Heatwave, what heatwave?...

[mandragora]

So, you're living through a heatwave but it hasn't seemed to be too bad so far. You've been proofing a client in the basement conference room, which is - blessedly - cool for the past two days. And there's a breeze, so it's been hot, yes, but you can cope.

And then there's today. You're working at a different law firm today, situated in the heart of the City (always the hottest part of London). There's no air conditioning. You arrive to find that your desk, formerly situated in a cool corner, that caught the breeze, has been moved upstairs.

You look at the thermometer - 28 degrees C (in the 80s F) at 9am. You try to work. Unfortunately, with the move everything is in a mess and your belongings are scattered about over two floors. You are now bathed in sweat.

By midday it's 30C in the office.

The boys all bugger off to the air-conditioned pub with a client, leaving you as the sole fee earner left in the office to hold the fort. They remain there for two and a half hours.

You wilt some more. You field calls put through by the receptionist and somehow remain polite.

The boys come back. The bastards!

Four pm. It's now 34 degrees C in the office. You sit at your desk and gulp down water. You were meant to be going to the cinema tonight to see Terminator 3 but your friend isn't well and cancels. You've got no food in to eat tonight, having thought you'd be out for dinner, so dash (very, very slowly) off to Marks and Sparks. You enter the foodhall. Ahhhhhh. Air conditioning. You force yourself to leave. The heat outside strikes you like a hammer blow. The heat inside the office isn't any better.

Five pm. It is officially London's hottest ever day since records began (about two hundred years ago). It is stinking hot. So the senior partner of the firm decides that now would be a good time to continue moving the office furniture about. On the hottest day that any of us have ever experienced in London.

YOu help move a few items, then look at your watch. 5.40 pm. That's it - you're out that door. Leave the few remaining boys to it. After all they had a two and a half hour lunch. In air conditioned premises.

You walk - slowly - to the train station. Trains are all buggered because of the heat. You get the first available train and change a few stations up the line for the tube. Ouch. You crawl down into the non-air conditioned tube. There are signal problems. The tube whimpers along in fits and starts.

At last you reach your stop and stagger down the road to your house. Which is like an oven. You open all windows and go for a cold bath (you can't get the shower to run as cold as the bath. Bliss. For the first time (except for brief foray to M&S) you feel cool.

You get out and slump on the sofa. Coolness has already worn off...

And yes, I do know that temperatures on the high 30s (which is what it was in the City today) is nothing to some people. But you've got air conditioning dammit!

Climate change. Now a reality. Looks viciously at the vanity SUV drivers.

Comments

[thermidor.livejournal.com]

I've been thinking about you Londoners today. That's awful to have such hot weather, especially since you don't have the airconditioning everywhere.

Of course, here it's storming (again!); wettest summer I can remember.

[penelope-z.livejournal.com]

I was in the underground for an hour around 4 and I really died. I mean, I'm supposed to be used to it, but in Greece there is air-conditioning everywhere, and where there isn't any, there are beaches.

[temaris.livejournal.com]

What she said.

Someone let me know when it's winter, okay?

(36 expected on Saturday...)

[lexin.livejournal.com]

Word. Have you noticed that some people seem to have an allergy to washing? I detest the underground when it's like this.

[mandragora1.livejournal.com]

I'll swop your rain for London's heat. Rain? Hah! I laugh at rain (well, I am British *g*).

But at this moment I'm thinking wistfully, 'Come back crap summers, all is forgiven'.

[mandragora1.livejournal.com]

in Greece there is air-conditioning everywhere, and where there isn't any, there are beaches.

Sigh. Yeah. 'Cos you're geared up for the heat. And we're...not.

I share your pain at travelling by tube in this weather. And, if it was bad at 4pm, can you imagine what it was like during rush hour...

[mandragora1.livejournal.com]

Someone let me know when it's winter, okay?

Mmmmm. Winterrrrrrr.

(36 expected on Saturday...)

Nooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!

BTW, have you arranged to go see pirate-slash yet? If not d'you wanna? Maybe go to one of the cinemas near either you or me on Saturday? Air conditioning....

[mandragora1.livejournal.com]

Have you noticed that some people seem to have an allergy to washing?

Oh yeah. As my olfactory equipment is in full working order be difficult not to. Mind you, by the end of the working day I was worried lest people would think I was one of the unwashed, the effects of the morning's shower having long since worn off!

[raincitygirl.livejournal.com]

Yuckers. And here I thought vancouver was bad. Do you have an electric fan at least?

Doesn't it just make you want to vandalize an SUV by sticking one of those "I'm changing the environment! As me how." stickers on its bumper?

[mandragora1.livejournal.com]

Oh, we have fans. But when the air's that hot unfortunately they do little to improve the situation.

And, yes. *g*

I grew up in the country where many people had 4-wheel drive vehicles (as SUVs are referred to in the UK) for practical reasons. I don't have a problem with them per se if you need one. What I do have a problem with is the townies who drive one - cluttering up the roads, polluting the atmosphere (even) more than normal cars. As for those ridiculous trucks that many Americans (of the non-farmer) variety drive, don't get me started...

If you need to prove what a big dick you've got by driving that type of vehicle...

'Nuff said.

[temaris.livejournal.com]

Mmmmm, pirate slash...

Nope, no plans to see as yet, but must be back at my place for seven (m may or may not be appearing depending on whether her place is available or not!)

How about the quiet complex down the road from me?

[raincitygirl.livejournal.com]

Hey, I'm with you. No objection here to people who need them driving the big cars (heck, my grandad had a big Land Rover truck, but then he had woods, so he needed it). But for people who live in a town and don't go driving to the mountains each weekend, why do *they* need them. Also, petrol in the UK is quite a b it pricier than in North America, so I was surprised last time I was there to see so many SUV's. Is it a status thing? I can afford to spend masses and masses on petrol, and this car I'm driving is the proof sort of thing.

[mandragora1.livejournal.com]

Also, petrol in the UK is quite a b it pricier than in North America, so I was surprised last time I was there to see so many SUV's. Is it a status thing?

Yep. What's really stupid though (IMO, of course) is that many of the people who proudly show their SUV off spend their money on that rather than buying a bigger house. Because of course a car, which depreciates from the moment you drive it off the forecourt, is so much better an investment than property, which (in general, there have been blips) steadily appreciates in value.

*snort*

[olympia-m.livejournal.com]

and then you talk about the weather here.

It hasn't dropped below 30C all the time I've been here. Heat sucks!!!!!! I can totally understand you.

[mandragora1.livejournal.com]

I should think it's much worse in Greece, thinking of the heat wave that Europe is currently experiencing. With the proviso that in southern Europe people expect heat, are prepared for it and have houses built for it.

Unlike here. Sigh.

But yeah, we're hearing talk of possibly mid-40s C in southern Europe. Ouch!

[olympia-m.livejournal.com]

well, we have air-conditioners installed, actually. Traditional houses were built to stand the heat, but people aren't building the traditional way anymore. Which is a shame, in my opinion.