Layout:
Home > Weather woes

Weather woes

July 4th, 2013 at 01:54 pm

I find this humid, sultry weather so despicable! Hate it.

I posted yesterday that I had just one small window AC; I had totally forgotten about the large portable AC I’ve had for a number of years, but hardly ever use.


It's hard to make out in the photo, but it's actually sitting on a black chair.)

It blasts out cold air pretty well and it’s on roller casters, so you can place it anywhere in the house near a window. I paid a lot of money for it, I think $375 or something like that. It’s s got a large, flexible exhaust tube (about the diameter of a dryer hose vent) you have to hook up to the back, and then through a vent that fits inside a window. The problem is that this tube does not screw into the back of the unit or the piece that fits inside the window securely. (You close a double hung window over it.) It’s exasperating to work with and keeps popping out of place and as a result, I hardly ever use the thing except when I am desperate. I may call the manufacturer as well, which is long overdue.

I did run it for a few hours Iast night during dinner, in the kitchen. It did a good job of cooling the kitchen, but the cool air didn’t really filter into the adjoining dining or living room. This morning I kept the unit in the kitchen but managed to elevate it by lifting it onto a chair directly in front of the window and rejiggered the whole thing. The flexible hose can be pulled out to maybe 10 feet, but when the unit is running, you can feel that hose get very warm, and you have to wonder if it’s sending warmth right back into the air. So I figure when the unit is right up close to the window with the hose contracted in size to about 1.5 feet, if that will help. I will likely run it again today when the heat gets unbearable.

The worst thing is when we get these really hot days and I have to go to work, because I worry about how the cats fare cooped up in this house alone for a 10-hour stretch. They are not smart enough to go into the cooler basement, and if I locked them down there, Luther would be clawing at the door all 10 hours. At least now through Monday I can monitor the opening and closing of curtains, windows, run the AC as needed, etc. My 3 ceiling fans and 2 large floor fans help as well, though once the humidity reaches a certain point, all they do is blow hot air around.

Here’s a picture of the Maharaja chair I acquired about a month ago.



I like it very much. Kind of rustic, but very sturdy and comfortable. Sits in my sunroom.

I’ve started my Lyme meds, but had to cut back a bit on one of the herbs I’m taking concurrently, the Cat’s Claw. It was upsetting my stomach.

Going to mother’s for lunch tomorrow. I was planning on going to the landfill today, but forgot they’d be closed for the holiday. I’m guessing they’ll be closed tomorrow, too, so that means I MUST go on Saturday, the busiest day of all, since they are also closed Monday, my last day before returning to work.
Caraluzzi’s has blueberries this week for $1.88 a pint, cheaper than anywhere else I’ve seen. Used to be blueberries went for .99 a pint in summer, and I’ve staunchly held off buying them for anything more than that, the result being that I ate no blueberries the last few years.  So, I will cave and buy 2 pints at Caraluzzi’s today.

I finally got some interesting stuff to do at work yesterday. I started writing website product descriptions for some pillows and throws; I also have another designer bio to write. These are not ordinary product descriptions you might see on any number of retail furniture sites. They practically give an encapsulated history of where the product is made. For instance, I was writing about a pillow yesterday made in Norway using Norwegian lambswool in a woolen mill whose history is closely tied to the history of the town. It’s a small copper mining town, and back in 1789, a wealthy but childless mine director left his fortune to establish a foundation to feed and clothe the poor by teaching them how to spin and sew clothes made from lambswool. Anyway, it’s all very interesting and yes, the product description goes into some detail about all of the above and all. I don’t feel like I’m writing about a product to sell as much as I’m writing about the history of Norway’s handcraft industry. They’re very nice pillows, but I don’t have $100 to spend on a pillow.

I also wrote about the quality of the raw material: these Norwegian sheep live the good life, roaming at will and munching contentedly on fresh green pasture in the Norwegian mountainsides. Because of the cooler climate, they are not bothered by insects, and thus their wool does not need to be treated with harsh chemicals to clean the wool.

My manager has been making lots of edits to my work and I’m finding that she is uber particular about how everything reads. There is a definite “tone” running throughout the website which she wants to maintain, and being able to mimic that tone exactly to her liking will be difficult. A heavy-handed editor is something that stressed me out in the past, but at this point, I’m really just there to be paid and not taking personal ownership of things which just caused me to be possessive about my writing in the past and who messed with it.


Here's a photo of a large mirror my ex-toy designer British neighbor offered me after rescuing it at the dump. He was going to bring it home to his wife, the kind of thing he does all the time, but i guess he figured they had enough to stage their house and it would be just another thing to move. It's in very good condition except that the paint is coming off it and it would need to be sanded and repainted. It's very heavy so I'm not sure I want to try hanging it now.

6 Responses to “Weather woes”

  1. creditcardfree Says:
    1372943514

    I like that chair! I've noticed my cats in our basement a bit more with the warmer weather. They like to sleep on the guest bed down there...on a blanket! Do they have a cozy place in the basement that might be inviting to them? I hope the dump is open tomorrow so you can make that trip on a less busy day.

  2. nhgirl1970 Says:
    1372946575

    It's going to be hot this next few days in New England. That air conditioning will definitely come in handy.

  3. snafu Says:
    1372955243

    I wonder if the large, heavy mirror is the type that connected with 'posts' [1" x 1"] to the back of reproduction French Provincial dressers so popular in my mom's generation.sive
    https://www.google.ca/search?q=reproduction+french+provincial+dresser+with+mirror&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=sqDVUeHKBImkigLxtYAY&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=780&bih=321#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=4lW29D7Y8l6ZJM%3A%3B5pI01N8O4qTu7M%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fthefrenchprovincialfurniture.com%252Fwp-content%252Fuploads%252F2010%252F02%252FFPLargeMirror.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fthefrenchprovincialfurniture.com%252Fvintage-french-provincial-furniture%252Fcomment-page-1%3B1023%3B982

    They're expensive so you might consider offering it for sale if you don't need it.

  4. scfr Says:
    1372959888

    That maharaja chair is gorgeous!

  5. PatientSaver Says:
    1372961528

    Snafu, you're right...it does look like that same style. Problem is that the bottom is not level/straight, so you would always have to hang it, not stand it upright.

  6. My English Castle Says:
    1372972406

    Love both finds!

Leave a Reply

(Note: If you were logged in, we could automatically fill in these fields for you.)
*
Will not be published.
   

* Please spell out the number 4.  [ Why? ]

vB Code: You can use these tags: [b] [i] [u] [url] [email]