A few weeks ago, Seattle racked up its hottest day ever, at 103 degrees F. I was there for the fun. Normally I argue that air conditioning in the Pacific Northwest is for wimps, but we weren’t too thrilled about experiencing the record heat in a hotel without functioning AC. The next day (still hot) I was at a hotel that did have AC (the Crowne Plaza), and found this amazing scene:
AC on full blast … and people huddled around a gas fire in the lobby?!
Don’t even get me started on the ice machinein a 100 degree closet, with an electric fan venting its waste heat into the hall, only to be expelled to the great outdoors by the building AC…
Incidentally, while it’s been mercifully cool and wet here in Montana, satellite records indicate that July 19 was possibly the hottest day ever recorded worldwide.