I'm grumpy because it is too hot in my area at work. Last winter, I was comfortable. I was even able to wear long-sleeve shirts! (Cotton t-shirts, but still... they had sleeves!) I should have known that was a fluke.
I was, of course, hot during the summer. Now it's winter, and I'm hot because buildings are overheated. I'm too hot at work, too hot at the grocery store, too hot at the mall... if I'm inside a building, I'm too hot.
When leaving a heated building to go outside in the ice and snow...
Reaction of normal people:
 |
| I need more layers! I'm freezing! |
 |
| Glorious relief! Oh, ice, how I loooove you! |
There was once a remarkable exception: I was comfortable at the Mall of America. I was there during a frigid Minnesota winter, and I was amazed not because of the enormous size or the indoor amusement park, but because I was there all day without being too hot. I was actually able to enjoy looking around without feeling like I was going to melt or burst into flames. How is such a thing possible?
The Mall of America has no central heating system. And they recognize that the 70F/21C achieved with skylights and body heat is plenty warm enough... because when it's ten below (-23C) outside, people are probably going to show up wearing a sweater.
But outside of making a long trip to Minnesota, I'm only comfortable when I'm at home. I heat my house to about 66F/19C (lower if I'm moving around a lot, and only to 60F while I'm sleeping). Yes, I know that's not what normal people consider comfortable.
I am insanely jealous of normal people who run at normal temperatures. People who don't have to linger in the frozen food section to cool down before facing the canned goods aisles. People who don't have to shower upon returning from a sweltering 10-minute visit to the pharmacy. People who can actually wear something other than a short-sleeve cotton t-shirt in the middle of winter.
I am tired of being trapped at home knowing I'll be miserably hot if I go anywhere else.
While I don't have quite as much of the "toasty" internal problem as you do, I can at least empathize. I also much prefer cool to warm, and I LOATHE hot. (You can add all the layers you want, but you can only take so much off!!) Where I work, either maintenance or the management has decided that the heat needs to be on all the time, even though it's only in the 40's or 50's outside (we don't get snow here, BTW), and there is SUN. So in my office, which has windows, it is now between 75 and 78 degrees every day, and I have NO control over it. If I wear sweaters, I roast! But my van's heater has been broken for years, so I have to bundle up going to and from work or I freeze.
ReplyDeleteCan you bring fans to work for your work space, or borrow some from them? That might help at least a little.
Fortunately, I'm far enough from the windows that the sun doesn't add any heat. Facilities is willing to make adjustments to the HVAC, but people around me have been complaining that they're too cold (at 75 degrees). These are the same people who spend their weekends snow skiing in the frigid temperatures at 11,000 feet. :P
DeleteI have two fans, and they do help. One is on the floor, tilted upward so it blows up my skirt when I'm standing. :D Ha ha! Refreshing!
I know what you mean! My old uni was over airconditioned in summer, so much that I had to wear tights in, and bring a jumper! Then in winter it was an Inferno! I had to go with bare legs and remove layers down to a shirt!!! Ridiculous! And not good for your body!!!
ReplyDeleteI always used to be cold, now I get too hot a lot and I miss being cold so much! It is much easier to layer up!
I will never understand why buildings are overcooled and overheated. What a huge waste of resources and money!
DeleteI'd much rather run cold. I love layered looks, but I can never wear them.
We keep it at 20C in the house and people are always complaining about how they're freezing when they visit. That's what sweaters are for, people! Even set at 17C at night I'm too hot, but I'm afraid we'll kill the plants in the sunroom if I set it any lower. LOL
ReplyDeletePeople have a funny definition of "freezing."
DeleteHa ha! Yeah... I never had plants, but I used to keep the house a bit warmer while I was at work for the benefit of the dog. She had blankets and heating pads, too, of course. ;)
I have the same problem as you, I am ALWAYS the one who is too hot in any room and people look at me like I'm nuts! It drives me insane how hot people keep indoor spaces as I hate summer clothing! I like scarves and tights and boots! Turn down the heat!
ReplyDeleteIt's so annoying having to wear summer clothing year-round. I thought it might be different after moving to a place where people live for winter sports... but no, all the buildings are overheated here, too. And when I say I'm too hot, people look at me like I've suddenly sprouted another head. :P
DeleteI read this and nodded in complete understanding - I'm also someone who 'runs hot'. Perhaps we are lycanthropes?!
ReplyDeleteI worked in an office of people who were constantly cold yet would turn up to work in a vest and turn the AC up to 25 degrees. I was constantly being caught turning it down to 19. A manager agreed that hot people could sit by windows - but we couldn't open them because it scuppered the AC. Then another manager decided to reorganise us and I ended up in the mid swelter point of the room. After I passed out they gave me a fan....
It's nice and cold where I live by the sea. I think I'd melt into a puddle anywhere hot!
Jane (breaking the Angel)
I'm fairly certain I have magma in place of blood. :)
ReplyDeletePeople in office buildings should be grouped by temperature. It would be so much simpler!
Living by the sea must be lovely! I grew up in a hot, humid place. It was misery! Where I live now is hot only for a couple of months each year, and never humid. Of course, location is becoming less relevant these days... modern heating systems mean buildings can feel like ovens no matter where they are! :P
That sounds really difficult. I have the opposite problem of often being cooler and feeling cold even on warn days.
ReplyDeleteLet's combine forces and both be comfortable! ;) Ha ha!
DeleteI'm fairly certain I have magma in place of blood. :)
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