We're melting

I like summer in Montreal. Of course like all Montrealers I do complain that it gets hot at times. But one is not a Montrealer unless one complains it's too hot in summer, and too cold in winter. Never completely happy.

It's been a weird spring. It's gone hot/cold/hot/cold. It was around freezing a few weeks ago, and yesterday we hit a record of 30C for this day in May. Previous heat record was 28.5 many years ago.

Which leads me to something else. The AC unit at work that covers our area has never been strong enough for the ever increasing equipment. I have inventoried and given to my boss the wattage of all the equipment already last summer. Had a student do it. Inventory every single monitor, flat panel and PC. Check out the power consumption for each, to find out how much heat each item is generating. Plus an inventory of people so that they could buy a unit that would cover our needs. We've been promised a new unit now for several years.

Well the heat issue came back this spring every time it got warmer outside, it was anywhere between 27-30C in my area. The past couple of days I've had sweat running down my body it's been so warm. Turns out that the owner had never signed for a new unit. IF I understood correctedly he was supposed to buy a new unit to cover entire building. Now they finally signed off a few weeks ago a new unit to cover only our area. Since it's been a sauna, for the past I dunno how many years now. The heat issue keeps coming back. Well the new unit has a 10 week delivery time. So not until 3rd week of June. THey did work to redirect air from the Gym to my area... and put it DIRECTLY ABOVE my desk.

SO the past few days, now I still get 27-28 at my desk, but with cold air on my head and shoulders. So I get cold shivers now. The maintenance woman, promised me she'd move the diffusor above my head to a few feet away. I hope that helps.

The irony is.. the AC unit broke down yesterday. IT's only working at 50% It was 30 outside, and just as warm inside. They had to bring large industrial fans. THankfully I had vacuumed the dust bunnies around the cables I have near my work benches a few days ago. Cause all fans do is move around the dust. Which means I have to take asthma meds to avoid coughing all night.

The sad part is... I cook at work and then go home and freeze. I mean if it's too warm in winter, and I only heat my home to 22.. and I spent the entire day aroudn 28... I'm going to be cold even with 2 sweaters at home at night.

I suffered from so much hot flashes in pre-menopause because of the heat issues. I was fine under 24 but it was 28-30 at work, and at the time I lived in a townhouse where the thermostat was broken. I could either have heat on or off. So I used to have to open windows all winter so it wouldn't be 30. And I wondered why I kept having hto flashes!!!! Thankfully I've passed that. I don't get hot flashes anymore. or rarely. But I still cook easily.

And I'm going to spend most of June in Cyprus and Lebanon, where the temperature is about like July in Montreal, but with less rain. I have quite the collection of sundresses, short skirts and skorts for warm weather. And with all the walking I've been doing hte past week, in the sun, I'm getting a bit of a tan base, so I won't burn so easily. I haven't been using sunblock becuase I'm not out long enough to burn. They've been saying now that we should get at least 30 minutes of sun without sunblock per day, to get the good part of the sun. So long as I am not out long enough to burn, I don't put any on. I tend to prefer going out in the sun past 4 pm, and I rarely burn at that time of the day.

Both times we went to the beach while I was in Dubai, we got there around 4ish. Did not put sun block we stayed about 2 hours and both times I was just about to start burning, I felt my skin was tightening, but no burn. Was just perfect. I never try to tan, though by the end of a Montreal summer, my feet are usually tanned. I remember one summer, I was 15 or 16 and spent the entire summer working on my tan. It wasn't bad until mid august and then it rained 3 weeks straight. When school started I was white as a ghost and people asked me if I went out of the house at all. No one believed I actually ahd a tan 3 weeks earlier. Was last time I tried tanning. I take pride in being vampire white. Besides now I'm mid 40's, and my skin is still nice. Whereas women my age who tan all the time by now have leathery skin and look twice as old.

Heck my last bf was half-mohawk. If he went out in the sun, he'd get very dark. He didn't go in the sun much, but just driving his car, his arms would be a deep brown. He'd always joke about me being his 'pale-skinned' gf. I think it's perfect to be so pale. Goes well with the red hair I like to have and the freckles I do get in the sun.