Something has gone terribly wrong when you wake, hear the day’s forecast, and think: “That’s nice. Only 100. And cloudy too. What a nice change!”
Terribly. Terribly. Wrong.
Anyone paying any attention knows just how high the temperatures in Dallas have been. And I’ve heard the comment more than once that no one can remember it ever being this hot. Really? You haven’t lived here long enough then.
But it certainly feels like the hottest in a long while, particularly when you’re visiting job sites. Last week I was meeting with a client and one of the subcontractors, where the interior of the house was a balmy 95 degrees at 11 a.m. A little over an hour in, Grumpy Larry paid a visit and took a nip out of the sub. Personally I blame the heat, although GL would tell you the sub had it coming.
Luckily I was dressed for the occasion, which is sometimes an advantage to working with residential clients. They get it since they’re standing there sweating too. I do remember the summer days on commercial project site visits, dressed in slacks and a button-down dress shirt, praying for the meeting to end, and not understanding why we’d been there for three hours.
Yet even in shorts and a t-shirt, I still found myself sweating in places where people should never sweat. I have learned on those days to bring a change of clothes to the office or sometimes an extra shirt in the car. I suppose I should be happy that we were inside away from the sun.
I should also be happy we are better suited to handle the heat. Most of James’s work team is in and around London, where they’ve been sweltering. And most of them without any air conditioning. A London-based writer I follow on Twitter was sharing a couple of days ago that he had finally decided to work from his bedroom where it was cooler. Three degrees cooler than his study. Also while in his underwear.
However, I think my favorite weather news came from one of our local stations today. Apparently the local squirrels are splooting. In other words, laying facedown on surfaces with their legs splayed out in an attempt to cool off. Which explains the squirrel laying on the top of our back fence the other day. Somehow though, considering how warm some of the surfaces have been, I don’t see that as a great option for cooling.
But then again, last week when the temperature dropped into the upper 80s/low 90s, I was tempted to strip naked, run around, and enjoy the breeze. Except they wouldn’t call that splooting. Just indecent exposure.
Stay cool everyone!
