It's hot today

[Gordon Maney]

I would like air conditioning in my shop right about now....

[Bob Thompson]

Air conditioning is over rated in my highly self centered opinion.
(Nothing humble about this)
I work out doors or in a shop with just a fairly healthy fan to keep the air moving. Occasionally I have to drive a bit of distance to get to what I'm going to repair. I don't generally run the A/C while driving unless it's over 85 or if it's extremely humid.
My darling wife of thirty-two years works in an air conditioned office . Guess what we argue about . When she gets home she cranks the A/C down to 74 and then putters. My friends are usually shocked when I answer the door in a cardigan when the outside temp is barely 80 degrees.
Most of the time I sit on the porch and commune with the barn cats. They have quite a bit to say if you listen, of course it's mostly about the best places to sun one's self or aspirations regarding tuna or salmon. I let them carry on, I haven't seen any evidence of mice in a long time. Not long ago I saw one of the ginger toms carrying a small opossum in his teeth. He is a hunter to reckon with I would guess.

[iranch]

A/c

I love my old open station tractors but, today I dreamed of an air conditioned cab.

Only 94 here today but the humidity must have been nearly 100%, the hay stayed tough all day.

Dennis

[Gordon Maney]

If I could set the world at a fixed temperature it would probably be 60 degrees F.

Great for working.

[712edf]

If I could set the world at a fixed temperature it would probably be 60 degrees F.

Great for working.

I'd set a range of 49 to 75.

Bucky

[Kevin Mienke]

The weather gurus here in NC have issued an “excessive heat warning” for the weekend. Starting on Friday and ending on Monday, the daytime temperatures are expected to be in the range of 102-106 degrees.

My shop is an old building that was originally built as a single car garage with a tin roof. No insulation. One electrical outlet. One overhead light.

In the 71 years since it was built, no measures have ever been taken to make it a good workplace. In fact it has been neglected to the point that it is no longer even a good shelter for a car. The roof leaks, the soffits aren’t boxed, the door is broken, and the sill plate is rotted. It has no windows. It is hot.

A three-foot long black snake calls it home. For him it is a good place to find a meal. As snakes go, he is of the good variety…keeping the copperheads and rattlers away. I don’t mind having him around, but still, I think all good snakes should be outdoors. And he will be…eventually.

I will rebuild the sill plate and the broken doors. While I am at it, I will put in a window or two. Maybe even an air conditioner. But not today. It’s too hot.

Today I will do something along the same lines as Bob. I will sit on the porch with my guitar and my dogs and handle the heat with more dignity and grace and honor and such.

The dogs are good companions, both of them. Happy all the time. Even when it's beastly hot. They lie around the porch like it was a hospital but they are happy and I am glad to report they are in good health. They are, for the most part, masters of their own bladder and bowels, which is something I can’t say for myself.

As I study them, it occurs to me that they are happy because their expectations are low. I think it was Shakespeare, or somebody else, I can’t remember exactly who, but they said, “Desire is at the root of all suffering.” And I suppose whoever said it was right. If we expect too much, we’re bound to be let down in the end and suffer from it. It makes me think I would settle for no air conditioning as long as the snake takes his rightful place outdoors and I have a nice cool porch to sit on.

[Hobcobble]

Give me 76F and low humidity all Summer long. Being up between
two Great Lakes is brutal lots of the time with regards to humidity.
My new steel pole barn is too big for A/C [.... or is it that I'm too
cheap?...] so I try to do most of my work in my old stick built barn.
No A/C there either..... but not quite the "oven" the steel building
is. A fan makes it just a bit better than tolerable.....

I waged a years long battle with the wife over A/C in our house.
The British fared better at Gallipoli. I managed to "hold" some territory
in our family room and "gain" ground in the bedroom..... but fell far
short of my overall campaign goal, which was central air conditioning.
I even offered to pay for everything including the additional monthly
electricity to run it..... That proposal still went down quicker than the
Hindenburg.....

Like me...... our dogs "tolerate" the humidity...... I've been trying to
teach them how to use the remote control...... I thought our cat was
with the dogs & I ..... but she went Benedict Arnold on me....
John

[Gordon Maney]

The weather gurus here in NC have issued an “excessive heat warning” for the weekend. Starting on Friday and ending on Monday, the daytime temperatures are expected to be in the range of 102-106 degrees.

My shop is an old building that was originally built as a single car garage with a tin roof. No insulation. One electrical outlet. One overhead light.

In the 71 years since it was built, no measures have ever been taken to make it a good workplace. In fact it has been neglected to the point that it is no longer even a good shelter for a car. The roof leaks, the soffits aren’t boxed, the door is broken, and the sill plate is rotted. It has no windows. It is hot.

A three-foot long black snake calls it home. For him it is a good place to find a meal. As snakes go, he is of the good variety…keeping the copperheads and rattlers away. I don’t mind having him around, but still, I think all good snakes should be outdoors. And he will be…eventually.

I will rebuild the sill plate and the broken doors. While I am at it, I will put in a window or two. Maybe even an air conditioner. But not today. It’s too hot.

Today I will do something along the same lines as Bob. I will sit on the porch with my guitar and my dogs and handle the heat with more dignity and grace and honor and such.

The dogs are good companions, both of them. Happy all the time. Even when it's beastly hot. They lie around the porch like it was a hospital but they are happy and I am glad to report they are in good health. They are, for the most part, masters of their own bladder and bowels, which is something I can’t say for myself.

As I study them, it occurs to me that they are happy because their expectations are low. I think it was Shakespeare, or somebody else, I can’t remember exactly who, but they said, “Desire is at the root of all suffering.” And I suppose whoever said it was right. If we expect too much, we’re bound to be let down in the end and suffer from it. It makes me think I would settle for no air conditioning as long as the snake takes his rightful place outdoors and I have a nice cool porch to sit on.

One year in my shop I had a medium size bull snake that lived in my shop. It would spend some time lying in one of the overhead door sections. I think it did that because the sun made it warm. When I would open the door it would slide out of the door section into a cluttered area on a shelf where I keep various pieces of structural steel. I suspect it lived off mice in my shop.

Insulation in the ceiling of your shop would make a huge difference in summer.

[Gordon Maney]

Give me 76F and low humidity all Summer long. Being up between
two Great Lakes is brutal lots of the time with regards to humidity.
My new steel pole barn is too big for A/C [.... or is it that I'm too
cheap?...] so I try to do most of my work in my old stick built barn.
No A/C there either..... but not quite the "oven" the steel building
is. A fan makes it just a bit better than tolerable.....

I waged a years long battle with the wife over A/C in our house.
The British fared better at Gallipoli. I managed to "hold" some territory
in our family room and "gain" ground in the bedroom..... but fell far
short of my overall campaign goal, which was central air conditioning.
I even offered to pay for everything including the additional monthly
electricity to run it..... That proposal still went down quicker than the
Hindenburg.....

Like me...... our dogs "tolerate" the humidity...... I've been trying to
teach them how to use the remote control...... I thought our cat was
with the dogs & I ..... but she went Benedict Arnold on me....
John

I love air conditioning. When I am working on the magazine I have it somewhere between 68 and 70.

[712edf]

While we are talking shop, my uncle (retired) was an owner/operator of heavy equip (dozers, scrapers, tractors, graders,etc). His shop (40' x 100') has a dirt floor. When I asked as to why he never concreted any of it, he replied that the dirt was easier on his feet & back (he suffered a gunshot wound to his hip area in Viet Nam). He uses large sheets of cardboard to lie on when working underneath the equipment to lessen getting messy.

And no, its not insulated or air conditioned. Does have a wood stove for heat.

Bucky

[Gordon Maney]

While we are talking shop, my uncle (retired) was an owner/operator of heavy equip (dozers, scrapers, tractors, graders,etc). His shop (40' x 100') has a dirt floor. When I asked as to why he never concreted any of it, he replied that the dirt was easier on his feet & back (he suffered a gunshot wound to his hip area in Viet Nam). He uses large sheets of cardboard to lie on when working underneath the equipment to lessen getting messy.

And no, its not insulated or air conditioned. Does have a wood stove for heat.

Bucky

That's interesting. You would need all terrain tires on the creeper.

[74w300uteline]

Data center

I work in data centers, 70 degrees constant air circulation. Wear a fleece vest all day long. Going home is a different story. Sweltering 100 degree smelly packed subways, the subway cars with AC are already packed so tight the conductor cant close the doors and all the cool air escapes,the only air circulating is hot tunnel air. Tempers are at their breaking point and the big fat smelly lady with the screaming kids always winds up right next to me. Close my eyes and mentally transport myself elsewhere. 10 minutes and my shirt is soaked with sweat.

[Gordon Maney]

I work in data centers, 70 degrees constant air circulation. Wear a fleece vest all day long. Going home is a different story. Sweltering 100 degree smelly packed subways, the subway cars with AC are already packed so tight the conductor cant close the doors and all the cool air escapes,the only air circulating is hot tunnel air. Tempers are at their breaking point and the big fat smelly lady with the screaming kids always winds up right next to me. Close my eyes and mentally transport myself elsewhere. 10 minutes and my shirt is soaked with sweat.

That sounds like the beginning of a really bad novel.

[Clint Dixon]

That sounds like the beginning of a really bad novel.

I'm thinking Stephen King. Does the fat smelly lady have a name? Can you say Cujo? Oh no, that one was already used. ;^)

[712edf]

That's interesting. You would need all terrain tires on the creeper.

Good point!
I don't think he ever owned a creeper. Plenty of ground clearance to crawl around under.

Bucky