer Date: 25 Jul 03 - 12:18 AM Well, I've been in Greece the last two weeks. It was hot there, too - but delightful sitting outside at a cafe, listening to music and drinking ouzo. I got up at 6 most mornings and took a walk. I do the same thing here in the Sacramento area when it's hot - stay inside during the heat of the day, and enjoy the mornings and early evenings outdoors. Don't listen to all those people who tell you not to drink alcohol or use ice and all that. If you like it, drink it. I understand that recent studies have shown that alcoholic drinks and soda pop can hydrate you just as well as water can. And when you're in Greece, try Mythos beer. It's good stuff. -Joe Offer- |
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Subject: RE: BS: How do you beat the heat ? From: Stilly River Sage Date: 24 Jul 03 - 11:25 PM Being from Deckman's neck of the woods, I have to say that while I have lived in Texas a long time, I will never get used to it. Puget Sound cools better at night in the summer and never gets this hot during the day. The trouble up there is that people don't have air conditioning in the same way as down here--I stayed at my Mom's in Ballard a few years ago and her attic bedroom was an oven with no fan or A/C. We moved our cots and mattresses downstairs and slept in her office. I don't like the air conditioning I've had to live with in Texas--the vent blowing on my legs or feet makes them ache and I used to wear socks to bed when I couldn't move the bed away from the vent. Trouble with mist is that it contributes to humidity. In the desert southwest evaporative coolers work because it is so dry, but they won't work around here in Fort Worth. Drink lots of fluids, wear a broad brimmed hat if you're out in the sun, and use a bandana over the back of your neck. Wear long sleeved shirts, as light-weight fabric as possible, if you have to do something like mow. It makes a difference--the sweat stays on the shirt and you're cooler than in sleeveless. Sleep is a tough call--when it's coolest in the morning is when sleep feels best, but you miss your opportunity to go outside comfortably. I go out early now and water, weed, mow, whatever, as soon as the light is out if I wake that early. My choice for sleep has several easy steps: take a warm (not hot, not cold) shower before bed. Use nice cotton sheets, don't crank the air conditioning down--I leave it around 80 all of the time. I have, and use, ceiling fans in every room of the house except the kitchen and bathrooms. Turn the fan on low, sleep in very little if any clothing (I wear just a long t-shirt), and use a simple cotton top sheet over your legs if the fan or occasional air conditioner bother you. The object is to sleep as warm as is tolerated. It does feel better. I love the Ann Miller song in the musical Kiss Me, Kate--"It's Too Darned Hot." For those who don't want to find themselves stuck to a sweaty partner, but don't want to give up sex for the summer, perhaps a visit here will offer a helpful compromise. ;-) And finally, a few observations on the Texas heat:
SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: How do you beat the heat ? From: Bill D Date: 24 Jul 03 - 11:11 PM I really feel for you folks in the North-West who do not usually get this sort of heat...many people never considered air-conditioning, because it was seldom hot long enough to notice. Places like Phoenix simply have different schedules and life-styles, with some businesses closing in the afternoon (you can't sell cars when you can't touch them!) having lived in Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, I can take quite a lot of heat, though I don't 'like' it...I deal with what I have to do by starting early, like Deckman says....and taking frequent breaks. many of the suggestions above are good ones, and those commercial neck-wraps are getting a lot of good press recently. Water...water....and then more water..in the shade. |
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Subject: RE: BS: How do you beat the heat ? From: mack/misophist Date: 24 Jul 03 - 10:36 PM It got pretty hot when I used to live in Texas. Since I left I've never gotten more than comfortably warm. 70 is too cool, 80 is about right, 90 is perfect if you're in the shade with just a touch of a breeze. Too hot means getting all the tea towels and stuffing them under your arms and between your legs so you can stay dry enough to sleep. |
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Subject: RE: BS: How do you beat the heat ? From: Sorcha Date: 24 Jul 03 - 09:44 PM So do I, Padre! But not 24/7! |
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Subject: RE: BS: How do you beat the heat ? From: Padre Date: 24 Jul 03 - 08:50 PM I sit in the pool and drink beer |
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Subject: RE: BS: How do you beat the heat ? From: Bev and Jerry Date: 24 Jul 03 - 07:52 PM You ought to know, Mudlark. Listen to these wimps complaining about 100 degrees. Where you live, people put on sweaters when it drops to 100 degerees. For the rest of you, we live about 40 miles from Mudlark and the temperature is about 40 degrees cooler. Really. Today's high was about 68! But, we're about to get our comeuppance. We're leaving in the morning for eastern Oregon. Our only hope is that it will take us about a week to get there and maybe, maybe, maybe it will cool off by then. Bev and Jerry |
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Subject: RE: BS: How do you beat the heat ? From: kendall Date: 24 Jul 03 - 07:47 PM Up until recently, I would have said, "I arranged to be born in Maine" but, with global warming, we now have temps in the high 90's. Over the past few years I've noticed creatures from the south coming into Maine. Things such as, Possums, mockingbirds and cardinals. |
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Subject: RE: BS: How do you beat the heat ? From: Rapparee Date: 24 Jul 03 - 05:34 PM It's been in the hundreds here in Pocatello for a couple of weeks nows. The fire rating is "Explosive." Lots of folks at the city pool, some even swimming in the much-polluted river. I wear a short sleeved shirt, a bolo tie or no tie at all, no undershirt, lightweight pants, and try to spend as much time as possible in A/C. If walking I try to make use of all possible shade: trees, even light poles and street signs. At night in my un-A/Ced abode I sleep with two fans on me and a bottle of water by the bed. And water, water, water. (Today, for the first time in weeks, it's rained some.) |
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Subject: RE: BS: How do you beat the heat ? From: Deckman Date: 24 Jul 03 - 04:52 PM Speaking of wearing "protective glasses", and other general body protection, I was approached last Summer by a family camping club that was "clothing optional." They wanted me to build them a deck surrounding their clubhouse. As it was also quite hot last Summer, I asked them if I could start work at midnight and build under floodlights. I never heard back from them ... Oh well! Bob |
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Subject: RE: BS: How do you beat the heat ? From: katlaughing Date: 24 Jul 03 - 04:17 PM Hmmmm...I don't recall it being that heavy of a mist and I wear glasses, too. I guess you could clip it to your lapel or buttonhole, etc. lower down, or down yer back, yer shorts, at yer toes....**BG** |
