Rainy days & Mondays

Today was one of those rainy Mondays around here. Monday is not my favorite day of the week and adding rain to it doesn’t help one bit.

But thankfully I worked from home today. I’m so glad I didn’t have to go out in that rainy weather. Folks around here don’t know how to drive when it’s raining. Some seem to lose their minds. And let’s not talk about tailgaters. When it comes to folks driving behind me, if I can’t see your headlights then you are too damn close. This goes for nice sunny days as well.

Christmas in July on TV One

It’s been hot as hell around here.  It’s been that way since late May/early June before summer officially started.  With the exception of a couple of days back in June the temperature’s been stuck at 90 degrees plus.  Sometimes the heat index has been 100 degrees.  According to the Weather Channel.com it’s gonna be nothing but 90 degrees plus through the weekend including up to 97 degrees on Saturday.  That’s why I can’t wait until cooler temps get here in the fall.  Fall needs to get here pronto. Yeah I said it.  As BlackgirlinMaine stated, not all black folks love heat and humidity

Anyway to somewhat cool things off TV One has an all day Christmas in July marathon on Saturday.   Shows include Amen, Living Single, A Different World, Martin, Good Times and The Jeffersons.

Living without air-conditioning

The New York Times has an interesting article about folks living without air-conditioning.

The Unchilled Life
By TERI KARUSH ROGERS

TO many Americans, abstaining from air-conditioning is a masochistic folly akin to refusing Novocain or renouncing the dishwasher.

Yet as this particular summer finally heats up, even citizens who believe that climate control is a God-given right may be questioning whether it has become a luxury they can no longer afford. They are probably also wondering how they can survive without it.

Those who’ve done just that like to point out that air-conditioning is a relatively recent boon to humanity: The Allies won World War II without it, and the great pyramids of Egypt were built al fresco. Today, fans of the unchilled life say that it is not only possible to turn back the clock and live as one with summer, but to do it while maintaining a fairly high quality of life.

Lisa Finkelstein, a freelance editor, stopped using the semi-functional air-conditioning and heating unit in her rented cottage in Tallahassee, Fla., two years ago, mostly for economic reasons.

“You live with your windows and doors open, you use fans, drink lots of cold liquids and take it easy,” she said. “You come to realize that winter and summer is going to be kind of a bear but you dress for it, and you enjoy fall and spring very much. What’s interesting is you acclimate to it.”

She said that if she didn’t work from home, the adjustment would probably be harder. “It’s miserable when you come out of a nice air-conditioned place,” Ms. Finkelstein said.

This summer, she probably has more company in the choice she has made. Shipments of window air-conditioners from manufacturers to distributors were down 39 percent in the first half of this year compared with the first half of last year, according to the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers in Washington, D.C., and shipments of central air-conditioning units have been down 10 percent a year for the past few years, according to the Air-Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute in Arlington, Va.

Those who plunge into a warmer world for economic reasons sometimes find that there are advantages that they hadn’t anticipated.

Genma Holmes, a 42-year-old mother of three in Nashville, and her husband, Roger, declared their suburban ranch house a no-air-conditioning zone last summer as surging gas prices ate into the profits of their pest control business. Their children — now ages 17, 18, and 23 — were not amused, given that average summer temperatures in Nashville are in the high 80s with around 90 percent humidity.

I don’t know how those folks do it. Living in the D.C. area during the hot and humid summers, I can’t live without air-conditioning. If I spend too much time in places that are too warm I get headaches.  When it gets too warm at night I have a difficult time getting to sleep.  Too much tossing and turning for me so I leave my a.c. on at a comfortable temperature.  Don’t let there be a power outtage due to thunderstorms in the summertime and the air-conditioning is out too.  I’m one miserable woman. 

Before I leave for work I turn the temperature up so the ac won’t come on that often. When it’s hot and humid outside and I’m coming home from work I can’t wait to get home and turn up the air.  The heat and humidity is why I can’t stand summertime.  Give me spring and fall anytime.   I prefer temps in the 60 and 70 range.

I use to work with this guy who loved hot and humid weather.  If the temps hit 90 and above he was thrilled.  I would look at him like he’s crazy, lol.   To  him even 70 degrees is too cool for him.

Check out the entire article here.

The aftermath of Hurricane Ike

I had a feeling with the name Ike, this hurricane would be fierce.  Overnight Hurricane Ike left some serious damage in southeast Texas including Galveston and Houston.  Southwest Louisiana was also affected by Hurricane Ike.  Some folks who decided not to evacuate regretted their decision.

Ike wears itself out beating up on Texas

GALVESTON, Texas (CNN) — Rescuers in Galveston, Texas, were going door-to-door Saturday to check on the estimated 20,000 people who failed to flee Hurricane Ike, which has slowed to tropical storm status.

As of Saturday afternoon, the Galveston Fire Department had taken 27 people to a shelter in a high school on the coastal island, which was without electricity or water pressure.

No casualties had been discovered so far in the search and rescue efforts, which have been hampered by heavy flooding and scattered debris.

“We are in a recovery mode,” Galveston Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas said in a press conference Saturday afternoon. “This eye came right over us, stayed a while and went on, but it brought a lot of damage to our city.”

Galveston City Manager Steve LeBlanc said the island would be closed while authorities assess damages, including to the causeway, which was in “bad shape” because of debris and road damage.

“The road buckled in a number of places,” LeBlanc said. “Even if we opened it up you couldn’t get through.”

LeBlanc said 17 buildings on the island had been destroyed, including ten homes that caught fire and a boat storage warehouse that was set ablaze as Ike approached.

The other buildings fell because their structures were battered by winds and storm surge, LeBlanc said.

Ike was downgraded Saturday to a tropical storm 11 hours after it crashed ashore as a Texas-sized hurricane that walloped southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana.

Check out the entire article here.  I was watching CNN earlier today and they mentioned that over 2 million people were without power in Texas and Louisiana.  And of course gas stations are jacking up the gas prices.

The New York Times has a section on the Galveston Storm of 1900.  This hurricane occured on September 8, 1900 and caused over 6,000 deaths.

Hurricane Ike

First there was Gustav.  Next came Hanna who roared up the east coast giving us plenty of rain.  And now there’s Hurricane Ike which is wreaking havoc in the Caribbean. Hurricane Ike is a Category 4 hurricane.

Hurricane Ike damages 80% of homes

The premier of the British territory of Turks and Caicos said that Hurricane Ike has damaged 80% of the homes on Grand Turk island.

Michael Misick told The Associated Press by phone that Grand Turk took almost a direct hit and that hundreds of people have lost their roofs.

He said people are cowering in cupboards and under stairwells and are “just holding on for life. They got hit really, really bad,” he said.

There are no reports of deaths or injuries, but authorities are now trying to rescue people and get them into shelters.

Ike is now raking Haiti and heading toward the Bahamas and Cuba as a powerful Category 4 storm.

You can read more about Hurricane Ike at the Weather Channel.com.

The walking ill

Remember my post titled April winds from April 13th? Yeah, Friday the 13th. Well 2 days after that very drastic weather changing, windy day I woke up with a very sore throat. By Tuesday afternoon I was sounding like Froggy the Frog, with a runny nose and a sore throat. It’s Sunday and the runny nose has gradually disappeared but I’ve been coughing like a mad woman and I’m still talking like I have a frog in my throat. Luckily I’ve been working from home last Wednesday thru Friday. Perfect timing. It was nice not to have to deal with a long commute and I’m sick as a dog. I believe I’ve medicated myself to death and I’ve gone thru at least 4 gallon jugs of water since Thursday. I haven’t caught a cold this bad in years.

Today I’m a little better than I’ve been all week. Yesterday while at the grocery store I finally bought some tea, lemon jucie and honey. I’ve had about 4 cups of honey vanilla tea so far since yesterday and it’s helped.

I haven’t been in the mood to hang out on the web this past week. Too tired and what news I did read was just too depressing.