So Cool

[ladysprite]

I have always prided myself on being one of those people who doesn't need an air conditioner in summertime. I live in the northeast, where it theoretically doesn't get too hot. I have fans in my living room and bedroom, and I've lived like this for years. And while summer has meant some lifestyle changes - no oven-use, if I can avoid it; no blankets; extra water bowls for the cats - I've never felt the need to change. A friend gave us an old window air conditioner unit early in the spring, and I appreciated it, but it has been sitting in our storage room unnoticed since then.

And I've been dealing with this summer, and handling the heat, and handling the humidity, or at least telling myself that I was handling them while I melted into a less and less functional puddle of humanoid goo. So, after I spent most of Thursday night dreaming that I was a firefighter and my protective suit was malfunctioning and I was burning to death, my sweetie and I finally decided to install the air conditioner yesterday.

I felt like a sellout. I felt weak, and energy-wasteful. I felt, for the first time in a week, like I could sleep through the night.

Our bedroom is cool and comfortable and liveable. The rest of the house feels like a swampy hell in comparison, but I can handle that. Because our house has at least one room that is tolerable. I love our air conditioner. Mister Freezy has turned my summer from a sweltering stretch of heat and lethargy into a sweltering stretch of heat with a small pocket of sweet, breathable comfort.

I love my air conditioner. I am a happy, happy sellout.

Comments

[oakleaf-mirror.livejournal.com]

I really would be miserable without air conditioning in this weather. Why torture yourself with heat when you don't have to?

[mneme]

I grew up without an air conditioner in my room. We had one AC in the living room, and one in my parents' bedroom (which became my sister's room, and rapidly afterwards a storage room where the AC was largely unusable), but we never had one in the Boys' room. Instead, I bought fans -- one for the computer table (where I spent a lot of time), and one to attach to the foot of my bed. And, thouhgh this wasn't a deliberate reaction, I spent a lot of time outside, reading, playing chess or doing other "summer" activities, or spending long hours at the nearby bookstore or library reading. But I didn't grow up with an AC in my bedroom, and slept just fine.

As soon as drcpunk moved in together and the summer heat swept in, we got a bedroom AC. Since then, we've bought four ACs, one of which we threw out, and only two of which we've got installed this summer, but the two adequately cool both the two large rooms in the apartment and the two smaller nominally non-ACed rooms.

I like ACs. Modern technology is good -- it exists to be used.

[deguspice.livejournal.com]

I felt like a sellout.

It's what all the cool kids are doing.

[vettecat.livejournal.com]

I'm impressed that you held out until now... I could never manage without one.

[goldsquare.livejournal.com]

An air condition in the bedroom is a marital aid. 'Nuff said.

[johnpalmer.livejournal.com]

When the deep draw of central air beckons, then you can decide if there is a battle to be fought with your conscience. A window mount to make your bedroom livable sounds like it was a necessity.

[jducoeur]

Happy to be of service, and glad it's helping to make the height of summer more bearable.

BTW, we have a set of instructions, and a remote, going begging; both are likely to get thrown out if not claimed. Care for them?