hah--take that you silly hot weather!

[kareina]

I've been having fond memories of my nice, cold house in Tassie. You know the one, where I needed to sit upon an electric blanket, whilst wearing tights, heavy skirt, wool slippers, long sleeved shirt, a heavy wool sweater, and a heavy wool blanket in order to cuddle up to my nice, heat generating computer in order to do my uni work? Yah, that one. Sounds pretty good lately.

Milan, in the summer, is amazingly constant in temperature. Unlike many places I've been where hot days are followed by cold nights, Milan just holds reasonably steady. Day time highs in the low 30's, followed by night time lows in the high 20's. Here, were it not for the mosquitoes, clothing would be optional. (If I take an icy cold shower to lower my body temp the mosquitoes leave me alone for a while, so I don't need to get dressed straight away afterwards--this is a good thing, since I like the part where I'm not hot.)

I've largely adapted to the heat, save for the part where my heat-generating computer makes me want to be somewhere, anywhere else. I am getting far less accomplished each day than I used to do in Tassie as a result of fleeing the computer for a chunk of each day. But, despite that challenge, this evening I sent off a draft of a paper for publication to my advisor in Tassie, so progress is being made, in the tiny number of hours I've been working. But I'm looking forward to the summer's end and temperatures cool enough to make cuddling with my computer for hours on end look attractive once again.

Comments

[kahnegabs.livejournal.com]

Gee, that sounds like really nice weather to me.

Here in the Diablo Valley (hmmm, do you wonder why they named it that?) in the summertime, we often range up to 35-37C and even 40C or more. It's dry though, so I suppose we don't feel it like you do if you get a lot of humidity.

Today is perfect, however. We are a happy 23-27. Delightfully breezy too. My comp is in my lap, but I use a little tray to protect me from too much warming, so I'm a cool typist.

[kareina.livejournal.com]

Remind me to only ever visit you in the Winter!

[kahnegabs.livejournal.com]

Winter is pretty much December and January. It generally rains then!

You will like us better in March, April and October. Sometimes February, September and November are especially pleasant too. We deal with the heat so we can have the other half of the year. Spring is in February, March.

[kahnegabs.livejournal.com]

Oh, and I have not had a mosquito bite in years.

[kareina.livejournal.com]

I hadn't had a bite in years. For years now they've ignored me while feasting on the people around me. I suspect that this is because they find their victims by the heat they generate. Normally, I'm cold, and so "invisible" compared to the hot people around me. Alas, here, I'm hot, too, and often the only one in the apartment, so more appealing to them than nothing at all.

[kahnegabs.livejournal.com]

Heh, heh, Our mosquito abatement people are very aggressive. They give away free fish (little minnows) for everyone's fountains and ponds and it's against the law to leave standing water without them. When we first moved here 40 years ago, mosquitoes coated the screens trying to get in and we burned special candles to try to keep them away from outdoor events. Now I don't see any.

[kareina.livejournal.com]

I like Rain! December and January sound good to me.

[kahnegabs.livejournal.com]

You would not like this rain. Check this out!

http://kahnegabs.livejournal.com/170496.html#cutid1

When it gets really deep, I'm too busy rolling towels to put in my door sill to take pictures. That house is mine!

[kareina.livejournal.com]

Oh, that is so cool! I love "natural disasters". Call me a silly geologist.


(Yes, I do know that one's opinion changes when it is one's home that is experiencing it, but if this is "normal" (e.g. happens every year, or even once every five years), I'd be inclined to modify the house to take it. Many countries build their houses on stilts to avoid that sort of problem, and have boats to get around when the water is high, for example...)

[kahnegabs.livejournal.com]

Easier said than done. When we bought this house 40-some years ago It was not common, or at least not revealed to us. This started just a few years ago. (Mr. Bush may say there's no such thing as global warming, but I can attest to it.) I cannot afford to make such changes, and now that I "know" this happens, I cannot sell the house without revealing the fact.

I'm shafted, as the kids would say.

[kareina.livejournal.com]

Indeed--the time to think about potential for flooding is *before* purchasing land, and, better yet, before anything is built on it in the first place. One of the reasons that Geology should be taught at school, so that kids get the lessons, complete with graphic photos about what happens to homes which are in geologically inadvisable locations when they are young, so that they can decide for themselves which risks are acceptable.

[kahnegabs.livejournal.com]

43 years ago, Concord had 22 inches of rain in a year. No one mentioned that sometimes all of it came down in 2 months total, and sometimes 3 inches in one day. The problem is NOT the location, but that the city changed the drainage system. It used to go out to the bay via ditches along the fields. That worked fine. Then they put in an inadequate pipe system with the main drain 30 feet from my front door. THAT is when the problems started. It does this once or twice every year or two, but I live though the rainy seasons in fear of this being one of those years. If they'd just fix that #&*%$ drain, we'd be fine. It only floods this section, everyone else drains to this drain. urg!

[kareina.livejournal.com]

Ah, then you do have something you can do. Send the city a letter, once a month, requesting that they fix the drains. Have fun writing different versions each time. Do a bit of research on the topic of drains, and send them citations to useful references. If they've got an e-mail address to which you can send it, it will cost you naught but a bit of time, and, eventually, if you are persistent enough, they might do something about it.

[kahnegabs.livejournal.com]

I must admit that I chuckle when I read your suggestions. I've done pretty much everything I can afford. I've sent photos to the city planners and all that. The city has no money , or real concern about my little problem. I do have the workers on my side, and they do what they are allowed to do to help me. In all these years, I've written a lot of letters, I can tell you that! Phone calls and personal talks with the workers seem to be more helpful.

[gurdymonkey.livejournal.com]

Welcome to the Mediterranean. ;-D

[kareina.livejournal.com]

Yah, that part worried me from the first time I saw the location of this job, and I considered not applying for that very reason. However, the part about 50 km from the Alps turns out to be as wonderful as I'd hoped, so I'll cope and pray for winter...

[hamhead.livejournal.com]

Heh. I personally cannot stand hot weather (and even just warm weather I find rather unpleasant). Not sure why it is, but I've never been able to adapt to it. Not even when we went to Queensland for ages at a time.

The weather in Tasmania at the moment makes clothing necessary =p

*Hugs* Miss you dear!

[kareina.livejournal.com]

*hugs* miss you too!

I lived on the mountain in Hobart because it was the best way to avoid the heat that does occur there. It helped, lots!

[dream-wind.livejournal.com]

I really need to bookmark this post to show LJ friends next time we have a hot summer like the last one. People who live in cold climates simply won't believe me when I tell them that severe heat is worse than severe cold, even before you factor in humidity (or lack thereof) and mosquitoes. Because when it gets hot enough, there is nothing you can do to escape the heat, even stripping down to skin.

[kareina.livejournal.com]

Yup! I've always prefered cold to hot, as you can do something about the cold. Granted, Tasmania taught me that things like insulation really are essential for making cold comfortable. I hope that I move to a cold climate place next--they heat their houses there...