The morning crested in a wave of laser beam heat that soaked me
through the night. Luckily, a different fan placement helped things
to even out and allowed me to even sleep from about 3:40 am to
8 am. I rose from the bed and felt dizzy from the heaviness of the
weather, while making sure not to hit my head on the lower ceiling
of the bedroom. I stumbled through a sea of dirty clothes and my
energetic cat who saw me approaching and bolted for the door,
so as to say 'Let me out, a-hole. It's too hot in here.' I opened the
door and watched her graze around on the backyard, searching
for a shady spot to lay down. She barely kept her eyes open
due to the blinding sun. I grabbed some Crispix and chucked a
spoon and some milk in the bowl and devoured my breakfast.
Sarah continued sleeping in the fan-blown room. I left my bowl
on the counter, got dressed and headed out into the sloggy soup
pot of the outdoors. I trudged to work and watched some nearby
construction workers cop some shade under a lifted garage door
while wiping their brows and cursing the heat. I saw sweat stains
on businessmen and perfectly fit bikers fighting to catch their
breath while barely even pedaling. I looked down Bay Street and
saw heatwaves of condensation rising from the ground and leaving
the atmosphere. I moved my glasses up on my sweaty face, feeling
them continually slip down my nose. I arrived at Starbucks and
decided to go for an Americano instead of a coffee as I felt like
something different than the norm. The steam machine bellowed
and whistled as the barista wiped his brow. The Air Conditioning
of the whole coffee shop was sub-standard and I only felt
mildly cool. I grabbed my finished beverage and sugared and
dairy product-ed it. Carrying the hot beverage out of doors only
made me feel heavier. I felt wet all over and irritable. I arrived
at work opened the doors of Ecclesiax and felt a cool wave of
artificial air. I closed the office door, punched on the window
AC unit and wondered how many other people are doing the same
thing.
All AC units must be blazing in Ottawa. I wouldn't be surprised
if we have another eastern seaboard shut-down.
