the fan club
summer has apparently arrived early for toronto. the weather's been unseasonably warm, off and on, since early may, and we're now having longer and longer stretches of hot temperatures. i don't have air conditioning, and haven't been in my new apartment long enough to determine whether i need to get it. my apartment faces north, so it's spared the bulk of the scorching sunlight until about 5:30pm...when the sun shifts far enough north to bathe my wall of windows in heat until it sets around 8:40pm. right now, i have blinds...which minimize the light but don't really do much to insulate my place against warmth. curtains will be next, since they do a lot to cut down on how much baking my apartment will do. there's also the carefully timed opening and closing of windows -- open fully after 9pm and through the night until 9am, then close once the temperatures outside exceed those inside.
aaaanyway...i've always had ceiling fans, and they did a lot to help me cope with the summers in my previous AC-free apartment, where the windows faced south and west and were basically in the sun all day, every day. so, i brought them along to the new place and, today, have added another ally to their battle against the summertime heat: a standing fan! it was an early birthday present, and it looks sort of like the one pictured here, but mine is a lovely shade of green and kind of retro-looking. i assembled it this morning and turned it on to test it. holy crap! even on the lowest possible setting, it blasts air with such force that one might think it's powered by a jet engine. this could work!
in other news, the Worldwide Short Film Festival starts today, and i'll be covering it for the 'Pie. starting tonight (or tomorrow morning, depending on my energy level), you'll be able to check out my WWSFF diary over at moviepie musings. i don't relish standing outside in line when the forecast is calling for temperatures around 88F (with a humidex pushing that number closer to 96F), but hopefully i'll be able to come home, turn on my fans and not melt completely.
addendum: the noon-hour forecast now calls for a humidex of 40C/104F this afternoon. i see a frappucino in my future...
6 comments:
It is indeed a sign of global warming! Here is Seattle, we had a freakish day or two in the 80s in May, otherwise spring has been unseasonably cold. Today's highs are supposed to be a whopping 64, and tomorrow it should rain. However, people here optimistically wear shorts according to the calendar, rather than looking out the window. Needless to say, it feels nowhere like summer is right around the corner!
Here, in Florida, we have AC AND eleven ceiling fans. The nights no longer cool down. I hate being closed in, but Tom gets crabby. Maybe I should just tie one of those standing fans to the back of his wheelchair! Do they come with wheels??
No AC here but love ceiling fans. Your new standing fan looks quite functional. Sometimes it helps in the evening to open a window and let the fan blow air OUT of the hot rooms. (((((vickie)))))
Are you saying that Vic's apartment is full of hot air?? ;-)
*rimshot*
one-OH-4??
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