Hellified Heat

It has been extra hot here this week! Not only has it been hot, but there is humidity has draped over the city's atmosphere. It's the kind of hot that makes you want to experiment with frying an egg out here! Is hot enough that I felt sorry for the little stray cat that I see on the side of the road on my commute home from work, and moreso the homeless people I ride past as well.

On days like this, it is almost tempting to call in sick to life in general. Yet because it's so hot, staying home isn't a great option either because on the "dog days of summer," all of the power companies decide that when it's a high heat index day, and that they are going to cycle your air off temporarily, especially if you are enrolled in their energy Savings Plan (which I haven't seen much savings on since I've been enrolled).

For those of you not enrolled in Energy savings, the premise if you lessen your air consumption by a certain percentage, you are supposed to save money on your electric bill. The trade-off of course, is that on certain days that are designated as heat index days, the power company has control over your thermostat! They turn off your central air conditioning supply for a few hours. On the surface, this does not seem so bad especially if they do the cut off at hours in which you are not home. The problem, however, is with the time that the power companies choose. The time from my energy cycling is scheduled roughly for 3 p.m. and generally extends until around 6 p.m. . This means that when I get home my air will not be on! My only saving grace this week is that A and I attended Vacation Bible School, which began at 6 p.m. and ended at around 9 p.m. (more on adventures at VBS later).

Right now, I am sitting in the relative comfort of my home in the morning, nursing my son back to health to help him recover from his summer cold. Like his mama, he can't handle fluctuations indoor and outdoor temperatures. Yes, that means that I caught a slight 1 myself, but managed to knock mine out with Thera-Flu. But it knocked him out of commission not only for the last night of VBS, but also for this morning's soccer practice this morning. I'm actually thankful for it this morning, because after last week's super hot outdoor practice, I was not looking forward to more extreme heat.

Stay hydrated folks. One good way is to make sure you start off the day with a cup before you leave. Fast-food Restaurants give courtesy cups of water. Take your own cup to 7-11 and other convenience stores and you get water from the dispenser for free (a kid actually did not know this and expressed surprise when he saw me leave with my container). Again, stay hydratted. Avoid brown sodas and caffeine because they extract water from your body.