Air Conditioning or Not

We are just coming off of the 2 hottest days of the year. Well back middle of May we had one day hotter, but no one knew it until after it was over. These last couple of days however were real punishers. Factoring in the dew point it was a heat index of over 105 degrees yesterday. Up until then we had toyed with the idea of not installing our window unit this year. I had been reading about how young children have maximum sweating capability. However if they live in an area with a colder climate they gradually loose this ability and later in life will most likely not be able to regain it. Also I know that constanly moving between extreme temperatures like going outside and coming back inside is really hard on your body. Then there were the questions about air quality when using an air conditioner (central or window). So we decided we would try and tough it out.

The first day of heat came. We kept the shades closed, fans on and used the slow cooker, rice cooker and toaster oven to cook our food. On the plus side clothes on the line dried really fast. We sweated away the day in front of the fan. I looked forward all day to Proeun coming home and taking a quick dip in the kiddy pool, or at least my feet. Finally he was home. Two was outside and threw his “spear,” a piece of wood, into the the pool and punctured it–of course right at the bottom so there was no way we could fill it up. This was a hole and not a crack so duct tape wouldn’t fix this one. I had to settle for a cold shower.

The second day came. We got up early to go to the farm. When we got there at 8:30 it was already 80 degrees and the field was full of farmers. We worked  until 10:30 and then had to leave. All day long we sweated in the house. It reminded me of the days when I worked at historic Fort Snelling. You knew it was hot when your eyelids sweat and you could literally feel beads of sweat running down your legs. At least then when the day was over I got to come home to air conditioning. At that point I didn’t care about the air quality. When Proeun came home last night he put in the window unit. It still isn’t a great temperature in the house but at least is is no longer 88 degrees in the house.