century mark

Hey, guess what?? It got to 100 degrees here today!! Now I can start bitching about the heat instead of about it being 50 degrees for eight months!! (why not make every day a celebration?)

I can't even really complain yet because I was in an air conditioned library all day long; maybe tomorrow I will have earned a proper cranky heat-fit. In the meantime, I'm staying hydrated (wheee!) and have 4 inches of really cold water in the bathtub that I can go stand in when I'm feeling sweaty. Lots of houses in Portland don't have air conditioning because of course it doesn't get hot that often. It works out, mostly, with old fashioned heat relief methods such as:
a) keep the curtains closed but the windows open (open curtains late in the day)
b) cold water in bathtub
c) straw fan like genteel southern lady
d) frond fan like genteel harem lady
e) electric fan like normal person
f) travel in time to when ice deliveries were made, mug ice delivery truck OR
f.1) travel in time to when ice deliveries were made, PURCHASE ice, but make sure to have currency of the proper era or risk disrupting the timeline. (No Fabulous Abe in Purple fives or fancy state quarters!)
g) go to movies
h) go to library (people should do this! Anecdotal evidence (aka: I saw it with my own eyeballs) suggests we are having dangerous overcrowding of books on the shelves. People need to check out a lot of stuff, right away!) It's air conditioned and there is free wifi.
i) water garden (and feet) with cold water from the hose. (this only works after 8pm on really hot days)
j) popsicles (I am tragically out of popsicles!)

I know there are more, but I am too hot to think of them right now. In related news, I just had to go get a towel for my super-fab 60's orange vinyl desk chair, because I find I do not care for the Hot Vinyl Chair Experience.

Unrelated Anecdotal Library Observation: Old people love novelist Clive Cussler!!

Freakish Anecdotal Library Observation Coincidence: I just looked up Clive Cussler to see if there was some obvious "oh, of course!" reason for his popularity with the over eighty set, and discovered that he and I share a birthday! (as for the reason -- I'm guessing his books are pretty exciting (more than Matlock, less than CSI), don't require a lot of attention and don't feature scenes of graphic sex or shopping.)

I think I'm going to have to go deal with the Popsicle Issue or at least get some ice for my drink. I hope everyone is either staying cool and comfortable or on their way to check Clive Cussler novels out of the library, where it is air conditioned.

(the photo at the top of this post is from the Grand Floral Parade earlier this month. It was in the 50's and raining.)