The Heat
August 17, 2008, Matthew Good 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.
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I can only imagine what it’s like on the highest floor…
The heat is so hard on the pups too. Central air is a wonderful thing.
My niece needs a job… I will ship her ass out there for a week if you need some help. Would get her off the damn computer…
WAIT!
It has been pretty hot here in Victoria as well. I’m not a fan of the ‘hot heat’.
A couple nights ago it was at an almost unbearable heat; however, I am lucky because I happen to have a room in a basement which is always cooler, but of course that night I was looking after a baby pig, so I had to have a heat lamp on in my room; yes, a heat lamp! Not only did I wake up through all hours of the night to ‘oink oink’ I woke up with a sweat stain outline of my body on the sheets.
When it gets this hot out my concern is more with the non-human animals. For example, you’ve got the pigs; pigs don’t have sweat glands. Could you imagine what it would be like to not have sweat glands especially in conditions like this!? Eeeeek. Then you’ve got your ‘regular’ household companions, you see them all huffin’ and puffin’ in order to keep their body heat down. And most of these non-human animals have a layer of fluff (fur, feathers, etc.) so not many of us can relate; plus they aren’t always in the position to get away from the heat. This is where I remind everyone that if they are taking your (furry) friends out with you to NOT keep them locked in a car, to make sure they have water readily available for them at all times, and to be cautious of how they’re feeling, because non-human animals can get heatstroke too.
Matthew, may I suggest maybe a cold shower (or tub); perhaps even laying somewhere with ice-packs surrounding you… could be fun.
you have a lot more than four fans. though some might be less powerful than others…
Why don’t you just go out and buy a portable air conditioner? All you do is hang a tube vent out of your window and it rolls around on wheels…
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Navigation?storeId=10051&N=526378 90401&langId=-1&catalogId=10053
hot air cold air = thunderstorm
Looks as though things may be changing.
[quote comment="62072"]hot air cold air = thunderstorm
Looks as though things may be changing.[/quote]
hot air PLUS cold air = thunderstorm
[quote comment="62069"]you have a lot more than four fans. though some might be less powerful than others…[/quote]
Well played sir.
Up here in Abbotsford it’s dreadful. I’m doing the exact same thing with fans directed towards my bed and I still need to put ice on my head. I miss vancouver.
I too live in a building with no air conditioning. My cats are having a tough time as well. We all lay around in front of a fan looking pretty pathetic. I’m so glad things will be cooling down a bit in the coming days.
[quote comment="62074"][quote comment="62069"]you have a lot more than four fans. though some might be less powerful than others…[/quote]
Well played sir.[/quote]
Indeed! :-)
In practical matters, a portable a/c would be the way to go. A few hundred bucks for something close to 12,000 BTU plus your fans (the mechanical kind) should help cool your place down. Best Buy, Future Shop and the Home Depots would carry them, if they’re not all sold out. :-p
Matt, I’ve live most of my life in Bangladesh, which has the heat AND the humidity, and I’m certainly not “acclimatized” to it. My windows open a bit more than 4 inches, but the wall-to-wall carpeting is a heat sink.
Hazy, hot & humid.
I’ll take a snowstorm any day over that.
Oh god. It’s been 31C in the apartment this weekend, window is broken, can’t open it, and the fan sent some pieces of something flying, can’t use that either. All I could do was eat an ice cube to try and cool down. Sleep was impossible.
Its about 29C in Calgary, with the humidity and what not, it feels like 40C.
It’s 31 C outside, here in the great city of Regina, SK. :P
My pregnant ass has not moved off the couch all day, other than to check the email or this site.
I have the same problems, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, headaches, muscle cramps, and to top it all off, this feeling of complete restlessness. My cats are hiding under the bed and the fan spits out warm air. Woot!
On days like today, -50 with wind chill doesn’t seems so bad… :( How sad is that?
I feel your pain…
Although I’m on Van Island and it’s only 30 degrees outside, my apartment’s on the top floor and it’s 7 degrees hotter than the rest of the building. My mice are sporting matted fur from sweating so much…poor things.
Nausea, vomiting, fatigue, dizziness, headaches, and muscle cramps
Sounds like hyponatremia. Could be that you are drinking a lot of water to stay hydrated, but without supplementing with electrolytes (mainly sodium and potassium) you are actually hurting yourself more as the water further dilutes your blood. You should either be consuming a sports drink such as Gatorade, or if you can’t stomach it, take electrolyte supplements with your water. Most running stores should carry something (ie. Lava Salts). Or alternately you can usually get Sodium and potassium from a drug store (usually behind the counter).
FYI: when you hear of people dropping dead in a marathon, it is sometimes due to hyponatremia, so it can be deadly.
I saw how sweaty you were on your recent band tour and that you only drank beer on stage. Frankly I am surprised you didn’t have brutal headaches by the end.
It’s funny. It never fails. When it gets really hot and unbearable, we complain and wish it were winter. Then, when winter comes around and we’re up to our eyeballs in snow and dealing with -40C windchill, we wish it were summer. ;-)
But, I suppose that in winter we can always layer on the sweaters and stuff. In summer, there’s only so much clothing you can take off and still not get any relief. :-p
[quote comment="62089"]It’s funny. It never fails. When it gets really hot and unbearable, we complain and wish it were winter. Then, when winter comes around and we’re up to our eyeballs in snow and dealing with -40C windchill, we wish it were summer. ;-)
But, I suppose that in winter we can always layer on the sweaters and stuff. In summer, there’s only so much clothing you can take off and still not get any relief. :-p[/quote]
The world’s not perfect, I can’t think of any place on earth that we would be satisfied with the weather.
[img]http://www1.sr.net/~t102139/images/Vadini_blower_fan_1.jpg[\img]
[quote comment="62094"][img]http://www1.sr.net/~t102139/images/Vadini_blower_fan_1.jpg[\img][/quote]
…its supposed to be a giant industrial fan.
All stupidity aside, with windows opening up at least 4 inches, you must be able to get indoor air conditioning units?
[quote comment="62089"]It’s funny. It never fails. When it gets really hot and unbearable, we complain and wish it were winter. Then, when winter comes around and we’re up to our eyeballs in snow and dealing with -40C windchill, we wish it were summer. ;-)
But, I suppose that in winter we can always layer on the sweaters and stuff. In summer, there’s only so much clothing you can take off and still not get any relief. :-p[/quote]
Also pretty much every building has a furnace, not every house has AC. We are way too adapted to winter.. we need to balance it out more. lol But your right.. I sure as hell wish it was winter right now.. i’d go lay in the snow. Ahhhh… :) lol
[quote comment="62099"][quote comment="62089"]It’s funny. It never fails. When it gets really hot and unbearable, we complain and wish it were winter. Then, when winter comes around and we’re up to our eyeballs in snow and dealing with -40C windchill, we wish it were summer. ;-)
But, I suppose that in winter we can always layer on the sweaters and stuff. In summer, there’s only so much clothing you can take off and still not get any relief. :-p[/quote]
Also pretty much every building has a furnace, not every house has AC. We are way too adapted to winter.. we need to balance it out more. lol But your right.. I sure as hell wish it was winter right now.. i’d go lay in the snow. Ahhhh… :) lol[/quote]
We are enforcing the stereotypes of canada. Just what we needed.
Zoinks. That’s damn hot.
Jenny’s tips for beating the heat:
1) Fill that snazzy tub of yours up with some cool water and ice cubes and have a pool party for you and your puppies (and of course I can always hop on a plane and join you too. I’m small, I’ll fit)
2) Keep your head cool with a cold cloth or ice packs or a bag of frozen peas
3) If you can’t get a window shaker in those windows becasue they only open 4 inches, I know you can get A/Cs that hook up to the wall somehow versus the window. My sister lives in a century home in TO and has one these units. Not as good as central air, but it should do the trick for the odd day you need it.
4) Eat lots of those big-ass Freezees.
Good luck…
you’ll need a desk fan for this but it does work ( I live in kamloops & it was 40 outside yesterday- forget what the indoor temps are) put a big bowl of ice behind your desk fan pointed to the bed and it will blow very cool air. only lasts an hour or so but if that’s enough to get you to sleep, you’re stylin’!
ahhh…. forgot the pups- if they have nylon collars, soak them in cool water until they are saturated- pat off the excess and put them back on- they’ll be happy as clams. (not suggested for use with cats…. my dog loves it but my cat almost took out my fucking eye!)
not to brag…but the summer her in NW PA has been just super, 70’s today and quite nice.
Matt… make sure the dogs and YOU stay hydrated. Also. Quit smoking. It dries out your membranes.
Finally… get some extra ice cube trays… and every now and then fill a small tub with ice water and stick your feet in it. Yes, it’s sorta low budget, but it will get your temp down and the pups can jump in after your done.
oops… I should read the other comments before posting…
[quote comment="62069"]you have a lot more than four fans. though some might be less powerful than others…[/quote]
Some just blow better than… err…
Our main level is 28, upstairs (rooms) is 30. basement = 9
where am i sleepin tonite?
A thunder storm is brewing out here…. Gene Simmons marthon tonite, BABY!!!!.. tel me you are all watching this ep? Gene in Whistler. LMFAO
[quote comment="62089"]It’s funny. It never fails. When it gets really hot and unbearable, we complain and wish it were winter. Then, when winter comes around and we’re up to our eyeballs in snow and dealing with -40C windchill, we wish it were summer. ;-)
But, I suppose that in winter we can always layer on the sweaters and stuff. In summer, there’s only so much clothing you can take off and still not get any relief. :-p[/quote]
So true. Gotta love those naked days tho. :P
black
[quote comment="62089"]It’s funny. It never fails. When it gets really hot and unbearable, we complain and wish it were winter. Then, when winter comes around and we’re up to our eyeballs in snow and dealing with -40C windchill, we wish it were summer. ;-)
But, I suppose that in winter we can always layer on the sweaters and stuff. In summer, there’s only so much clothing you can take off and still not get any relief. :-p[/quote]
I agree. Halloween is 2 months away. I’m dreading every second of it. I hate Halloween… keep summer year round at 25, I say. Where do we petition for this?
Yah, it’s hot for sure. I think Future Shop had a few air conditioners on wheels. As someone else said, I think you just put some flexible hose out your window and you’re good to go.
i feel bad - i’m waiting for the heat to kick in. it’s winter here in australia and as a canadian, i never thought i would see the day where it’s 22 degrees outside and i’m sitting here wearing my husbands wooly sweater and super thick socks.
… we’ll see what happens in a few months time when summer comes around again.
I’ve lived my whole life without A/C so far, and the way I survive the scorchingly hot days (at least for getting to sleep) is to take a cold shower for a good 10-15 minutes, only towel off my boxer region and then get into bed with a fan pointed at me on high oscillate. All the evaporating water on you reeeally cools you down, and generally you’re asleep by the time it’s dried up. Give it a try!
I was going to tear into you for complaining about the heat when we on the east coast have been desperate for weeks for some summer-like temperatures, but then you had to go and bring up being sick because of it… aw hell. Difficulty breathing is not good. How about this? I wish you our weather. There.
(I feel bad for your dogs, too… I know how miserable my girl gets in the heat. Do they like ice cubes? Sure it makes a mess of the floor, but it’s amusing as hell to watch canine ice-cube hockey, plus it cools ‘em down.)
Ket, I am so happy you are not 8.5 months prego like I was 5 years ago right now. omfg, I hated mother nature that summer. HATED HER!!!!!
[quote comment="62070"]Why don’t you just go out and buy a portable air conditioner? All you do is hang a tube vent out of your window and it rolls around on wheels…
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Navigation?storeId=10051&N=526378 90401&langId=-1&catalogId=10053[/quote]
Totally agree. I’m surprised you haven’t already gotten one of these. Save yourself and the doggies…..
I just did some research on Swamp coolers and thank god I did. A swamp cooler needs a cross breeze or it will rip your place to shreads. You cannot own one if you have hardwood floors. If you have carpets, they could get moldy and your place could grow mildew. A swamp cooler pumps moisture into the air so you actually feel like it’s raining… I used one for 2 months in the summer 5 years ago and my place did ok, I guess because of the ventilation being not too shabby. Matt with your place being abit ‘off’ these last few months, definately do some research if you ever were to go for something like that, or even A/C. Your place, by the sounds of it, sounds a wee bit fragile…… honeywell fans and many of them rock my world… i love my honeywell stand up fans…. couldn’t live without em while watching the Two Corey’s right now… man, tv sucks.. but A&E sure kicks it right now!!!!!
I’ve measured it!! My air conditioner only needs a 4 inch gap in a window to vent out of!!
I would have died long ago without my portable air conditioner. I think we paid approx $500 for it 3 years ago, but when it gets as hot as it has this last week that thing is worth its weight in gold!!
[quote comment="62099"][quote comment="62089"]It’s funny. It never fails. When it gets really hot and unbearable, we complain and wish it were winter. Then, when winter comes around and we’re up to our eyeballs in snow and dealing with -40C windchill, we wish it were summer. ;-)
But, I suppose that in winter we can always layer on the sweaters and stuff. In summer, there’s only so much clothing you can take off and still not get any relief. :-p[/quote]
Also pretty much every building has a furnace, not every house has AC. We are way too adapted to winter.. we need to balance it out more. lol But your right.. I sure as hell wish it was winter right now.. i’d go lay in the snow. Ahhhh… :) lol[/quote]
oops :S your right. lol
and i meant to quote Nick… not myself. lol
[quote comment="62136"]and i meant to quote Nick… not myself. lol[/quote]
I had a feeling haha.
easy … get naked!
Fuck the heat.
Fuck it.
I hate it. I hate sweating, feeling yucky sticky hot and most of all it makes me cranky.
I can’t do housework when it’s this hot. And I need to do the damn housework.
Did I mention I hate this heat?
If you decide it’s not hot enough up there, I have plenty of heat down here in Arizona I would be more than happy to send your way.
Stick it out if you can Matt…you’ve a long, cool three weeks to look forward to over here… :0)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/18/world/europe/18georgia.html?hp
As bad as the spin was, which Matt posted on the past few days, the U.S. has utterly mangled this one. While in a previous comment I argued that the U.S.’s fulfilling international obligations to airlift Georgian soldiers back to Georgia from Iraq was proper and that the U.S. movement of military assets into the Caucasus under the banner of humanitarian aid was not an untempered response by the Bush administration, why on earth would you announce the U.S.-Poland ABM deal less than 48 hours later and then publicly shame Russia on the world’s most watched politics Sunday morning show, “Meet the Press”?
Of course the Russians will object to the Bush administration’s demonization of it in the press and the escalation of the U.S.-Russian battle which the ballistic missile installation on the Russian border represents! This one was utterly mangled by Georgia and then by Rice at State. How do you go on “Meet the Press” and argue Russian bellicosity by declaring that the Georgian incursion into South Ossetia could have been confined to South Ossetia, and from the other side of the administration’s mouth escalate the conflict by “flipping” the political capital the conflict generated. Moving military hardware into the Georgian territory to deliver aid was not so untempered a response to the Russian incursion into Abkhazia and Gori, but the announcement of the ABM deal was either sheer stupidity or brilliant political engineering for the November election.
Here’s to John McCain! The big winner in the Russian-Georgian conflict. Who says Bush is a lame duck President? He’s the most influential factor in the 2008 Presidential election this Sunday.
Having lived in Fort Worth off and on since December ‘93, I can honestly say that you don’t acclimatise to the heat; you simply drink lots of water and stay in with you central air. My mom called me the second day I was in Denver and told me that it was 106 there. I shudder to think of what the THI must’ve been.
Are you sure it wasn’t the onset of Fan Death?
No but seriously though: According to the EPA (before it lost all credibility under Bush), electric fans may actually make the situation worse at temperatures over 32 C (90 F). Stay well-hydrated, and take cool showers when it gets bad.
You know what you might want to try? I’ve done this before and it works pretty well (though admittedly I’ve never tried in a 1600 sq foot room). Get yourself a huge box fan, like this:
http://www.canadiantire.ca/browse/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCTprd_id=845524442201695
Put it in the doorway, then hang up a blanket or shower curtain or something to block the rest of the doorway (push pins on the top of the door trim = invisible holes). Open a window, and that fan, on high, should help displace the air in the room fairly efficiently.
Come on, Mattguyver, you can do it! Good luck.
I feel your pain, Matt - had a place in Montreal like that - and it was supposed to have air conditioning. Still, it reached 36 Celsius on a regular basis - 140 square feet of south-facing windows helped.
Best of luck riding this out - to you and the dogs.
Take a cool bath or shower as often as possible, that will make you feel like newborn for sure.
You can buy portable air conditioners, trust me they’re awesom!
e
We have central air and we don’t use it. I don’t know why we even had it installed.
I didn’t know you had all the pups now. Aside from the heat that must be pretty fun.
How about getting some dry ice to sit around your apartment? Placed in front of the fans, it might help cool things off a bit. It might only last a day or two, but it won’t make a mess when it melts.
That really stinks… Hope things cool down for you, the boys and bella soon!
[quote comment="62144"]Having lived in Fort Worth off and on since December ‘93, I can honestly say that you don’t acclimatise to the heat[/quote]
sure you do. my AC is set at 28 right now and that feels chilly cause I got so used to being in 30 ( 40 if you throw in humidity) weather every day for the last four months. I’d call that pretty acclimatised.
You know.. getting naked really doesn’t help cause then it just makes you tempted to do other things, maybe to get out the Sears catalogue…? I hear in the summer there’s a pullout booklet dedicated solely to swimwear ;)
Obviously though, that does nothing for me cause remember guys, I’m all about the man sticks.
(Go ahead Tanya.. laugh it out, I know you want to!!)
[quote comment="62117"]
So true. Gotta love those naked days tho.
:P[/quote]
Yeah, I live in Regina too so I know what you mean. Stupidly hot summers and stupidly cold winters. But regardless of the climate outside I always have a tendency to have no-pants parades around my place. Clothes are so… restricting.
Dear Mr. Good,
I hope this morning brings some relief. I got central air a year ago when I got a dog. Your poor pooches! I suspect you have all kinds of electrical equipment around, otherwise you might want to get a little kiddie pool for them. What’s with the air conditioning in the hallway? (Perhaps a well thought of city by-law.)
Given that your windows open up only four inches, have you thought about what to do if there is a fire? That’s the heat I would worry about……
[quote comment="62160"]You know.. getting naked really doesn’t help cause then it just makes you tempted to do other things, maybe to get out the Sears catalogue…? I hear in the summer there’s a pullout booklet dedicated solely to swimwear ;)
Obviously though, that does nothing for me cause remember guys, I’m all about the man sticks.
(Go ahead Tanya.. laugh it out, I know you want to!!)[/quote]
You’re totally getting a Chippendale’s calendar for Christmas.
[quote comment="62169"][quote comment="62160"]You know.. getting naked really doesn’t help cause then it just makes you tempted to do other things, maybe to get out the Sears catalogue…? I hear in the summer there’s a pullout booklet dedicated solely to swimwear ;)
Obviously though, that does nothing for me cause remember guys, I’m all about the man sticks.
(Go ahead Tanya.. laugh it out, I know you want to!!)[/quote]
You’re totally getting a Chippendale’s calendar for Christmas.[/quote]
Hahahahaha!!! Oh Shane, I’m so glad I know you (in real life).
You all are depressing me. I was hoping it would be getting cooler up north by now. Sounds like it’s going to be another sweat fest at the Kee, just like 2005. Guess I need to strap ice packs to my body before I go in.
[quote comment="62171"][quote comment="62169"][quote comment="62160"]You know.. getting naked really doesn’t help cause then it just makes you tempted to do other things, maybe to get out the Sears catalogue…? I hear in the summer there’s a pullout booklet dedicated solely to swimwear ;)
Obviously though, that does nothing for me cause remember guys, I’m all about the man sticks.
(Go ahead Tanya.. laugh it out, I know you want to!!)[/quote]
You’re totally getting a Chippendale’s calendar for Christmas.[/quote]
Hahahahaha!!! Oh Shane, I’m so glad I know you (in real life).[/quote]
I’m quite glad about that too =)
ha ha ha. Tracy, I laughed BEFORE I read about the man sticks.. ha ha sears cat. ahahhahahah
Man, the Two Corey’s got me all hot and bothered last night.. holy moly…
aside from that, what do you watch in this heat? tv sucks to be honest.
I’m here in East Van and spent last night with the air conditioner (on wheels) on full blast. I’m not sure which I prefer…heat stress or air conditioner poisoning. I feel ill today and don’t think air conditoners are the answer. The hose felt hot as I pulled it from the window, If the machine that produces cold air is hot isn’t that counter-productive? And how does it produce the cold air anyways…I wonder out loud. Must be gases cause I feel like shit this morning. Air circulation should definatly be a consideration when building/renovating homes to sell, but money overshadows common sence. Barf.
I overheat too easily and ‘enjoy’ heat exhaustion every time it gets around 35C in the valley. Sucks ass, doesn’t it? If I’m able to at times like those I tend to sleep my way through it and drink mass amounts of water. I wish you much more success than I’ve had this go-round.
I feel kind of bad…I missed the heat when I was away in the UK. While I was there, it was consistantly between18C and 20C and I froze my ass off.