Today, it is good to be living in the West Country. After being the hottest part of the country yesterday with a new UK June record here in Somerset, the Met Office forecast is 10C cooler today. Yesterday evening was the worst heat and humidity I have ever known. SCORCHIO! indeed…
My parents have been visiting, from Florida, and have been complaining about how hot it is... or more specifically how there is no escape from the heat. I've found it fine, oddly - I'd rather be a smidge cooler at night but nothing worth a fuss and nothing that has got in the way of sleeping. I have an AC in the garage I haven't even bothered to get out as a gentle breeze from a fan has me all set... which is weird because I'm usually one of the first to really feel it
Old people......grrrr, I swear as she gets older my mums IQ level has dropped off a cliff, we are in a heatwave, I've told her to keep out of the sun, she can't do it, out in the garden etc pottering, sitting out on the lawn in the heat having a coffee etc, then has dizziness, vomiting, headaches and a few other things, basically the all the hit points of heat exhaustion/heatstroke but no can't be that, must be something I ate....... The MIL no different, she has an Air coned apartment, proper efficient split heat pump jobby, will she turn it on, no, cost too much, she basically pays little more than the standing charge on her bills, the one thing she should be using is the AC, 24/7, it is not like she is struggling for dough or doesn't have enough kids that would pay in an instant, but no she'll sit there with breathing difficulties half dead.....wiredos
My Dad is still in his 70's, has plenty of money tucked away, but during the winter he will sit in a cold house because his heatpump is only "cheap" to run for certain times and when he does run it the thermostat is set to 18 (so he's not storing heat in the house for when it isn't running. I keep telling him to set it to 18 for the "peak" windows and then at least 20 for the "cheap" windows to make a bit of a heat store. Drives me mad cos he could afford to run it a 25 all day long! I think its a hang over from the war or post war where everything was scarce and thus consumption is evil. I agree that over consumption is a scourge on society but not being too hot or too cold is a basic life need!
Have exactly the same with my Mum. I live up North and she’s down South. I ring her and she says all the things she does in the day, walking the dog, off to a friends, off here, off to there. Walking across open fields at peak sunshine. ‘It is absolutely boiling.’ She goes. ‘I’m absolutely knackered.’ STOP DOING SO MUCH. And she has a problem with her chest. If I were there I’d be making sure she calms down. And rests more. Or atleast stays in the house. I’ve Got 2 brothers who live near her (5 min walk) and neither does anything to stop her. Or atleast help.
Got an email from Occupational Therapy and they’re going to put air to air heat pump heating and cooling on my partner’s disabled facilities grant. Thank ****. Won’t have it for this year but next, at least.
Just had a minor reprieve from the hot. Started chucking down followed by hail (in the 10-12mm size). Back to full sun now so I expect the humidity to go excessive in the next 5 mins or so.
Yup my son and i were were doing some small gardening jobs for my 90 year old mother, i told her on no terms should she go out, next minute shes out there tinkering away, my 24 year old fit son was struggling. I told her we would stop doing what we were doing unless she went back inside which thankfully she did, funny thing is she moans at my 95 year old dad for not listening. Then I hear the next day that shes gone up to the post office on her scooter on the 2nd hottest day to post my friggin birthday card, arghhhhhh!!!!!!!
Ok so today won't hit 30. Woowhoo. Just 29.9c. Although the weather for today is showing up odd it's just too circles for me, which worries me are we getting a 2nd sun. I kid but no clue what it means. I just hope it's a good thing not your fubarrd
its a minor victory but a victory all the same, tomorrow will be the one. honestly if i didn't have the next 3 days booked as annual leave id be mega pissed at having to crawl back to the office just as things started settling down.
For about 6 or 7 years now, I have been telling my other half that we need to get an air conditioner. The objections I’ve had were along the lines of “well we can’t get one now, let’s wait for it to cool off first”, “it’s a lot of money”, “is it really worth it when it only gets really hot for a week or two at most”, and so on. When it got really hot last month, she finally broke and brought up the subject of buying a portable AC unit. I ordered it two weeks ago, and I have never felt so smug in my life as I have over the last week. I’ve been going in to the office 4/5 days a week anyway, but doing that has been a godsend over the last week. During working hours, my brief forays into baking sun and hot soupy air have been bookended by either a nice cold air conditioned car or a nice cold air conditioned office. Most of the rooms in my house have been a miserable sweatbox. To make things doubly uncomfortable, both bathrooms are at the front of the house, which is the part that spends the most amount of time in the sun; even having a poo has been a miserably sweaty ordeal. But the bedroom can be freezing cold within a few minutes any time I want it. If I’ve had trouble sleeping over the last week then it’s not because I’ve been too sticky & sweaty - it’s because I’ve been too damn cold. I’ve never felt so vindicated in my entire life .
We’re about to get nine days off then another one. Yay? Hopefully some air con will come back in stock and coincide with monies getting.
today has been a massively marked improvement with a nice breeze blowing to boot, even had a decent nap this afternoon. bring on tomorrow.
Opening the loft hatch at night is meant to help cool the house. Unfortunately, I live in a house with a flat roof, so I cannot try it...
Our loft hatch is cracked open for half the year for this very reason. I’m not sure how much difference it makes though. (Though I’ve closed it now… One day last week I could feel a hot draught coming from the loft when the AC was on in the bedroom. Nope, not having that!)
