[geeks] um, hi. I'm new.

[Joshua D Boyd]

On Wed, Jun 26, 2002 at 02:51:39PM -0500, Jonathan C. Patschke wrote:

> The old man wisdom out here (which I got from my great grandpa) is:
>   1) Drink lots of water.  Also, don't skimp on the salt at meals.
>   2) If you're going to be in the sun for most of the day (yard work,
>      etc), wear a wide-brimmed hat and long sleeves.
>   3) Shade is your friend.  When you rest, always try to rest in the
>      shade.

Just being in the vicinity of greenery is helpful.  Trees and
cornfields are very good.
 
> Now, I was always skeptical about #2, but I guess I shouldn't have been,
> since they guy was still chopping cotton and mending fences in his 80s.
> Now that I've grown my hair out, I've noticed that I -do- feel cooler,
> simply because the sun is off my neck, shoulders, and ears.  I suppose the
> effect of a long-sleeve shirt would be similar, but I hate the feeling of
> long sleeves.

People pester me about always wearing a dressy-ish collared shirt and
a t-shirt underneith.  But I insist most of wearing this when it is
hotest and humidest.  I feel dryer and happier.  And I've noticed the
heavier tshirts with the higher cotton content are especially nicer.

I'm split between weather I like jeans or poly cotton pants better in
the heat.  The 100% cotton slacks I had were pretty nice for really
hot days, but they were a pain to iron.

> He also had a habit of drinking hot coffee to force himself to sweat more
> when he finally did sit down to rest.  He said it cooled him off faster.
> Once he got cool, he'd follow it up with cold water so that he'd stay that
> way.

Unfortunately, I've never manged to get the taste for coffee.
 
> The general consensus around here, though, is that the heat was a -lot-
> more bearable 40 years ago.  It could be global warming, climate changes
> resulting in higher humidity, additional pollution, or simply a change in
> perception as people grow older.  Personally, I'm chalking it up to
> pollution and getting accustomed to air conditioning.  If I have to go for
> a few days without A/C, I don't even notice the heat anymore.

Perhaps the climate has changed where you are (which is?), I don't
know.  Around here polution is a major problem.  It causes a lot of
sickness on really hot days.  And I suspect that there perception
changed as well.

-- 
Joshua D. Boyd