Hmmm....this thread hasn't had much attention in the last couple of weeks or so, and I'll gladly shoulder my part of the blame for neglecting it and try to make an amend by posting something I'm grateful for.
First of all, good morning to everyone-hope this day finds you well and in good spirits.
I wanted to talk about a man-an unsung hero, one who has brought relief to milllions who suffer, who has unknowingly prevented random acts of mayhem and destruction-but first a preface.
I went for a walk this morning, I walk every day for numerous reasons and one of them is vitamin D. I discovered recently that vitamin D deficiency is endemic among people over 50 years of age-which includes me-and, even though I drink milk and eat cheese, I don't want to take any chances-so I walk.
It's been hot in Raleigh, North Carolina the past few days. I'm not talking the normal hot either.
Hot. An unholy combination of furnace and sauna has descended upon the region-temperatures in the mid 90s with a suffocating humidity pushing the Temperature Humidity Index into the low 100s-a THI of 103 today with a prediction of 106 or better (worse?) tomorrow. Thus I decided to take my walk between 9:30 and 10:00 this morning.
Mistake. Overnight the humidity stayed relatively high and remained that way so when I walked outside the door-I walked into a tomato aspic.
The air was heavy, a burdensome cloak that added weight to every step-a grasping, clawing thing that seemed to try to pull the very skin and sinew off one's bones.
I walk through an office complex near my apartment building-it has numerous elevation changes to give my legs a workout.
It also has buildings. Masonry buildings. In this weather they're known as heat sinks. Walking close to one, which my normal route causes me to do, is what I imagine the interior of a convection oven to be like. The heat literally jumps out and grabs you like that great aunt we all had who when we were children would pinch your cheek until it hurt. But these buildings pinch your whole body in to a convulsive mass of "get me the hell out of here!."
This excursion into Dante's nightmare lasted about 45 minutes. The last section I walked on the way home was, blessedly, not only downhill but shaded with, mirabile dictu, an occasional breeze that was like a flotation device thrown to a drowning man.
At last I arrived at my building, climbed the stairs, and opened the door...
Which brings me back to the subject of this missal. The hero of the day, a man whose birthday I suddenly feel should be a national holiday, a miracle worker who has prevented strokes, murders, riots, mass hysteria, and the complete collapse of civilization itself.
Willis Haviland Carrier.
The inventor of air conditioning.
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I got a little fumed reading the latest in the Health Care thread Sarge started so I needed to come here to wish you all a great day to counter my frustration with the direction this country is taking!
