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View Full Version : How hot is it??? TOO HOT!!!


Judy G. Russell
August 14th, 2005, 12:23 AM
It hit 103 degrees F here in New Jersey today (Saturday). It's supposed to be the same tomorrow. It might really cool off by Monday... all the way down to maybe the low 90s.

This summer has been the pits weather-wise...

Peter Creasey
August 14th, 2005, 08:27 AM
>> It hit 103 degrees F here in New Jersey today (Saturday). <<

Judy, Some of the un-acclimated golfers at Baltrusol (the PGA Tournament) were suffering. Just a walk in the park for people like us Houstonians.

Judy G. Russell
August 14th, 2005, 09:32 AM
Houston is surely a bit warmer than we're used to around here. I once went down to visit my family when they lived near Houston briefly... It was March. I left NJ at about 35 degrees and arrived into 85 degrees and humid.

Dan in Saint Louis
August 14th, 2005, 09:46 AM
It hit 103 degrees F here in New Jersey today
The Mississippi valley is wet: http://www.stltoday.com/news/weather

Judy G. Russell
August 14th, 2005, 10:12 AM
The Mississippi valley is wet: http://www.stltoday.com/news/weather
Send it our way, willya? We really need the rain. I think I'm going to lose one of my two new azaleas because it's just shriveling up and dying -- I can't water it enough!

Dan in Saint Louis
August 14th, 2005, 10:52 AM
I can't water it enough!

Saturday, 1 PM: Wife says "would you please water the side yard"

Saturday, 3 PM: Sprinkler is soaking the side yard when the skies open. It is rainig too hard to go outside and turn off the sprinkler.

Saturday, 4 PM: Power goes off for 3 hours. Sunday's paper says 142,000 in the metro area lost power.

http://landiss.info/graphics/Shot0001.jpg

Judy G. Russell
August 14th, 2005, 03:00 PM
We're supposed to get the thunderstorms this afternoon. Lordy, I hope so...

rlohmann
August 14th, 2005, 03:52 PM
It is at this very moment 15°C (about 60°F) in Wiesbaden, my former home in the Reich.

<sob>

Judy G. Russell
August 14th, 2005, 06:22 PM
It is at this very moment 15°C (about 60°F) in Wiesbaden, my former home in the Reich.

<sob>
Sigh... I wonder how much a one-way ticket is...

Guerri Stevens
August 14th, 2005, 07:53 PM
It isn't so much that it's hot as that it is relentlessly hot, day after day. I might as well be living in Florida!

Peter Creasey
August 14th, 2005, 08:16 PM
>> It was March. I left NJ at about 35 degrees and arrived into 85 degrees and humid. <<

Judy, You were unlucky. The weather in Houstpon is very fine except that some people object to the heat/humidity of June through August. Otherwise, especially during the winter, the weather in Houston is delightful.

Judy G. Russell
August 14th, 2005, 08:34 PM
The weather in Houstpon is very fine except that some people object to the heat/humidity of June through August.
Some people object??? You mean some don't??????????

Dick K
August 14th, 2005, 08:44 PM
Some people object??? You mean some don't??????????
Hang in there: Just a few more months, and you and Gail can kvetch about the cold and the snow.

Judy G. Russell
August 15th, 2005, 12:02 AM
Hang in there: Just a few more months, and you and Gail can kvetch about the cold and the snow.
And we will. We will. Believe me, we will. (Hey it beats complaining about politicians all the time...)

RayB (France)
August 15th, 2005, 06:03 AM
And we will. We will. Believe me, we will. (Hey it beats complaining about politicians all the time...)

And neither one will provide you with any relief.

Peter Creasey
August 15th, 2005, 08:37 AM
>> Some people object??? You mean some don't?????????? <<

Judy, Gotta take the bad with the good! Once all of the positives of what Houston (and nearby Galveston) has to offer are weighed against the weather drawback of a (fairly short) hot/humid Summer, the tradeoffs become compelling.

There is an old adage that has been proven MANY times over. It is hard to get people to move to Houston, but once they are here, it is almost impossible to get them to move away.

Judy G. Russell
August 15th, 2005, 10:20 AM
You're wrong about that. Venting at least makes me feel a little better. You're right that it doesn't do anything about the underlying problem, but... hey... you do what you can in this world.

Judy G. Russell
August 15th, 2005, 10:22 AM
There is an old adage that has been proven MANY times over. It is hard to get people to move to Houston, but once they are here, it is almost impossible to get them to move away.
My family couldn't wait to get away from there. Of two parents and five younger siblings who moved there, not one lasted more than 18 months. And that was only because the job required him to stay there.

Peter Creasey
August 15th, 2005, 12:21 PM
>> couldn't wait to get away <<

Judy, That is extremely rare! And, yes, job opportunity certainly enters into the equation so some extent (but not totally).

Judy G. Russell
August 15th, 2005, 02:55 PM
I guess everybody has an idea in their heads as to what constitutes "home" -- and it will certainly be a very personal choice.

Peter Creasey
August 15th, 2005, 04:34 PM
>> what constitutes "home" <<

Judy, Pretty broad spectrum, including: good people, friendliness, climate, job opportunity, low taxes (and no state/city income tax), vibrant economy, minimal local government intrusion, affordable housing, good airports/ports/rail, beach access, hill country nearby, wide variety of dining, good city services, low crime, non-severe weather, good theater/museums, attractive neighborhoods, uncongested, and so on.

Various Texas cities, including Houston, offer most, if not all, of the foregoing and other favorable attributes. Obviously other states and cities measure up well also.

Judy G. Russell
August 15th, 2005, 04:59 PM
It's flat. It's hot. It's almost totally dependent on the vagaries of the oil industry. And it's a network of roads looking for a city. Other than that, I suppose it's okay.

Peter Creasey
August 15th, 2005, 07:52 PM
>> It's flat. It's hot. It's almost totally dependent on the vagaries of the oil industry. And it's a network of roads looking for a city. Other than that, I suppose it's okay. <<

Judy, I knew that if I kept on presenting a fair analysis I would draw out your aversion. Yes, it's flat. And, yes, it's hot June - August. Otherwise, your summary judgement is grossly offbase. Try to be fair!

Most noteworthy, the local economy is NOT totally dependent on the oil industry.

As Ada Louise Huxtable said, "Houston is the city of the second half of the Twentieth Century." And thereafter, as well!

Judy G. Russell
August 15th, 2005, 08:09 PM
You're right. It's not just big oil anymore. It's TomDeLay and Enron and big oil and big finance. On top of all that it's also hot and flat and humid.

Bottom line: I don't have to be fair. It's a place I don't care for and wouldn't live in. My family hated it. That's why I said, several messages ago, that this was a personal choice issue -- it isn't home to me and never could be.

By the same token, I don't expect others to think that the NY metro area is the next best thing to sliced bread either. It may just not be home to them.

Lindsey
August 15th, 2005, 08:53 PM
By the same token, I don't expect others to think that the NY metro area is the next best thing to sliced bread either.
And you wouldn't want them to think that, anyway, because otherwise they'd be coming up there to drive real estate prices even higher, right? So let 'em stay home.

(BTW, I've been to Houston, and my impression is pretty much the same as yours. San Antonio I liked, but Houston? Just not my cup of tea.)

--Lindsey

Judy G. Russell
August 15th, 2005, 08:56 PM
otherwise they'd be coming up there to drive real estate prices even higher, right? So let 'em stay home.
Not just real estate prices but road congestion and, worst of all, too many people on the beaches!

(BTW, I've been to Houston, and my impression is pretty much the same as yours. San Antonio I liked, but Houston? Just not my cup of tea.)
Oh I agree -- I like San Antonio too (except in the summer -- all of Texas in the summer is pretty much the pits). San Antonio is really quite charming.

Lindsey
August 15th, 2005, 09:04 PM
Not just real estate prices but road congestion and, worst of all, too many people on the beaches!
Good point--I hadn't thought of that!

Incidently, I saw a piece in today's NY Times saying that Upper East Side real estate is now considered "undervalued"--you can get a one-bedroom apartment in that part of town these days for only about half a million dollars. Bargain prices, compared to TriBeCa and SoHo... :rolleyes:

Oh I agree -- I like San Antonio too (except in the summer -- all of Texas in the summer is pretty much the pits). San Antonio is really quite charming.
Yeah; "south" is not a direction I'd especially choose to go during the summer. Of course, even New England has been unusually hot this year. Perhaps Newfoundland would be a good summer vacation destination...

--Lindsey

Judy G. Russell
August 15th, 2005, 09:55 PM
only about half a million dollars... :rolleyes:
:rolleyes: indeed!

even New England has been unusually hot this year.
It has been brutal. Just brutal. I've been stuck here in the house because of this stupid leg operation and I have essentially been living in the two rooms with window air conditioning units. As much as my office can occasionally (well... okay... most of the time) be a first class PITA, I sure wish I were there during the day instead of here!

Lindsey
August 15th, 2005, 10:46 PM
It has been brutal. Just brutal.
Even indoors with air conditioning most of the day, the heat is enervating. It kills any thought you might have of going out to do anything. And somehow the humidity manages to get past the air conditioning every now and again, and it's like you're drowning in the air. Yuck.

Nancy and Stu thought Christina had started wetting the bed at night because she was so wet when they got her up in the morning. So they put a diaper on her when they put her to bed the other night only to find out that wasn't the problem--she was just sweating that much. (And they've got central air.)

--Lindsey

Judy G. Russell
August 15th, 2005, 11:48 PM
it's like you're drowning in the air
Somebody described this as "air you can chew."

Christina...was just sweating that much. (And they've got central air.)
Oh poor baby...

Sigh... I remember southern summer nights without air conditioning. I wonder how we ever survived...

Peter Creasey
August 16th, 2005, 09:01 AM
Judy, You are misinformed...suggestive of a source with a grievance against the good people of Houston and/or Texas.

I wouldn't bash your (or anyone's) hometown. Hometowns are largely whatever it is that new or longterm residents are willing to glean from them.

Judy G. Russell
August 16th, 2005, 10:01 AM
This isn't a matter of information... it's a matter of viewpoint. Which as I said (and said... and said) is a personal matter. I don't like Houston. (I do like San Antonio, so it's obviously not an anti-Texas prejudice.) But it's a matter of personal taste: I don't like liver or brussel sprouts either, but nobody tries to convince me that I'm wrong about those. At least not successfully.

Jeff
August 16th, 2005, 01:28 PM
>> no anti-Texas prejudice

You don't live in Colorado. Everyone in Colorado hates Texans, even the Texans we allow to stay. Equal opportunity disparagement; Californians are running a close second and catching up fast.

The usual description of the former is all hat and no cattle, and the latter is the bigger the gate the newer the resident.

- Jeff

Judy G. Russell
August 16th, 2005, 02:42 PM
Keep in mind that I'm the daughter, granddaughter and great granddaughter of Texans so I have to keep a slightly different view of the breed. (I'm also a Colorado native!)

Peter Creasey
August 16th, 2005, 03:40 PM
>> Everyone in Colorado hates ... <<

Jeff, Hateful writings say more about the author than about the targets.

MollyM/CA
August 16th, 2005, 06:37 PM
You're right. It's not just big oil anymore. It's TomDeLay and Enron and big oil and big finance.

Hey, you sound like you're ripe to read --or reread-- Mark Singer's Funny Money, about a lot of funny money that made the rounds in a natural gas boom, or rather bubble. It's been reprinted (don't loan it to anyone if you want to see it again) and I liked it even better now than when it had just happened.

Judy G. Russell
August 16th, 2005, 07:29 PM
Added to the list. Thanks! ("So many books... so little time...")

Lindsey
August 16th, 2005, 08:58 PM
Sigh... I remember southern summer nights without air conditioning. I wonder how we ever survived...
I remember those, too. After we had had our baths and gotten our pajamas on, my parents would pack us in the station wagon, and we'd go riding--the night air was cooler than the air in the house. And I guess we had probably fallen asleep before we got back home. But I also remember that we slept with our heads at the foot of the bed--closest to the windows. That helped, too.

And when we were a little older, we were allowed to sleep on cots on the screened porch. That was great fun, and I remember that by the time the sun came up in the morning, and the birds woke you up with their chirping, it was usually chilly enough that you had to wrap yourself in a cotton blanket to stay warm. (The cots were made with a thin nylon webbing, and the air came up from the bottom unless you put the blanket underneath you.)

--Lindsey

Lindsey
August 16th, 2005, 09:19 PM
Added to the list. Thanks! ("So many books... so little time...")
Keep a slot open for one about the rise and fall of Tom DeLay and Jack Abramoff and the Tea Pot Dome scandal of the 21st century. I have a feeling there will be one in the not-so-distant future.

--Lindsey

Judy G. Russell
August 16th, 2005, 10:41 PM
I keep thinking back to summers at my grandparents' central Virginia farm. Our room: mother (and sometimes father), three sisters and anywhere up to four brothers. Directly above us, aunt (and sometimes uncle) and two girl cousins and anywhere up to three boy cousins. Tiny room above the breezeway: two girls cousins. Back room: two adults and two kids of varying genders depending on who was there. Living room: ditto. Two girl cousins bunking in on the floor in my grandparents' room. For the life of me, I can't remember where everyone else slept when the whole family got together.

How in the name of all that is holy could we even BREATHE with that many people in that small a space in that kind of summer heat???

It boggles the mind.

Judy G. Russell
August 16th, 2005, 10:42 PM
It would be amusing, but people like DeLay usually manage to slither out from under.

Lindsey
August 16th, 2005, 10:55 PM
How in the name of all that is holy could we even BREATHE with that many people in that small a space in that kind of summer heat???
Ain't that the truth! And on multiple floors, too. At least my parents' house is only on one level. Upper floors can be murder in the summer, even when you have central air. I know only too well: my office is on the top floor of our building, with windows that face south. The air conditioning can't alwasy keep up. <sigh>

--Lindsey

Lindsey
August 16th, 2005, 10:57 PM
It would be amusing, but people like DeLay usually manage to slither out from under.
"Slither" is exactly the right word...

--Lindsey

Judy G. Russell
August 17th, 2005, 12:16 AM
Upper floors can be murder in the summer, even when you have central air. I know only too well: my office is on the top floor of our building, with windows that face south. The air conditioning can't alwasy keep up. <sigh>
Tell me about it. Our office is on the 15th floor, windows facing south. On really hot days, I move into the library towards mid-afternoon whenever I can...

RayB (France)
August 17th, 2005, 06:37 AM
We are going all the way up to 68F today and had to turn on a small heater for a while this morning to take the chill off. The bad news is that we may go as far as 77F tomorrow.

Judy G. Russell
August 17th, 2005, 09:28 AM
We're only going to hit 90 here today. A veritable cold snap.

Jeff
August 17th, 2005, 01:14 PM
...a slightly different view of the breed. (I'm also a Colorado native!)

Some of us obviously know, and some of us obviously don't know, that the problem with speaking tongue in cheek is the teeth. And why can't I confine the quoted italics to the original "slightly"?

- Jeff

Judy G. Russell
August 17th, 2005, 01:57 PM
Some of us obviously know, and some of us obviously don't know, that the problem with speaking tongue in cheek is the teeth.
Now, now, be nice. Don't bite.

And why can't I confine the quoted italics to the original "slightly"?
The quote automatically put everything in italics. That may be configurable. I'll check.

chm
August 17th, 2005, 05:16 PM
Equal opportunity disparagement; Californians are running a close second and catching up fast.

Hmm, curious California resident here, wondering what this is all about? If it's the gate thing, I totally understand, I'm still trying to get used to the fondness for cement block walls around here in SoCal.

chm

Lindsey
August 17th, 2005, 06:09 PM
Tell me about it. Our office is on the 15th floor, windows facing south. On really hot days, I move into the library towards mid-afternoon whenever I can...
Oh, yuck. At least our top floor is only three flights up. <g> Then again, we are right under the roof, so maybe we are no better off.

The computer room has its own air conditioning unit, and there are days I go in there that I feel like I need a sweater (sometimes the thermostat on the wall says 68 degrees), but besides being horribly cold, it's not a very comfortable place to work.

The lunchroom is not so bad, but it doesn't look good to be hanging out there too much of the day...

--Lindsey

Lindsey
August 17th, 2005, 06:13 PM
We're only going to hit 90 here today. A veritable cold snap.
You were hotter there than we were here, I think--it was only predicted to get up to about 85 here, and when I went out for lunch around 2:30, it was just rather pleasantly warm. It was cloudy most of the morning, and that probably kept it from getting too terribly hot.

(I had the Fuji apple chicken salad at Panera for the first time today--oh, man, is it ever good!)

--Lindsey

Judy G. Russell
August 17th, 2005, 07:04 PM
You were hotter there than we were here, I think--it was only predicted to get up to about 85 here, and when I went out for lunch around 2:30, it was just rather pleasantly warm. It was cloudy most of the morning, and that probably kept it from getting too terribly hot.
That's supposed to be what we'll see tomorrow through perhaps Saturday. And tomorrow morning it should be positively chilly -- 70F or so for the early morning hours!

(I had the Fuji apple chicken salad at Panera for the first time today--oh, man, is it ever good!)
There's a Panera here now! It's over by our very upscale grocery, Wegman's. I'll have to check out that salad.

Lindsey
August 17th, 2005, 11:01 PM
That's supposed to be what we'll see tomorrow through perhaps Saturday. And tomorrow morning it should be positively chilly -- 70F or so for the early morning hours!
Supposed to be in the 60s here tonight. I love it!

There's a Panera here now! It's over by our very upscale grocery, Wegman's. I'll have to check out that salad.
Do that. I think it's lovely. Fingers of chicken breast on mixed greens, with tomato wedges, red onion slices, gorgonzola cheese crumbles, pecans, and dried apple chips, topped with an balsamic apple vinaigrette dressing. Really yummy.

--Lindsey

Judy G. Russell
August 17th, 2005, 11:29 PM
Fingers of chicken breast on mixed greens, with tomato wedges, red onion slices, gorgonzola cheese crumbles, pecans, and dried apple chips, topped with an balsamic apple vinaigrette dressing. Really yummy.
Hmmmm... I wonder if it'll be lunch time when I get back from the doctor tomorrow...

Jeff
August 18th, 2005, 12:56 PM
Hmm, curious California resident here, wondering what this is all about? If it's the gate thing, I totally understand, I'm still trying to get used to the fondness for cement block walls around here in SoCal.

chm

Clueless with fat checkbooks. Which leads to the gate thing. If I start to see cement block walls I'll start to buy dynamite.

- Jeff

Lindsey
August 18th, 2005, 09:19 PM
Hmmmm... I wonder if it'll be lunch time when I get back from the doctor tomorrow...
After I wrote that, I was afraid that you had once said that you didn't like gorgonzola cheese. I hope I was wrong. It really is a lovely salad.

--Lindsey

Judy G. Russell
August 18th, 2005, 10:00 PM
Ulp. Gorgonzola. I didn't notice that. (I didn't have time to go for lunch either.) Hmmm... I really don't like gorgonzola. Hmmm... wonder if they can make it with a goat cheese...

Lindsey
August 18th, 2005, 11:10 PM
Ulp. Gorgonzola. I didn't notice that. (I didn't have time to go for lunch either.) Hmmm... I really don't like gorgonzola. Hmmm... wonder if they can make it with a goat cheese...
Oooooh, that's too bad; the gorgonzola is sooooo good with it. The whole concept of the salad is the balance between sweet (the apples, the pecans, even the chicken) and sour (the cheese, the vinaigrette dressing, the tomatoes). They might be willing to substitute goat cheese, though; I think they may have some other things that they make with goat cheese, so they should have some on hand.

--Lindsey

Judy G. Russell
August 18th, 2005, 11:24 PM
Sour is okay -- but anything with blue streaks in it is suspect in my book!

Lindsey
August 18th, 2005, 11:38 PM
Sour is okay -- but anything with blue streaks in it is suspect in my book!
Go there with a friend sometime, get the friend to order the salad with the gorgonzola and take a taste. I think you really might like it in spite of the blue specks in the cheese.

--Lindsey

Judy G. Russell
August 19th, 2005, 12:20 PM
Worth a try, maybe. I still dunno about blue streaks in cheese...

Lindsey
August 19th, 2005, 05:28 PM
Worth a try, maybe. I still dunno about blue streaks in cheese...
I went back today for another one. (I had this silly idea of using their free wireless Internet access to listen to a public radio webcast while I was eating, but something was wrong--even though it established a connection, half the time it couldn't find the web sites I was trying to get to.) But back to the cheese: You could easily have mistaken what was on this salad as goat cheese or cottage cheese just from the appearance. (You'd have noticed that it tasted quite a bit sharper than that, though...)

Darn, I meant to ask them if they ever substituted another cheese for the gorgonzola, and I forgot.

--Lindsey

Judy G. Russell
August 19th, 2005, 05:35 PM
Darn, I meant to ask them if they ever substituted another cheese for the gorgonzola, and I forgot.
I'm crushed...

chm
August 19th, 2005, 06:08 PM
Hey, where's my fat checkbook? I can't find it! ; )

About the cement walls, I was discussing this whole subject with native Californians the other day, and they could not comprehend that Midwesterners (my origins) tend to dislike tall, tight residential fences, considering them rude, ugly, unfriendly, and prison-like. Possibly even owned by people "up to no good." Exceptions might include dog owners and parents of small children, but even then, cement block...? No.

These native Californians had no clue what I was talking about. It's another world.

I do live in a gated apartment complex and am glad of the gate since I live off a busy, commercial street (my neighbors are a small medical complex and a Jack in the Box, another apartment complex and a shopping center across the street). Yeah, right here in this crowded city of 200K, a gate is a safety and security issue, an asset.

On the far coast,

Carolyn