Comparision...ing.

Looking back on the heat dome heat wave we had a few weeks back I can see some of the known differences that made it so hard and unbearable.

One of the big ones, and yes they did mention this ("they" being the weather folks) was that the evenings didn't cool down.  Well sure, they technically were cooler than the days but they weren't "nighttime" cool.  Like tonight, it's supposed to be quite warm, 16 C, so it'll be a warm night.  But when we were in the heat dome nights were in the twenties.  The nights were as hot as some of the days we've had recently.  That, I think, made it even harder.

And for me, a big one with this little "heat warning" thing right now is that this one I can see it's only supposed to be a couple of days.  Sure, that might change, temperature forecasts might go up but right now it looks like today will be pretty warm, but then tomorrow will be just... "summer warm", you know?

I dunno.  But for me a huge part of the panics I kept having was not seeing any relief in sight.  Not knowing when it might end or improve.  And also knowing there were still two or three months of Summer and potentially "this hot again" weather to come.  That was really hard for me.

This time, although I hated hated hated the heat dome, I know I "made it" through and if we have one again in the next couple of months, I can most likely cope.  Not well.  Not without lingering consequences (my sleep schedule was blown for nearly a month) but it's not June anymore.  It's actually practically August and that means cooler temps are within reach.  September/October.  They're a little closer now, you know?

I may not have A/C this Summer, but I am most likely going to keep researching and saving and probably getting some before next Summer.  I am doing the best I can to manage the heat in my apartment with a few things I learned during the bad days.  And worst case, Jason says we can throw up a tent in his back yard if need be.  Because man oh man do I ever need my sleep.  I know not everyone does but I am so incredibly affected by poor/no sleep these days.

Like do you remember I casually mentioned not sleeping very well the other night?  Yeah.  It was bad.  But what was worse was my awful, really really awful mood the next day.  I had tea, I went for a walk.  I still wanted to hurt "humans".  (You know, a non-specific anger that makes you feel like you want to punch someone even though you've never punched anyone and are pretty sure you'd hurt yourself more than them?)  Yeah, I was miserable.

Last night?  Sleep.  Blissful, much needed sleep.  And my mood is night and day different.  Wow.

So yeah, it's interesting to notice the differences between that horrible heat dome heat wave and this far more normal heat wave.