We're having a heat waaaaave/a tropical heat wave/The temperature's risin'/It isn't surprisin'

[fatrockstar]

Temperatures in the area will reach 90 this week, starting Tuesday. The National Weather Advisory recommends that all area residents stay in an air-conditioned room or have plenty of fans to keep air circulating (a/c), and to stay adequately hydrated.

Surely temperatures over 90 are something other parts of the country deal with annually. Do they get weather advisories, too? In Richland, where my dad lives, all the houses are build with a/c. They've been built like that forever -- they're in the desert, so it's a given. Here in Western Washington the summers have always been mild until now. None of the houses in the area were build with a/c, although I'm sure that newer construction includes it. Those houses are expensive.

So this brings us to the here and now. With Garret recovering from his recent flare-up he should be ready to return to the office soon (unless he decides to work from home), leaving the house unoccupied except for Grady, our little black cat.

Grady's been dealing with the heat the best way he knows how: He flattens himself on the part of the floor that's the coolest at the time. Sometimes it's the hardwood, sometimes it's the tile, and once in a while it's the carpet. We can tell he's not very comfortable. What he needs is a good brushing to get some of that downy fluff off of him, but he won't have any of that! The temperature inside the house has been bearable with the fans. Grady doesn't enjoy them nearly as much as we do.

We've taken the first steps toward installing a/c in our home. Our circuit breaker box is being updated soon, and once that power issue is taken care of we can start looking for a specialist. Unfortunately we might have a bigger problem. A/c systems take a lot more power than what Puget Sound Energy is pumping into our humble abode. To correct this would take a lot of digging, disruption, and cash. We'll see what happens.

In the meantime, what do we do with Grady this week? A portable a/c unit seems to be the best option. Keeping it in one room that he can retreat to when it gets too hot would be great, but that involves leaving a window open, and that's not an option if nobody is home (yeah, I know: "Breaking and entering is illegal in Kirkland." Bah). Garret told me this morning he's not 100% sure he'll make it to the office during the heat wave and is happy to set something up for Grady and stay with him.

Any other locals without a/c doing anything special for their pets? How are you beating the heat?

Comments

[joyful-storm.livejournal.com]

I got my kitty in GA, so I figure he can deal. ;)

(If he appeared to be suffering I'd be much less cavalier, but he doesn't seem to be bothered by it yet.)

I grew up in Massachusetts where it usually gets into the 90s in summer, A/C is far from standard, and it's a hell of a lot more humid. My mom's "I can't stand it anymore" trick: apply rubbing alcohol to your face and arms periodically and let it evaporate. Mine: take a tepid/cool shower, apply lots of powder after you dry off, and lie naked under the breeze from an oscillating fan. Tip from a friend of mine originally from PA: go to a lot of movies and/or hang out at the mall.

[winifred.livejournal.com]

Garret and I have an elaborate system of fans on a schedule. As soon as we get up in the morning, windows are opened and fans placed so we can suck all the shady cool morning air from the west side of the house and send it out the east/sunny side before peak temperature hits. By 11 we shut it all off and close everything to keep sunlight and warm air from coming in, and once a good-sized shadow hits the east lawn we reverse the fan process.

We're more worried about what Grady's going to do. He seems really unhappy in the heat.

[estrojenn.livejournal.com]

do you have a second floor you can put the a/c unit in? that's what my mom and sister do.

[winifred.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, no. We're stuck in a ranch house. I think Garret has arranged to stay home during the hot days, but that means he'll have to shut off a large percentage of his electronics in order to avoid tripping a breaker. He doesn't need half of that crap anyway.