Wednesday, August 10, 2016

Too Cold


"Could you turn on the heat?"

Yes, it's August. This is not some sort of repost from the winter. And those were the first words out of a student's mouth when he entered the room.

(The continuation high school has started their school year. They start a month before the rest of the district.)

The weather had cooled a bit from the prior week. Only to be replaced with humidity. But still, summer temps. Sweat dripped down my back as I got ready to go for the day.

Somehow, the air conditioner got left on in the classroom. (I think the timer function is misprogrammed.) So, when I got there, it was 63 degrees Fahrenheit (according to the display). Ah, bliss.

I turned off the a/c and opened the door. I was quite comfortable. The students, not so much.

But I'm not turning on the heat in August. No. Not doing it. Especially not when it was much more comfortable inside than it was outside.

Still, the whines...

A couple hours later, the temperature had climbed to 68 degrees. A decent room temperature. I was in heaven. Them...

"We're going to freeze to death."

Um, no. Not even close to a possibility.

29 comments:

  1. Tell them to wear layers next time. ;) (Don't they know that from testing?!) I'm surprised you have control over heat/ac. My teachers only ever had limited control.

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    1. It's a blessing and a curse. Life would be easier if I didn't have any control at all. At least, the whines would stop... Sorry, I can't even say that with a straight face.

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  2. Live with it, kids! It's brutal outside. Besides, think of the alternative - what if the air conditioning broke and it was in the eighties inside?

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  3. That would be a little cold for my comfort, especially if the girls were wearing the really short shorts they seem to like to wear :)

    betyt

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  4. When I worked in the nursing home the residents could control the heat/A/C in their individual rooms. It would not be unusual to go from A/C in the hallway into a room that was heated. Talk about dying. It is hard to take care of residents who are wrapped in blankets, with a knitted cap on their heads, AND their heater on when it is 110 outside!!

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    1. And they weren't sweltering? I guess temperature is a personal thing.

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  5. If I'm sitting, that would be cold for me, too. In the summer, when the air conditioning is on, I sometimes have to go outside to warm up. :)

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    1. Yes, I get that. Which is why I turned off the a/c and opened the door. It warmed up to a reasonable temp pretty quickly.

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  6. That's why I like to wear layers, even on warm days. Sometimes it'd be super warm outside and then I'd go into a grocery store, and it'd feel like wintertime.

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    1. Yeah, those that are sensitive to a/c should wear layers. But try telling them that.

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  7. Freeze to death in 68 degree weather. Well, considering what your winter was like, that's a possibility! :P

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  8. Ha! I'd love to have 68 degrees. They'll be fine :P

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  9. I remember life before air conditioning. And whining was not permitted. Now, I'm happy to report that my partner and I own a state-of-the-art heat pump that lets us rather cheaply keep the house at 68 degrees F. It's less expensive than wintertime heating. We love coming home on these hot summer days, for sure!

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    1. If I could keep my house at 68 degrees F every day, I would be quite content.

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  10. They should feel lucky. My schools didn't have AC. We had to suffer in heat and cold.

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    1. Just try telling them that. And watch the eye rolls...

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  11. I get cold easily, but even I wouldn't ask for the heat in August.

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    1. I know, right? I did open the door. That normalizes the temperature a bit.

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  12. It snowed on me on Playground Duty last week! Thankfully our heating is working at the moment (for once).

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    1. Ah yes, it is winter in other parts of the world...

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  13. When I was a kid there was no air-conditioning. We just came in from lunch and put our heads on the desk and were silent for 5 minutes to cool down. We suffer from heat down in Australia. Kids are so soft these days.

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    1. Nowadays the kiddos come in from someplace where they got hot and they want the a/c turned up RIGHT NOW. When I inform them that it is already on, that isn't good enough.

      I like the five minutes of cool down time. Great idea.

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  14. Replies
    1. I wasn't going to do it. Nope. Not when it was warm outside. (Like, I won't turn on the a/c in the winter when opening the door will cool things off just as well.)

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  15. While I was reading this, I immediately thought of the weird woman I worked with who would run a heater in her office year round--even in the summer. She wore earmuffs all the time, too. I think she may have had that disease I heard about on Big Brother a couple of years ago--her ears and hands and feet can turn colors and go numb if she gets cold. They can even change colors...it's a dangerous disorder. Anyway, it just was weird to walk in there in August and it was 85 degrees and she had her earmuffs on!

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    1. I can understand if there's a medical condition.

      My father's wife said they used to run space heaters in their office even in winter. Because they kept the a/c going full blast. I can see it in these cases.

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  16. 63 out. In North Idaho that consider t- shirt weather.
    Coffee is on

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  17. 68 I could totally deal with I think. The 63 would have my teeth chattering unless I was up and moving. I'd still take that over the heat outside though!

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