So, as I'm sure y'all have heard, we have had a "heat wave" here in NY. We did not get over 100, despite forecasts for 104 some days. Tuesday we were 95, Wednesday 97 and today 98. Hot, but for someone from Texas, not that hot.
I've made some observations about this heat wave from the perspective of someone that grew up in an area that is this hot for 3 months, not 3 days. First, power shortages. I can't believe that when it gets above 95 Coned can't keep the power on. Ridiculous. I worked this afternoon in the dark. The turned off the lights at work to conserve energy. Ridiculous. At the Yankee game they turned off the out of town scoreboard, and they haven't been lighting up the Empire State Building. Second, this demonstrates that it is not news, until it happens in NY. We watch Good Morning America while we get ready in the morning. California has had terrible heat for about a month now. They would mention this on GMA. But 3 days of hot in NY brings out the doctors with tips to stay cool, anchors on the sidewalks confirming that it is indeed hot, sympathy for workers that work outside, and no other news, such as the wars in the Middle East.
That being said, nothing is like NYC when it is close to 100. It is miserable. You see in Dallas when it was hot, we just didn't go outside except to go to the pool. But when you live in the city, you walk everywhere, outside. The subway stations are like ovens. (Over used analogy I know, but they are extremely hot and uncomfortable.) On our way to and from the Yankee game last night we walked through the "lower income" neighborhood that is two blocks over and they had a hydrant open and were playing in it. Before and after the game. It looked like fun. Everyone was sitting on their steps at 10 PM. That's another difference, window a/c and some folks have no a/c.
So, a NYC heat wave is ridiculous and yet unique. I guess that describes all of NYC.
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I was thinking about how ridiculous the whole "heat wave" thing is up there - how yes, it is hot, but that's just regular summer for us down here in Texas. Silly for all the Yankees to freak out about. But then I realized that it's just because NYC is so ill-equipped to deal with that kind of heat (no a/c, etc.) in the same way that we here in SE Texas don't deal well with extreme cold. Here, if we get ice or even a sprinkling of snow, the schools and roads all shut down and it's a headline event. That's when all the people up North laugh at us. So it's all relative, I guess.
What I don't understand about NYC vs. Houston, tho, is the need to conserve power. How do we have enough power to run everything and ya'll don't? That makes no sense to me.
Sis--The power thing is due to a lack of infrastructure. Or rather, old infrastructure that hasn't been able to keep up with the times. It really is pretty bad. And unbelievable at the same time.
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