Many wonderful words could be used to describe the apartment I share with Fiancee S. Unfortunately, the words "cool and comfortable on a hot day" are not among them. Let me explain.
We live on the top floor of a building with apartments that all branch off of an elaborate central atrium (with tropical-type houseplants like dracaenae.) That atrium tends to warm up a lot on hot days, and the heat rises to hover just outside the entry to our apartment. At the same time, there is no central heating or air conditioning in the building and "in-window" air conditioners are forbidden (because the windows are not designed for them).
Consequently, our method of cooling the apartment generally consists of opening windows and running electric fans (I don't want to spend $800+ for a portable "in room" air conditioner.) I would be very happy with this solution under other circumstances, but, our building is located about 30-40 yards from an Interstate and within 3 miles of a major international airport. Opening the windows is NOISY, even on lazy Saturday afternoons when highway traffic is low. Let's not even MENTION the possibility of having a bedroom window open when attempting to sleep at night.
So, as the summer wanes, I find myself longing for the cooler days of autumn and the ability to close up windows. I look forward to the relative silence of autumn, winter, and spring. I'm tired of hot, noisy days and nights. I want some peace.
(For those of you who wonder why we stay at this particular location: the place does have some excellent attributes -- good layout, big kitchen, large size, washer and dryer hook-ups, excellent location -- and I was able to rent it during the rental housing crunch of 2000, where any apartment was safe harbor. That said, Fiancee S. and I will probably be moving to a quieter neighborhood as soon as time and finances permit.)
said drgeek
on 2003-08-25 at 2:36 p.m.
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