The Venting Thread

[mamselle]

Here.

Have a rainbow's worth of spoons...

   https://www.walmart.com/ip/The-First-Years-Take-Toss-Dishwasher-Safe-Infant-Feeding-Spoons-Rainbow-Colors-16-Pk/19757735

M.

[OneMoreYear]

This is a minor vent compared to what others are dealing with on this thread.
Our air-conditioner is broken. It is already 80 degrees in here at 8am with all off the lights off. We called a local repair place yesterday. They offered their first available appointment . . . in September.  Another place could not even give us a future appointment as they were scheduled out so far.   This does not bode well.

[apl68]

This is a minor vent compared to what others are dealing with on this thread.
Our air-conditioner is broken. It is already 80 degrees in here at 8am with all off the lights off. We called a local repair place yesterday. They offered their first available appointment . . . in September.  Another place could not even give us a future appointment as they were scheduled out so far.   This does not bode well.

A problem like that does not sound minor!  If your central air is potentially going to be out through the hottest part of the summer, you might need to get an inexpensive window unit or two so that you can keep part of the house cool.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

This is a minor vent compared to what others are dealing with on this thread.
Our air-conditioner is broken. It is already 80 degrees in here at 8am with all off the lights off. We called a local repair place yesterday. They offered their first available appointment . . . in September.  Another place could not even give us a future appointment as they were scheduled out so far.   This does not bode well.

A problem like that does not sound minor!  If your central air is potentially going to be out through the hottest part of the summer, you might need to get an inexpensive window unit or two so that you can keep part of the house cool.

This may be a little pricey, but sounds like a good idea. Those units can really cool a room down.

[clean]

Wow!  I am surprised that it is more than six weeks to get an AC appointment!  Hell, for six weeks, Id be tempted to see if there is a crash course at a local community college!  Id hate to think that the problem would be as simple as my last problem (a blown capacitor) and that I had to wait 6 weeks in summer heat to fix a $20 part! 

Of course, I am in the South, so AC companies are not rare. They are not fast, but they will come out 'after hours' for an extra fee. 

I second the suggestion to get a small room sized AC.  I have one from Walmart that was about $80 that will absolutely cool a bedroom!  I dont know that it would be able to do the main living area, but I can hole up in the bedroom if necessary. 

In graduate school, used ACs were readily available at the local used shops as some of the old dorms were not air conditioned and as students graduated, they recycled them through the used stores (as were dorm sized friges and such).  (In fact, some of the student entrepreneurs would buy them up and store them for the summer to bring them out for new students at a heavy profit!)

Good luck!

[OneMoreYear]

Thanks all. I had expected a little more of a "suck it up, buttercup" response to my vent.  I'm from the south, and I can handle some heat; I just did not expect a six week wait for HVAC. We do have one window unit in the upstairs (as it is a converted attic with no airflow), so in a pinch, we can hunker in there.  I've definitely lived without central air before.
My main problem is that window AC units tend to be loud (or at least ours is), and I'm hard of hearing, which means I can't teach or attend virtual meetings with the window unit blowing (can't hear anyone's comments).  So, it's either fix the central air or teach while sweltering or locate an much quieter window unit (I'll take suggestions if anyone has one). We did find someone to come by sooner than 6 weeks, so hopefully this will be a short lived vent.

[apl68]

Yes, those window units do tend to be noisy.  But then, so do some centralized systems.  The one at my house makes a distinctive howling noise that a movie special sound effects technician might be interested in recording sometime.

It makes sense that a venting thread would have somebody venting about their ventilation.

[smallcleanrat]

Thanks all. I had expected a little more of a "suck it up, buttercup" response to my vent.  I'm from the south, and I can handle some heat; I just did not expect a six week wait for HVAC. We do have one window unit in the upstairs (as it is a converted attic with no airflow), so in a pinch, we can hunker in there.  I've definitely lived without central air before.
My main problem is that window AC units tend to be loud (or at least ours is), and I'm hard of hearing, which means I can't teach or attend virtual meetings with the window unit blowing (can't hear anyone's comments).  So, it's either fix the central air or teach while sweltering or locate an much quieter window unit (I'll take suggestions if anyone has one). We did find someone to come by sooner than 6 weeks, so hopefully this will be a short lived vent.

Hooray for shortening the wait time. Do you have to deal with high humidity in summer on top of high temps? I'm more experienced with dry, desert heat; spent a summer in a more humid area for an internship thinking that, after surviving 100+ temps at home, the average temps of 80-90F would be tolerable. I was so wrong; I thought I was going to drown on land, every breath felt so heavy. I never did figure out how to deal with humidity.

If it's more of a dry heat, have you ever tried some of those wearables that go in the freezer? There are different configurations, but the idea is you wrap it around your shoulders or have it on your lap or something and it helps cool you down. Cheaper version is a makeshift vest with ice packs or frozen bottles of water stuffed in it. I've also seen cooling towels/blankets (add a little water, stretch out the material to initiate whatever chemistry is at play, and you have something cool to go against your skin). Haven't tried those so I'm not sure how well they work.

Hope you find a solution soon.

[clean]

and I'm hard of hearing, which means I can't teach or attend virtual meetings with the window unit blowing (can't hear anyone's comments).

Get headphones. 
You will have the best of both worlds.  You will hear what is said with the speaker being right at your ears and be able to sit in the room!

Newer models are likely quieter than older, larger units. 
Window units do come in different sizes. Some are very small and are just for one small room.  Others are designed to cool a whole house!  The larger will be more expensive and heavy and not what you really need to address a short term problem.

[OneMoreYear]

and I'm hard of hearing, which means I can't teach or attend virtual meetings with the window unit blowing (can't hear anyone's comments).

Get headphones. 
You will have the best of both worlds.  You will hear what is said with the speaker being right at your ears and be able to sit in the room!

This is definitely a good suggestion for most folks. It's not workable for me due to my particular loss and hearing technology. But I'm working on upgrading some of my hearing tech, so that I can have a more workable solution.  But I do appreciate the response.

Hooray for shortening the wait time. Do you have to deal with high humidity in summer on top of high temps? I'm more experienced with dry, desert heat; spent a summer in a more humid area for an internship thinking that, after surviving 100+ temps at home, the average temps of 80-90F would be tolerable. I was so wrong; I thought I was going to drown on land, every breath felt so heavy. I never did figure out how to deal with humidity.

If it's more of a dry heat, have you ever tried some of those wearables that go in the freezer? There are different configurations, but the idea is you wrap it around your shoulders or have it on your lap or something and it helps cool you down. Cheaper version is a makeshift vest with ice packs or frozen bottles of water stuffed in it. I've also seen cooling towels/blankets (add a little water, stretch out the material to initiate whatever chemistry is at play, and you have something cool to go against your skin). Haven't tried those so I'm not sure how well they work.

Hope you find a solution soon.

Thanks, smallcleanrat. I grew up in a place of high humidity, so it's less humid here than what I grew up with, but it's not a dry heat.  I agree on coldpacks. I'm totally versed in the cheap versions of frozen water bottles and ice in bandannas around the neck.

How are you doing, smallcleanrat. Are you feeling any better?

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

Unrelated to anything here.

About to lose my !@#$%^&^%$#@ mind. That is all.

[mamselle]

Do you remember where you had it last?

  (sorry...)

M.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

Do you remember where you had it last?

  (sorry...)

M.

Couldn't resist, eh? It's ok. I think I found part of it under the sofa. A certain cat was chewing on it...

[mamselle]

Oh, good.

Kitties help restore mindfulness....when they're not helping you lose it.

Glad it turned up, if only in part.

M.

[downer]

The bookstore sends a reminder to order fall books but the instructions about how to order them are patently false. The message does not include a URL to get to the necessary page to order them.

I'm guessing they are just recycling an old message that now does not fit the university website. The faculty page itself hasn't been updated since the Spring semester and is still full of info about transitioning to online courses.

I think I'm just grumpy.