Hot Fun in the Summertime...

I think that Arizona is where the bottom 10% of meteorology school graduates find jobs.

Let’s see, I think it is going to be sunny and hot with a high of 110 degrees. Or maybe 112 degrees or 114.

After you reach a certain point, I don’t think anyone notices the extra one or two degrees of hellfire and damnation. There is not much room for error in the average Arizona forecast from May to September (if not longer!) and I don’t think any fancy, schmancy weather education is necessary to crack an egg on the sidewalk or judge the temperature based on the size of the sweat stain you leave on the seat of your car. (Leather car seats, by the way, are a total no-no. Ouch.) I personally enjoy the one word weather report, which has introduced some good ones like “oven-y” and “sweat-tastic.”

The time when I notice the heat the most is always during my lunch break. Like many people, I need to physically get out of the office in order to feel like I have gotten a break, even if I often bring my lunch from home to save on money. Where the hell am I supposed to go, though? It is not as if I can hang out under a tree at the local park or sit anywhere that won't cost money for that matter. The minute I walk out of the office door, there is an internal timer connected to my internal thermometer that counts down the seconds until I will need air conditioning again.

The cheapest option? A venti tea at Starbucks which weighs in at $1.89. Even a whole week of lunch breaks at the Bucks will be under $10. So I sit with my book for a hour and relax, away from the confines of my desk. I usually leave my book in the car for the morning. So, it sits on my lap like a hot brick, the warmth petering out onto my thighs and fingertips while I sit in air conditioned comfort.