No A/C

I'm glad that, while I live somewhere that's hot (in the summer, that is, and bone freezing cold in the winter), we aren't having these ridiculous heat waves seen in other parts of the country. I'm happy about this because our air conditioning is out for the third time since we got home from our vacation at the end of June.

Yesterday it reached 90 on the main level of the house. I can only imagine how hot it was upstairs but my guess is 130. My guess is wrong but there was literally a wall of heat that one had to climb through at the top of the stairs. The only ceiling fan is set on a winter rotation and our landlord lost the remote long before we moved in. No amount of looking at it, taking parts of it apart, or willing it to reverse itself into a summer setting has worked. So, a house with no A/C, no swamp cooler and no ceiling fans can get pretty miserable.

Our landlord, usually really prompt with getting things fixed or replaced, is missing in action. Our only correspondence from him yesterday was a message about contacting us when he heard from his brother-in-law who might be able to fix it but who also might be in Idaho for the week. Other attempts to contact him yielded no response.

Once the sun went down, we tried valiantly to reduce the heat by strategically placing floor fans, opening all the windows as wide as they would go, and performing a ritual song and dance to the god of weather. Not really on that last one. We don't know any ritual songs and dances.

And we don't believe in the god of weather.

And we think that God knows what He's doing and probably isn't going to bring a freak storm just because we're hot.

I'm going to remember this on Sunday when I have to take a jacket to church because it is absolutely freezing inside of that building. After being so miserable for two weeks in a row that I could barely concentrate on what my husband was saying, I started bringing a light weight jacket. That was four weeks ago. I shiver through the jacket, even. After complaints from several other women, my husband started turning the air up to a whopping 72 but, within minutes, it would be readjusted back down to 70. We're thinking that putting the thermostat under lock and key might be a good idea.

This is proving that I have a low tolerance for temperature changes. I blame my four years living at the beach in San Diego where I could expect no more than a fifteen degree shift in temperatures year round. This is also my biggest argument for moving to Hawaii. Perfect beach weather every day? Check. It appears that something is wrong with my internal temperature gauge. I need weather that is consistently between 72 and 88 degrees.

I keep our A/C running at 80 because we need to save money but that's a far cry from the upstairs 130. More than that, my activator personality cannot stand wondering at what point we're going to be able to get it fixed. Are we just supposed to power through the rest of the summer?

Because, by my calculations, we have about four weeks of heat left.

If it isn't fixed by tonight, I suggested a camp out under the stars. That idea is looking better and better.