[geeks] um, hi. I'm new.

[Jonathan C. Patschke]

On Wed, 26 Jun 2002, Joshua D Boyd wrote:

> Find an old man and ask him how he dealt with it.

The old man wisdom out here (which I got from my great grandpa) is:
  1) Drink lots of water.  Also, don't skimp on the salt at meals.
  2) If you're going to be in the sun for most of the day (yard work,
     etc), wear a wide-brimmed hat and long sleeves.
  3) Shade is your friend.  When you rest, always try to rest in the
     shade.

Now, I was always skeptical about #2, but I guess I shouldn't have been,
since they guy was still chopping cotton and mending fences in his 80s.
Now that I've grown my hair out, I've noticed that I -do- feel cooler,
simply because the sun is off my neck, shoulders, and ears.  I suppose the
effect of a long-sleeve shirt would be similar, but I hate the feeling of
long sleeves.

He also had a habit of drinking hot coffee to force himself to sweat more
when he finally did sit down to rest.  He said it cooled him off faster.
Once he got cool, he'd follow it up with cold water so that he'd stay that
way.

The general consensus around here, though, is that the heat was a -lot-
more bearable 40 years ago.  It could be global warming, climate changes
resulting in higher humidity, additional pollution, or simply a change in
perception as people grow older.  Personally, I'm chalking it up to
pollution and getting accustomed to air conditioning.  If I have to go for
a few days without A/C, I don't even notice the heat anymore.

--Jonathan