Day 21: Which is worse, too hot or too cold

Between You, Me and the Lamp Post

Day 21: Which is worse, too hot or too cold

OMG, it’s hot. One source says it’s 27 deg C (80.6 deg F), but it feels like 32 deg C (89.6 deg F). Baloney others say it’s 30 deg C (86 deg F) but it feels like 42 deg C (107.6 deg F).

Personally, I’m inclined to believe the latter. It is hot ... OMG, it’s just boiling out there. There is a heat warning in effect but not many people will take that warning to heart. Even though the message states, ‘If you don’t have to go out, stay indoors’, many will venture out and end up in the hospital or worse, in the morgue. Yes, that’s how hot it is.

Now today’s post is once again inspired by a friend. Amidst this heatwave, her A/C packed up. I can relate to that.

In the summer of 2010 the A/C in the condo building where I live gave the ghost. From what I’ve been told, management and the Board of Directors had been warned that is was about to happen, but they chose to ignore the inspector. 

When the A/C suddenly stopped working, Toronto was experiencing a heatwave with temperatures exceeding 40 deg C (104 deg F). We were dying in our units!

Dieter went out to Walmart and got three fans. Two medium-sized ones for the bedrooms and a big one for the living room. The first time he switched it on, it sounded like a helicopter was about to take off. The cool air was wonderful though.

In addition to the fans, I constantly had my feet in cold water, and a towel soaked in cold water around my neck.

After three days the heatwave broke and temperatures went down to 32 deg C (89.6 deg F). Still hot, but a lot cooler than it was before. 

All in all, we spend 18 without A/C.

When the situation was finally resolved, the residents demanded a reduction in maintenance fees. After all, why pay for the convenience of A/C when there was no A/C for 18 days. Management and the Board of Directors said no, and no amount of pleading or threatening would change their mind. 

A few residents said we should take them to court for pain and suffering, yet that didn’t happen. Lawyers require a hefty retainer and charge a fortune by the hour. Money that none of the residents had, and management and the Board of Directors knew that.

Funny enough, three years later we experienced the opposite situation ... an ice storm with temperatures of -32 deg C (25.6 deg F) when we had no heat, no electricity, and no water. 

While the majority of residents of Ontario had their power back within 72 hours, the building where I live had to make do without heat, electricity and water for 18 days. Apparently, the generator had packed up (another thing management and the Board of Directors had ignored) and now we were all paying the price.

Nature turned into a winter wonderland, with the sun glinting off the frozen trees, but few of us could appreciate the beauty of it.

Too hot or too cold ... I honestly don’t know which is worse.