Tell me about it. It hit 114° F (46° C) down here the other day. It's been averaging about 110° during the day and I've seen my car's thermometer hit 125° F after sitting in an asphalt parking lot. I would not be surprised to see it hit 120° F or better in the next few weeks.
I stopped at a store this afternoon and stepped in something sticky as I got out of the car. I assumed it was chewing gum. But it wasn't. Some tar they had sealed the parking lot with
had actually turned back to liquid form. Ugh. I managed to get it off before I tracked it anywhere.
A few years back, I put an aluminum knob on my shifter. Looks cool, feels great. But not this time of year. Currently, it's an orb of pain capable of producing first degree burns. I've been dropping a leather glove over it - still hot but it won't burn. The cloth seats aren't too bad, but the vinyl steering wheel can get painful. Which is why I keep the other glove in there, too. When the inferno is at full blast, I wear the gloves to drive.
Slightly ridiculous, because these are my motorcycle gloves. I'm an ATGATT guy and believe in brightly colored motorcycle gear (I'm all for subtlety and minimalism, except when I want to be visible to cars.) So I drive around with black, white and red armored gauntlets. Sometimes people stare, but I like to think they understand.
My outdoor cats are half-comatose during the day. Yes, I make sure they have lots of water.
Speaking of which, there is no cold water on tap any longer. Turning on the hot tap gets you scalded. The cold knob comes out plenty warm. I keep the shower on its coldest setting and I still get water around 90° F, which is actually refreshing.
Finally, I want to praise my small collection of vintage electric fans. Modern ones just don't compare in terms of delivering air. If anyone needs a good fan, go vintage. You need to oil them and be aware of the open cages, but they rock. They consume about as much power as a 40W lightbulb and probably knock a good $100 off the electric bill.
