Res Ipsa Loquitur

I keep my thermostat at 70 and it has struggled some with the 105 degree days during the past week, but it gets a break when the temperature drops to the dry, cool 60's at night (I love the high desert). I just read the St. Louis article and feel badly for those people, but I also compared that situation to my childhood. What was the general public/government reaction when electric service went down from use overload during the hottest days of the summer and the air conditioning would go off? A big bunch of nothing. There was no reaction because people at our economic level usually didn't have electricity, or indoor plumbing. We didn't get electricity on a regular basis until I was in junior high school and even after that my parents chose to buy food rather than an air conditioner. And it wasn't just us. No one in our "social circle" had air conditioning (or electricity, or indoor plumbing). I wonder why this is perceived as such a critical event now? Is St. Louis suddenly dangerously warmer or is someone promoting that illusion?

With all the pavement & big buildings, I imagine St. Louis is like a big ol' humid oven right now. And aren't most newer skyscrapers built with windows that won't open?

We never had air conditioning either, though we did have electricity. And spring water. Which was just as refreshingly cold coming out of the hose as when it left the spring. I engineered a shower head of sorts out of a plastic cup, baling twine and the water hose one hot summer. Now that 55 degree water would cool you off much faster than any high dollar air conditioner.