Monday Musing 8/14/23- hot enough for you?

It’s hot. Damned hot!

There is a scene in Airplane when McCroskey back at the airport asks how hot the plane is running. And Ted Striker replies, and Elaine the stewardess relays, “It’s hot, damned hot.”

Or at least that is how I remember it. I remember the instrument panel and Striker relaying to Elaine, who then relays to the tower about the plane’s overall situation. I remember Striker saying that the plane was running hot, and the controls were a little sluggish.

There is a scene from Good Morning, Vietnam when Adrian Cronaur riffs that “It is hot! Damn hot!” when talking about the weather in Vietnam. There is more to the quote, but that is just Robin Williams (RIP) riffing on the heat

I always think of that quote at the tail end of summer here in North Carolina. Middle to tail end of summer.

It is hot!

Damn hot!

And humid!

I don’t dare make anything with frosting because it breaks for Cookie Thursday is a Thing. Frosting does that, you know.

It is hot! Currently, the ambient humidity in the state ranges from 63% in Asheville to 58% in Greensboro and 63% in Huntersville.

And 88 degrees Fahrenheit but only because the sun is going down.

I don’t think I should mow today.

Even in the shade and the cooling temperatures. I am going to practice common sense and not mow.

The western US is going through, and what the world is really going through, a heat crisis. There was an unconfirmed temperature in China of 126 degrees Fahrenheit in July. The Badwater Basin in Death’s Valley peaked at 128.6 degrees, cooling to 120 degrees overnight.

This is not sustainable and we may have already tipped over the precipice.

It’s only going to get worse. The saddest comment I’ve heard over and over again is that this may be the coolest summer of the rest of our lives.

I am very glad that opted for a lighter roof.

I am also very glad that we have done so much to make our home energy efficient. New windows. Completely new siding plus poly wrap where it did not exist. New vent covers that can be closed in the winter to keep the house warmer, or open in the summer to keep the house cooler in the summer. New doors as applicable, back door, including the insulated garage door. Caulking and new weather stripping where applicable. Energy-efficient curtains throughout. Attic fan to blow out hot air when the attic starts to heat up I am selective when I run the big appliances such as the dishwasher, the washer, and the dryer.

My next thing is to hang an energy-efficient curtain in our bathroom which gets blinding sun in the afternoon and heats up our bathroom about 15 degrees.

The kicker is that the house is only cooled to 76 degrees. That’s it, it goes no lower than that. There is an overhead fan on each level of the house. And a couple of stand-along fans too. Especially blowing straight onto the bed.

There is much that living in California taught me about surviving the heat. Too bad there weren’t any lessons about surviving the humidity.

If we are to survive this, we must change our ways.

Climate change is a problem of our own making and our own hubris. Our wings are melting.