The Heat

As most Vancouverites are aware, central air is something that doesn’t really exist on the West Coast. Sure, there are a few newer high-end resident high-rises that have it, but most don’t.

My place is a large, single 1,200 sq foot room with concrete floors and 18 foot ceilings – but the two windows only open 4 inches. The hallways in the building are air conditioned, but not the apartments, which means that in weather like this it can get as hot as 40 degrees in here.

I have four powerful fans that are constantly on. During the day I prop my front door open to get airflow, but at night it has to be closed. So I tend to point all of the fans at the bed because trying to use them to draw air in from outside is a pointless exercise (tried it).

Last week I thought I might have the flu. I realize now that it isn’t the flu, it’s what’s called “heat exhaustion”, a less serious version of ‘heatstroke”, which can be fatal. I have all of the symptoms – nausea, vomiting, fatigue, dizziness, headaches, and muscle cramps. I’ve also had a lot of difficulty breathing.

To be honest, I don’t know how the dogs are able to bear it. Given that I have them for the week, I have thought about moving to a hotel and hiring someone to help me look after them – either that or hire someone for the week to help out with them here. Given the size of my car, taking all four of them out to my parents and staying there isn’t an option.

Laying here, I am at a loss as to how residences can be built without this sort of thing being taken into consideration. Were I acclimatized to such temperatures it would be a different matter, but I’m not. It’s impossible to sleep.