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pinkytoe
6-27-12, 6:53pm
Watching the horrible fires in CO, places we visited just last fall now up in flames, is heartbreaking. It just seems like it gets hotter and drier every year - just about everywhere.
Yesterday, 109 here - today 107. If not for air-conditioning, I think we would not be able to survive in this heat.
It was so hot last night that we couldn't prepare or eat dinner so just munched on cold stuff in the fridge.
If the power goes out, we're most likely toast.

CathyA
6-27-12, 6:56pm
It IS scary Pinkytoe. I think I would die without A.C. I hope my chickens can make it. We're not as hot as you yet........102 tomorrow, then mid-high 90's all next week. The humidity is so low that pop-up thunderstorms are really unlikely.
Stay cool!

DarkStar
6-27-12, 7:38pm
It's supposed to be 105 and 106 this weekend. I hope my AC doesn't go out, too. I'll be doing very little this weekend, except to go water my plants.

bunnys
6-27-12, 8:11pm
I live in the Middle Atlantic and it's supposed to be like closing in on 100 tomorrow and over 100 2 of the next 7 days. Highs in upper nineties all the other days.

I have no AC. I would love it if it were only dry! But it is so humid here (think Bermuda High) it is like a sauna.

I did all my baking/cooking for the week tonight bc I will not turn anything on that emits more heat than the microwave!

ApatheticNoMore
6-27-12, 8:17pm
low to mid 80s in southern California inland (better at the beaches of course) and dry and scheduled the same for the next 10 days. Maybe that's why I stay. But honestly June is never hot here, August and September are (maybe late July will be).

Blackdog Lin
6-27-12, 8:58pm
Everyone in my small town is complaining about the heat wave, of which we are into about day 6.

And it seems that NO ONE remembers last summer. So I remind 'em.

It started the first of June, a heat wave of epic proportions, triple digits and high humidity. AND IT DIDN'T QUIT. We had week after week after week after week of the same. I remember last summer making a point of getting up before daybreak on Sundays (my only day off) and getting outside to do what chores I could by 10:00 am or so. If I didn't get it done outside on those 4 hours or so on Sunday mornings, it wasn't gonna get done. There was absolutely NO going outside to chore during the week if you couldn't do it in the early mornings. There were no breaks in the heat as we would normally have, with a storm going through to cool things off and provide some moisture for at least 12 hours or so. Nothing, zero, zilch, naughta - for 8 weeks or so.

The garden chuckled weakly for about two weeks, then died. The lawn died (in our area in the summer this is a GOOD thing - no mowing). We lost, I don't remember how many, 6? 8? chickens to the heat. Even after we put up a fan for them. Garden tomatoes - and most of the great summer veggies we take for granted - were only dreams last year in our area.

So I'm trying to remind people to have some perspective: It's only been less than a week! It'll probably get better soon. So far this is nothing compared to last summer.

(And I sincerely hope that it DOESN'T get to what we had last summer.) How many of y'all remember a brutal summer last year?

iris lily
6-27-12, 9:05pm
I have a road trip starting tomorrow with 2 Brachycephalic dogs. If the car goes kaput they are dead. I'm thinking of leaving them at home now.

pinkytoe
6-27-12, 9:58pm
I will never forget last summer. We had two and a half months over 100 and absolutely no rain. My little screech owl friends are back tonight. They wait in a nearby tree while I fill the water trough and then come right down, splash and hydrate within feet of me. I don't think that is normal behavior but driven by desperation for relief from the heat. We are leaving our pets inside all of the time, all shades drawn to keep it cooler.

RosieTR
6-27-12, 10:43pm
I'm not complaining! I spent last summer in Phoenix, where I was happy if the low was <90F. We don't have A/C but based on my "training" in AZ, I know I can sleep up to 82F. Have only had to do that when it's been smoky and the swamp cooler brings in the smoke so not bad. Could be one heck of a lot worse (in northern CO). I do try to plan not to bake on hot days, and try to grill as much as possible in the summer. You can, in fact, grill pizza, calzones, and many veggies on a gas grill.

Tradd
6-27-12, 10:48pm
I'm in NE IL. Supposed to be about 100 tomorrow. It's early for this kind of heat. I've rediscovered the ceiling fan in my BR (right above bed). I was able to keep the a/c at a higher temp last night. Looks like it's supposed to be at least 90 for most of the next week or so.

The a/c is my car hardly works, so I just open the windows and enjoy the breeze. My commute is mostly on the highway. One good thing about working late (6-7 pm) is that the sun isn't as blazing when I'm driving home. I've not cooked since Saturday. I'm eating either sandwiches, salads (spinach salad with grape tomatoes, homemade dressing, olives, and tuna or feta), or things like cereal with almond milk, lots of fruit, etc. I do laundry late at night, but I am running the dryer since I don't need any additional humidity from hanging things to dry. Not running the dishwasher.

Thank goodness I don't have to wear pantyhose to work!

Float On
6-28-12, 12:09am
I will never forget last summer. We had two and a half months over 100 and absolutely no rain. My little screech owl friends are back tonight. They wait in a nearby tree while I fill the water trough and then come right down, splash and hydrate within feet of me. I don't think that is normal behavior but driven by desperation for relief from the heat.

That is really cool pinkytoe. We've had a family of screech owls every year until last year. They'd teach the little ones to fly by 'follow the leader' and they'd all end up in the tree in front of our studio and they'd sit there and watch for awhile.

Float On
6-28-12, 12:14am
Last summer was horrid. Our AC died and it was 6 weeks of the heatwave before they could fit us in, then they forgot to call and schedule and it ended up being close to mid Oct (by then we needed a bit of heat at night).
We ended up getting one of those portable inside air units where you run a flex tube out the window and it worked really good. That one ended up starting to make a strange noise so I had my husband take it in to exchange it (still under warrenty) and they ended up just refunding him the money. We just bought another smaller one to help with the upstairs AC, different kind of unit for upstairs than the central unit that does the downstairs. The smaller one is really working well my sons room is finally comfortable and my office is nice and cool as well.

CathyA
6-28-12, 6:50am
Pinkytoe.........that is really neat about the owls. We have a creek really close to us, which is probably why we have so many birds right now. But its really low, so I keep several birdbaths around the yard for them, both up higher and on the ground (for the ground animals). Yesterday I was watering the garden and a couple hummingbirds stopped by for a shower. They seem to enjoy those showers more than the other birds.
Thankyou for helping out the little screech owls!