Monday, July 09, 2007

Vagaries

You would think that with all of our high-tech gadgetry and engineering knowledge that heating and cooling a building, even a large one, would be reduced to mere child's play. I have yet to work in a building where I'm comfortable both summer and winter. That's held particularly true over the past couple of weeks.

During the last warm spell, part of the floor that I'm on got a little on the toasty side. It wasn't too uncomfortable (for me) but I had the guys called building engineering to cool things off a wee bit. The request was fulfilled and everyone was happy.

Over the next several days, however, the temperature in the building kept dropping. It was pleasant outside and I dressed for the weather, given that we had turned the air conditioning off at home and opened the windows. By the end of the week, I was feeling the need for wool socks, and a scarf and hat at work. So today, I dressed for the office conditions...stockings and shoes, slacks, a turtleneck sleeveless sweater with a cardigan to go over.

As I stepped into the elevator at work, I thought it felt a little warm. It was a warm weekend and the air conditioning is usually turned off during non-working hours, so I didn't worry too much. As I stepped off the elevator on my floor, it became clear that the air conditioning wasn't functioning at peak efficiency. In fact, the air conditioning wasn't functioning at all. The temperature in my office was a tropical 84 degrees. Facilities eventually managed to get the A/C working again and the temperature dropped a couple of degrees. But it never got below 82 all day. By 6:00 this evening, it was up to 85. That does not bode well for tomorrow.

I'm in a quandary about how to dress, although I'm leaning toward a nice cool linen dress with sandals, with a pair of wool socks on the side and maybe a scarf and a fleece jacket. Fingerless gloves would be the icing (no pun intended) on the cake.

Actually, I don't blame the A/C for not working today. It reached 99 degrees in the shade on our deck, so it had to be warmer in the more urban areas. My car thermometer registered 103 on the way home! I think everyone's A/C is working overtime. Just before I started writing this evening, we had several power blips and short brownouts. Hopefully we'll have power overnight; otherwise it's going to be one hot, sticky miserable night. More hot weather is promised for tomorrow and for Wednesday as well. All I can say is thank heaven we aren't out West; it's brutally hot out there.

Break out the Euro Linen and stay cool!

3 comments:

Anne P said...

YeeeOUCH! Hot here too, but we only have about 10% humidity right now. Stay cool!

Sheepish Annie said...

We've been unusually cold lately, but that is slated to change today. I am sooooo not looking forward to this.

Stay cool!

Mia said...

I hope they fix it and fast. It is really early for us to have this heat. And maybe there is a temperature where they should send you home. We have only had one small brief electrical blimp and that was this morning. My a/c at home is set at 75. And I have been waiting until after 7 pm to bake my breads that I need to bake. At least the sun is on the front of the building and not as bad.