hot in the city, hot in the city tonight...

The song, sung by Billy Idol, which very accurately describes today in Adelaide.

The day began reasonably well, but took a sharp nosedive when it came time to go to work.
It was already too hot for me when I walked to the bus stop.
A bus stop which faces the morning sun, with no shade whatsoever.
(Welcome enough in winter but not in 100 degree heat).
Well, there's a tree, but the only shade from that is a six to eight inch wide strip from the tree trunk.
The leafy canopy shadow is already over the fence into the yard next to the bus stop.
So I stood in the 4 inch wide shadow strip made by a light pole......just to shield my face.

Then the bus arrived.
A wheezy old-fashioned model with a narrow doorway and three steepish narrow steps to climb up.

And it was packed full!!
Like an unopened sardine can.
With no airconditioning.
Now I don't mind being packed in like sardines so much, as long as there's airconditioning.
This particular bus got so warm, I was thankful for the tiny amount of fresh air that entered everytime someone exited by the back door which was opposite my seat.
By the time I arrived in the city I was dripping sweat and very uncomfortable.

I got off the bus and walked across the road to wait for the next bus which would take me to Norwood.
I probably looked funny walking with my arms outstretched to cool off a bit, but I really didn't care.
A small breeze helped dry me off a little, but only to the point where I felt sticky.
The second bus did have airconditioning, but it's a much shorter ride, so I didn't really cool off.

I arrived at work looking very pink and was thankful for the airconditioning in the store.
And the spare time I had up my sleeve which meant dunking my head under the tap. Aaaaahhhh!!
Although in my opinion they could crank the aircon up to freezing and everyone else can wear cardigans, at least I'd be comfortable.......

So here I am, hours later, just beginning to feel better after a heat headache, (yes, I stayed well hydrated) and a long nap.
It's 8:25pm and the sun is about 25-30 degrees off the horizon still, but the glare has gone and for that I am grateful.
Once the shadow of the neighbouring block of flats covered my teeny tiny front porch I was able to get oput there and give my thirsty pots a nice big drink of water.

And can you believe the water in our supply pipes is already running hot? From the cold taps!!
I turned on the shower expecting cool and almost scalded myself. Jumped out quicksmart I can tell you!
That doesn't usually happen this early in the season.
Guess the global warming rumors have something to them after all.

Comments

  1. I can't even imagine that kind of heat. Wow!!! Hope things cool down for you soon.

    ReplyDelete
  2. That's the thing about not having well water up here in July is Summer Land. It's the same thing. Warm water out of the coldwater tap. Not quite hot here, but so what? It stinks just the same.

    I have an image of a whole lot of Adelaide-dwellers looking like airplane people, walking around airing the armpits. I kind of like it.

    Ever notice that, no matter what the country, people cater to the people who say they are cold? They can, as you point out, add layers to their clothing. But when you are hot? You can do NOTHING but hope it cools down.

    There. I feel better now. But up here, we were complaining about the 5 degrees (F) it was at 7 a.m. THere were not enough layers.

    Living in the land of extremes gives one many opportunities to kvetch.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi River,

    Oh dear. I like the warm weather we get in a UK summer. We got the odd sizzling summer but mostly they are comfortable and very pleasant.

    That's not to say I haven't experienced nasty heat - 45 degrees Celsius in Las Vegas and a very humid 38 degrees in Hong Kong.

    Anyway - tomorrow in Manchester the temperature will reach a high of 9 degrees.

    I'll bet you wish you were here...

    ;-)

    Cheers

    PM

    ReplyDelete
  4. Its "Hot, Damned Hot" as Robin Williams says in the movie Good Morning Vietnam :-).

    ReplyDelete
  5. Toni; you're in the west, so you had this heat before we did, you know what I'm talking about.

    Delores; things won't be cooling down any time soon. This is our summer.

    Frogdancer; and it's coming your way. AND I woke up this morning to find we've been blacked out. No electricity since very early this morning. I'm starting to worry about the food in my freezer.

    JeanetteLS; not many people here have well water, even out in the country, although a lot of farming properties do have dams. I really do wish that those who feel the heat more in summer can be catered for. Things aren't so bad in our winter, people wear coats while I work comfortably in shirtsleeves.

    Plasman; is that 9 degrees Celsius or Fahrenheit? It sounds deliciously cool, but I know that in reality that's too cool for me. I prefer the 18-25 Celsius range which is 64-77Fahrenheit.

    Windsmoke; thank you! That's the quote I was trying to remember for my title, but couldn't bring it to mind, so used Billy Idol's song instead.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Our dugout in Antarctica is looking better all the time. I went down to meet a friend for a cuppa this morning. Only a kilometre away. By the time I arrived I was a soggy and unappetising mess, with perspiration dripping down my face. Urk. Around about 14C is my preferred temperature, though I can cope till the low 20s.

    Good luck with your blackout. I hope it was v brief.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Crikey....!

    Well here it's 2C, and we do have a guest bedroom :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. This time of year I shower under the cold water only and it's still too hot when I first turn it on, I have to let the cold run for a couple of minutes.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Of all the hot weather horrors, nothing beats overheated air conditioning in the workplace.

    ReplyDelete

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