spotted

Amongst all the posery, burning, flexing and the other unfortunate consequences of it being far too hot it's nice to spot the occasional person standing un-self-consciously just because that's how they happen to have to stand to do what they're doing.

A few years ago when we went to visit my sister in London in, for some reason, July, I found that the Worple Road branch of Sainsbury was almost universally chilled to about 12°. It must have been excruciatingly wasteful of power but it gave an indication of the power of air-conditioning if used properly (as opposed to the way it's usually applied in every office I've ever worked in where the effectiveness is somewhat reduced by having the radiators on at the same time) and how easily some people might find themselves swayed towards the installation thereof despite the initial and ongoing costs. And risk of Legionnaires' disease in the right conditions. After a full-length lunchwalk today I was most pleased to discover that the Morrison Street branch features similar (though not quite as extreme) cooling facilities. Even I would need to keep moving to not start to feel slightly cool if sitting in such temperatures for an extended period but a couple of minutes of standing about in the cool air whilst I dithered between apples and bagels was enough to freshen me up remarkably.

There should perhaps be public air-conditioning facilities installed on popular streets during hot weather just to give people a little respite from the heat rather than allowing them to install their own aircon units in their offices and houses and especially not in their cars. If people are to be forced to accumulate in large offices for long periods during this sort of weather I think it would be far more sensible for large buildings to be designed like termite mounds, with a dark-coloured top section which absorbs heat from the sun causing the air in the top bit to rise up and out and thus drawing nice cool underground air up through the bottom with no need for powered cooling or ventilation.