respublica

Did you know re: air conditioning

Most if not all home air conditioning units are not made to be efficient or even effective once the outside temperature gets to 95 and above. Advice by air conditioning people is to set the thermostat at around 75 or so, maybe 72-74 if you have to because any lower will just cause the unit to run constantly and it won't be able to bring the inside temps down into the 60's during a heat wave anyway.

Once the moisture is taken out of the air, you're pretty much set. Add portable fans to move more air around rather than run the outside unit into the ground. Also cover windows which catch the sun with shades or blinds or insulated curtains. Windows heat up very fast and just seep heat into rooms. Give up the view when it's 108.

Keep those furnace filters clean also, a dirty filter will cause the system to work harder and less effectively and run up your bill.

At times like these, shade trees are your best friend.

Lots of good advice from my new best friend Gus, a fantastic air conditioning man.

I have nothing

At the moment. This has been a difficult week, physically-high heat, car problems, air conditioning issues. Politics is going on, the olympic trials are going on, but we have so much watering to do outside just to keep things alive that there is no time to pay much attention to other things. 

But, this afternoon we'll be shut up inside, hoisting the barricades against the heat. What a day to decide to grill a beer butt chicken!

Why a grocery store tomato tastes like nothing

Researchers have finally come up with a better reason for the poor tomato taste other than being picked green and shipped many miles. It seems that growers at some point in time added a gene which gave the tomato the bright red color consumers look for, but that same gene caused the gene which produced sugar and flavor to become inactivated.

Nice red tomatoes aren't everything and maybe it's time we consumers decide we'd rather have taste than perfect storybook color. If you grow your own, try the heirloom tomatoes. They won't be as pretty but they will taste as you remember.

Drew discovers how great a hose is

Well, it's hot where he is too.

 

5 days of the 4th

Just noticed that with the Fourth of July falling on a Wednesday, many communities will be holding celebrations beginning this Saturday and continuing through next Wednesday. Others begin on Wednesday and end the following weekend. What does the average work week look like next week? What is the official off day, will it be only one or 3?

Fair St. Louis at the Arch will be held on the 4th and then again on the 6th and 7th.

So it may get to 108 in St. Louis today

But. It will be a dry heat! The humidity will be almost non existent which is wierd for this area. So we'll learn what it's like to live in Phoenix the next few days.

In better news, Kruta Bakery is holding customer appreciation days today, with all baked goods 10 percent off.

In worse news, now we have to watch for buckling roads as the heat breaks down the surface. One more thing to fear: driving along and being swallowed up by the highway.

Finally a college football playoff

But we have to wait until 2015? How hard could this be to put together if not this year then next? I mean they're only going to choose 4 teams in the playoff.

Some have it worse

I'm going to stop grumbling about the heat in St. Louis after seeing photos from friends of our who live in Colorado. The state is seemingly burning down. I can't even imagine the horror of living through something like this.

McCaskill Shocker

Claire McCaskill's aide said today that the senator would not be attending the Democratic National Conventions in September. She said she'd rather spend the time among the voters-campaigning in otherwords.

One of President Obama's earliest supporters. Wow.

Local traffic news

Two lanes of I-64 westbound downtown will open tomorrow at 6 am after several days of the entire stretch being closed. However, after 10 am, two lanes of the 3 will close until the afternoon rush at 3 pm.

So some bit of reprieve for Illinois morning commuters.

Also, Illinois State Police will be adding automatic traffic enforcement systems in all construction zones where workers are present. These will be vans with radar and cameras to record the speed of the vehicle and images of the driver and license plate. A first speeding in construction zone offense will be $375. A second offense fines you $1000 with the codicil that if your second offense is within 2 years of the first you will also have your license suspended for 90 days.