I feel like I need a t-shirt that says "I survived the Great Heat Wave of 2021". I've been through heat before, I mean I lived in Saudi Arabia...but to do that without AC...? It was hot.
The heat wave really started on Friday. It got into the 90's for me. The house got to the low 80's. Which isn't bad, except it never cooled off. Usually the temps drop in the evening and it allows the house to cool off. But for 3 days it never did. It rarely got below 80 at night.
Each consecutive day it got hotter and hotter. Culminating in 109 on Monday June 28th according to the news. My phone said 106, which is still hot as hell. The house was 95 that day. And I thought I was going to suffocate with all the stagnant air in the house.
I had fans. In fact, I have a fan that sends out "cool" air usually. It was not able to keep up. I had two box fans and my cooling fan pointing right at me and that's the only way I survived it.
The cats just melted. I would put a wet, cool towel on them once in a while. They found themselves in front of the fans just as much as I was. The amount of fur dropping off these two was enough to make at least 4 other cats.
One of the hacks that seemed to work a little was the bowl of ice in front of a fan. It "worked" but it certainly was no AC. And I ran out of ice.
I know I had it better than some in the Seattle area. Some cities hitting 111 or higher. No thanks.
Since this heat wave, I finally caved and bought an portable AC unit. I can promise now we'll never hit those temps again since I now have an AC. That's how it goes it seems. Although, the science people have said this high temp thing is going to happen more and more. Oh goody.
Family and most friends survived just fine. Blueberry lives on a third floor condo and her place was so hot her fluffy cat started panting. Cats don't pant unless it's really bad. She was able to take them into her car and cool them off again. She too has bought an AC unit. She'll use hers for sure.
In other news, we're completely open from Covid. Yipee! It feels weird after 16 months of wearing a mask. Now the big debate is whether we need a booster. Pfizer is saying yes, where as the CDC and WHO says no. Me thinks Pfizer wants more $$.
