Tuesday, September 14, 2010

I'm A Survivor!

It may not seem  like a big deal to some of you, but me and my little fur kids survived two nights and two and a half days of life without air conditioning! I had all my windows open until I went to bed (I just don't feel safe sleeping with windows open). Every fan I own was at top speed. Still, the temperature inside climbed to 93. The coolest it ever got after the unit broke (AGAIN) was 86. I thought I'd share my survival tips here in case you find yourself in the same situation.

Ice Packs
I had been hoarding these for months. The little packs are part of my monthly Scentsy consultant order to keep the wax bars from melting (unlike my home warranty company, they understand it's hot and want to protect their product).

I easily have a dozen in my freezer. It turned out to be perfect for me and my pets. I would take one, wrap it in a hand towel and put it on either the back of my neck or rest my wrist on it. If I didn't move around much and tried not to think about the heat, I could get comfortable for a while. In fact, this was the only way I could fall asleep (while thinking about a vacation on a glacier with one of those Coca-Cola polar bears).

When I would see my cat or dog breathing heavily, I'd wrap up one ice pack and put it on them. During normal circumstances, they would flinch and move out of the way. It didn't take long for them to realize that was their only shot at something cool (besides ice cubes and the occasional soaking - even though the cat resisted the first few times).

Ice Cream
In this case, Cherry Coke Zero and vanilla ice cream floats became one of two things I ate over the last three days. I have also nibbled on Blue Bell's mint chocolate chip ice cream bars.

The heat doesn't just zap my energy and whatever non-crankiness I might have. It wipes out my appetite. The last thing I wanted was food that needed to be cooked or heated up in the microwave. Ice cream was the only thing I have in my house that met those requirements.

I have to admit that as much as my little float was good, it was just too sweet and I often threw out the last third of it. Still, it was good and cold - just what I would imagine a doctor would order.

Baby Powder
I am not using a photo of baby powder because I don't want you people to think I was using cocaine. I was not and never have. Here's the magical thing about baby powder: if you're even remotely sticky, the lovely powder un-sticks you. Good thing the bed I chose has white sheets, as I couldn't see the powder in the bed. I did see it when I stripped the bed to wash those sheets. I imagine it's what life at a pre-rehab Lindsay Lohan's house is like. What? I might believe she's changed her ways!

I am not wholly convinced my air conditioner is fixed for good. It won't be. It's old. It's like an old race horse - it's won its share of races, but needs to head to pasture. It won't win any more races. I can only hope it will make it through the rest of the summer so that I can figure out some other plan (AKA, find $6,000 stashed in an old coat pocket so I can buy a new one). So, friends, please say a prayer or cross your fingers that I won't have to break out my survival kit any time soon. I am giving serious thought to buying a window air conditioner just in case - or as a way of throwing money on something only to never need it.

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