Beating the Heat

[Azred]

Has it been hot here lately? I haven't noticed. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Mugsly has been laying around the house more, I must admit. However, Belle and I just hit the pool.

[Sazerac]

Originally posted by Donut: Saz - twice I've tried to get to Texas. The first time was in the early 1980's when it was too cold and the second was in the late 1980's when it was too hot. The first time I got as far as Little Rock and the second as far as Fort Smith. Both times I turned around and headed to Florida. Don't you ever get any sensible weather in Texas?

In a word: no.

Texas weather is its own unique phenomenon. If there are such a thing as angels, they must put the rookie trainees on the Texas weathermaking system up there. You can have 95 degree weather one day and 50 degree weather the next.

You know what was REALLY fun? The 1994 World Cup was held at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas in June of that year. We were in the throes of a heat wave with temps up around 42-43 C (106-110 F) and the poor europeans were dropping like flies. My wife-to-be then was working as a security guard at the World Cup, and most of her "security" was running gatorade and other thirst quenchers out to the German team. She must have done a great job, because they won the World Cup that year. They have pictures of the Germans standing in one of the fountains in Fair Park with nothing on but cutoffs, yelling and whooping their victory. Now THAT was a hot June!

Cheers,
-Sazerac

[Epona]

[img]graemlins/crying.gif[/img]
Rub it in why don't you?
I can count the number of warm days we have had on the fingers of one hand.

Today it is overcast, about 65 degrees tops, but with 80% humidity - so even though it's not warm it's uncomfortably humid.

[GokuZool]

Originally posted by Grimslade: What do you mean, heat? It's cold in my neck of the woods...

It sure is! It's so cold in the morning, cool in the afternoon and cold at night!

[Megabot]

We had i heat wawe for 4 days ago and now is it on the way again it`s abouth 30-40 C+ in the shades (shadows) and i are working outside in the sun so there is it even hoter! puhhhh! I working with asphalt and it have a temprature for about 190C+ to 230C+ and i walking in it so that is WERY hot! hehe but we got plenty of water so we doing just fine and we are getting WERY tan (brown) and that is great i think!!

[ 06-14-2002, 09:56 AM: Message edited by: Megabot ]

[Epona]

Originally posted by Megabot: We had i heat wawe for 4 days ago and now is it on the way again it`s abouth 30-40 C+ in the shades (shadows) and i are working outside in the sun so there is it even hoter! puhhhh! I working with asphalt and it have a temprature for about 190C+ to 230C+ and i walking in it so that is WERY hot! hehe but we got plenty of water so we doing just fine and we are getting WERY tan (brown) and that is great i think!!

Megabot, although I normally work in an office, I do quite a bit of archaeology. I once spent a month working in temperatures in excess of 40 degrees (I think the top temperature we had was 45 - that's nearly 115 F). The site had no shade whatsoever, it sounds horrendous, but it was a very dry heat, which I don't find at all exhausting - and I actually got a tan.

I really do like hot weather, and like working outside in it, provided the work is of interest. (Archaeology, not asphalt!!)

[Earthdog]

I remember the summer of 94 very well. Actually that was kind of mild compared to some of the summers Ive seen in Texas. 1980 and 1981 are the two hottest summers on record in the Lone Star State.

I remember in 1981 it was over 100 degrees for over 100 consecutive days. One day it hit 128f and my best friends mom said "Gee its so hot out here I bet you could fry an egg on the sidewalk."

Dwayne bolted into the house and came back out 10 seconds later with a nice grade A extra large egg. He cracked that sucker on the sidewalk and the egg cooked in about 2 minutes. It was so hot you couldnt stand on the concrete for more than about 10 seconds before your shoes started melting.

Good thing we had a lake down the street so we could go swimming every day [img]smile.gif[/img] The water was warm but still a relief from the heat. Silly me wasnt wearing any shoes that day and had to bolt from driveways to grass and so on to get to the lake [img]graemlins/biglaugh.gif[/img] Good thing I was fast when I was young [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Sazerac]

Originally posted by Earthdog: I remember the summer of 94 very well. Actually that was kind of mild compared to some of the summers Ive seen in Texas. 1980 and 1981 are the two hottest summers on record in the Lone Star State. I remember in 1981 it was over 100 degrees for over 100 consecutive days. One day it hit 128f and my best friends mom said "Gee its so hot out here I bet you could fry an egg on the sidewalk." Dwayne bolted into the house and came back out 10 seconds later with a nice grade A extra large egg. He cracked that sucker on the sidewalk and the egg cooked in about 2 minutes. It was so hot you couldnt stand on the concrete for more than about 10 seconds before your shoes started melting. Good thing we had a lake down the street so we could go swimming every day [img]smile.gif[/img] The water was warm but still a relief from the heat. Silly me wasnt wearing any shoes that day and had to bolt from driveways to grass and so on to get to the lake [img]graemlins/biglaugh.gif[/img] Good thing I was fast when I was young [img]smile.gif[/img]

I remember that summer very well, Earthdog. Actually, I think that was 1980 on the 100 consecutive heat days and the high of 128. 1981 was hot, but 1980 broke all records...it was an inferno.

I was living in Louisiana at the time (thank the gods!) but my mom and I were going to Arlington, TX to visit her sister (my aunt). We had the radio on going through Dallas and it came across that the temperature was 117 degrees and we thought it had to be a mistake. So I felt the window of the car and it was so hot it felt like it was on fire.

My cousin (who was 12 at the time, I was almost 17) wanted me to take him to Six Flags and I said "nothing doing" but that I might go in the evening if it fell below 105 degrees! Well sure enough, the temp finally fell to 104 at 5 pm and we went off like a couple of fools over to Six Flags. After parking and walking into the park, I was so thirsty I bought a 32-ounce lemonade and I think I drank it down in like 2 minutes flat. Somehow we lasted like 4 or 5 hours out there...the arrogance and impetuousness of youth! [img]graemlins/laugh2.gif[/img]

I was never so glad to get back to Louisiana!

During that summer, Lela (my wife) was living in Bridgeport, Texas, with her mom, who DIDN'T have an air conditioner in her house. Joanne (my mother in law) still brags how she survived the summer of 1980 without an A/C and Lela just fumes because Joanne was working at the Bridgeport Index newspaper during the day and she (Lela) was stuck at the house like an oven. She's never told her mom how she felt about that, but she's told me, and one of these days she's going to blast Joanne with that...I hope I'm not around! [img]graemlins/uhoh1.gif[/img]

Cheers,
-Sazerac

[Megabot]

Yeah Epona it is wery dry heat so it is not that bad but one of me working friends get a sunstroke ( i dont knove the english for this) but he coplapsed in to the ground because of the heat his brain almost take a damage of the sun and the doc say hi MUST protect his head in this heat from the sun or he could get a permanent brain damage so we all use caps that we put in water to get them wet all the time"

[ 06-14-2002, 12:28 PM: Message edited by: Megabot ]

[Sazerac]

Originally posted by Megabot: Yeah Epona it is wery dry heat so it is not that bad but one of me working friends get a sunstroke ( i dont knove the english for this) but he coplapsed in to the ground because of the heat his brain almost take a damage of the sun and the doc say hi MUST protect his head in this heat from the sun or he could get a permanent brain damage so we all use caps that we put in water to get them wet all the time"

Either sunstroke or heat stroke, both are correct, Megabot! [img]smile.gif[/img]

Yes...important thing is get people suffering from heat stroke to the shade. Give them lukewarm water with a pinch of salt in it (a salt tablet helps here) to replenish the lost sweat and electrolytes. It's important for them to not drink anything too cold at first, as this can send the body into shock. The key is to gradually reduce the body temperature, not rapidly. Placing wet cloths around the forehead and face also help.

Later, when they are feeling better, lemonade and/or gatorade can be given to them to further help replenish electrolytes.

Cheers,
-Sazerac