Saturday, June 25, 2005

Charlatan?

The good news for me, and the who gives a darn news for you is that my back felt well enough to venture the eight-hour drive home today. Not only that, but I managed to do more than half of the driving.


Here's the bad news. Because it was so hot today, we had the AC (as in air conditioner and not Anvilcloud) on all of the way today. That affected our gas consumption considerably. When we drove to Ottawa over three weeks ago, the weather was cool and we didn't need to use the AC. Without the AC on, we managed to drive from Woodstock to Tweed — about 4 hours (220 miles, 350 kilometres) — before refuelling, and we still had some gas in the tank when we did stop to refuel. Today, on the return trip with the AC on, we needed to refuel 66 kilometres (40 miles) earlier, and we were running on fumes by then. That's quite a difference!


While I'm not exactly prepared to forsake the AC, I don't feel terribly proud of squandering resources and contributing (even more than I already do) to pollution and global warming. Yes, I do believe in global warming, Virginia, as does almost everybody on the planet except the present administration in Washington and its more ardent supporters who wear their blinkers ever so proudly. (Sorry, ardent supporters; I shouldn't get all political like that, but I can't help myself at times. Please forgive and resist throwing flames.)


AC has always been expensive. Even in the home, it seems to me that it costs us as much or more to lower the temperature 10 to 15 degrees Fahrenheit in a hot summer month than it does to raise the temperature 40 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit in a cold winter month. The difference is that it's pretty well a case of survival in winter, but it's all about creature comfort in summer.


And yet, I am unwilling to shut it off. What does that make me? An environmental charlatan?


 

8 comments:

Christi said...

Unfortunately, down here, it is not just for comfort. I would dare say it's to survive! Especially with little ones! I tried desperately not to cut on the A/C till I had to, but unfortunately, that only lasted till about mid-April. Before then, we could barely breathe in our apt!

Lora said...

It doesn't make you a charlatan it makes you human.

I never saw the need to have AC in a car until I moved South. Now I'm so accustomed to it I don't even think about it anymore.

Oh and you can say anything in critic of the clowns currantly in Washington, especially in regards to their energy policy, and won't hear a peep out of me.

Iona said...

Thanks for sharing that! Hubby wants to buy a car and asked if I wanted to have AC. I said yes (because these last few days have been 30C here! Apparently my judgement was clouded)
But now that I read you entry, I'm reconsidering... I don't need airco for only one week a year when it's 30C!! I didn't know AC would cost that much! I rather save the money! :)

Dora said...

Nope - I say it just makes you comfortable. :)

swamp4me said...

I have air conditioning in my car, but never use it. The house A/C doesn't get turned on until well into July when the night time temps inside don't drop below about 85 F.

Since we work outside we find it easier to deal with the heat and humidity if we don't turn on any air conditioning. Besides, I hate the feeling of being closed in when the windows are shut :)

Rainypete said...

I'm a big fan for 4x60 air in the car. (4 windows down at 60KPH).

The house is the domain of the wife whose blood apparently is like that of Some sort of arctic creature like amybe a penguin. If it gets too hot she may die. I oftne lie in the hammock in the yard to defrost.

Jennifer Swanepoel said...

I am an ardent lover of the air conditioner. HOWEVER, I love in South Florida, and it is not uncommon for us to have 95 degree Farenheit temperatures with a heat index of 110 degrees Farenheit due to humidity...so for us, it is also a case of survival in the summertime! :)

BTW, you asked me about a photo I posted regarding the detail in it. I did not sharpen it all in photoshop. I did adjust the colors a bit, and brightness/contrast, but the sharpness I left alone. Sometimes those automatic settings get it right after all!

Anonymous said...

I'd say, much like most people, you talk a good game.