This European heatwave has been going on for weeks and shows no signs of abating. It’s really wearing me down. Any tips for staying cool when you don’t have air conditioning? I’ve tried the whole shutting the windows and blinds thing they recommend but that just makes it worse. I already feel uncomfortably hot at the best of times as a side effect of my medication. So an actual heatwave on top is literal torture. It’s so bad in the UK that supermarket refrigerators have stopped working due to the heat, and the news says its going to be the longest heatwave in 50 years.
I am struggling more than ever due to lack of sleep. my sleep wasn’t good to start with but now it seems almost non-existent, although ironically I do remember having a dream a few nights ago so I guess I must be getting some.
i worked outdoors with a physical labor gig in a place i would describe as “oppressively hot” one summer. i was in great shape, late 20s. my living accomodations were in this illegal added room, no A/C. it was so hot at night, iwould lay in front of a box fan, loudly blasting me with hot, humid air as i laid in my undies on a futon mattress on the floor.
it seemed like i never slept. i would just slip into a dream state from exhaustion.
it took its toll on me, paychologically. i started thinking if myself as a climate refugee and more places as uninhabitable.
i have relocated about 5 times since then, over 20 years. always further from the equator and usually higher into elevation. i live a thousand miles from that place now. i would not survive conditions like that again. it gets a bit hot a few days a year up here, but never more than a few days and nights are always cool.
people here act like im nuts because here has a reputation for cold and dreary for much of the year. but I don’t give a shit. its goddamn paradise. i can keep a house warm in winter with coziness and layers and blankets and fire. its fucking brutal to try and live in a hot house, where being butt ass naked lying on the floor still isn’t enough to find any relief.
hope the system passes soon for you. those were the shittiest days of my life.
Thank you. I too prefer cold weather. Last winter was cold enough that, combined with the fact my landlady can’t afford to heat the house for more than a few hours a day, I got chilblains. And I would still take that over this heat any day. The heat is so oppressive and the air is so thick and muggy I can barely do anything at all.