Seriously, if I thought the heat would have been this bad, I would have become a panhandler in Portland like everyone else is doing. For the record, the average high in August (i.e. next month, and therefore a warmer month) is 95. We have hit 100 degrees or more 23 times this year, and it looks like we will hit 100 each day for at least the next 5 days.
Now, I know that plenty of civilizations survive and even thrive in languid three-digit territory — after all, look at Cairo, Dubai (that’s really just South Korean machinery, British white-collar workers, and Allah’s oil, I know, but I digress), Tucson and Phoenix. But that doesn’t mean I survive or thrive when it’s over 90 degrees by 11AM. That doesn’t mean that I should get used to sweating bullets right after breakfast.
My new car has no A/C at the moment (the bolts for something or other are on back order), but it does have a drop-top, so as long as I go over 55mph, I am not caked in my own perspiration. Either way, it’s a sort of lame homecoming to be back in Austin during its worst heat wave since the 1950’s. In the 50’s, Austin’s city limits ended at Koenig Lane and Ben White, and where I commute from (Cedar Park) and where I commute to (Sunset Valley) didn’t exist at all, except in the post-apocalyptic dreams of exurbanite homesteaders. 50 miles round trip in 100 degree heat still sucks, even in a little blue convertible.
