# Hot weather, no a/c



## Claire (Jul 4, 2011)

Site monitors, move this if you need to or point me where I should post.

Judging from what I see, I'm probably not the only person making dinner in a hot kitchen.

My hints:  Near East brand couscous and taboule.  Both can be made quickly and be either a side dish or full meal (add beans and/or chopped meat).

When you first wake in the morning, cook.  Then refridgerate for a cool dish for supper.

Nuke.  Can't say enough for it.  You can microwave something 'til it is almost done, then finish with a few minutes of heat.

Anyone else?


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## Zhizara (Jul 4, 2011)

I have a/c but don't like to run it, and even when I do it doesn't cool the kitchen anyway.

This is a great time for all those extra dinners, rices and veggies to come out of the freezer.  Take them out and put a dinner's worth in the fridge the night before, then just nuke at dinnertime.  

I've not been cooking much lately, but have eaten very well.


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## justplainbill (Jul 4, 2011)

Do as much cooking as possible on an outdoor grill.  

Set up a kitchen in your basement.

Make lots of salads from local in-season vegetables.


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## Aunt Bea (Jul 4, 2011)

I also have A/C and do not use it. 

 I only have a week or two when the humidity gets bad and then it is so hot it really does not matter if the oven is on or not.

I keep plenty of ice and legal beverages on hand.

 Cook in the early morning.

Use the microwave.

Keep a couple of cold scoopable salads in the icebox.

Summer goes by so quickly that I try to enjoy it, the winter gets longer each year.


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## Claire (Jul 4, 2011)

Ha!  In the basement?  Yes it is cool.  But I'm 5'9" and the cellar is more like 5'4".  I have bruises on my forehead to prove it!


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## justplainbill (Jul 4, 2011)

Claire said:


> Ha!  In the basement?  Yes it is cool.  But I'm 5'9" and the cellar is more like 5'4".  I have bruises on my forehead to prove it!



Many of us get shorter as we get older


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## CWS4322 (Jul 4, 2011)

Here at the farm, I only have A/C in the bedroom. I cook outside--the cellar is exactly that, a cellar (the house is over 150 years' old). I have a 2-burner hotplate and take the wok/electric skillet/electric griddle out to the sawmill shed and cook there when it is really hot. And BBQ, of course. At one of the houses in the city (where my DH spends most of his time), there is also only A/C in the bedroom. He set up a summer kitchen (complete with a 4-burner stove and working oven) in one of the outbuildings.


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## babetoo (Jul 4, 2011)

i have a.c. and i do use it. i also have ceiling fans in each room. the sun room is the one that is hard to cool. it has six windows for the sunshine to heat it up. i have two fans, ceiling. also a fan on a stand. some of the air gets there, making it bearable. only problem, is to get it that way using the air, makes the living and dining almost cold. don't know why. 

bottom line, i will be comfortable in my house, no matter the cost. i try not to turn air on till i absolutely have to. then i turn it off late in afternoon. keep everything shut up and the house holds the cool.


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## Aunt Bea (Jul 4, 2011)

This thread made me think of this old quote.  I am not sure where it came from originally but, it has been said many times many ways.

Everything evens up in the end. ‥The rich man has his ice in the summer and the poor man gets his in the winter.
[_a_ 1957 L. I. Wilder _First Four Years_ (1971) ii.]
.
​


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## Chef Munky (Jul 4, 2011)

We don't have a/c . Around here we've learned to tolerate the heat. It's just a short few hours. It's usually cold and windy here. Open up the windows in the late afternoon. That's a/c enough for my tastes.

I'll cook on the patio several dinners and salads in advance. Keep cool things around for sammiches.

Tonight by the time the fireworks display start up I'll be sitting by the fire pit bundled up freezing to death!


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## Snip 13 (Jul 4, 2011)

Cook your starch in advance for a few nights like your pasta or rice, then just add quick sauces or toppings. Or make filling salads with crispy bread on the side.


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## CWS4322 (Jul 4, 2011)

It is days like today (30C, humidex 35) that I really question why we rented out the house with central A/C so I could live at the farm without A/C. And that's probably why I "jump ship" and go to Lake of the Woods in August--leave the DH to deal with freezing beans, etc.


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## PrincessFiona60 (Jul 4, 2011)

I'm cooking salmon, a mac'n cheese casserole, bread and a spaghetti squash...all at once, then I'm locking the oven for a week.  I do miss being awake at night to cook up a week's menu.


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## bakechef (Jul 4, 2011)

I couldn't imagine living here in NC and not using the A/C, maybe I'm a wimp!  I don't sleep well if I am hot, and I surely wouldn't want to cook if it was hot in the house.


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## CWS4322 (Jul 4, 2011)

bakechef said:


> I couldn't imagine living here in NC and not using the A/C, maybe I'm a wimp! I don't sleep well if I am hot, and I surely wouldn't want to cook if it was hot in the house.


 
Because I work from home (when I work--I'm self-employed, so I don't always work, but it seems that the pattern has been I work in the summer and don't have work November - January), I have a really hard time working when the house is hot...I'm wiped out from the heat. And, I noticed that once I put in central A/C, I didn't mind cooking. The issue now is I don't have central A/C at the farm. When I took my nap today, I dreamt I was making wontons in the kitchen at the house we rented out--the one that has A/C. I so want the tenants out of that house so when the weather is hot like it is now, I can pack up the dogs (and I guess now the chickens) and go there. The Ontario government has implemented TOU rates for hydro. Well, for those of us who work from home, the peak rates for hydro also coincide with when our clients usually are available. My brother also works from home for the Cdn government. He's complaining because his agreement doesn't include reimbursement for hydro.

The difference between the "non-peak" and "peak" rate is 66%. I wait until cheap rates switch on before I turn on the bedroom a/c--ditto for the hot water heater (adhering to the McGuinty shower schedule now). I can't tell you how manyh times I checked the clock between 5 and 7 p.m. today. I so wanted to turn on the a/c and take a shower. I also don't do heavy cooking until after 7 p.m. or before 7 a.m. This "practice" cut my hydro bill last month by 
$30. 

These TOU rates probably are okay for people who work "normal" hours and work at s/one else's site, but the rate added expenses that I can't bill back to a client. And I can't justify running the a/c unit...I might be able to do so by the end of the week...Sigh.


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## purple.alien.giraffe (Jul 5, 2011)

We have a/c in the bedroom. For the rest of the house, windows open at night, closed during the day. I work thirds so most of my cooking is done in the morning when I get off work or in the evening after the temp starts to cool. We try to promote air flow with strategically placed fans. I've been known to do all of the following to stay cool while cooking (or doing other tasks):

Wet a dish towel and stick it in the freezer, then wrap it around my neck or tie it around my hair.
Wet a winter knit hat and stick it in the freezer, then wear it.
Place a soft icepack on my head and hold it in place with a hat.
Place a soft icepack on the back of my neck and hold it in place with a scarf or tie.

I also usually keep my hair pulled up when it's hot. If I get it wet and then pull it up, it won't dry until I take it down, so that helps.


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## Zhizara (Jul 5, 2011)

purple.alien.giraffe said:


> We have a/c in the bedroom. For the rest of the house, windows open at night, closed during the day. I work thirds so most of my cooking is done in the morning when I get off work or in the evening after the temp starts to cool. We try to promote air flow with strategically placed fans. I've been known to do all of the following to stay cool while cooking (or doing other tasks):
> 
> Wet a dish towel and stick it in the freezer, then wrap it around my neck or tie it around my hair.
> Wet a winter knit hat and stick it in the freezer, then wear it.
> ...



I too found the economical and strategic use of fans.  I found little ones (overall 5") and have several placed where I have favorite spots.  They really make a difference and were so cheap ($6) that I have one by my recliner, by my desk, next to my sewing machine, next to my bed.  

I have a small apartment, so if I run the a/c just before bedtime, with the bedside fan I'm comfortable all night.

There is always one running, and it takes almost no electricity to run.


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## DaveSoMD (Jul 5, 2011)

I have been doing a lot of grilling and we also been eating a lot of fresh veggies and salads.  I haven't used the oven in well over a month, maybe two.


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## Aunt Bea (Jul 5, 2011)

Zhizara said:


> I too found the economical and strategic use of fans.  I found little ones (overall 5") and have several placed where I have favorite spots.  They really make a difference and were so cheap ($6) that I have one by my recliner, by my desk, next to my sewing machine, next to my bed.
> 
> I have a small apartment, so if I run the a/c just before bedtime, with the bedside fan I'm comfortable all night.
> 
> There is always one running, and it takes almost no electricity to run.



I use a bedside fan all year round.  I find it provides a kind of white noise that deadens the sounds of the city.


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## CWS4322 (Jul 5, 2011)

For some reason, the bedroom is the warmest room in the house. It doesn't have a heat register, but it is above the livingroom where the woodstove is. I have to either use a window fan or have the window open in the winter. My DH claims he is sleeping in a fridge when he's here in the winter...I find fans just blow the warm air around...I do use the window fans at night to "pull" the cooler air into the house.


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## bakechef (Jul 5, 2011)

Aunt Bea said:


> I use a bedside fan all year round.  I find it provides a kind of white noise that deadens the sounds of the city.



I do the same thing.  Without the white noise, I can't sleep, turn off my fan and I my eyes pop open.


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## PrincessFiona60 (Jul 6, 2011)

I wish I could convince Shrek no one is looking in our windows, so I can run a fan at night.  Besides, if they were looking, they would go blind with terror...so who cares...


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## CWS4322 (Jul 6, 2011)

PF--I don't get Shrek's paranoia...but maybe that is because his name is Shrek. I personally wear the least amount of clothes possible when the humidex goes over 27--the Swedes did a study that showed our brains don't function when it is over 27C. (So no, if the temp is going to be over 27 and I don't have to go anywhere--I don't wear underwear--I wear big ol' cotton granny dresses and I sometimes will stand in front of the floor fan with my dress lifted up--like we were told not to do as little girls. Hey--there's no one here except me and the dogs most of the time. I do have some standards). I don't do that in public or when others are visiting the farm. Just when it is me, the dogs, and the chickens. I know, TMI. If I am not wearing a cotton "granny" dress, I wear lightweight cotton scrubs. So comfy. And, I turned off my webcam on my work computer. I figured those in Poland didn't need to see what I wear when I'm working. Scrubs are so comfy. Great for wearing when gardening, too.

One of the other things I do when I hear the humidex is going to be high--I fill the bathtub with cold water.


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## vitauta (Jul 6, 2011)

my microwave is finally earning its keep during these sweltering hot days of summer.  it has been almost twenty years now, but i have never properly welcomed it into my life.  i need to remind myself that we are all good at some things and not so good at others.  the microwave oven is very good at "doing summer".  just this morning, i am nuking a pound of bacon--no spatters, no heat, no mess....


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## Claire (Jul 6, 2011)

Vitauta, most know that microwaves are good for heating things up that you've already cooked, but do not forget pre-heating foods you are going to sautee, bake, or put over coals.  I think it is really great for potatoes and other vegetables.  Get them up to the heat you want, then finish in the skillet, oven, over the coals.  It will cut down the sweat time considerably.  I wish I could give you times, but microwave ovens vary so much in power that it is impossible.


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## PrincessFiona60 (Jul 7, 2011)

CWS4322 said:


> PF--I don't get Shrek's paranoia...but maybe that is because his name is Shrek. I personally wear the least amount of clothes possible when the humidex goes over 27--the Swedes did a study that showed our brains don't function when it is over 27C. (So no, if the temp is going to be over 27 and I don't have to go anywhere--I don't wear underwear--I wear big ol' cotton granny dresses and I sometimes will stand in front of the floor fan with my dress lifted up--like we were told not to do as little girls. Hey--there's no one here except me and the dogs most of the time. I do have some standards). I don't do that in public or when others are visiting the farm. Just when it is me, the dogs, and the chickens. I know, TMI. If I am not wearing a cotton "granny" dress, I wear lightweight cotton scrubs. So comfy. And, I turned off my webcam on my work computer. I figured those in Poland didn't need to see what I wear when I'm working. Scrubs are so comfy. Great for wearing when gardening, too.
> 
> One of the other things I do when I hear the humidex is going to be high--I fill the bathtub with cold water.



I lived at night for so many years, it's just natural for me to run around in PJ's when I'm at home, I have the biggest lounge wear wardrobe in Montana

We are in a daylight basement and Shrek thinks people are going to bend down as they walk by to peer in the windows.  I've never been able to convince him to leave the fans running pulling cold air in from the shady side and out the sunny side, either. 

I have a faulty body temp regulator, I am running a high temp when I reach other people's average of 98.6...my baseline temp is 87 degrees.  It's why I love winter...


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## babetoo (Jul 7, 2011)

hot or cold, i am a no underwear person . sure cuts down on the wash. i think because i had to dress up for work so many years, that i no longer have a desire to be gussied up. it is 90 degrees right now. shorts and a top with no sleeves is my answer.


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## CWS4322 (Jul 7, 2011)

PF--my brother lives in a basement apartment. We went to Home Depot and bought that "plastic cardboard" used for signs. We cut it to fit his windows and used velcro to stick it on. He can wipe them down, he can open his windows, and, he has diffused light, so his apartment stays pretty cool. And, if people bend down to look in the windows, they won't see anything. The best part, these sheets were inexpensive, easy to cut, and have been on his windows for at least 7-8 years now.


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## betterthanabox (Jul 7, 2011)

I have been trying not to cook. I have been using the grill, cooking a little later, and using a fan in the kitchen. Tonight I needed to use the oven and decided the toaster oven would work fine for me. No AC in the house means dinner Al Fresco!


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## PrincessFiona60 (Jul 7, 2011)

CWS4322 said:


> PF--my brother lives in a basement apartment. We went to Home Depot and bought that "plastic cardboard" used for signs. We cut it to fit his windows and used velcro to stick it on. He can wipe them down, he can open his windows, and, he has diffused light, so his apartment stays pretty cool. And, if people bend down to look in the windows, they won't see anything. The best part, these sheets were inexpensive, easy to cut, and have been on his windows for at least 7-8 years now.



I have black vinyl contact "paper' over the bedroom window, it was cheaper than blackout curtains when i was working nights and trying to sleep during the day.  Shrek's problem is with a fan in the window, he thinks people are going to look through the fan.


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## sparrowgrass (Jul 8, 2011)

My AC/heat pump died this spring, and I had to replace it--to the tune of $4000.  So now I have a brand new airconditioner, but I can't afford to run it!!

I live up high, so I almost always have a good breeze, and I have a pool.  I come home from work, jump in the pool until I am cool, and wander around pulling weeds or doing housework in my wet swimming suit until the air temperature starts to come down.  

I have fans near my reading chair, and I sleep right in front of a window fan. Our nighttime temps usually run about 70, so I am very comfy.

Princess, tell Shrek that I have no curtains at all in my house--I figure if anybody peeks in, they get what they deserve.  What is seen cannot be unseen!!  (I have no neighbors, and my drive is 400 feet long, so the house is not visible from the road.)

The temperature in my house rarely goes over 80, which is perfectly lovely, IMHO.


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## chopper (Jul 8, 2011)

My DH always says that this is the weather we prayed for over the winter. We don't have AC but do have windows on all four sides of the house and usually some air moving. We get maybe five days or so each year where we could use the AC, but we also have a basement and can go down there when it is hot.


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## vitauta (Jul 8, 2011)

i just finished installing my interior a/c - thick, sweet, very cold wedges of ripe, red seedless watermelon.


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## sparrowgrass (Jul 9, 2011)

I am looking for the 'like' button for your post, vitauta!!  I do lots of ice water and diet coke.  

Just now getting ready to go up to the pool for the afternoon!!


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## chopper (Jul 9, 2011)

I drink a lot of iced tea to keep cool too.


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## babetoo (Jul 9, 2011)

84 degrees. i just have to fire up the oven. baking a cake for my daughter's birthday.


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## bakechef (Jul 9, 2011)

PrincessFiona60 said:


> I wish I could convince Shrek no one is looking in our windows, so I can run a fan at night.  Besides, if they were looking, they would go blind with terror...so who cares...



LOL, when I was in a rented ranch style house, or my ground floor apartment, I wouldn't sleep with the windows open, it creeped me out.  Heck I don't even like looking out ground floor windows at night, I'm always thinking that someone is going to be looking back at me, LOL, I'm a freak.

The bedroom is now in the second story, so I have no issues with an open window at night.  Here in the south, it does no good to open windows at night because it is still warm and humid even in the middle of the night, and I don't want to wake up damp.


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## vitauta (Jul 9, 2011)

babetoo said:


> 84 degrees. i just have to fire up the oven. baking a cake for my daughter's birthday.




love trumps heat every time. happy b-day!


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## CWS4322 (Jul 9, 2011)

When it is really hot, one of the things I do is fill the bathtub with cold water. This evaps and helps cool the air. And, I wear the least amount of clothes possible--cotton is best!

The other thing I do is have a fan over the "register" from the basement. It is one of those flat window fans (about 4 inches thick). I set it up so it "draws" cold air from the basement.

If you position a container of dry ice (or regular ice) in front of a floor fan, that is a way to make a mini-a/c. I used to do that for my dogs. I can't remember if I put a cardboard box over the container or not.


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## PrincessFiona60 (Jul 9, 2011)

We had a 12 pack-size cooler today that was filled with ice and bandanas, traded them out for people.  Worked great!


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## Zhizara (Jul 9, 2011)

How many people did you get, Princess?


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## PrincessFiona60 (Jul 9, 2011)

Zhizara said:


> How many people did you get, Princess?



How you mean?  There were so many I couldn't count and they don't have a total for all from today and how many there will be tomorrow.  I bet there were well over 2 thousand walkers/runners today.  There will be many more tomorrow, seems alot of folks have showed up from around the country as part of their training for the Boston marathon.

I met lots of people from all over, today was the day for mostly amateurs (like me) to run, not the serious marathoners.  I personally treated about 175 people, we didn't need any EMT's today.


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## Zhizara (Jul 9, 2011)

I was just trying for a laugh:

"I had a 12 pack-size cooler today that was filled  with ice and bandanas, traded them out for people.  Worked great."


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## PrincessFiona60 (Jul 9, 2011)

Zhizara said:


> I was just trying for a laugh:
> 
> "I had a 12 pack-size cooler today that was filled  with ice and bandanas, traded them out for people.  Worked great."



ROFLMFAO!!!!!!!!!

Now that I read it again...Enough for a football team!


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## Zhizara (Jul 10, 2011)

PrincessFiona60 said:


> ROFLMFAO!!!!!!!!!
> 
> Now that I read it again...Enough for a football team!



I'll remember next time to quote.  I thought I was posting right after  you, but that turned out not to be the case, also my post ended up at  the top of the next page.  Glad you got a laugh, that was my intention.


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## SherryDAmore (Jul 10, 2011)

I live in NY now, but I'm from the Central Valley in California, and I *will not *fire up the oven in the summer.  We have A/C, but I just won't heat up the house. We have huge BBQ, a smoker, and we just got a smallish gas grill at Big Lots.  I also have been known to carry the crockpot out to the front porch. And we eat salads and cold soup.  Gazpacho, anyone?


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## sparrowgrass (Jul 10, 2011)

I do roast my tomatoes for my canned sauce, so I fire the oven up in the early morning for that.  Seems to be better than simmering in a big pot for hours to thicken.  Other than that, no oven and no long simmering soups or stews.  Those wait til winter.


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## vitauta (Jul 10, 2011)

SherryDAmore said:


> I live in NY now, but I'm from the Central Valley in California, and I *will not *fire up the oven in the summer.  We have A/C, but I just won't heat up the house. We have huge BBQ, a smoker, and we just got a smallish gas grill at Big Lots.  I also have been known to carry the crockpot out to the front porch. And we eat salads and cold soup.  Gazpacho, anyone?



gazpacho?  by all means - it's what's for breakfast today, with refills throughout the day no doubt.  but i'll use my oven all summer long for the b-day cake, sure, but also for any major food craving that comes along--peach or blueberry cobbler, pork roast, pizza, roast potatoes, brownies, etc.  i will plan these baking whims for early in the morning, but i'm not waiting til october for a favorite meatloaf or soup.  when it comes to food, gratification comes sooner rather than later for me - almost every time....   i stopped apologizing for being a "foodie" a long time ago.


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## Zhizara (Jul 10, 2011)

My oven isn't what heats things up, it's new (2 years) and apparently well insulated.  It's making stock or soup that really heats things up.

Early morning works for me.  If I don't get started early, I wait for the next day.  It really isn't worth heating up my place, not to mention the additional humidity.


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## vitauta (Jul 22, 2011)

selling air conditioners would be a profitable business right about now--fans and swimming pools too.  the temperature has been hovering at about 100 deg. every day for a week or more here--hi at up to 110. not hearing much from our canadian, s.a. and english friends lately, you lucky dogs....


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## vitauta (Aug 10, 2011)

well, the heat has finally broken, and i'm flinging windows open wide, gulping in fresh air by the lungfuls, looking for a sweater to wear....my subaru's a/c that went kaput     in july can just stay that way now until next summer--july's electric bill will no doubt bring us a kilowatt horror show that will surpass all previous box office records of this new millennium....


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## Selkie (Aug 10, 2011)

vitauta said:


> ...July's electric bill will no doubt bring us a kilowatt horror show that will surpass all previous box office records of this new millennium....



Oh yes, the horror of it all!!! 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			








 Last month's bill nearly sent me into cardiac arrest with being even more than it was last summer. This next billing is bound to rival a significant portion of the national debt!


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## vitauta (Aug 10, 2011)

Selkie said:


> Oh yes, the horror of it all!!!
> 
> 
> 
> ...



at least you and i, selkie, we will bite that bullet, no?  u.s. congress, take note....


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## babetoo (Aug 10, 2011)

still no a.c. today, none yesterday. they are still working on putting in the new one. i have ceiling fans in every room but it is still hot. sucks up all my energy. i will be wonderful when done, so am trying to be patient.


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## vitauta (Aug 10, 2011)

babetoo said:


> still no a.c. today, none yesterday. they are still working on putting in the new one. i have ceiling fans in every room but it is still hot. sucks up all my energy. i will be wonderful when done, so am trying to be patient.



sure seems like various people've been trying your patience a lot lately, babetoo.hang in there and it'll soon be okay....


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