So, it's pretty hot here. It's a heat not quite like anything I've experienced before. It's not that it's hotter outside than it gets in Austin. I think the high today was about 96 F. The difference is the culture, and the technology. It's the kind of city heat they show on TV for Los Angeles, or downtown in some other big city. People hanging out their patios and windows for some breeze. Think 'sweltering'. People sweating, and sweating, and sweating. You get in the shower (cold of course), get out, dry off, and commence sweating. AC is quite rare. I don't have it. It does cool off alot at night, but it's still warmer than I like it.
I decided to fix that. I've heard rumors of portable AC units and fans at the Conforama (Walmart type place). I'm told they get one order at the beginning of the summer, and once they're out, they're out. Conforama is madness just like most places on Saturday. Most everything closes at the end of the day during the week and on Sunday. So, everyone goes shopping on Saturday. In fact, because of that, crooks often rob homes in the middle of the day on Saturday. Apparently with everyone at the store, it's a convienent time for crooks to do their 'shopping' as well.
So I went in and wlaked, and walked. Finally, I found a large crowd of people and I knew I had found what I was looking for. Many people seemed to be there just to experience the display units without having an intention to purchase one. I looked at the AC units. Out of the different ones available only one seemed to be a good choice. It was about $1200. I decided I would try to use a fan for this summer. I'm not home during the day, and the nights are already almost bearable. One of the display fans looked perfect, the others were just cheap imitations. It was sleek, sturdy, multi speed, had an oscillating option, variable height, and 40 cm (not the conventional 30) blades. This was what I had been searching for.
I looked on the shelves to pick mine, and the shelf was empty. I saw the price tags, but no fan. I looked around to see if anyone was carrying one that I could take from them, but no. Just as I was about to cry out in desperation I looked across the aisle and saw 1. Just 1. I looked around to see if anyone else had seen it. A guy about my age made eye contact, glanced across the aisle and then back at me. I took a few steps and he took a few steps, but then he bumped into some people that stepped in front of him. I took the fan easily.
As I made the triumphant walk to the front with the box under my arm people looked at me and smiled. Some people pointed and whispered as they saw from the box that I didn't just have a fan, I had a Calor 8615. I slept with it on in my bedroom last night, and looked up every now and then with a smile on my face just to make sure it wasn't a dream. It cools down an amazing amount when it rains. In Austin it hardly ever rains in the summer, but when it does it's just steam. Here it can cool down about 20F in an hour. But, it hasn't rained here in almost two weeks. It's sprinkling now, and I'm praying for rain.
Posted by Brian at June 12, 2003 12:38 PM