Is it hot enough for you???

How do we do it, really? Is it global warming, I say poppycock. The thing was when I was young we didn't have a 5 day forecast. We had a pretty little weather girl saying that it was hot. There were no excessive heat warnings. Children still played outside.
What were my summer days like?
Well dad would get up to go to work. He left the house in his Ventura which didn't have air conditioner. He wore bib overalls with a T shirt underneath. Heavy socks with heavy work boots. He worked in buildings without air conditioners. They ran wires in hospitals, the zoo, the arch, mainly office buildings and hospitals. He left for work before 7am and came home by 5:30 every day. Dad would pull in the garage and drop off his lunch box on the chair then go directly downstairs and get in the shower. I always attempted to run and give him a hug and kiss but MAN did he smell, and he was always dirty, he'd laugh and tell me to wait. When dad came up from his shower supper was on the table.
My day: Well mom and I would sleep til around 10 or 11am, sometimes earlier. We'd have the air on when it got into the 90's. We would eat..usually a braunsweiger, bologna or peanut butter and jelly sandwich with chips and a big glass of milk. I would go outside and play. Normally it would be at someones house with a pool, depending on my age it would be Laura's across the street, Patty's down the alley or Lynn's across the other alley. These were a awesome during the summer. These were galvanized metal tubs filled with water from the hose. No filters or ladders. Sometimes you had to step on a brick to get in if you had short legs like me. We mainly played world pool and went around in circles. Sometimes we would play Marco Polo..but how in such a small pool? I LOVED being in the pools. When I was very small I had a square pool w/ plastic seats on each corner. Dad wouldn't let me get a galvanized one like my friends, he didn't want rust stains on the concrete patio. We would also play in the sprinklers. I think the parents liked that since they could water the lawn and the children at the same time. No one had fancy Slip N Slides but we were known to get out the garbage bags on the lawn. When we got older we would pool hop. We'd hop the fences of those people who had the larger pools; the above ground w/ the ladders..we'd jump the fence, jump in the pool...enough to cool out..then we'd go back to walking the neighborhood.
Mom and I would sometimes go shopping to beat the heat. We'd pick Nana up; she didn't have air conditioning. We'd drive to Westwoods or Crestwood where they had outdoor malls, each store was had air. We'd have lunch at Walgreens counter. I'd love to have a toasted peanut butter sandwich with ripple potato chips and chocolate milk. That was such a treat.
If it was below 80 degrees at night we opened the windows at night. MAN did I complain. I'd lay there and here the crickets, dogs and the highway in the background. We didn't have fans. God forbid the new ceiling fans everyone was getting. I had to close my door otherwise mom and dad's snoring kept me awake. I'd lay there in bed and scream, "It's HOT, I can't sleep"...they would tell me to take off the blanket..Ppppppp! Take OFF the blanket? How can a person sleep without a blanket???? I would sweat and cry and eventually fall asleep. Then the next day I would get the lecture about the 3 story house on Wyoming Street w/out air and radiator heat and Dad's house on Patterson w/ all of his sisters and extended family...THEY didn't complain. Mom said it was penance and if I'd not complain I could offer it to the poor souls in purgatory.
Here is the thing though: It was 1976 and all they had to do was flip the switch on the wall to ON!!

Oh well. What do I do now? Stay inside. Go to the movies, the mall, water park. Same old stuff really except we don't turn the air off at all, ever..until winter.

Tonight Drew is scheduled to have his first soccer practice. From what I understand they cancel things like this now due to heat. For crying out loud they cancelled Ram's training camp. If he does have practice my happy ass is sitting in the car w/ the ac running while his little botty runs around the field.

EDIT: We made national news. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070807/ap_on_re_us/heat_wave;_ylt=AofneawsQpq6K2.8GYwehPsDW7oF