Heat!

Yes, Toff, but you live in hell ;) Houston has to be the worst city in the world for combination heat/humidity. I work for big oil and so I've been to Houston several times and it's always terrible.
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2006
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"It's not the heat, it's the humidity!"

The old adage is true. I was in Las Vegas a few weeks ago and it was 112. I handled it without any trouble. We even hiked for a hour and could have gone longer with more water. Of course the humidity was low.

The 100 degree temperature plus the high humidity here yesterday was vastly worse. I did 15 minutes of light garden work outside and that was more than enough.
 
Joined
Oct 24, 2006
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Yeah, I've put off mowing the grass for so long due to the high humidity that I'm surprised I haven't gotten a mean HOA letter yet.

Last year was very dry so thats why the heat wasn't bothering me much.
 
Texas can be brutal. My brother lives in Kyle, (20 minutes south of Austin) and he's always bitching about the summers there. I was there the last week of March, and it was already in the mid-80s then.
 
Joined
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Bunch of whingers!! We're having some record cold days; was only 4 degrees C yesterday morning, about 6-8 degrees below average. It's only been climbing to 19-20 where usually, our winter temp is about 22-25.
 
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Australia
It just hit 81 degrees here. And I mean RIGHT here, indoors, with the A/C going full blast. I've got a lot of windows on the W side of the house and, even with blinds shut, there's just no stopping the heat. I can't even play computer games after about 6pm - I end up sweating just sitting here in front of the screen!

The lawn is a lost cause. The south side is all brown and the rest is mostly-brown.

It has actually been weird weather for a couple of years. I've lived here basically my whole life and I don't remember any winter as mild as the one we just had. The winter before it, though, had FAR more snow than I have ever seen!

On the plus side, we DID get to have fireworks displays last night!
 
Joined
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Kansas City
I despise heat. I loathe humidity. I so dread the summer months. Humidity just drains me totally. It is vastly easier to warm up than it is to cool off. You can keep adding layers to get warm, but you can only strip so far down to keep cool. The windows in my house cannot accept an air conditioner. And the price on portables is prohibitive, not to mention that they sometimes actually make the heat worse due to vent hoses that need to be vented properly. And from what I understand it is not easy to do it properly. While I have no need for ice and snow, i love cold weather. high 50's in the daytime with the 40's at night is heaven for me.
 
I despise heat. I loathe humidity. I so dread the summer months. Humidity just drains me totally. It is vastly easier to warm up than it is to cool off. You can keep adding layers to get warm, but you can only strip so far down to keep cool.

I used to have a similar mentality before I spent 14 winters in Michigan. Now I'd rather be hot than have to deal with the triple whammy of cold, snow, and ice.

Vastly easier to warm up? Try working out at a gym when it's 55 degrees inside the building.

I'd rather be able to go to a tiki bar in shorts and a tank-top for 9 months out of the year instead of freezing my ass off while standing in line at the club when it's 10 degrees outside.

I still have a lot of love for Michigan.. I was born there after all.. but no fucking way will I ever live that far North again.
 
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After growing up in the frozen wastes of Canada I have no intention of ever going there in winter again; give me the perpetual warmth of Oz anyday!! :)
 
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I used to have a similar mentality before I spent 14 winters in Michigan. Now I'd rather be hot than have to deal with the triple whammy of cold, snow, and ice.

Vastly easier to warm up? Try working out at a gym when it's 55 degrees inside the building.

I did say I had no need for ice and snow. I am physically unable to work out in a gym, but 55 degrees would be quite comfortable. And the workout would warm you up quickly. Of course you would rather be in a tank top and shorts while drinking fruity drinks with a little umbrella inside than standing in so many layers of clothes you can't put your arms down like Randy in A Christmas Story.. But give me the choice of 98 degrees and high humidity, or 10 degrees, it's a no brainer for me. Thats all I meant.
 
Sorry if that kind of sounded like a rant. Well.. it was, but it was just aimed at Northern winters in general.

It sounds like your house doesn't have central AC. If that's the case, I understand where you're coming from. I prefer warmer climates, but having central AC is a necessity imo, not a commodity.

I've been in a constant war with my father over the thermostat lately. He likes it set at around 80 degrees with the ceiling fans on. That would normally be ok with me, except my room is 5-6 degrees warmer than the rest of the house because of my PC.
 
Joined
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It's been baking in NYC. Steady 85-95 every day. The only saving grace is that there has been virtually no humidity, which is very odd for this area. Being from Texas, I can generally handle heat, but heat+humidity is a killer.

Plus since you walk so much here, you can't escape it. When I lived in Dallas, sure it was 112 outside, but I got up in my air conditioned apartment, walked in an air conditioned hallway, spent maybe 15 seconds in the un-air conditioned parking garage, drove in my air conditioned car, got out in my office's un-air conditioned parking garage and spent another 15 seconds there, then spent all day in my air conditioned office.

Here I have a 10 minute walk to the subway, the platforms aren't air conditioned and the cars are about 50/50 on if it is working, then I get off on another un-air conditioned platform, walk up three flights of stairs then another 10 minute walk to my office. Thank God I don't have to wear suits to work everyday anymore!

Humidity is also something I just can't stand.

By the way, what I don't quite understand is the great use of air conditioning in the U.S. and elsewhere. We just don't have it here. except in bureaus, and there only to a small degree. Maybe just because we never needed to.

What I once observed is that when the human body is exposed to heat during a longer time, the body adapts to it.
I see it how I sewat. In the first time, when the heat is "fresh", I sweat very much.
But later, I think I observe a kind of shift : My body just adapts to the heat somehow. It doesn't sweat that much anymore. It's … almost as if it decided not to loose too much water. I can stand heat much better, then. But I haven't had too any occations to really test and prove my observation - so it's rather a kin of theory right now, based on experimental observations.

But heat + humidity = bah !
 
Joined
Nov 5, 2006
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Old Europe
What I once observed is that when the human body is exposed to heat during a longer time, the body adapts to it.
I see it how I sewat. In the first time, when the heat is "fresh", I sweat very much.
But later, I think I observe a kind of shift : My body just adapts to the heat somehow. It doesn't sweat that much anymore. It's … almost as if it decided not to loose too much water. I can stand heat much better, then. But I haven't had too any occations to really test and prove my observation - so it's rather a kin of theory right now, based on experimental observations.

But heat + humidity = bah !

To some degree you just get used to it in the sense that it doesn't bother you as much as it did. As for a change in the body's heat regulation, some adjustments are possible.

The hormones Thyroxine and Tri-Iodine-Thyronine control the basic metabolic rate, the baseline for energy production. The long-term secretion of these hormones are controled by the hypothalamus in the brain, and will over time adapt to the environment and adjust heat production as necessary. Takes some time.

I think that the mechanisms for heat loss may also adapt to the environment over time (I'm again talking about long term adjustments). Blood flow to the skin affects heat loss, as the temperature rises, blood flow increases, and by that the skin temperature. Which again increase heat loss. I'm pretty sure that over time the basic skin blood flow will adapt, affecting defaullt heat loss.
 
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Without a doubt your body adapts to the heat. On the first 90 degree F bike ride of the year, everyone is dying. By the third hot day/ride, everyone is fine. Then it repeats at 100 degrees as your body adapts again. I'm one of those people that would much rather it be hot than cold. I loath being cold! If only it could be 75 - 80 degrees all the time.
 
If there was no A/C, Texas would be completely empty.
 
Joined
Jan 10, 2008
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A/C D/C ? :lol:
 
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Old Europe
I knew it. Not all technical achievements are good.

pibbur, from his hiding place.

So you'd rather all us Texans spreading out to the rest of the country? :D:D
 
Joined
Jan 10, 2008
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Austin, TX
I've recommended that for College Station and the surrounding area numerous times. Would eliminate about 90% of the idiots that make Texas look bad.
 
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