Thursday, June 23, 2011

AC Savior

The weather in Southern California is generally far more pleasant than that which I had lived with anywhere previously. It doesn't get cold like Chicago, humid like Florida or blisteringly hot like Arizona, except when it does. It's all the worse here. Here you probably get a wall-mounted unit that cools the immediate area around it. During the two or so years I lived with that, we just didn't bother. I had my own little sweat lodge in my bedroom.

Here in the new place, we have that miracle wrought by God, central air conditioning. We try to use it sparingly, but when it's needed, it's worth it. Over the past few days, the temperature has grown rather more robust, signaling that a real summer is in the offing. I guess when the solstice hit, that was all she wrote. In any case, I finally had enough, and stalked over to the thermostat in a huff (heightened emotions seem to be the norm around that device). I activated it, and we quickly sealed the previously-opened windows.

It was heavenly. It was something like how it used to be when we would troop off to the mall in mid-summer, nearly getting sunburned between the house and the car, the car and the mall. It was worth it though to walk through the doors and get that blast of downright chilly air that gave you a sense of what it must be like to walk through the Pearly Gates. This time it was not so spectacular, but the relief was palpable nonetheless.

The National Weather Service alleges that it is 84 degrees presently. That may be so outdoors, but without the AC on it must surely be warmer than that in here. We no longer have to submit to such brutal natural phenomena- now it is the Sun which finds itself powerless to resist an unwelcome temperature trend. I cannot say that I am at all sympathetic, in spite of the admittedly valuable service that it provides. I would suggest that it consider a lower-temperature form of lighting if it likes its job.

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