... I might as well be in Orlando waiting on line for the new Harry Potter theme park
Posted by Quislet, Esq. on :
I prefer the heat of summer to the cold of winter. I can do without the humidity though.
Posted by Kent on :
hot again, but not humid... yet. Tolerable.
I prefer a hot, dry heat, so today ain't bad. But I'll take a frigid winter day over a hot and humid day.
Posted by Dev Em on :
quote:Originally posted by Kent: hot again, but not humid... yet. Tolerable.
I prefer a hot, dry heat, so today ain't bad. But I'll take a frigid winter day over a hot and humid day.
I sweated my guts out just clearing books off my daughters shelving unit. Way to hot and humid for me...and I miss winter desperately.
Posted by MLLASH on :
The older I've gotten, the less fond of Summer I am.
Posted by Dev Em on :
The fatter I've gotten, the more I hate hot weather. Posted by Chief Taylor on :
Yeah, I especially hate how my air conditioner can't keep it below 80 (or sometimes 82) on the really hot days! I wish I had the $$$ to invest in whatever changes need to be done to fix that.
Posted by MLLASH on :
Ours was creeping up to 85... we finally bitched about it and now they got it down to 73-75.
Posted by rickshaw1 on :
below 80 degrees? Which part of SC are you in, CT? Thats nighttime weather over here in the peedee.
Years back when my wife and I were married about two years, the AC burnt up. I got it repaired and the house was tolerable. I blamed it on the little black sugar ants that like to find electrical connections and burn them out to save my wife being embarrassed. The real problem was that she was pregnant
The real reason was that she was about five months pregnant and she had the thermostat set at 52 degrees.
I personally don't get comfortable outside til it starts hitting high 80's to low 90's. And this is SC. We can swim in the air in mid summer, lol.
Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
[Conrad Veit] We Ggrrggians must be prepared to adjust to all climates when we rule them all. [/Conrad Veit]
(I like all weather but the extremes are killer. When its hotter than 90 degrees, I'm not a fan at all.)
Posted by Chief Taylor on :
quote:Originally posted by rickshaw1: below 80 degrees? Which part of SC are you in, CT? Thats nighttime weather over here in the peedee.
I live just outside of Charleston, Rick. I'm talking about the temperature inside the house! Outside 80 or 82 is like heaven, but inside it's like an oven. I like my internal temp around 75. We didn't know it at the time, but when we replaced our A/C unit, they put in one that can only cool up to 20 degrees cooler than it gets outside. So if we're knockin' around 100, then it's gonna get uncomfortable inside during the peak heat hours.
It's been worse the last coupla years because we had to cut down our HUGE tree that shaded the entire house after it was struck by lightning. It was shedding huge limbs as it slowly died and was putting our house in danger. That's exposed some inadequacies in our insulation and has compounded the problem with the A/C unit not being so powerful. I'm thinking the cheapest option may be to install a window unit in the great room where we spend most of our time where the heat is the most intolerable. I think it probably gets around 90 in that one room, personally.
Hopefully, that clarifies things a bit!
Posted by MLLASH on :
93 here right now. Ridonkulously hot. So i refuse to leave the house.
Posted by Set on :
I used to run around in shorts in the middle of New England winters (back when it used to snow from Thanksgiving to Easter, not like these days, when it snows for like, five days, total, all 'winter' long), so I'm definitely a cold lover.
But, growing up between Arizona and Oklahoma, I'm also tolerant of a nice dry heat.
Muggy kills me. I like my water where it belongs, in the swimming hole, not in the air!
Posted by Jerry on :
102 here, which is pretty tolerable for early July in Tucson. I try not complain until it gets over 106.
Posted by Sarcasm Kid on :
A bird just burst into flames in mid-air.
Posted by Outdoor Miner on :
You're sure that wasn't just a Phoenix?
Posted by Sarcasm Kid on :
It was one of those bird baby things that look like an egg roll.
Posted by Eryk Davis Ester on :
No doubt it was one of Egghead's egg-sploding eggs!
Holy yolk, Batman!
Posted by rickshaw1 on :
quote:Originally posted by Chief Taylor:
quote:Originally posted by rickshaw1: below 80 degrees? Which part of SC are you in, CT? Thats nighttime weather over here in the peedee.
I live just outside of Charleston, Rick. I'm talking about the temperature inside the house! Outside 80 or 82 is like heaven, but inside it's like an oven. I like my internal temp around 75. We didn't know it at the time, but when we replaced our A/C unit, they put in one that can only cool up to 20 degrees cooler than it gets outside. So if we're knockin' around 100, then it's gonna get uncomfortable inside during the peak heat hours.
It's been worse the last coupla years because we had to cut down our HUGE tree that shaded the entire house after it was struck by lightning. It was shedding huge limbs as it slowly died and was putting our house in danger. That's exposed some inadequacies in our insulation and has compounded the problem with the A/C unit not being so powerful. I'm thinking the cheapest option may be to install a window unit in the great room where we spend most of our time where the heat is the most intolerable. I think it probably gets around 90 in that one room, personally.
Hopefully, that clarifies things a bit!
Yeah, but still you guys should be getting a bit of the ocean breeze, unless you are talking Moncks Corner or Goose Creek.
And you've got a heat pump, not an A/C unit it sounds like. Yeah, those can be a pain. As to the tree, try a Maple tree, green or silver. They grow extremely fast and throw a lot of shade with their branches. Don't snap out the top to get them to grow low and squat. It will take a few years, but they provide excellent shade in the summer and allow what sunlight you can get in the winter. One thing to be aware of...while technically they are a hardwood, they are very soft in reality and branches that get damaged have a tendency to snap.
I personally would plant that, and if you have the room, find some nice oaks that grow quickly and plant a couple behind it. Then, when its old enough and the oaks are bushing out nicely, you can trim back the maple.
I'm a few miles south of Florence, right up here in SC's dust bowl, lol.
Posted by rickshaw1 on :
Let me rephrase something...snapping out the top will cause them to be more rounded and not get as high, which would not shade as well. So, unless you want it to grow low and squat, don't snap out the top and she will grow taller, throwing higher shade which, with proper placement, will shade your home quicker.
Non-fruit bearing Bradford pears grow well and throw shade up here as well. Don't know how they would do down there.
Posted by cleome on :
It was so cool on 7/4 that we were watching the fireworks with our jackets on.
Today is the last predicted day of breezy coolness, though. I tried to make the most of it over the long weekend by doing pretty much nothing.
Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
When I buy a house (hopefully in 2011 if all goes as planned), I'm definitely asking Rick for advice on how tree layout in the backyard!
Posted by Chief Taylor on :
quote:Originally posted by rickshaw1: Yeah, but still you guys should be getting a bit of the ocean breeze, unless you are talking Moncks Corner or Goose Creek.
Yep, we're definitely talking Moncks Corner or Goose Creek! I'm so used to saying "Charleston" to avoid the blank stares that I rarely specify!
For the record, though, I work in Mount Pleasant, which is very close to the ocean, but there's rarely enough of the fabled "ocean breeze" to counter the heat, there. Trust me. Feels just as bad as where I live, if not worse.
quote:And you've got a heat pump, not an A/C unit it sounds like.
Yep, I shoulda specified. You see, Rick, I'm not the least bit mechanically inclined, so when we put in a new unit, we focused on how "energy efficient" a heat pump is. Well, as you know, the price of "energy efficient" is they don't cool worth a shit! (don't heat all that groovy either, truth to tell).
Oh well, live and learn, I guess.
quote:As to the tree, try a Maple tree, green or silver. They grow extremely fast and throw a lot of shade with their branches. Don't snap out the top to get them to grow low and squat. It will take a few years, but they provide excellent shade in the summer and allow what sunlight you can get in the winter. One thing to be aware of...while technically they are a hardwood, they are very soft in reality and branches that get damaged have a tendency to snap.
I personally would plant that, and if you have the room, find some nice oaks that grow quickly and plant a couple behind it. Then, when its old enough and the oaks are bushing out nicely, you can trim back the maple.
That sounds like some good advice. Unfortunately, my wife and I don't really make up for our lack of mechanical skills with our glorious botanical skills, either. Which one am I least likely to kill and will require the least possible maintenance? Posted by Sarcasm Kid on :
I just spent two hours putting away my comics in a room that was 102 degrees, WITH the fan on.
Posted by rickshaw1 on :
Try the green maple, CT. And a simple way is to get a small timer to fit on your outdoor spigot and set it to water the tree late in the afternoon. Really, the best way to do it is to just set the tree out, and water it once a day late at in the afternoon when the glaring sun is off it. You can also get some plant fertilizer that will give you feeding instructions.
The watering late in the day should be done down around the roots. I like to make a circle around it without actually throwing water on the plant. If you water in the middle of the day and spray the tree, its possible that the water beads will act as magnifiers and burn the leaves.
If you buy from walmart or lowes, you can usually get a tree that has a one year warranty with it.
Posted by rickshaw1 on :
Cobie, when you buy, invest in a private home inspector.
Couple of things.
1. In south carolina, inspectors are not allowed to move things to check, so, if there's a bucket in the tub, be there with the inspector to move it, he cannot if its like SC. I say this because I was a home inspector. Things like they have a system turned off and the inspector cannot turn it own legally can be a warning sign. My cousin didn't move the bucket in the tub. It covered a hole in the tub they didn't know about. The leak rotted the flooring/ceiling of the room below and they had to tear out a second floor bay window to replace the tub, as well as repairing the water damage.
2. If possible, have the owner there. A lot of salesmen don't like that, but the owner CAN turn on anything that needs to be checked. I had a situation where a pool system was turned off when I inspected a home that had been closed for some time. The pump burnt up and algae nearly ruined the pool. They tried to say I did it during my inspection. What they didn't know was that I took pictures of all my inspections. And while i didn't inspect pools, a quick pic made sure I was covered.
3. Turning on an electrical circuit that is off... well, there might be a short and the current owners don't use it. Turning it on could start a fire.
4. Any inspector worth his salt will give you a written report. I always broke mine down by rooms and systems.
5. ASK ABOUT ANY PREVIOUS FIRES THAT MAY HAVE TAKEN PLACE! I did and was lied to. I have been working on my master bedroom overhead light for a couple of years now, thinking I had done something wrong with the fan/light installation. Turns out they lied and didn't tell me about a wall fire that burned up the wiring and made it brittle.
I could go on and on. I was a private home inspector as well as a county inspector, so I've seen a lot of shit covered over. When the time comes, if you have any questions, I'll try to help. Remember, you cannot have enough questions, you HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW WHEN YOU BUY, DON'T BE SCARED OR INTIMIDATED INTO NOT ASKING QUESTIONS!
Posted by Rockhopper Lad on :
We've had a lot of rain here in Houston the past couple weeks, which has kept things a little cooler than it would be otherwise.
[ July 09, 2010, 07:15 AM: Message edited by: Rockhopper Lad ]
Posted by cleome on :
BTW, Cobie, just to add to rickshaw1's advice:
You could do worse than to register at an iVillage offshoot called GardenWeb, when you're ready to think about good plants for your region. They actually sort threads and topics by your planting zone as well as by type of plant (or problems with same). It's great to get tips and feedback from people that actually live where you live.
Posted by rickshaw1 on :
Most definately what Cleome said. I'm on there myself. I'll still be happy to help if I can, though.
Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
Rick, thanks for the advice. I actually own my condo now, so I've *kinda* gone through it once before, but to a much lesser degree. I remember I asked for advice last time you gave me a lot of the same great advice. When the time comes, you can bet I'll start a thread for it!
Cleome thanks for the link! Since this would be the second home I'm going to buy, I'm kind of hoping (and possibly being naive) that this is my permanent home now, for you know, forever. So I'm looking forward to doings things like planting trees and gradually redoing the backyard.
PS - A backyard is a MUST HAVE for me. A nice big one. I want LAND.
Posted by SharkLad on :
Rick, any tips on Arbor Vitae? Mine are taking a beating in this heat ...
Thunderstorms tomorrow in the NYC metro area ... a possible end to the heat?
Posted by rickshaw1 on :
I haven't dealt much with the Arbor Vita, I don't do hedgeshrubs much, sorry to say. However, given that its in the cyprus family, make sure its watered frequently. Those types of trees are made for wetlands and swamp for the most part. They tend to grow on the edges of fields around low, wet areas down here in the south when they occur naturally.
I might actually try a soaker hose in a ring around the base, about two to three feet away from the trunk, depending on size. Please understand, this is just knowledge I've picked up and extrapolated on over the years, I am not an arborist or horticulturist. I generaly CUT trees for a living...its one of the reason I'm trying to grow stuff, put a little back.
Posted by SharkLad on :
thanks, rick ... I've got a soaker hose on them now ... some folks have said to water them an hour a day, others to keep the hose going most of the day ... so far they're doing alright ...
Posted by cleome on :
Hot but breezy here. If I wasn't so beaten down from the workweek, I'd probably be outside. Eh. Maybe after a nice dinner and a couple of cold drinks...
Posted by Outdoor Miner on :
Today was not at all bad. Still humid, but with a nice breeze. If I thought this would last, I'd enjoy summer more.
Posted by rickshaw1 on :
Thunder showers in the morning followed buy hot humid and mildly sunny followed by extreme thundershowers in the late afternoon-night. That was yesterday.
Today, so far, the sun is hiding behind stormclouds that look like they are ready to create god's own sauna out there today. And if I could, I'd be out playing a round of golf in it.
Posted by SharkLad on :
... that my front lawn is toast
Posted by rickshaw1 on :
well then, throw on some of those little birdie eggs and have breakfast.
All joking aside, things down here are getting green again after a summer that cooked a lot of people's lawns. Mine, unfortunately, looks like a jungle since I can't cut it right now. I only have a push mower, and they don't go well with a broken knee, lol.
Posted by cleome45 on :
The weather is so gorgeous that I'm tempted to go for a second bike ride today, but my leg muscles would definitely take a horrible revenge come tomorrow morning.
Posted by future king on :
... that I walked around all day with buckets under my arms just to catch the sweat that was falling! Posted by rickshaw1 on :
Bwaaaaahahahahhahaha.
I dance on the fires of the Sun. Hell is icicles for me! I AM AL THAT IS SOUTHERN MAN!
>ahem<
Posted by Quislet, Esq on :
...not anymore here in Yankee land.
Posted by Dev - Em on :
...and I am loving the cool weather.
Posted by LASHbrain on :
Hitting the 70s again the next few days before dipping back to the lower 60s. I'm ready for 60s or lower, the 70s can kiss my arse.
Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
On the bright side, we haven't had a typhoon for the last couple weeks.
Posted by future king on :
.... no it's not (ridiculously hot that is).
Posted by Dev - Em on :
I am.
Posted by rickshaw1 on :
I wuz, but ah got old.
Posted by Dev - Em on :
Chicks dig middle aged bald fat guys! Yeah baby!
Posted by rickshaw1 on :
Dammit! I though they dug scars.
Posted by Dev - Em on :
Them too.
Posted by rickshaw1 on :
... and leisure suits. Checked on top, striped on bottom. With rhinestones.
Posted by Legion Tracker on :
You two need to get out more.
Posted by rickshaw1 on :
I refuse to come out. No one needs to know of my obsession with dolly madison dolls... you know, the ones of the presidents wife. hurhurhurhur...
Posted by Quislet, Esq on :
quote:Originally posted by Dev - Em: ...and I am loving the cool weather.
Not me. Give me 90 degrees.
Posted by rickshaw1 on :
Quis is like me... Some like it hot and some sweat when the heat is on..
Posted by future king on :
I was a southern gentleman in another life.
Posted by Dev - Em on :
No...you just like hot places...hmmm...
Posted by future king on :
Oh yeah well H E Double Hockey sticks to you too! Posted by Dev - Em on :
Send me a postcard!
Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
How come when Future King says it, the Double Hockey Sticks just take on a different meaning?
Posted by rickshaw1 on :
That's what ya get with them weird yankah people...
Posted by Dev - Em on :
He's not a Yank...he's a Canadian...there's a difference...eh.
Posted by Rockhopper Lad on :
No one is really a "Yankee", or at least no one self-identifies as one, except maybe some old people in Vermont who eat pie for breakfast.
Posted by rickshaw1 on :
Ewe might don't see yah'sef as one, butt we suthun' bouys do. Posted by Dev - Em on :
Buncha Rebs floatin round the pond.
Posted by rickshaw1 on :
*licks thumb, wipes sight on rifle..
Ewe godda problem wit thet?
Posted by Dev - Em on :
^ Cud not hit a barn frum de inside.
Posted by rickshaw1 on :
Bow'ah, ah could shoot tha ass off'na gnat onna fly on tha wing et thirty paces with bb gun, 'magine whut ah could do with'ah rifle.
Posted by Dev - Em on :
Shoot yourself in the foot?
Posted by future king on :
I really missed all this American foreign language speak! Keep going!!! Posted by Dev - Em on :
Dat's it...Close dat dere bridge!
Posted by Legion Tracker on :
Dang y'all. Yuh yacked so long it ain't hot no more.
Posted by future king on :
BRAVO!!! Encore! Encore!
Posted by Dev - Em on :
Ya want a few feet of snow with that FK?
Posted by future king on :
This thread is the "...hot" thread. Your snow would all melt. Posted by Dev - Em on :
Flood at FK's...maybe all of Cnd.
Why Cnd...that's how it's spelled right. I asked someone in Windsor once and he said C eh, N eh, D eh.
(old joke I know...but I think it's still funny. )
Posted by future king on :
You would! Posted by rickshaw1 on :
....cause its still November here in the south... and I wore shorts today.
Posted by cleome45 on :
It was soggy and balmy while I waited for a ride home today. Low 50s F, I think.
Posted by future king on :
... that it feels more like a cold November pretending to be a warm July. We Canadians are so messed up.
Posted by rickshaw1 on :
I'm currently sitting here in shorts, a short sleeved shirt, and flip flops. HaH! Take that Northeastern winters!
Bwaaaaahahahahahahahah.
Posted by Jerry on :
Suck it up, weather wimps.
108 degrees in Tucson today. So hot that swimming lessons had to be canceled. I was running around in a dress shirt and tie. One of the tricks I've learned since moving here is to always carry deodorant in the brief case. It was a four application day!
Posted by cleome46 on :
I'm digging the weather this month. It's been raining just often enough so we don't have to water any of the plants, but not so often that cooking dinner outdoors tonight is out of the question.
Temps haven't risen above 70-75 F more than six or seven days this month. Seriously, why can't everything in my life be as terrific as the weather?
Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
quote:Originally posted by Jerry:
I was running around in a dress shirt and tie. One of the tricks I've learned since moving here is to always carry deodorant in the brief case. It was a four application day!
I always carry that AND an extra undershirt. I end up needing one 3 days out of 5.
Posted by Harbinger on :
Here in the UK we could only dream of your hot weather; its been ridiculously wet all summer Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
Want to trade for a while Harbinger? you can borrow my room I'd love to go someplace cold for a bit.
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I wish I had the $$$ to invest in whatever changes need to be done to fix that.
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