Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Cold-blooded

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 No, I'm not a broken machine, but this site Technorati wants me to verify my humanness, I mean, control of this blog, so that they can verify that I'm really doing it. Anyway, back to the title topic:

Sometimes I feel as though I must question my supposedly human ancestry. There are factors that lead me to believe that I might be a descendant of some sort of reptile or otherwise cold-blooded creature.

The ability of certain body parts to get colder than the ambient air temperature is one such clue.

I've heard it all about poor circulation and "a cold hand leads to a warm heart" and all related words that people babble when they are momentarily taken aback by the shock of reaching for what they thought was a human hand to find that they are grasping a five-fingered ice cube. I can tolerate an air conditioned building without needing a jacket unless there is some sort of air movement, in which case I will sporadically start shivering because I can't manage to pull myself any further into my skin. Several hours of working in an ACed environment, sweater or no sweater, will leave my skin cold to the touch for several hours even after I leave said enclosure.

It's really bad in any room I share with LOML; he could manage a sweat in the Artic in midwinter while I, as I just mentioned, freeze at a puff of slightly chilly air. Any room with an AC control is worse; he'll crack it down to sub-zero temperatures while I'll wrap up in three or four blankets to keep from locking up in uncontrollable shivering. At least we live in Hawaii, so there's a bottom limit on his attempts to freeze me to death.

Sometimes I get so used to an ACed environment that the goosebumps on my arms take me by surprise.

This has come up because I seem to have misplaced my sweater, and my office at work is being maintained at a frigid 72.5 degrees Fahrenheit. I'd go outside to warm up but that makes the inside just that much frigider.

Plus it now looks like it's going to rain.

1 comment:

  1. I was particularly cold today....especially before lunch....I don't see why our office has to be so cold. You'd think that the sheer number of bodies enclosed in such a small space might contribute at least a little warmth to our environment.....I guess it's just not enough to overcome the AC.

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