Change of venue

It's been very, very hot here. Or rather, it's been "normal" hot for Oklahoma in the summer, the thing that makes it unbearable is the humidity. We had a couple months of heavy rain and I guess that moisture is now going back to the atmosphere and the air feels soupy and thick.

One thing I've noticed with my maybe-five-year-old whole-house airconditioner unit, is that at times like this it labors. Especially very late in the day. Part of that, I think, is where they had to put it - the older, smaller unit was behind my pecan tree and got some shade. But that was not up to code and the new one wouldn't fit there anyway so they had to put it *in front of* the tree, and it gets the full afternoon sun there. (If I had had more tolerance for life-disruption at that point, I might have looked into having the ductwork - which runs under the house - rejiggered so the unit could go somewhere on the north or east side, rather than the southwest corner).

My preferred temperature is 74. (Well, really, my preferred temperature would be 72, but we have to compromise). Late in the day the thing just runs and runs and stays at 76, and I suspect that that's all the cooling it can do. So I grumble and punch the button a couple times to put it up to 77 to give the unit a rest. (I worry about it burning itself up).

Also, this evening I went out in the heat and cut and pulled all the vegetation that was growing up close to the thing, in the hopes of it getting more air circulation. I did that barely 2 weeks ago. It's frustrating here: weeds will grow inches in a day, it seems, but the plants you *want* won't.

And still it labored. I put it up to 77 to give it a rest, but then it was so hot and so sticky (and I'd been outside and working, and I had done a workout earlier) and I just felt nasty and sweaty.

And I thought: well, if this heat is sticking around, maybe you get the little window unit out again and install it. This is the hundred-and-something dollar unit I bought back in 2014 when the whole-house AC died, and it was July 4 weekend, and I tried to at least get a motel room for one night, and the only thing on offer was a smoking room, and I figured in the end the little window unit was probably cheaper than a night in a motel.

I haven't used it recently, haven't really needed it, but I had it boxed up and tucked away (and in a rare flash of intelligence, I had even sealed the screws needed to attach it to the window sash in an envelope so they'd not get lost.

It took a lot of wrestling, though - first, find the screwdriver needed (I wound up in the end going with the new-ish ratchet set I had). Then move the books I had on the table just under that window.

Then I realized: the screen. I had put the screen back in the last time I took the unit out of the window. Womp womp.

So I had to get dressed again (I had been still in my workout clothes, but then had taken them off - too warm - and put a duster on, but that's not good when you're crawling through weeds). Grabbed the stepladder and went out there. Got the screen off.

Then wrestle the unit into the window - first I had to put the silly accordion pleated bits that allow it to fit any window back on - and try to get it positioned.

This is where you really need another person. But I don't *have* another person, so, I had to fight it in place myself. Finally what I did was attach the sash-screws to the top sash, and then, by opening the window while balancing the air conditioner with my other hand (that was a trick), I FINALLY got the part seated right on the lower sash, and installed the clips, and screwed them in tight to the lower sash. (I might be less cautious about that except my bedroom is on the ground floor, the window is at the back of the house, and I do worry about someone thinking it might be cool to enter my bedroom, especially when I was in there at night, to see what was in there....it might still be possible with determination with the screws in place, but at least it would be slow enough and loud enough that I'd be able to bug out of the room quickly and be out the front door of the house and on the phone with the cops before the person got all the way in....


But anyway, yes. Recirculated air, and cooler than what I can comfortably get the whole-house unit (which has to cool the whole house) to produce on demand. So I guess I use this for a while, at least until the heat and humidity die back. (The one drawback to it is that it's not as tight as a closed window is, so I get more noise - I can hear the neighbor's dog right now - and sometimes I get bugs.)


So yeah, anyway. Gonna stay up a bit more (I don't have to rise early tomorrow to work out; tomorrow is a rest day). Have a pair of socks I was knitting on a while back to work on. Maybe I see if I can get Amazon Prime to stream and watch something, I don't know....