Holy mother of crap it's hot!

You’re probably wondering what all of us here at the Itchy Lot are doing to beat this swampy, oppressive heat storm we’re all suffering through here in the city of Philadelphia.  Well, not having been brought up by our mommas to be fools, we’ve taken a multi-pronged approach:

1. Air Conditioner.  We have window units (although I’ll be glad to accept any donations toward a central-air installation) in 3 rooms.  In the interest of saving money, however, it’s also advisable to spend as much time as possible at Borders or Barnes & Noble, where you can spend hours reading books and enjoying a far more enjoyable climate, all for the cost of a bus token.

2. Ceiling and window Fans.  Where A/C is not possible we use the ceiling fans installed by previous residents. Window fans can also be highly effective if you open windows (yes, Fishy, I know: open more than one window on each floor.) and the air outside is cooler than the inside.

3. Eat cold food.  My favorite way to stay cool is to eat a dish of frozen grapes when I come in from the heat.  You don’t want to let these suckers thaw too much because they get mushy.  But a good, sweet, frozen green seedless grape is a thing of wonder.  You can bet the early American settlers heading west in the summertime would’ve killed for a treat like this.  Even Fishy, who once dismissed frozen grapes as “just wrong,” now enjoys them along with me, meaning I have to keep more on stock since they disappear that much faster. 

The other great cold food I like to eat is frozen watermelon.  You get a nice ripe sweet watermelon, cut it into cubes, and freeze it.  Then, when the heatwave strikes, you dump the cubes into a food processor and grind it into watermelon waterice.  Of course, this requires a bit more work than just rinsing some grapes and sticking them in the freezer for later enjoyment, but it’s worth it.  Also, because of the extra work involved, I don’t have to worry about Fishy eating it all on his own.