Back in the fall of 1973, I was a young freshman at the University of Miami. I was given a room at the older dorm, Mahoney Hall. There was no air conditioning in our room so the September nights were often pillow-soaked experiences.
Late in that month, they installed a room air conditioner. My roommate, Andy, and I thought this would be our salvation. We were wrong. It led to us not rooming together the next year. Why? The reason was, I like it cool, and he liked it cold.
I had a job at the campus bakery that started at 5:00am, so I normally would be in bed by 9:30 or 10:00pm. He had a rich dad so he went to bed whenever he felt like it. The problem was I would set the air conditioner on low when I went to bed, and Andy would come in later and set it on high. At 4:15 in the morning, I would wake up to a frosty greeting.
Now, I grew up in upstate NY, and the reason I went to UM was to avoid frosty mornings. So the fact that I found myself freezing, dancing around on the cold tile floor, trying to dodge snow flakes, quickly lost its appeal to me. So long, Andy.
Turn the clock ahead 30 years...Here I am, once again living in Miami (because I got real sick of being cold). Everything was going great until my wife started going through menopause. She started experiencing "hot flashes". I really don't understand why they call them "flashes" because she is always having one! They really aren't "hot moments" either. Let's just call them "hot four-years-and-running, never-ending periods" of her life.
So, here I am, with a room air conditioner in my bedroom, cranked to high -- every night. I still have to work at 5:00am, but since the commute is 26 miles, I now get to dance around on cold tiles, and avoid snow flakes, at 3:15am. It's even worse after my hot shower, and I come out of my bathroom hopping around like a Mexican jumping bean as I try to get dressed. What a funny "America's Funniest Home Videos" segment that would make!
Except that I'm naked, and all.
I'm thinking Andy wasn't so bad after all. At least he never nagged me.
How true! Dead of winter -10 degrees and our bedroom window open icicles hanging from my nose and my wife says.
ReplyDeleteI can't sleep It's too f...ing hot in here!