Just a few drops
I saw the heavy dark clouds blotting out the normally sunny but smoggy sky yesterday and thought if this was Michigan, it surely would rain. But it never rains in Fresno during the summer.
Temps reached 108 this week. I don’t get sympathy from my midwestern compatriots because with the humidity, it feels almost that hot at home. At least the air is dry in Fresno. Heavy with smog, but it’s dry.
Except for a few blessed moments yesterday when someone exclaimed, it’s raining. I ran out to the patio at work and hurriedly lifted my arms and face to the sky. Just a few drops fell on me, but it was enough. Then I had to scurry back inside to a meeting. I didn’t get the time I wanted to just feel the water from the smoggy sky fall on my face, coat me, caress me, give me relief from the heat.
Another time perhaps. It might rain again this summer. If I’m lucky.
I like living here, but the dryness does drive me nuts. It’s my second summer of no rain or thunderstorms to speak of, and I still miss them, though I don’t yearn for them as much as I did last year.
At least I can immerse myself in water. I’ve been going to the swimming pool more as I get more brown from the sun. Sometimes it’s all I can do to move inside my house, trying to save on air conditioning. Though my aunt tells me that I certainly can afford the air with a roommate. And she’s right. But it’s about pride. I don’t like to let these California wusses beat me. When I moved here, everyone told me how I wouldn’t be able to stand the heat.
Yeah, it’s damned hot, but people here act as if it’s never hot in Michigan — if they can be bothered to know where Michigan is. Tell that to my dad or best friend, who have both told me how hot it has been. Tell that to me as of two years ago with no air conditioning in a poorly insulated cement block house.
I like the option to turn on the air, of course. Sometimes it’s so hot upstairs that it’s hard to breathe. I feel bad for my cats, who have stopped sleeping with and instead seek out some mythical cool corner. But I don’t rely on the air. I don’t like being cold.
And I still like the rain.
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Ah, hot weather! We’ve had our share of it lately in Ohio, though the last two days have been bearable as opposed to the two before where I just stayed inside in the cold, cold air conditioning. Course, before the hot weather we had a couple days of heavy rain too, so much so that our roof problems have become even more evident with recently discovered spongy ceiling tiles. Ah, well…
The pool is nice, though. I took Elliot today and wondered why I don’t go more often. The best part is the initial coldness of getting wet, moving from blazing hot sun to cool water. I just stay in the wading pool, it is true, but that’s still pretty good on a hot day. Elliot, he likes to flirt with skinny women in bikinis, being particularly taken with another mom at the pool today, singing her the Simpson’s theme song, touching her belly button, playing with her toes, sitting cross-legged in front of her and just smiling up at her. Could have been kind of embarrassing, but she took it all in stride.
Are the Californians forsaking air conditioning? Somehow I don’t think so…So why should you suffer?
Mel,
If you are longing for some thunderstorms, we have had some here.
Going along with that are the humid hot days that I’ll bet are more miserable than your dry heat.
Remember what you told me, “It’s a dry heat!!!!!”
Dunno. We haven’t had a high in the 80s in a month, maybe two. And in the last month, with the exception of perhaps three days with highs in the mid to high 90s, it’s been all triple digits. Sometimes it’s 102–that’s a nice day. Sometimes it’s 108–life sucks. This week they’re calling for 111. That’s just inhumane.
92 degrees here feels much better than 92 degrees at home–I can ride my bike and breathe at the same time. But anything over 100 just plain sucks. Especially for weeks on end. And no rain in sight.
Are you really not using your AC? That seems mad, insane, something only a MW would do. But maybe electric prices are ridiculously high?
Dawn, your son flirts with other moms? That’s harsh.
I didn’t say we weren’t using the AC. Just trying to not use it much. But now the upstairs is getting so hot and staying that way that it’s a losing battle. Upstairs might be poorly insulated or something, because downstairs will stay cool for a long time just by keeping the blinds closed.
As Heather said over back on her blog, it was 97 one night after work. 97!
I’m stubborn. The air doesn’t run all the time. But it does get turned on.
As for the dry heat, the humidity is 55% right now. Which isn’t a lot by midwestern standards, but is a lot here during the summer.
And apparently there was flooding up in the hills yesterday. Did we see any of that water? Oh no. Down in the actual Valley, it remains a death trap of heat.
Am I complaining? Hmmm. I don’t want these California wusses to get the better of me.
I’ll just go stay in the pool.
I understand it was 112 degrees yesterday. Please be careful - you don’t want anything like sun poisoning, or the kinds of things that can happen when you become overheated. I’ll make a donation to your power bill if you want …
No donations necessary.
Just stubborn. The air is now being used on an as-needed basis. Which is more often than I’d like, but oh well.
i can’t believe my sister is complaining about the cost of air conditioning! her broke brother and his family have the air on CONSTANTLY and hasn’t been forced us to live on the streets (yet). ok, so maybe the post was more about air conditioning, i can handle that.
a minor update to your ongoing saga of Mel vs. her PC: The Quest To Run Oblivion…I’ve learned recently that the rumored PS3 version of Oblivion is apparently no longer a rumor - I think it’s been given a november release date. so what does this mean, for the low low price of $599, you could have yourself a next-gen gaming machine that will play Oblivion. oh wait….
and let me add that there were quite a few grammatical errors in that post - i apologize, im kinda sleepy and i just sorta typed it up and didn’t look at it.
When it’s a choice of running Oblivion and a new Final Fantasy on the PS3 … maybe I’ll just have to grit my teeth and do it. Unless they put FF on Xbox, which I haven’t seen any talk of.
And I further confused myself (and sent you a ton of e-mails) by finding that there’s FFXII coming out for PS2 and then FFXIII for PS3. Refresh my memory: will PS3 be backwards compatible? Though I guess I certainly wouldn’t get rid of PS2.
Grrr. All in my quest to play one or two games.
premium PS3 - $599. premium Xbox 360 - $399. my sister and her quest to run Oblivion? - priceless.
PS3 will be backwards compatible. and I suppose I’ll have to go check my emails now.
You show those Californians how strong you are!! The heat index in Kansas was up to 115 last week, so I’m liking Indiana summers just fine. My friends will lose their pool in a month, because the airport bought out their landlord and their apartment. All of us bathe in it’s coolness on the weekends. My little window unit is serving me well. It doesn’t cool my whole house, but I survive. It would be nice to have central air in the next place though.